Metabolic and Mental Health
After 50, Jim Shrank His Belly and Gained Stronger Muscles with 5 Lifestyle Changes.
He neither joined a gym nor bought expensive supplements.
This story summarizes a case study of a man who gained an astounding physique with healthy lifestyle changes after reversing his type II diabetes in his mid-50s.
Metabolic and Mental Health for Aging Population Requires a Paradigm Shift.
Undoubtedly, our metabolism gets slower, and telomeres get shorter as we age. So aging is inevitable. However, reducing the effects of aging is possible with healthy lifestyle habits. We can learn from our ancestors and indigenous people.
Celebrities and influencers on social media paint a confusing picture of metabolic health. People think that they need to be rich, work their arses off, and buy expensive supplements or medications from drug companies.
Even though these luxurious lifestyles might work for a minority, they are not for the average public having severe economic issues and struggling to feed their families. Not many people can afford a $500 diet pill that allegedly melts belly fat, triples testosterone, and give enormous muscles.
Anthropologists indicate that the healthiest and fittest people are not affluent like in the Beverley Hills of California. They don’t live in big houses and sit all day alone in front of TVs, binge-watching Netflix and sleeping after 3 AM in the morning. They don’t consume sugary products, expensive liquors, or smoke flavored cigars.
They have natural rituals like walking, hunting, sleeping with sunset, and waking with Sunrise. They follow biological and natural rhythms and live in harmony with nature.
They don’t get anxious about the stock market crash or who will win the next election. They are not interested in Kim Kardashian’s efforts to gain millions of Instagram followers.
This brief introduction paints an indicative picture of why our metabolic and mental health went so wrong in the 21st century when we gained more hedonistic tendencies provided by the power of technology and science.
This perspective does not imply being a hunter and living in a cave. It is possible to live in harmony with nature in the civilized world and nurture our bodies without compromising our blessings.
Without going into detail, I introduce Jim and summarize his five-step program with key points.
Meet Jim, who lost significant belly fat and gained lean muscles after 50.
Jim was not obese but overweight since his teenage years. He had a hedonistic life in the 1970s following the sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll philosophy and movement.
After 30, he was believed to have metabolic syndrome and prediabetes, but it was not detected as he had no idea about metabolic health.
He thought it was too late to do anything when his family doctor informed him that he had developed diabetes. He didn’t even know what diabetes meant. He assumed it was the end of his life. He didn’t know a better life was waiting for him.
However, he was fortunate to meet friends who reversed their diabetes and paved the way for him. He met Mark and his wife, Lucy, whom I introduced in a story titled Here’s How a Mature-Age Couple Reversed Diabetes and Trimmed Their Bodies with Lifestyle Habits.
Jim leveraged their resources to reverse his diabetes. As soon as he had no diabetic symptoms, his belly shrank. To his physician’s surprise, he gained youthful muscles as his testosterone and growth hormone skyrocketed.
After his metabolism started functioning correctly, Jim lost significant visceral fat and gained lean muscles after 50 years of age. In addition, his mood improved, so he gained a better mental health profile.
5 Steps Program Jim Leveraged for Better Metabolic Health
1 — Long Walks, Calisthenics, and Trampoline
When Jim learned that Mark and Lucy had 20,000 steps a day, he hesitated to join them. He even couldn’t walk more than a few hundred steps a day. However, in six months, he got fitter than Mark, who was much older than him.
He didn’t want to run as we discussed the detrimental effects of running. But he needed other options to enhance his fitness. I mentioned calisthenics and taught him a few techniques. He also teamed up with Audrey to do planks.
One day when Jim visited us, he saw my trampoline. I just hopped a few times, and he got impressed. I asked him to try. He just loved it and wanted to buy one as he thought he was reliving his childhood. But since he helped me with some of my work, I wanted to surprise him. I ordered one and delivered it to his home.
As he did not want to go the gym, I gifted Jim a pair of 20 kg dumbells for his weight training at home. After a year, he purchased 50 kg of dumbells and other equipment to work out his arm, shoulder, and leg muscles.
Combining several types of workouts produced optimal results for Jim. His belly started shrinking and his muscles growing. Resistance workouts, calisthenics, long walks, and hopping on the trampoline frequently made his body insulin sensitive. He looked much younger than before.
2 — Personalized Eating Regimen
Jim was tired of useless diets for several years. They did not work for him. He lost a few kilos, but he gained them back after a few months. He had no clue about personalized diets.
I introduced Jim to a holistic dietician who specializes in ketogenic diets and time-restricted eating. The dietician checked Jim’s medical history and provided a special diet for him.
Like me in my younger years and many of our generation Jim lived with fatphobia. But the dietician who also helped Eliza and many other friends introduced tasty and healthy fats from avocados, macadamia nuts, olives, egg yolks, cheese, butter, and dairy cream.
Like Eliza, Jim also loved eating both animal and plant foods. But he loved steak, organ meats, fish, and seafood. So consumed bioavailable proteins. His only carbohydrate source was leafy green vegetables. Therefore, he managed to enter mild ketosis as the dietician planned.
Jim adored the taste of whole foods from animal and plant sources. Furthermore, after a while dietician supported her in skipping one meal safely.
As he knew I eat only one meal a day, he understood that skipping one meal would not be a problem in a ketogenic diet. Unlike me, he preferred skipping lunch as he loved having breakfast with his family.
After eating nutritious food with healthy fats and proteins, coupled with the effects of resistance training and time-restricted eating, his testosterone and growth hormone levels doubled within a few months.
With the power of ketosis, his mood improved. He lost significant visceral fat in his abdominal area. He never felt hungry again as his body got leptin sensitive. All his blood markers normalized, pleasing his family doctor.
3 — Adequate and Restorative Sleep
Jim had severe insomnia and migraines when smoking, drinking lots of alcohol, and using recreational drugs. Fortunately, his new diet and exercise helped him improve his sleep.
However, he had occasional sleep disturbances. I introduced Jim to a sleep specialist who is also a certified hypnotist. This specialist helped him to resolve his sleep issues sustainably.
Restorative sleep helped Jim melt his visceral fat and gain more muscles. His growth hormone and testosterone further increased after solving sleep issues. His mood got better.
Furthermore, he woke up well-rested and started the day with a spark. He felt calm and composed at work and euphoric when he was with his friends and loved ones.
He asked me what else he could do to improve his health. I mentioned our health club, which has a sauna, and also I told him I take cold showers every day.
4 — Perspiring in Sauna and Cooling with Cold Showers
As soon as Jim joined our health club, he characterized it as heaven on earth. Meeting supportive people from various professional backgrounds and having lovely and meaningful conversations, he wanted to join us every weekend.
He loved sweating in the dry sauna. I explained to him the detoxifying benefits of a sauna. He also learned about the cardiovascular benefits of dry saunas. He met centenarians who talked about the longevity of saunas. He got motivated and became a regular user.
Initially, he was hesitant about cold showers, but he got used to them after seeing so many of us doing them between sauna sessions. Later, he started taking cold showers at home and loved them. We finally introduced him to ice baths, and he gradually got used to them too.
He later told me that a cold shower a day kept the doctor away as he never got a cold or flu after taking them. I believe these practices improved Jim’s cellular and mitochondrial health, as he looked much younger than before.
5 — A Mindful Living with Regulated Emotions
The last pillar in Jim’s health and fitness journey was mindful living and regulating his emotions. He had childhood traumas which led him to addiction issues. He felt anxious and depressed in the 1980s after having a liberal life in the 1970s. He said his body and mind were crushed.
I introduced Jim to Janine, an experienced psychotherapist and psychiatrist specializing in emotional traumas and addiction problems. Janine’s therapies helped him resolve psychological issues and regulate his emotions.
Janine also introduced Jim to a meditation teacher who guided him to perform mindfulness practices. Initially, meditation was very difficult for his busy mind, but he learned it as he practiced with faith and support.
After therapies and practicing meditation, Jim told me that a huge load had disappeared from his shoulders. He found his true self and managed to access his higher self much more accessible. His cravings for substance disappeared, and his anxious thoughts diminished.
Until his sixties, he never enjoyed reading and writing. But after meditation sessions, he started journaling and expressive writing. In addition, he gained new hobbies like gardening, hunting, and rock climbing. Consequently, he enlarged his social network.
Conclusions and Takeaways
Jim gained a defined belly and strong muscles. His transformation from an overweight diabetic to a healthy, fit, happy, and wise man inspired many people in his circles.
He helped numerous friends to quit smoking and get rid of alcohol and drug addiction with healthy lifestyle habits.
The key to Jim’s success was a holistic health approach with support from professionals, friends, and loved ones.
Customized workouts that he loved personalized diet he adored helped him to sleep better. Solving his psychological problems, regulating his emotions, and calming his mind with meditation enhanced his brain chemistry. Thermogenesis was a bonus to cleanse his body.
All these activities, in combination, balanced his hormones and neurotransmitters, giving him the body and mind he desired.
Jim looked so young that longevity experts started studying his protocol. He told others in his circles that it was never too late to start a health and fitness journey.
I wrote numerous stories about again and longevity. I hope you find some interesting and relevant ones from my collection in the attached list.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
As a new reader, you might check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting on my reviews, observations, and decades of sensible experiments. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.
I enjoy informing my readers about hormonal intelligence by writing about neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, glutamate, and histamine.
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Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients to improve metabolism and mental health.
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As part of my creative non-fiction writing goals, I’d like to share a few stories that might warm our hearts with a bit of humor into weighty topics.
Sample Humorous Stories
Finally, After Burning Her House, Georgia Found Enlightenment
Hilarious Tips to Prevent Brain Atrophy and Keep the Gray Matter Giggling
8 Psychological Points I Had to Unlearn and Relearn the Opposite
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