When we think about a classic weight loss narrative, the quintessential before-and-after photographs may come to mind. In these photos, the transformed individual is almost always pictured alone. But when I think of my before-and-after, I imagine myself surrounded by the supportive team of wellness experts that has gotten me to where I am today. As product design consultant and former CTO, I know that teams really matter. It’s been no different in my path from unhealthy diabetic to a thriving, healthy human.

I recently shared my story with Austin Fit magazine, which inspired me to write more about the people I have worked with. Over the last couple of years, I have finally gotten fit and much of it is because I partnered with the right coaches, trainers, and healers for me. It is because of these individuals (with a hefty dose of my own drive, of course) that I am now in control of my diabetes, fitter than ever, and running a successful new business venture. Hopefully my tale encourages you to seek out your own wellness mentors, whoever they may be.

The Back Story

My wellness journey has its roots in southern Virginia, where I grew up. I had an active childhood, much of it spent climbing trees and running through the woods. My parents, who were raised with limited resources, taught me that it was a punishable offense to leave food on your plate. (High-fat, high-carb Southern comfort food, at that.) Looking back, there is a dotted line from aspects of my youth to my eventual diabetes diagnosis. Yet, my upbringing also gave me the grit that has allowed me to take control of my health.

Fast forward to post-college, when I began working in software and technology. Career-wise, these were exciting years. In terms of my health, it was brutal. I was working 100 hour workweeks on little sleep, no exercise and fueled by queso, brisket and Coca-Cola. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised when, in 2005, I was suddenly tired, lethargic, urinating excessively and hungry all the time.

Eventually, I went to my doctor, who quickly diagnosed me as a Type 1 diabetic. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I had heard of diabetes, but only knew that it had something to do with blood sugar and eating candy bars when you got shaky. Oh, I had a lot to learn. Since then, there’s been many ups and downs: medications that didn’t work, an ER trip, learning the right foods to eat, re-introducing external insulin with an insulin pump, no carb diets, the Master Cleanse, weight gain…You get the picture.

Through continuous thoughtful experimentation and exploring a multidisciplinary approach, I’ve increased my strength, flexibility, endurance, and speed. I’ve found that if I do the same thing repeatedly my body will find a groove and the activity becomes easy. Constantly changing my routine allows me to constantly find new ways to grow. Boxing has helped me with my speed and stamina, Pilates has helped me with my flexibility and my connected core power, massage, acupuncture, and ART has helped me recover quickly from injury as well as create proper alignment for optimal movement.

Boxing Made Me a Believer

It all started to shift in 2015 when my former colleague John announced “I’m going to train you” after I made a half-hearted statement about getting into shape. Something struck me at that moment and I agreed. We met at Castle Hill Fitness on a Monday morning at 7AM and John introduced me to boxing workouts. That evening, I went to Academy and bought wraps and gloves so I could learn to use the punch mitts and heavy bag.

Right away, I was addicted to boxing and immediately noticed differences in myself. I owe so much of my transformation to John. He was with me every morning for months. While determination is rooted in my DNA, John helped me apply that to fitness. We even started a boxing social club at Castle Hill Fitness. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we were there from 7–8 am, catching mitts, working the heavy bag, and running through circuits.

“In boxing, your conditioning is centered around being able to do something for 3 minutes straight followed by a small window of recovery before doing another round. Douglas started his journey with 3 minutes of lunges and step-ups. I wish I could give you a climactic story of how Douglas has transformed himself, but it is merely through being consistent. He shows up every day and pushes as many reps as possible for 3 minutes.” — John Fitch, Venture Partner Animal Ventures, Entrepreneur & Wildman

Over two years later, boxing still a cornerstone of my weekly routine. For me, it’s an active form of meditation.

Pilates Created the Connection

As I grew more confident and fit, I mixed things up and tried everything from yoga and kickboxing to plyometrics and barre. But, I fell in love with Pilates. (Part of the allure was that Joseph Pilates was a boxer.) I started taking 3–5 classes a week. In addition, I began taking private Pilates sessions with Mandie Pitre, to deepen my practice and develop a better method when attending classes. I attended a special workshop she taught and was intrigued by her slow, intentional style.

“When Douglas enthusiastically entered my Pilates class, he was ready to move and groove, and I saw space for him to learn to connect dynamically through the entire body. I made my focus to challenge him to move in a new way, to move slowly, to repattern his body to create fluid power without tension. I’m proud to have played a role in Douglas’ outstanding transformation from uncoordinated movement to highly intentional, powerful, and artful motion.” -Mandie Pitre, Master Pilates Teacher & Yoga Instructor, Castle Hill Fitness

Mandie turned me into a Pilates fanatic. I started to take all the classes that Castle Hill offers. I began to get a better understanding of each teacher’s style and which approaches resonated with me. I signed up for an advanced series by Lindsay Lark, which taught me more difficult exercises. I enjoyed working on these moves that challenged my strength and stamina.

“I have witnessed Douglas dramatically change his body over the past year. He is stronger, quicker, and healthier. His dedication to the work is inspiring. Every morning I arrive at the studio before 6am, and Douglas is already there warming-up. That is how you change your life!” Lindsay Lark, Pilates Studio Manager, Castle Hill Fitness

Pilates has helped me tap into the deep connections within my body. my core and, most importantly, my breath. I’d always heard about the power of breath and never believed it much. But now, I use Pilates breathwork all the time.

Bodywork Keeps Me Going

I am also firm believer in professional bodywork and stretching. I see Dr. Jessica Tranchina for A.R.T (Active Release Technique), Jingyu Gu for acupuncture, Sonya Emery (a former professional boxer) for boxing massage and psoas release, and Dr. Ben Charlton for chiropractic adjustments. Each of these experts has helped me recover, combat injuries and improve my workouts.

Jessica was recommended to me to address an injury in my heel. I was experiencing some nerve pain whenever I stepped on my foot in a certain way, and it prevented me from jumping rope. After telling her about my foot, she asked about my shoulder, which had been giving me trouble for awhile. My range of motion was impaired, and it was painful to move it in specific ways. In addition to fixing my heel, she addressed my shoulder as well. I now have full range-of-motion in my shoulder; even my Pilates instructors noticed!

“Douglas came to me happy, healthy, strong, motivated, driven, knowledgeable, open-minded, and a student of his journey. The diligent client that he is, he continued his self-care in between our sessions including self-adhesion releases, specific stretches, and guided strength training. Because he participated wholly and completely with his care, his results were, and are, quick and effective.” Dr. Jessica Tranchina, PT, DPT, NASM-CPT, A.R.T provider, CKTP, Primo Rehab

I first met Sonya after complaining to my friend about soreness in my shoulder from boxing. He told me about an ex-Golden Glove champ who trains at Richard Lord’s boxing gym here in Austin. He said that she specializes in mixed-martial arts clients as she deepened her practice by working on herself. She has done amazing stuff for my sore shoulders from boxing as well as psoas releases that help give me more range of motion in my hips. The hips are the secret to a powerful punch!

“Douglas is one of my more inspiring clients! My ring name for him is The Discipliner because he approaches his health with more discipline and balance than many pro athletes, all while managing to run a successful company. His path to health and fitness is his lifelong quest. He is a Warrior.” — Sonya Emery, Massage Therapist

One day after an intense boxing workout I noticed that something didn’t quite feel right in my neck. As the day developed, it got stiffer and stiffer. After icing it, self-massage and a session with Sonya, it began to release. However, there was still a lingering injury. When I tilted my head back even a few degrees, my left arm would go numb. I started researching other practitioners to help me address this issue, and met Jingyu Gu. Jing’s acupuncture, although extremely painful, fixed my problem in one visit. I continue to see him monthly.

“[My treatments] aim at finding out and eradicating the root causes of various chronic diseases, including pains and soft tissue problems. This healing process can take time, patience and courage. In pursuing his own health and healing, Douglas definitely demonstrated all of these qualities.” -Jingyu Gu, PhD & Lic Acu, Wellspring

I also spend a lot of time stretching and doing self-administered treatments. My 1-hour warm-up includes self A.R.T. with a lacrosse ball, wooden stick, and Therabands, Pilates exercises on the spine corrector and ballerina stretches to release my leg muscles. Likewise, I end my workout by following a static stretching routine from Castle Hill’s Ben Himes. I wrap it all up with an infrared sauna session and a Wim Hof cold shower just to make sure I’m ready for my day.

My journey to wellness started from a desire to tighten my diabetes control. It has become so much more than that. I have honestly transformed my body and my mind. Today, I still have difficult days, but I’ve made tremendous progress. I used to dread working out, now I crave sweat. This has impacted other areas of my life as well. I’m convinced that my success in my new company is due to the focus and resilience I gain through intense fitness and rigorous diet.

“Douglas’ fitness journey has been successful due to his consistency, goal setting, metric tracking, openness to challenge, and exploration of variety. He is one of the few people who has almost entirely bridged the gap from general-population to athlete.” — Benjamin Himes, CEO Sharp End Sports, Elite Trainer, Castle Hill Fitness

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Last week I facilitated a Design Sprint for Service Direct. It was a delightful experience. The team read the book, and all came prepared to do some critical and intentional work. Their CTO, John Turpin, listened carefully to all my pre-work advice, including my recommendation to provide healthy and nourishing food. Many of my clients disregard this guidance and instead bring in “treats” in order to celebrate the big day.

I was excited when John told me that he had selected chef Taylor Green of Herbs and Harmony to provide food for their Sprint. I had heard great things and had never had a chance to eat any of her food. These Sprint lunches exceeded all my expectations by a large margin. Taylor’s food was heavenly delicious, and nobody got the post-lunch slump. The low fat and high protein cuisine fueled the team and kept them focused through the afternoon which is often plagued with lack of clarity.

As a personal bonus, this food did not negatively impact my blood sugar. I am diabetic, and I typically eat an animal protein-rich paleo style diet. Herbs and Harmony’s food was often vegan, yet not laden with blood sugar spiking sugars. I hope to use Herbs and Harmony for future Sprints when possible.

“I had so much fun serving the Service Direct team during their intense week of creative work. It is such an honor to cook for those who value the connection between balanced nutrition and intellectual success!”

Service Direct’s Sprint Menu

Monday

Buffalo Cauliflower Lasagna with a spinach side salad

Tuesday

Chicken Tortilla Soup with garden veggies and paleo tortilla crisps

Wednesday

Fish Tacos with Baja Beet Slaw

Thursday

Vegan Sloppy Joes with baked purple sweet potato and almond pepper jack

Friday

Shrimp Fajitas with all the fixin’s

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We immediately began validating the market through conversations with individuals in the health, fitness, HR and employee wellness communities. This research made it clear to us that there was an appetite for this type of program.

…the timing could not have been better when Douglas reached out to us with an interest in serving on our board.

Our goal was to produce an event in April that would encourage the community to become more active and live a healthy lifestyle. The resources to establish the necessary technology were beyond the means of our nonprofit, even with “non-profit pricing” from long term tech friends.
Time was running out; it was Thanksgiving and we hadn’t secured resources or a plan to get them. Things were not looking good. Needless to say, the timing could not have been better when Douglas reached out to us with an interest in serving on our board.

After an initial meeting with me and Will, Douglas asked if he could meet some of the other board members. Several of our board members and I met Douglas for lunch the day after Thanksgiving and walked through our programs and structure in more detail. We couldn’t have been more pleased to hear Douglas say, “I like what you guys are working to accomplish; I’d like to help you out”.

Douglas promptly got to work and delivered us a Christmas miracle. After a thorough audit, he simplified and organized our concepts, recruited technical talent who practically volunteered their time and helped oversee development of the product. Due to these efforts and my delight, we launched Million Mile Month on April 1st, 2014.

With Douglas’ guidance, we expanded HealthCode from one annual event to 4 quarterly events, amassing over 4.7 million miles of activity with estimated healthcare cost savings approaching $1 million. HealthCode programs now host over 36,000 participants, representing all 50 states, 30+ countries, and 150+ organizations. None of this would have happened without Douglas.

Douglas brings a unique perspective to building technology that I had never previously witnessed. He possesses an invaluable practical sense of technology along with an eye for business economics and financial realities. Douglas increased user satisfaction and improved engagement by first identifying and then addressing the key components for success.

I am continually amazed by Douglas’ ability to see the art of the possible, to cut through the crap to ensure we target cost effective, consumer engaging solutions that align with business objectives. From recruiting and coordinating the tech team to leading our product strategy, Douglas has been invaluable. I only wish I had known Douglas 10 years earlier.

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