How I Lost 62 lbs & built a habit of working out everyday.

I ate less food, less often, less processed food, increased protein and reduced carbs, stopped drinking calories, exercised daily, and monitored all my metrics daily or weekly.

The most sought-after article for The Year Of The Opposite has been "How did you lose all the weight!?" So, let's dive right in, shall we? In just one year of living oppositely, I shed a whopping 37lbs, but that's only part of the story. Since hitting my peak weight in 2018, I've lost a grand total of 62lbs. 

Now, I can almost hear your thoughts: "Losing 40lbs in one year isn't healthy! He must've used weight loss drugs or surgery, lost a ton of muscle mass, and it's probably unsustainable." Trust me, I'd be thinking the exact same thing.

Allow me to address those concerns. My weight loss journey has been focused on achieving the healthiest possible results. By most standards, I'm currently in the best shape of my life. At 42, I can run faster and farther than I could at 16. (Although, let's be honest, that doesn't say much about my teenage athleticism. But I digress.)

The driving force behind my health transformation was the desire to break free from the medications I'd been taking for various lifestyle-induced ailments. Don't get me wrong, I have immense respect for the wonders of modern medicine. However, after relying on daily medications for seven long years, I was increasingly uneasy about the prospect of continuing that regimen for the rest of my life. Even the safest medications come with side effects. Everything does. So, I was determined to escape the unsettling dependence on pills for my well-being.

Given my goal to ditch prescription medications, it should be clear (but I'll say it explicitly, just in case): I did not resort to weight loss drugs or surgeries. My approach was as natural as possible, as my primary objectives are longevity and healthspan. I want to live a long, healthy life and, in the end, go out swiftly. That's my motto: "Live long and die quickly."

I want to clarify that I'm not against weight loss drugs. In fact, quite the contrary. I've actually invested in Novo Nordisk, the company behind Semaglutide, Wegovy, and Ozempic. I'll admit, this investment has yielded a significant profit for me. Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist, which means it mimics the action of human incretin glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). This increases insulin secretion, enhances blood sugar disposal, and improves glycemic control. 

So, what does Semaglutide do? It suppresses hunger and promotes a feeling of fullness. It also helps your body regulate blood sugar levels more effectively. By reducing hunger, you consume less food. The outcomes have been remarkable, with people losing 10-20% of their body weight in just 12-20 weeks. Some experts are already saying that these revolutionary weight loss drugs are experiencing the fastest growth since Viagra. Rumor has it that many individuals in the entertainment industry and Los Angeles are using it, leading to a shortage of the drug.

But let me reel myself back from that Semaglutide endorsement and clear up any confusion. No, I didn't use any weight loss drugs to shed the pounds. That doesn't mean I'm against them; it's just that they didn't align with my personal objectives. My goal is to live as long as possible, preferably with minimal reliance on medication.

What about muscle mass? It appears that I may have lost some, although I don't have any entirely accurate measurements. My Renpho scale indicates that I've lost 5lbs of muscle mass over the past year and 15lbs since 2018. This is disappointing, but it could be a measurement issue. Despite these numbers, I've been strength training and am now stronger than when I began. I've consistently increased the weight on exercises like overhead presses, seated leg presses, bicep curls, lateral pulldowns, and lateral raises. My scale may say I've lost muscle, but my strength has undeniably improved. It might be a case of measurement error.

Is this sustainable? That's undoubtedly the most critical question, and I honestly don't know. I wish I could predict the future. I do experience significant slip-ups; for instance, I gained 10lbs in just one week around Thanksgiving. However, I believe I've cultivated lifelong habits, not just a temporary weight loss strategy. This ties back to my previous post, which offers actionable tips for building lasting habits.

Why am I sharing all this? I believe that if you're considering embarking on a weight loss journey, it's essential to start with a solid foundation. Establish your goals from the outset, ensure your chosen strategy is sustainable and aligns with your objectives, and consistently track your progress. Remember, my plan doesn't have to be your plan; I'm simply sharing what worked for me.

How did I achieve my weight loss?

1. I ate less food.

2. I ate less often.

3. I opted for less processed food.

4. I increased my protein intake and reduced carbs.

5. I stopped drinking calories, cutting out soda and alcohol.

6. I began exercising daily.

7. I monitored my weight, blood pressure, VO2 Max, and heart rate on a daily or weekly basis.

Nothing extraordinary here, but let me share the strategies I used to create new habits that made this weight loss journey work for me.

I Ate Less Food:

A significant portion of my eating habits was driven by routine. For example, I would automatically supersize my fast food orders or always have a Coca-Cola Classic with dinner. If food was on my plate, I felt compelled to finish it. To eat less, I needed to break these habits.

I decided not to drink my calories, which meant giving up Coca-Cola with dinner. I also made a conscious effort to reduce portion sizes and not force myself to finish every meal. Additionally, I started paying attention to calorie counts, realizing that even "healthy" options like salads could be deceptively high in calories. Sometimes the salad that I thought was healthy actually had more calories than the cookie I was avoiding (not that the cookie is healthy; it's just shocking to me how many calories can be packed into a salad).

I aimed for a daily intake of 2,000 calories, but I wasn't obsessive about it. I didn't track every single food that I ate in My Fitness Pal, as I had done before because I found it tedious and annoying. Instead, I used calories as a way to compare food items. For instance, if I was at a restaurant and the salad had 1,200 calories while the grilled chicken meal had 400 calories, I would opt for the chicken. The value here wasn't in making a detailed log calculating how many calories I ate all day; rather, it was learning what low-calorie meals looked like. Just because it looks healthy or sounds healthy doesn't mean it is.

The most significant change came from applying the principles in the book "Atomic Habits." I used "The Four Laws of Behavior Change" to create new habits: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying. Instead of surrounding myself with Chex Mix, Coca-Cola, and Miller Lite, I opted for mixed nuts, decaffeinated tea, and San Pellegrino.

To resist unhealthy temptations, I applied the "Inversion of the Four Laws": make it invisible, make it unattractive, make it difficult, and make it unsatisfying. We eliminated all the sweets and junk food we used to have around the house.

This was, by far, the most significant and easiest change. It's quite simple: if you want to eat less unhealthy food, don't keep it around. If you want to eat better, make nutritious options readily available and enjoyable.

I Ate Less Often

For the most part I switched from 3 meals a day to 2 or 1 meal.  There is a saying that I love. “Abs aren’t made in the gym, they are made in the kitchen.” 

The saying is based on the idea that it's easier to gain calories than to burn them through exercise. For instance, eating a couple of pieces of pizza can take in the same amount of calories as an hour of swimming. It's much more practical to reduce your daily caloric intake by 400-600 calories than to exercise for an hour to create the same calorie deficit. Now with that being said, I still don’t have abs. So what do I know.

One of the biggest mistakes I would make when I was trying to lose weight in the past was that I would immediately adopt a rigorous workout routine. This would cause me to be hungrier and I would in turn eat more food.  At best I would maintain the same weight, but in many cases, I would actually gain weight! This would make me quite depressed as I thought I was doing everything right but I was actually performing the most common mistake in weight loss.  Remember: Abs are made in the kitchen. That means if you’re trying to fix your weight, it’s imperative that you focus on how much you eat, how often you eat, and what you eat. 

As a part of eating less often, I followed Dr. Andrew Huberman’s tips. (

1. Don’t eat anything within 1 hour of waking. 

2. Don’t eat anything or drink any calories within 2-3 hours of sleep. 

3. Have an 8-hour feeding window. Your ideal time for meals should be between 11am and 7pm if you follow a normal sleeping schedule. 

This will do a bunch of positive things. You’ll get caloric restriction without having to count calories, you’ll get better sleep, and some studies have shown that just this action will have a small reduction in blood pressure. 

Fasting, or eating less often, has benefits well beyond weight loss.  

• Fasting can improve your memory https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8470960/ 

• Fasting can help with metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6521152/

• Fasting can help you lose weight https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7021351/ 

• Fasting helps your heart and can lower your blood pressure and lower your resting heart rate https://academic.oup.com/ehjopen/article/1/2/oeab026/6363797?login=false

I eat less processed foods and more whole foods. 

Nothing revolutionary here. We’ve all been told it a million times but it certainly works. I eat less processed foods and more fruits, vegetables, and a lot of meat. I define processed foods as things that have been altered with preservatives, sweeteners, flavors or colors. Whole foods are just foods that don’t have any of that stuff. 

Research has consistently shown that consuming whole foods is better than consuming processed foods. For example, a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who ate a diet high in whole, unprocessed foods had a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who ate a diet high in processed foods. Another study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that people who ate more whole foods had a lower risk of developing heart disease than those who ate more processed foods.

The studies: 

• American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study on whole foods and type 2 diabetes: https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/87/4/1081/4633373

• Journal of Nutrition study on whole foods and heart disease: https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/143/9/1445/4571691

• Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics study on whole foods and nutrient intake: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212267213005145

I increased my protein intake and reduced carbs.

This is a controversial subject as everything in weight loss is.  There are definitely studies that show people that eat a vegetarian diet live longer and lose weight.  But for me personally, a diet high in protein and reduced carbohydrates seems to work best.  

For me, eating a lot of protein can be really helpful for weight loss. I find that protein makes me feel full and less hungry, so I end up eating less overall. Plus, protein requires a lot of energy for my body to digest, which means that I burn more calories just by eating it. Eating enough protein also helps keep my muscles healthy and strong, which is really important for my overall health. Some studies even suggest that eating more protein might help me burn more calories throughout the day. Eating a diet high in protein really worked for me. 

Here are the studies: 

• A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a high protein diet can help reduce body weight and fat mass when compared to a lower protein diet. The study also found that high protein diets can help preserve lean body mass during weight loss. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/87/5/1558S/4650426

• Another study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that a high protein diet can lead to greater weight loss and fat loss compared to a lower protein diet. The study also found that a high protein diet can help reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness. https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/133/2/411S/4817941

• A meta-analysis published in the International Journal of Obesity found that a high protein diet can result in greater weight loss and fat loss compared to a low protein diet. The study also found that a high protein diet can help improve several markers of cardiovascular health, including blood pressure and cholesterol levels. https://www.nature.com/articles/0803692

I stopped drinking calories, cutting out soda and alcohol.

I used to drink a ton of calories without even realizing it. I would drink one or two Coca-Colas with lunch and dinner, and I would also drink quite a bit of delicious beer. I didn't realize that there were so many calories in these drinks. But after learning about the dangers of drinking calories, I decided to make a change. Drinking sugary drinks like soda or beer can cause weight gain and increase the risk of developing health problems like diabetes and heart disease. Plus, they don't fill you up like food does, so you can consume a lot of calories without even feeling full. I decided to switch to water, unsweetened tea, decaffeinated hot tea, San Pellegrino (Bubble water as Lane calls it), or coffee sometimes. This easily cut 300 to 400 calories out of my day with one change. 

I also learned a trick. Every time I felt myself getting “hungry” I would consume a lot of water, tea, or bubble water.  It turned out that in 95% of the cases, drinking a lot of water would cure my hunger.  I’m not sure why this worked so well but it did.  And to cure my night cravings, I started drinking hot tea before bed.  This gave me a little bit of flavor without any calories. This was a huge win for me.  It stopped me from binge eating before bed but still gave me a little mental satisfaction of getting some flavor and the routine of consuming something. I highly recommend trying this. 

The compounding effects of drinking alcohol and weight gain. 

The compounding effects of drinking alcohol and weight gain can be significant. I learned this the hard way when I noticed that indulging in occasional alcoholic drinks had a compounding effect on my weight. Not only was I consuming empty calories in the drink itself, but it also had two other major impacts on my weight. Firstly, it interfered with my sleep, which in turn can lead to weight gain. However, the second factor was even more significant. After drinking, I would consume a large amount of unhealthy food. Sometimes it would be an entire large pizza, or every single bag of chips in the house. It was a gluttonous habit that impressed even me. However, I soon realized that by cutting down on drinking, I was able to control my food intake much better.

I started exercising every day. 

While I'm not an expert on the topic, I found a routine that worked for me. I realized the main reason my previous attempts at working out had failed was due to a lack of consistency. I always found an excuse not to exercise, whether it was not having enough time, not having the right equipment, or not being in the mood. So, my first goal was to eliminate all my excuses.

I decided to do a 7-minute HIIT workout on my Apple Watch. It's quick, so I never had the excuse of not having enough time. The only thing I needed was my watch and my own body weight, so I could do it anywhere at any time. It's also not a very strenuous workout, so I don't break out in a sweat and need to change my clothes. I've even done this workout in dress clothes! It doesn't require me to go to the gym, so I never have that excuse. I've done this workout in hotels, basements, outside, in living rooms, and at the gym. It's incredibly versatile.

This may not be the best workout, but that wasn't my goal. I was focused on building the habit of exercising every day. Every. Single. Day. I didn't miss a single day in 365 days. I did it at 5 am and 11 pm. I did it in Lansing and in Vegas.

I never pushed myself too hard during the workout. If I was tired and couldn't do push-ups, I would do them on my knees. If I was feeling lazy, I wouldn't do full lunges. But I always did the workout. Most days, I pushed myself, but even on the tough days, I never let my lack of motivation hold me back from going through the motions. I always did the workout.

I monitored my weight, blood pressure, VO2 Max, and heart rate on a daily or weekly basis.

The old saying goes you can’t fix what you don’t measure.  Or something like that.  Everyone knows I’m a data nerd. This process was no different. Here are the tools I used: 

• Apple Watch Ultra: The Apple Watch Ultra is a wearable device that tracks various health metrics, including heart rate, blood oxygen levels, sleep patterns, and physical activity. It can also monitor and analyze data related to different types of workouts, such as running, cycling, and swimming.

• Renpho Digital Scale: The Renpho Digital Scale is a smart scale that measures various health metrics, including weight, BMI, body fat percentage, muscle mass, and more. It syncs with the Renpho app, which provides a detailed analysis of the data and tracks progress over time.

• iHealth Blood Pressure Monitor: The iHealth Blood Pressure Monitor is a device that measures blood pressure and heart rate. It connects to a smartphone app, which stores the data and provides personalized recommendations to help manage hypertension.

• Apple Health app: The Apple Health app is a central hub that integrates data from various health tracking devices and apps, including the Apple Watch, Renpho Digital Scale, and iHealth Blood Pressure Monitor. It tracks a wide range of health metrics, such as heart rate, sleep patterns, nutrition, and more, and provides personalized insights and recommendations based on the data.

I also tracked my habits on Way Of Life the app. And I started journaling about my day every night.  These two things were very important for helping keep track of my progress.  I plan to do an entire article on the importance of journaling. 

So that’s it.  Nothing world changing here. But it worked. I transformed my life by adopting this straightforward method in March 2022, and it genuinely made a significant impact on my health. Within six months, my ASCVD risk estimator (risk of having a heart attack in the next 10 years) improved from 16% to 2%, and my doctors officially cleared me of all medical conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and impaired fasting glucose. My cardiac fitness VO2 Max also improved, showing how these changes may have saved my life.

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