What if the story you’ve been telling yourself… isn’t the one you have to keep living? In this deeply moving episode of PCOS Unfiltered, Lindsie sits down with Chris Garrido to explore what happens when someone reaches a breaking point—and chooses to do something different. After years of living in a body that felt limiting, painful, and unsustainable, Chris found himself facing a reality he could no longer ignore. At nearly 500 pounds, grieving the loss of his father, and unable to fully show up for his family, he realized that if something didn’t change… everything would. What followed wasn’t a quick fix. It was a decision—and then another, and another. Through a combination of nutrition, medical support, hormone optimization, and strength training, Chris didn’t just lose weight—he rebuilt his life. But more importantly, he shifted his identity. This episode dives into the uncomfortable middle: the fear, the resistance, the first 30 days that feel unbearable, and the discipline it takes to keep going anyway. Because the truth is—transformation doesn’t come from perfection. It comes from deciding you’re not done yet.
As a reminder, the content shared on PCOS Unfiltered is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your health, nutrition, or treatment plan.
(0:00) The message is very simply, whatever it is in your life that you want to change and that you want to improve, you have the ability to do it. (0:08) You have the ability to do it in probably a shorter period of time than you think, and you are never, ever, ever too far gone to stop. (0:15) I mean, or to start, because there were so many issues that I had structurally and metabolically and my weight and all of that.(0:23) And the reality is, and I mean this from my core when I say this, everyone says this, it's so cliche. (0:28) This is not a cliche when I say it, it is a literal fact. (0:31) If I can do this, anyone can do it.(0:34) Like literally anyone can do it, because I started from, you know, probably the worst possible place. (0:39) You know, at my heaviest, 440 wasn't even my heaviest, my heaviest I was 484. (0:43) I was almost 500 pounds.(0:45) And so to be able to come from that and now, you know, be down 147 pounds, I weigh 293 pounds now, all of my labs are in normal range. (0:53) And not even normal range, because normal range is annoying. (0:56) Optimal range, like, you know, better than anybody, right? (1:00) Like maximizing.(1:01) Yeah. (1:02) Yeah. (1:03) Optimal, optimal places in all those.(1:05) And I just can't. (1:06) I'm just so, so excited. (1:07) I used to think about death a lot.(1:09) I talk about it in the book. (1:10) I used to pray that God would let me live to be 58 years old, because at 58, both of my kids would have graduated high school. (1:16) Like, I just wanted to barely make it through their childhood.(1:18) You know, if I could just be blessed enough to do that, it would be enough. (1:23) And the reality is, you know, what kind of father prays to live to be 58? (1:27) Like, I should be praying to live to 98, you know?
(1:29) And so now I just, I used to think so much about death. (1:33) And now all I think about is life.(1:35) I'm just so busy living. (1:37) When Morgan Freeman says you got to get busy living or get busy dying, I'm just too busy living to even think about dying. (1:42) So to anybody that wants to change any aspect of their life, I'm here to be a testimonial and say it is possible.(1:48) It is worth it, and the best time to do it is right now. (1:50) You know, it's never too late to start, to just take that first step and do, you know, something. (1:56) Like you said, you're not too far gone.(1:58) You know, anybody can do it at any time. (2:01) Welcome back to PCOS Unfiltered, where we go beyond the diagnosis and talk about what it really takes to reclaim your health, your energy, and your life. (2:10) Today's episode is such a powerful conversation because it's about so much more than weight loss.(2:16) It's about wake-up calls, identity shifts, healing from the inside out, and what can happen when someone finally decides that they are not done yet. (2:24) My guest today is Chris Garrido, and his story is one that I know will resonate with so many people. (2:30) After years of living in a body that felt limiting, exhausting, and unsustainable, Chris reached a breaking point following the loss of his father.(2:38) At nearly 50 years old and over 400 pounds, he realized that if something didn't change, he was headed down a path that would cost him not only his health, but precious time with his wife and sons. (2:49) What followed was not an overnight transformation or some quick fix. (2:53) It was a decision, then another, then another.(2:57) Through nutrition, medical support, strength training, mindset shifts, and a willingness to stay in the process even when it was hard, Chris completely changed the trajectory of his life. (3:08) In this episode, we talk about the emotional wake-up call that started it all, the reality of living in a body that no longer allowed him to fully show up for his family, (3:17) the role of lab work, GLP-1 support, hormones, strength training, and why real transformation is about so much more than the number on a scale. (3:26) We also talk about discipline, momentum, identity, and the ripple effect that happens when one person chooses to change.
(3:34) This is an incredibly honest, motivating, and hopeful conversation for anyone who has ever thought they were too far gone, too stuck, or too late to begin again. (3:45) As a reminder, the content shared on PCOS Unfiltered is for informational and educational purposes only. (3:51) The views and opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are not intended to serve as medical advice.(3:57) As always, consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your diet, exercise, or treatment plan. (4:05) The information shared is based on personal experience and expert interviews and is not a substitute for professional medical guidance. (4:13) So let's get into it.Here's my conversation with Chris Garrido. (4:26) Hello and welcome. Welcome to Chris.I've known Chris for a little while. When you think about it, right? It's kind of crazy. (4:37) We used to see a little bit more of each other years ago, but I started following his story, which we're going to get into, on Facebook, which has been a year and a half, going on two years, right? (4:51) What was that? (4:53) Right about a year and a half.(4:54) Yeah, yeah. That's what I thought. So yeah, let's just start by diving into that.So tell us why you're here and tell us about your story and where you were and kind of what really prompted you to make these changes. (5:15) That's a lot. I could fill up an hour just going through that, but I'll break it down into segments.(5:22) So where I was, just chronically obese, morbidly obese, and probably mortally obese, if we're being honest. (5:31) I had been overweight my entire life, just through a lot of different factors. I didn't grow up knowing how to eat healthy.I grew up with very little financial resources. (5:42) So we kind of just ate what was available, what was cheap, what was quick, and you know what decades of doing that will do, unfortunately. (5:51) Into adulthood, I think I experienced a lot of what everyone else experienced, where I became a husband, I became a father, I started a business, and life gets in the way.(5:59) We all have the best intentions of getting healthier and prolonging our lives and improving the quality of that life, but there's always something else to do or there's always something else or someone else to focus on.
(6:11) In March of 2024, almost two years ago, I just had a real wake-up call. My dad died at the age of 70.He had cancer, and it moved very, very quickly. (6:30) We didn't get the cancer diagnosed until December of 23, and on March 10th of 24, he passed away. So three months, and it went very, very quickly.(6:39) At that time, the time of his passing, it was three days before my 49th birthday, I was 440 pounds and really had not just been overweight, but had been really, really unhealthy and didn't have much of a quality of life to speak of. (6:58) Now, I don't want to misconvey that. I had a business that I was very proud of.I have a wife that I love tremendously. I have two sons that I adore. (7:07) I had a beautiful life on the outside looking in, but on the inside looking out, the piece that not a lot of people got to see was I was just so limited in what I could do.(7:17) I couldn't stand for longer than 30 seconds without having back and hip pain, couldn't walk really 100 feet without having to stop or become winded. (7:27) And so a lot of the things that we started to do as a family were more sedentary activities. (7:32) We would go to a movie because you can sit at a movie.We would go out to eat because you can sit when you go out to eat. (7:39) We wouldn't do a lot of things that required walking or standing for long periods of time. (7:44) And so that was one of the things that I realized now looking back is being unhealthy is a vicious, vicious cycle because your sedentary life makes you more unhealthy and your being unhealthy makes you have a more sedentary life.(7:55) And the wheel just keeps spinning round and round. March 10, 2024 was a wake up call for me because when my dad died, I got to see firsthand how that impacted my kids. (8:07) And they were devastated, as I'm sure you can imagine, losing their grandfather, especially when he really did not have a lot of time of being sick.(8:16) It happened very quickly. And so I just kept asking myself this question. (8:20) You know, if it's this difficult for them to lose their grandfather, like, how hard is it going to be to lose their dad? (8:26) And the reality is that's that's the path I was headed on.I mean, you don't know a lot of, you know, 440 pound people that live into their 50s and 60s. (8:35) And so I had always kind of told myself, you know, I want to get fit by 50. (8:41) And that was a cute little mantra.But for decades, it never moved the needle. (8:45) I didn't it didn't cause me to eat any better. It didn't cause me to go to the gym.It didn't cause me to take any real intentional change. (8:53) And so that was the wake up call. And, you know, that it took me several months because I still had to process the grief of losing my dad.(9:01) I had to deal with a lot of just really red tape around his estate and all the things that you have to do when someone dies. (9:08) And it was very, very hard. But I started the movement.I started the wheels in motion, you know, at that time. (9:15) And we were on a trip that summer in July of 2024. Again, I was still 440 pounds.(9:22) We were in Birmingham, Alabama, because my oldest son had a baseball tournament there. (9:27) And Birmingham is like one of the barbecue meccas of the world. (9:30) And so I just was into my same old habits, you know, hitting all the barbecue spots and eating all the unhealthy food.(9:36) And my my son had a day where they didn't have a game. And so the kids wanted to go to the Birmingham Zoo. (9:43) And I told my wife, I said, I can't go to the zoo.That's too much standing, too much walking. (9:47) You know, dad can't do that. And I think everybody knew.(9:50) And, you know, my kids probably were like, if I look back on it, they were probably like, hey, wouldn't it be awesome if we went to the zoo? (9:56) But they knew we couldn't go to the zoo. And it was because of me. Right.(9:59) And that's not no father wants to be the reason why your kids don't get to go to the zoo or experience any other pleasures in life. (10:05) And so my wife took them to the zoo. And I remember sitting at the hotel room in Birmingham, Alabama, by myself.(10:13) And my wife was texting me pictures of the kids at the zoo having a good time. (10:17) And I think all of this really had just started to compound, you know, just decades of being overweight and unhealthy, you know, being in pain all the time, having a lack of mobility and really just a lack of an ability to be a present father and a present husband and be the version of myself that I wanted to be.
(10:34) And so that that was really kind of it for me.I said, when we get back from this trip, I'm going to make some significant changes. (10:42) And so, you know, you asked me kind of a big question, you know, where was I, the journey, all of that. (10:46) I kind of gave you like the prequel.The prequel is how did I get to where I was? (10:52) And then really the journey began at the end of July twenty twenty four, where I just said, hey, I've got to make some serious changes here. (10:59) I'm so incredibly happy that I did, and honestly, I never could have imagined that I would have had the kind of results that I've had in eighteen months where I am today. (11:10) And candidly, where I was six months ago was kind of astonishing to me.(11:15) I really couldn't believe I tell people all the time you can change your entire life in twelve months. (11:21) You can literally change the whole trajectory of your life in a very short amount of time. (11:26) And so I'll stop and kind of let you lead the conversation with some questions.(11:31) But that's that's the backstory, though, that that's how I kind of ended up, you know, on my forty ninth birthday, grieving the loss of my dad at over four hundred pounds and and really just incredibly unhealthy and on my way to an early death. (11:44) Yeah, I mean, and you said something important there about changing your life in twelve months, because I think there's a lot of people out there. (11:54) Hopefully, if they're regular listeners of the show, they're understanding that it's it's it's a long game.(12:00) You know, you are truly it's it's a marathon here.
(12:04) It does not happen overnight, at least not in the way that you, you know, you probably more than likely want and that you want it to, you know, to stick. (12:14) So, yeah, kind of take us into the next step.(12:17) So you made the decision. You said you knew something needed to change. (12:21) You know, you were going to get back from Birmingham and then kind of what happened next.(12:28) So, as fate would have it right about the time that I'm having all of these thoughts, I was on, I was on Facebook and I saw a post and it was my old neighbor and she had lost a ton of weight. (12:41) I mean, she looked incredible and I, I showed my wife. I'm like, look at Jen.Like, this is incredible. And so I think in the back of my mind, it was kind of like, okay, I'm seeing this for a reason, right? (12:50) Like, I didn't just go through all of this, you know, mindset shift to to finally commit to doing something systematically and intentionally to get better and then just stumble on this post by happenstance. (13:02) I believe that there was a reason for it.And so I started reading it and she, she was always a great friend and a great neighbor and somebody that I could be very vulnerable with. (13:11) There was never any judgment with her. I mean, she walked a similar walk to what I had walked.(13:15) And so I also knew that she was a nurse practitioner, but I didn't really know much about her practice. I thought it was like, aesthetics and Botox and stuff like that, which I didn't really need.
(13:25) But I, I just reached out to her and I said, hey, can I, when I get back in town, can I talk to you and just kind of get an idea of what's going on and and tell you a little bit more about where I'm at? (13:35) And she was great.She was just such a tremendous resource for me. And so we talked and she told me a little bit about her journey. She was always careful to say, my journey won't be your journey.Like, everybody's different. (13:46) There is no 1 cookie cutter way to do this. But she said, the 1 thing that I do believe that needs to happen every time in the beginning is we need to start with lab work.And so she convinced me to go get my labs done. (13:57) And I told her it was funny. I remember saying, I was like, hey, I just got done on a barbecue tour of Birmingham right now.Do you think we should maybe wait a little bit and I should eat healthy for a while before I go get my labs done? And I'll never forget the term that she used. (14:10) She goes, no, she goes, let's get the dirty labs. And I always thought the term dirty labs was so funny, but she said, let's get the dirty labs.And that way we've got a really good starting point. I'm like, oh, great. (14:20) And so I got my labs done and she said, when I get the results, I'll reach out and we'll go over them and we'll see what we can do.And so I got a text message from her. It was on a Sunday too. I was like, oh, my gosh, my nurse practitioner has my blood work is texting me on a Sunday.This can't be good. (14:37) And she just text me two words. She said, it's time.And that was it. I knew exactly what that meant. And to me, I, for the first time in my life, I think I felt like, you know what, it is time.I think it was, it was just really, it had hit home for me that, you know, this, I don't think that I was down, depressed, frustrated, sad.
(15:00) Like I'd had been in before, like before, if I had gotten lab work done and then the results came in and they were bad, I'd just be like, oh, my gosh, I'm never gonna, I'm never gonna be able to do anything. (15:08) This was the first time that I think there was a little mixture of hope there.And it was because I knew that I had really shifted my brain. Like, this was it. One way or another, this was it.I was either going to get healthier or I was going to get gone one way or another. (15:23) And so the reality is, I chose the former and I would choose it every time. Now, would I stick with it? Would I have consistent results? Like, I'd done all this before, but something felt different this time.(15:35) And so I went in and I met with her and she kind of walked me through what she had done, which was really primarily focused on nutrition and then some, some metabolic stuff. And candidly, GLP-1, and we can talk, I talk very openly about GLP-1 medication. I'm not really sure where the stigma is or where the shame is.(15:57) But the reality is, she said, look, it will help you. It will not solve the problem for you, but it will help you. And so I laugh at these people now.All your listeners, I'll fast forward. I'll give you the shortcut here. I've lost 147 pounds in 18 months.There's the shortcut. We were going to get to that anyway, guys. (16:19) But, but no, I, I, I laugh at people like, oh, well, you, you were on Munjaro.So that, that's how you did it. Really? 147 pounds? Really? I mean, I added 33 pounds of muscle in the last 18 months. Munjaro makes you lose fat and muscle.(16:33) So the idea that I was strength training and building muscle while simultaneously burning fat, Munjaro didn't do that. It helped. But why, why, why stigma around legitimate medical tools? Like, I've never looked at a house and then gone to the carpenter and said, oh, but you used a hammer.I mean, that's, that takes away from the home because you used a hammer. Like, that's ridiculous.
(16:54) And so that's, I laugh.I, I, I'm on a lot of, on Instagram. I follow a lot of people that have had really, really dramatic weight loss transformations. And if they use a GLP-1, they just get blasted for it online.And I'm like, gosh, this is just insane. But we can, we can talk about that. (17:10) But so really the chapter one of this was just going to be nutrition, GLP-1, and really just taking it from a, from a dietary standpoint.And so I, and that's how I started. And then chapter two, I didn't know what was going to happen. And it happened shortly thereafter.But I, my son, my oldest son is, you know, he's a big, strong, young athlete. (17:34) And so he was training in a gym in Clearwater, a gym that was owned by a mutual friend of ours, Richard Fica. It's Legacy Barbell in Clearwater, Florida.And I was just in there because he was training. And so, and he's not old enough to drive. So I had to drive him.And so I'm sitting on the couch doing some work on my phone. (17:54) The, the, the, the lead trainer, the general manager at the time, I kind of stammer because he now owns the gym. He's since bought the gym, but at the time he didn't own it.But he came up to me and just said, you know, hey, Chris, you want to get a lift in? And I was like, no, I didn't come here to lift weights. I came here to bring my son to lift weights. And he asked me again, five word question.These, these questions just continue to resonate with me. They, they burned away in my brain and they'll never go away. (18:22) You know, what would it be like if my boys lost their dad when Jennifer said, it's time.I'll never forget those two words. And he asked me a five word question. He said, what are you waiting for? And I said, well, I have a lot of reasons.(18:36) And, you know, in my mind, that should have ended the conversation, but I didn't know Matt well enough. And Matt Levine is audacious and doesn't really take no for an answer. And so he said, oh, well, that's good.And pulled up a chair and sat down. He said, because I've got a bunch of time. Let's talk about all your reasons.And I was like, who's this guy? I think he is. No, I don't want to work out, you know? (18:57) And so in my brain, my reasons were I'm over 400 pounds. I haven't been in the gym in 15 years.I can barely move. What could I even do in here? You know, and I think, you know, a little bit about legacy barbell to like, this is like a power lifting gym. I mean, this is not, you know, like a big box gym where I can go in and get on like some Nautilus equipment.(19:20) It's it's there's some serious, like some of the strongest people in the world train there. And I'm like, I don't belong here, you know? And so he talked to me for almost an hour and just kind of walked me through like, look, this everything starts somewhere. The idea that you have to get healthier to come to the gym is ridiculous, right? Like, this is where you get healthier.And he's right in my brain. I was like, well, if I could lose like 60 or 70 pounds, then maybe I could start working out and adding in some strength training. (19:49) Stuff like that.And so through his not so gentle encouragement, I found myself in the gym Monday morning, August 10th, 2024 730 a.m. didn't want to be there. I was miserable. I actually, I half jokingly and I'm only half joking when I say this when I was driving to the gym that morning, it was literally thinking of every way that I could get out of it.(20:13) And I remember thinking to myself, like, maybe I could just tell him I got pulled over, you know, and I was like, no, because he's just gonna wait for me. He's gonna still want me to come. You know, maybe I could say I got in a car accident, like me, a car accident.You're not gonna go to the gym right after a car accident. And then I remember for one split second. I had this thought.I'm serious about this. This is how bad it was. I thought, well, maybe if I really get in a car accident, you're really getting a car accident.Then I won't have to go do this. That's how much I was dreading going to the gym. (20:40) It's a funny story, but I think it's important for people to understand that I'm not different.I'm not some guy that was like chomping at the bit. Like, I'm gonna go reclaim my life. No, I was scared.I was petrified. I was full of shame. (20:56) The last thing I wanted to do was go work out in a gym with other people and probably fall on my face.It was gonna be humiliating and I knew it and it was gonna be hard and I was afraid of that. (21:07) And so, you know, I did not get in a car accident. I chose to just go show up to the gym.The fact that it was 730 in the morning, by the way, was my choice, too.
(21:17) I hate training in the morning, but I wanted 730 AM because in my mind there would be fewer people there and so there would be fewer people to see me and I would deal with that embarrassment and shame better in a smaller environment. (21:30) And so that was my first workout.And, you know, we looking back, we did next to nothing and somehow I felt like I was gonna die. I pushed an empty sled about 30 yards up the turf and back four times. (21:43) I did my own body weight squats to a gigantically high box, like a 24 inch box.So we're really talking about the equivalent of sitting down in a chair and standing up. I mean, this is not anything tremendous from a workout standpoint. (21:57) And then I think I did some incline dumbbell press with 15 pound dumbbells and that was the entire workout 30 minutes.And like, I could probably do that now in two minutes and do it as a warm up to a workout. (22:09) But back then I'll never forget how I felt. I was I felt like somebody had dragged me out into deep water and I was just like, vigorously trying to tread water.(22:19) I was like, when is this gonna end? What's he gonna have me do next? Like, all the same fears that I'm sure a lot of your listeners deal with when we go try and take really strong action for change. (22:31) Change is never easy. It always comes outside of your comfort zone and I couldn't have been more outside of my comfort zone.I was hurting. I was panting. My lungs were burning from breathing so hard.(22:42) I remember by I failed to mention this part, the turf that I was pushing the sled on was in the back of the gym. (22:49) And I remember walking from the front of the gym to the back of the gym. When I got back there, I had to sit down.I had to take a break because I was already out of breath.
(22:56) Like, that's how bad my conditioning was at that time. And I remember I was acting like I was tying my shoe, hoping that Matt wouldn't realize that I needed a break already.(23:06) I mean, there's no way he didn't realize it. Actually, I think I was wearing like slip-on shoes, too. So I was acting like I was tying shoes that don't even tie, which is ridiculous.(23:14) But that's how out of it I was. But that was really a major step. I thought I was just gonna do what a lot of people I think do.(23:22) Just take a GLP-1 and change my diet and just lose as much weight as I could. (23:27) And then once I dropped the weight, then start to incorporate some strength training. And Matt had other ideas.(23:34) And so two days a week in the gym, turned to three days a week in the gym, turned to four days a week in the gym. (23:39) Through the gym, I met some incredible people, including another nurse practitioner that, you know, really wanted to look at me from an HRT standpoint. (23:48) And so we did some more testing, some more lab work.And I found out that at 49 years old, my testosterone was 154. (23:59) She said it was the lowest she'd seen in 20 years. And that's horrendous for a 49-year-old man.(24:04) I mean, if I was 80, then maybe. But for a 49-year-old man to have a testosterone that low, it's no wonder that I didn't ever have any energy.
(24:12) It's no wonder I always had mood swings.No wonder I couldn't work out or exercise. (24:17) And so I met her, and she helped me tremendously. And I do TRT.Again, no shame in it. (24:24) I think everybody should have their hormone levels at the right place. I'm not sure why there's any stigma around that.(24:31) But again, she got me started. And so I'll just tell you that within, I think within six months of training in the gym, (24:39) I had lost, that would have been February, I probably lost about 75 pounds in six months. (24:47) But more importantly though, my A1C when I first started was a 9.9. (24:53) So I was full-blown type 2 diabetic, which is why Jennifer sent me the text, said it's time.(24:58) My cholesterol was a 225. Within six months, all of that had been corrected. (25:04) My A1C was down in the fives.I was no longer even pre-diabetic by that standard. (25:11) My cholesterol was down around 150, a much more normal range. (25:16) And I was just feeling better.And so I said earlier, like you can change your whole life, you know, in 12 months. (25:24) In six months, I had already made tremendous change. (25:28) And so I think that that was really important.(25:31) And, you know, one thing that I would mention too is how a lot of people ask me, like, how did you get through the really difficult parts? (25:38) Why didn't you quit? And it's a great question because throughout my entire life, I've lost weight and I've quit. (25:44) Lose it, gain it back, lose it, gain it back, you know, the yo-yo diets and all that.
(25:48) And I would say that two things happened this time that never really happened before.(25:54) One would be I actually got the inside of my body functioning properly, you know, getting my hormone levels right. (26:02) And actually having my body be receptive of the things that I was doing to it is a huge part of it. (26:08) And secondarily, the strength training.I had never really, I hadn't been in a gym in 15 years. (26:13) And so to me, like going to the gym is hard. (26:18) But from a from a body composition standpoint, the more muscle I built, the better I burn fat, the better I felt, the better I function.(26:27) Like all of those things were really important. (26:29) And then also just from a mindset standpoint, there's something that's really important about reminding yourself that you can do hard things. (26:37) That's something that I had forgotten along the way.(26:40) I just had become this shell of myself that, you know, my my wife would do things for me. (26:46) And, you know, it's funny now. (26:47) Now I'll go to do something.(26:48) She's like, no, don't do that. (26:49) I'm like, why? (26:50) And she's like, oh, I forget. (26:52) You can do everything now.(26:53) Like, that's a real comment that she's made on multiple occasions. (26:56) And so but yeah. (26:57) And then the other thing that I would say happened, too, is, you know, people ask me, how did I not quit? (27:01) I just told myself that for 90 days I wouldn't quit.(27:04) I just it was an arbitrary number that I picked. (27:06) But I said, no matter how miserable this gets, I will stick with it for 90 days. (27:10) And if on day 91, I still want to quit, then I will.(27:14) And so the first 30 days were hell and I was miserable. (27:17) I mean, I can't overstate that. (27:20) I was miserable.(27:22) The next 30 days kind of tolerated it. (27:25) It wasn't miserable. (27:26) I didn't love it.(27:26) I didn't want to be in the gym, but it was more tolerable. (27:29) And then I would say by the time I hit the 90 day mark, I was good. (27:33) I mean, I had I'd lost significant weight.(27:36) I could see the changes. (27:37) I could feel the changes. (27:38) And it would have taken a lot for somebody to get me to quit at that time.(27:41) And so talking with people now that are kind of behavioral scientists, I didn't know this, but like there's real science behind 90 days.
(27:48) Complete dumb luck for me. (27:50) I don't even know why 90 days came in my head, but that's the number I picked.(27:54) And it turns out there's science behind it. (27:56) If you do something for 90 days, you're likely to stick with it. (27:59) And so 90 days was an arbitrary number for me, but I'm glad I picked it.(28:03) And by day 91, you couldn't you couldn't pull me out of the gym. (28:06) I was completely hooked at that point. (28:08) Yeah.(28:09) Yeah. (28:09) And I mean, you know, too, like you were talking about, like, you know, behavioral reasons behind things. (28:14) It's as I'm learning to usually there's like a couple of reasons people make change.(28:19) And it's either to get away from pain, you know, or to go towards the pleasure. (28:24) And unfortunately, a lot of us, you know, it takes that pain point, that breaking point to finally make the change instead of along the way when you're thinking, okay, yeah. (28:33) Maybe I should.(28:33) Maybe I should. (28:34) And you start making a change and you feel better and then you want to keep going. (28:37) Right.(28:37) No, it takes that that severe, you know, breaking point a lot of times before we really make those changes and decide to to actually stick with those changes. (28:49) Going back to I think that's it's an important conversation going back to what you were saying, you know, about the GLP ones and the stigma along that. (28:59) Because I haven't talked a whole lot about that or I haven't had even guests on that, you know, that have had experience with it.(29:07) And I think it's super important. (29:08) And you could, you know, somebody listening might say, well, he's a guy. (29:11) But I think it's it's no matter, you know, guy, girl, whatever it is, you did it the right way.(29:18) I think that's that's where some of the stigma, you know, I think does come in because, first of all, yes, you can see some of especially celebrities and stuff that are using it that that don't need to lose any more weight. (29:31) Right. And I think that's one thing or maybe they do.(29:34) But that's what they're solely relying on. (29:36) But you did the right way, especially even first with the nutrition piece. (29:40) Like, I think that's super important.(29:43) And then you, of course, did even better by adding in the strength training piece to that.
(29:49) I think you're right about the stigma coming from that. (29:52) There's a lot of people that that do use it as a cheat code.(29:56) And then the people that, A, genuinely needed it and then B, use it the right way, end up paying the price for those those people that, you know, I'm just going to get a prescription for Ozempic so I can lose this last 10 pounds or, you know, I get that. (30:11) Right. That that's silly to me.(30:14) But when you're talking about somebody that is 440 pounds and diabetic, I mean, I'm who Manjaro was made for. (30:22) There's no there's no cheating. (30:24) There's no shortcut to diabetic medication.(30:27) And I needed something that was going to get my my blood sugar right. (30:31) I needed something that was going to help me metabolize food better and regulate that process better. (30:36) And so I don't like the stigma doesn't bother me.(30:40) I feel bad for the people that I see on social media and the way that they get viciously attacked for it. (30:47) For me personally, you can say whatever you want to say about me. (30:50) I really don't care.(30:51) Like, I'm living my best life.
(30:53) I feel great. (30:53) I know exactly what's in my body.(30:55) I know my body is doing exactly what it's supposed to do for the first time, really, in 20 plus years. (31:01) The way that I feel is, you know, it's it's it's enough for me, regardless of what anybody thinks about how I got here. (31:08) But I'll say this, though.(31:09) One thing that I'm really, really grateful for is I'm so glad that Matt did get me in the gym. (31:15) And he didn't know I was taking a GOP one. (31:17) He didn't find that out until probably like a week or two into training.(31:19) And when he found that out, the first thing he said was, I'm glad we're doing this. (31:23) You need this because and he walked me through it. (31:26) He said, you'll lose weight, but you will lose muscle.(31:28) He's like, you'll lose muscle. (31:30) You'll lose bone density. (31:31) You'll lose all of it.(31:32) He's like, and so the reality is there's a right way to do this. (31:36) Let's strength train. (31:37) And so really, there was three parts of it for me.(31:39) There's there's the GOP one. (31:41) There's the nutrition and there's the exercise. (31:43) And so the fact that I was I was doing all three of those simultaneously right out of the gate, I think is a huge reason why I had such great results, but also why I continue to today.(31:54) I'm still losing weight. (31:56) I'm still adding muscle. (31:57) I do an in-body scan once a month just so I can see my my body comp.(32:01) And, you know, my last in-body scan, my my body fat percentage went down. (32:05) My weight went down and my skeletal muscle mass went up like we're still moving in the right direction. (32:09) I'm you know, this has become a mantra for me.
(32:11) This three word mantra not done yet. (32:13) I am not done yet. (32:14) You know, and I've come to realize and this is a huge mindset shift for me.(32:18) I'll never be done. (32:20) You know, we always I think when we have these really short term goals or even medium or long term goals. (32:25) But they're these finite goals.(32:27) It's dangerous. (32:28) It's dangerous because you're telling yourself when I get to this point, I'm going to stop. (32:34) And the reality is we can never stop.(32:37) I can't get to my goal weight, which by the way, I don't have one, but I can't get to my goal weight and then go, OK, I'm done going to the gym now. (32:44) I did it. (32:44) Pat myself on the back.(32:45) Congratulations. (32:46) Like this is forever for me. (32:48) And that might sound daunting to some people that aren't already in the journey.(32:53) But I promise you, once you get in the journey, it's not daunting. (32:58) It's it's liberating. (32:59) It's freeing.(33:00) Like for me, even in my life outside of health and wellness, I now know that every time I accomplish something, I'm just going to raise the bar a little more. (33:10) You know, I'm going to dangle some new goal out in front of me that I now want to accomplish. (33:15) And so that's why that that mantra not done yet is so big to me.(33:20) And I mean, so much my wife had not done yet. (33:23) T-shirts made. (33:24) I wear them all the time, like, you know, because it's a it's a mindset shift.(33:29) And so, you know, there's a great book by Simon Sinek called The Infinite Game. (33:33) And he talks about the difference between finite games and infinite games. (33:36) Life is an infinite game.(33:37) It is not a finite game. (33:39) Like a finite game is a game where there's there's a clock running and there's a score. (33:43) And at the end of it, you either win or you lose.(33:45) The infinite game is not about winning and losing. (33:48) It's about surviving so that you can continue to play for as long as humanly possible.
(33:53) That's the game that we're all playing in life.(33:55) And that that was that really opened up my mind from a from a health and wellness standpoint of like, OK, this. (34:01) And you hear this all the time. (34:02) What's a lifestyle change? (34:04) It's true.(34:04) It's true. (34:05) But even lifestyle change, I think, seems a little bit nearsighted and limited, because to me, I could have a lifestyle change, get to where I want and then change right back. (34:16) It's not a lifestyle change.(34:17) It's none of that. (34:18) It is. (34:19) I am not done yet.(34:21) I will never be done in health and wellness, in my business, in all of that. (34:26) And so I speak differently now. (34:28) You probably know that we've known each other for almost 10 years.(34:30) Like, I didn't speak with this kind of confidence or authority before. (34:34) I kind of just squirreled away a little bit because I wasn't proud of myself. (34:39) I didn't have something to be that confident about.(34:43) Thank you so much for listening to this episode of PCOS Unfiltered. (34:47) I hope Chris's story reminded you of something really important. (34:51) It is never too late to take the first step.(34:53) No matter how stuck you feel, no matter how long you've been struggling and no matter how far gone you think you are, change is still possible. (35:01) One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is that transformation doesn't require perfection. (35:06) It just requires a decision to begin and then the willingness to keep going.(35:11) One step, one choice, one percent better at a time.
(35:15) I also love the reminder that healing is never just about one outcome. (35:19) When you start improving your health, it spills into everything.(35:22) Your confidence, your energy, your relationships, your presence, your purpose, and the way you show up in your life. (35:29) If this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to share it with a friend, take a screenshot and tag us on social media, or leave a review so more people can find this conversation and realize that their story is not over yet. (35:42) You can connect with Chris on Instagram at fit underscore 50 and his book, Fit by 50, My Year-Long Journey from Death to Life, is available on Amazon, Kindle, and Audible.(35:53) I'll make sure all of that is linked in the show notes for you. (35:57) Alright, I'm sending you so much love and I'll see you on the next episode of PCOS Unfiltered. (36:02) Nourish.Heal. Thrive.