This Guy Radically Changed His Diet and Lost 100 Pounds in a Year
Aaron Leupp knows he’s a workaholic. Now in his late twenties, the marketer and YouTuber came to Los Angeles nearly homeless, working 100-plus hour weeks at his “hustle and grind” as he established himself. He didn’t sleep much and spent most of his time sitting at a computer. He went to the gym, but probably wasn’t exercising right. He tried fad diets, but nothing seemed to work, and his weight kept creeping up. “I was over 310 pounds,” he says—morbidly obese—“and never in my life did I think would ever get that big.”
For a while he was in denial, even as he tried many ways to slim down. But he wanted to feel healthy and productive, and not wake up with acid reflux in the middle of the night. He wanted to look better and start dating again. He turned to podcasts and YouTube, researching online all the different ways he might get back in shape. Despite all the trial and error, nothing seemed to work.
So Leupp radically scaled back his diet. He started eating once a day, only after he’d finished the day’s workout. “Every day I wake up to check my emails to see if there are any fires or urgent matters,” he says. “If not then I go straight to the gym.” He cross trains every day, with a weight workout three days a week. If he’s also doing cardio (40 minutes, trying to do more than three miles) that day, he’ll eat before his workout—sticking to natural, unprocessed foods—as well as after. Most days he’ll still eat only once, but he has cheat days and those when he’ll fast the entire day, only drinking water.
Putting his workout before his meals keeps him motivated. “Trust me, you find motivation quick when you're hungry,” he says. He tried working with a trainer for a couple months, but found it didn’t work with his schedule.
In a year, he lost more than 100 pounds. Even his mom was surprised by the transformation—she didn’t recognize him when she picked him up from the airport. “I feel better than I ever have,” he says. “I have way more energy and have more confidence.” He’s more productive in his work, and seeing how people responded to his changes, especially online (where he posts daily accountability photos), also keeps him going.
He’s not finished yet. He’s reaching out on social media, eager to help anyone who finds themselves in the same place he was: frustrated and looking for a way to change. He hopes his story can be an inspiration for them. “I will continue to do this until I get fit and then for the rest of my life,” Leupp says.
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