My Journey Into The Carnivore Diet - Part 2
After my job at the YMCA, I began my new career path, working in a church. This was an incredible opportunity for me that led to a career in missions that I could have only dreamed about[1]. The problem is that I had gained a habit of carbo-loading that continued in my job while not coming anywhere near the amount of exercise in my previous job. I never gave up on training. It was an integral part of my life. But gone were days of long bike rides, tennis three days a week, and weight training. I was lucky to ride 35 miles a week and play tennis twice a month.
I also discovered a great truth about weight gain. We, humans, have an incredible capacity to deceive ourselves. I was no different. I would stand in the mirror, and what I saw was not what others saw. I saw a guy who was ok. Yea, I gained a little weight, but it wasn’t bad. Or so I thought.
I could play this deception game for only so long as the truth of the “pants principle” came into effect. My pants began to shrink slowly. Not sure what was happening, but my clothes were shrinking. If this kept up, I would have to buy some new clothes.
Well, I did buy new clothes, and before I knew it, I was 40-50 pounds heavier than I was in those days at the Y. That was a problem. The bigger problem was that I continued to deceive myself that I was ok and that this weight was a normal part of aging. I knew it wasn’t good, but I still fooled myself. But deep down, I knew it was not good. I just felt powerless to achieve any actual weight loss. My self-control was gone. Nevertheless, I kept trying.
I went vegan for a while. That was a disaster. I was always hungry, and my energy was always low. I also realized it was hard to maintain muscle on a vegan diet. I am sure some vegans would say I did not do it correctly. I read everything I could about eating vegan and did what they said, but I was always hungry again. I never felt satisfied unless I went all out and ate more than I should. I still lost muscle. I have since read more about this, and according to research, it is tough to get the proper protein for building/maintaining muscle on a vegan diet[2].
Another eating lifestyle I tried was keto. This was better, but I couldn’t get where I needed to be, both hunger-wise and weight loss-wise. I lost a little, but my body screamed for something more.
I thought that increasing my exercise levels would help. So I increased my biking and rode more and more each week. I completed three-century rides and numerous mountain biking adventures, but it did not improve my situation. I was still hungry All. The. Time. No, let me rephrase that I felt like I was starving. At this point in life, I began to see that adding more exercise was not the answer to my weight loss. All my fitness background and drive to do more were not paying off. As far as I know, it was may have been hurting me. This was a key revelation to me.
Stress was also a factor in my life that I have not mentioned. The phase of life I was in was a contributing factor. I had three kids. Trying to figure out how I would pay for everything on a church salary, including paying for college, plus all that was going on at work, added to my eating struggles.
This went on for 15-20 years. I was heading further down a negative path regarding my health. I was tired most of the time. I was not sleeping well. Six hours a night was a dream for me. A CPAP mask did finally help, so I am a fan of CPAP machines. But this was not the answer. A trip to another doctor revealed an asthma diagnosis. He gave me some meds, but that did not do much good. Another physician said my acid reflux was off the charts, possibly triggering my asthma. My gastro doctor suggested surgery. He had already given me prescription meds for the reflux. I was a mess. There was also no way I was going to have surgery unless absolutely necessary.
Through all of this, there was something that caused me not to give up. I believe that something was God. He kept me moving forward, studying, reading, and listening to new podcasts. I just wanted something to give me a normal health situation. I was also motivated by the book “High Performance Habits” by Brendon Burchard. I wanted to perform better at my job, home, relationships, and everywhere. One thing holding me back was my health. I felt horrible. I knew my health had to improve to perform at the desired level. But how?
Never in a million years could I have foreseen where my answer would come from. It came from the Bitcoin world. As an avid crypto guy, I was learning about cryptocurrencies and began listening to a podcast called “ The Bitcoin Standard.” Here, I found an answer to what I was looking for. Continued on Part 3.
[1] https://issuu.com/missional/docs/krm_resume_4.2022_pdf_links
[2] See Dr. Anthony Chaffee Podcast. Dr Chaffee is a doctor researcher, athlete who promotes a carnivore diet.