Randy Kreill, March 15, 2021
At some point in my 20’s, I realized I couldn’t eat and drink everything and stay super lean. Gluttony is not a good habit. Growing up, I didn’t like being the skinny kid. One guy signed my middle school yearbook with “put some peanut butter on your bones”. What an asshole. LOL. I didn’t care for my name or skinny frog legs so much back then. Now I am working to figure out how to regain a bit of that youthful “lightness” and my name is perfect. Ran with a dy. Most days I can say I Ran, sometimes a 100 miles or more at age 58.
Over the past three+ years of weighing in each morning and writing down the number, I have been thrilled with the results. Cholesterol came down, 100 mile PR’s happened. I’m wearing pant sizes easier to find in the youth section. Yet, cholesterol numbers should be even lower, and I know I’m carrying extra body fat, the visceral type. If something is good, why not go for better. We only get one shot. Then we’re worm food, or dust. And, I had a PSA scare in early January this year that prompted a harder look at the content of my diet, weight, etc. With some modifications I was able to lower the PSA back down in a matter of weeks and no biopsy wanted by the Urologist. This was a first referral to the Urologist. Big relief, at least temporarily, but this inspired me to really read in detail, Dr. Greger’s book, “How Not To Diet” as well as the chapter on “How Not to Die of Prostate Cancer” from one of his other best selling books; “How Not to Die”. I’m using Dr. Greger’s ideas and am working (prefer to think of it as “playing”) to hit a weight range a full five pounds lighter, and stay there if it feels right and if my blood test numbers support with good results.
This morning, I hit eight consecutive days in my new target range of 160.0 or less with an average below 159.6. It sure seems like my body is fighting this, as if fat cells just want to survive. Life wants to go on. Even viruses like Covid-19 mutates, just to go on. Life and energy beget more of the same. Why would fat cells be any different? This feels like fighting gravity, trying to go from a healthy weight to something even better.
While barely in my new range, this lets my body reset a new normal over time, so maybe this will get easier over time. I’m not sure what the new normal will be, but similar to what I’m doing now.
Maybe it was the endorphins faking me out on a nice run yesterday, but I came up with a couple of new product ideas that I don’t believe exist, but should. Of course they are 100% plant based with the solid idea of “food as medicine”. Hippocrates was right all along of course. One idea is for an endurance food, ideal for racing or on the go, the other should be on nearly every kitchen countertop for use on most foods.
Muscle mass! I don’t have a lot of it and don’t want to lose what muscle I have during this process. A few weeks ago I was struggling daily to stay under 165 pounds. My three year weight range had been 16-165 and I did very well most of those three years. Today I was thrilled to weigh in at less than 158. So my new weight range is happening, although I’d like to tag the 155 then settle into the middle around 157.4 lbs. I view any extra muscle mass, or fat for that matter, as extra dead weight to carry around, fuel and hydrate. Fat in particular seems to effect my cholesterol numbers negatively. Any weight gained, pushes those numbers up, even after more than ten years exclusively consuming plant based foods with no cholesterol. Anyhow, body builders are not known for longevity. I view the extra muscle mass as a tax on our organs, particularly the digestive system, bladder, kidneys and heart. We have to feed all those cells, which means consuming more food and processing all of that, then filtering it out. All of that complexity is extra work for our body. And why? Just to live up to an image created by advertising and cultural norms. No thanks.
#paidxeropartner I wear primarily Xero Shoes footwear, all minimalist. This is a key part of my fitness and movement with awareness as well. Check them out. Wearing the new Xero Aqua X water shoes in this video, but they are a great ultra marathon trail shoe as well.