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

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.

Childhood Addiction to Food

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.

Wake-up Call to Health

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.

Meeting the Doctor

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 defecation 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.

Yo-Yo Dieting

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.

Carnivore Diet

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?”

Low-Carb/Keto Diet

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.

Exercise Regimen

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 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.