Glen Wagner, 68, of Oswego, Illinois, has the body of a man decades younger than most guys his age. It didn’t come easy. For years, he dealt with weight loss and weight rebound months later. At his heaviest, he weighed over 400 pounds and it almost cost him his marriage. It wasn’t until he got to the root of his food and alcohol addiction that he finally got the help he needed for his mind and body. Now,Glen is in the best shape of his life—and he’s just getting started.
I’VE GAINED AND lost over 100 pounds at least four times. The weight always crept back up because I was eating to manage my emotions. I used food for comfort, distraction, and eventually to numb the pain.
I would eat anything and everything. Fast food, processed food, and in quantities that were destructive. I soon became addicted to food. It’s different from other addictions. If you’re addicted to alcohol, the answer is not easy, but it’s straightforward—you eventually have to stop drinking. If food is your drug, you can’t stop eating. You have to eat to survive. That makes things relentlessly difficult.
Traumatic things happened to me between ages six and nine that should never happen to any child. My earliest coping mechanism was food. In my family, food was the answer when you were hungry, nervous, bored, angry, celebrating, grieving. That was our way of life. We ate a lot of spaghetti, potato casseroles, meatloafs, sweets, and cake. I had a terrible diet, and zero control of my appetite. Activity was less of an issue. I was always physically active but I couldn’t outrun a bad diet.
Before photo of Glen
At my heaviest, I weighed 425 to 430 pounds. I felt terrible. It was hard to move. I couldn’t climb stairs without gasping. I carried constant shame. Who wants to move through the world hyper-aware of their body and what it can’t do? I was convinced that people were always staring at me. On planes, I needed the seatbelt extender, and the tray table wouldn’t fold down over my gut.
The Major Turning Point In My Life
IN 2004, I weighed 435 pounds. My doctor told me I was twice as big as I should be. I’d tried everything to lose weight—diets, training programs, willpower—but always yo-yoed.
That year, I had a Roux-En-Y gastric bypass. They staple-closed about 85 percent of my stomach, and rerouted my digestive system.
Glen before surgery
I dropped from 435 to 290 pounds within one year. This weight loss was temporary. I hadn’t done the inner work I needed to keep the weight off. I had trauma I didn’t deal with that had led to my food addiction. By 2011, it was creeping up and in 2014, I went back up to 338 pounds.
I was warned not to drink alcohol after the bypass, but I did. I went from a glass to a bottle of wine. This caused problems in my marriage. One day, I drank too much wine at 2 PM and slammed my car into a concrete light post.
My wife had enough. She told me: “I love you too much to enable you anymore,” and moved out. I ended up getting a psych evaluation and was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety, and substance abuse. A nurse at the facility I was at told me, “Whatever happened to you as a kid isn’t your fault. But you’re an adult now. You own your healing.” It hit me and that was the real turning point.
I Got Support for My Physical and Emotional Needs
AFTER AN INPATIENT program, I began working with a therapist. Then in May 2015, I walked into Life Time athletic club, terrified. Life Time offered a free trainer consultation, so I first worked with John Binkowski, a strength coach. He was instrumental in helping me. Then I connected with Stephanie McNally, a competitive bodybuilder who’s been my primary trainer for nine years.
Results came fast in those first months. I initially lost 15 pounds in a month. Working with my therapist was equally crucial. She’s my mental performance coach now for exercise as well. We meet every two weeks and run together during sessions.
Stephanie had me see a nutritionist, take blood tests, and learn heart rate training. We built a workout program from fundamentals: deadlifts, squats, lunges, bench presses. Then it led to treadmill speed work, sled pushes, TRX, and functional training. Eventually I discovered Life Time’s CrossFit-style Team Alpha classes—weightlifting combined with high-intensity intervals. By 2017, I’d gotten fit enough to finish an Olympic-distance triathlon in 3:14.
Glen lifting weights at Life Time
I love it all now: running, biking, swimming, kettlebells, lifting. I have a home gym—kettlebells, bench, rower, straps—where I train two or three times weekly.
Food prep was a game-changer to staying healthy. For the past 10 years, I worked with a nutritionist and began following a MIND-focused diet with clean proteins (fish, chicken, sardines, eggs) , colorful vegetables, sweet potatoes, legumes, black beans, avocados, and olive oil. There’s almost zero processed foods.
I now always have three days of meals ready in advance: protein and whole foods. My favorite dishes are chicken and broccoli, beef and green beans, sashimi sushi, protein-loaded chili, steak, salmon, and balsamic salad. Basically, any quality protein with multicolored vegetables.
I now allow myself one cheat day weekly. My weakness is sandwiches: roast beef, turkey, ham, bologna, and cheese on Italian bread. I allow myself this one cheat meal and then I’m back on my healthy plan.
I went from 338 to 217 within fourteen months. I’ve kept my weight to around 215 to 225 for nearly a decade. Currently I’m 212 pounds, with a target weight of 200 for triathlon season. My most recent bloodwork showed solid metabolic health. My doctor says my body is functioning like someone in their late 40s to early 50s. My resting heart rate is 47, my blood pressure is 112/68, and my body fat is 12.2 percent. I take no meds.
How My Life Looks Like Now
I USED TO fluctuate between four or five different sizes of clothing. Now I just have one size on hand. I can reach into my closet and everything fits. On a plane, I can slide into a seat and buckle a normal seatbelt. These are small dignities but they add up to more freedom.
After photo of Glen
My marriage recovered and now my wife and I are happy empty-nesters. There’s nothing better than when my wife tells me, “I’m so proud of you.” My grandchildren look up to me with respect, and tell me I’m the fittest grandpa they know! They love that I can run, bike, and train with them.
I finally learned to love myself. Not in a narcissistic way, but in a grounded way. I’m someone deserving of care.
Am I finished yet? Hell, no. People ask when I’ll retire. I say: the day after I die. I’ve been a pastor for the past 25 years at two large Chicago area churches. I started a company FinishStrong Group where the goal is to positively impact 100,000 leaders in the next five years. This year, I’m racing two Olympic-distance triathlons. I want to eventually train for a marathon. Also, I’ve been diving since 1974, and have completed about 1,700 dives worldwide in total—and I’m still not stopping. I’m also planning a trip to Tiger Beach in the Bahamas to swim with sharks, which I’ve done before, too.
Glen swimming with sharks
I don’t know how much time I have left. But when I lay my head down for the last time, I want to be able to say: I gave everything. Nothing left on the field. No regrets. I’m going to finish strong.
Lisa is an internationally established health writer whose credits include Good Housekeeping, Prevention, Men’s Health, Oprah Daily, Woman’s Day, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Glamour, The Washington Post, WebMD, Medscape, The Los Angeles Times, Parade, Health, Self, Family Circle and Seventeen. She is the author of eight best-selling books, including The Essentials of Theater.
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