Happy 54th Birthday to me. Posting an article along with an eye-catching picture has become my Birthday tradition. If you don’t know me, I’m the author of Get Fit Lean and Keep Your Day Job, a Transformation Guide for Any Body. I’m also a Certified Nutrition Coach and the creator of Keto Score, a free algorithm that helps people get into and maintain nutritional ketosis. My passion is fitness, nutrition, and wellness. My greatest satisfaction comes from helping people improve their health, look, and feel their best. Achieving this is not difficult, it’s simply a matter of daily habits.
If you’re still reading this, I probably grabbed your attention with the pic and my age. Yeah, the aesthetic is great but it’s really just an ancillary benefit (icing on the cake would be more eloquent prose but I don’t eat sugar and neither should you). At this point in my life, my primary motivation is long-term health. I want to maintain my fitness well into old age so that I can remain active and run around with my grandchildren, maybe even my great grandchildren one day. I also have no intention of succumbing to one of the non-infectious diseases that most modern humans die from.
As a fitness enthusiast, over the course of nearly 40 years, I’ve tried just about every diet plan under the sun. I’ve also continued to follow the latest in nutrition science. As the consensus continues to build, I believe low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) is the optimal nutrition plan. The argument is born out in my experience, but more importantly, it’s the collective result of cutting-edge research separating science from conventional wisdom. The grain-based diet recommendations that have been the underpinning of the standard American diet and the USDA recommended “food pyramid”, more recently “my plate”, are born out of corrupt politics and business interests, not health concerns. Our evolutionary biology tells the whole story.
Prior to the domestication of agriculture there was no such thing as chronic non-infectious disease. Type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cancer did not exist for the first 3 million years of human evolution. The trouble began when we switched to a grain-based diet a few thousand years ago, and it’s accelerated exponentially over recent years with the industrialization of farming. Carbohydrates are plentiful and cheap. Over eating carbs is toxic.
You can draw a direct line: Over eat carbs => elevate blood glucose => develop insulin resistance => cause inflammation and metabolic disorder => facilitate non-infectious disease (pick one or all from the list above). Sadly, too many people get most of their daily calories from carbs. Ironically, carbohydrates are not an essential macro nutrient. Fat and protein, the other 2 macro nutrients, are essential. Our bodies require dietary fat and protein. However, we don’t need to eat carbs. Are bodies efficiently manufacture whatever glucose is required for biological function. Humans are not designed for an onslaught of carbohydrates. You don’t have to kill yourself slowly by overeating carbs. There is another way: Keto. It’s the ultimate low-carb, high-fat way of eating.
I eat whole eggs scrambled in butter and or coffee with a tablespoon of coconut oil and butter first thing in the morning. Post workout, I have some plain (unsweetened) Greek yogurt topped with a few berries. Lunch and dinner are a fatty animal protein like salmon, chicken thighs, or steak, and green veggies. Snacks are nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocado, and fat bombs (Google fat bombs - there are hundreds of delicious sugarless chocolate recipes). Eating low carb, moderate protein, high fat, known as Keto, is easy. And to dispel some common keto misconceptions:
1. You don’t have to eat red meat
2. Saturated fat and cholesterol are not bad for you
3. Keto doesn’t mean you can eat as much fat as you want. Calories do matter.
5. You can eat fruit, although limited low glycemic fruit, on Keto.
4. Over eating protein is not keto. Through a process known as gluconeogenesis, excess protein is converted to glucose. Over eating protein actually defeats keto.
Actual Keto means getting 70% of your calories from fat, 20% from protein, and the remaining 10% from low-glycemic carbs. That’s a well-formulated Keto diet. The macro nutrient percents as well as micronutrients and total calories can be easily tracked with an eating app like MyFitnessPal.
Keto can be achieved in some surprising ways. There are Pescatarians and Vegetarians doing Keto and it’s not easy, but there are people successfully doing Vegan Keto. It’s important to say again; sugar, starches, grains, cereals, and root vegetables are big no-no’s on keto.
Back to daily habits. Following a good nutrition plan is critical but moving your body every day is also important. Make daily exercise non-negotiable. Most of us work a full-time job. How often do you skip going to work? Treat daily exercise with the same respect. I set my alarm, get up early, and go the gym every weekday before going to my office. I do 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training. If I don’t go to the gym on the weekend it’s because I’m skiing, Mt biking, or going for a hike. An off day for me is a 1-hour urban walk. There are an infinite number of ways to move your body. Find the exercises you enjoy and do it, daily.
Eating low carb, moderate protein, high fat, isn’t an occasional thing or a short-term fix. It’s not a diet. Keto is a lifestyle. I love good food, I love to cook, and I create delicious meals. There are countless spices, herbs, dry rubs, and other seasoning that can turn grilled chicken, fish, or sautéed veggies into mouth watering delights. Keto, combined with daily exercise, both cardio and strength training, keeps me looking and feeling my best. You can also maintain good health, look and feel your best. It’s all about daily habits.
If you’d like to learn more about my Get Fit Lean Program, please visit
Getfitlean.com
If you’d like help getting into and maintaining Nutritional Ketosis, please try Keto Score, my free algorithm at Ketonescore.com
Yours in fitness and health,
JD Griffin
Author, Get Fit Lean and Keep Your Day Job
Certified Nutrition Coach
If you’re still reading this, I probably grabbed your attention with the pic and my age. Yeah, the aesthetic is great but it’s really just an ancillary benefit (icing on the cake would be more eloquent prose but I don’t eat sugar and neither should you). At this point in my life, my primary motivation is long-term health. I want to maintain my fitness well into old age so that I can remain active and run around with my grandchildren, maybe even my great grandchildren one day. I also have no intention of succumbing to one of the non-infectious diseases that most modern humans die from.
As a fitness enthusiast, over the course of nearly 40 years, I’ve tried just about every diet plan under the sun. I’ve also continued to follow the latest in nutrition science. As the consensus continues to build, I believe low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) is the optimal nutrition plan. The argument is born out in my experience, but more importantly, it’s the collective result of cutting-edge research separating science from conventional wisdom. The grain-based diet recommendations that have been the underpinning of the standard American diet and the USDA recommended “food pyramid”, more recently “my plate”, are born out of corrupt politics and business interests, not health concerns. Our evolutionary biology tells the whole story.
Prior to the domestication of agriculture there was no such thing as chronic non-infectious disease. Type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cancer did not exist for the first 3 million years of human evolution. The trouble began when we switched to a grain-based diet a few thousand years ago, and it’s accelerated exponentially over recent years with the industrialization of farming. Carbohydrates are plentiful and cheap. Over eating carbs is toxic.
You can draw a direct line: Over eat carbs => elevate blood glucose => develop insulin resistance => cause inflammation and metabolic disorder => facilitate non-infectious disease (pick one or all from the list above). Sadly, too many people get most of their daily calories from carbs. Ironically, carbohydrates are not an essential macro nutrient. Fat and protein, the other 2 macro nutrients, are essential. Our bodies require dietary fat and protein. However, we don’t need to eat carbs. Are bodies efficiently manufacture whatever glucose is required for biological function. Humans are not designed for an onslaught of carbohydrates. You don’t have to kill yourself slowly by overeating carbs. There is another way: Keto. It’s the ultimate low-carb, high-fat way of eating.
I eat whole eggs scrambled in butter and or coffee with a tablespoon of coconut oil and butter first thing in the morning. Post workout, I have some plain (unsweetened) Greek yogurt topped with a few berries. Lunch and dinner are a fatty animal protein like salmon, chicken thighs, or steak, and green veggies. Snacks are nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocado, and fat bombs (Google fat bombs - there are hundreds of delicious sugarless chocolate recipes). Eating low carb, moderate protein, high fat, known as Keto, is easy. And to dispel some common keto misconceptions:
1. You don’t have to eat red meat
2. Saturated fat and cholesterol are not bad for you
3. Keto doesn’t mean you can eat as much fat as you want. Calories do matter.
5. You can eat fruit, although limited low glycemic fruit, on Keto.
4. Over eating protein is not keto. Through a process known as gluconeogenesis, excess protein is converted to glucose. Over eating protein actually defeats keto.
Actual Keto means getting 70% of your calories from fat, 20% from protein, and the remaining 10% from low-glycemic carbs. That’s a well-formulated Keto diet. The macro nutrient percents as well as micronutrients and total calories can be easily tracked with an eating app like MyFitnessPal.
Keto can be achieved in some surprising ways. There are Pescatarians and Vegetarians doing Keto and it’s not easy, but there are people successfully doing Vegan Keto. It’s important to say again; sugar, starches, grains, cereals, and root vegetables are big no-no’s on keto.
Back to daily habits. Following a good nutrition plan is critical but moving your body every day is also important. Make daily exercise non-negotiable. Most of us work a full-time job. How often do you skip going to work? Treat daily exercise with the same respect. I set my alarm, get up early, and go the gym every weekday before going to my office. I do 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training. If I don’t go to the gym on the weekend it’s because I’m skiing, Mt biking, or going for a hike. An off day for me is a 1-hour urban walk. There are an infinite number of ways to move your body. Find the exercises you enjoy and do it, daily.
Eating low carb, moderate protein, high fat, isn’t an occasional thing or a short-term fix. It’s not a diet. Keto is a lifestyle. I love good food, I love to cook, and I create delicious meals. There are countless spices, herbs, dry rubs, and other seasoning that can turn grilled chicken, fish, or sautéed veggies into mouth watering delights. Keto, combined with daily exercise, both cardio and strength training, keeps me looking and feeling my best. You can also maintain good health, look and feel your best. It’s all about daily habits.
If you’d like to learn more about my Get Fit Lean Program, please visit
Getfitlean.com
If you’d like help getting into and maintaining Nutritional Ketosis, please try Keto Score, my free algorithm at Ketonescore.com
Yours in fitness and health,
JD Griffin
Author, Get Fit Lean and Keep Your Day Job
Certified Nutrition Coach
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