Life retains transferring at a swift, stable tempo for singer Trey Lewis. The excellent news is he’s lastly constructed up sufficient stamina to maintain up with all of the success that retains piling on.
When Lewis runs the stage this weekend in Bristol, TN, followers may even catch him banging out just a few pushups or dropping into an impromptu legday routine between guitar riffs.
Whereas not a everlasting a part of his setlist—but—old-school train has turn out to be a brand new wrinkle in Lewis’ newfound dedication to health, a powerful bodily and psychological transformation for the as soon as self‑described highschool “fats child” who might solely handle to stroll across the observe whereas classmates lapped him throughout fitness center‑class miles.
“I used to be on the market one time squatting onstage and leaping throughout,” he remembers. “Now I can hit all my notes and nonetheless soar round. It’s fairly wonderful.”
Now, not solely is Lewis operating a number of miles a day as a part of his exercises, he’s additionally operating his personal present—and by no means intends to look again. In June, the Alabama‑raised artist celebrated his nineteenth 12 months of sobriety, and in the identical stretch he lastly gained management of a good longer‑operating meals habit that pressured him to lose greater than 100 kilos on two separate events.
These life‑altering wins allowed the remainder of Lewis’ life—and his now‑blossoming music profession—to fall into place. Rising up in Alabama on a regularly looping playlist of Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lewis didn’t even decide up a guitar till he put down booze for good. For a brand new artist whose music expertise was performing karaoke along with his mother and singing along with his uncles on household outings, songwriting turned a optimistic habit and outlet Lewis wanted badly.
“I didn’t write songs once I was on the market ingesting and doing all that stuff,” he says. “I didn’t get a guitar till I obtained sober. So music, in a approach, turned my new habit and form of my drug of selection.”
Since then, Lewis has quietly stacked a gentle stream of small victories into creating large waves in nation music. Years of grinding in Nashville led to his raunchy 2020 breakup tune “Di**ed Down in Dallas,” which went viral and put him on the street full‑time. He went on to signal a Sony Music Publishing deal, landed cuts with high artists Tracy Lawrence and Cole Swindell, and launched a second, extra introspective venture beneath the identify Thomason. He’s additionally obtained new music, together with his most up-to-date single, 2 Inches” and tour dates on the best way.
Throughout his efficiency at June’s CMA Fest, Lewis was offered with a plaque for “DDID” turning double platinum. The tune turned so well-liked, Lewis added two extra model, together with a cleaner remix.
It’s a milestone that arrived alongside a brand new outlook on his well being. Whereas profession accolades will at all times be particular, the flexibility to nail each word of each tune with out having to cease and catch his breath could also be his favourite achievement. With the assistance of a Nashville‑primarily based efficiency coach, Lewis has turned a literal chilly‑plunge obsession right into a full‑throttle energy and conditioning routine that has lastly stored the kilos off whereas including actual energy and conditioning to his day‑to‑day life.
“I’m 38 so it’s about feeling good,” he says. “, it’s not about, like, how a lot weight can I raise, or, you realize, what number of miles can I run? It’s about feeling good and simply waking up and each day and getting some motion in.”
How Trey Lewis Misplaced 100 Kilos The First Time—And Why It Didn’t Final
Now 19 years sober, Lewis has constructed a catalog of songs over this time interval impressed by the struggles that adopted him throughout habit. Tracks like 2020’s “Complete Lotta Nothin’,” 2021’s “Little Drained,” and final 12 months’s “Ain’t Sober” spotlight completely different chapters of that struggle. An older tune, “AA,” got here from his preliminary reluctance to hunt assist—one thing he now sees as a blessing in disguise.
“It seems, it ain’t such a foul factor I ended up in AA,” he says. “I at all times say that once I obtained there, I believed that place was for losers and those that lived beneath a bridge. And it seems that that wasn’t the case in any respect. And it modified my life perpetually.”
In the present day, he says the temptation now not exists, which makes performing in alcohol‑serving venues a non‑issue. “I don’t ever take into consideration ingesting and utilizing medicine anymore,” he says proudly. “I play in bars on a regular basis, and it by no means even crosses my thoughts as a good suggestion.”
Nevertheless, a second battle to longer to overcome. For some time, although, Lewis swapped booze for burgers, pizza, and no matter meals might derail a well-intentioned wellness plan—decisions that turned particularly constant as soon as he started performing recurrently. He ultimately ballooned greater than 100 kilos above the place he wished to be. “I’ve at all times form of struggled with meals, simply having an unhealthy relationship with it,” he says. “I believe my first habit was meals as a child.”
Since a 12‑step program labored for his alcohol struggles, he gave Overeaters Nameless a shot. And for some time, the accountability routine labored—till it didn’t. Lewis misplaced over 100 kilos, however and not using a actual lengthy‑time period plan past not consuming, the stress of sustaining his life whereas dwelling in a everlasting calorie deficit turned unimaginable.
“I ate the identical factor each day for 3 years,” he says. “After which I simply went by some life stuff. And I used to be like, I’m both gonna get drunk or eat a cheeseburger.”
When “Di**ed Down in Dallas” broke by in 2020, it shortly despatched him on a U.S. tour in assist of his music. It additionally offered one other downside: Lewis must handle his strict diet routine whereas his life and profession turned a bit extra chaotic. Quickly, the previous habits crept again—he tipped the scales at over 320 kilos.“I used to be on the street simply consuming pizza and hen fingers, appearing like I used to be 20 years previous, so it was very easy to place the load again on.”
From Ice Baths to 100-Pound Comeback
Apart from some video games of yard soccer, sports activities by no means performed a significant function in Lewis’ youth—which may very well be a part of the explanation it took him longer to totally purchase right into a health routine.
It additionally helps clarify why the catalyst for his second weight-loss run was, of all issues, a chilly plunge. Chubby once more, off form, and coming off a breakup, Lewis—whereas internet hosting a facet‑gig podcast chronicling different individuals’s battles with substance abuse—discovered refuge in a buddy’s chilly tub. In some unspecified time in the future, he realized the irony.
“We had been speaking about restoration matters and psychological well being,” he remembers, “however the entire time I’m sitting there considering that whereas I’m speaking about psychological well being, sobriety, and spirituality, have a look at me. I’m not taking good care of myself bodily.”
Throughout his podcast run, he linked with Justin Todd, a Nashville-based efficiency specialist who’s labored with professional athletes and musicians, together with singer Kameron Marlowe. The 2 shared greater than fitness center time—Todd can also be deep into his personal sobriety journey. In a back-and-forth about what they’d each overcome, Lewis tossed out a half‑joking supply: “If you happen to get a chilly plunge, I’ll begin figuring out in right here.”
Todd heard a gap.
Lewis, at this level round 292 kilos, agreed to return three days every week for a month. If he hated it, he emphasised, he was executed. Todd says his job turned apparent: “I had to verify he didn’t hate it.”
Since Lewis’ health expertise was restricted, Todd’s first precedence was to construct a robust basis whereas retaining the singer engaged. He began with a full‑physique motion evaluation, checking mobility and smaller muscle tissue from ankles to shoulders—important for a touring artist who spends hours hunched over a guitar on a bus. Early periods emphasised environment friendly motion patterns, joint well being, and correcting bodily weak hyperlinks. He initially used bands and light-weight weights as prep for the heavier work to return. “We weren’t involved with throwing a bunch of weight on the bar. We weren’t going to search out our success in that with Trey.”
To maintain it enjoyable, Todd used the fitness center’s pickleball and basketball courts. Missed free throws meant additional reps; a made three‑pointer might knock off a set or two. Fridays had been reserved for one in all Lewis’ favourite actions, disc golf. The 2 would jog a 3‑gap loop—a sneak preview of the operating to return. None of this was designed to vary Lewis’ physique in a single day, however it did assist him preserve displaying up.
“One factor Justin would at all times say that caught with me was, it doesn’t matter what, he was going to the fitness center,” Lewis says. “That’s the angle that I adopted from him.”
The features adopted the constant work Lewis was placing in. With Todd, his weight dropped from 292 into the 240s comparatively shortly. Then they labored to chip it slowly however steadily towards the low 230s and past. His “newbie features” got here quick—he added noticeable energy, going from studying how one can press simply the bar to benching 135 for prime reps, which feeds his backstage ritual of banging out pushups in entrance of the band.
“I believe my bench is like, 165, I’m not likely certain,” Lewis says, proud however matter‑of‑truth. “I simply go in there and put the weights on that he tells me. However I do know that I’ve gotten the large wheels on the facet as a result of everybody on the fitness center provides me a tough time about that.”
A New Routine Price Sustaining
In the present day, Lewis’ showtime weight is holding regular round 225 kilos. He’d nonetheless wish to peel off one other 10 or so, however he insists the quantity on the dimensions is now not the aim. “Now it’s not likely about what my weight is,” he says. “It’s about, how am I feeling and the way am I performing.”
A whole lot of different issues have modified, too. He’s taken chilly tubs—the chilling catalyst to his health journey—out of the schedule and changed them with 20 minutes of warmth. “I’m a sauna man now,” he says. “I really like the sauna each day, 20 minutes, 200 levels.” =
His day-to-day schedule has been overhauled as effectively. As soon as a power evening owl, the two a.m. bedtimes are gone. Now, when he’s not performing, it’s lights out round 9 p.m., typically even earlier. “I stand up at 6 a.m., and I am going to the fitness center, work out, then I am going house,” he says. “I’ll get within the sauna for 20 minutes, then bathe, do my prayer, meditation, eat breakfast, then I am going write a tune.”
In keeping with Todd, one large motive this weight‑loss sequel has caught is Lewis’ stronger mindset, particularly as soon as the early features slowed. The primary section got here shortly—he dropped greater than 50 kilos in just a few months by coaching and slicing processed meals—however the again half of the load loss is what actually checks an individual’s resolve. “That’s when individuals throw within the towel,” Todd says. “A whole lot of weight reduction is about correct aim setting and taking the main target off the quantity on the dimensions and putting it on how effectively we really feel, how our garments match, what’s our physique fats share. These outcomes are far more tangible and sensible than the dimensions.”
The upside was that his efficiency within the weight room stored climbing, which carried over to raised performances onstage. “After I began, I couldn’t even do a pushup,” Lewis says. “Now I can pump off like 20, no downside.”
If his former classmates might see him on the observe now. What began as Todd having him do 20–half-hour of 30‑second jogging bursts with relaxation intervals ultimately grew into stable one-mile jogs. Now, Lewis breezes by a number of simple runs every week, including one other layer to his stamina. “And now, now I can exit and rip three, 4 miles prefer it’s nothing, you realize, and it’s simply superior, man.”
The stamina doesn’t cease on the observe. Even fishing journeys are simpler because of a stronger cardio and conditioning base. “We simply went and canoed down a river and fished for seven hours,” he says. “My buddy was rather a lot youthful than me, and he was dying. I awoke the following day and I used to be barely even sore.”
In Todd’s evaluation, Lewis’ bodily transformation adopted a psychological one. The consistency of his exercises, mixed with the camaraderie he constructed on the fitness center, made it arduous for him to slide again into previous habits. “Trey by no means missed a exercise, I don’t assume ever, until he was very sick,” Todd says. “Oftentimes he would nonetheless come when he was very sick—and I’ve obtained three youngsters beneath 3—and I’m telling him, ‘No, please don’t come.’”
Lewis’ all‑in strategy to his well being has translated right into a extra centered artist as effectively. With new music coming quickly, he says he hopes a stronger, more healthy Trey Lewis ultimately results in one other platinum plaque in Nashville. Hopefully he’s not too quick to outrun the inevitable subsequent wave of accolades approaching.
“It’s the identical factor with songwriting or any of this different stuff,” he says. “You simply have to point out up. That’s greater than half the battle. You then do the work.”
