Nowler's Story

[Nowler]

I've decided to write down and share an overview of my story relating to my past fat gain and hopefully continue to document things as they progress.
(Feel free to move this thread if it's in the wrong location)

Overview:
I was always a slim kid but looking back now I can see that I began developing a body image issue around the age of 10.
I was genuinely skinny at that age but for some reason I began to think I was fat and would begin to suck my gut in so that I would look slimmer.

Around the age of 13 I had a medical incident that almost resulted in death (septicaemia/septic arthritis).
This was a crazy time and completely turn my life upside down and profoundly changed its trajectory.
It wasn't until the age of 18 (5 years later) that I would get my hip replaced and would greatly improve my quality of life, but unfortunately during to that 5 year ordeal enough damage was done to me psychologically I most definitely developed a stress/emotional eating issue.

Thankfully as I was young and as active as I could be (I was in constant pain and on pain killers daily for the 5 years) I was able to keep my body in relatively good shape.
Like many young adolescent men I began weightlifting to increase muscle mass ("adding some mass bro"  ) and I would even become a qualified fitness instructor around age 22, which I worked in for 2 years before I quit and my mental health had another spiralling period. It was around this time that I would start to actually get fat and up to this point in my life I had been eating the typical western/Irish diet of mainly carbs, some protein and limited fat.

Over the next few years I was mainly on welfare, depressed, eating crap, smoking weed (weed doesn't suit me) and drinking a lot more alcohol - as you can imagine, I was getting more unhealthy and began gaining fat. As with a few times in my life, the spiralling would be broken by periods of improvement and I had one of there periods when 28 when I decided to go to Uni to study psychology. Unfortunately the stress by the time I finished my penultimate had gotten the better of me and I was spiralling again and this is where my far gain really ramped up! Thankfully I did manage to keep things together enough to finish Uni and get a good grade, but I was in really bad shape physically/mentally.

It's funny, I recall someone once saying "I wish I could go back to when I first thought I was fat", but for me, I would gladly go back to how fat I was when I finished Uni, never mind when I first though I was fat because fast-forwarding to today I am 380lbs at 5ft 10 and have mobility issues.

In 2018 I decided to pull my socks up and break out of the rut I was in. I was around 300lbs then and decided to move to the UK and try to make a real go of life, albeit a late start (being that I was 29-30). Things were great for a while! I went from 300lbs down to 230lbs eating a keto diet and was loving life! But then covid hit and there were some work related issues which had me (and many others) quite stressed. The lockdowns hit at the same time I got myself a gaming PC and began trying my hand at being a streamer. I recognise now how unhealthy my lifestyle was but at the time I was loving all the gaming, streaming, drinking and eating! I didnt even realize how fat I was getting as I rarely left the house or even put proper clothes on. We were on Covid lockdown and I was working from home... even when the lockdowns ended I was able to continue working from home, which I am still doing right now.

I PILED on fat! I yo-yo'd a bit but I got up to 410lbs around March 2024 and was spending HUNDREDS on takeaways!
I was sore, depressed (granted I had started counselling 1.5years prior which was helping), and I went to bed every night thinking that I may not wake up the following day due to the state I was in. I struggled to get dressed and apart from a rare occasion or collecting my meds once a month, I was not leaving the house since 2020 covid....
I could barely walk 5 mins without having to sit down - I was basically sitting or laying down since 2020 covid... It was pathetic... my leg and back muscles just weren't able to carry me for long.

Current Condition:
In all honestly I still struggle with this but I can walk a little further now and am trying to get out of the house more - even if just a short walk into town centre to grab and coffee and chill for a few hours before walking home. I am happier now though and the world looks a lot brighter. In part due to the counselling which helped me turn some early and difficult corners, but ever since getting back on keto/carnivore the improvement in how I feel mentally and physically has been profound!

It's crazy that I ever let myself get so fat again after losing the 70lbs when I moved to the UK and jumped on Keto!
I am hoping that this will be like when I used to smoke... I smoked years ago and gave up only to turn around years later and start the smoking addiction again!
Thankfully I gave that up again in my final year of Uni - which probably contributed to the stress I was already under. Especially I had self-imposed a social isolation around then too, so there was little to no chance of getting support from friends/family. But I am hoping that I can lose a lot of weight again and I will treat this like I do giving up smoking twice. I will not give up smoking a third time because I will NEVER be so stupid as to start that crap again! If I can lose this fat for a second time I will NEVER go back to this! FK THAT!

My Diet:
Anyway, to round out this overview, since the beginning of April I am eating a Carnivore/Ketogenic diet and feel great!
I say I ebb between the 2 but I say that only because I might have some nuts/peanut butter on occasion, or I might have some low carb hot sauce if I am having chicken.
I do not eat veg though and the main thing for me is that carbs are kept to a minimum (<30g). The lower the better but I will not beat myself up if I have 10, 20, 30g of carbs in a day provided that are spread out.

As I said earlier, I hope this thread will document my progress back down to a healthy weight

So in terms of stats:
- Starting weight as of April 2024 = 410lbs / 186kg
- Height = 180cm / 5ft 10
- Age = 37
 

**** Body pics as of today June 11th 2024 and Bloodwork as of May 25th 2024 attached ****

 

[Geezy]

Brother that was and is a tremendous story. I appreciate you sharing it with us. That took both bravery and humility to do that.
You are doing the best thing you can possibly do to help yourself or as my cardiologist told me “You are doing more to heal yourself than anything I could do for you”.
Keep up the good work or should I say the good fight.
Move as much as possible. Getting that body moving is good for you both physically and mentally. It encourages us to do more.
In time you may, as you see improvements and feel even better, even decide to go all in carnivore by going zero carb all together.
I would like to encourage you to be careful of things like peanut butter and other foods like that as they contain sugars, seed oils and seeds or legumes that can all hinder our journey. Read the labels and make good choices.
You are definitely on the right path.
Good luck and good health.


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[Nowler]

Thanks for the kind words bud!
Yeah, It's been a bit of a ride!

Thanks for the heads up on the stuff we often find added to things like peanut butter etc.
I double checked the one I have for that exact reason - I do tend to check what's in things, but of course, I dont know everything and something might slip past (like the MSG in the Biltong I got).

I'll try to update this thread with things as they develop 

[Scott F.]

Great post. I'm brand new being only about 36-37 days with the carnivore diet.

I dropped from 306 to 276 in 32 days. I started just before Mother's Day with the eating but kept the Mountain Dew habit for about a week. Then maybe 2 weeks in on back-to-back nights with a really small cup of ice cream. Since then, I have pretty much toed the line.

I have an auto-immune disease that keeps me on some medicine for swelling and inflammation. After about 25 days in I didn't need to take it for the discomfort in my neck/upper back. At first the weight loss was the big hitter, not having pain and not having to have a prescription sort of outweighs the weight loss.

Good luck. I too, will post about my personal experiences as I move forward with carnivore.

 

Scott

[Nowler]

Congrats on your progress buddy!
My first month saw the quickest weight loss for me also.

I am really happy for you bud!
Having chronic pain is something I wouldnt wish on an enemy... It just wears you down emotionally and consumes you!

I remember coming out from my hip replacement op, and while I had the pain of just been cut open and having a bone cut out, I could feel that the pain I had for the 5 years prior was gone. It was bliss!

Good luck with the rest of your journey and I hope you continue to see further health benefits!

Edited June 12 by Nowler

[Geezy]

Having chronic pain is something I wouldnt wish on an enemy... It just wears you down emotionally and consumes you!
I remember coming out from my hip replacement op, and while I had the pain of just been cut open and having a bone cut out, I could feel that the pain I had for the 5 years prior was gone. It was bliss!

Boy can I relate to that. I dislocated and fractured my hip in 80. Broke the top of the ball off of the femur. They removed the broken bone and resurfaced the ball and put me back together.
Spent the next 20 years with a limp and in pain more often than not. I built my farm and worked on my feet for the next 20 years never really knowing much relief. The hip finally gave it up in 2000. So I’m now 24 years on this prosthetic hip and it’s been a tremendous joy.


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[Nowler]

2 hours ago, Geezy said:

 

Boy can I relate to that. I dislocated and fractured my hip in 80. Broke the top of the ball off of the femur. They removed the broken bone and resurfaced the ball and put me back together.
Spent the next 20 years with a limp and in pain more often than not. I built my farm and worked on my feet for the next 20 years never really knowing much relief. The hip finally gave it up in 2000. So I’m now 24 years on this prosthetic hip and it’s been a tremendous joy.


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Hell yeah man!
Glad to hear you feel so much better after the hip replacement!
It was the ball of my femur too that was the cause of my pain (sepsis killed it off).
Having that lingering pain disappear essentially overnight is better than any drug out there! 

How's the hip fairing now?
Any idea when you might have to replace it again?

I got mine done in 2005 I believe and its still going strong!
Though, I have noticed a pain or 2 in it over the past year or so - but could be more to do with my bad lifestyle rather than the hip itself (hopefully)

[Geezy]

My hip is still doing good even though it’s supposedly about four years past it’s expiration date.
They said it should last 20 years and it’s been 24 now so I’m pretty happy with it. It does hurt a little sometimes and it makes me think…it’s this it?
But even if it goes tomorrow it’s been a great journey and a real blessing.
It was a dream come true because it put me back in the saddle…literally. My daughter was so excited when I got my new hip because it allowed me to ride again and she had never gotten to ride with me before. We come from and are a cowboy/rodeo family so working cattle, ranching and riding was a big part of our lives. To be able to work the roundups again and play with a rope was a great gift. That lasted about 15 years and then my back started bothering me and so did my hip. I think my hip was hurting because of the back more than anything. I’ve had numerous close calls that I thought “this is it, this hip is gone this time” but she keeps holding on. I’ve fallen a couple of times on that hip and it scared me pretty good. I tipped on some vines once and destroyed my shoulder twice trying to protect that hip. The worse was when I dropped my Harley and landed on that hip doing about 50. I just knew I’d done it in that time. But other than a very deep tissue bruise that took two weeks to appear I was just fine.
I know that they’ll have to go back in someday and I’m definitely not looking forward to that but it’s been a good ride on this one.
Oh and I don’t know what kind of prostheses you have but mine is the porous one where the bone grows into it so I don’t know what they would do if I ever broke that part of it.


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[Nowler]

4 hours ago, Geezy said:

My hip is still doing good even though it’s supposedly about four years past it’s expiration date.
They said it should last 20 years and it’s been 24 now so I’m pretty happy with it. It does hurt a little sometimes and it makes me think…it’s this it?
But even if it goes tomorrow it’s been a great journey and a real blessing.
It was a dream come true because it put me back in the saddle…literally. My daughter was so excited when I got my new hip because it allowed me to ride again and she had never gotten to ride with me before. We come from and are a cowboy/rodeo family so working cattle, ranching and riding was a big part of our lives. To be able to work the roundups again and play with a rope was a great gift. That lasted about 15 years and then my back started bothering me and so did my hip. I think my hip was hurting because of the back more than anything. I’ve had numerous close calls that I thought “this is it, this hip is gone this time” but she keeps holding on. I’ve fallen a couple of times on that hip and it scared me pretty good. I tipped on some vines once and destroyed my shoulder twice trying to protect that hip. The worse was when I dropped my Harley and landed on that hip doing about 50. I just knew I’d done it in that time. But other than a very deep tissue bruise that took two weeks to appear I was just fine.
I know that they’ll have to go back in someday and I’m definitely not looking forward to that but it’s been a good ride on this one.
Oh and I don’t know what kind of prostheses you have but mine is the porous one where the bone grows into it so I don’t know what they would do if I ever broke that part of it.


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Hell yeah man!
You getting it done and getting back in the saddle is huge!
I can only imagine how difficult/impossible it might be to do all that before your replacement. I've never ridden before but I'd imagine it's very heavy on the hips.

I was told at the time that it was a pretty new model they gave me and nobody had gotten to the end of theirs yet.
However, the model I got was in the news back then due to a fault in it which meant it had a high failure rate!
Thankfully mine didn't fail but I do have to get metals blood tests (chromium and cobalt) and a scan on it every 2 years (it was 3, 6, 9, and then 12 months for the first few years, but now every 2 years).

My model is the DePuy ASR and if you are not one of the unfortunate failures then the general consensus now is that people should see 20 years or even more - I'm 18 years into it so hopefully I can get to the 24 years you have, or more (fingers crossed).

The one you have sounds pretty cool. I didn't know there was one where the bone grows into it!
I guess they couldn't give that one to me since the sepsis had killed the hip bone, so growing may have been compromised... I dont really know enough to speak on it but sounds logical.

Hopefully you can get another good spell from it mate!
 

[Miranda]

On 6/13/2024 at 11:50 PM, Geezy said:

cowboy/rodeo

We just finished this family read aloud.

Have you read any of Ralph Moody. These are stories from his childhood and teen years, both out west and in New England. So far I have read 4 of his books to my family in the evening at bedtime. They are really good!

[Geezy]

On 6/14/2024 at 5:22 AM, Miranda said:

Have you read any of Ralph Moody. These are stories from his childhood and teen years, both out west and in New England. So far I have read 4 of his books to my family in the evening at bedtime. They are really good!

No I haven’t but I’ll look into them.
Thanks.


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[Geezy]

 
 
Hell yeah man!
You getting it done and getting back in the saddle is huge!
I can only imagine how difficult/impossible it might be to do all that before your replacement. I've never ridden before but I'd imagine it's very heavy on the hips.
I was told at the time that it was a pretty new model they gave me and nobody had gotten to the end of theirs yet.
However, the model I got was in the news back then due to a fault in it which meant it had a high failure rate!
Thankfully mine didn't fail but I do have to get metals blood tests (chromium and cobalt) and a scan on it every 2 years (it was 3, 6, 9, and then 12 months for the first few years, but now every 2 years).

My model is the DePuy ASR and if you are not one of the unfortunate failures then the general consensus now is that people should see 20 years or even more - I'm 18 years into it so hopefully I can get to the 24 years you have, or more (fingers crossed).

The one you have sounds pretty cool. I didn't know there was one where the bone grows into it!
I guess they couldn't give that one to me since the sepsis had killed the hip bone, so growing may have been compromised... I dont really know enough to speak on it but sounds logical.

Hopefully you can get another good spell from it mate!
 

This is what mine looks like.

At 44 years old I was too young to get the glue in model and the latest model just wasn’t available yet so this was the best available at the time.


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[Bob]

First of all, THANK YOU for sharing your story and putting yourself out there like that. That took a lot of courage I'm sure. Your successes with Keto PROVE that your health and weight loss goals are something that you CAN accomplish. So keep doing what you are doing, and don't return to your former habits. In the end, our secret is taking control of our food, choosing real food, and deciding that we are no longer going to be slaves to the processed junk pushed on us by Big Food coorporations. 

On 6/11/2024 at 8:13 AM, Nowler said:

In all honestly I still struggle with this but I can walk a little further now and am trying to get out of the house more - even if just a short walk into town centre to grab and coffee and chill for a few hours before walking home. I am happier now though and the world looks a lot brighter. In part due to the counselling which helped me turn some early and difficult corners, but ever since getting back on keto/carnivore the improvement in how I feel mentally and physically has been profound!

Awesome. Those short walks add up, so keep doing them. Just do what you can. As you lose weight and build endurance, you will naturally be able to accomplish more and more. But don't hurry up and hurt yourself. Be smart about it. As you progress, you will only feel better and better, both physically and mentally.

On 6/11/2024 at 8:13 AM, Nowler said:

I am hoping that this will be like when I used to smoke... I will not give up smoking a third time because I will NEVER be so stupid as to start that crap again! If I can lose this fat for a second time I will NEVER go back to this! FK THAT!

Smoking is a good analogy, btw. We know processed food is bad for you. Smoking is bad for you and detrimental to your health. Paul Saladino has some videos where he compares the carcinogens in processed food with those found in cigarettes, and it's pretty darn gross, lol. Basically, eating certain processed foods is equivalent to smoking packs of cigarettes. Amazing... and alarming.

If the good Lord didn't already prepare it in some edible form, it's best to stay away from it.

 

[Miranda]

In my mind I compare junk food to smoking also.

[Nowler]

14 hours ago, Geezy said:

 ***Picture***

This is what mine looks like.

At 44 years old I was too young to get the glue in model and the latest model just wasn’t available yet so this was the best available at the time.


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Wow, that's pretty cool!

I believe my one has a sort of rough finish on the part that goes into the femur which I suppose works with a similar logic to yours - in that the bone will grow and grip it.
I wonder how the ones today have evolved...
I guess we'll find out somewhat soon enough! haha

[Nowler]

1 hour ago, Bob said:

First of all, THANK YOU for sharing your story and putting yourself out there like that. That took a lot of courage I'm sure. Your successes with Keto PROVE that your health and weight loss goals are something that you CAN accomplish. So keep doing what you are doing, and don't return to your former habits. In the end, our secret is taking control of our food, choosing real food, and deciding that we are no longer going to be slaves to the processed junk pushed on us by Big Food coorporations. 

Awesome. Those short walks add up, so keep doing them. Just do what you can. As you lose weight and build endurance, you will naturally be able to accomplish more and more. But don't hurry up and hurt yourself. Be smart about it. As you progress, you will only feel better and better, both physically and mentally.

Smoking is a good analogy, btw. We know processed food is bad for you. Smoking is bad for you and detrimental to your health. Paul Saladino has some videos where he compares the carcinogens in processed food with those found in cigarettes, and it's pretty darn gross, lol. Basically, eating certain processed foods is equivalent to smoking packs of cigarettes. Amazing... and alarming.

If the good Lord didn't already prepare it in some edible form, it's best to stay away from it.

 

Cheers for the words of encouragement bud!
You are right, the more I progress the more I'll be able to do.
Where I am/was was a vicious cycle which fed on itself. What I need to do it get a healthier and more active cycle going and let that feed on itself 

Lose fat = being able to move more, feeling better and be healthier
Being able to move more, feeling better and healthier = lose more fat.
Rinse and repeat!.

It amazes me how far off the beaten track we've gotten in regards to what society deems to be an acceptable diet...
Hopefully I keep going and can show other people close to me what putting down the carbs can do for you!

[Nowler]

13 minutes ago, Miranda said:

In my mind I compare junk food to smoking also.

MASSIVE overlap for sure!
 

[Orweller]

On 6/15/2024 at 11:28 AM, Nowler said:

It amazes me how far off the beaten track we've gotten in regards to what society deems to be an acceptable diet...

We've had decades upon decades of food propaganda, I am not as surprised. We've been conditioned since we were young. 

[Nowler]

Quick Stats update:

Starting weight (April 2024): 410lbs
Current weight: 374lbs
Change: -36lbs

Notes: 
I still feel great!
I'm sleeping better too which is definitely in no small part due to less pressure on my throat/airway and it now being easier to twist and turn in bed.
Before (and probably still but to a lesser degree) I would wake myself up when turning in the bed due to being so fat. 

Regarding my eating, I am eating beef steaks most days. Probably 400-450g beef steak in a meal, cooked with some butter.
I often have a 3 egg omelette with bacon and cheese also in a week.
Around once per week I'll have 400g of prawns in garlic butter and also try to have 230g of salmon with a dash of lemon juice on it.

I am trying to leave the house more which apart from the exercise element, it's going to be better for my mental health.
Truthfully, I have not left the house in 10 days apart from putting the trash out but on that day 10 days ago I walked into town and chilled outside a coffee shop for a few hours and just listened to music and have a think about things before walking back home again. It was quite enjoyable though!

I've been highly unlikely to leave the house during the week as when I am finished work (I work from home [employment actually ends next week]) I am tired. The weekends are where I am more likely to leave the house, but as you can see, that's certainly not as frequent as it should be BUT it's a lot more than before. Previously I wouldnt even entertain the idea of leaving the house - I just buried my head in the sand by gaming or getting busy with my interest in financial markets. However, now I am more open to leaving the house - I just need to ramp up the frequency of it.

I cease employment next week due to companywide redundancy and plan to take the month of July off before jumping into a new job.
The plan is to head back to Ireland next week for a family party, but when I get back a week later then the plan is to leave the house most days since I dont have a job for a month or so. I'm hoping to use this time building up my physical/mental fitness before getting back to the work grind.

Anyway... that's enough update for now!
I'll update again at some point in the near future! 

Edited June 19 by Nowler

[Geezy]

Fantastic results. Even the activity is great. Every bit of movement is progress. As you get leaner that will improve. Thanks for the update.
Sorry to hear about your redundancy though. Hopefully you find a job that suits you well.
Keep up the good work buddy.


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