Generational Gene: Ups and Downs of Weight Loss & the Stark Risk of Cancer 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Can you introduce us to your bike?

Gene 

Oh yeah, yeah, so I’ve got two bikes…

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Back in late summer, My Body Odyssey went to Gene’s house in the Boston suburbs. 

Gene

I do most of my long endurance rides on this bike. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

To go for a quick training ride. 

Gene

If I only have about an hour, this is the course I do. Which is quick, it’s 12 miles. There’s one big hill. You know, you’ll accelerate to about 30. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Gene is in head-to-toe cycling gear. Helmet, spandex shirt, spandex shorts, special shoes that click into the pedals. 

Gene

These are the new pedals that I’ve never actually ridden on and so I was trying to decide: is today the morning to do that?

Gene

Are you ready to ride? 

Robert Pease (co-host)

I’m ready. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Gene and my co-host Rob Pease get on their bikes. They head out.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Bon voyage!

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

But something stops Gene at the end of the driveway. 

Gene

Pedals don’t seem to want to click in. I might need to change my shoes. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

At the last minute Gene decides: No. It’s not the day to try out the new pedals. Especially… after what happened a few months ago. 

Gene 

So I was out on a ride with my riding partner, Mohammad. We were probably about 15 miles into the ride. We stopped to take a picture and I made a joke saying, you know, to my friend who lives in Stoughton, I sent him the picture. I said, “Hey, watch out for fast moving vehicles”. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Gene and his friend got back on their bikes and started going up a hill. Gene was half-way up the hill, standing on his pedals, when something strange happened. 

Gebe

I just went down. Like, it was just, it was just weird. Like I lost control of the bike and then just kind of went down on the road. One foot hit the ground, and then I lost control of the bike, then I kind of landed in the road, kind of like doing the splits. ‘Cause it’s also hard when you’re like, when you’re clipped in-

Robert Pease (co-host)

Oh, yeah. 

Gene

You can’t really-

Robert Pease (co-host)

You’re hostage. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Gene fell in the middle of the road, one foot still clipped into his pedal.  

Gene

So I was fortunate there wasn’t a car or another rider or a car, like a garbage truck behind me. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

He picked himself up, cleaned himself off, and looked at his bike. It all scratched up, the wheel was bent, the seat was ruined. And there was a small metal object lying on the ground. 

Gene

Then I saw that the pedal was not, you know, was kind of in the road. And I was like, man, that’s what happened. The pedal snapped. 

Gene

I will say also, it just kind of like, shakes your confidence a little bit.

Robert Pease (co-host)

Oh yeah. 

Gene

You know, as a bigger guy, when I have to turn it loose on a hill, I don’t want to be thinking, like, is my equipment going to fail?

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

This is My Body Odyssey, a show about the rewards and challenges of an active lifestyle. I’m Brittany Thomas. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

And I’m Robert Pease. Fortunately, no pedals snapped on my ride with Generational Gene.  

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

That could’ve gone so badly. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

It’s every cyclists’s nightmare. Luckily, Gene wasn’t seriously hurt, just a little banged up. But it did set him back a couple of weeks in his training for the Pan-Mass Challenge.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

The Pan-Mass is a 2 day, 200 mile cycling ride across Massachusetts. Gene has completed the Pan-Mass Challenge 4 times. And this year, he’s going for his 5th. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Last season, we met Generational Gene at a different cycling event. That one was for Diabetes. Because Gene has a family history of Diabetes, and he’s using cycling to hold off that condition. 

Gene 

Some days, you know, it feels like you pedal to save you’re life, and in a lot of ways, at these events you really are. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Like so many of us, Gene says he’s trying to lose a bit of weight, especially because being overweight increases the risk of diseases that run in his family. Like Diabetes, and also cancer. 

Dr. Anekwe 

So these signals that the fat cells send out can be, uh, carcinogenic, or cancer-causing, essentially. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

In this episode, we’ll be hearing from Dr. Chika Anekwe, who is a specialist in obesity medicine at Mass General, and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

According to the National Institutes of Health, more than two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. And Gene cycles hundreds of miles a week, pedaling–as he says– to prolong his life. Not just for himself, but for the people around him. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

For Gene, health isn’t just a personal struggle, it’s a family issue.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Welcome back. 

Gene

Want to go inside? 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Yeah. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Sounds good. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

After my ride with Gene, we sat down at his dining room table.  

Gene

Well I’ve been told I have a face for radio, so this should be good.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Disagree. Respectfully.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Gene’s a busy guy. He’s a father, husband, a superintendent in the Boston Public schools. And, he’s finishing up his PhD. 

Gene

I have until 11:30 or noon.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

And there was a lot to talk about, so we dove right in. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

I’m curious to hear more about your dad and if your, if your love for sports came from him or other places. 

Gene

So my dad played basketball in high school. The thing we really had in common with sports was the Chicago Bulls. We both really liked the Chicago Bulls. I used to watch a lot of NBA games with my Dad. The 90’s which I think was the golden age of the NBA.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Gene played basketball in high school, along with football and track. In college, he was a sprinter. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Can you describe yourself as a young athlete? 

Gene

How old is young? Because I still like to think of myself as a young athlete.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Gene had sort of a love-hate relationship with sprinting. 

Gene 

Track is really just managing different levels of misery. Things we do for track are the things that you do when you get punished in other sports. You messed up, go run a lap. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

All of those workouts, all those laps around on the track, the hours in the gym with coaches, and then the race is over in a matter of seconds. But those seconds are pure adrenaline. 

Gene

You know, I enjoyed really the competition. I didn’t like running so much as I liked running fast, right?

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

And it’s the love of competition that kept Gene coming back again and again. At that point, he was in the best shape he’d ever been in…or has been since. 

Gene 

One of the really good things about being in college is that, you don’t have to think about when you’re gonna work out or what your workout is gonna be. You just have to show up and you’re told, right? And it’s, and it’s, you know, habits, rituals, and schedules. You know, I’ve always kind of been at my best when I’m, you know, when you’ve got rituals and you’ve got schedules and you’re kind of on a program.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

After college, all of the coaches and scheduled practices disappeared. Gene didn’t really follow an exercise program– at least, not like in college at least. The closest thing to a routine he found was playing basketball. 

Gene

Yeah. Yeah. I would be in 1 or 2 leagues and I played pick up. 4 times a week I was playing. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Until…he got busy. 

Gene

You know, you change jobs. And now you’re a principal, and now you can’t play 4 times a week as easily. And now it’s like 1 or 2 times a week. I mean I gained like 50 lbs from the time I became a principal. That was like a major lifestyle shift. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Long hours at work and a long commute made it hard for him to fit in exercise. 

Gene

It ends up a lot for a lot of people, it’s what is the last thing to get scheduled and the first thing to get cut. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

And before he knew it, like so many of us, Gene was experiencing that middle aged weight gain. 

Gene

I think I was, I think I was 290 pounds at this point.

Robert Pease (co-host)

One of Gene’s friends picked up on that change. 

Gene

One of my best friends that I ran track with, um, you know, we were workout partners for many years. We would lift weights, we’d go to the gym together. You know, and he bet me that I couldn’t lose 40 pounds before New Year’s. So I weighed in on September 1st. I’m not gonna tell you what the bet was for. Uh, but, or actually, I’ll tell you. It was a slap bet. The winner got to slap the loser in the face five times.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Not what I thought you were gonna say. 

Gene

Yeah, I thought I was gonna say money or something. It was, it was, it was a humiliation bet. Which is actually really, really effective. Um, because I, I lost 42 pounds. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

The interesting thing is, Gene didn’t lose 42 pounds just by exercising more. It wasn’t by restarting his old track training program. 

Dr. Anekwe 

That premise of “exercise as a means of losing weight” is really not a solid premise to begin with.

Robert Pease (co-host)

Dr. Chika Anekwe is an obesity and preventative medicine physician at Mass General Brigham. What Dr. Anekwe is saying is that exercise is good for maintaining weight, not losing weight. In part, she says, because when we exercise more, we often eat more too.

Dr. Anekwe

Exercise is, is not scientifically known to be a successful tool for causing weight loss. But dietary changes can be. And most of the recommendations are gonna involve, number one, a reduction in calorie intake. So without doing that, you’re, you’re really not gonna be able to lose weight. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

And that’s pretty much exactly what Gene did.  

Gene

What I had to do in order to lose the 40 pounds was, you know, no alcohol, no dairy products, no refined sugars, you know, barely any bread or anything like that. You know, my breakfast was like one or two hard boiled eggs. No coffee. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

By New Year’s, Gene had lost over 40 lbs in just 4 months. 

Gene

So I was able to win that bet, um, which was satisfying. In case Colin Rhodes is listening, I just want to remind him again, I was the winner. I think still have 2 of the slaps left that I haven’t used. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

But keeping the weight off -Colin if you’re still listening- that was an entirely different story. Gene boomeranged right back to the weight he was before. 

Dr. Anekwe

And that’s a lot to do with this concept of the set point, which our body has, where it wants to hold on to this particular body weight- which for many people often is a higher body weight than is what is considered healthy. Um, and no matter what you do to lose that weight, to bring it down, it always wants to go back to that set point. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

The set point describes how the body seems to always tend toward a particular weight, kind of like an equilibrium. And as we age, that set point gradually ratchets upward. 

Dr. Anekwe

So a lot of what we’re doing in targeting obesity, is helping to lower the set point, so it’s easier to maintain the weight at a lower level.

Robert Pease (co-host)

Doctors try to help patients lower the set point by not trying to cut a bunch of weight at once, like Gene did. Your body is just going to go right back to that set point. Instead, they recommend losing a little at a time. Lose, say 10% of your body weight, then try to maintain that, let your body adjust. Then try to lose a little more. Like a stairs, going down one step at a time.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

But that can take awhile. And it can be hard to find that patience, especially with your family medical history in the back of your mind.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Every family kind of has its own way of like, talking about family history, but also in particular talking about family health history. And I’m wondering how that was for your family.

Gene

Really, we didn’t really talk about it too much. Really it’s only as my dad is in his 70’s that we talk about it now. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Several years ago, Gene’s dad was diagnosed with Diabetes. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Is it both your grandfather and father who have Diabetes?  

Gene

Yes. 

Robert Pease 

And how are they doing? 

Gene

You know, my dad is doing okay. He does have some complications, um, due to this condition. Circulation, you know, foot wounds and stuff but. You know, you have to make changes in terms of your rest, in terms of your exercise, stuff like that. You know, your diet, and you know, my dad’s been doing those things and I’ve been trying to also do similar things

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

The Diabetes diagnosis was a wake up call for Gene. Gene went to the doctor and found out he was also at risk. If he didn’t change his lifestyle with diet and exercise, he could wind up with Diabetes, too. 

Gene

Over the last five years, my A1C is down. My doctor is very pleased that I am, that I am doing cycling. Every time I go for my physical, I weigh less than the last time. My numbers have been moving in the right direction. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Unlike Gene’s New Year’s slap bet, Gene has lost this weight slowly, gradually, over the course of 5 years. This little-by-little approach gives his set point a chance to recalibrate. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

And this time, Gene’s motivation wasn’t getting to slap his friend Colin 5 times in the face. His motivation was his father’s Diabetes and learning just how bad excess fat can be. 

Gene

One of the things I’ve learned in the last couple years is that, you know, cellulose and fat tissue is biologically active. 

Dr. Anekwe 

Which means that they produce hormones and they have signals that are sent throughout the body.

Robert Pease (co-host)

Dr. Chika Anekwe of Mass General. 

Dr. Anekwe 

And they’re basically considered an endocrine organ in that sense. So these signals that the fat cells send out can be carcinogenic, or cancer causing, essentially. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Before Gene’s dad got Diabetes, no one in the family talked about health. But the diagnosis was an elephant in the room and it opened the door to talking about their whole family health history across generations. And Gene discovered all sorts of information that could be relevant to him. Like things that afflicted his grandfather, that could be in Gene’s future, too. 

Gene

I found out that he had had, like, you know, he’d had part of his, um, large intestine removed as well. And that I think that relates to like, to my situation, I think I probably inherited from him. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

The situation Gene is referring to isn’t Diabetes. He’s talking about a medical issue he discovered a few years ago. Which in some ways, is much scarier.

Gene

I talk about colonoscopies a lot more than the, the average person because I’m, you know, because I very well may have saved my life going when I did. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Several years ago, a few unrelated things came together to cause Gene to go see his doctor. 

Gene

You know, I was fortunate enough to be able to work with Ibram Kendi on a, uh, professional development for BPS.

Robert Pease (co-host)

Gene was working on a project with the well-known writer and professor Ibram Kendi. Kendi was still in his 30’s, and had already survived stage four colon cancer. That made quite an impression on Gene. 

Gene

And then the day we moved into this house was the day that Chadwick Bozeman died, um, you know, from colon cancer. Uh, and then the third one is I had, uh, a barber, um, in my barbershop died of colon cancer. And so once those 3 things happened, I was like, all right, I’m going to, I’m going to get, you know, I’m going to do a colonoscopy. And it’s a good thing that I did. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Gene found out that he was in a high-risk category. 

Gene

I have, uh, something called FAP, which, you know, means that I produce more like polyps. Those are the things that lead to, uh, to colon cancers.

Robert Pease (co-host)

Luckily Gene caught it early, no need for surgery yet. But it was something to keep a close eye on. So since then, Gene has been much more attentive to his health: watching what he eats and drinks, with a strong assist from his wife.

Gene

She makes most of the food because by, you know, a lot of times her and my daughter will eat before I even come home. Uh, and so because she, uh, is very thoughtful, uh, about the food that she makes, it means I’m also very thoughtful by default 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Gene also feels compelled to share his experience, and the importance of screening, with a wider community of those with similar risk. 

Gene

I’ve also been able to tell other people, and it’s good, I think particularly for African American men, something that, you know, is more prevalent in our, you know, in our community. And again, we talk about opportunity and access to resources. You know, there are, you know, a lot of our health disparities are, you know, are, um, you know, related to societal inequality, right? And so we have to work a little bit harder to make sure that people have access, um, to opportunity, but also like to advice and to kind of knowledge about it. Mm-hmm.

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

It was a series of random events–Ibram Kendi, Chadwick Boseman and the barber– that encouraged Gene to go in for a check up. That could have easily not happened, and Gene would have never known. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Which is definitely an argument for families talking way more openly about health issues. And the sooner the better. There could be lots of things in any family tree we should be screened for. And now that Gene’s dad is in his 70’s, they not only talk about their health- they help each other stay on track, they keep each other accountable. 

Gene

So we didn’t really talk about it much coming up, you know, we, but we talk about it now. And so like oftentimes, with my dad, like weekly, we discuss what’s going on with our health. So it’s good to have an accountability partner.

Robert Pease (co-host)

It’s easy to forget that our body odysseys don’t have to be solitary. We could all use an accountability partner. Gene helps his dad keep up with appointments, walking and checking blood sugar. And Gene’s dad is his personal cheerleader as he trains for various cycling rides. In particular, the 200 mile Pan-Mass Challenge. And since this a ride to raise money for cancer, that’s taken on a different, more personal meaning for Gene this year. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

This year, Gene’s Pan-Mass Challenge actually started the day before the event: 

Gene

The Team Kermit folks, they go all in. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Gene and his team, they biked all the way from Newton, Mass to the start of the ride in Sturbridge.

Gene

It’s 66 miles from Newton to Sturbridge. Um, 4,500 feet of elevation. Extreme hills. Um, you know, we had a full police escort. We had a follow car, just like in the Tour de France only I was going like a 10th of the speed that they go in the Tour de France. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

The ride was great for team building, but maybe not so great for Gene’s legs right before the main event. 

Gene

The Friday ride with all the elevation was the hardest ride I’ve ever done.

Robert Pease (co-host)

The next morning, Gene had to leave his hotel in the dark at 3:30 to eat a quick breakfast and get to the starting line by 5 o’clock. 

Gene

Sun’s still not up yet. And so really, like, you look across and, um, and it’s, you know, and it’s dark, but you can see everyone has their, like, the, their flashers on. And so it’s like a sea of like, bike headlights and, and taillights. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

There was a rousing speech by Billy Starr, he’s the founder of the Pan-Mass Challenge. And then thousands of riders mounted their bikes. 

Gene

Then we took off. You know, and so you’re riding and it’s just,  it’s just a sea of rear taillights that you see in front of you. It’s covering the entire road at that time. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

The start of the ride was incredibly hilly, so right away, he fell behind the rest of the team. 

Gene

So my legs were absolutely blasted already at the start. And I remember the first, you know, 10 miles thinking, oh, man, I feel like I’ve already emptied the tank

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Gene’s legs felt like lead from the ride the day before. 

Gene

So I was introduced to an old friend that I hadn’t interacted with in a long time. Uh, and that’s the uh front derailer, the front chain ring. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Gene means the easy gear. An old friend of mine too. At this point, Gene had most of the 100 miles left in the ride. So he says he just found a pace that worked for him and chugged along, trying not to think about how far he still had to go. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Soon after, Gene stopped at a rest area and called his dad. 

Gene

He Facetimed me at one of the rest stops, which was something like 40 miles in I think. So I got to show him you know 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

What’s your dad’s motivational speech sound like?

Gene

You know he, he just kind, you know, “Go get em Gene”. I think my dad just kind of wanted to hear about the experience, I think my dad, if he can’t be somewhere, he wants to know what it’s like and he wants to understand it. In that way you can feel like you’re there with someone. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Gene got back on his bike. His legs were still shot, but at least the nastiest hills were behind him. And he was approaching the best part of the ride. 

Gene

I’ll say that I, I feel like the emotional turning point for me was looking out for my family. And then there’s a street called Cherry Street in Wrentham. And you turn down this street, right, and it’s like this festival that just appears out of nowhere 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

A full-on block party with steel drums and bagpipes. And on the sidelines amongst the crowd, Gene’s whole family was waiting, waving hand-made signs, cheering him on. 

Gene

So one of the signs said “100 miles of greatness”, which I, I don’t know that it was a hundred miles of greatness. I think it was 100 miles that were completed. The other one that said kind of “Go Daddy Go”. That’s the sign that always, you know, means, you know, lifts you the most. You could tell my daughter made the sign and she was wearing her Pan Mass t-shirt. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Gene stopped to take pictures with his wife and daughter.  

Gene

She’s not really the type of kid that likes hugs and kisses, particularly if you’re sweaty. Like, she’s like, get away from me and, uh, so when we took the pictures, I didn’t get a hug, but I at least allowed her to stand next to me for like a second, which was nice. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

A bit further ahead, Gene saw his riding partner Mohammad, waiting for him at the rest area. 

Gene

We were like, you know, two ships passing at all the water stops. But at the last two water stops, you know, we connected, and we rode, we rode together the last like, say 25 or 30 miles.

Robert Pease (co-host)

Gene and Mohammed finished the ride side by side. And despite how spent Gene’s legs were earlier in the day, he did complete all 100 miles.

Robert Pease (co-host)

When did you next get on the bike? I would imagine you took some time off.

Gene

I’ll let you know when that happens.

Robert Pease (co-host)

That’s Generational Gene, steering clear of bikes for the time being. Taking a well-earned break. But still working out, lifting weights, and watching what he eats.  

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

When he does get back on his bike, he wants to go on some rides with his daughter. 

Gene

Hopefully this summer we’ll start going on some longer rides. Because she can probably ride 10 or 15 miles if she wanted now. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

An accountability partner. Another one.  

Gene

Yes.

Robert Pease (co-host)

We’re looking forward to catching up with Generational Gene down the road a bit. And hoping his numbers keep moving in the right direction. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Thinking like towards the next few years, what do you have your sights set on, athletically? 

Gene

Don’t tell my wife but I’d like to get a new road bike. 

Brittany Thomas (co-host) 

Don’t worry Gene, your secret’s safe with us. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

Next up on My Body Odyssey, the third in our series on cycling with cancer: this episode features a new protagonist, Susan, who’s completed the Pan Mass Challenge, or PMC, a remarkable 20 times. And that’s despite, or because, of her metastatic breast cancer. 

Sue

And then it was a long journey of getting chemotherapy and antibody treatment and then surgery, and then more chemotherapy and radiation. So it was pretty rigorous and, uh, intense. But that’s when I began the whole understanding of what the PMC was at that time. 

Robert Pease (co-host)

We sure hope you’ll stay with us for Susan’s odyssey of cycling with cancer, share the podcast with friends and family, and also leave a review on Apple podcasts; that’s a great help to us in reaching listeners. Special cred. to Sr. Producer Peter Lang-Stanton for this episode featuring Generational Gene. My Body Odyssey is a Fluent Knowledge production. Original music by Ryan Adair Rooney.