ERF 936: Fighting Back After Lung Disease: How Wes Lost 30 Pounds and Defied the Odds

If you're somebody who struggled with depression, coming back from an injury, or any sort of big life event like losing a loved one, then this podcast is gonna be for you. I chat with my assistant coach Irene and our one-on-one coaching client Wes. And first off, Wes's personality is really fun and he's a great speaker, so you'll enjoy listening to him talk. But he tells his story about in a span of a couple of years, He got a lung disease, which is very rare. It's a very interesting story you'll enjoy listening to. And then he got an injury, and then he unfortunately lost his father. And despite all of these things, he decided to start focusing on his health and fitness journey. And from him doing that, he's lost over 30 pounds. He's lost over 10 inches on his waist. He's gotten stronger than he's ever been before. And mind you, he did all of this by starting out working out 2 to 3 times a week for 15 minutes. He didn't know anything about calories, didn't know anything about protein and macros, but he bought in. He decided to commit, and now he's changed his life forever. So I know this podcast is going to be able to help you today on your journey. I would encourage you to write down some notes or put it in the notes section of your phone that you can take with you. And before we get into the podcast, if you are interested in learning more about our one-on-one online coaching program, you can click the link in the description of this podcast below to get some more information on how to work with myself and my team one-on-one. I hope you enjoy, and I'll see you next episode. Really, you know, it's funny, like, first and foremost, congratulations on second place in the challenge. That's super sick. It's so cool, you and Carly both just like fucking savages. And I guess there's one also— there's also another, uh, common denominator on the podcast here as well, which would be Coach Irene. Apparently I gotta get set up with Coach Irene to make sure I can win a challenge too. So, uh, but yeah, man, congratulations on that.

Thank you. Thank you very much. That was a big— I'm a competitive person. I'm still in the challenge now. Like, I feel like I'm still doing it.

Yeah. Well, we do have January's challenge coming up. So that'll be, that'll be something you could rock out with as well, man. But, but no, so listen, dude, I just kind of want to, like, I know a little bit of your backstory. We had kind of talked, you know, right before, you know, you joined up and whatnot. But I think this podcast is going to be really helpful for people because I almost feel like you had every reason not to sign up when you did. And I feel like you're, you're laughing cuz you know it's true. But dude, so many people will just look, they will look for excuses why they can't start. Whereas you, even in the midst of all the shit that was going on, you still got started. So like, that's kind of the first place I wanna start. The first question I wanna ask you, man, is like, number one, if you don't mind sharing as much as you'd like to share, like what was going on during the time of you like deciding to sign up? And then number two, Why did you decide to do it amidst of all of that?

I almost think so. And maybe you don't know my— but the story before the story, you know, huh?

Yeah. Yeah. Please tell.

And I'll take it back. So please, I think like April of 2023, right? I was having a lot of lower back issues and I was probably balancing anywhere between 230, 240. Oh no. 220 to 230. Excuse me. Was just in pain all the time. And I was like, what is wrong? Right? And so the VA, you know, spent 23, almost 24 years in the military. And so I was getting a lot of treatment from the VA. And they're like, oh, well, we'll give you the shot and it'll make you better. You know, steroid shot in my in my lower back. So I got the steroid shot in July, and before that, like I was struggling to get out of bed. I was struggling to walk anywhere, and so I got that shot, and a week later I was like, I got a whole new lease on life, right? Like let me let me go do something big. And I told Carly, I said, um. I want to do something that's like health goal-wise that will make me change, right? Because I had that mindset of like, you know, I'm training for a fitness test and I have to, you know, 2-mile run and the new Army fitness test, like do all those events. Like it wasn't a big deal. And it didn't take, you know, I'm a guy, right? And that's what women all hate us for is like, it takes us 3 weeks and we're like, bam, okay, back in shape. Let's go. And I wanted something that would force me to make a change. And so I was like, I'm gonna sign up for an ultramarathon. And so I signed up for a 100-kilometer run at the beach here in North Carolina. It was up and down the Outer Banks, and I can't remember the name of it to save my life right now.

Blackbeard's Revenge.

That's it.

There you go.

Okay. And so I signed up for that, started training, started running every day, running. I got a nutritionist involved. And what I came to realize was like, my training was not training to run. My training was, how do I eat while running? How do I maintain fuel while running? Well, in, in that whole craziness, I got sick, right? And this is January, late January of '24. I got really sick. And to the point I was like coughing and Carly's like, what's wrong with you? Right? And I was like, I don't know. Right? Like, I've gone to urgent care. I did what you told me. I took all the— she was, she, she was a pharmacy tech back in the day. So she's like, take all the meds.

Mm-hmm.

So I'm taking all these meds. I go to urgent care. I go to the doctor, and urgent care is like, "You didn't test. You tested negative for RSV, the flu, COVID. You don't have any of it." It's like, cool. Cough gets worse. Like, okay, great. Right? Go back to the same urgent care. Hey, still a problem. So they give me like steroids, cough medicine, and the little like Teslon pearls. I think they are, which really kind of took the edge off of the cough, but didn't really. And then by The end of that week, right? I go back to urgent care. Well, I told Carly, I said, I'm laying on the couch. She's a drill. And she goes, she goes, why don't you not take Tylenol and see what happens? Like, see how your fever does? Because every day at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I spiked a fever. And I was like, this is— who spikes a fever at the exact same time every day for a week? Right? Like clockwork. I was like, here it comes. And she goes, don't take Tylenol. Let it hit. Let's see how your body reacts. Well, I was like, oh, okay, this is not good. So I go to urgent care that afternoon and I go to a different urgent care and I get in there and at this point I'm like boiling and boiling and the doc comes in after I waited what felt like forever.

Mm-hmm.

And they did a chest X-ray because I was coughing so hard. And he goes, I've never seen this before. And I was like, dude, what are you talking about?

Right?

And he shows me my X-ray. And in my X-ray is this perfect egg-sized circle that's full of something in my lung. It's like, wow, okay. And he goes, you got a hole in your lung. And I was like, no, I'm breathing fine. I mean, like, what do you mean a hole in my lung? And he's like, I don't know. I don't know any more about that. I'm a PA, but I need you to go across the street to the ER. So yeah, so I could make this story hours long.

You got to keep going. Keep going. Yes.

So I, I'm in the hospital, right? And they're like, hey, you've got us, you're in, oh, you're borderline septic. Um, we need to get you up upstairs, get you on antibiotics. We don't know what's wrong. You know, I'm doing the CAT scan to get more definition on that. And they're like, okay, well, it's Saturday. Tomorrow, we're going to stabilize you tonight. Tomorrow, nothing, right? Because it was a community hospital. It wasn't a big thing. Um, and they didn't have really a staff that could Worked all weekend. So Monday I have to wait for infectious disease and the pulmonologist, and I get woken up at like 5:45. You know, if you spend a lot of time in the hospital, you get it, right? There's constant checks, so you don't really sleep in the hospital. And I It was like 5:45. The infectious disease short dude, bald head, walks in, older guy, and he's like, hi, I hear you've got something we need to talk about. I was like, I don't even— I don't know. You guys told me I have a hole in my lung and that's all I know. And he goes, yeah, we, we don't really know what it is, but I need you to spit in this cup. It's like, oh, okay. So all week long, I'm spitting in this cup and I cough. I spit in the cup. They take it every four hours. By the end of the week, I and mind you, I've been on antibiotics like a constant pump of antibiotics. I've been in a room that was off limits. Like I was basically in quarantine, and so the only people that they would let in there were the nurses with a full like. Biological suit, my wife and family with a tiny mask if they wanted to wear it. And I was like, this doesn't make sense. And they're like, but it's not tuberculosis. So we're not, we're not sure. And they said, it's going to take 6 to 8 weeks to figure out what this is. And it, it turns out, like, they let me go home at the end of that week. And because the fluid— so what happened was that that sac just held a bunch of fluid and it had like, uh, hardened, um, calcified in there. And so most of the infectious fluid had gotten out on those really harsh meds and, and what have you. Uh, so 6 weeks later they're like, hey, you tested positive for MAC, which is a lung disease. Uh, Mycobacterium avium complex for the nerds out there. And I was like, okay, what does that mean? And they're like, well, you have to test positive twice. And I said, look at all my tests that week and the tests I've done since. It was twice. It was more than twice.

Mm-hmm.

And so they're like, okay, we'll start you on a treatment. They're really harsh and you could lose your vision. Oh, mind you, Carly, when I went into the hospital, was at the end of her first trimester.

Jeez.

And, and on the military side, they're like, hey, uh, you've got something wrong with your lung and we're just gonna kick you out. And I was like, so in the midst of fighting all, you know, for what— I had no idea what caused this, right? So, um, in, in everything that I knew, I was like, how do I random guy pick up a lung disease? Well, they wound up tying it back to environmental exposures. And the— so I had a vulnerability in my lung. I have asthma, or I have asthma, but that's what allowed this everyday bacteria to get in. And that's what created the Mycobacterium avium complex infection or disease. So fast forward to, I guess, August. I've been on these meds that were going to make me blind or give me all these issues, and they gave me a bunch of GI issues. Like, I will never— if you've got to give me antibiotics for more than like 3 months, just let's do the surgery. Let's cut it out. Let's just get rid of whatever body part that is and be done.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so then we get, you know, uh, we get to August, right? And the first week of August, I've got a bronchoscopy and we're in the hospital and they're like, y'all are on the wrong side. And because Carly is 36 weeks pregnant. And so we're walking through, they're like, yeah, labor and delivery's over here. We're like, no, we're, we're here for this guy.

It's me. I'm the problem.

Yeah, I'm the problem. So everybody has jokes and everything about pregnancy and all this stuff, and I'm over here like, I, I'm having trouble breathing. There's something in here and I need it out. Um, and so yeah, like, I get home, I feel like crap from the bronchoscopy, and the next day Carly's like, I'm I think I'm gonna have the baby. And I was like, no, I need recovery. Like, this hurts. They just, they just took a bunch of chunks out all from like here down. And, uh, yeah, so that weekend Link was born.

Mm-hmm.

And he's been an awesome little blessing. Um, and a little— it's, it's fun because Then we were like, well, we can't do anything. And my pulmonologist was like, hey, I want to cut this out, but I'm going to give you time. Because his wife, my pulmonologist's wife, is an OB at the same hospital. And so, yeah, we went until October. And in October of '24, they cut— I had a trisegmentectomy. Or lobectomy, so they cut the top three lobes of my left lung out.

Geez!

And I went home three days later.

Right? Geez!

I was in the hospital for seven days trying to figure out what it was. They cut it out. They're like, "Okay, you can go home." Okay, cool. Right? So me, mind you, like packed full of fluids, meds, what have you. Like 240 pounds, not happy, can't do much of anything. Carly's like, I want to start back to work. You know, that's where her journey with you guys started, right? Was like the— I think it was that same week where she started back to work and she started on— she started with Coach Irene and, you know, that part, the rest is history. Um, And so it's been a it. I'll say the first couple months were me just watching her have this success and being jealous. And then she's like, "I gotta, I gotta, I gotta track my calories. I gotta track this." And I was like, "I don't. You go for it. I will eat what you're eating." But I'm going to eat like 3 or 4 times the amount that you're eating, 'cause I'm hungry.

Right.

And like every night, so she would go to bed early on, she would go to bed at like 7 o'clock. And I don't know if you can, yeah, you can kind of see my nerd stuff behind me. Um, she would go to bed and I'd sit there on my laptop and like play around with like different microcontrollers and different hacking gadgets. Ethical hacking gadgets and stuff like that and like just nerd out. And I would sit there and eat pretzels and just chow down on little pretzel sticks like for hours. And, um, yeah, so I was like, this is a great life, right? And I mean, you know, Link was, Link was stressful enough, so this was my like Way to de-stress. And then, you know, she wins the challenge and I'm like, okay, now I gotta pay attention. Right. And I, I think, you know, you guys had me on, on FaceTime.

Yep.

When you told her she won. And I was like, cuz she yells down the stairwell and I was like, you're full of shit. What are you talking about? Like, I have barely, like, you've been doing these workouts. Like, how did you win? I mean, not that you haven't made big progress, but like, what are you talking about? And she's like, I just won. And I was like, no, you didn't. Right? Like, this is so random. And then you guys were like, hey, yeah, she won. I was like, okay. Wow. Right. And so it's funny because I listened back, like I wanted to prepare for having this podcast.

Yeah.

So I listened back to hers. And I was like, you know, in March we had, we've had so many changes. Like life has happened. And I think Irene was saying on the podcast with Carly that, that, um, like every week was something different. Like every time there was something else. And so I want to say, so I started working out with Carly after that, right?

Yeah.

After she won the challenge, because clearly it's working and like, I need to get on board. And, but I still had a lot of pain and I was like, is this leftover from the lung surgery? What's going on? And so I started seeing an ortho and he's like, yeah, no, we need to, uh, we need to do some disc fusion in your neck and, um, or replace the disc and do some vertebrae fusion. So I was like, okay, well, let me get as physically ready as I can. So I started lifting with Carly really at that point. And at the same time, my father was going through— he's been going through heart issues for years, but like, I was like, okay, I need to pay more attention and be involved. And I think Irene was on the call a few times where my dad was just lighting me up for being in his personal life, even though I was this Healthcare power of attorney, and you know the executor on his estate. And I was like, "I need you to like there's certain things I need you to do." Stay out of my. Hmm. Um. And so, yeah, I have the surgery, and like I'm in a neck brace, and I decide I'm gonna start podcasting. So I got my little podcast.

You guys, that's awesome.

Let's go. Yeah, I see. I have my little podcast mic, so I sound good, right?

Yeah.

And um. I started doing like weather YouTube and stuff like that, and I couldn't really do much outside, but I started walking with Carly again where I could. And we decided to move or look for homes and move, and we put in an offer on a house. And I think I probably had the conversation about starting, or I was interested because I was like, okay, I'm, I'm getting healthy. I'm gonna turn it around again. It's July again of another year. Like, let's go with the health goals. There's something about me in July. I'm gonna just do it again. I'm gonna sign up.

By the way, Irene, make sure you note that down. This July, he's gonna do something. So make sure you take a note.

Yeah, there's gotta be something in July.

Yeah.

Um, and so I just was like, let me have a conversation, right? And you, you, you hit me up immediately. You're like, hey. And, and I'll tell you, and I said this to Carly, and, and I don't mean this poorly, but I was like, he gave me the used car salesman pitch.

Wait a minute. It was hard.

It was hard to say no.

Wait a minute.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't mean that in a bad way, but like, I, there was no way for me on, on that call to be like, I don't want to do it. Because you're, you're so like, you're persuasive and motivational. And you had this like, suave about you. And I was like, I feel like I'm doing something that I don't necessarily want to do. But like, it's happening. And I'm not, I don't know how I feel about this. And, and I was like, I guess I'm signing up. Yeah, let's Let's go, right? And you're like, yep, let's go. I'm like, okay. And I think that so then that same week, my dad passed, or like the next week. And I was like, I'm I gotta I gotta start, right? Like I can't I can't sign up for this or say that I'm gonna sign up for it. I know that I need to make a change. Like clearly I have congenital health issues, right? Like my dad had congestive heart failure. His dad had congestive heart failure. Um, my grandfather on my mother's side has heart problems. So it's like, this is compounding. Like I need to do something and do something earlier than, cuz my dad had his first heart attack when he was like 48 or 50, somewhere in that range.

Yeah.

So like I knew that I needed to get ahead of it. And, um, yeah, so I was like, let's sign up. And that first month, I, I wish, I wish I could have started the challenge then, because I'll tell you, and, and Irene knows this, but like my last measurement with you guys, I've lost 10 inches on my waist.

Geez.

From, from starting in July. I think it was July 17th or 23rd until— what was the last day? This past weekend. It's like 10 inches or like 9 and a half, 9 and 3 quarters. I'm going to round up because I like— it's huge.

Yeah.

And I got to buy— I have— I'm not buying new sweatpants because I like the way loose sweatpants feel. But I gotta buy new clothes everywhere else, right? And I say that because it, it, despite coming back from the neck surgery, despite the lung thing and where I thought honestly I would never, like they, they, they tell you people with, with MAC have a, uh, 20% 20% of patients with MAC wind up, um, like the comorbidity rate is 20% over 5 years.

Mm.

So like, I've gotta watch it there, right? Like, I don't wanna be one of those 20%. And there aren't very many of us that get it, even though it's like on every surface there. I mean, it's not on every surface, right? But it's found in dirt. So I have to be careful with what I do. And yeah, it's, it's been between that, the neck. So I knew I needed to take it easy and I didn't want to, I didn't want to do a whole lot of weightlifting. But I guess the thing that, that led me to this and wanting to kind of tell my story is like, I didn't have to do that much. Like, I did, right? It's a mental game. It's prepping meals or understanding what I can eat or like having Coach Ivorine go, yep, time to move up in weight. Like my— I watched the video. So I was walking today and I forgot that I had a 1:30 meeting, but I was walking today, so I at least got 20 minutes in. before this, and, um, I was watching your video and you're like, yeah, um, you know what I'm gonna say, go up on weight. But like, I've maxed out my dumbbell set, right? So like, gotta get heavier. Not on every exercise, but then, you know, it was the 1.5s, and I'm like, oh man. Or we, we have— and I, I'm gonna petition this— I think that you need to change Segmented eccentric.

Those are the best.

Special edition.

Special edition.

Special edition.

That's— I'm like, oh, here we go. Special edition.

Yep. Yep.

So that's how we get around my maxing out the dumbbells that I have.

It's a good problem to have.

Yes. And then like yesterday's workout I got done, I was like, Um, that last set was tough.

Brutal. Yeah, yeah. Hey guys, quick interruption to the podcast with a quick question for you. How many times this year have you told yourself, I'm starting over fresh Monday, and then didn't? If you're tired of white-knuckling this on your own, that's exactly what our one-on-one coaching program is for. We'll tell you what to eat, how to train, and we'll be in your corner every week making sure you actually follow through. If you want to stop starting over, click the link in the show notes of the podcast and apply for our one-on-one online coaching program today. Again, that is the link in the show notes of the podcast. Click on the episode, click on the description, the link will be right there for you. Now let's get back to the podcast. Well, dude, that— I mean, so first and foremost, I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you got through all of that. I'm glad, you know, everything obviously ended up working out. And, you know, I, I know what you mean about like the— I, I get the used car salesman thing, but I think what— I think it's funny. I think it's great. And I love it.

Please, please don't take that the wrong way.

No, no, no, of course. I, I don't, I don't get it. I'm not soft. I promise everything's good. Um, but the reason I bring that back up, you know, Wes, is because So many people just don't ever start. They know they should. They know they have to. There's somebody listening to this podcast right now who unfortunately their dad or mom also passed away due to heart issues, diabetes, insert health issue here. They know it runs in the family, but they just never fucking do anything about it. And they end up having the same fate. And so the reason I bring that part back up is because like you chose to actually start.

Yeah.

And I think that's just something for you that not that many people ever do that, man. There's a small percentage of people that actually do. And so number one, I hope that, you know, it sounds like you're aware of that. But I really do hope you are aware of that. Because that's why you're here now. Like, yes, Irene is amazing. Yes, she's the best coach. Yes, all these great things. And if you never would have started, you would never be able to experience how great of a coach she is, or those sorts of things. And so I think that's I think a big takeaway for people listening amidst all the chaos, you still said, fuck it, let's let it rip. Like, I have to do it. Like, it's, it's never going to be a perfect time. Let's just go. So that's huge. Number 2, I do want to ask Irene from a coaching standpoint, as— so it's funny because you had Carly, you have Carly, who also, like you said, every week there was something new. So like, now Wes joins and like, Every week there's something new. So like, how did you approach it? Especially because when you first join something, you're like, I wanna be super consistent. I wanna be all in. I wanna be perfect. But like, with life being crazy, how did you approach that as this coach?

Yeah, I think that I had an advantage because I understood their family dynamic like really well. I knew about Lincoln gets sick like every week. So I know every time Lincoln is sick, I know when the move, I know like, okay, they're closing on the house this, And then I knew about your dad. So I think Carly and I, not only is she my client, but we're friends. So we talk and we share everything. So I know exactly what's going on. And I think that helped me be realistic with Wes right off the bat. I'm like, dude, you're gonna work out 3 times a week, and it's gonna be like 15-minute sessions. And you're recovering. Like, I think in the beginning, if I'm not wrong, you might still have had the neck brace on. Honestly, you were probably not supposed to even be walking, but you were. And I saw you in the background of Carly's videos. Oh, you know, Wes is a little stubborn that way, but we made it realistic. We made it realistic and it was like crazy simple. And I'm like, let's work on your diet. Your diet is something that you can control, you know, whether you're moving or not. And we learned a lot right then and there. And we learned about his snacking. We learned that breakfast was, you know, very optional, if not nonexistent. And that led to the snacking. And then we discovered high protein and that was like, whoosh. So from there, um, diet was the main focus. I think there was probably the whole month of August that both you and Carly couldn't really lift because you like, you sold the house like this quick and you moved like this quick also. Um, so we just, we made do with what we could and there was, both of them are very like, all right, let's, let's do what we can.

Yeah.

Instead of saying, fuck it, it's hard right now. I'll hit you up when things are better. No, it's like, how can we make it work? And yeah, I mean, understanding their family dynamic was a huge advantage. And I think that I'm very lucky to get to know you guys so well. Yeah.

Well, it's awesome because again, I think having that mindset of like, well, what can I do? And I'm just going to do that to the best of my ability. It's going to be a 15-minute workout. And I know there's so many people who are like, well, 15-minute workout does nothing. I don't know. Wes just lost 10 inches on his fucking waist. So like, I think it does something. So, but that's awesome. I love that. Wes, I'll throw it back to you because I'm kind of curious. So Irene just mentioned nutrition. Before you started working with us, I know you said like you saw Carly like weighing out her food, doing that stuff. But before you started working with us, like how well-versed were you in nutrition? Did you know about it? Did you feel like you have a good base? Not really? Like, How was that change with nutrition once you started up?

I think so. And I've said this to a few of my, like, military buddies that are still in. We, we grow up in the military doing a bad job of teaching what, what brings function, what brings fuel. Right. And so I knew I knew these things, but I never decided to put it in play. I knew, you know, there's people that drink protein shakes, right? You know, I got my shaker bottle. Okay, great, right? But like, I don't— even now, I don't carry around a shaker bottle. I drink the pre-made ones because they're just easy. And this, you know, I grab one on the way out the door and I Yeah, that's, that's my breakfast. But I, like, I didn't realize the importance of a high protein diet. I didn't realize the importance of fiber, right? Like, I think mass media has done a bad job of making Metamucil into this thing that, you know, helps you poop and doesn't say, hey, fiber is good for making you feel full longer.

Yeah.

Right. Where, like, and some people listening to this might be like, well, that's basic. Yeah, I get that. But right, I knew in the back of my mind that's what fiber was for and high protein is a good thing. But like, taking the steps to go, I need to implement this and I need to prioritize the protein, it makes, it makes what I knew And putting it into place, like I'm like, oh, get it right. And especially coming from you know the year before the lung disease stuff, or six months before training for that ultra marathon, which I never got to do. It was a month and a half before I went into the hospital, or after I went into the hospital. So there's no way I was running that. But, you know, I learned carbs, right? I had to eat carbs and weight didn't matter. I needed more weight actually to be able to keep going. And I, man, I went to the point I was doing my nutrition. I went to a sports nutritionist and they were doing like sweat tests and urine tests and like figuring out the body chemistry to be able to fuel me longer and what worked and what didn't. But that was— that's totally different. Like, then it's a different mindset. Like, you're, you're learning to eat to keep going, and I needed to learn to eat to be, like, strong, if that makes sense. Like, I thought at the end of that I'd be able to just flip the script and lose all this weight and still be able to eat healthy. Well, No, if I would've just stopped running, as I did, and I gained like 15 pounds when I stopped running, like the MAC made me lose some weight and then I just packed it all back on cuz I kept eating that same way cuz I was like, oh, I need to fuel, fuel, fuel. And I didn't turn it off. Right. And so there's so much of the nutrition side that I think matters. That I had no idea, right? And Irene's like, have you ever had a high protein diet? And I was like, no. She goes, how much protein do you take in a day? I was like, I don't know. I don't track. I'm not, I'm not a calorie tracker. I don't scan my foods. I don't use MyFitnessPal. Like, the last time I used MyFitnessPal was— and this was when I first started, right? And I think you had the app, but it wasn't like widely—

Yeah.

Widely used. Um, and I was like, I, I mean, I have an old account, but I haven't used that in like 10 years, so I'll track, right? I'll try. And so I started and I was like, okay, I got my way. And then the, the challenge started and part of the challenge was use the app. And I was like, I gotta change everything to, to use. And, and, you know, at first I was like, there's that like culture shock, right? Like going from what you just learned how to do to like, hey, don't do that anymore. I want you to do this. And at first I was like, I am less accountable now using the app and I don't like it because I, if I'm gonna do this, I need structure. I need the accounting. I need to be able to do it here. I need to be able to go to the spreadsheet there. I need to input the data so that I know the data. And now I'm like, I just, it's to use your app is like second nature because it's, it's, it's so much easier. And I can, I'm not spending all day like going back and forth between MyFitnessPal and a sheet. I'm just like, bam, here it is. Or like you, I, yeah, I've watched all of your reels. Call me a super fan. Um, but like, you, you know, you talk about like, or, or in your podcast where you're like, hey, you know, I've done this for long enough. I know what I'm doing. And it's not that I'm, I'm nowhere near that, but like, I can go into our pantry, which we reorganized based on Irene's 14-day challenge, or at least 7 days until we hit the contract. I suck at goals.

Let's go.

Suck it, girls. And so we redid everything and kind of redid everything in the pantry. And I— but I know where the high protein— we have a high protein, like, bin, right? All my snacks are in that bin. And I know, like, today, right? This morning I got up, I had my protein shake, and about mid-morning I was like, okay, I'm hungry. Which, which protein snack do I want to have this morning? Because that's going to let me know how much freedom I have for lunch and in the evening and where I can, where I can push a little bit more protein and where I can't. And I missed Irene's challenge yesterday because I was like, oh, I hit it. And it's like 6 o'clock at night. But her challenge was hit 75% of protein goal By 2 o'clock, by 1 o'clock. And I was like, ah, I didn't read. Shame on me for skimming.

Fuck.

But yeah, I make this a joke about it, but like, it is, it's phenomenal being able to put knowledge into action. And I think if anything, Irene's able to do that for myself. She's able to do that for Carly. I know she's doing it for other clients. Like it is, and, and she has kind of a backdoor window into my life through Carly that sometimes I'm like, I know you told her these things.

Yeah.

Right.

Like, who are you texting over there?

Right?

Like, am I in trouble? Am I going to hear about this in my video? Like, is this, you know, um, but it's fun. And I'll tell you, I used to like, I didn't want to record videos, man. I was like, I was in the program. I was sold on the program. I was sold on the success. But like some of the steps in it, like tracking was a big leap for me. Recording myself was a big leap for me. Like, and now I'm in there because I used to, I used to get on Carly about like, Who are you having conversations with in the garage by yourself? She's like, I'm recording. Like, what are you recording? She's like, form videos. Cool.

Hey.

Right? Like, I pop in. Hey.

Yeah.

Or me and Link.

Hey.

And now Link does the— In your videos.

Yeah.

In all of our videos. And then, but, you know, I can, It's easier to have a conversation with Irene through my video and be like, hey, this is what's going on. This is how I feel. Like today I feel like crap because whatever Link had, it's hitting me. And, uh, but I'm still like, it's a rest day, but I gotta get my steps and I've had poor steps all week. Um, and except for yesterday, 'cause I said, I'm gonna get on the treadmill and do it. And I did. And it's been today, I'm gonna get on the treadmill, you know? So, yeah.

Well, that's good. And I think that's a huge thing too with everybody knows what to do. I should eat healthy, I should eat protein, I should do this. But it's like, I think one of the things that coaching and Coach Irene specifically do so well is how do we implement it for you? 'Cause that also looks different from person to person, right? Like, even for you versus Carly, like, yeah, you're in the same house, but it's like different routines, different mentalities. Like, so it's figuring out like, what is this gonna look like for this individual to actually go and implement? It's not enough just to— like, I did a whole podcast on this. It's not enough just to know that really it's kind of fucking worthless unless you put it into action. So I think that's awesome. And I'm glad, and it's no surprise 'cause Irene is amazing at what she does, but I'm glad you guys have been able to find that and really work that out for you.

Yeah.

So the next question I have for you, Irene, is with Wes in particular, I feel like, well, I know a lot of people, anybody, not just our clients, but anybody can get started with fitness and nutrition and working out. But like, maybe if progress slows down, or they're not seeing progress as fast as they want to, not seeing progress at all, they don't know what to adjust. So what maybe 1, 2, 3 specific adjustments have you made with Wes, particularly in these past, you know, couple of months here, that have allowed him to Either keep going and be successful, speed up progress, just have him feel more like in control? Like what main adjustments have you made to Weston and kind of his coaching in the past few months?

I mean, for sure, we already mentioned the protein. That was the biggest game changer for his diet because that was— it fixed so many things that were holding him back, like the snacking at night. We found out, well, hey, you're not eating enough during the day. You're skipping breakfast. Lo and behold, we don't want to snack at night anymore. So that was huge. And he was apprehensive about that, like, all right, I'll try it. Um, then we talked about pre-tracking. To this day, he's not a big fan, but he knows what to eat now. You know, we're okay with that. But planning, like, we can't just wing it, you know, like our goals don't happen by wishing upon a star. Like we have to actually plan ahead and think about it. A little apprehensive about that one too, but he, you know, he's like, fine, I'll do it. And that's the thing about him. He's very coachable. So when I asked him to do something, at first he's like, all right, I'll try it. And then it works. That's when, you know, he starts slowly but surely more like buying into the process and then he starts seeing results and then he's like, oh crap, okay, this works. Okay. Um, I think I actually was looking at old emails, like in preparation, just like refresh my memory. I think like the first time you measured in, it was 4 inches in the first 2 weeks. And this was through the move, through everything. And you're like, my shorts are so loose. And you were like super excited. I think from there is when I started seeing like form videos. I started all of seeing all of that and adjusting your workouts often. At first it was because of like, you know, you had just had surgery, you're trying to be careful. And you were following Carly's workouts, but I don't know if you've seen Carly lift. Like, she is— basically, I'm trying to get her to be a powerlifter with me at this point. So I'm like, yeah, Wes, we can't have you do that right now. So, you know, we had to make sure we were safe and with the major surgeries he had. And now I'm adjusting his workouts because he's getting really freaking strong. And thankfully, they have a landmine because the dumbbells are just They're not going to work for either of them at this point. So we have a lot and they've invested into a beautiful home gym. So we have a lot of room to grow and it's exciting. So lots of— at this point, it's just like we're fine-tuning and it's exciting because we've been talking about goals with the new year coming up. And yeah, like Wes is freaking shredded and so is Carly. So they're both in a place like, oh my God, like We look great. What's next? You know, so we've been talking about that and we have a lot of talks about what to do next. It's fun. It's exciting. And they are both super committed to their goals. So they're, you know, we have, we have thoughts, but we have, I mean, nothing but time. I think they both know at this point this is for life. And it's great because they're both in it. They have each other's support and this is their lifestyle. They can go to Disney and still lose weight. Like, Wes saw like all-time lows when they were in Disney, um, which, mind you, this was during the challenge. And he was like, I am not missing. What can we do while I am in Disney? So I wrote him a— both of them a 3-day workout plan that they did in the hotel room. And I think Wes was a little apprehensive about that one too. He's like, okay. And then he messaged me that night. He's like, Oh my God. But he got it done. And he stayed fully compliant with the challenge. And that— but I mean, obviously, that's why he has his results. So always pivoting, always adjusting, whatever he's got to do.

That's awesome, man. And that's, I think, one of the biggest things about people we find to be the most successful is like, you're just bought in, like, and I get it, like, at first, it's like, I gotta fucking record videos, or I gotta do it. But it's like, You bought, you buy in and you just like at some point just fucking do it. Like the shit we, the shit we do works. And I'm glad like you had Carly, obviously it's like you saw and like did it up. But, and that's maybe the next, and I definitely wanna be mindful of time, but like maybe the next question I would be remorse and I think I would be doing people a disservice not to ask this because I also, I mean, we coach a lot of people, we coach a lot of couples, but we coach a lot of people in general and not Everybody's partner is as supportive, is as bought in. They're not on the same journey together. I know you mentioned at first you said, I think you said jealous was the word at first, like kind of jealous. And that was because like you maybe couldn't do as much and that sort of stuff. But what has, like, what has that been like kind of doing it alongside with Carly? Like, how have you gone about whether it's like mentally committing to it? Have you gone about like, okay, in a routine, in a household, this is kind of like what I do. Because I know this specific thing will help a lot of people out there. So, what has that been like for you guys?

I think we keep each other accountable. And Irene can vouch for this. If Carly wants something, she's going to do it or buy it, right? So, I told her when we made our move to this house, right? The idea was we were moving into a new house to be closer to family. Um, my daughter lives, well, now an hour away, but it was 3 hours away at the time. And so we wanted to prioritize our time together as a family, prioritize time with her. But in the move, so we had a power rack that I had mounted to the wall in the other garage. And it was great. It was one of those, like, uh, it was a Rogue Fitness lime green, like cool color, right?

Beautiful.

And it'd fold up Totally. And I was like, I am the— I, I had already moved it to this house or to that house, right? That was our second move with it. And I was like, I'm not moving that again. Like, we're gonna have to figure something else out. I just don't, I don't want to deal with it. And she's like, okay, we'll figure something out. And so she goes out and finds that— I don't know the name. I think it's like a B52 Pro Major Fitness, something like that. Anyways, I mean, great home gym, Smith machine, power rack, like you name it, it's got it. And we had all this other equipment from the previous, like all we left was the rack. So from a, from a, we've got the stuff to do it. Like I have no excuse. And at the time we had, so we've We, we were, we were Peloton crazy. Um, we had the treadmill, we had the bike, we had the rower. Well, I couldn't do the rower anymore because that would just wear me out with the lung. The bike was okay, but we didn't use it as much as we had in the past. So we, over the past, I guess, month, we've sold those, month and a half, we've sold those. But one thing that we do Is I go back to keeping each other accountable, right? It's like we moved, we flip-flopped offices a couple weeks ago, and I was like, I want the treadmill, and she's like, I want my walking pad. And so we made it work for each other, right? Like I've got the treadmill here, and because I'm not moving it out of this room, that's crazy. It's like it's too heavy. I don't know. I might be strong enough now to move it, but when we moved, no. Um, but we do that. We, you know, if it's a workout day, our workouts, we're bad about the morning. Like in the morning, I'll be honest, I just want to scroll on my phone for the first like 10 minutes, 15 minutes. Um, and then I want to get up and as soon as I'm out of the shower, like I'm going out the door. If it's a, if it's a, um, in-office day, if it's a home office day, then I'm like, hey, let me go log in. Let me check on the day. Let me see what's going on. And now I'm more helpful with Link because he's more accepting of me as a helper versus always needing mama. And so I'll bring him up here with me and we'll just kind of chill out for a little bit. So we don't do the workouts in the mornings, but at lunch, right, I'll hear her cranking one out, right? I'm like, what is that noise? And my 3D printer, I love.

You have a 3D printer?

I do.

Oh, that's sick.

Oh, Irene will tell you, she has to like listen beyond the printer. Our form videos. Yeah, it's always running. I'm always printing something.

That's cool.

Um, and I love it, right? But it sits on the other side of the gym equipment. So, like, again, I have built a habit to where if I'm going to go do what I want to do, I have to at least show myself guilt first if I decide not to work out.

Yeah.

And it's the same thing. We get home from work, I'll hear her in the gym, and I'm like, okay, you did your workout. When am I going to do my workout? Right? Like, especially because we've We've kind of lined up, although this week she's had more in-office days, so our days have been off. But, um, we try to do like back to back or we'll work out at the same time and then just alternate workouts. So Irene will be like, this didn't come in in the order I expected. It's like, yeah, we, we had to adjust our workouts because like you said, they're, they're personalized, right? So my workout is different than Karla's.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and it's been, it's been really, I've started to use, to use the word fantastic a lot more, but it has been so, such an eye-opening experience to be able to do this with somebody. And I'll tell you, we save a lot of money because we're not buying different things. Like even Link is eating Smaller meals that we're making because they're healthy meals for him too, right? And they're high protein meals, right? What we're doing makes sense. Like, we don't have to— I feel bad. Like, I think it was Jeff that was like, I have to eat around this pizza on his little— on his Clubhouse Facebook post the other day. And I was like, I don't remember the last time I had a regular piece of pizza. And I feel like the same kind of topic came up When Carly did hers, yeah, it did. She was talking about eating pizza for the Super Bowl, and I was like, "Who ordered? No, you pre-order pizza if you're gonna eat pizza on the Super Bowl. If you want pizza, we're eating veggie pizza today." And even the other day, I was like, "Man, I could I could kill for some pizza," and it's been months, like months. And I was like, "But I'll be happy with you know our normal like." chicken nugget, like the, the Barely There or whatever it is, chicken nuggets and a cauliflower pizza. And it's, it, we know what each other wants. And so it's just giving each other that support and making space for the other one to do what they need to do as far as like GORCALCs. Um, and it's, it's been It's— I can't, I can't say how good it— I mean, it's, it's awesome, right? Like, I am, I'm thankful that Carly found you guys. I'm thankful to have taken the leap. Um, which is why I wanted to— like, I, I told Irene, I was like, I, I want to tell my story because I came from such a place of like depression, anxiety, and I still fight the anxiety and the depression, right? I still fight the asthma. I'm sucking on 2 inhalers every morning, but I'm here, right? And man, it's not magic, right? It— even though in my brain I would have told you like, this is magic, like everything I knew as a guy and everything that the fitness industry has taught me previous to like July, or well, I guess January when, when she started this Or December when she started it. Um, but like everything up until then taught me a completely different way. And like I was just on a different mindset and like taking the time to actually ingest what's being taught to me and to have the support of Irene and the support of Carly as we both go through this journey.

Yeah.

It's, it's, I mean, it's amazing. And at some point I'm gonna stop getting on the scale or looking at the scale because I'm gonna be able to look at my body and go, yeah. But now I look in the mirror, I'm like, yeah.

Yeah. That's awesome, man. You know, it's, it's, it's, again, it's a kudos to you guys. And I'm so— and again, kudos to you guys for both being like that. 'Cause like I said, not, not everybody is. And trust me, there's a lot of people who are gonna listen and be like, damn, That's pretty like, I wish I kind of had that. Like, that's really cool. So it's, it's really cool you guys have, and it's, it's a work. It's a daily work. You both work really hard at it every single day, right? Like it's hard. Yeah. Yeah. It's not, I'm sure it's not easy with obviously the relationship, but also running a family and when both having to work full-time. So like, yeah, dude, it's, it's really cool. And I'm just glad you guys kind of, kind of brought that up. Um, I guess last, last question I'll ask for you, Irene, kind of thinking about like just Wes's, Wes's journey thus far, what has been maybe the the biggest thing like as a coach that has stood out to you about his journey thus far?

Gosh, that's a hard one. I just, I think his— he and— I can see why you and Karli are together. You guys are very different but also very similar in the fact that your resilience is just out of this world. Like it's, it's, uh, I don't know if you guys give yourselves enough credit because like I work with enough people that like a minor thing, it can Like shift their week so much or their mindset. But you guys, like, yes, you have your moments and yes, like you get frustrated, but it's like every time you have a complaint or, you know, you feel some type of way, you follow it up with, but this is what I'm going to do. And you use coaching in the best way because it's not like, Irene, tell me what to do. It's like, hey, these are my thoughts. What do you think? And it's always working together as a team, not just expecting like Fix my life. Here it is. You know, like it's and it's it's wonderful. And you're both the same way. You're both that kind of person. And it's just I you guys remind me of what I love to do because it's that it's that it's just like to guide people to do amazing things. And I think you both have seen that like it's beyond fitness at this point because that resilience is carrying everywhere else in your life and. you believe in yourself and you can do anything. And yeah, I mean, it's, it's beautiful to see. So I do think that your resilience is number one because I mean, come on, like, I saw you in a neck brace not that long ago. And like, have you seen his flex pictures lately in the, in the Facebook group? Like, it goes from neck brace—

You're shocked?

I'm telling you, he was apprehensive. Another thing he was apprehensive about, to post the flex photo. But I challenged him. And whenever I frame it as a challenge, I think you've seen a common theme here. I'm like, hey, Wes, I challenge you to post a flex photo. And then ever since then, he's like, dude, I didn't know I had muscles like that. I'm like, I know, I told you. Yeah, it's been great.

That's awesome. Yeah, that's, uh, no, that's, that's sick, man. And like I said, Wes, really happy for you, dude. I guess last question for you, Wes, and we'll kind of wrap up. What, um, you know, I know you mentioned like you wanted to share your story. Is there anything Any last things you'd want to tell somebody if they were listening who maybe was in a similar position of, maybe it's just like dealing with grief, dealing with depression, dealing with, fuck, I just had this really bad thing happen to me. Any last maybe thing you want to tell that person?

Yeah, I think, you know, it's never too late to make that change. And there's always a bright side to things. You've got to look at like, I I would, I had been retired from the military, kind of lost from that perspective, right? Like I didn't, I lost a part of me in that brotherhood, sisterhood, that family. Um, no, I didn't lose them, but it's, I was lost, right? Like I, I was planning to do 30 years in the military. And so that was taken, that was yanked away. I had kind of the fallout with my dad before he passed, the neck surgery, like all those little things that you have to look at them and go, but I'm still here. My life still matters. And I don't want to waste the opportunity to make myself better. And I can't, I can't stress enough the fact that like, when I started this, I didn't feel good, right? I, depression was hard. Anxiety was hard. Like the things I knew to do to make myself better, I couldn't do. And I fought through it. And for probably the first month, I think so. My we did my dad's funeral on September second, so about a month and a half after he had passed because we wanted to celebrate his birthday on his what would have been his birthday that day is ceremony of life. And the day after that, I was like, "Whoa, okay, I I need to take a minute." Um, and I I for two days couldn't get out of bed. Right? I could get out of bed, but I could not drive myself to do anything. And that's the third day I was like, I, if I don't do something, I'm going to wind up exactly where I was. I'm going to feel exactly the way that I was. And like, I have a family. I have, I have a job that I have to keep. I have, you know, mouths to feed. Carla pays the house bill. I just wanted you guys to know that. Um, I pay for, I pay for the car. She pays for the house. Um, but it, you know, I, I would challenge everybody to just make one change. And I think that's how I did it. You know, Irene talks about like, I like a challenge. I love a good challenge. You tell me, hey, I challenge you to do this. I'm like, Yeah. I'll jump off a building. Yeah, sure. Right? Like, no, I won't jump off a building. But if you give me a parachute and say, I bet you won't, I will.

Yeah.

Watch me. Terrified of heights, but I'll do it. And so taking on things bit by bit, right? Like the first was tracking. Hey, I need you to track. The second was like, hey, get to 150 grams of protein. Well, I started going, well, what if I did more? Right? Like, and after like 2 weeks she's like, okay, you can hit this goal. Here's your next goal. Right? The steps, 5,000 steps a day. I was like, in my brain, I was like, I have to one-up that. Right? And now I'm at 7,500. And even still, there's days this week where I got like 4,000.

Wow.

But then yesterday I was like—

Weekly average. Weekly average.

Right. Yesterday I was like 12,000. Today is probably gonna be around 8,000 to 9,000. But I, it's those little changes throughout the day that I make, right? Like I drink, I drink way too much caffeine. Just gonna say that. My pulmonologist told me if I, if I ever take off from caffeine, then he's gotta up my inhaler medication. Um, yeah, I'm, I'm over 1,000 milligrams of caffeine a day. So you see me drinking a Coke Zero, it's the— I, I pump caffeine.

That's a lot.

Um, but it, it opens the lungs, right? So I'm all about it. Um, and I did—

Eric, we're okay.

It lets me drink 2 Monsters and a Lani and You know, Coke Zeros and Mountain Dew Zeros all day long. So like, I say that to say like, you can make little changes. Like I, I didn't drink sodas, like full sugar sodas before, but like I sure did not stop my intake of canned drinks and caffeine. Like that is, that has been an— I'm sure if I changed it a little bit, like I, I Intake water, probably 100 ounces of water a day. So there's, there's always that, but like, it's small things and those add up and you just gotta give yourself time. Nothing, nothing in this world happens overnight unless you're like a millionaire and you win the Powerball overnight. But otherwise, like, everything takes time. Progress. And when we build those habits and we build Those little things, suddenly you're like, oh, I started this habit 2 weeks ago and it's now ingrained in me and I just do it. Like grabbing a protein shake on the way out the door every day. I'm like, oh man, where's my protein? Whereas before I'd be like, all right, see ya. Here's my Monster.

Right, right. No, I love it, dude. And again, that's kind of what we preach is just small steps and they all add up, dude. So no, this has been awesome, Wes. Thank you so much, Man, for sharing your journey here. And, you know, I say journey because you guys are just getting locked in for the next year. So we're just getting started.

I know. The last day of the Black Friday.

Took advantage, man. No, I love that, dude. And real last question. Do you have 2 Lamborghinis on the wall behind you?

That is— so, okay.

I love that.

Let's go.

Obviously, you know me.

I know, I know, right? And so like, I am a huge car nut. Um, so there's about to be a racing simulator right there.

Oh, you're about to have a Lamborghini. It's like, you know, you said Carly will go buy anything. Like, you know, you gotta take the same thing, Wes. Like, we as men gotta take it too, man. Go for it.

I have, I have my toys in the driveway. They're not there. Volkswagen Auto Group, right? Like, so Lamborghini's under that same window. But I do have a very, very fast Audi in the driveway. And then I inherited my dad's MR2 that I've been rebuilding. If you ever watch my forum videos, it's in it.

Yeah, that's cool, man.

In pieces, but it's in it.

That's awesome.

Let's go, dude.

Well, listen, Wes, this has been— it's been great, man. So thank you for taking the time out of your day. Thank you for popping on. Irene, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day. And again, just congratulations to both of you on such great work. Like, it's just so— for me, it's so cool to see you guys just absolutely fucking crush it. Like, Irene's been a part of multiple challenge winners now, so I'm sure she's gonna want to keep that up for the January challenge. So, man, but, uh, no, you guys, it's been really fun. So thank you guys both for coming on. I appreciate it. And, um, yeah, we'll chat soon.

All right.

All right, cool.

Thank you.

Thanks, guys. Bye so much.

See ya.