bboone
Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
- Messages
- 125
hello,
i accidentally stumbled upon one of peat's articles about two months ago now, and the impact implementing his ideas into my dietary principles has had on my life in general has been tremendous. i suspect my hormone profile has always been a bit messed up, as my childhood and puberty were characterized by what i now believe was abnormally high testosterone, with accompanying high estrogen and moderate to high dht.
i was always naturally strong, and so i was allured into powerlifting. unfortunately, i was naive, and fell prey to quite a few of the dogmatic ideas within the powerlifting community when it comes to diet, and rapidly found myself switching from one end of the spectrum (eating 1800 kcal a day while working out 4 times a week) to the other, going finding myself at a body weight of 82 kg one month and 106 kg four months later. of course, this has had a terrible impact on my thyroid and metabolism, and after a while i came to view sugar as the ultimate evil. during my "bulking" phases, i would eat everything in sight, including several hundred grams of sugar a day in the form of chocolate, milkshakes, doughnuts, cookies, etc., and i now believe this saved me to an extent. however, for the rest of the time, i ate the standard high protein, moderate carbohydrate (all starch) diet those who dabble in strength sports tend to employ.
around two years ago, i grew disenchanted with powerlifting in itself, although i still admired strength, but no longer desiring an overly muscular physique at any cost, i dropped myself down from 106 kg to 77, in a matter of about eight months. i didn't notice anything in particular during the summer and autumn, but come winter, i found myself having to wear two sweaters and three pairs of socks in order not to freeze to death in my apartment, when i had previously been the type of guy who could be quite comfortable wearing only a t-shirt in -15C. i suffered through the winter after convincing myself that i was just cold due to dropping my "padding", but i had never had any such problems during childhood, so i knew this to be an excuse.
after a period of fatigue and depression probably induced by a low carb diet, i got myself to the doctor to get my blood levels checked, and he found that i had low hemoglobin, but perfectly fine iron levels. i decided that my body composition would have to suffer if that's what it took, and started adding more carbohydrates in the form of orange juice and apples, which after six weeks brough my hemoglobin into the healthy range. this caused something to click in my mind, as during this six week period of not working out and eating more sugar, my body composition had undeniably improved, as had my mood. when i so happened upon peat a couple of months later (late october 2018), everything made sense. why should we as a species be meant to eat no carbohydrates when our ancestor species had eaten almost exclusively but carbohydrates? why did all the healthiest-looking people i knew eat a ton of sugar and carbs but not much fat? why didn't my dad have diabetes despite having drunk half a gallon of regular coke for the last 30 years? why did he retain a full head of black hair in his mid 60s, and why was this also the case for his brother, whose dietary habits were similar, but in addition was a two-pack a day smoker? why did these people who were "theoretically" healthy look stressed to death and come across as low-energy individuals? why did so many people suddenly start melting and gaining extreme amounts of weight, growing into shapeless amalgamation of estrogen and hopelessness, far beyond what a simple caloric surplus would allow? everything now made sense.
i immediately went all-in, and the results so far have been nothing short of incredible. even my "lowest" days now feel incomparably much better than what i did at my previous highs (except for when i was "bulking", except then i felt as if i was going to suffer a heart attack at any minute). i have morning wood every day now, which i hadn't had regularly since age 19 or so, except for the periods of extreme caloric excess, and my mood and outlook is so much brighter. my facial hair is growing at a much faster pace and i don't feel this senseless anger anymore. peat's quote about hypothyroid organisms wanting to impose their hardness upon others comes to mind.
the only problem i still retain, but which i believe shall be solved in time, is that i have to a degree lost the impulsive urge for sexual gratification which i had earlier taken for granted. i induced this upon myself after a stretch of high ashwagandha and rhodiola dosing combined with low calories, which must have desensitized some serotonin receptors. i immediately suspected that this was a hormone issue, and i still believe a compromised thyroid played a part here. however, a blood test confirmed that my values were pretty much all within the "ideal" range, with low estrogen and prolactin and high testosterone and free T. i believe that once my thyroid is entirely repaired, my brain will repair itself too. luckily i am still very young (early 20s) and didn't have time to damage myself in any noticeable manner with my ridiculous dietary habits, but if i hadn't found peat and this forum, i undoubtedly would have. thank you.
i accidentally stumbled upon one of peat's articles about two months ago now, and the impact implementing his ideas into my dietary principles has had on my life in general has been tremendous. i suspect my hormone profile has always been a bit messed up, as my childhood and puberty were characterized by what i now believe was abnormally high testosterone, with accompanying high estrogen and moderate to high dht.
i was always naturally strong, and so i was allured into powerlifting. unfortunately, i was naive, and fell prey to quite a few of the dogmatic ideas within the powerlifting community when it comes to diet, and rapidly found myself switching from one end of the spectrum (eating 1800 kcal a day while working out 4 times a week) to the other, going finding myself at a body weight of 82 kg one month and 106 kg four months later. of course, this has had a terrible impact on my thyroid and metabolism, and after a while i came to view sugar as the ultimate evil. during my "bulking" phases, i would eat everything in sight, including several hundred grams of sugar a day in the form of chocolate, milkshakes, doughnuts, cookies, etc., and i now believe this saved me to an extent. however, for the rest of the time, i ate the standard high protein, moderate carbohydrate (all starch) diet those who dabble in strength sports tend to employ.
around two years ago, i grew disenchanted with powerlifting in itself, although i still admired strength, but no longer desiring an overly muscular physique at any cost, i dropped myself down from 106 kg to 77, in a matter of about eight months. i didn't notice anything in particular during the summer and autumn, but come winter, i found myself having to wear two sweaters and three pairs of socks in order not to freeze to death in my apartment, when i had previously been the type of guy who could be quite comfortable wearing only a t-shirt in -15C. i suffered through the winter after convincing myself that i was just cold due to dropping my "padding", but i had never had any such problems during childhood, so i knew this to be an excuse.
after a period of fatigue and depression probably induced by a low carb diet, i got myself to the doctor to get my blood levels checked, and he found that i had low hemoglobin, but perfectly fine iron levels. i decided that my body composition would have to suffer if that's what it took, and started adding more carbohydrates in the form of orange juice and apples, which after six weeks brough my hemoglobin into the healthy range. this caused something to click in my mind, as during this six week period of not working out and eating more sugar, my body composition had undeniably improved, as had my mood. when i so happened upon peat a couple of months later (late october 2018), everything made sense. why should we as a species be meant to eat no carbohydrates when our ancestor species had eaten almost exclusively but carbohydrates? why did all the healthiest-looking people i knew eat a ton of sugar and carbs but not much fat? why didn't my dad have diabetes despite having drunk half a gallon of regular coke for the last 30 years? why did he retain a full head of black hair in his mid 60s, and why was this also the case for his brother, whose dietary habits were similar, but in addition was a two-pack a day smoker? why did these people who were "theoretically" healthy look stressed to death and come across as low-energy individuals? why did so many people suddenly start melting and gaining extreme amounts of weight, growing into shapeless amalgamation of estrogen and hopelessness, far beyond what a simple caloric surplus would allow? everything now made sense.
i immediately went all-in, and the results so far have been nothing short of incredible. even my "lowest" days now feel incomparably much better than what i did at my previous highs (except for when i was "bulking", except then i felt as if i was going to suffer a heart attack at any minute). i have morning wood every day now, which i hadn't had regularly since age 19 or so, except for the periods of extreme caloric excess, and my mood and outlook is so much brighter. my facial hair is growing at a much faster pace and i don't feel this senseless anger anymore. peat's quote about hypothyroid organisms wanting to impose their hardness upon others comes to mind.
the only problem i still retain, but which i believe shall be solved in time, is that i have to a degree lost the impulsive urge for sexual gratification which i had earlier taken for granted. i induced this upon myself after a stretch of high ashwagandha and rhodiola dosing combined with low calories, which must have desensitized some serotonin receptors. i immediately suspected that this was a hormone issue, and i still believe a compromised thyroid played a part here. however, a blood test confirmed that my values were pretty much all within the "ideal" range, with low estrogen and prolactin and high testosterone and free T. i believe that once my thyroid is entirely repaired, my brain will repair itself too. luckily i am still very young (early 20s) and didn't have time to damage myself in any noticeable manner with my ridiculous dietary habits, but if i hadn't found peat and this forum, i undoubtedly would have. thank you.
Last edited:
