At 33, my body betrayed me: "You, sir, have hit the proverbial metabolic wall. Never again will you eat and drink garbage with impunity". And so it was.
I stepped on the scale at work - they had one in the locker room. It said 240. Two-forty! I was only 11 years removed from being a competitive athlete (college soccer), and I'd somehow flipped the script and become a fat guy. I was eating plenty of "healthy whole grains", and if you ignore the gallons of liquor I was dumping down my throat, I mostly ate like everyone else I knew.
Fast forward a year or two. I decided to change my life. I partially succeeded. I sobered up. I was promoted at work. The "woman of my dreams" came back and we got married. Life was looking up. Even my weight showed signs of moving in the right direction. After I cut out the booze I quickly dropped 25 pounds, but that's where I stayed, hovering between 205 and 220.
The author, age 37, at his wedding reception in 2010. 5'11", ~225lbs (BF% 30-something) Hat size: circumference of the earth. Waist size ~38 inches:
I redoubled my efforts. I began working out 6x a week. I did weights 3 times a week and cardio - very long, intense cardio - 3 times a week. I counted calories with Fitday, and the math told me I should be losing weight. Calories in vs. calories out. Dr. Oz said it works. Oprah too. But I stayed fat. In fact, I actually gained weight. Must be muscle.
Despite my lack of progress, I was in the gym a lot. I stayed there because I don't give up. And I watched the Biggest Loser. Those fatties lost weight by busting ass in the gym, right? It certainly seemed that way.
In 2010, just after my then-wife and I moved to Vegas, I picked up a book by Gary Taubes I'd heard about on a message board. I bought it after my then-wife's sister - a nurse - told me I was pre-diabetic. PRE-DIABETIC. Me? I literally looked over my shoulder. She can't be talking to me. I.....have....THE BEETUS?!?!?!?!?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
That's it. I can't get diabetes. How is that even possible? Shut-ins and food addicts eating 30k calories a day who get fork-lifted out of one-stories in Alabama get diabetes. I'm in the gym 6 days a week. I count calories. I used to run 10 miles for fun! And even as heavy as I was, I still ran up to 5 miles at a time on cardio day. To say I was baffled was the understatement of understatements. What was happening to me wasn't scientifically possible. Or was it?
I read the Taubes book. It blew me away. Could it be that everything "the experts" know is wrong?
I began to approach my weight conundrum from a new angle. I doubted everything. In essence, I reformatted the portion of my brain that held the "knowledge" about nutrition and training I'd accumulated. It was junk. Why this same "knowledge" is as pervasive today and still perpetuated by "experts" I'll get to later, but it's killing people, literally. Another post for another day...
I researched. I watched documentaries (Food Inc., Forks Over Knives, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, King Corn, Sicko). And after seeing Tim Ferris promoting his book on a number of talk shows, I was sold on the idea that the experts had it all wrong. I began to experiment with different diets - not diets in the sense that I'm "going on a diet", but diet in the sense that I wanted to find a way to eat that's a sustainable deal forever; something I could do and even enjoy for the rest of my life. I failed a lot. But in failing I learned. And ultimately I succeeded.
Ironically enough, today as I tidy up this first post, I heard Tim on another podcast and realized I did something unconscious of him having already defined it in a book or on his show or somewhere else. As I sought a sustainable method for living, I realized it must meet a set of criteria. These are Tim's definitions ripped from his appearance on that podcast, but it's exactly what I thought as I looked for an answer to my problem.
Efficacy: Can I achieve my desired weight and ideal body with this method?
Efficiency: Is it efficient? I work ~50 hours a week and occasionally travel. I don't have time for two-a-days or 4-hour bike rides or spending most of my time cooking.
Adherence: By far the most important and most overlooked aspect: Is this something I will do and keep doing?
I researched. I watched documentaries (Food Inc., Forks Over Knives, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, King Corn, Sicko). And after seeing Tim Ferris promoting his book on a number of talk shows, I was sold on the idea that the experts had it all wrong. I began to experiment with different diets - not diets in the sense that I'm "going on a diet", but diet in the sense that I wanted to find a way to eat that's a sustainable deal forever; something I could do and even enjoy for the rest of my life. I failed a lot. But in failing I learned. And ultimately I succeeded.
Ironically enough, today as I tidy up this first post, I heard Tim on another podcast and realized I did something unconscious of him having already defined it in a book or on his show or somewhere else. As I sought a sustainable method for living, I realized it must meet a set of criteria. These are Tim's definitions ripped from his appearance on that podcast, but it's exactly what I thought as I looked for an answer to my problem.
Efficacy: Can I achieve my desired weight and ideal body with this method?
Efficiency: Is it efficient? I work ~50 hours a week and occasionally travel. I don't have time for two-a-days or 4-hour bike rides or spending most of my time cooking.
Adherence: By far the most important and most overlooked aspect: Is this something I will do and keep doing?
For now I'll stop and briefly summarize the lifestyle protocol I used to drop roughly 40 pounds of fat over the last year. There'll be more to come, and this list will be the outline for my blog entries going forward:
- The Golden Rule: No sugars, no grains (Vinnie Tortorich)
- Eat like a whole food vegan and add meat.
- Set a goal - both a number on the scale and an image in your mind.
- No processed foods.
- No artificial sweeteners.
- Eat fat
- Meditate
- Control your cortisol levels (Cannot overstate the importance of this)
- Black coffee and tea are awesome
- Fast occasionally (Brad Pilon, Martin Berkhan)
- Practice Cold Thermogenesis (Ben Greenfield, Wim Hof)
- Massage therapy is your friend
- Supplement EPA/DHA, D3, Multi
- Reserve the right to cheat*
- Exercise in a manner that's consistent with your goal(s)
*This is a slippery slope for someone like me, so I rarely cheat, but I can if I want.
The author, age 42, last week, post-workout: 5'11" 176lbs (BF% ~11%) waist size: 31 inches. Goal BF=9%.
