However, as an adult, that has all changed. So, there I was, no shit, in my mid 30’s, a single full-time father, I was really overweight and kind of looked like Peter Griffin. The truth is I was very unhappy with the person I had grown up to be. Not everything was bad, please don’t get me wrong. I had a good job, tons of support from my parents, siblings, and kick butt kids. That being said, deep down inside I was unhappy with how I looked like and what I had to offer a partner physically.

The reality of my health at that time was very poor. I was not only overweight, but I had High Blood Presser, a Fatty Liver, Mobility and Flexibility Issues, my Testosterone was so low that I should have been picking out a nice handbag to match my shoes. I had Sleep Apnea, and I had gotten so fat that I had developed a hernia in my bellybutton. I was definitely not at my best. Did I mention I had to hold my breath to tie my shoes? At about 37 years old I started only buying lace-less shoes. True story no shit.

My People, I like to be happy (Who doesn’t right?), and my health was keeping me from being happy. So, I took the knowledge that my teachers gave me, and I tried to implement it…… Turns out my body is a lot like a tank, and I don’t know how to drive a Tank. Basically, I’m saying I was clueless. I needed to learn about My Body. So what I did is I started experimenting and learning about different diets, how they work, why they work, and I’d try them off and on to see which ones would give me the most positive results. I learned about the exercises that would work for me and my body. I learned what vitamins would help support my aging body better. And I learned about what lifestyle changes I had to make to meet my goals. 

What I learned about, Carbs, Fats, Protein and Diets

I’ve learned that our bodies process carbs, fats, and protein differently. Our body uses each in a different way. Basically, the human body over time has evolved to help us survive with what we have at hand. Years ago, it was a hell of a lot less than today. 

Because of how we evolved over time the body learned to use carbs in kind of a cool way. The body can burn carbs as they are eaten, but ANY unused carb gets stored very easily in your fat cells. Now this is going to piss everyone off! Why will this piss people off? Because some of Gods best foods are carbs, and most people don’t need to eat as many carbs as we do. This unfortunately includes myself. What are carbs you ask? Well it depends on what kind of carb it is. Two main carbs exist Complex and Simple. Complex Carbohydrates are found in potatoes, pastas, and breads. Then we have Simple Carbohydrates like sugar, and we all know you find Sugar in candy, soft drinks, and even fruit…. 

I would also argue that you could say there is a third “category” of carbs, and it’s made up of anything processed. I’ve noted that in my own diet if I choose to eat a Carb that comes from nature like an apple, or potato my body has less of a negative reaction in regards to weight gain. What did this teach me? Well if I’m going to cheat on my diet with carbs do it with something that hasn’t been processed. Apples and Grapes, not Cookies and Cakes!

Where can you find carbs? The short answer is, in EVERYTHING and EVERYWHERE. This world is full of them. Remember when I said I learned that our bodies not only burn carbs, but our bodies also love to store carbs in our fat cells? Just think about that for a minute. Yeah, our body burns carbs, BUT, our bodies loves to store carbs in our fat cells, and it does this with ease, because it was built to do just that. I know, I know, carbs are AWESOME, however the reality is the more carbs we eat, the more opportunity we give our bodies to store them making us gain weight and feel shitty about ourselves. In short Stay AWAY FROM CARBS! Look at the side of the box of the things you’re eating, then add the grams of carbs you are accidentally eating each day. You’re going to find out that you eat more Carbs than you need. I shit you not, when I really started paying attention, I found out I was eating carbs without even knowing it. Even if the carton says Keto, Atkins, or Diet it may have carbs in it. Even VITAMINS have carbs… Vitamins, for the love of God!

PROTEINS, let’s be honest, this has turned into my favorite. I know it’s not candy, cookies, or cake, but who doesn’t enjoy brisket, steak, chicken, and fish? Not only that, but you’re going to find great protein in nuts and some veggies too. Protein is also kind of cool, as with some meats our bodies can burn more calories from the protein than we get out of the food we just ate. The body also prefers to burn the protein then to store it. This is how Atkins works. I’m not saying your body won’t store protein in fat cells. Bodies just prefer not to store protein; our bodies prefer to use it.

Fats, okay my People, this one is kind of hard for me to wrap my mind around….. Guess what your body LOVES to burn, but HATES to store…. That’s right FAT…. Yeah, you can eat all the fat you want, and you will not store any of it in your fat cells. And this is why Keto works. Not only that, but if your body gets used to burning the fat you eat, when your stomach runs out of fat, your body starts burning the stored fat already on your body. It’s really kind of awesome, because you’ll dump weight off your body so fast that people will ask if you’re dying or on drugs.

The Unfortunate Truth!

There’re tons of fad diets out there and things that don’t work. I don’t want to talk about those things. I really only want to talk about what did work for me and what I’ve seen work for others. What I learned, I didn’t always like because it made me have to change my way of thinking and my lifestyle. What I learned challenged me because it wasn’t an easy path. I learned that as I aged, I didn’t need as much food as I did when I was younger, and I was eating the wrong kinds or too much food. It took me a whole minute to really wrap my mind around those concepts. I did a bunch of reading, and googled the crap out of diets and did my best to learn as much as I could from as many perspectives as I could. Then I had a co-worker and friend quietly start to drop weight off himself as if it was wax melting off a candle. I asked the man what he was doing and he informed me that he and his beautiful girlfriend had been doing intermittent fasting.

I thought the man was NUTZ at first…. But I couldn’t deny that he looked happier than ever, and what he was doing was a success. At the time I learned what my buddy was doing, I was doing a combo of Atkins and Keto. Both good diets in my opinion, and I’d lost some of my overall weight. However, I’d hit a plateau and I’d felt like I was never going to get to my goal weight. After seeing his success and being a tad bit jealous, I started to do more reading how fasting can work…. Turns out historically speaking the human race has not always enjoyed three meals a day. In fact, at times in our shared history we’ve been lucky to get one meal every few days.

I started to think about the human race’s historical eating patterns. I started thinking about what I had learned about carbs, proteins, and fats. I started putting what I’d learned together, and things really did seem to fit. Carbs are found in everything today and I’m guessing years ago carbs where found more than protein or fats. Carbs were great back then, as you could store energy to use later when food wasn’t available. However, what made it great back then makes for a poor bed companion today. We get to eat a few times a day. Popular belief says that you need to eat three meals a day. Now I’m not saying you can’t eat three meals a day and be good to go. But I am saying that if you’re eating three meals a day, and a snack now and then. You’re going to gain weight or keep weight on.

Diet and what worked for me!

I don’t know if you’ve guessed by reading, but what works best for me to lose weight is Keto and fasting. That being said, I fast all day, then around 5ish I have a keto Dinner and eat as much keto as I wish. Nothing but protein and fat. Remember you will eat more than enough carbs by accident throughout your day, even when fasting. I also personally have a hard time sleeping on an empty stomach. So, I have a Keto snack before I go to bed and this may make me sound old but, I get to sleep at a good hour too. As we age our bodies have a hard time making hormones. Our bodies make hormones when we sleep. I just feel like I want my body to have all the opportunity to make as much testosterone as it can. So, I make sure I get the sleep my body needs. My kids and friends make tons of fun regarding bed time, but I think it’s important. After all, if you as an adult don’t have proper hormone balance your body will age faster, and have a harder time taking off, or keeping weight off.

Now, another issue I found is when I stopped doing Keto, I would gain weight back at the drop of a hat. So, I had to rethink how I looked at a diet. I’ve reached the age where I can no longer eat like a kid, and I need to have the diet of an adult not a child.

With the Adult Diet in mind when I would reach my goal weight I would switch from Keto to Atkins. Basically, eating way less fats, eating about the same amount of protein and now letting myself have natural carbs. The carbs within reason, again you’ll eat more Carbs than you realize. I also still fast. I’m afraid the point in my life where my body needs three meals a day is long gone and over, but I still do my bedtime snack.

Now let’s talk exercise.

So, as I said, I was really overweight, before I started my dieting. I was really out of shape and my mobility and fixability just sucked. To top it all off my testosterone levels were really low. Like 106….. I don’t know if you’re aware, but when your t-levels are that low, your body has a hard time getting back into shape. So, I started really slow. At first all I did was walk and do planks. In the beginning my walks where short, and my plank times where that of a man shaped like Peter Griffin. But with time, my walks got longer, and my planks got better and better. After about 6 months of working with my diet, and exercising every day, I was up to 5k walks every day and was able to do around 3 minutes of planks. In time I’ve added pushups and weights to my exercise routine. To this day I still walk 5k, and my best plank time is a little over 9 minutes. I also understand the importance of flexibility and mobility in life so I also started to stretch out a great deal and in a ton of different ways. Between the stretching and weight loss I can now tie my own shoes, and socks are no issue.

“Exercise is important, but you can’t out Exercise a Bad Diet.” By Shawn Flanagan. Write that down, it’s a good one!

A better life though Chemistry or Vitamins.. Whatever!

This is kind of important and reminds me of some old saying I heard from somewhere that goes like this “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” I say this because I take vitamins for two reasons. One, to help keep me from getting sick, the other is to help give my body everything it needs to run, to repair itself, and to help me live my best life, BEFORE I get sick….

Most of the vitamins I take are standard things everyone takes. Vitamin C….. It’s like a No Duh Right? Everyone should take it. Other Vitamins like DHEA not so much? Have you heard of DHEA? Most people I talk to about it have no idea what DHEA is, and I think Adults over 35-40ish NEED to take it. But let’s get into vitamins, shall we?

I take vitamins in the morning when I get up, and at night when I go to bed. This is by design as it fits my life well. I recommend you find what fits for you