Pilot, 32, loses 100 pounds with these lifestyle changes after his weight limited his career
There were times when the flight had to take less fuel and leave passengers behind because Brian Bernfeld was flying the plane. Up front, at 332 pounds and 6-foot-3, the sharp edges of the cockpit dug into his body, causing back pain.
The corporate pilot and tech founder tried various methods for weight loss. He counted calories, ran and cycled miles at a time in his southern California neighborhood, and lifted weights. The severe reductions to his food intake that he hoped would transform him often left him fatigued. Then, when he lost the weight, it came back.
“I couldn’t sustain the lifestyle needed to keep the weight off,” Bernfeld, 32, tells TODAY.com.
Defeated, he let his health and weight become afterthoughts. He put his career first, something he felt he could control.
“It got really, really, really bad when I started my first company,” he recalls.
Bernfeld spent 184 days out of the year in hotels, and he developed sleep apnea. When he was home, his schedule required him to wake up at 5 a.m., fly from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., and then drive an hour to his office to work between 10 and 12 hours at his company.
After work, he’d fly some more, and then finally eat dinner on his drive home. “Time became a constraint,” Bernfeld says. So, fast food became his solution. He always opted for quick, high-calorie meals. Then, once he was finally home, the day’s pressures easing off of him, he’d realize he was still hungry. So, he’d order delivery from a late-night food spot at 10 p.m.
By age 27, "I started to get pretty, pretty out of shape and get up there, which led to me feeling bad about myself. And food has always been a comfort object,” Bernfeld explains. This set off a cycle that led him to eat more, feel worse, and then eat more to soothe. “Next thing you know, you step on the scale at 332 pounds," he adds.
Brian Bernfeld prioritized his career when his efforts to better his health didn't pan out like he'd hoped. (Brian Bernfeld)
A New Solution
Bernfeld was inspired to look after his health when his father suddenly died from a heart attack in 2021. So was the rest of his family.
His mother, who has diabetes, started Ozempic, the GLP-1 medication approved to treat Type 2 diabetes. Then, his brother began a weight-loss journey also with the help of a drug.
Bernfeld, who’d always been reluctant to treat a headache with an over-the-counter painkiller, was determined to lose weight the only way he’d known how, the “right way,” as he thought of it at the time. But when those phases of restriction followed by overeating ultraprocessed foods didn’t amount to much, he went to the aviation medical examiner for advice in 2024.
Brian Bernfeld first began flying planes at 14. (Brian Bernfeld)
I said, “‘I need to change something. What can we do?’”
Bernfeld asked for suggestions that were “safe, effective,” and compliant for his pilot job. “I don’t think a (crash) diet is going to be the way that I can effectively keep this weight off,” Bernfeld recalls saying at the time. So, the medical examiner shared a study about GLP-1 drugs for weight loss. The research he did afterward led him to Ro, a telehealth company that provides prescription weight-loss medications.
Lifestyle Changes
Since Bernfeld still had limited free time due to his two high-pressure jobs, he says Ro’s digital consultation and qualification process was just what he needed. In August 2024, he was prescribed Zepbound, the brand name for a once-a-week injection of tirzepatide, which reduces appetite and increases insulin production, TODAY.com previously reported.
He was given a timeline and estimations for how much weight he could expect to lose, while the app offered “a ton of resources ... to understand dosing, the tiering of the dosing, feeling of the dosing, how often you take it, what you can expect in your first three months, six months, nine months.” Bernfeld was convinced by the wealth of data and realistic prospects.
But one concern lingered: He worried about how he’d act around food. Would he reject it altogether? Lose his appetite?
After nearly two years on the medication, Bernfeld still has hunger cues. He just craves different things. “I started eating a lot more leafy greens, a lot more whole grains,” says Bernfeld. The ultraprocessed foods he was once drawn to were replaced by rice, vegetables and lean protein sources.
Bernfeld describes recently eating a chicken sandwich, which used to be a staple in his diet. “It was good. I enjoyed it,” he says, but he didn’t finish it. He used to eat four in one sitting.
Brian Bernfeld used to exclusively eat takeout and fast food, now he cooks meals at home. (Brian Bernfeld)
Many of his meals are now prepared at home. Bernfeld’s favorite breakfast, when he has time to prepare it, usually includes eggs and whole-wheat toast. For lunch and dinner, he’ll typically eat fish with rice and lettuce. Since his partner’s a vegetarian, he’s found he eats much less chicken and beef than he used to.
These changes to Bernfeld’s eating habits have allowed for much more variety than before. “I do get the opportunity to try cuisine. I mean, I go all over the world for work. So, I was in Japan, and we had ramen, yakitori and sushi all in one day, and it was just eating three big meals, and I was just having little pieces from every single one,” he recalls. He was satisfied.
“Now I equate food to fuel, and exercise to emotion,” says Bernfeld. When stress weighs on him, he goes for a walk. At the gym, his worries “slip away,” he says. His Peloton is now his favorite “piece of furniture” in his house, he adds. He walks at least 10,000 steps per day.
The exercise, he shares, requires motivation and discipline, but it’s always worth it.
A New Outlook
Bernfeld now weighs 236 pounds, and he has the energy to match. “I’m busier than I was back then,” he reveals.
Now that he's "taking care" of himself, he's "sleeping amazingly" and "able to handle everything pretty easily" in his packed day-to-day life, he says.
The constant hustle is a marker of how far he’s come.
After he lands the plane, the hotel bed is no longer his final destination, as he has a ton of energy to explore new places. During a trip to Hawaii, he woke up at 4 a.m. to hike the Diamond Head volcano and watch the sunrise. He walked 40,000 steps in Tokyo. In Amsterdam, he toured the city and had the confidence to eat at a restaurant by himself, something he once feared because of his size. And he traveled to Korea on his own.
He’s begun training for his helicopter license now that he’s below the weight limit, and he’s donated his entire closet. Next on his to-do list is regulating his blood pressure and cholesterol levels, running a marathon and riding 100 miles on his Peloton.
Brian Bernfeld is in the process of getting his helicopter license. (Brian Bernfeld)
“I’ve been so blessed over the last 19 months to learn this new version of me (that) I never thought could ever be,” says Bernfeld. He likens it to growing up for a second time.
Where his career once defined his worth, “now my worth is coming from hanging out with people I love, my friends, my family, my dog, my partner, living life outside of work. I have never taken as much time off from work as I ever have these last four months this year, and I do attribute that to being much more confident myself,” he says.
Brian Bernfeld now has the confidence and the energy to explore new cities and dine on his own. (Brian Bernfeld)
His Zepbound shots are now an easy part of his routine. “I can just do that in five seconds,” he says. His next dose will automatically fill at the pharmacy around the corner in time for his upcoming solo trip to New Zealand. His believes his Ro membership has helped save him a lot of time.
“(I'm) able to handle everything in my life in the most productive and healthy way," he adds.
