Musings

Love this so I will repeat it here again: “People are easily fooled but it’s hard to convince them that they have been fooled”. Why is it so hard for people to admit they are wrong? Human nature? I bet that there are still many health professionals out there that are still pushing the saturated fat and cholesterol myths. I understand that it’s difficult to come to conclusions that go against conventional advice (that been given for years) but what if it turns out to be wrong? I get that it can be difficult to find time to do the research and find out what the new evidence shows but does “First Do No Harm” ring a bell? Oh, if your doctor is obese, time to get a new (skinny) doctor! They should be setting the example!

If Weight Watchers worked, they would have gone out of business years ago because everyone who used it should still be at their desired weight, right? Oprah made a sound financial move in buying a 10% piece of WW because it doesn’t work and will keep making money selling bad diet advice. Sure hasn’t seemed to work for her. Calorie counting is simply not sustainable. It’s basically semi-starvation requiring “willpower” due to ever present hunger. Chronic calorie cutting will end up lowering your basal metabolic rate. Your body will reduce what it requires to meet what it gets. Broken record here but it’s just not as simple as “calories in, calories out”.

On a high fat, medium protein, low carb diet you eat till you are full. Eat when you want to eat not when you think you should. Your first meal of the day doesn’t need to be first thing in the morning. Eat 3 or 2 or even 1 meal a day if you choose and limit snacking. Intermittent fasting once or twice a week is also a healthy practice. Sounds hard but it really isn’t once your body is fat adapted.

Consume salt liberally. Salt food to taste. I think it’s really hard to get too much. If you get headaches and/or feel dizzy when you stand, you probably need more salt in your diet. Don’t fear salt, the government recommendations are wrong. When I say “salt” include minerals such as potassium and magnesium. Did you know that a “healthy” banana has about 14 grams of sugar (about half of the daily recommended amount for women) and half the potassium of a medium avocado? I recommend that you eat an avocado every day, skip the banana. Note: I’m very biased, I hate bananas. This just in! Salt manufactured using ocean water may be loaded with microplastic due to the pollution levels of our seas. Look for salt that comes from ancient inland bodies of water or salt mines.

Statins. Created to make big pharma big money when we were told that lowering LDL cholesterol would lower cardiovascular risk. Now we know this is not true and as many people have heart attacks with low LDL as high. On top of that, it may actually be dangerous to lower your cholesterol. Cholesterol is a vital element for human life especially vital for the brain. If your doctor is recommending you take a statin, please do your own research first. The side effects can be horrible.

Mind if I share some of the health benefits I’ve enjoyed since going low carb? I’ll start off with my bloodwork. I went back to the MIR (military hospital) and got all my bloodwork records going back to 2011. I started running and initial training fall of 2012.

• Bloodwork
• Year Age HbA1c Trig TC HDL LDL Ratio

• 2011 51 5.5 1.27 5.90 1.40 3.9 4.2
  2015 55 5.3 1.77 6.00 1.60 3.6 3.8
  2017 57 5.2 1.22 4.90 1.40 2.9 3.5
  2018 58 5.1 0.65 5.08 2.10 2.7 2.4

Ok, don’t know if you’ve read my other posts so here is a quick refresher. Research has shown that the important markers for good health wrt bloodwork are low HbA1c (4.0 – 5.6%), low triglycerides (below 1.7 but ideally below 1.13 mmol/L), and high HDL (higher the better – within reason). LDL is not a factor as it’s a calculated number hence LDL-C. Notice that in 2017 in pink when I had already completed 2 full distance Ironman races and felt pretty good about the shape I was in compared to the 2018 numbers in blue. About 7 months into a Keto lifestyle meaning about 70% of my diet was coming from healthy fats, my bloodwork got even better! Low triglycerides are the most critical and look how they dropped on a high fat diet. Please people, stop fearing fat! Saturated fat is not the villain we,ve been led to believe it is. Polyunsaturated fats (vegetable oils) are the real villain!

I’ll mention a few other cool things that have happened over the last year. I compared my military fitness test results from last year to this year. Tests were completed in early December. They now measure your belly circumference and my dropped 11 cm. Touch wood but I haven’t been sick at all since starting, not even a cold. My memory and energy levels have improved, hard to prove but true. No hunger so no distractions and no “I gotta eat now!” My skin has become healthier, at least it seems to be as I have received many compliments about it (sounds vain but it’s true). Couple of weeks ago, my brother noticed I didn’t seem to have any age spots on my hands so we compared and sure enough spots I’m sure were once there are gone. Spots on my legs have faded and are almost gone (maybe some of this is placebo effect, who knows). My blood pressure has normally been in the recommended range but now it’s usually in the excellent range low 100’s over 60’s. I believe these are all due to greatly reduced inflammation in the body thanks to limiting carbohydrate.

I’m planning on completing 2 races this year, Muskoka 70.3 in July and Ironman Florida early November. These events keep me motivated to maintain a fairly rigorous training schedule. An average week comprises of 2 hours of swimming, 2.5 hours running, and 3.5 hours of biking. I also work in 2 strength training sessions a week. Training times increase as events draw closer. Most of my workouts are completed in a fasted or semi-fasted state. I normally will only have a morning coffee, black with collagen powder and MCT oil. For longer or intense workouts, I will add a Superstarch smoothie. That’s it, it’s pretty cool to be able to use body fat for fuel! I’ll blog about my races and how they go, wish me luck!