Climbing, as you know, is about defying gravity. We have to exert energy to carry the mass of our bodies up the wall. And so size—especially your strength-to-weight ratio—is important.

Until this past year, I never spent much time thinking about my weight. It’s never been an issue for me, so I never really paid much attention to it. But for the first time in my career, tired of falling, I decided to look at my weight in terms of a variable that I can manipulate.

As an adult I have a lot more weight to carry than those crazy-strong comp kids. And while I believe that it’s possible to gain strength as we age, there are still limits to how much we can gain and how fast. So, after hitting the point of diminishing returns in my strength gains, I started working on my weight.

I started to pay attention to my food intake and carefully crafting a nutrition plan. When I am trying to drop weight I monitor the type of food I eat, as well as the amount, the frequency, and the timing of my meals throughout the day.

This past spring I was hungry for the send, I wanted it. So I followed a nutrition plan and dropped 10 pounds, going from 160lbs to 150lbs. And let me tell you, I crushed! Crimps felt like jugs.

If you’re interested in working with your weight, here are a few things that worked for me:

For about 2-3 months before the redpoint attempt, I stop eating pizza, donuts, sugary snacks, and most processed foods (I still eat protein bars after most workouts).

I don’t drink alcohol. And that includes beer.

I eat whole foods. Oatmeal for breakfast, salads with lean protein for lunch, about 4 oz. of protein with a lot of vegetables for dinner, fruit for snacks, and I drink mostly water. (I still drink coffee, but I cut out the half-and-half.)

These are big changes, but, holy shit, the gains are even bigger! And, honestly, the first pizza at the end of the sending season was amazing.