58-Year-Old Lost 75 Pounds With 7 Simple Rules

When Jerry Clark decided to quit the Army, hit the road, and start driving long-haul truck routes 34 years ago, he had no idea what a dramatic impact the career change would have on his body.

“A truck driver is the worst job in the world for health,” Clark told Business Insider.

Arguably, no one is required to sit more on the job than a truck driver. And we all know sitting is the new smoking.

Clark spent years tag-teaming across the country with his wife on trucker routes. At one point, before she retired, they were logging 8,000 miles together every workweek. The pair would drive almost three full lengths across the continent each week, eating whatever they could find to sustain them along the way.

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

Clark says when he left the army, he was about 250 pounds. By the time he started his new diet, his weight had crept up to 306.

Courtesy of Jerry Clark

About a year and a half ago, when he heard his employer was offering free nutrition coaching for people with diabetes through Virta Health, he wondered if he might be eligible to join the low-carb program, even though he has normal blood sugar and doesn’t need to “reverse type 2 diabetes,” as the company promises. Sure enough, his employer allowed him to try it out.

Clark has lost over 75 pounds in the program and has discovered he has renewed energy for both work and hobbies, including wood carving. He says he’s trimmer now than he was when he left the Army in his mid-20s. He’s spent the past several months maintaining his weight and working on muscle building.

He’s lost over 75 pounds with diet, exercise, and guidance from a coach

Clark stays away from foods made with refined white flour, or added sugar.

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Clark said he still enjoys many of the same foods he used to eat, he just prepares them differently now.

“You can have the same stuff,” he said. “You can’t have all the added crap that America puts on it.”

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

Though the Clark house generally stays away from fast food and ultra-processed groceries now, there is some occasional wiggle room from time to time for a low-calorie, low-carb, ultra-processed dessert like Cool Whip with Jell-O. Even that’s pretty rare these days, Clark said.

Use your hand to measure meals

Numbers don’t tell the whole story. Waist circumference can be a better measure of overall health.

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

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

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