Ken J.
Soon after my birthday celebration last September (I turned 47), a friend who had snapped a photo of me at that party posted that photo on my Facebook. In seeing my fairly overweight self in that picture, I committed to living a healthier lifestyle. It will be the last photo like that anyone will see.
For most of my adult life I have suffered issues with my ankles. They would randomly swell up and no one could tell me why. Recently, a bone scan seemed to reveal that my cartilage has hooks and would get irritated. I lived with this problem for over 20 years. The first eight months of last year were particularly uncomfortable. My ankles, and sometimes my knees, would swell up and keep me from working. Many days I would go to work and just hobble around in pain.
Last August, while home from work due to my knee being swollen (for no clear reason), I felt I had to do something. I followed the advice of Monica Reinagel, the author of the The Inflammation Free Diet Plan, and my swelling went down immediately. Life was good. In October I started to exercise again because I felt that I had the inflammation under control. My workout program recommended that I eliminate starch and sugar for 14 days. So I did. I was watching many YouTube videos and stumbled onto some information about Grain Brain. For some reason, the information grabbed my attention. I ended up purchasing the audiobook soon thereafter. I was captivated! It only took me three days to complete the book, and I was ready to take my health back into my own hands.
I was concerned what a low-carb diet would do to my energy levels. So I read The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance by Jeff Volek & Stephen Phinney.
The results of all this? I have lost over 30 pounds! I have had no inflammation issues with my joints. I am so amazed! There were other aliments that also went away. For example, I used to have sore feet at the end of the day. I thought my feet were just tired. Well I guess they were a bit inflamed!
Grain Brain has been instrumental to my health journey. I am immensely grateful that I found you. You introduced me to the idea of eating low-carb and high-fat. I have been living the ketogenic lifestyle now for over 3 months and feel the best I have in decades.