Sugar Company to Online Fitness Business

Hey there - it’s Don.

Happy Friday!

February was a bit of a growth month for Layman’s Fitness.

In the last 4-weeks over 1,000+ people have joined the Layman’s Fitness newsletter.

First of all, thank you for your time and attention.

You have many options out there when flying in the fitness world, so thank you for flying with Layman’s Fitness.

So for today’s newsletter, I’ll do something I should have done a while ago…

I’ll share the origin story of how I went from working at a sugar company to owning a fitness business for Christian guys.

It started with a joke, continued with a panic attack, and then ended with a career change.

Let’s jump in!

🔎 Inside

• Sugar company to online fitness business

• The MIND diet - does it reduce the risk for dementia?

• 6 week program to master the one hand push-up, long-term stress can make you gain weight, and more…

First time reading? Sign-up here.

💪 Deep Dive

Click here to read this on the Layman’s Fitness website

I used to work for a sugar company… and now I run an online fitness business

How’d that happen?

Well, it might be similar to your story.

In short, for years I knew fitness and health was important… but I wasn’t living that way.

I was running on fumes, working long hours, stress-eating, sacrificing sleep, and gaining weight.

In 2020 this lead me to a breaking point.

For the first time I realized that my health prevented me from showing up for my wife, my daughter, and my job…

Which were the duties God had given me.

So I made some small, sustainable, and slow changes. The Lord was merciful. Momentum built and transformation happened.

My all-or-nothing mentality doubted these changes would stick. But I was wrong.

These changes with health impacted my marriage, my energy as a dad, my endurance at work, and just about everything else.

Here’s the story.

How a Sugar Joke Exposed My Pride

Working at a sugar company was a real sweet gig… (casual dad joke insertion). 

But there was one day in particular that I will never forget. 

In the fall of 2019, I was running a benefits fair at one of the facilities I supported. 

You know… that one annual event when company vendors come in, give out stress balls, take biometric readings, and remind you about all the benefits you forgot you had.

That morning as I was putting tables together, one of the vendors and I were making small talk. 

And then he - without even realizing it - completely changed my career by making a joke. 

He chuckled, changed the subject, and kept chirping on. 

But I just stood there. 

Because this comment landed like a 5 pound bag of sugar to the face. 

He had no idea, but I was getting ready to announce higher insurance premiums to a few of our facilities. 

And I knew why they were increasing. 

Preventable, chronic illnesses – caused by lifestyle choices. 

His joke was funny because of the obvious hypocrisy of all this happening at a sugar company. 

But it stung because of how deep that hypocrisy went in my own life. 

If you asked me in 2019 about fitness, I would have told you that prioritizing health is absolutely critical. 

I would have told you that I was prioritizing my health…

But that wasn’t true.

My own health was a mess at the time. I was:

• Stressed and constantly running on fumes (got gray hairs in my late 20’s) 

• Sacrificing sleep in order to try to do it all (<6 hours a night)

• Traveling 30%+ for work and always on the go (leaving a young wife and 1-year old at home)

• Stress eating and desperately trying to out-train that bad habit (but I was gaining weight)

• Having daily afternoon energy crashes (I hated when 2pm rolled around…)

I was the unhealthiest and most stressed I’d been in my life. 

And here I was, pretending to preach the importance of health while setting up tables for a benefit fair at a sugar company. 

It really is amazing how deceptive pride can be. 

Here’s the truth with fitness. 

Most guys know fitness is important. The problem isn’t knowing its value. 

It’s that we get in our own way.

And I definitely got in mine.

I stubbornly pressed on for another 8 months without making changes. 

Until one day that following May I had a panic attack.

Rapid heart rate… dizziness… shortness of breath… deep feeling of numbness and apathy…

All from continued stress. 

That was my tipping point. 

For the first time, I felt the impact of neglecting my health on others.

That morning I as I stared numbly into nowhere in my backyard, I realized I:

• Couldn’t be strong for my wife

• Couldn’t be energized around my young daughter

• Couldn’t show up to work that day

And that forced my stubborn hand to actually make some changes. 

So here’s what I did. 

• Prayer.

• Left the company.

• Started to clean up my diet. 

• Started walking more.

• Started investing more in my little home gym. 

At first, these changes felt painfully slow. 

Prayer required an admission that I couldn’t just plow through this in my own strength.

And I doubted if these fitness changes would stick. 

I had an “all or nothing” mentality.

Like if I wasn’t doing an extreme restrictive diet or exercising 7x a week, change wouldn’t stick. 

But I was wrong. 

Once I started steadily improving nutrition, movement, and training, momentum started to build.

These small, consistent changes with nutrition, movement and training started transforming more than just my body.

This impact spilled over into every area of life… I started:

• Showing up more as a husband… as a dad… as a church member… 

• Being more productive as my work responsibilities expanded…

• Having more energy that extended way beyond 2pm…

• Sleeping way more than I ever had in my adult life… 

• Arriving at a weight that I could maintain for the rest of my life…

• Experiencing decreasing stress levels for the first time in my career…

There wasn’t an area of life that fitness didn’t positively impact. 

I wish I could shake my 2019 self and tell him how much he was missing out on. 

To me, this is what fitness is all about. 

It’s not about vanity, chasing aesthetics, looking good in a mirror, or impressing others. 

It’s about stewardship. 

Fitness is about:

• ✅ Honoring God by taking care of the body He’s entrusted to us

• ✅ Having the energy to serve our families well

• ✅ Showing up fully in our work and callings

• ✅ Setting an example of self-control and strength for our kids

And that’s why Layman’s Fitness exists. 

If you’re a busy Christian guy who wants to get healthier, stronger, burn fat, and build a sustainably healthy lifestyle, all from a Christian worldview....

Welcome to Layman’s Fitness.

I know what it’s like to feel stuck and stressed in a lifestyle with habits that work against the health you want to build.

You don’t have to stay stuck. 

You can build a healthy, sustainable lifestyle - one that strengthens not just your body, but every area of your life… for the good of others and for God’s glory.

Thanks for following along.

🔎 Finds

Here are some of my favorite finds/resources this week.

Top find

The MIND diet - does it reduce the risk of dementia? (more)

Other finds

• 6 week program to master the one hand push-up (more)

• How sleep deprivation affects your metabolic health (more)

• Peloton launches kettlebell training classes (more)

• This Shai Linne song was on repeat during my Wednesday workout (more)

• Long-term stress can make you gain weight (more)

👍 Thanks for reading!

Whenever you’re ready, here are some ways I might be able to help:

• The Home Gym Equipment List - here are 5 pieces of equipment I recommend for the home gym (after spending $1,000+ on equipment)

• 30 Day Weight Loss - Here’s a step-by-step guide on losing 5-10+ pounds in the next 30 days

• KB Strength System - online coaching to help you get stronger and leaner with more energy to do the things you’re called to do

I’ll see you next week.

Be strong,

Don