“You know what to eat, but you struggle to eat like that when it’s hard”
Hi, I’m Josh Hillis!
If you struggle with the harder times — eating when stressed, tired, or busy, that’s what Eating Skills™ are for.
Diets give you rules about what to eat,
They don’t teach you the skills to use when it’s hard.
It’s been my mission, for the last 20 years, to find the behavioral skills and psychological skills for you to eat well in the hardest situations.
My Story
Twenty years ago, as a personal trainer, I had a client who said, “Josh, I know what to eat, I just can’t stop eating at night.
I’d been working for a company that gave people meal plans produced by registered dietitians. Let’s get real, the meal plans didn’t help.
What’s worse, I knew that I didn’t have anything for her. No one had trained me on what to do for people who struggled with snacking at night, or stress eating, or what to do when they were tired or bored. All of a sudden, I could see how completely ill-equipped I was to help the vast majority of people. Worse, I could see other people in the fitness industry just blaming the clients.
It killed me because I’d often been someone who needed extra help. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was a great example. Every athletic thing I’d ever done, I’d struggled, but BJJ was worse. I was terrible. Most coaches couldn’t help me and quickly gave up on me. It wasn’t until I went to Brazil, that a teacher (Jefferson Maura) corrected some basic mistakes I’d been making for years, changed how I practiced, and turned everything around for me.
I wanted to be that kind coach for other people. I wanted to be able to make that kind of difference for people struggling with their eating.
So, I went back to school and got a degree in psychology. I dove deep especially on contextual behavioral science and eating when distressed. I won a teaching award as a T.A., spoke at conferences, I did research, I wrote a book about it, I won book awards (more about all of that, below). I got mentored by some of my favorite psychologists and researchers.
I developed a program called Eating Skills™
Now I have a step by step program that teaches an evidence based framework for navigating night eating, or afternoon eating, or chips, or cookies, or social eating — whatever that super tough situation is, for you.
Stop Trying To Make it Easier, Learn Skills for When It’s Hard
Most other coaching programs are trying to find ways to make it easier for you:
- Put the cookies up on the shelf!
- Brush your teeth after eating!
- Dunk your face in ice water!
Those are all fine things, but they’re just about adding friction (cookies on the shelf, brushing teeth) or like the ultimate pull-the-fire-alarm reset (face in ice water). They aren’t practical in most of the situations you find yourself in, in your life.
You need a system of skills for navigating cravings when it’s really hard.
You need someone to train you on those skills (not explain them to you) in real time, so you have the skills to take out into your life.
Professional Experience
My newest book is Lean and Strong: Eating Skills, Psychology, and Workouts (2020). It won the IBPA Ben Franklin Silver Medal Book Award for psychology and was a finalist in the Colorado Book Awards.
I was the creator and head coach of GMB Fitness’ Eating Skills program. I trained and certified three coaches and we worked with over 700 clients.
I was co-owner of One by One Nutrition, with Georgie Fear. We had three coaches, I created content and led trainings, and we worked with hundreds of clients.
I co-mentored 38 coaches with The Complete Coaching Mentorship.
I’ve been writing this blog, joshhillis.com, since 2007. I’ve also written for Strength Matters Magazine, and you may have seen me or my books in Experience Life! Magazine, The Denver Post, Los Angeles Times, Men’s Health, and USA Today.
In 2026, after nine years in school part time, I graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver with a bachelor of science in psychology, summa cum laude. I did undergraduate research on relationship to food and well being. I won the psychology department’s “Promising Teacher Award” for my work as a TA.
For years I wrote, fixed, and fact checked questions for the National Academy of Sports Medicine‘s Personal Trainer Certification Exam.
Don’t just make weight loss easier. Build the skills to keep going when it’s hard.
Book info:
Lean and Strong: Eating Skills, Psychology, and Workouts
by Josh Hillis, foreword by Molly Galbraith
Photography by Julia Morgan
Model Liz Kushner
Graphic design by Karen Chin
On Target Publications, 2020
ISBN: 1931046409
Amazon rating: 4.7 stars, 132 reviews
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Strong-Eating-Psychology-Workouts/dp/1931046409
Fat Loss Happens on Monday
by Josh Hillis, with Dan John, foreword by Valerie Waters
Photography by Adam Emperor Southard
Model Katie Dawers
On Target Publications, 2014
ISBN: 1931046549
Amazon rating 4.5 stars, 475 reviews
Goodreads rating 4.3, 349 reviews
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Loss-Happens-Monday-Josh-Hillis/dp/1931046549/
