A 58-year-old whose job requires hours of sitting lost 75 pounds in 12 months with these simple changes

• A man gained 50 pounds after he retired from the military and started driving and sitting for a living.

• A fitness and nutrition program designed to reverse diabetes helped him lose 75 pounds.

• He still sits for long periods of time but prepares his own lunch and makes sure to exercise six days a week.

When Jerry Clark decided to quit the Army, hit the road, and start driving long-distance truck routes 34 years ago, he had no idea how drastic the career change would be on his body.

“Truck driving is the worst job in the world for your health,” Clark told Business Insider.

Arguably, no one has to sit more on the job than truck drivers. We all know that sitting for long periods of time is the new way to smoke.

Clark spent several years running doubles with his wife on trucker routes across the country. At one point they drove 8,000 miles a week together before she retired. The pair drive nearly three kilometers across the continent every week, eating whatever food they can find along the way.

“We eat with a greasy spoon,” Clark said, explaining the average truck driver’s meal plan. “Everything is grease, or fried.”

All that sitting and eating greasy food can lead to long-term health problems and imbalances in the body. Clark worked on his left leg by operating the clutch and his right arm with a half-day behind the wheel. He also gained more than 50 pounds over the course of thirty years.

Employer-provided nutrition programs make a huge difference

About a year and a half ago, when he heard that his employer was offering free nutrition coaching to people with diabetes through Virta Health, he wondered whether he would qualify for a low-carb plan, even though his blood sugar was normal and he wouldn’t need to “reverse type 2 diabetes,” as the company promised. Sure enough, his employer allowed him to give it a try.

Clark lost more than 75 pounds in the program and found he was reenergized for his work and hobbies, including wood carving. He said he is thinner now than when he left the army in his 20s. He has been working hard to maintain his weight and build muscle over the past few months.

He lost over 75 pounds through diet, exercise and coaching

“For a 58-year-old, I’m looking pretty good right now,” he said. “I almost got my six-pack back.”

He also helped his son lose more than 100 pounds using nutritional techniques he learned that complied with the latest federal nutrition guidelines released in January.

That’s no coincidence: Virta co-founder Jeff Volek helped draft the Trump administration’s new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which encourage people to skip ultra-processed foods and added sugars and prioritize animal protein and “healthy” fats.

Clark now eats more whole foods, including fruits, vegetables and meat, than before. He’s not too fussy about fat, especially fat found in lean proteins like nuts, fish and chicken.

“My journey isn’t over yet, but I’m getting there,” he said.

You don’t have to eat low carb to lose weight

Many nutrition experts say a low-carb ketogenic diet plan like the one he follows isn’t right for everyone. In general, people without diabetes can benefit from more fiber and whole grains than this diet typically provides. Still, there are some nutritional basics that nearly all “healthy” eating plans agree on. Virta’s low-carb strategy is no different. Plants like fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds are all good. Do white breads, cakes and sodas contain extra sugar and empty calories? Not so much.

“This knowledge base translates well between diet camps,” nutritional scientist and ultra-processed food researcher Kevin Hall, co-author of Food Intelligence, previously told Business Insider. “All camps can agree on non-starchy vegetables and lower added sugars.”

Hall conducted research showing that low-carb diets were no better than low-fat diets in terms of the amount of fat people lost. A low-carb diet can help stabilize blood sugar in people with diabetes, but the most important thing is the quality of a person’s diet.

“For the vast majority of people, what they really should avoid are processed and refined carbohydrates,” Hall says. Carb-forward beans and strawberries, which are rich in fiber and antioxidants, are good choices for most people.

Another big reason for the success of Virta patients like Clark is the “intrinsic accountability” patients gain from Virta’s intensive, personalized coaching model, said Dr. David Kessler, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as he explains in his new book, “Diet, Drugs, and Dopamine: The New Science of Achieving a Healthy Weight.”

As for Clark, he made some evidence-based nutrition moves that he credits with helping him make lasting dietary changes that he plans to stick with for the long haul.

Here are his 7 best dietary tips:

Eat more vegetables

As Clark drives the 600-mile route from North Carolina to West Virginia and back overnight, he packs his own “lunch” or buys a few necessities from the supermarket. No more greasy spoons. Broccoli, green leaf lettuce and cucumbers are now staples for lunch and dinner at his house.

“I’ll pack up a chicken breast and some broccoli, and then around midnight, when I get to the truck stop, I’ll pull into the microwave and pop it in the microwave, and I’m good to go,” he said.

With the help of a nutrition coach, Clark began meal prepping and shopping around the grocery store, a typical pro-nutrition move.

“Most of the crap is in the middle,” he said.

Change your tastes – this takes time but can curb sugar cravings in the long run

Clark found that as time went on, he had fewer and fewer sugar cravings. It helps that he doesn’t keep junk food in the house, which is often high in sugar, saturated fat and refined flour. Now he found out that he want to Vegetables and other natural foods, including deer and rabbit for dinner, and blueberries for dessert.

“As long as you change your taste buds, the food itself tastes good,” he said. “It takes a month for your taste buds to change.”

Research shows that most of our taste buds regenerate about every 10 days, but some take longer, around three weeks.

Avoid “added junk” like refined flour and sugar

Clark said he still enjoys many of the same foods he used to eat, it’s just that they’re now prepared differently.

“You can have the same thing,” he said. “You can’t accept all the crap that America has added.”

For him, that means grilled chicken instead of fried chicken, and homemade ice cream made with whipped cream and eggs that has far less sugar than store-bought tubs.

While Clark’s stores now generally stay away from fast food and ultra-processed groceries, there’s occasionally some wiggle room for low-calorie, low-carb, ultra-processed desserts like Cold Whip Jell-O. Clark said even now it’s rare.

measure food with hands

Clark said one of the biggest challenges he faced in the program was learning not to overeat. It’s something he discussed with his coach.

“I eat too much — that’s my biggest problem,” he said. “I like lots of food.”

Obesity medicine doctors say this may be because Clark’s “enough” point became dysregulated: As he gained weight, his brain sent signals to his body to eat more and store more fat, in a protective mode against starvation.

Using guidelines that fit her body type and a kitchen scale, Clark began measuring the recommended 7 ounces of protein for lunch and dinner. But his coach also gave him a quick shortcut for thinking about his portion sizes.

“Your hands are your best tools,” he said. “Excluding the fingers, the palm is about 7 ounces, which is part of the flesh.”

If you know things are going in the right direction, don’t obsess over the number on the scale

When Clark started adding regular weightlifting to his workout routine, the number on his bathroom scale stagnated. His coach encouraged him to focus on other metrics instead.

“My muscles were getting bigger and my waist was getting smaller,” he said. “My coach said, ‘If you’re happy with what you see in the mirror, then be happy.'”

Build your tribe

Clark has been openly sharing his nutrition strategies with family and friends. His son lost more than 100 pounds using his method, and one of his long-haul trucking partners lost more than 80 pounds.

“Every night we say, ‘Hey, man, what did you eat today? Did you work out?'” Clark said. Here’s another time-tested strategy: Couples, friends, and family members tend to have better long-term success when losing weight together.

Now, Clark’s wife is becoming increasingly interested in the project.

“She saw me and was like, ‘Man, you’re doing really well. I want to give it a try.'”

Give yourself an hour of exercise time every day

Eventually, Clark established a new routine of exercising six days a week, alternating heart-healthy aerobic exercise (such as running) with weightlifting every other day. Increasing muscle mass is a great way to maintain proper weight loss by encouraging the body to lose fat instead of muscle. If he’s hungry, he’ll drink a protein shake “to replenish my muscle stores.”

“I tell my wife: One hour a day, I don’t want anyone to interrupt me,” Clark said. “No phone calls, no ‘Honey, you have to fix the toilet and cut the grass.'”

Now, he looks forward to dedicated, sacred exercise time.

“An hour out of the day? Come on. It’s nothing. Give it to yourself and make it work,” he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider