Rolling Up the Sleeves

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(P.S. This is the third article in this series. If you haven’t read the first or second article yet, then go do that first so everything makes sense.)

Quick note on photos:
The progress pics in this post aren’t tied to specific paragraphs or events. Rather, they’re just dropped in to show general progression and give a sense of the journey. Consider them visual pit stops.

Why None of it Was Working

Now, before we continue forward, let’s take a quick step back and take a look at some major items that were causing the majority of my efforts to fail.

Imaginary whiteboard floats down from the ceiling

It’s Not Just About Calories

We’ve all been told the foolproof method for losing weight is to expend more calories than you eat. And I’m not here to argue against that, but I am saying that it’s not that simple.

Each of our bodies acts differently. And no, that’s not a cop-out.

Two people can eat the same food, do the same workouts, and still see wildly different results. And it’s not just anecdotal — it’s science. There’s an old (but gold) twin study where they overfed (1990¹) and underfed (1994² sets of identical twins by the same amounts. As one would expect, the results within each twin pair were nearly identical. But across pairs? The results varied wildly.

Genetics, hormones, metabolism. It all matters, and we really don’t get a choice in any of this.

I’ve linked a podcast below that unpacks this study better than I can, and I highly recommend giving it a watch.

Too Many Carbs, Not Enough Balance

Society has accepted the almighty carb as our primary source of nutrition. Seriously. Carbs are everywhere. They’re cheap to produce, taste amazing, and can be added to just about anything.

And no, I’m not trying to demonize carbs. They’re one of the essential macros we need to survive. But somewhere along the way, we forgot about the other two: protein and fat. When we strip those down or leave them out entirely, the body pays for it.

So yes, calorie intake matters. But so does the quality of those calories. And while it’s technically true that you can lose weight eating only junk food, I will 100% argue that it is in no way sustainable. Especially not long-term.

Why?

Glad you asked. Please meet my next point.

Insulin Resistance Makes Everything Tougher

Unbeknownst to my past self, there was also a cool, nifty, new feature my body had acquired in the form of insulin resistance.

The short version? Carbs spike insulin. Plain and simple. Too much insulin, too often, and the body starts ignoring it. You could even say it develops a resistance to it (Boom. Tie-in.) When this happens, your body shifts from “I like to use energy efficiently” to “How about you stop telling me how to do my job, and I’ll just keep storing this energy like I want to, mmmkay?”

Unfortunately, you can’t calorie-count your way out of a jacked up endocrine system.

For a longer explanation (plus a healthy dose of underqualified science) of how insulin resistance occurs, check out this article I wrote about it. I tried my best to make it a fun read, and you might learn something new (if you’re into that sort of thing).

Cardio Wasn’t Cutting It

Cardio, while great for the respiratory and circulatory systems, sucks at burning fat and does basically nothing for insulin resistance. To be clear, I love cardio. It has a ton of benefits. It’s just that weight loss, and more specifically fat loss, just really isn’t one of them.

For example, let’s take a look at my stats from 2024.

As it relates to cardio, I did some serious cycling. 725 miles worth of serious, coming out to about 67 hours on the bike. For context, the distance between Abilene, TX and New Orleans, LA is around 685 miles.

On the other hand, I did a grand total of 12 hours in the gym.

That’s an 85/15 split, with cardio as the clear winner.

Want to know how much weight I lost in 2024?

Zero. Nothing. Not a single pound.

Why? Because, like I mentioned above, cardio is just not a great method for fat loss. The amount of effort you put in is completely disproportionate to what your body burns up.

This is largely because the body prioritizes burning glucose during long bouts of endurance activity.

And what do you normally do during endurance activities, especially those that last over several hours? You eat carbs (aka: glucose).

So, your body has no reason to burn fat, because you’re already giving it everything it needs in the form of glucose.

In the words of Yoda:

Weak muscles are the path to dysfunction.
Weakness leads to poor insulin response.
Poor insulin response leads to fat storage.
Fat storage leads to suffering…
(especially when putting on socks).

Oh, you don’t remember that scene from Star Wars? Must have been from a deleted scene.

I should also mention here that the majority of the research I have read backs up what I’ve stated above. This isn’t the final word on the subject. If you’ve got studies or counterpoints, send them my way! I love learning about this stuff, and have no problem being proven wrong.

Now that we’ve covered that, let’s catch back up to where the last post ended.

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Second Chances

Now where were we? 

Oh, yeah! It’s January 10, 2025 and I’ve just found out that I have Type 2 diabetes. Yay, right?

Now, I’m sure no one would blame me for feeling bummed out about this news. I mean, I was essentially just told that my body is broken and it’s going to be that way for the rest of my life. That from here on out I could no longer enjoy sweets or simple carbs, and I was going to have to constantly check my blood sugar. Pair that with the fact that I really hadn’t given too many craps about what diabetes was, what caused it, how it affects the body, or how it’s treated. So, naturally, a person would be somewhat devastated to hear this news.

I’m probably one of the few people in this world that was actually relieved to hear this news. Crazy? Probably.

But, in my mind, I finally had a motivation that wasn’t connected to body image. My life now literally depended on me losing weight and getting all my crap together. 

Over the past few years, I had begun just wishing I could have a redo on my weight. I could look back and see the forks in the road where I could have changed things so that I wouldn’t have ended up being this large.

And here it was. It had been dropped straight into my lap. I honestly felt like the Lord was saying, “Here you go. It’s not the news you had hoped for, but it’s a chance to start over. What are you going to do with it?”

Because I knew that the Mounjaro was going to help me lose weight, but I couldn’t depend on it alone. Everything was going to have to change in order for this to work. The medicine was going to give me the jumpstart I needed, but hard work was still very much required.

So, to work I went.

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Big Changes

I need to start by saying that this became a team effort between my wife and I. Beckah wasn’t going to let me do this alone. She was just as committed to helping turn this around as I was. With that being said, there were three main areas that we tackled.

Research

I had no idea about type 2 diabetes before this point, and I knew the only way I was going to manage this beast was to learn about it.

First thing I did? Texted Tino. Started asking him loads of questions about diabetes, diet, Mounjaro, and whatever else came to my mind. Thank goodness for Marco Polo, because I sent that man LoTR-Director’s-Cut-length videos of nothing but questions, concerns, thoughts and pure, random nonsense.

It was also around this time that I had started goofing around with Anthropic’s Claude AI. I figured I might as well put it to the test and ended up maxing out my free account usage by asking it as many questions as I could. I used it to give me insights into my blood test results, develop meal plans, as well as create a workout schedule. Yes, I am an unapologetic Anthropic fanboy at this moment. While I know AI is still a very polarizing topic at the moment, suffice it to say that it has been an extremely major help to me.

Diet

Second area we attacked? Diet. That’s what got me in this mess to begin with, so it made the most sense to attack it first. Plus, it doesn’t matter how much exercise you do, you can’t outwork a bad diet.

So we threw out or gave away anything that was high in carbs or sugar. We were committing to a total reset. Yeah, I know that this approach isn’t for everyone. And normally I take a much gentler approach to enacting changes. But this called for drastic change, so drastic we went.

We also knew that this was going to disrupt our grocery budget, so we built in a little bit of cushion for us to try out different low-carb foods and sugar-free options in order to find our new normal.

Exercise

Third, I got my butt into the gym. Like I said, I used Claude to develop a workout schedule that I could ease into. I knew the new diet was going to “shock” my system somewhat, as well as adding in a completely new medication, so I didn’t want to cause it more stress by taking on an exhaustingly new workout routine. I opted for two days in the gym, two days on the bike, and three days of intentional rest. This would ensure that I was getting consistent strength training, while also ensuring I got some desired time on the bike via my indoor trainer (Dear Zwift, I love you).

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Sugar, We’re Going Down

And thus, the plan began. I started taking Mounjaro the week after my initial diagnosis, and things immediately started to fit into place.

For those unfamiliar, Tirzepatides like Mounjaro and Zepbound basically tell your gut to chill, your pancreas to shape up, and your brain to stop yelling “feed me” every 15 minutes.

Revolutionary stuff, really.

Personally, I think this is something I’ve been needing for some time now. Not just to help with the weight and insulin resistance, but also for quieting the “food noise”.

Food noise is somewhat hard to explain if you haven’t dealt with it. Imagine eating a full meal and, 30 minutes later, your brain casually suggests, “Hey, you know what sounds good? A PB&J with chips.”

You’re not sad. You’re not bored. You’re just…hungry again. And it’s maddening.

My theory on this, as it relates to myself, is that it’s linked to my ADHD. Studies already show a link between ADHD and obesity³, so it’s not too much of a surprise that I have an eating issue. My assumption is that my brain is trying to regulate dopamine levels, and it’s going to go down whatever path causes the least amount of resistance. The distance between the couch and the fridge is short—and so is the distance between my hands and my mouth. Pretty sure that’s science.

I mean, a broken executive function leads to all sorts of fun issues, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if later studies show that those with ADHD have problems regulating GLP-1s and GIPs (as well as probably a ton of other hormones, in all honesty).

I digress. As I said, I started taking the meds and all of a sudden, I wasn’t eating as much. It felt normal for once. I could eat a meal and just be full. Is this what everyone else feels like all the time? How dare you?!

I began to find stuff that worked for me:

• Protein shakes — Pre-made or manual, doesn’t matter to me.
• Lettuce wraps — So. Many. Lettuce. Wraps.
• Pork rinds — Thanks to my boy Tino for hooking me up on that one
• Protein ice cream recipes — It will be a cold day in hell before I give up ice cream
• Greek yogurt protein bowls — If you haven’t tried these, fix that.

That list doesn’t really include any “meals”, per se. Main reason is that we had already been in the process of changing to a simpler diet of veggies and lean meats, so larger meals, like dinners, were already figured out, which made the process so much easier. The other thing to note is we made sure that the diet changes we made were sustainable.

There’s really no use in adopting a new diet if you constantly have to will yourself to stick to it. That willpower will eventually break down. Much easier to change to something that you will enjoy.

As for exercising, I stuck to the plan:

• Indoor cycling — Mondays and Fridays, with Saturdays set aside for longer outdoor rides if time and weather permitted.
• Strength training — Tuesdays and Thursdays
• Rest days — Wednesdays and Sundays

And for once in all of my times of trying, it actually worked. It wasn’t magic or just the new medication. It was a combination of all the things above, along with finally allowing myself to accept that changes don’t happen overnight. I didn’t gain all this weight in one day, and I sure as heck wasn’t going to lose all of it overnight either.

Finally Seeing Progress

The Weight

In the first week or two of starting Mounjaro, I lost about 10lbs. Now, I know for a fact that this was basically all water weight. That’s just kind of how these medications work at the onset. And in all honesty, I was extremely thankful for the ability to use Claude AI for this part of the journey. I was able to use it as a sounding board of sorts, to help better understand how to temper my expectations. I used it to build out a loose timeline of how Mounjaro would most likely affect my weight loss, so that I wouldn’t be surprised when I hit various weight plateaus.

When you’re overweight and you lose some pounds, you get an immediate feeling of achievement. But, when it stalls, you get an equal amount of fear that you’re losing progress. With the timeline built out, I had a general idea of what to expect for the next few months, especially as my body adjusted to a lot of different changes.

But it wasn’t just the weight that started to shift.

The Mind

I remember the first plateau I came to felt like ages. But I stuck to the plan and challenged myself to have patience. Low and behold, after about a week, my body began to drop some more weight. I also began to better understand that the main goal was to ensure I was maintaining muscle. Since the medication was causing me to be in a new, decently large calorie deficit, my body was going to burn whatever it could since it most likely believed itself to be in starvation mode.

So, instead of focusing on calories, I started focusing on making sure I was getting enough protein.

This was a huge win, because now my mindset was shifting from “I can only eat this many calories” to “if I stack this meal with this snack, I can ensure I’m getting enough protein for the day”. All of a sudden, fueling my body has become a daily challenge that I quite enjoy solving.

The Body

Next up was the decrease in body measurements. That was new to me. I vividly remember the morning I put on one of my favorite 4XL-sized shirts and it just felt too big. I showed Beckah and her words were, “That looks like a dress on you.” I got the idea to put on a shirt that I’d gotten from a race the previous year. At the time I received it, it was a pretty tight fit. But this morning, it fit with room to spare.

I honestly didn’t know what to do. For the past several years, I’d grown accustomed to constantly going up in shirt sizes. And now I had actually decreased by a size. Whoa.

For once, the progress felt real. Not in a “before and after photo” kind of way, but in the quiet moments: putting on a shirt that actually fit, realizing I wasn’t starving all the time, choosing food for fuel instead of comfort.

And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel stuck. I felt…capable.

I actually began to look forward to working out. Like, legitimately desiring to go to the gym to lift, and to get on my bike to do cycling workouts. This was a major first for me. It had previously always been a massive chore.

Current State

So, in all of that information above, where do I currently stand?

Well, as of this writing, I have reached a weight of 296 lbs. I haven’t seen below 300 pounds in years, so to say that I’m excited is an understatement.

I am currently working with a dietician to make sure I’m hitting the calories and macros my body needs. Nothing much on that front has changed, which is nice. I’m also working with them to adopt a plan specific to performing better on the bike, as well as in the gym. Having never really been much of a sports guy, this is a whole new ballgame for me (pun intended). I also have 3-4 races that I’m planning to take part in this year, so I’m extremely excited for that.

I had my three month follow up in March, and the blood work came back with some very awesome results. My A1C has gone from 8.5% in January to 5.8% in March, a decrease of 2.7 points, which was absolutely amazing!

No, I haven’t “reversed” my diabetes (I’m not really a fan of that term, in all honesty), nor will I ever. But I’m managing it well, and that is my continual goal. That most likely means low carb diet for the remainder of my life, and I’m completely fine with that. Granted, I’m not trying to maintain any sort of ketosis, as I also don’t find that sustainable, nor healthy as a long-term solution. As stated above, the body needs balance. That’s what it really enjoys. So, I’m hoping to continue towards that end.

I will also mention that my total cholesterol is now comfortably in an acceptable range, with triglycerides and LDL tracking in the correct direction. Unfortunately, my HDLs went down as well, so we have work to do there. Regardless, I’ll take the wins where I can get them.

I’ve got a lot to be thankful for, and a lot of people around me that the Lord has put in my life to help me in and through all of it.

I’m never really great at ending these types of things, so I’ll leave you with two takeaways.

Rattlesnake Gravel Grind 2025

At the end of March, I took part in the Rattlesnake Gravel Grind in Sweetwater, TX. This was the first race I’d taken part in since the Hotter N’ Hell in 2024. Here are some photos from that.

From Then to Now

I would be remiss to not provide a photo comparing myself at my heaviest to where I am currently. So, without further ado, here you go.

I still have work to do, but we’ll get there. But for the time being, I’m just glad to finally be making progress.

Footnotes

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2336074/ ↩︎
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.1550-8528.1994.tb00087.x ↩︎
3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6826981/ ↩︎