When Brandon was born, doctors didn’t give him much hope of survival. He weighed just 4 pounds and had cerebral palsy, caused in utero by a lack of oxygen to the brain and resulting in issues with mobility and muscle weakness. “When I was born, doctors did not have the most optimistic prognosis for my life,” Brandon shares. “If I did survive, they thought I would be a vegetable and need to depend on people to care for me the rest of my life.”
But Brandon certainly beat those odds in the most spectacular way! He committed to building strength and developing his muscles through training and worked through the many challenges of his condition. He went to college and now works as a personal trainer who specializes in helping others with CP.
However, Brandon’s journey to better health did have a significant setback along the way. While in college, he dated a girl who urged him to limit his diet to fruits and vegetables and reduce his meat consumption to once per week. “The amount of joint pain that I experienced in those few months was terrible,” he recalls. “I had huge amounts of bloating in my stomach, and my skin would itch badly.” Brandon realized this way of eating wasn’t sustainable for him, but returning to a standard American diet only complicated things. He noticed heightened bouts of anxiety and depression.
“I loved steak as a kid,” he remembers. “It always made me feel so much better, and I had more energy. It made me feel like The Incredible Hulk!” Pushing aside years of anti-red meat dogma from doctors and the general public, Brandon discovered the carnivore diet through several YoutTube videos. People were thriving on a meat-only diet? He was sold!
Brandon committed to a strict carnivore diet for 30 days, consisting of only meat, eggs, salt, and water. “My perspective on life changed in one month’s time,” he shares. “My stomach wasn’t bloated anymore, I felt much calmer, and my anxiety and depression were much less. I felt healing in my back and joints, and my hip and knee pain went away.”
Brandon was surprised to find that his performance in the gym quickly improved on a meat-based diet. “My reps in the gym went up, and it was just a game changer for me. I went full-throttle right away. If I’m gonna do something in life, it’s gonna be all the way!” This approach certainly paid off for Brandon, and he’s stayed the course for 16 months so far.
While he doesn’t always have support from friends and family for his decision to eliminate plant foods, Brandon continues to thrive. He supports his personal training clients in their food choices but is always happy to share his own experience from switching to a meat-based diet. He typically eats twice per day and aims for an 8-hour eating window. “I highly recommend intermittent fasting. It amplified the healing process in my body even more.”
Brandon’s story is sure to inspire others, especially those who have cerebral palsy.
