I grew up in the 80s and 90s and was mostly a little overweight (eg, "husky" but not obese) growing up, although in pretty good shape in and after my college years. I started slowly packing on the pounds over several successive higher stress jobs, being a foodie, etc (the usual). Over the past 4 or 5 years I had a relatively stable weight (but high and incrementally worsening BMI: 31-34, Class 1 obese), and despite well controlled A1c, had a couple years of worsening liver markers (NAFLD), high TG, etc. I made continual occasional half-hearted attempts, but it wasn’t until a recent period of feeling increasingly lethargic/low energy (especially in between active traveling), that I decided to “get serious” about figuring this out. Collecting and reviewing a few hundred peer-reviewed papers/articles (now several thousand) suggested strong evidence that just about everything I thought I knew about nutrition and metabolic health was wrong and I decided to try an n=1.
Results:
- Consistent and sustained weight loss of about 2lb/wk over the course of several months (25lb in the first 3 months). Slowly losing the last few pounds but focused on body recomp. BMI max of 34 down to <25 (normal) at 7mo
- Based on 6mo DXA testing, BF% from max ~38% to <25%, massive reduction of estimated visceral fat. Actual RMR via RER testing, metabolism roughly matched estimated RMR. RQ shows dramatic shift towards fat oxidation (as expected for long-term keto-adaptation)
- Almost all bio markers improved. Drastically better HDL, TG, TG:HDL, ALT/AST now normal (points to full reversal of NAFLD). Full reversion of MetS. Improved RHR and BP (about 10pts each). Highest HDL, Vitamin D levels in 10 year records. Significantly lower AVSCVD risk score. LP-IR from 50 to 32, current HOMA-IR and QUICKI are normal.
Starting feet-first w a dietary (keto/IF) intervention encouraged me (due to dramatic efficacy, drastically increased energy levels) to pursue additional research and add additional better-health practices. Here’s some of what I learned along the way.
Get motivated:
- What are you goals? Why are you doing this?
- How are you tracking this?
- Write down your non-scale victories? (reasons to continue)
- For example, I noticed a disappearance of my exercise induced asthma (which I've had since childhood), huge improvements in sleep quality (including disappearance of sleep apnea and even snoring), immediate improvement in skin (acne), which seems to reliably pop back up when I have sugar etc
- Do you like numbers? (Getting feedback is very motivational, but don't track things that will make you neurotic about it)
Primary factors for health:
- Diet
- Sleep
- Circadian Rhythm
- Exercise
- Sunlight