How Nate Lost 23 Pounds in 5 Months Without Cutting Dessert
A 45-year-old man in tech walked 10,000 steps a day and lifted three times a week. He also ate a pint of homemade ice cream every day. Five months later he was 23 pounds lighter with his blood sugar under control.
Nate lost about 23 pounds in five months. He ate ice cream every single day while he did it. He is 45 and works in tech. The plan ran on high volume food, 10,000 steps a day, and three strength sessions a week. Listen to Episode 137 for the full conversation.
Nate Started at About 197 Pounds
Nate works in tech and puts in long hours. He also travels internationally. Coach Brian says it seemed like every other week Nate was headed somewhere new.
He is a foodie on top of all of it. He lives for desserts and he told Brian that dessert making is an art.
The two of them met in February through a mutual friend. Nate weighed about 197 pounds and his blood sugar numbers sat higher than he was comfortable with.
He already had an exercise plan. What he did not have was control over his schedule or a routine that held. He put it this way on the recording. He had no internal structure to his days and no systematic way to combine his food with his exercise.
Why Nate Turned Down a GLP-1
Nate decided early that he would not go on Ozempic.
He was worried about side effects and what the drug does to the pancreas, the gut, and the stomach. He did not want irreversible damage. He also wanted to do the work himself.
Brian's read on GLP-1s is the same one he gives on the show. A GLP-1 can be a real tool depending on where a man is with his health and how much weight he needs to lose. A chronic illness like diabetes is the main reason a man should get on one. Needing to drop twenty pounds is a different situation. He covers this at length on episodes 121, 123, and 131.
He points at keto as the example of how these things move. Keto was the rage a few years ago and almost nobody talks about being on it now.
Three Things That Changed How Nate Eats
Nate named three.
A framework for how much to eat. He got real metrics for how much food belonged on his plate across each category. Before that he was working off what he had taught himself.
Permission to eat carbs. Nate had done keto. He knew the relative importance of protein and carbs and fat. What nobody had told him is that his body needs the carbs and that the useful part is being selective about how and when he eats them.
A way to watch his own behavior. Plan ahead and observe yourself. Notice where the lapses come and stop being hard on yourself when one happens. When Nate has a dinner or a party on the calendar he knows he will eat more there. He eats a little lighter earlier in the day or he lets it go and moves on.
The Ice Cream He Eats Every Single Day
For Nate ice cream is non negotiable. He ate it every day through the whole five months and he still does.
He makes it at home in a Ninja Creami. He uses Fairlife milk with allulose and monk sugar so there is no added sugar and no fat.
His favorite is a pistachio he makes himself. A full pint of it runs about 150 calories with 20 grams of protein. His friends tell him they cannot tell it apart from store bought.
That one habit did most of the work on his cravings. He went further from there and rebuilt other favorite dishes at home in a healthier form. He never had to cut a food he loved.
10,000 Steps a Day and Three Days of Lifting
Nate walks 10,000 steps almost every day with no excuses. That takes him about an hour and a half because he walks slowly and likes to take in what is around him. He fits it in with walking meetings and fifteen minute chunks through the day.
He calls walking a cheat code and Brian agrees.
He skipped running and heavy cardio on purpose to protect his joints. His stated goal is to walk until the day he dies.
He also hired a trainer and lifted three days a week. Brian's point on strength work is blunt. Father Time pulls muscle off a man's body no matter what he does. Staying strong is what keeps a man functional later instead of hobbling around or stuck in a wheelchair.
Meal Timing for a Brain That Works Hard
Nate used to be a mathematician. His job in tech still asks for hours of hard thinking at a stretch. He cannot think on an empty stomach, so he gave up intermittent fasting.
Brian's explanation is short. The brain runs on glucose. A man doing hours of deep work needs a way to keep that fuel steady or he ends up with brain fog and no productivity. He then comes out of that work famished with no plan and eats everything in front of him.
Two meals Nate built around this:
Before the gym. A generous dollop of honey with Greek yogurt. The honey gives him fast sugar his muscles can use during the session.
Before deep work. A generous bowl of Greek yogurt with peanut butter and fruit. High protein with steady energy for the next three or four hours.
Brian names honey in tea as another version of the same idea.
The Volume Approach That Kept Him Full
Nate said the program had him eating more food than he expected. Every serving got built around high volume so it would hold him until the next meal. He never felt like he was on a plan that took things away from him.
Brian's two questions do that work. Where's the protein? Where's the fiber? Those two answers put a big plate of food in front of a man at a lower calorie count so he does not overeat.
Here is what the eating looked like. Protein, vegetables, starchy carbs, and healthy fats. Three to four meals a day at roughly four to five hundred calories each. Balance most of the time with room made for a bigger meal when it mattered.
Nate also had to teach himself to stop grazing between meals. Each snack runs around a hundred calories and they stack up fast. They also keep pulling on insulin and blood sugar through the day.
Fruit surprised him. He expected far less of it on a fat loss plan. One serving of blackberries turned out to be a large bowl and some days he has two or three. He had believed that eating fruit or carbs alongside protein and fat would wreck his blood sugar. It did not.
What Travel Looked Like
Before each trip Nate and Brian talked through what could go sideways. They stayed in touch during the trip too.
For South Africa the plan was dessert two days a week instead of five. Nate says he did not hold to it. He had a plan to come back to, and that is the part that counted.
Florida and Japan went better than holding steady. He came home from both lighter than he left. He walked a lot. He ate light through the day with coffee to carry him so he could sit down to one excellent meal at dinner.
He never traded down on food quality. He is not talking about expensive restaurants either. Fried chicken and fried dough from a hole in the wall counts. Brian's read on him is that Nate can sniff out the best food in any city he lands in.
Friends in Japan who had not seen him in a while noticed the change.
The First Two Weeks Are Education
Nate's advice to any man considering the program is one specific thing. Make it non negotiable to send Brian a picture of every meal you eat for the first two weeks.
He describes those two weeks as a tremendous amount of education. After that it turned into coaching. He came in already knowing plenty about protein and carbs and fat, and he set that knowledge aside and trusted the plan.
Brian's version of the same idea is that he hits the nail on the head in the first two to three weeks and drives it as far into the wood as it will go. Everything after that gets easier.
Most men skip that part. They cut calories or carbs, drop ten pounds, and gain eleven back a month later. Nothing in their behavior changed along the way.
Where Nate Is at Five Months
He is about 175 pounds and down about 23. He has not been at this weight since high school.
His blood sugar numbers are under control. That is the result he says matters most to him.
He stopped counting calories because he is at his target weight and maintenance comes easy to him now. He wants ten more pounds off and some muscle on top of that at 45.
He also reports better strength, better function, and more presence at work and at home.
Brian's maintenance target for every client is a five pound weight range they can live inside for the rest of their life. When Nate reaches the top of his range he pulls back on the pastry at the French cafe for a couple of days and it settles back down. Gaining ten pounds is a bigger problem. At one to two pounds a week that is five to ten weeks of work to undo.
Common Mistakes Men Make Here
Treating a favorite food as the enemy. Nate kept ice cream every single day and lost 23 pounds. He changed how it got made.
Eating less and less. Nate ate more food than he expected and stayed full to the next meal.
Fasting through work that needs a clear head. Nate dropped intermittent fasting because he could not think well on an empty stomach.
Grazing between meals. Snacks run about a hundred calories each and stack up quickly.
Waiting until the travel calms down to start. Nate came home from Florida and Japan lighter than he left.
Who This Is For and Who It Is Not For
This is for the man in his 40s who is doing well at work and carrying weight he does not want. He travels for work and eats out often. He cares about food and has no interest in giving it up.
It is not for a man who wants a list of banned foods and a 30 day sprint. Nate spent his first two weeks in heavy education and then ran the plan for five months.
Cross-episode links
- Episode 121: GLP-1s: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
- Episode 123: Why GLP-1s Are Costing Men Muscle
- Episode 131: Everyone Around Me Is On GLP-1. Should I Be Too?
Call to Action
Nate spent his first two weeks learning how to eat before anything else moved. If you want a short version of that to run this week, the free Lose 3 lbs in 3 Days plan gives you three days of food and training structure. Get it at thecalltorise.com/lose3lbsin3days.
When you want the full structure, The Call To Rise is Coach Brian's 100 day program for driven men who want to lose 20 or more pounds and get their health up to the level their career is already at. It includes an individualized meal plan, an individualized training plan, weekly round table calls with the group, 1:1 calls with Brian, and a client site holding every resource in one place. The guarantee is one sentence. Lose 20 or more pounds in the 100 days, or Brian keeps working with you until you do. Apply at thecalltorise.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you eat ice cream every day and still lose weight?
Nate ate ice cream every single day for five months and lost about 23 pounds. He made it himself in a Ninja Creami with Fairlife milk, allulose, and monk sugar. A full pint came to about 150 calories with 20 grams of protein. The food he loved stayed in and the way it got made changed.
How much weight did Nate lose on Driven For Health episode 137?
Nate went from about 197 pounds to about 175 in five months, down roughly 23 pounds at age 45. His blood sugar numbers also came under control, which he says is the result that matters most to him.
How do you make high protein ice cream at home?
Nate uses a Ninja Creami with Fairlife milk and sweetens it with allulose and monk sugar instead of sugar. His pistachio version runs about 150 calories with 20 grams of protein per pint and no fat. He did not share full quantities or a method on the episode.
Do you have to cut carbs to lower your blood sugar?
Nate had done keto and believed that eating fruit or carbs alongside protein and fat would wreck his blood sugar. Coach Brian had him eat the carbs his body needs and be selective about how and when. Nate ate generous portions of fruit and his blood sugar numbers came under control.
Is walking 10,000 steps a day enough to lose weight?
Nate walked 10,000 steps almost every day and lifted with a trainer three days a week. He calls walking a cheat code and Coach Brian agrees. Coach Brian pairs the walking with strength training because muscle comes off a man's body with age and staying strong is what keeps him functional.
What should you eat before a workout and before deep work?
Before the gym Nate has a generous dollop of honey with Greek yogurt, which gives his muscles fast sugar during the session. Before hours of hard thinking he has a generous bowl of Greek yogurt with peanut butter and fruit for steady energy across three or four hours. Coach Brian's point is that the brain runs on glucose and deep work needs a fuel plan.
How do you avoid gaining weight while traveling internationally?
Nate and Coach Brian talked through each trip before he left and stayed in touch while he was gone. In Florida and Japan he walked a lot and ate light through the day so he could have one excellent meal at dinner. He came home from both trips lighter than he left.
What is The Call To Rise?
The Call To Rise is Coach Brian Parana's 100 day program for driven men who want to lose 20 or more pounds and get their health up to the level their career is already at. It includes an individualized meal plan, an individualized training plan, weekly round table calls, 1:1 calls with Brian, and a client site with every resource in one place. The guarantee is that you lose 20 or more pounds in the 100 days, or Brian keeps working with you until you do.
