A personal fitness journey — Optimizing life through diet and fitness
Closing out Global Wellness month, I wanted to share with you all my personal health journey.
About a year ago now I began a fitness journey that would improve my life in more ways than shrinking my waistline. Over the past five years I often struggled with inflammation in my joints, which caused discomfort while performing day-to-day activities such as playing with my young children, doing work around the house or even bending down to pull food out of the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
I’ve slowly accepted in recent years (I am now in my 40s) that I absolutely cannot count on my “youth” to keep me healthy any longer — a dedicated effort was required. I also had the distinct impression that my cognition was not as good as it once was, and I began researching various methods on how to maintain optimal mental clarity and focus. I quickly discovered a seemingly unintuitive reality: in order to have a healthy brain, I had to maintain a healthy body, and cardio played a big role.
Last year, as I’d done for several years prior, I began training for my annual hike out west in Wyoming in April. Normally I would train for a few months to improve my cardio prior to the trip, but each year after the hike I would fall back into my daily routine, and my progress would wither away as the weather cooled down.
I decided that this year would be different. I signed up for a 5k race in the fall — something I had only done once before — to give me a training goal I could aim for deep into autumn. My goal, I decided, was to run a 07:30 pace in the 5k. I also began measuring my body fat via an impedance scale on a regular basis and began making a determined effort to get to the gym — no excuses — at least 4 days a week.
The hike was a success: we took our ‘usual’ route, walking 86 miles in five days with a party of four. However, on the second day, I slid and fell on loose gravel while traveling downhill at a good clip. At the time, I thought it was merely a sprain. It was swollen and somewhat stiff, but with a few Advil, a quick soak in some ice cold mountain water, and with some more time on the trail it felt like something I could tolerate to the end. I finished out the trip, walking more than 70 miles on an ankle which I later found out was fractured in 2 places with partially torn ligaments on both sides.
After returning to civilization and (eventually) getting an x-ray that revealed the severity of the injury, I was placed in a medical boot for 6 weeks. My doctor made it painfully clear that I could not run in the race I had been training for; the ligaments would need time to heal and tighten. Although disappointed, I became determined that I wouldn’t allow this setback to throw me off of my fitness routine as had happened so many times before. I changed my focus to work on resistance training and some cardio that primarily used my upper body.
I certainly missed running. The alternative forms of cardio I discovered — such as the skiing machine, or swimming — simply weren’t able to push my heartrate to the extent that running could. For the few weeks I was in the boot and during the slow path of physical therapy afterward, I felt a bit like a caged animal. I looked forward to my freedom. In November the boot came off, and I began physical therapy. By Christmas I was finally able to run again, albeit in a limited way.
I continued to set an aggressive schedule during this period. Despite working out 5 days a week for an average of 90 minutes a day, my progress was stalled. I wasn’t sure what to do. I had several conversations with fitness aficionados, and one thing I heard repeatedly was: “Body recomposition is 90% diet and 10% exercise.” I figured I had the exercise portion covered, but how could I fix the diet piece?
I had absolutely no desire to eat grilled chicken breast three times a day, as I had seen athletes do when I was younger. I put my problem solving hat on and began researching again. A very important question quickly arose: What was the optimal diet for humans? This is something I spent very little time contemplating in the past, but suddenly the question consumed me. After all, if I was putting in all that effort in the gym, I certainly didn’t want how I ate to take me backwards. I went looking online with an open mind, and I stumbled onto something else that would really transform my fitness and my life.
The Ketogenic Diet is 100 years old but has gained a strong following in recent years. While learning about this diet, I received a crash course on human biology — insulin, blood sugar, energy production, fat storage, hunger signals, protein synthesis, autophagy, Cholesterol and more. I also learned about the terrible state of healthcare in our great nation. All across the modern world, we are seeing record levels of chronic disease: heart failure, Diabetes, Alzheimers, high blood pressure, etc. At the same time we’re consuming record amounts of sugar and processed carbohydrates (which your body converts immediately into sugar). Each of these illnesses can be grouped into a single illness — metabolic syndrome, the root cause of which really seems to be the overconsumption of carbs, especially processed carbs, in our diet. Throughout the holiday break I studied, and once I understood the mechanisms involved, it all came together. I internalized the fact that to maintain health long term, exercise alone wasn’t going to cut it, and that I had likely already done significant damage to myself by eating in an unhealthy way for so long (pasta and pizza were personal favorites). There was now an urgency that hadn’t been there in the past. I felt I had no time to lose, so I took the next step, and in January 2019 I decided to jump in and try Keto for at least 3 months.
That was now 6 months ago. Do I miss carbs? Truthfully, Occassionally I do, but at this point, looking back I can ask myself, how important was that food really? did pizza = life? and my confident answer: Absolutely not. When the chips are down you realize that all of those bad foods were always optional and can be abandoned. And science shows there are plenty of reasons to do it. Carbohydrates promote a strong insulin response by the body which blocks fat burning while your body desperately tries to get your blood sugar levels down. When your cells are exposed to elevated levels of insulin on a regular basis, they begin to develop a tolerance for it, called insulin resistance. It has 2 major drawbacks: first, your pancreas needs to produce more and more insulin to push the sugar out of your blood, stressing a critical organ; second, your cells begin ignoring the presence of insulin, which disrupts energy delivery. This is something we do to ourselves over and over while eating the Standard American Diet (SAD diet), because we’re consuming carbs with every meal.
The Ketogenic Diet breaks that cycle. After breaking carb dependence and giving my body time to adapt to burning fat directly for fuel, I’ve seen my cravings for carbs (including sugar) nearly vanish and many other positive changes that I would have never expected were possible for anyone outside of their 20’s or 30’s. In 5 short months I’ve gone from 14.5% body fat down to 10%, converting fat into muscle in the process. Where a 5 mile run previously felt like a significant effort, I can now run for 10 miles and still feel like I have plenty of energy to spare. I managed to bring my inflammation down to some pretty rock bottom levels (0.5 CRP from my recent blood test, where the “normal” range is 1.0–3.0) and my joints are thanking me for it. I’m seeing tangible cognitive benefits as well which have certainly helped me be more effective at work and more fully enjoy my day to day life. I also know that I’m reducing my chance of chronic disease because I’m keeping my insulin levels low, reversing damage done to my liver, giving my pancreas a chance to heal, and giving my cells a chance to become insulin sensitive once again.
Taking stock, it’s been an amazing year. I’ve honestly never felt better, not even when i was in my twenties. My gut is gone. My energy levels are stable and feel limitless. I (think I) look better, perform better, and most importantly, feel better. What did it take? Sure, it took some dedication and some considerable work, but really it came down to recognizing I had a problem, making a decision to fix it and then following through. No one wants to feel like they are on a slow and inevitable road to worse and worse health as they age. The truth is this is not inevitable. You can turn back the clock with Diet and Exercise and you can do this no matter where you are at in terms of age and current fitness level. Exercise is even shown to increase BDNF, which can actually help you repair and improve brain function (and even grow new brain cells). This flips the script for what we thought was possible in later life, giving us cause for optimism and hope.
To help motivate yourself, understand what is at stake — your health (and your family’s). It may be cliche, but there is nothing more important. Carb dependence is like any addiction, and while you’re hooked, it will feel impossible to stop. Whether you do keto, mediteranian, low carb, zero carb, vegan, vegetarian or any other kind of diet is ultimately up to you, and of course not all diets will suit all individuals, (it is important your diet be sustainable long term) but deep down I think most people recognize that eating bread, pizza, cake or soft drinks are not going to keep you at your optimal health. Not all diets are the same, and I personally found Keto to be an entirely different paradigm than typical calorie restriction diets which leave you hungry all the time. Keto is a low carb, high fat diet, and fat promotes satiety. This is a huge benefit of keto as it makes it quite easy to stick with it. You also get to eat real, whole foods, and lots of them. I’d encourage you to take action, and no matter what you decide, take some time to do your research and do things properly. In any case, I advise you treat sugar as a toxin and recognize the fact that much of our modern food supply is laced with the stuff. Personally, I’m happy to be rid of it, and I have also been taking steps to decrease the amount of sugar consumed by my children.
On the path to wellness, you have the potential to be either your best ally or worst enemy. I’d encourage each of you to think deeply about where you are on your own fitness journey and where you want to be. Fix that goal in your head and measure your progress frequently. Try to make progress towards your goal every day, realizing that it takes time to form new habits, and don’t give up on yourself if you fall short on some days. Focus on developing and maintaining a solid routine and the results will come.
Wellness is really about optimizing healthspan, not simply lifespan and science shows that diet and exercise really are the answer. If the thought of giving up sugary treats and processed carbs seems too great a feat for you, it’s probably a good indication that you’ve been hooked. Ditching carbs is similar to kicking nicotine or any other addictive substance (and yes, sugar is addictive) — Although challenging at first (there is even a period of carb withdrawal, called keto flu when you begin), it is doable, and once you break the addiction it gets easier and easier over time. As you gain momentum your successes will drive you forward. I think that anyone, at any level of health, can do this and make a positive impact on their life.
I want to encourage anyone considering a life change: there is no time like the present. Every day presents a choice. You only get one body, so make the choice to take care of it and don’t wait. Physical health is quite foundational to all other forms of health as we’re seeing it affects mood, depression, cognition, longevity, confidence, and many other aspects of our lives. One of the best things about wellness is how personalized it is. No one says you have to have the same goals as them and we can adjust our routines and diets to suit ourselves accordingly.
Ultimately wellness is all about you becoming the best possible version of yourself, and this is something we can all aspire too.
