It’s way overdue for an update on what I’m eating, what meds I’m taking, and how I’m training. Due to an overwhelming number of requests for this info… here you go!
I almost feel like I need to apologize for taking so long to make this video because I’m constantly asked to do an update on what I’m eating, my workout routine, medications, etc. Well, today is the day and as the old saying goes – I guess it’s better late than never.
First, let’s talk about eating. As many of you know, I started this journey weighing almost 400 pounds. I was able to get down to around 320 pounds on my own by fixing hormone imbalances and adopting sensible eating habits. When I couldn’t seem to lose any more weight on my own, I hired Shelby Starnes, a professional bodybuilder, as my diet coach. With Shelby’s assistance, I was able to get down to 280 pounds – a number I hadn’t seen in over a decade! Make no mistake about it I would still be 320 pounds today without Shelby’s help so my advice to anybody out there struggling with weight loss is hire a diet coach. It honestly makes the difference between success and failure. If you really think about it, if we could do this on our own we wouldn’t be fat to begin with. Here’s the really cool part – when I finally got down to 280 pounds and I maintained that for a while it was like I pushed the reset button on my metabolism. I’m not really sure when my body decided that 280 pounds was the new normal. It’s where my body wanted to be so even if I strayed from the path of righteousness and ate a few embarrassingly ridiculous meals from time to time my body still seemed to snap right back to 280 pounds and that my friends was awesome. Granted, I’ve put a considerable amount of muscle on since I started this journey which enables me to eat far more carbs than I used to be able to. I’ll eat 3 to 4 cups of rice a day, a couple of pop-tarts if I feel like it, maybe some frosted flakes if I get the urge. I don’t go totally crazy but I eat what I want. There is plenty of chicken and eggs in my diet for clean protein, but I no longer denying myself foods that I enjoy eating. Even with all of that cheating I still snap back to that 280 pound mark. I’m not going to elaborate on my diet plan because what works for me is not necessarily what is going to work for you. I think we spend far too much time modeling our eating habits off of what works for other people. You have to experiment on your own, try different things, run a new diet plan for at least two weeks before making a determination as to whether or not it works. I will say for those of you that get fat easily my advice is to try carb cycling. I find it to be far superior to the ketogenic diet which works great for fast loss but it’s unsustainable and it leaves you weak in the gym and keto at least in my personal observations just makes people who are shaped like a pear look like a smaller pear. Can you lose weight on keto? Yes but you still look like shit. That’s just my opinion, take it or leave it. I don’t need any arguments – I see what I see and I form conclusions from that. I’d love to say diet alone allows me to stay in decent shape but that is not true. Without the various medications I take, I wouldn’t be surprised if I gained 40 to 50 pounds in a very short period of time if not more. Call it cheating, call it an undisciplined lifestyle, call it whatever you want, but I feel great. My labs are nearly perfect. I have no illnesses no diseases, no adverse conditions. I am for all intents and purposes an extremely healthy 51 year old male and I’ll be an extremely healthy 52 year old male in a few days. If you want to make comments under this video about how you’re all able to do this naturally without any performance-enhancing drugs and that’s the only manly way to do things, just save your breath. Good for you! I’ll do me, you do you. If the science is available, I’m using it plain and simple with no apologies, regrets, or reservations.
You might ask what kind of drugs allow you to keep 50 pounds of fat off of your body. Obviously a valid question. Well, first there’s testosterone – if you’re over 40 and not on testosterone, good luck. Next is HGH. If you’re over 45 and not on testosterone and HGH, good luck! I’ve said it a thousand times – if you don’t fix your hormone imbalances, a condition you will likely have starting in your 40’s, you don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of being truly successful. I’m not saying you can’t be mediocre without hormone replacement therapy and if that’s what you’re shooting for, more power to you. It’s not my place to judge. I’m saying for me personally mediocre isn’t good enough. In my book mediocre and failure are synonymous – again, that’s just my opinion. Take it or leave it.
I have also recently implemented metformin into my daily protocol. That’s an entirely different video in itself, but in a nutshell, metformin helps shuttle more glucose to my muscles leaving less of it available to be stored as fat. It helps my body process carbs far more efficiently. About 20 minutes before a high carb meal I take metformin. I’ll do this up to maybe twice a day.
I’m not going to go too far into SARMS and peptides, which do work for many people. I know we’re all tired of the phrase ” We all react differently to medications” because it is so cliche, but it’s true. RAD 140 may work for you but not work for someone else. LGD 4033, Cardarine, whatever, it’s hit and miss. You have to experiment, you have to see what works for your body. I had great results with RAD 140 and Cardarine which I stacked on top of my TRT protocol but SARMS and peptides are just icing on the cake. They aren’t nearly as effective as Testosterone and HGH and your expectations need to be LOWERED if you think they are. Just as aspirin doesn’t work nearly as well as oxycontin for pain, RAD 140 doesn’t work nearly as well as testosterone for building muscle so don’t expect it to. Some people are ready for injectables, and that’s perfectly fine. If you’re looking for quality SARMS and peptides I do have a preferred source.
Finally, let’s discuss my training routine. I use machines. I do it most two exercise involving free weights everything else I do is on a machine. At my age I’m asking for injuries if I focus on free weights. I also lift a moderate amount of weight staying in the 12 to 20 rep range. At my age I’m just asking for injuries if I lift heavy. I do a full body workout every other day which is something I could never do without the regenerative properties of testosterone and HGH. What do I do between my weightlifting days? – cardio and ABS. I do about 15 minutes of various ab exercises and 40 minutes on the treadmill at a pace of 3.0 and at an incline of 6. I do that while re-watching the entire series of Breaking Bad on my iPad. I will say I did start to experience substantial gains when I went from a split training routine to a full-body workout every other day. I rarely get injured, but about two months ago I tore something in my left shoulder I used BPC 157 for about 2 weeks and the problem went away. Again, I have no problem leveraging science to enhance my recovery and my performance. If there’s a solution I use it.
That my friends is what I do to remain relatively healthy. I guess all I really want is to feel good in my skin. I want to be mentally sharp, injury free. I want my wife to think she got one hell of a deal. I want to look good naked. I want to be able to live without being that guy that eats rice and chicken when everyone else is eating pizza. I want to be able to have a few drinks every now and then. I guess if I had to sum it all up, I want to be a normal person. I just want to be stronger and in better shape than everyone else around me.
As many of you know Andre Miller and I have started a company called Viking Alternative Medicine so if you have questions about testosterone replacement therapy, HTH compounds that heal injuries, fix joint pain, whatever, we don’t officially open our doors until June 1 but we did take our first new patients yesterday. It’s just Andre in the office as of right now so keep that in mind, but we would love to hear from you. So give us a call at (210) 826-8900 .
In conclusion I fixed my hormones, I ate a healthy diet, I got professional help when I plateaued, I take a strategic mixture of doctor prescribed medications, and I get my labs done regularly to ensure I remain healthy, but the most important thing I’ve done is to always remember – YOU ARE NEVER TO OLD TO LIVE LIE A VIKING!
