Former San Francisco 49’ers defensive tackle Sam Sterling’s wake up call came in the doctor’s. More than 200 pounds overweight, Sam was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. So, naturally, he decided he needed to lose weight.
“I knew losing weight was the answer to reversing the early stages of diabetes, and I had lost weight many times,” Sam says. “But anyone can lose weight. Losing weight and keeping it off are two different things.”
He should know — he’s struggled with obesity and weight loss multiple times throughout his life. “I’d lose 100-200 pounds, and then put it back on,” he continues. “I went from 285 to 485 in two years.”
He continues, “The only time I was able to keep my weight under control is when I joined the Marine Corp for two tours of duty in Vietnam—which included imprisonment and torture in a POW camp—and when I played pro football with the San Francisco 49ers. I hated being so fat all the time. I was ashamed of how I looked and hated going out in public. I couldn’t even wear ‘normal’ clothes. I had to wear sweatpants and FUBU Jerseys all the time. I tried everything to lose weight…even went in for a botched lap band surgery that almost killed me.”
So what changed? Sam found the SANE program, a plan rooted in modern science backed by Harvard medical professionals. What is it? Essentially it’s all about eating whole, clean foods and cutting out processed junk, starchy carbs, and added sugars. Sam had tried the typical calorie counting approach before, but that didn’t work.
“I’d eat oatmeal, grapes, fiber bars, watermelon and loads of pre-packaged processed foods,” he explains. “And you know what happened? I barely lost a pound or half a pound a week, and that’s slow for a guy.”
Only SANE’s approach worked for him. “It was good food and I never got hungry,” he says. “Plus, SANE taught me how citicoline can help brain health, and POSTbiotics can fix a leaky gut, both of which are far more important to weight loss than I could have imagined.”
His results speak for themselves. “I started dropping 4-5 pounds a week consistently. I lost 85 pounds in 9 months. Went to my doctor for a checkup, and he told me I no longer had diabetes. Then he said in his 35 years of practicing medicine, he had never seen anyone reverse their diabetes. After that, of course, I kept eating SANEly and lost a total of 168 pounds.”
So what advice does he have for people looking to lose weight? “There is a light at the end of the tunnel. But you’ve got to reach for it. And my second piece of advice is: Don’t eat less food, eat better food. Eating lots of great-tasting but healthy foods is what worked for me, and I’m sure it will work for everyone else, too.”
