Man Adopts a 'Fitness is Fun' Mindset and Loses 85 Pounds Playing This Trendy Game

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For Ethan Noblesala, 32, a diagnosis of prediabetes and a blunt prediction from his doctor in November, 2023, motivated him to improve his health.
"My doctor told me, 'If you don't change your lifestyle, you're going down a route that's leading to more surgeries, more operations and more medication,'" Noblesala tells TODAY.
He says he was at his healthiest during college, but as he built his career as an entrepreneur, he neglected his health and focused on building his businesses. 'As I started that corporate lifestyle, I was slowly gaining weight,' he says.
To foster business growth and connections, he was spending a lot of time at happy hours. He was lucky if he slept four hours a night. Uber Eats was the cornerstone of his diet. Exercise or even spending any time outside was practically non-existent. And his habits only got worse during COVID. His weight climbed to 235 pounds, which was a strain on his 5-foot, 6-inch frame.
'Even though I was running a successful business with my co-founder, I decided to take a leave to really focus on what was most important to me — my health,' he says. That attention to his health worked. He lost 85 pounds, and he says he feels 10 years younger. Here's how he did it.
Noblesala has a background in finance, so he's motivated by numbers. He honed in on them to make changes, tracking his protein, fiber and calories.
He discovered that when he ate mainly protein and fiber-dense meals, he felt satiated even when he was only eating 1,500 calories a day: 'Your body needs nutrition, but I never felt like I was starving myself or restricting myself.'
He built on small goals and habit changes:
Drinking a glass of water every day: 'I was 85 pounds heavier. I wasn't going to go out and run five miles, or try any of the crazy trends I see online. This was something I could do.'
Shopping for groceries and checking the nutrition labels for protein, fiber and calories instead of eating out — and overeating — five times a week.
Having a go-to, high-fiber, low-calorie meal that he liked to eat: Shirataki noodles with chicken breast in a low-fat buffalo sauce.
Finding healthier swaps for foods he likes, such as Costco chicken nuggets instead of McDonald's: 'I found it exciting to make these new discoveries. It's something I love to do.'
Noblesala grew up playing sports and loved how they kept him active while also being a way to connect with others. He'd often ask his friends if they wanted to play basketball, tennis or something else together. 'Through tennis, I discovered pickleball. That was the hook for me in terms of living a healthier and active lifestyle. I've become a pickleball fanatic,' he says.
In December 2023, he joined Life Time. 'One thing I appreciate there is the community. I get to play pickleball, my favorite sport. Some people say going to the gym is a chore, but I'm excited to go."
"There are endorphins you get from exercising, from being around others and from having that community," he says. "In the past, going to the gym was a solo grind, and I had to force myself to go. Now, it's not a chore. It's part of my lifestyle."
Having friends at the gym and at pickleball builds accountability for him, too. 'My friends will say, 'Ethan, I'll see you tomorrow.' And, of course, then I go after work. They're expecting me,' he says.
He has also joined some running clubs, such as Pitch & Run, and now he's working toward an ambitious goal — running the New York City marathon in November. He earned the opportunity to participate through his alma mater, Chaminade High School in Long Island. 'I'm nervous for the marathon because I know it's a daunting mental task. I'm focusing on the interval training and the strength training,' he says.
Noblesala recognizes now how his lack of sleep was making his health worse: 'Your body needs to recover. I'm averaging six and a half to seven and a half hours of sleep a night now, and I definitely feel it when I don't get seven hours of sleep.'
He's also careful about balancing his workouts with rest. He finds fitness data so valuable that he wears an Apple watch, a Whoop tracker and an Oura ring. After a day where he ran seven miles and played two hours of pickleball, he saw that his Whoop told him to take it lighter the next day.
'You can make these informed decisions with technology. It was harder to do this 10 years ago,' he says.
Now that Noblesala is 85 pounds lighter and his life is centered around healthy living, he has no intention of returning to his old habits. In fact, it inspired Ethan's new company WeFit Labs, which is a gamified social fitness app designed to help motivate people to move together.
If you're looking for a fitness community, join our Start TODAY walking club on Facebook and connect live with members and experts during coaching calls on the Start TODAY app!
This article was originally published on TODAY.com