Sometimes people ask me what benefits I get from my “extreme” lifestyle. Here is some evidence that this lifestyle really works.
All my life I have been very susceptible to any contagious disease that gets near me. If the guy in the cubicle next to me gets a cold, so do I. If my kids get a cold, so do I. Not only do I get a cold, I get a long drawn-out miserable cold that potentially progresses to bronchitis. Sometimes these colds would last a month. Over the last 1.5 years as I have been improving my lifestyle, my immunity has gotten stronger. I won’t lie. I still get colds just as often as I used to, but they are a shadow of what they once were. Instead of a 2-3 week really stuffy and miserable cold, I now have colds that last 1-2 days and are relatively mild.
I used to have significant digestive problems. I regularly had heartburn and would probably have been considered constipated. Now I only get heartburn if I eat poorly for multiple consecutive days. Bowel movements are regular and easy.
I lift weights twice per week. I have been able to put on more muscle weight than ever before. In the past I would work extremely hard with little or no gains.
So what exactly do I do to achieve this?
- choose organic foods whenever it is economical
- eat only pasture raised beef, chicken, and pork, and occasional wild-caught fish
- eat pasture raised eggs
- eat only healthy traditional fats like butter, lard, coconut oil, and olive oil
- eat whole grains only, fermented or sprouted
- eat legumes soaked for 12-24 hours, rinsed, and cooked for 2-4 hrs.
- drink at least one glass of whole raw pasture raised milk daily
- eat whole raw cheese
- eat plenty of fruits and vegetables (mostly cooked vegetables)
- eat occasional roasted or brine soaked nuts
- use only whole sweeteners like maple syrup, sucanat, or raw unfiltered honey
- swallow 1 teaspoon of cod liver oil daily
- regularly make rich soup stock from chicken bones
- occasionally eat lacto-fermented foods (e.g. yogurt, brine pickles, home-brewed ginger beer)
- use unrefined mineral-rich celtic sea salt
- don’t eat processed foods (e.g. white sugar, white flour, corn syrup, MSG, splenda, fruit juice, etc.)
- cheat occasionally
- take echinacea tea when I feel a cold coming on or when people around me have colds
- do a high intensity weight lifting workout twice per week
- do taijiquan for 20 minutes each morning
- have a 20-minute massage twice monthly
Goals I have for continued improvement:
- add liver and increase sea-food intake
- increase intake of lacto-fermented foods
- eliminate tea and coffee
- reduce calorie intake to lose 5-10 pounds of fat
- be able to bench press 150lbs for 8 reps (I have 40lbs to go) (UPDATE: this is with dumbells. I tried benching with barbells last night and was able to do 130lbs at 6 reps. This is the strongest I have ever been)
looks like you are pretty much near the state of perfection there!!
I’d love to know what your occasional cheats are!!
And the great thing is that, even though you are following a pretty strict regime, I bet you are enjoying its great taste and interesting cookery techniques? Can’t say that for many ‘diets’ around at the moment.
good luck
p.s. I add small bits of browned liver 10 mins before end of cooking meat casseroles – it makes a pleasing change of consistency throughout the dish.
As for my cheats, occasionally we will eat out. During the summer we have a tendency to go out for ice cream a couple times per month. I also go to a friend’s home twice monthly and eat whatever is served there.
Bravo Brian! I used to get 3 to 4 colds during Oct-May every year and each would last 1-2 weeks. Last winter I only had one mild cold that lasted about 3 days and it followed a period of high stress in Dec. However, I too cheated on ice cream and paid dearly for it. At the end of April after my daughter’s team won their soccer game my wife and I took our daughter and one of her teammates to Dairy Queen. I was going to just have a small chocolate blizzard – but when they brought the treats to the counter I accidentally put my wife’s sundae in front of my daughter’s friend. She thought it was hers and took a bite. My wife wouldn’t eat, so I, not wanting it to go to waste, ate it after my blizzard. Then my daughter didn’t eat much of her sundae, so good old dad came to the rescue and finished it off too. Needless to say, I didn’t feel too well not long after that. I checked the Dairy Queen web site and found they use “corn syrup” and that I had just ingested about 150 grams of sugar! Well …. about three days later I came down with a terrible cold that lasted over a week. I will never eat ice cream at Dairy Queen again
Suggestion on your coffee and tea goal is to replace them with water. Once you get started you’ll get hooked. Vicky will even drink hot water in the cold months if she is trying to warm up. We’ll need to add venision to your diet too!
I’d love to add venison. It’s just darn expensive if you’re not a hunter. Maybe someday I’ll become a hunter…
I’ll try to get something fro you this weekend. How much room do you have in your freezer? We ran out of burger and Vicky ground some steak for tacos on Friday night. It is way better than beef tacos.
Way to go Brian !
There is no greater feedback than when you get results which indicate you’re heading in the right direction.
Coffee has been a “trick” for me as well, on and off, gaining some solace in drinking so called “healthy coffee” when I do. From the pleasure side of things, I find it helpful brewing a nice cup of roasted dandelion (and/or chicory) tea, a bit a stevia and finished off with a generous portion of real cream. My liver loves me for it.
It satisfies that “comfort” side of me when I’m at the computer or laid back reading a book. Highly recommended.
I am enjoying your blog. Take care.
Sven
Gosh…can I just add too that it’s really hard to get away from coffee? I love, love LOVE the aroma…the pleasure of a cup of coffee in the morning. I’m doing really well with all the rest…sounds like you are too! But sometimes I think I need to have ONE vice…..
Rebekka