How I Lost 30 Pounds and Fixed My Broken Heart - Part 1

When it comes to fixing your health over 45, the why is more important than the how.

And as I explained, my why is that I don’t want to suffer. 

I want my health span to be as long as possible.

And then I want to die fast without pain.

That’s my why. But what’s my how?

How did I lose 30 pounds, and fix my blood pressure, A1C, triglycerides, etc.?

My transition came in two phases. 

Phase two involved becoming a distance runner and training for the New York City marathon. Here’s m3 at the finish:

But phase one was 95% nutrition.

Weight loss is not easy.

But it is simple.

You burn more calories than you take in, and you lose weight.

Again, not easy. 

Food is addictive, delicious, and 100% legal. So it’s hard to resist, making weight loss difficult.

But losing weight is simple. 

The funny thing is that I thought I ate healthy, because my diet was jammed full of vegetables and salads. Stuff like this:

But I ate them in unhealthy ways, which I’m about to explain.

And of course, as a man over 45, my metabolism is not what it used to be.

I used to be able to lose 10 pounds in a month by not eating bagels.

Those days are long gone.

The first thing I did to cut calories was to cut my meat consumption by 90%.

I’ve since added more meat back to my diet.

But back then, I realized that the fastest way to reduce calories was to cut back on meat.

Because meat is calorie dense, and it also requires oil to cook.

And oil has a ton of calories in it.

Once I realized how small a tablespoon was, my mind was blown.

Because I finally figured out why I always had so much trouble losing weight, even though I thought I ate such a healthy diet.

I was drowning my system in oil.

A single tablespoon of avocado or olive oil (my defaults) has 120 calories.

And when you pour oil out, it’s so easy to overdo it. You might think you’re pouring out one tablespoon, but it’s really three.

If you’re not measuring your oil, you really have no idea what you’re consuming.

Then it’s tempting to use sauces, which means even more calories and sugar.

This goes way beyond meat. 

I had a habit of eating huge portions of vegetables like broccoli and brussel sprouts.

These are healthy, nutrient dense superfoods.

But I was drowning them in olive oil and parmigianno regianno cheese and sometimes dressings.

A head of broccoli has about 200 calories.

But I jacked that up to 600-700 calories easy because of all the oil and cheese.

And I’d make salads… and of course drown them in dressing or oil.

I was telling myself I was eating healthy.

I only learned the truth once I started measuring out oil.

Ever get grilled chicken breast at a restaurant, and be amazed at how juicy and tender it is?

It’s because that chicken was drowned in oil and/or butter.

There’s a cafe near me in Brooklyn that I absolutely adore.

One day, I ordered a salad with grilled chicken.

The grill guy chopped up the chicken, throw it on the grill, and then firehosed the chicken with oil.

I was shocked at how much oil this dude used.

And I was like well holy sh*t, that’s why their chicken is so good.

This is just one reason to eat out less. 

Because you have no idea how much butter or oil you’re consuming.

You might think you’re eating healthy, not realizing that your salad had 1,300 calories!

When it comes to cooked food, you have no idea how many calories something has unless you cook it yourself!

And the better it tastes, the more likely you got butter-bombed.

This is what Anthony Bourdain said about butter:

“In the world of chefs, however, butter is in everything. Even non-French restaurants—the Northern Italian; the new American, the ones where the chef brags about how he’s “getting away from butter and cream”—throw butter around like crazy. In almost every restaurant worth patronizing, sauces are enriched with mellowing, emulsifying butter. Pastas are tightened with it. Meat and fish are seared with a mixture of butter and oil. Shallots and chicken are caramelized with butter. It’s the first and last thing in almost every pan: the final hit is called “monter au beurre.” In a good restaurant, what this all adds up to is that you could be putting away almost a stick of butter with every meal.”

I used to eat a lot of big, junky meals at restaurants and diners, like:

This was at least three times a week.

I even had a stretch where I dedicated myself to perfecting chicken tenders at home:

And at least a couple times a week, I’d go get a chocolate chip muffin or a big ass cookie.

My stupid ass thought this was a healthy balance, because I also ate so many vegetables and salads. (even though as you learned, I ate my veggies and salads in unhealthy ways)

But eating some good food doesn’t counteract all the trash you sucked down.

The flab around my belly and my high blood pressure were proof of that.

So I cut my meat and junk food consumption down by over 90%.

What’d I replace it with?

Well, the first thing was improved versions of the healthy vegetables and salads I was inhaling.

Less oil, less dressing.

They weren’t as tasty, but I was fine with that.

Then, I added massive amounts of superfoods to my diet.

Stuff that was nutritious and filling, and which didn’t have a ton of calories 

So I went heavy on things like:

So to wrap it up, I did this:

*I’ve since added more meat back to my diet, which I’ll get into

Next, I’ll get into the physical fitness aspects of my transformation.