Great advice, David. Since our health institutions haven't done much for us, sharing these experiences is vital. An easy place to start is to remove processed foods. From there the body and mind begin to function better and further changes evoke less anxiety, in sort of a compounding process.
I switched to bacon, steak, burgers, fish, eggs, cheese, butter, fermented veggies, and fruits instead of pizza and egg rolls and premade dinners. The replacements are delicious, so Step 1 was easy. The anxiety started to dissipate, the allergies went away, and the chronic 2/10 nauseous feeling departed. Sleep improved and optimism improved. That was then parlayed into good exercise habits and more reading and better quality work. Those improved mood further. Step 1 is definitely cleaning up the diet.
But I also view diet as a continuum - Just a few changes can make a big difference to weight, energy, etc.
As an example, orange juice. I had a friend who drank a bottle every day religiously, but if he had changed that out to one orange, he would have lost 22 lbs in one year with no other changes to his lifestyle.
It's easier to crowd out bad foods than it is to remove them. He could have removed orange juice by finding an orange-flavored seltzer water, or kombucha (maybe mixed with some fresh squeezed orange juice), or something else like that. This concept explains why my switch from a life of addictive processed foods was easy (and why diets are so hard): it's hard to miss the old thing when the new thing tastes great.
Another notion is that these science-made processed food abominations are emulating our ancestrally appropriate diet, with their fats and salts and sweet savory flavors appealing to our senses, so we might as well just eat the real+original thing.
I don't have access to a gym where I live, but had thought to after I move for my next job to look into getting a gym-coach or something and getting back in shape if only to ensure I have the sort of energy you speak of.
Really liked this article, I do believe you've ten years over me but I must admit I'd like to be at where you are when I hit that age so that I might have to do as you have done good sir.
I'm starting to think diet is the root of a huge number of people's problems. Doctors need to make this their first go-to for patients with mysterious chronic issues. I went to doctors for a long time for all the weird health issues I was having at 22 years old, only to be prescribed anxiety pills and sleep pills, offered birth control, sent over for thousands of dollars worth of procedures that came back negative, and told that it was because I had my kids too close together and maybe I needed to drink more water. One doctor actually told me that going gluten free probably would not help anything.
It did. As did cutting out eggs.
My husband is a doctor now and he says that obesity is the worst thing he sees, because it causes problems all over the body, and by the time people come to him with their bodies breaking down, it's usually too late to do anything but manage the symptoms. It doesn't help that doctors are given no education on nutrition. It doesn't help that the "solutions," like ozempic and stomach staplings are not solutions at all.
I hear a lot of stories like mine now, about young people having to solve their own health problems because doctors can't. It almost always comes down to diet. I'm hoping being a "health nut" is becoming more of a norm. For a lot of us, it's just what's required to function day to day.
My wife had issues her entire life, with similar far-and-wide prescriptions and even exploratory surgeries. She went to an allergy specialist and it was all the result of a Gluten allergy. I know many other people have had similar issues.
When it comes to Semaglutide and weight loss surgery, I am somewhat sympathetic. Obesity is a significant health risk so I can see justifying many medical interventions that carry risks given the morbidity associated with long-term obesity. There are lots of people that simply can't diet for years - they don't have it in them. It's controversial to say that, I know.
What gets me is that most medical interventions are so focused on one vector (namely calories and appetite) and seem very short-term and narrow. What about putting a patient into a 6 or 12 week anabolic steroid and muscle-building exercise program? Lower bodyfat, permanently increase metabolism, and establish a gym habit? Only a few doctors I've come across have suggested this.
Yeah, I hear you. The single vector approach is exactly what I mean. The people I've known who struggled with obesity have told me they had to solve mental/emotional issues first before they could handle their eating issues. I don't hear of doctors coming from multiple angles to try to come to a long-term solution.
I like the idea of the steroid/exercise program. I'll tell my husband about that. He's a hospitalist, so he's usually dealing more with acute problems, but maybe he can use that tidbit at some point.
Great advice, David. Since our health institutions haven't done much for us, sharing these experiences is vital. An easy place to start is to remove processed foods. From there the body and mind begin to function better and further changes evoke less anxiety, in sort of a compounding process.
I switched to bacon, steak, burgers, fish, eggs, cheese, butter, fermented veggies, and fruits instead of pizza and egg rolls and premade dinners. The replacements are delicious, so Step 1 was easy. The anxiety started to dissipate, the allergies went away, and the chronic 2/10 nauseous feeling departed. Sleep improved and optimism improved. That was then parlayed into good exercise habits and more reading and better quality work. Those improved mood further. Step 1 is definitely cleaning up the diet.
You really can't out-exercise a bad diet anyway.
But I also view diet as a continuum - Just a few changes can make a big difference to weight, energy, etc.
As an example, orange juice. I had a friend who drank a bottle every day religiously, but if he had changed that out to one orange, he would have lost 22 lbs in one year with no other changes to his lifestyle.
It's easier to crowd out bad foods than it is to remove them. He could have removed orange juice by finding an orange-flavored seltzer water, or kombucha (maybe mixed with some fresh squeezed orange juice), or something else like that. This concept explains why my switch from a life of addictive processed foods was easy (and why diets are so hard): it's hard to miss the old thing when the new thing tastes great.
Another notion is that these science-made processed food abominations are emulating our ancestrally appropriate diet, with their fats and salts and sweet savory flavors appealing to our senses, so we might as well just eat the real+original thing.
I don't have access to a gym where I live, but had thought to after I move for my next job to look into getting a gym-coach or something and getting back in shape if only to ensure I have the sort of energy you speak of.
Really liked this article, I do believe you've ten years over me but I must admit I'd like to be at where you are when I hit that age so that I might have to do as you have done good sir.
I'm starting to think diet is the root of a huge number of people's problems. Doctors need to make this their first go-to for patients with mysterious chronic issues. I went to doctors for a long time for all the weird health issues I was having at 22 years old, only to be prescribed anxiety pills and sleep pills, offered birth control, sent over for thousands of dollars worth of procedures that came back negative, and told that it was because I had my kids too close together and maybe I needed to drink more water. One doctor actually told me that going gluten free probably would not help anything.
It did. As did cutting out eggs.
My husband is a doctor now and he says that obesity is the worst thing he sees, because it causes problems all over the body, and by the time people come to him with their bodies breaking down, it's usually too late to do anything but manage the symptoms. It doesn't help that doctors are given no education on nutrition. It doesn't help that the "solutions," like ozempic and stomach staplings are not solutions at all.
I hear a lot of stories like mine now, about young people having to solve their own health problems because doctors can't. It almost always comes down to diet. I'm hoping being a "health nut" is becoming more of a norm. For a lot of us, it's just what's required to function day to day.
My wife had issues her entire life, with similar far-and-wide prescriptions and even exploratory surgeries. She went to an allergy specialist and it was all the result of a Gluten allergy. I know many other people have had similar issues.
When it comes to Semaglutide and weight loss surgery, I am somewhat sympathetic. Obesity is a significant health risk so I can see justifying many medical interventions that carry risks given the morbidity associated with long-term obesity. There are lots of people that simply can't diet for years - they don't have it in them. It's controversial to say that, I know.
What gets me is that most medical interventions are so focused on one vector (namely calories and appetite) and seem very short-term and narrow. What about putting a patient into a 6 or 12 week anabolic steroid and muscle-building exercise program? Lower bodyfat, permanently increase metabolism, and establish a gym habit? Only a few doctors I've come across have suggested this.
Yeah, I hear you. The single vector approach is exactly what I mean. The people I've known who struggled with obesity have told me they had to solve mental/emotional issues first before they could handle their eating issues. I don't hear of doctors coming from multiple angles to try to come to a long-term solution.
I like the idea of the steroid/exercise program. I'll tell my husband about that. He's a hospitalist, so he's usually dealing more with acute problems, but maybe he can use that tidbit at some point.