Just over two months ago, I embarked on a lifestyle shift journey to radically transform my life. To date, my body weight is down around 40 pounds. Considering I’m now at 175, that’s a pretty significant percentage of my body gone. But, that’s only the tip of the iceberg of what I’ve lost.
After all, weight loss was my measurable goal but it was overall optimum health and fitness that I was really after. Two years north of 50, things were starting to happen with my body that were, quite frankly, depressing. Was this just the way it went? Aging is inevitable? Pain. Stiffness. Internal issues. Generally feeling like shit all the time. Was this all just part of life?
Quick answer for you: “NO!” It absolutely does not need to be an inevitable downward spiral that ends with tubes attached to you in a sterile hospital room while your family stands around waiting for you to die so they can get on with their lives.
What Has Changed?
Gone are the pretty consistent dull headaches. I haven’t had any kind of headache in over two months. that includes the days after the evenings when I indulge in a few drinks. As a side note, I thought my days of enjoying a few alcoholic drinks from time to time were done. Now, it’s as if I’m 21 again. The Wim Hof Breathing Method helps immensely with shutting the door on hangovers.
Gone is the snoring and difficulty breathing when I’m sleeping. Before, I was limited to lying on my left side all night long. It was simply the only position I could have decent sleep in. If I was on my right, it always seemed like I was suffocating. If I was on my back, I snored louder than a freight train. On my stomach? Not a chance.
Now, I can sleep in whatever position I want. According to my newly acquired Fitbit, I sleep pretty damn well, too.
After that sleep, I no longer wake up in a brain fog. I wake up, well, awake. I can, and sometimes do, go straight into a bit of strenuous exercise within minutes of leaving bed.
For me, that last one is huge. In my Dad’s final years, he often complained of ‘just not feeling right in the head’ in the mornings. He said it was something that had been with him for years. Part of my push for a lifestyle shift is not to go out in pain like my Dad did.
Gone is any kind of dizziness from standing up to quickly. Before, I would often have to take a moment after tying my shoes to allow the lightning or silver streaks to clear from my vision before I could carry on. The only time I get dizzy now is when I push my Wim Hof Method breathing techniques a bit too far (holding my breath for over two minutes can do that).
Gone are the multiple visits to the bathroom per day for my bowels. This is a major reason behind starting this lifestyle shift. It seemed I was constantly on the verge of a bathroom visit. Within minutes of rising in the morning, it would even get painful as I rushed to the toilet. Now, it’s once per day (at most) but never urgent.
Gone is pain. I mentioned the absence of headaches already. I had what I assumed was the early onset of arthritis with pain in my hands, wrists, knees, ankles and shoulders. That’s gone. I put in a pretty intense workout each and every single day. Sometimes twice a day. Muscle pain is virtually non-existent.
This results from a combination of intermittent fasting, a vegan diet, the Wim Hof Method of breathing and the Wim Hof inspired cold showers. All these factor into an accelerated muscle recovery time.
Gone is the helpless, “What am I going to do when I’m old and can no longer take care of myself?” question. In its place is an excitement that the next 50 years are going to be better, more adventurous, happier and more fulfilling than the first 50. And, my first 50 weren’t too shabby…
One effect is downright important, especially for men. The junk down below goes through some exciting changes. First, it looks bigger because of all the fat that’s disappeared. Second, it works better. Way better. Once again, it’s like you’ve returned to being 21…
What Are The Keys To My Lifestyle Shift?
As mentioned in previous articles, I started several habits in October, 2020 to achieve optimum health and fitness. Some definitely come with more weight and are more key to my success than others.
If I had to rank the top habits, it would go something like this:
- Intermittent Fasting (aka Night Fast). Only eating between 9am and 4pm (often more like 10am and 3pm) means I’m fasting for 17 to 19 hours each day. The recommended is actually 16/8 where mine is more like 17/7, 18/6 or even 19/5. This allows the inner workings of the body to seriously get shit done without constantly stuck digesting a backlog of food.
- No more grains, dairy and sugar. This is huge. If you want to lose weight really fast, lose these three. Typically, your first week will see a ten pound or more loss. This means no bread, cereal, granola bars, milk, cheese and anything with sugar. And, it means cutting back on or even eliminating fruit and going strictly on the veggie side of things.
- Focused Breathing. This is where Wim Hof has become an incredible mentor to little old me and many, many celebrities. I credit Wim’s breathing techniques for such a change in my health. 20 minutes of the WHM super-oxygenates your cells and does so much more. I find myself doing this process at least three times per day. If I have the time, I do it before and after a workout. The affects on muscle recovery are amazing. This is also the method that will get you out of a hangover…