I wanted to get healthy
So, I changed my diet and my diet can save your life
Starting in March of 2016 I drastically changed my diet. My diet can save your life, it saved mine.
In my previous life, I pretty much ate whatever I wanted. I didn’t care much about controlling my diabetes or my weight. But, in 2014, I made serious attempts to control diabetes, but it took about 2 years to find the diet that I have made part of my lifestyle.
My diet can save your life
I am not just messing around when I tell you that my diet can save your life. How do I know? Because I have stared down death several times. I probably should not be alive right now.
I have had:
- A Stroke (2001)
- A Heart Attack (2016)
- Diabetes (diabetic for 25 years)
- Complications from diabetes (such as terrible infections, diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy, and other problems)
My new diet reversed these conditions
I reversed diabetes (I am no longer diabetic). Now, I have a healthy heart. I have been checked and am not at risk of another stroke.
By fixing all of these health problems, it is true, my diet can save your life.
So, what kind of diet helped me achieve these things? You might be surprised (I was), just keep reading.
Ketogenic or LCHF
I follow a Ketogenic Diet, also called an LCHF diet (Low Carb High Fat), or just Keto. My diet can save your life. I know that for those who follow conventional thinking, this sounds like a death sentence, but a lot of the latest research indicates that the opposite is true! What I know for sure is that the LCHF lifestyle has gotten my diabetes into excellent control. I can eat as much as I want whenever I want, as long as I eat the foods that are high in protein or fat, and avoid carbs as much as possible.
5%carbs
Generally, on an LCHF diet, you will eat only about 5% of your calories as carbs, about 20 to 25% protein and the rest is fat. This goes completely opposite of what we have been taught for the past 50+ years, but it has been working excellent for me, and the number of people living an LCHF lifestyle is growing year after year. Research and studies are showing that the incidence of heart disease is actually lower for those following the LCHF lifestyle! It is working very well for me. I am losing weight and feeling great!
How do you eat a ketogenic diet?
You should eat these ratios of food:
- Fat – about 75% of your calories
- Protein – about 20% of your calories
- Carbohydrates – about 5% or less of your calories
Intermittent and Extended Fasting
My diet can save your life, and fasting is an integral part of my diet.
In addition to eating a ketogenic diet, in February 2017, I started Fasting. This article is about the actual diet, the foods that I eat. However, the fact that I go for periods of not eating is also a real key that helped me and taught me that my diet can save your life. Read the article, and you will see that with fasting mixed in, my diet can save your life. It did for me.
I know that fasting will sound like something that is impossible, but if you eat a ketogenic diet, fasting becomes easy. Give it a chance (and seriously, read the article).
How much should you fast?
It is up to you, and it depends on how much healing you need in your body.
I would recommend that you start off by doing Intermittent Fasting. Skip breakfast and start eating at lunchtime. After doing that for a while, go longer. Fast until 2 PM and eat until after your dinner. Keep extending as you can. One Meal a Day (OMAD) works great for a lot of people and is very healthy.
After you have gotten used to doing Intermittent Fasting, try doing longer, extended fasts. When you fast for longer periods, that is when the magic happens and you will see massive healing in your body.
Why my diet? My diet will save your life!
The keto diet, which I am following is very controversial, especially to those who don’t know about the latest research. The diet is a Low Carb, High Fat diet. Yep, high fat. You eat lots of fatty things. How could it be good for you?
Well, a lot of doctors are starting to come on board and even recommending the Keto Diet or other types of Low Carb, High Fat (LCHF) diets. A while back, I wrote an article about Dr. Aseem Malhotra, one of the leading cardiologists in Great Britain. He is using and recommending an LCHF diet! Yes, there are still a lot of doctors that are against it, but more and more are now seeing that there are great benefits.
My diet can save your life, and I could follow it
One of the reasons that I decided to try LCHF was that when I looked at it, it seemed that I could follow the diet pretty strictly, it was not that far off from the way I liked to eat anyway. Also, I saw that more and more doctors were saying that it was a healthy diet. I have always been a meat eater, and I tend to like fatty things. but, I did have to cut off my carbs nearly 100%. I used to eat a lot of carbs! Potato Chips! All of that kind of stuff was basically a staple of my diet, but that has long since been replaced by other things that are healthier for me.
On the LCHF or Keto Diet, you eat about 70% of your calories from fat. About 20 to 25% is protein. The remaining 5 to 10% is carbs. I know, most people will think that if you eat a lot of fat, you are going to get fat!
Here are some common things that people tell me:
- You are going to gain a lot of weight!
- Your cholesterol is going to go through the roof!
- You had a heart attack because you started this type of diet a few months before the heart attack.
- Your blood lipids are going to be terrible.
- This will not be good for you because you are diabetic.
But remember – my diet can save your life.
Let’s look at each of these points.
Gain Weight
Well, I started the Keto diet in March 2016. I was at 320 pounds at the time, after having gained 70 pounds when I started taking insulin, and I was gaining a bit more every day! In my first 3 months on Keto, I lost 30 pounds and got down to 280.
So, I did not gain weight because of eating a lot of fat and protein. In fact, I lost weight and lost it at a fairly fast pace.
Back in 2001 when I had a stroke, my weight was 430 pounds!
You are not going to gain weight. Gaining weight will kill you if you gain too much. My diet will save your life.
Your Cholesterol is going to be out of control
Well, my cholesterol is actually low! Medical research in recent years has shown that eating a lot of cholesterol does not cause you to have higher cholesterol! Did you know that cholesterol is actually good for your brain? It’s true. Before I started the keto diet, my cholesterol was actually right at the bottom end of the “normal” levels. My cholesterol has always been low, in the same range where it was… at the lower end of “normal”.
After having been on the keto diet for about 8 months, on my most recent blood test, my cholesterol level decreases by about 40%. I am now, way, way below the level that is considered normal for total cholesterol. Even better than that, for my HDL, the good cholesterol, it has increased (it was too low in the past, and doctors encouraged me to do things to increase my HDL), and the LDL has decreased by more than 50%.
Over the long haul, keto will not raise your cholesterol. Keto is my diet. My diet will save your life.
Your heart attack was caused by keto
I started the keto diet in March 2016. In June 2016 I had a heart attack. To be honest, this did worry me and make me wonder if it was because of the diet.
When I went to see my doctor after experiencing chest pain at home, later determined to have been a heart attack, I told my doctor for the first time that I was doing a keto diet, and I explained to him what that was. His reaction?
You are sure of what?
I am sure that this is what caused your heart attack. We better take some blood tests, I am sure your cholesterol will be through the roof!
I went for the blood tests. When the blood tests came back, the doctor came to my hospital room to visit me. I asked him… “How is my cholesterol?” He replied “Very low.” I asked him why I had a heart attack then because my cholesterol was low when he expected it to be sky high.
He was puzzled and said that the only thing he could say was that the heart attack was probably caused by having diabetes for more than 25 years.
So, although he did not say it in exact words, it would seem that my Doctor changed his opinion and that the keto diet did not cause my heart attack. I mean when I asked him why I had a heart attack, he said it was caused by diabetes. But, keto actually got my diabetes under great control!
Keto does not cause diabetes. Keto combined with fasting will cure diabetes. Diabetes will kill you. My diet will save your life.
Lipids will be high
Well, again, my blood tests prove it, all of my blood lipids are very low! So, the keto diet cannot be raising my lipids. Tests before Keto and after Keto are not much different, and the small difference is positive, not negative.
Some people think that high lipids are dangerous and will kill you. There is also evidence that this may not be the case. But, one way or another, keto will not raise your blood lipids. My diet will save your life.
Not Good for Diabetes?
This is the worst argument to make because keto has been the best thing I have ever done for diabetes!
Before going on Keto, I was using 100 units of insulin daily, I was taking 3 oral medications for diabetes. My blood sugar was not terrible, but also not that good. My HBA1C was 7.8. Years ago, my HBA1C was well into the double digits!
After Keto? Over the past 8 months, one by one, all of my oral medications for diabetes have been eliminated. My insulin usage has steadily gone down over the months, to the point that starting on February 17, 2017, I am now not using any insulin. So, I am not using any type of medication for diabetes. My HBA1C? The last test was 5.5, which is considered “normal”.
Diabetes will kill you, not Keto. My diet will save your life.
Everything seems good
So, has keto had a negative impact on me? I don’t think so. My medical tests are all great. I feel great. I actually feel better now than I have in several decades!
Keto and fasting saved my life. My diet will save your life too.
Am I wrong? I don’t think so, because my diet will save your life.
Who knows? Maybe I am wrong and Keto is very bad for me. But, the numbers show the opposite. You know, these studies and such change all the time. Things that were proven bad for us are later proven very good for us. Things that were very healthy turn out to be killers. Who knows what is correct. What I do know is that I feel great. I think that indicates that I am doing things right. I am doing what my body wants. Unless things change, I start feeling bad, or something like that… I intend to keep doing what I am doing now.
The medical tests show that my diet has been good for me. My diet will save your life.
Keto: My solution to heart disease
In my article about heart disease, I explained about the risk factors. I acknowledge that it is controversial for those who think “old school” in terms of what to eat. It is a high-fat diet. Frankly, it is pretty much the opposite of everything that our government has taught us about diet for the past 50 to 60 years.
Think about this, though. In the 1950s and 1960s, the government told us that to avoid heart disease, we had to go on a LOW FAT diet. We had to control calories. Don’t eat fat. Avoid cholesterol. Most people have tried hard to avoid these things that the government has told us we must avoid. Nobody wants to have heart disease!
Have the changes helped?
But, since the 1950s, has heart disease declined? It should since so many people have tried avoiding fat, eating “healthy” and doing as much that they could to follow these suggestions. But, heart disease has not declined! In fact, in most of the world, heart disease is a much larger problem now than it was 60 years ago! In the USA, where I am from, and in much of the rest of the world, the number one cause of death is heart disease!
So, has the government recommended low-fat diet helped keep people alive, reduce their risk for heart disease? Probably not, it seems.
Good food or drugs?
In fact, we are taking drugs for almost everything now. We are taking statins to reduce our risk of cholesterol and blockage of arteries. We are taking lots of medication to control high blood pressure. Diabetes is rampant, millions of people have diabetes. Just during my lifetime, the number of obese people has increased rampantly. When I was a kid I was already obese. At that time, I was abnormal. There were not many others like me in the 60s or 70s. Now, though, in 2017, there are LOTS of obese people! It is almost normal to be obese now. If the government recommended a low-fat diet is so good, why are we all becoming obese?
Heart disease skyrocketed after the medical community and the government recommended a low-fat, high-carb diet. I eat keto, a high-fat, low-carb diet. My diet will save your life, not kill you.
LCHF and Fasting – my diet will save your life
Low Carb High Fat diets (LCHF) first became popular in Europe, particularly in Sweden. Funny thing is that current studies in Sweden are showing that heart disease is on the decline. People are eating way more fat in their diets, and those people are getting thinner! People are decreasing their use of medication to control ailments. Diabetes is on the decline. So, is the LCHF diet dangerous? Is it a killer? It would seem not.
I know that my personal experience in eating low carb, high fat has improved my health greatly.
My heart disease risk factors
OK, so let’s take a look at what my heart disease risk factors are and how those risks factors are minimized by eating a keto diet.
Obesity
Obesity has been a problem for me for as long as I can remember back into my childhood. I have tried so many ways to lose weight with mixed results. In the long run, no method has been effective. Some methods have worked temporarily, but they have always been difficult.
Since I started eating a keto diet, my weight loss has been more or less effortless. I am eating things that I like, things that I enjoy. The amount that I eat fills me up. I am not hungry. In fact, for the past 2 weeks, I have been fasting 18 hours each day and am really not hungry. Even with all of these positives, I have been steadily losing weight.
I am now down more than 230 pounds in total. My weight is more or less where I want it to be, I just have to watch the weight and maintain it. I am having no trouble following the Keto diet, in fact, it is very comfortable for me.
Losing weight will greatly minimize my risk factor from obesity, I believe. It is working so far!
High Blood Pressure
As I lost weight, my blood pressure decreased. I no longer take any medication for blood pressure. My blood pressure is usually around 120/70. That is very good, and I am so happy to have eliminated the need for medication.
Right now, blood pressure should not be a risk factor for me. I am so happy about that.
Diabetes
This is the big one! My doctor says that he believes that diabetes was the cause of my heart attack last year. I believe the diabetes is my greatest risk factor for further heart problems. Maybe family history is greater, but I can’t really directly control that.
Keto has been the best thing that ever happened to me in regards to diabetes. I am no longer taking any medication for diabetes. I am not using insulin any longer. My blood sugar is very low and very stable! Keto has had a huge impact on me. There are a lot of people who have been able to stop using medication and insulin, just like me, after eating keto style. It works for me, and I am very happy about that. My endocrinologist cannot believe how my diabetes has improved so much in the past year. He even tells me that he feels my blood sugar is too low. He worries that I may have episodes of hypoglycemia, but that has not been a problem, so I am not worried about it.
Diabetes will kill you, my diet will save your life
I believe that keto has more or less eliminated my diabetes, and because of that, I believe it has greatly reduced my risk for further heart disease! That feels good!
So based on my articles over the past couple weeks, now you know why I am eating low carb, high-fat diet. Yes, it is controversial, I know that, and I admit it. But, I feel that based on current studies, evidence from my own experience and other factors, it is the best diet for me, the best lifestyle. I believe that it is very good for my general health.
I feel better now than I have in many years, and I think it is mostly due to the keto diet that I am following. As I have said, my diet can save your life. It saved mine.
The downside of ketogenic eating
Is there a downside to a Ketogenic lifestyle?
Yep. There sure is. In fact, there are multiple downsides.
Dr. Eric Berg hit the nail on the head in this video. I am in agreement with what he says 100%.
Watch and see what you think? Are the downsides worth it?
Regardless of these “downsides”, I think I’ll keep going. How about you?
Dr. Berg is really and expert on Keto and also doing Intermittent fasting. In fact, there is another great video that you should watch.
Keto on Steroids
I saw a video by Dr. Eric Berg called “Keto on Steroids”. Hmmm.. sounded interesting to me, so I watched it.
Here is the video for you to watch too.
What do you think? I thought that Dr. Berg has a great plan there.
Dr. Berg is a big believer in Intermittent Fasting. I am, personally, more of an advocate of Extended Fasting. Other than that, though, we are in agreement about diet and the benefits of ketogenic eating. It has so many benefits.
Big step-up
I believe that Dr. Berg’s steroids plan is a big step up on Keto, but I also believe that the real “keto on steroids” is doing keto mixed in with extended fasts of 5 days or longer. This is especially for those with serious health problems like diabetes, heart disease and such. Extended fasts just have so much to offer in the way of healing powers. To me, it is a no-brainer.
Think fasting is hard? If you think that then you have probably never tried it before. Fasting is actually very easy if you are “fat-adapted”, in other words, your body is adapted to using fat for its source of energy. That makes fasting quite easy. You’ll never know until you try!
20 Keto Questions: My Answers
Questions from YouTube
On YouTube, many of the people on various Keto YouTube channels have been challenged to answer a list of 20 questions about their Keto Journey. I decided to copy those questions and answer them here on my blog. So, here they are!
When did you make a change in your life?
I started making changes in 2001 after I had a stroke, mostly additional exercise, but not much dietary change. In 2016 I started keto but had a heart attack 3 months later. My doctors told me to stop doing Keto, and I relented. After having a quadruple bypass, I reconsidered, consulted with my wife to get her views, and decided to go full steam ahead with a ketogenic diet.
What food triggered you before keto?
Carbs! I was a carb addict. Potato Chips, candy and everything else bad was my go-to foods! I am so happy that those days are behind me.
Were you an emotional/comfort/binge eater before keto?
For sure! Not so much a binge eater, although you could say I just binged all the time. I was a grazer. I ate constantly, and I ate junk most of the time.
What stores do you go to to buy groceries?
Well, this question is more designed for US people. Here in the Philippines, I shop at SM, Gaisano Mall, and a lot at S&R. Also, the public market has a good selection of things like fresh vegetables.
Do you think that Keto is expensive?
It can be, but not so bad. Especially if you are also doing fasting with keto, then you can spend big on the meals you do eat, and you are still saving money.
What are some of your favorite keto foods?
Salads, eggs, cheese, nuts (but I tend to go overboard when I have nuts available), chicharron with lots of fat on it.
Have you exercised while doing keto?
Yes, absolutely. I do some swimming, I also do some weightlifting. But, my go-to exercise is walking. I usually try to walk 10k steps per day or more.
Has your clothing style changed since starting keto?
To some extent, yes. I would say the style not so much, but the quality. It used to be hard to find clothing my size so I would have simple things made. Now I can walk into a store, even here in the Philippines and buy things off the rack, and they are nicer better quality.
How has keto changed your life other than weight loss?
Well, I am still alive, and I was close to no longer being alive. I am happier. I have a better outlook on life.
Describe how keto makes you feel.
It makes me feel great. And, as I gain more and more expertise about it, others are coming to me to ask me to help them, and that makes me feel so good. People always tell me I am inspirational, and I can tell you, in terms of weight, never before in my life could I be considered an inspiration!
Do you feel like you had to give up anything for this lifestyle?
In the short term, I thought so. I mean I gave up chips, candy, potatoes and all of that, but after a short time, I didn’t even miss those things. So, in the long run, I feel that I gave up nothing that I would really want anyway.
What are your goals?
It is hard to say because I have been obese all of my life. In my mind right now, I am thinking 180 lb is my weight goal. Really, though, my overall goal is to be healthy and live a long life!
Have you gained more confidence while doing Keto?
Absolutely. I have always been a confident person, but not in terms of health, appearance and such. Now, though, I am gaining a lot of confidence in those areas.
What support have you had?
My family has been very supportive. Many friends are super supportive too, especially after seeing the results so far. That said, there are also others that I considered friends who showed themselves to be more or fewer haters, and have ridiculed me. Drop those losers, keep the positive relationships and enjoy life!
Does your family do keto with you?
My wife, Feyma, got started doing keto a few months into my journey. Feyma was never much overweight, she wanted to lose a little, but she had high blood pressure and some other creeping health issues. She has turned all of that around now through keto. We have a son who is mentally retarded, he is 26 years old, and we are starting to move him over to a keto diet to see if it will help him. Yes, much of my family is doing keto and loving it!
How many clothes sizes have you gone down?
When I started I could wear a 4x shirt, but barely. I had to stretch it out a bit to get it on. Now, I am into 2x shirts, and it won’t be long I will be wearing an XL. Pants are even more of a change. I can now wear a 36 waist pair of blue jeans!
Are you going to consider keto when you reach your goal?
I will do keto for the rest of my life, that is what I think now. Things can always change, but I don’t see that happening.
Have you cheated on keto?
Not really. Sometimes I overeat, everybody does, but when I eat too much it is keto food. I really have not gone off the reservation and loaded up on carbs or anything. Oh, there was a time that I ate some fruit with friends, but I don’t consider that a cheat unless I were to make a habit out of it.
Do you meal plan or track?
Not really. I have been doing keto for long enough that I know what to eat and in what kinds of ratios with other food. I usually just play it by ear, and it works for me.
What is your favorite keto website?
Favorite Keto website: DietDoctor
OK, those are my answers to these questions that have been being passed around on YouTube Keto Channels. How about you, can you answer some of these?
My diet will save your life: How I got started
I have a new video on YouTube today! How I got started on a Ketogenic Diet.
My journey in getting started on eating keto was not very smooth at first, but once I made the full commitment things started changing.
In fact, a few months into my ketogenic start, it looked like Keto almost killed me! Yep, that is 100% true, but later I learned more, and I went back to keto.
My video is below. You can visit my YouTube channel, please subscribe! Also, please like the video, it would mean a lot to me.
If you have suggestions on how to improve my videos… I’m all ears and appreciate the help! Just leave a comment. Maybe something I should do differently, or new subjects that you would see videos about.
Do you want to save your life?
If you have things like diabetes, heart disease or other serious medical problems there is a good chance you will suffer an early death. Look into my diet. It has done wonders for me. My diet will save your life.
Cornerstone Articles
- Diabetes – My journey (how to reverse diabetes)
- Stroke – My journey
- Heart Disease and how I reversed it
- My diet can save your life
- Fasting – My journey
- Weight Loss – How I did it (coming soon)
- Mental Health – My Journey (coming soon)