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Reproductive health – men

Real People, Real Results​

Trevor heals from depersonalization, body pain, and being bed-ridden on a carnivore diet

January 10, 2023 No Comments

Born and raised in the small town of Lancaster, Ohio, Trevor was always active and athletic. He grew up eating the Standard American Diet, filled with the usual culprits of fried food and sugar, but still had plenty of energy to keep up with his fellow athletes on the field.

After serving in the Marine Corp for four years, he opened up a gym in his hometown and started eating what he calls the “Bro Diet,” one that is beloved by bodybuilders the world over. Full of lean chicken and rice, he adhered to it strictly as he was doing some modeling at the time, however, even though Trevor looked good on the outside, he was far from feeling well on the inside. “My fat [intake] remained extremely low. I believe that’s what led to me getting really sick…that was the diet that ultimately plunged me into a spiral of sickness.”

When Trevor turned 30, he started to experience bizarre and upsetting symptoms. The very worst would go on to include being bedridden for 3 months, paralysis on half of his body, brain fog, loss of balance, exhaustion, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. “I forgot who my wife and family were…I had episodes of like, passing out—[but] not hitting the ground. You couldn’t have a conversation with me. It was like I was a statue.”

This was the beginning of a cavalcade of doctors entering Trevor’s life. He visited neurologists, cardiologists, psychiatrists, endocrinologists, and optometrists. “I saw everyone under the sun—I mean, they cut, prodded, poked me—they did everything.”

The eventual diagnosis turned out to be even more confusing, with the medical professionals deciding that it was most likely all psychosomatic. Stunned and running out of options, Trevor and his wife kept searching for answers, spending their life savings trying to find a solution to his health nightmare.

“I remember going downstairs to my wife and…the disassociation was the scariest. I remember asking her, ‘Am I alive or am I dead?’ I just couldn’t comprehend…my brain had a hard time just wrapping around the normal ideals of life.”

After trying varying vegetarian diets to no success, Trevor came across Dr. Shawn Baker and the carnivore diet, and decided to give it a go. After about two to three weeks, he says his brain started to turn back on. “That’s kind of a weird thing to say, but it was the truth. I could remember people’s names that I was struggling with…I could read a book and I could remember what I just read.”

Seven months after going carnivore, and Trevor is now totally free from the symptoms that haunted him for the better part of two years. He eats two meals a day full of red meat, eggs and bacon, and is experiencing stellar results in and out of the gym. His mental clarity is sharp, his libido is great, and he even has plenty of energy to remodel his home after a long day at work. In addition to his gym business, he does health coaching online, and is happy to share his powerful testimony with his clients. “It was life-changing. It was life-saving.”

Coach Evan reverses ankylosing spondylitis on a carnivore diet

November 30, 2022 No Comments

Ever since Evan was young, he had an insatiable hunger that caused him binge eat, in addition to his other daily struggles of ADHD, OCD, brain fog and fatigue. When he turned eleven—embarrassed by his heavy frame—he decided to go on a diet. Following the conventional wisdom at the time, he started eating a low-calorie/low-fat diet, full of lots of “healthy” whole grains, seed oils and tofu. He lost 30 pounds, but describes his body composition as “skinny fat ” at the time. He also couldn’t help noticing that he was a lot weaker than his fellow classmates. Using sheer willpower alone, Evan struggled with yo-yo dieting and calorie counting throughout high school, but it wasn’t until he entered college that the real trouble began.

“Out of nowhere,” Evan says, “I became incredibly depressed, anxious and suicidal.” He tried exercising daily to combat his negative feelings, but saw zero improvement. Exasperated, he turned his focus to his diet, and in his research experienced the cognitive dissonance that goes along with learning that animal fat is an important part of the human diet, while also simultaneously being the main driver of heart attacks and cancer. In the end, the “experts” won out, and Evan persisted in following their low-fat/high carb recommendations—to no avail. “I just felt worse and worse—I wasn’t getting better at all.”

After years of declining health, a defeated Evan began binge drinking and eating candy to deal with his frustrations. He eventually was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis—an autoimmune condition that runs in his family that affects the spine. He would go on to gain 40 pounds, and when hospitalized with bruises all over his body, nausea, diarrhea and night sweats, his doctors told him that his symptoms were most likely psychosomatic.

Finally, in 2020, one of his friends—who happened to be on the carnivore diet—invited him over for a steak. After eating it, Evan was surprised by how satiated he felt, and ended up not eating for the rest of the day. He woke up the next morning still feeling full, so he decided to give the carnivore diet a try. After the first week, Evan had lost ten pounds, and while he didn’t feel great—he didn’t feel terrible either. “Within the next two weeks, all of a sudden my depression and my anxiety had vanished, my Ankylosing Spondylitis had gotten 90% better, the numbness in my hands was gone, my bruising started going away, my asthma went away, my heartburn went away, my digestive issues went away…my libido came back—pretty much everything you can think of went away within two or three weeks.” He also noticed a remarkable improvement in his ADHD and OCD symptoms. “My whole outlook on life is a lot different: I’m a lot more motivated, a lot more friendly, outgoing, happy. So, pretty much, everything for me has changed.” His friends and family all agree. “I’m not the same beaten down person that I was before.”

Jon heals from gut issues, fatigue, and arthritis

August 3, 2022 1 Comment

I was a raw vegan/fruitarian for 7 years. I was actually an influencer in that community and offered health consultations helping people heal chronic degenerative diseases using a fruitarian diet and now do the same thing but now recommending an animal-based diet/carnivore. I’ve actually helped many in the short term heal cancer, arthritis, skin conditions, etc. But I watched the same people including myself start to degenerate trying to maintain this diet in the long term. I’m a certified detoxification specialist and online iridologist.

For the last 1 1/2 years of the 7 years being vegan mostly fruitarian/raw vegan I developed major gut issues. Gi pain and digestive problems and blood sugar issues. This was also very common with my clients that were long-term vegan.

The more I continued to eat a high-fiber diet the more I continued to degenerate. Skin problems, gut pain, malnutrition, and depression.

I started having cravings for eggs and I mean intense cravings. My instincts told me to eat them and to adopt a mainly carnivore diet to heal my gut. I listened and it dramatically changed my life for the good!!! In only 3 months I can proudly say I have no more gut issues!!

I’ve been on a mainly carnivore diet for 4 months now. My muscles came back, testosterone came up. Consistent energy. Zero gut pain. No constant gas and zero bloat and no more depression!!! And I feel like the 25-year-old bull I once was at 37!!!

I will send you a pic of how skinny I got as a fruitarian 5 years ago and what I look like now on a zero fiber 90% carnivore diet. The only plant food I consume living on an island (koh Phangan) in Thailand is fresh coconut water out of Thai coconut which does not cause me any issue at all.

This photo here was when I was super emaciated at 105 lbs when I was 100% fruitarian the other pics were when I was high raw vegan towards the end of my vegan journey. I was still very skinny and underweight at 120 lbs.

My diet now is muscle meats, liver, and coconut water.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with me and im hoping to bring more awareness to people especially the fruitarians and raw vegans that are in denial like I was and have major eating disorders.

Caelin healed digestive issues, testosterone, high blood pressure on a Carnivore lifestyle

December 29, 2021 No Comments

Caelin has been struggling with gastrointestinal issues and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) for most of his life. Caelin says though he never sought medical treatment for his IBS, it wasn’t uncommon for him to use the restroom up to fifteen times per day. Caelin also struggled with mood instability and trouble focusing and had been on Aderol, a medication known for treating ADHD, for several years. Caelin also got testosterone injections to balance his hormones but struggled to gain muscle at the gym.

Caelin has worked in the health and fitness industry for most of his adult life. He knew his issues were not normal, but conventional health protocols were not helping him. One day he was on Twitter and saw testimony from a user who claimed to heal their IBS within ninety days of living the carnivore lifestyle. Caelin researched the carnivore diet and listened to Dr. Shawn Baker’s testimony on Joe Rogan’s podcast and other advocates like Jordan and Mikhaila Peterson and Amber O’Hearn.

Caelin said he decided to start on the diet–slowly. Initially, Caelin ate mostly ground beef but used non-carnivore-approved sauces like barbecue and steak sauce. Thanks to his bowels, he soon learned that the sauces hindered his success with the carnivore diet. He also drank some alcohol in the beginning. Still, after one month of following the carnivore diet, Caelin says he was seventy percent cured.

Caelin says after just a few months on the carnivore diet, he no longer desired to drink alcohol. Caelin would go on to realize that coffee was holding him back from complete healing. He tried reducing the amount of coffee he drank but ultimately had to stop it altogether. Once he eliminated coffee, his recovery sped up.

After one year on the carnivore diet, Caelin has been able to wean himself off of testosterone injections and says he is building more muscle now as a carnivore diet follower than when he was taking testosterone. Now that Caelin has been following the carnivore diet for two years, he says he uses the restroom once a day, sometimes less, and has much more control over his bowel movements. Caelin also says his moods are more stable, and he has much better mental clarity.

Today Caelin still sticks to mainly eating beef– particularly grass-fed and grass-finished ground beef and chuck roast, which he buys locally. He also eats liver occasionally, though he admits he doesn’t like the taste. Caelin recently added egg yokes to his diet, which he has learned must be fully cooked for his body to tolerate. And he has found a love for raw milk. Caelin says his body has never been able to handle any milk, but for some reason, raw milk works.

Caelin advises anyone looking to begin their journey to health with the carnivore diet to “keep it so simple a toddler could do it.” Caelin is grateful he has regained his health and life with the carnivore way of eating and looks forward to sharing his story with others.

Jurriaan fixed his depression on a carnivore diet

February 26, 2020 No Comments

Jurriaan, 32, is a personal trainer from the Netherlands. Inspired by Dr. Shawn Baker’s approach to health, he ditched a plant-based diet and began his own carnivore journey to optimal health.

Plant Based Disaster

Jurriaan struggled with his health for many years. “After a period of following a plant-based diet, I lost so much muscle!” he shares. He suffered from anxiety and depression, had low libido, and no longer had the energy to work out. He experienced other health issues that only worsened on a plant-based diet, including Raynaud’s Syndrome (a condition that causes cold and numbness in fingers and toes), insomnia, lack of coordination, chronic fatigue, hair loss, ringing in his ears, blurry vision, and candida. “The list goes on! I also had chronic pain in my neck, back, and hips.”

Carnivore For A Happy Life – From Failing to Thriving

In December 2018, Jurriaan watched Dr. Shawn Baker’s interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast and made the choice to move away from a plant-based diet. Jurriaan credits Dr. Baker’s story as his inspiration for getting his health under control. He had previously thought that more vegetables added up to a healthier life, but as Dr. Baker shared, removing vegetables from his diet was the key to eliminating the laundry list of ailments that had plagued him for years.

Jurriaan wisely took a gradual approach as he implemented a meat-based diet. Although he added more meat to every meal, he was still hung up on some foods he previously believed to be healthy and necessary. “I was still eating the ‘magical’ broccoli!” he jokes. Three months later, Jurriaan made the decision to ditch vegetables for good! He has been following a 100% carnivore diet since February 2019. “It’s been exactly one year, and I feel awesome!”

Jurriaan’s physical and mental health symptoms have greatly improved in his first year. “After years of depression, I am now happy and healthy again!” Mental clarity, a general sense of peace, and the ability to train hard at the gym again were the most noticeable improvements. “I feel calm and mentally clear. I can lift heavy weights again, and I have joy in my work as a personal trainer and coach.” Jurriaan’s before and after pictures clearly show an incredible improvement in body composition since switching to a carnivore diet.

Harnessing Shawn’s Superpower

Jurriaan admires the work that Dr. Baker is doing for the carnivore community, describing him as “brave” in a world where so many are afraid to speak against mainstream health trends and decades of nutrition narratives that seem to shun animal-based products. He writes, “Dr. Baker is on the other side of the world from me, but it feels like he is right beside me and all the other people who are struggling with their health!”

Jurriaan considers that kind of solidarity and commitment to truth to be nothing short of a superpower and one he strives to uphold with his own training clients and community. “Now that I found my strength and feel healthy again, I hope I can help others find theirs!”

Stephen improved his muscle mass, digestion, and skin on a carnivore diet

January 24, 2020 6 Comments
From my teenage years I fully believed in the calories in / calories out theory. I believed that carbs were good for you and I looked pretty good. 
I even competed in a body building tournament (all natural, no steroid show)
 
I played semi-professional soccer and competed at a reasonable level in tennis (winning one singles tournament)
 
 
As I got older I began running and being really active. I did not smoke or drink. I ate porridge with skimmed milk and bananas and freshly squeezed orange juice. Healthy eating was my thing. On a trip to the United States I had egg white omelettes for the first time. I was the poster boy for calories in / calories out. I avoided fat. I even did 6 months on a soy based diet (worst I had ever felt)

I got into running and even in my forties was running some great times. I include this because even though I was doing all this I was getting fatter! Also I was getting  sicker. Nothing seem to make sense.

I suffered from the following;
Rashes to the forehead, athletes foot (for over 10 years) pains in the lower right quadrant (I had a colonoscopy) I developed a cataract, I was pre-diabetic and I was overweight. Yet I was eating right and doing activity and not smoking nor drinking?
The final straw was having a heart scan. The CAC is the ultimate measure of how well your heart is doing. My score was 639. This is the highest possible risk (you want it to be zero) and it was made apparent that according to my score I likely to have a heart attack before I left the hospital! The bands of risk go 0-100, 100-200, 200-300 and high risk is 300-400. I was above the high risk. The point being. It really is high.
 
So I did research and saw that I’d been misled about food. I dropped the carbohydrates, starch and fruit and saw immediate improvements.  
 
  • My weight dropped dramatically in just three weeks when I decided to go full carnivore!
  • My athletes foot went
  • My pain in my stomach went away
  • My rashes on my forehead, gone.
  • My hunger diminished
  • I started to eat more! (but the right things)
  • Bowel movements improved
  • I noticed a complete lack of gas!
 
The less carbohydrates I ate the better I felt and looked. I am lucky that I am in the health and fitness industry so I can take my bloods and as a qualified phlebotomist can look at my results and interpret them.
All my bloods improved.
 

I then tried zero carb and tracked my testosterone and other markers. My testosterone  went up by over 30% in 2 months.

Further Improvements: I wanted to now add more muscle and decrease body fat % further. This I have been able to do. Losing fat and gaining muscle required eating more ‘calories’ than recommended.
Yes you can lose fat while eating more food, as long as it is the right food. I tracked my body composition for the next phase. Muscle up, body fat down, bone mass up and visceral fat down. I intend to keep eating this way, I have never felt so good.

That’s the reason why I decided to train to be a carnivore coach with carnivore.diet

To hopefully help others like I helped myself.
 
I hope you found my story interesting. 
Stephen T

January 2020

Listen to Stephen’s interview on the Revero podcast here:

Andrew improved digestion, brain fog, joint pain, libido on carnivore diet

January 6, 2020 14 Comments

Andrew finally got the six-pack abs he had dreamed of in his youth, all thanks to switching to a carnivore diet and implementing simple bodyweight workouts three days a week! You’ll want to check out his incredible story as he shares with Revero coach Tracy how he achieved what seemed impossible.

“I gave up alcohol five years ago, which is a great achievement in itself,” Andrew begins. “But two years after giving up the drink, I thought my health would have improved, but it got worse. I had problems with my libido, gut issues, brain fog, poor memory, joint pain, lack of energy, and I became fat.”

On a quest to figure out how to regain his health, Andrew says he read 84 books and listened to countless health-related podcasts in 2017. He did six months of a ketogenic diet and was able to lose some weight, but it wasn’t until New Year’s Day in 2019 that he started his carnivore journey. “The first month or two, I wasn’t sure this was the right way of eating for me,” he writes. “I didn’t feel quite right, but I stuck with it anyway, and I’m so happy I did!”

Andrew’s diet consists of cheese, eggs, muscle meat, bone broth, and organ meat. He was amazed at his results. “After five weeks, I noticed I was getting stronger and leaner,” he explains. ”Within a few months, I ended up having a six-pack, all from eating a meat-based diet and doing ten minutes of bodyweight exercises three to four times a week.”

As remarkable as his outward results are, Andrew is even more impressed with the internal healing that occurred. “The brain fog is gone and my enlarged prostate returned to normal,” he shares. “I’m just full of energy, buzzing around the place! I used to suffer from gut issues while following a vegan diet, so removing all those plants and grains made a difference.” Andrew occasionally includes fasting in his routine, something he hadn’t been able to do before following a carnivore diet. “It’s amazing when you incorporate everything together.”

Several of Andrew’s biomarkers have improved as well over the 15 months he’s been a carnivore. “My resting heart rate is about 45, I’m feeling dynomite!” he shares in his testimonial. “My triglycerides are at 66 mg and my testosterone is through the roof at 1020 mg/dl.” While Andrew’s total cholesterol did go up, he is not concerned about his numbers. (For more information on cholesterol and lipids as they relate to a carnivore diet, please see here.)

Andrew offers some great advice for how to stay successful on a carnivore diet and how to incorporate workouts for even better results. “I recommend doing bodyweight exercises for up to ten minutes, and do enough reps to get to failure. For me, this was between six and ten reps. I found it best to train while fasted, and don’t eat until two hours post-workout.” For anyone starting out, he advises, “The transition may take some time, but just stick with it and you’ll come out the other side. I have my life back!”

Listen to Andrew’s interview on the Revero podcast here:

Sean improved fitness, chronic joint and back pain on carnivore diet

December 9, 2019 1 Comment
My story:

When I turned 40 in July 2017,  I was “living a good life” filled with “good food” and “good booze”. 

What wasn’t good was my health. I was fat. My back hurt. My knees hurt. When I bent over to tie my shoes, I couldn’t breathe. I was always tired because I had a bad case of sleep apena. I was pre-diabetic. I was on blood pressure medication. I thought that’s just how life went when you were over 40. 

Just before Halloween that year, I was introduced to the idea of a ketogenic diet and, after some research, I realized I could eat bacon and lose weight. I decided to give it a try and, for the next year, I ate a strict keto diet, usually staying under 20g of carbs daily. My protein came mainly from chicken and fish with some tempeh (soy) thrown in. My fat sources were ghee, olive oil, and coconut oil. I included most of the “dark green, leafy vegetables” that people are so enamored with. I ate a boatload of caesar salads with chicken. 
 
I lost a bunch of weight, going from ~315lbs to ~240 (I’m 6’1″, btw). 

I lost athletic performance. I had no gas in the tank. I was lighter but my strength was not what it used to be. 

I also lost my sex drive. 

Then my weight loss stalled.

I decided to take a hiatus from keto and just watch my calories. I gained some weight back over the holidays and decided to go back on keto in January of 2019 and saw no changes.
 
In March of 2019, I stumbled upon Dr. Ted Naiman, Dr. Paul Saladino, and Dr. Shawn Baker and the Carnivore WOE. That month, I decided to give it a try despite the objections of my girlfriend and my mother, a retired RN. I did make my mother a promise to get my labs done monthly to ensure I wasn’t killing myself.
 
In the first month, I saw my strength and sex drive come back with a vengeance! I went from being able to do 0 pull-ups to 8!
 
Now, I usually eat once a day (OMAD) and fast for the rest. Here’s what I’ve seen:
    • Weight is down to 220 lbs
    • 3lbs of visceral fat as of June 2019
    • bench press and deadlift are now up to over 300lbs
    •  allergies are gone
    • asthma is gone
    • blood pressure is awesome and I’m off medication
    • sleep apnea is gone
    • snoring is radically reduced
    • knees and back don’t hurt
    • testosterone level is awesome
    • thyroid is working great
Basically, I’m 42 and I feel like I’m 22!
 
Now, here’s the super cool part:

Also, after seeing my lab results each month, my parents made the decision to go carnivore in June. For my mother, it was about losing weight and breaking her carb addictions. For my father, he did it to beat a cancer he’s been fighting since 2013. His scans in September showed the tumors shrinking and that was with no other new intervention aside from diet!

Listen to Sean’s interview on the Revero podcast below:

Stephen improved blood sugar, dental health, digestion on carnivore diet

November 1, 2019 No Comments

I am 25, 175lbs, stronger, happier, with better skin and digestion, than I’ve had since I was 17. Growing up, my family, in an attempt to chastise me or tease me, gave me a sort of nickname regarding food: “cookies, cakes and candies.” I loved sweets, and was known to eat all my brothers’ winter oreos or popsicles, cereal, or what have you. In high school and college I would legitimately have cereal as 1/3 of my diet (or more), along with bagels, bread, ice cream, etc. In high school some of my best friends made fun of me because I would sometimes even come prepared with a bagel in my pocket.

 Then in college, everything started hitting the fan and my world started spinning: I began to have constant, I mean constant, stomach pain all day long, from the morning I awoke to going to sleep. Some friends in college persuaded me, along ethical lines (not nutritional) to try vegetarianism and veganism, so I was the former for a year and a half and the latter for 8-10 months— it was horrible. I ate tons of fruit, granola, cereal, soy ice cream, cider— I was rail thin, weak, tired, and eventually became very sick.

In Summer 2014, after a year of veg/anism, I went abroad and returned with a fever that stayed and left me almost bedridden for over a month; the apartment I was living in had black mold, and I didn’t have much energy each day. I brushed it off and got back to school, but friends around me realized I wasn’t myself— my energy was gone, I was becoming more irritable and withdrawn, I had panic attacks and my stomach constantly hurt all day long. 

It eventually got so bad that I needed an ice pack strapped to my chest just to sleep, had various GI tests, got my gallbladder removed, and had constant searing back pain as well (which I also needed an ice pack just to sleep too). It was the worst couple years of my life, and I felt like there was no way out— praying and meditating alone and with friends, celebrating Eucharist at Church, being with friends, playing music, hiking and reading poetry were the only things that gave me solace as I became sort of a recluse.

Problems:

  • Hypoglycemia (probably pre-diabetic)
  • brain fog, poor memory, low mental acuity
  • low energy, chronic fatigue
  • intense anxiety, panic attacks (was medicated) for years
  • depression and mood swings
  • GERD
  • IBS
  • diarrhea for years
  • chronic stomach pain
  • failed gallbladder
  • Skin eczema/rashes (sometimes bled)
  • low libido (hormonal imbalance)
  • chronic back pain
  • headaches
  • lip sores
  • eye inflammation
  • easy sunburn
  • some random tumors/cysts
  • anemia
  • poor dental health

My mom and brother had been off of gluten and sugar for years by the time I was in college, they were nominally following Robb Wolf and the Paleo movement, but they did not know or practice a Keto or Carnivore Way of Eating. By 2017 I started eliminating foods and keeping a food journal, starting with gluten, then all grain, then cruciferous veggies, then nightshades, legumes, and on and on.

By December 2017, I was in shambles, and my roommate told me about one of his best friends who had Crohn’s and reversed it with the ketogenic diet. I was desperate, and had been addictively reading about nutrition, fasting, and ketosis (I did just barely come across carnivore at this time, but I brushed it off because it seemed too intimidating, I loved sugar). 

After fasting all day Christmas Day 2017 and feeling much relieved, and then jumped into keto, hands to the plow no looking back. I starting feeling better and better, every week, month, and quarter I would keep saying, “Man, I haven’t felt this good since I was 18!” By around October 2018, after reading about Carnivore for a couple months, I was yearning for something more streamlined, easier, nutritious, and satiating, to get me to the next place (still had some residual anxiety, tiredness, skin issues, etc)— so I went to Carnivore and it just got better and better. My strength, mental acuity, and skin got even better. (Before keto- 2 pull ups, on Keto- 7 pull ups, on carnivore- 18 pull ups).

Improvements:

  • No digestive issues whatsoever
  • Best mental focus, attention, and mood since high school
  • no brain fog or headaches
  • best strength I’ve maybe ever had
  • much improved dental health
  • anxiety and depression are gone!
  • normal libido (hormonal balance)
  • little to no sunburn after hours in direct sunlight (first time in my life)
  • tumors/cysts disappeared
  • no back pain
  • no eye inflammation
  • clear and really smooth skin
  • steady energy all day

I am now absolutely loving this WOE and I don’t really see ever leaving it— although I am like 95% carnivore, I have some onions, garlic, mushrooms sometimes, and once a month or two I’ll split a sweet potato or make avocado pudding with friends. Meat does continue to taste better and better (I am soon going to get a quarter of beef!). 

I am eternally grateful for the work of Shawn Baker, especially Joe Rogan hosting Mikhaila Peterson (my first major exposure to Carnivore), the Zero Carb subreddit, Dr. Darren Schmidt, and countless others for making this possible, as well as friends and family, who have supported me through this hard time and brought immense healing. I’ve now been on keto for a year and a half and on zero carb for 9 months and am so filled with awe and so thankful.


Peace

Mr. V improved cardiovascular health, mental health, sex on carnivore diet

November 1, 2019 4 Comments

I want to share my story with people and hope it may be able to encourage and inspire someone who may be in a position where I used to be. So where do I begin? I am currently 41 years old and probably in the best shape of my life of my adult years. I grew up always having a love for food.

Over the years that love became an addiction to food. I have always loved meat but I was born in the Mediterranean before I moved to the US as a kid. One thing we ate every day was bread. Being poor that’s the main thing we could afford with some veggies etc. That habit developed over my lifetime where I would indulge in carbs (mainly bread). Many times I could devour a whole loaf of fresh baked bread in one sitting. (french loaf). Why am I starting my transformational story from my early childhood? Because I would like to help others be able to find where the Root of your situation began.

So fast forward to more current years. In June 2016 I really felt bad and unhealthy. My weight ran up to 280lbs at 5’10 and 38 years old. I was also a heavy smoker with at least 2 packs a day. At nights I would wheeze just trying to breathe, and would wake up in the middle of the night with uncontrolled coughing until I could catch my breath. While many would be quick to say “oh my, you need to stop smoking,” they never really knew or understood the underlying problem of my high carb intake.

Yes, I’m not going to say that smoking wasn’t part of the equation to my lack of ability to breathe, yet smoking alone was not the problem. I was obese according to the doctor’s model. I finally decided to put aside my macho side and made an appointment with a doctor about my current unhealthy condition. What finally made me make this decision? Was it the fact that I could barely breathe? Or the fact that I could barely sleep at night without choking in the middle of the night? Was it the frequent shits everyday, at least 3 times or more?

No… what finally made me make that call for that doctor appointment is when I started feeling little shocks going on in my brain. Have you ever had static shock on your hands after you walked on carpet and touched something? Well imagine that happening inside your head and you get those shocks. That was my “wake up call”…. or so I thought.

So June 2016 I see my doctor and she recommended we do several blood tests so we can see where my levels were. July 2016 I went back in to go over those numbers. Main numbers that we discussed:

  • HbA1C was exactly 6.3, literally, on the Diabetic line.
  • My Triglycerides were 1253, keep in mind the normal should be < 150.
  • My HDL cholesterol was at a whopping 23
  • My LDL cholesterol was near 200.
  • My blood pressure 147/100.

I was put on 10mg lisinopril. Needless to say, this doctor’s visit made me think about where I was, and where did I want to go in the future? One thing I truly love and admire about my doctor is the fact that she was not quick to put me on medication. She consulted with me and said to cut down or eliminate my carbs, eat lean proteins and more fruits/vegs. ( I know she was only recommending what she was taught through mainstream) but she did mean well.

So after getting that devastating truth, I was gung ho to get healthy. Yeah right…. Well, I would go see my doctor every 4 months and I would go through bloodwork and see little progress only to lose that progress the next visit.

So fast forward 2 years and we get to July 2018. I went to see my doctor again and go over my bloodwork numbers. All the work I had put in over the past 2 years with my yo-yo dieting has led to my key numbers going back up and in the wrong direction and my weight back up to 280. After seeing the disappointment in the doctor’s face, I got really emotional and very angry with myself because I felt her disappointment.

I felt my energy shift that day due to that disappointment from my doctor and myself, and vowed to actually make a shift in my perspective and live, because if I didn’t, I would surely be dead in the near future of numerous complications.

So how did I follow through on this shift of perspective and life? One day I saw someone retweet something Dr. Baker had posted where he was promoting a #carnivorediet. I glanced and read it and was like WTF is this dude talking about. Surely that’s not healthy eating only meat. (hahaha) So I started reading through his tweets and started thinking to myself: “nothing else seems to be working why not give it a try?”

I started the carnivore way of eating in August 2018, was strict carnivore for the first month and BOOM, I lost 15lbs. Hell yea! After the first month, I decided to go low carb / keto way of eating and started to learn about IF. I started walking during my first month to build stamina before I joined a gym and started exercising. I signed up for HIIT boot camp program at the gym and slowly started working on myself.

The knowledge and education I gained on Twitter by following Dr. Baker, Dr. Wrigley, P.D. Mangan, Ted Naiman, Travis Statham and many others that are too many to list has been paramount in my transformational journey. I have just recently became more vocal on Twitter regarding this WoE and looking to share my story and help others any way I can.

My life before I began my transformation in August 2018 was non-existent. Most of my adulthood has been spent overweight and unable to have an active lifestyle. I was very sedentary and would eat like there was no tomorrow. I let my wife down as a husband, a lover, and a life partner.

I let myself down because of my eating habits. My libido and testosterone were non-existent. My mental state was a wreck, I had anxiety, fear, lack of will for life, and lack of care for any endeavor/adventure. I felt like I had no penis or any balls and just went through life drifting along the waves. Thankfully in August 2018 everything changed.

Here I am today, June 1st 2019:

  • Went from 280lbs down to 217lbs for a total weight loss of 63lbs.
  • Did bloodwork mid April and HbA1C = 5.4
  • Triglycerides = 130
  • HDL cholesterol = 40
  • LDL cholesterol = 140
  • BP = 100/65
  • All my numbers are in normal range now.
  • My breathing has improved tremendously, I no longer wheeze, or get into uncontrolled cough spells, and I don’t wake up in the middle of the night with nonstop coughing (I still smoke just nowhere near as much).
  • My mental state is amazing, with anxiety and fear subsiding.
  • I am more vibrant and excited about life, goals, my future, and my commitment to my wife as a husband, lover and life partner.
  • My testosterone has gone up, my libido has increased tremendously, and my hormones have been rebalancing which is allowing me to gain control over myself.
  • I no longer get cravings, or lose willpower and indulge in crap foods.
  • I decide when I want to subject myself to crap food if I decide to.

All of these changes came as a result of following amazing Doctors on Twitter and many others in the carnivore/keto community.  Of course I had to get off my ASS and do the work, but boy let me tell you how well worth the decision to change my life and live is. 

How important is it for you to get healthy?  Who stands to benefit from a healthy, vibrant, thriving you?  Ask yourself these questions and just know that you can change yourself for the better as I did.  I am very thankful for Dr. Baker since he was the first person to open my eyes and guided me along this transformation journey.  Thank you all for reading.

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