159: You Can't Out Exercise A Bad Diet (Member Interview: Dan)

Despite being consistent with his fitness for most of his adult life, Dan has an Achilles heel you might be able to relate to too:

 

Ice cream (and other carb-heavy foods). 

 

After being tagged in a picture on Facebook, Dan had to learn the timeless lesson the hard way: You can't out exercise a bad diet. 

 

Instead of beating himself up for it, he saw it as a challenge, made a few tweaks to his diet (like intermittent fasting and being more mindful of carbs), and lost 37 pounds in a year. 

 

But then another obstacle happened: 

 

He went to his doctor for a routine checkup and learned his A1C was 11.6 and he was a type 2 diabetic!

And now he's determined to be one of the few people who actually get off Metformin. 

 

Here's what Dan and I discuss in today's episode: 

 

• Why exercising without addressing your diet isn't enough 

• How he made his body, particularly his hips, feel young again (he thought he'd have to give up biking and golfing for good)

• The simple tweaks he made to his diet and the timing of his meals that led to him dropping 37 pounds  

 

Listen now. 

 

The highlights include: 

 

• Why low impact exercise like Man Flow Yoga is a superior option if the number on your scale is too high (6:03) 

• How to make your muscles, joints, and tendons feel 20 years younger (7:40) 

• Dan learned the hard way that you can't out-exercise a bad diet… but here's the simple tweak he made that led to him dropping 37 pounds last year (12:36)

• How the "Carb Monster" slowly crept up on Dan and ratched up his A1C to 11.6 (and how he got it back down to 6.2) (13:08) 

• The easiest way to stop feeling hungry that gets overlooked because it's too simple (16:34) 

• Can't play golf because of your hip pain? The good news is it doesn't have to permanent when you do this… (18:18) 

 

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

 

1. Man Flow Yoga Events: On February 28, I'm hosting a Saturday Workshop in Denver, CO. If you want to do yoga with me and get feedback in real-time, get your ticket here: https://shop.manflowyoga.com/collections/in-person-events/products/mfy-workshop-denver-february-2026-02-28 

 

2. Man Flow Yoga: Haven't signed up yet? Start your 7-day free trial and see how yoga can eliminate aches and pains better than other types of exercise here: https://shrtlnk.co/kP8M7