Joe's Story

Joe’s Story

I’ve always had a passion for fitness. Growing up playing youth sports and into High School, I’ve always known the value of nutrition in relation to athletic performance. Once I started college I began bodybuilding - a crazy intense sport that involved extreme training and dieting. It was during this time I focused on all aspects of nutrition and supplementation. While bodybuilding, I was simultaneously working towards my degree in health and wellness. First a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology followed by a Master’s Degree in Exercise Physiology from Cal State University, East Bay. While in school I learned all about how nutrition plays a vital role in both physical and mental performance and how we can manipulate our nutrition to enhance these areas. I was able to take this knowledge and apply it to my Personal Training career, helping thousands of clients realize their potential through fitness.

My approach to nutrition had always been moderation. I believed you must keep your macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats) well-balanced for optimal results. And this worked, kind of. I noticed a low fat, moderate carbohydrate and high protein diet was very hard for my clients (and for myself) to maintain long-term. Not only was the food choices restrictive, but eating “healthy” became boring, bland and repetitive. When we become bored with our diets, the likelihood of being able to maintain the diet drops substantially and dieting all of a sudden becomes a chore and not a lifestyle. The typical Western Diet, which consists of high carbohydrates, low fat, wasn’t working for myself or my clients long-term. So I began to look for a solution. The opportunity came in the most unusual way.

While performing heavy powerlifting exercises in the gym, I sustained a L4/L5 (lower spine) herniation associated with a separation of the sacroiliac joint. X-rays showed significant deformity of my lower spine and a stress fracture in my pelvis! The sciatic pain associated with this injury was overwhelming to say the least. Everything was painful: laying down, sitting, standing, walking, bending etc was met with excruciating pain that radiated from my right hip all the way down to my toes. The pain was so constant and extreme that I thought things could never improve. This injury affected every single aspect of my life. I couldn’t drive, exercise, work or even play with my kids. This led to depression and ultimately weight gain. I found myself weighing 256 pounds with 26% body fat. I spent thousands of dollars on multiple doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists and medical devices with little relief. I decided my number one priority was to heal and get back into shape so I could literally get my life back.

I designed a physical therapy program for myself to help strengthen and stretch the muscles of my hips and lower back. The progress was slow at first, but I was soon starting to feel some relief. I knew that a major factor in my recovery was weight loss. I was well aware that carrying around extra body fat, particularly in my gut, was straining the muscles of back and hips as well as putting unnecessary pressure on all of my other joints. In order to truly heal my injury and take my life back I knew I had to lose body fat. But the idea of going back to the low fat, moderate carbohydrate and high protein diet was very unappealing and I knew I would have a hard time staying motivated enough to stick to it. I didn’t want a temporary fix, I wanted a change for life.

That’s when I found the ketogenic diet. I had heard of the ketogenic diet before, I’ve even researched it over the years. But I thought the high fat, low carb diet trend (mostly led by Atkins, Paleo, Caveman etc)  was a fad that would come and go like all the rest. But upon further investigation I started to see there was something very different about this way of eating. It isn’t just a diet: it’s a lifestyle. Not only that, but it’s a lifestyle that many people find easy to stick to. I wanted to give it a try because, at this point, I had nothing to lose.

I started by tracking my food intake with a diet tracking app on my phone to get an idea of my calories, protein, carbohydrates and fat intake. Next, I slowly started cutting carbohydrates. I didn’t quit carbohydrates cold turkey, I slowly reduced the amount over time, while keeping my fat intake moderate and my protein intake high. Once my carbohydrates were down low (to about 25% of my daily calorie intake) I decided to take things to the next level and attempt to get into ketosis. This not only required me to drop my carbohydrates down much lower than they already were, but I had to decrease my protein intake and drastically increase my fat intake at the same time. This initially went against what I had been taught in school, and what I had learned as a Personal Trainer and bodybuilder for all those years, but I decided I needed to trust the science behind it and see how things worked out.

I was able to bring my carbohydrates down to less than 10% of my daily calories, my protein to about 25% of my daily calories and my fat to upwards of 65% of my daily calories. Words cannot express how amazed I was with the results. Almost immediately I started dropping body fat. I felt stronger and stronger every day. I slept better, had more physical energy throughout the day and even my mental clarity improved. As I continued to recover from my injury I started getting back into weightlifting, being cautious not to re-injure my back and hips.

Over the next 6-months not only did I experience a full recovery from my injury, but I was able to drop over 50 pounds of body fat and build 15 pounds of lean muscle mass at the same time! This didn’t happen on its own - it took effort. I meal prepped my food each night, meticulously tracked my macros daily, never missed logging and weighing my food, and pushed myself as much as I could in the gym. The results speak for themselves. At the time of this writing I am 205 lbs with 10% body fat and feeling as strong as I’ve ever been. The best part about living the ketogenic lifestyle, however, isn’t just the results. I genuinely really enjoy the food I get to eat daily. Full fat dairy, eggs and meats with plenty of green leafy vegetables along with nuts and seeds. I enjoy my desserts the most, eating keto ice cream and cheesecake made with real cream and dark chocolate.

I quickly found that fat offers a wide variety of flavor profiles that I could never get tired of. One of my favorite parts about this lifestyle is when I see a food that is typically off limits for me (such as pizza or pasta), I can always find a way to replicate that flavor and feel by using ingredients alternative to starches and sugars. With low fat, high carb eating, this just isn’t a possibility.

As I lost body fat and gained muscle, people began to notice. Soon I had people approach me every day asking how I did it or what my secret was and I always had the same answer: high fat, no carbs! The results were undeniable and people started asking more questions about the ketogenic approach to fitness. Before I knew it, I had nearly all of my clients as well as other Personal Trainers on the keto diet as well. The keto revolution in my life had begun. Now I am taking what I have learned, both through my own experience and my training of others, and sharing it with you. Together we can change how our society looks at nutrition and help and encourage others to get into the best shape of their lives with the ketogenic lifestyle!