If you read my article yesterday, Stupid Me!, you know that this week I am kicking off a series of articles about stupid health mistakes that I have made over the years.

I think that each and every one of us had done stupid things in regards to our health, and perhaps I am on the top of the list.

The whole reason I decided to post this “Stupid” series of articles was that of one particular stupid thing I did about 10 years ago, and I recently thought about it, I had forgotten. Since the day that this came to my mind, I have been unable to get it out of my mind, because it just makes me laugh!

My current lifestyle

Currently, I eat ketogenic and I fast. I have been away from fasting for the past 5 months or so, but I am getting ready to jump back in again soon. I am waiting until my wife goes to the USA next month. My wife and I live in the Philippines (I am an American expat here), and starting last year, my wife is spending about 6 months each year in the States working there. Anyway, I find it easier to fast when she is not here because while she is here I enjoy having a meal with her every day.

So, as I said, I eat a Ketogenic diet, and I fast. Eating a ketogenic diet means that I eat very low carb, and I eat a lot of fat. Generally, when I am eating, about 75% to 80% of the calories I eat come from fat.

Lessofat

Back about 10 years ago, though, I did not know anything about the LCHF (Low Carb, High Fat) way of eating, and thought that it would certainly be harmful to my health if I ate a lot of fat! In fact, I had decided that I needed to eliminate fat from my diet as much as possible! That was actually pretty standard thinking in the medical field at the time, and still is in much of the world.

On the advice of a doctor, I started taking a drug called “Lessofat”. Lessofat is the same or very similar to a drug in the USA called “Orlistat”. Basically, Lessofat makes it where your body does not make use of the fats that you eat, it just passed from your body without being digested.

Now, maybe a lot of people reading this took Lessofat or Orlistat. It is a messy situation when you start taking this stuff. That is because with just straight fat passing through, your body really has no way to control over the fat passing from your system. In other words, without being too graphic, you need to remain close to the toilet at all times! And, I really mean it is uncontrollable. Having an “accident” is not uncommon at all, in fact, it is quite common while taking this kind of drug.

As I recall, I took Lessofat for around a year, and it was a year of hell! Constant cleanups needed. Hardly ever a time when I would leave the house for fear of what might happen out in public!

I lost a bit of weight, but not much. I felt terrible and was in constant fear of having a bad accident.

Can you imagine?

So, can you imagine? Ten years ago, I was taking a terrible medication to keep my body from absorbing fat that I ingested. That is taking a “low fat” diet to the extreme.

Now, here we are a decade later, and I am making every effort I can to eat enough fat to keep my macro counts at the right level.

You know what the difference is, though? When I cut out almost all fat from entering my body I didn’t get much in the way of results. Now, when I am going out of my way to consume more fat, the results are fantastic.

And when I say “the results are fantastic” I am not talking only about weight loss. Yes, the weight loss is great, but all of my blood tests and other medical tests are fantastic. My doctors can’t even believe it! I am basically doing the opposite of what many doctors will advise you to do, but I am getting some of the best results my doctors are seeing from any of their patients!

Seinfeld

Did you ever watch Seinfeld? There was a series of episodes where George decided to start doing the opposite of what he thought he should do. It turned into the most successful time of George’s life! I’m living like George right now, and I’m loving it!

One thing is for sure.. this was a very stupid choice that I made!