How I lost 100 Pounds

My Journey from 290lb to 187lb

Yes. That's a picture of me with a squirrel. Pedro, the fraternity named him.  He joined us one afternoon while we were watching college football. At that time, I was probably around 240lbs. I was drinking and partying. Alot. And, I hadn't discovered Intermittent Fasting.

I was also eating what is considered the Standard American Diet, or SAD diet. Lots of grains, late night fast food, and basically no cooking for myself. I was hitting the gym. Hard. Like really hard - I was doing what's called a 2-day split routine. I was hitting the gym 6 days a week, sometimes 7 for 2+ hours a day. Between working 2 jobs and going to university, the gym was my meditation. My haven. My hobby. But, it consumed me. It consumed me in a way I wasnt aware of. I thought that to continue seeing results I had to keep working out this hard.

Up to this point, I had only heard of diets like adkins and low carb but I never saw any results on them and I never had any energy. So I just worked out really, really hard. As you can see, I was a big dude. but by no means did I have a 6 pack, not like the stuff you kind of see forming around august for me.

In Fact, the March 2012 picture and pedro marks the time in my life when two of the greatest things ever happened to me.

1) I swore of fast food for the rest of my life

and

2) I discovered Intermittent Fasting.


Now, these two decisions alone are probably what launched me from flubby to mostly lean.

The third decision I made was to research. I started devouring resources as fast as my hands could type and quickly as my eyes could read. I started learning about all kinds of hormones like leptin, ghrelin, and cortisol. I even discovered new workout methods which I still use today.

It wasn't easy. I had to be relentless in my desire and hunger (get it) to change. For me, I was the fat kid growing up. So weight was always a struggle and I am still tormented by some of those memories to this day.

Here's the deal, weight isn't that hard to manipulate, if you know the right hacks for your brain. I want to teach you those hacks, but it's very hard to convey over words and paragraphs alone. I highly urge you check out my training sessions on re-framing your brain!


“We would accomplish more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” - Vince Lombardi


It's going to be tough, but you will have to grind it out. You have to make the decision that you are either willing to hustle every day or unwilling to remain the same. Both are going to be powerful motivators for what we want to accomplish.

You have to be relentless. If others can do it, so can you. In my many years at the gym I've seen some amazing things. I've seen skinny kids grow to be muscular. I've seen people drop over 200lbs. I've seen people with one arm, I've seen people in wheelchairs working out. The one thing they all had in common was their determination and perseverance to accomplish whatever goal they had set for themselves.

My goal was to get lean and build muscle. And intermittent fasting was the key to this goal. I chose the method of 16-8. This means 16 hours of not eating and 8 hours of allowing myself to eat.

There are other variations and I highly recommend you trying out them all and finding the variation that works best for you.

For me, the 16-8 method allowed me to have 2 meals a day and still get my snacking in. That was my big problem, snacking. See, we don't need to "fuel the metabolic fire" by eating small meals every 2 hours. Studies certainly show that it can lead to desired outcomes, but you will never feel fully satiated on just a 200 calorie snack. I liked the feeling of being full and happy. Fat and happy haha. With research and trying out Intermittent Fasting, I quickly became addicted.

At first, when beginning Intermittent Fasting, I stuck to my regular Standard American Diet. Why change it up? I was seeing results, I had plenty of energy, and I even increased my 1 rep max on bench press to 375lb. This was great! Amazing!


This Time Restricted eating thing was really working out. And I encourage you to start if you haven't already. The easiest way to start is the 16-8 method.


Ok, so let's fast forward to a few months later, or even a few years later. You've been doing well on the new routine and you've seen some results. Awesome!

But like all good routines, you've hit a plateau. Don't worry! This is normal! There's a few options for you to choose moving forward.

Let me tell you about my personal experience. While I was still in the U.S. the first option I chose was to change up my workout plan. I began to study new routines and different approaches to what I was currently doing. (if you want to learn about specific workout routines, please request a 1 on 1!)

What I discovered was called Reverse Pyramid Training and the science behind it made sense. You want to hit the muscle the hardest at the outset and increase your reps while decreasing weight. So I changed and I saw new results and better results. I overcame the plateau, and you can too!

I continued along this journey. "Nothing tastes as good as lean feels." Years of effort and dedication have paid off. I was finally happy. But I still wanted more. I wanted to push myself further and so should you!

The other option you have is to change your diet. This is why it's a lifestyle change. When you begin the journey of educating yourself more and more on the quality of food you consume, you find out that you don't have to workout as hard or as long to burn the same calories. Don't get me wrong! You have to exercise and you still have to hit it hard! But, as I grew older, my time became more and more important to me.

I was evolving myself to work smarter and not harder. Previously, I was spending 2 hours in the gym, 6 days a week. I was eating everything I wanted, I had no education on the chemicals I was consuming through the SAD diet.

Also, tragedy had struck me. I had terribly injured my shoulder while attempting to play rugby in Spain. This is when I was forced by life to slow down and reassess how to control my weight. I no longer had the ability to exert copious amounts of energy in order to achieve the results I was striving so hard after.

So now, with the inability to workout as hard as I could, I had to find alternative workouts, I learned to come to love leg day at the gym. So at this point, I was still doing intermittent fasting, but I was learning so much more about different types of diets. I was coming to realize my diet had been garbage! I came across resources like Gary Taubes, and the book "Pure, White, and Deadly," internet bloggers like Mark Sisson and Martin Berkham. I invite you to dive down the rabbit hole.

"I would rather skip the stairs and skip the bread"

Once you start diving down the rabbit hole of genetics, you're ability to control your body type and habits becomes sensationally better. You gain a whole new ability to train your brain!


So diet and exercise, yes it's that simple! But it's that hard. Intermittent Fasting is hard! Maybe, after you've done it for a few years, challenge yourself to fast for multiple days! I once fasted for 4 days, just to see if I could.

While, I have fallen off the wagon my fair share of times in not eating bread, or consuming sugary beverages, I always seem to feel my greatest and my strongest and most disciplined when I  am eating a paleo-mimicking diet. Enjoy your cheesecake and grains, and ice cream from time to time, because cheat days are important for your sanity and long term goals!

As for what I discovered about diet, I think a mix of paleo mimicking, Mediterranean, and intermittent periods of keto are the best bet. To make it easier let's just start with cutting down on sugars, learning about the different carbohydrates, and the bodily processes of breaking down the different macronutrients. Further I would start learning the difference in what constitutes good fat and bad fat. For instance Monounsaturated fat is very good for you and can help aid in fat loss whereas trans fat can be highly harmful to your body.

While all of this research is going on, make sure you are being cognizant of the calories in vs calories out. One mental out that people look for is still an excuse to overeat! Nothing can change the laws of thermodynamics, it does have a lot to do with how fast you will achieve your goals. It's just a lot easier to get there while feeling full and satiated with real, whole, good for you foods.



I hope this was helpful and I wish you the best in your continued journey of health and weight loss!

Mercadona v. Consum - A Foreigner's Perspective.

This would have been a fabulous post to write about. I really enjoyed my time in Spain and this would have been a fantastic additional case study. Many of the discussion would have correlations drawn between Kroger and Publix or Target maybe. 

What a fascinating time and I wish I would have gotten around to publishing and studying this more.

Update: 01/15/24

It's fascinating to remember how the two stores were slightly different, the same way a Publix and Kroger are different. I love the possibility of doing a perspective case study on the two, but ultimately it would be a passion project

The Curious Case of the Spiritual Gangster

In an Increasingly well traveled world, the Barter Economy and Go-Givers Harvest the highest rewards, knowledge and Information.

The Why:

Travel is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself, because of the people you meet and the experiences you have, if you are open minded. In the past, I've written about how The Singing Cerveza Salesman who won my business, today I am going to write about how being generous with what you have can get you the experience of a lifetime.

The Story:

This story took place over the St. Patrick's day Weekend in Memphis, Tennessee. The name's will be changed as always. All events take place in and around Beale Street.

We Started on

Enjoyed a Parade of Boll Weavels, Shriners, Cruella DeVille Cars, and Memphis Grizzlies:

After the parade, we found ourselves at Silky O'Sullivans which was crowded and an amazing experience where I got to partake in a magical bucket. The experiences that this magical bucket called a "Diver" never stopped ceasing to amaze me. It caught eyes and attention, it was communal, and it brought people into our circle that will forever be friends for the rest of time. Our circle grew. The contents of this bucket could be traded, not for currency but for value. The value of a good time. As the day progressed on the contents of the bucket seemed to dwindle but sometimes people would share their time with us and somehow the bucket never seemed to get truly empty. The more we shared, the more a magical haze overtook me, that can only be described as the beginning of the magic of St. Patrick's Day.

The Magical Bucket:

Being from Nashville, TN, I wanted to drop in and say hey to my neighbors at Tin Roof in Memphis because I've been a fan of the Original Tin Roof on Demonbreun for as long as I'm allowed to legally remember.

Here begins the tale of how a pair of Ray-Bans magically passed over two of my close friends and led the spiritual gangster into my life. During the day I was wearing my glasses and couldn't wear my sunglasses. So my first friend wanted to borrow them, of course this is no problem! "J," now with a pair of sunglasses was able to meet "A." "A" had a pair of sunglasses that "J" was able to keep up with because a silly leprechaun kept knocking the sunglasses off A's head. So now my Ray-Bans were able to be commandeered by my good brother Forrester. Forrestor wore my shades until the sun had set and I had my contacts in.

These magical sunglasses were able to lead J and Forrester to their own spiritual gangsters, they had finally come to rest back on my head with one last task: find me a spiritual gangster.

Though my day had been arduous and my feet were calloused, I was not giving up hope to find a true intellectual conversation. The attempts throughout had been many, yet none were fruitful. Since Tin Roof in Nashville was familiar territory for me, Tin Roof on Beale Street quickly became a comfort zone in which I thrived. I introduced myself to some staff and sent regards from Tin Roof in Nashville.

The Dance floor seemed fun, but not this late, my spirit was dwindling and I needed a few more carbohydrates anyway. Returning inside, I found my way upstairs, I found my friends J, N, A, K, B, and Forrester up here!

How Amazing, the Magical Bucket and Sunglasses re-united us! I made more friends, a Real Estate Agent, an Attorney, and an interesting gentleman who's name I never got. But alas, the spirits were not in my favor... yet. All of these conversations were great, but none of them truly enlightening and all ended too soon.

That's when the wind shifted the tide and led me to Elle. Elle was tall, which I liked. She also seemed to be fairly un-amused with her current accompaniment. We hit it off pretty quickly with polite complements traded. Elle had an amazing story being from Hawaii originally, and you don't hear that very often! She Also had a Carmen San Diego thing going on especially since I think she mentioned having lived there, in fact it's where she started her company. I had to know more, why was she in Memphis? Was she merely visiting or did she live there? Elle actually moved her start up from San Diego to Memphis to catch a big Fish and as a salesman myself, I appreciated the willingness to travel, plus it made huge business sense. As the magic of the night increasingly took hold of the atmosphere, the Altruistic Leprechauns moved the magic hands of time and place. The Spiritual Gangster hat was of significant importance to Elle. Perhaps, perhaps not. I will never know.

The Hat:

The Curious Case of the spiritual gangster

But I do know that the exchange of ideas and thoughts in not only English but in Spanish as well was worth more than any classical education could buy. To read more on how to get more from your education while travelling abroad and the significance of learning a second language, read my article about Staying Healthy while Travelling Abroad. 

Before Hailing a ride, Elle and I exchanged items in order to guarantee we would re-unite at a future point. The Spiritual Gangster hat that she had placed such High Value on and my Ray bans which I didn't pay anywhere near to full price for were traded.

I valued very much my sunglasses because of the magic that they were able to work for my brothers and for me, so I wonder what magic and good fortune will bring because of the Highly Valued hat? Stay Tuned for the update of when the Spiritual Gangster Strikes again! Elle and Myself had exchanged so much information and generosity; however, it was time for me to retire to my room for the night. Elle was awaiting a friend anyway and I urgently needed a change of socks.

So I hailed a Lyft home and had one more amazingly intelligent altruistic conversation with my Driver, T. Fortunately, due to the wonders of technology I was able to get word of my brothers whereabouts and that Elle had finally reunited with her friend.

The Moral

What this whole story comes down to is this, that even though currency is simply a means of exchange, true value can be found from meaning, conversation, and experience.

Through true friendship, kind acts, and generosity, you can truly have an amazing time. As Eric Weinstein said in a Joe Rogan Podcast, "Take something simple like a harmonica" something completely unexpected and using it in a different way "Something you get as a party favor as a kid" he continues "There's 4 secrets and suddenly the world opens up" ... "There's so small a number of secrets and you have to have a reason." "They're small financial options, you can exercise them or you can not exercise them."

 Body language is the language of the world, and that's a tale for another day.


If you enjoy reading my stories, insights, and perspectives, please consider donating! There are several ways and if you'd like be a patron, your generosity will help my go on my biggest endeavor ever in writing a book. Thank you for reading!

Invest in yourself! How to be Better Now!

Hello! In the following video we retrace some early topics in Frugal Son and get back to basics! Hope you like the podcast and please "Like", "Share", and Subscribe!

Hold 'Em Herbie

The following video is a great story of Herbert Wertheim. Forbes published an article and all credit goes to Forbes and the Author. I found this story extremely relevant to Frugal Son and the Healthier wallet, Happier Lifestyle.



Enjoy!

Are you on Economic Outpatient Care? What you can do to Preserve your Family's Legacy

We live in a world of abundance and generations of families have worked very hard and adhered to principles of frugality like never before. Many young people are living extravagant and lavish lifestyles that their parents would never have been able to achieve without a lifetime of frugal habits. Some young people are aware of this and have been following the priesthood of Finance and Budgeting, adhering to their parents teachings, and never asking for anything form their parents. Others however, are on Economic Outpatient Care. The Book The Millionaire Next Door lays out the concept and states in one sentence, "In General, the more dollars adult children receive, the fewer they accumulate, while those who are given fewer dollars accumulate more."

EOC is not a terminal condition, yet. But if not addressed, can be. I once met a terminal cancer patient whom also had a brain tumor, at a bar... This man was very kind and generous, I will never forget my new friend. Since his diagnosis of 6 months to live with Lung cancer and an incurable brain tumor he did what I think most of us would choose to do- live it up, baby! The amazing part of the story didn't come from the stories he shared of his past but the fact that he had lived passed his allotted 6 months. Due to advances in medicine and technology he was living longer than even he or the Doctors expected. This is true of Finance as well. Most of us in our youth have this feeling of invincibility and the lack of foresight, so we tend to make lavish choices that give us tremendous pleasure. The financial and economic tools available to us today are like never before. A recent enlightening conversation pointed out to me that "Millionaire" is just the new upper middle class. As more and more people have access to more and more information about saving, investing, and planning then it becomes easier to achieve Millionaire status if tempered risks are taken at appropriate times in one's life & certain fundamentals are adhered to and followed.

With an ever increasing emphasis on consumption and overconsumption, being "insta-famous", and still keeping up with the Jones' mentality by travelling to more and more exotic places your parents maybe never could, it's more important now more than ever to be over cautious that we aren't on Economic Outpatient Care. If concerted efforts to help protect the legacy your parents and grandparents worked so hard for aren't implemented then you may have little to gain, or worse.

So what steps can you take to get off of Economic Outpatient Care? First, start a budget. Budgeting is easier today than it ever has been. With a cashless society coming closer, no more envelope system and no more handwritten ledgers. With Financial Butlers, it's easier to manage your budget than ever before. Second, stop competing with your peers financially. This game ends in loss for you, maybe even debt. If they want to play that game, let them. We can cover how to get out of debt step by step if you want to schedule a consultation with us.

Thirdly, you can thank your parents for their generosity, but now it is time to have a frank conversation with them about your new resolutions and intentions to form an estate plan. This is a remarkable time in history to be alive because there is going to be a huge generational transfer of wealth occurring. If you haven't read the Millionaire Next Door I would encourage you to do so and then I would encourage you the invite your family to schedule a meeting with us at Thomas Wilson & Co. Because through Estate Planning comes true wealth generation. We can have a frank and direct conversation about what steps you need to implement and what tools we have to help you get there. Parents, if you're adult children are on EOC and you're footing the bill and want to have more to enjoy life, schedule a family consultation with us. We are clear, concise, direct, adaptable, and work in a team atmosphere for the benefit of everyone. We love coaching our families to success. We don't want you to not give your grandchild a birthday present, but we want to discuss what perhaps an even better gift would be.

We are here to help guide you to success.

 

To schedule an in person or phone meeting with our team please, click here and see our calendar page

Is Cryptocurrency the right investment choice?

 More often than not, most of my client meetings and conversations with total strangers who become friends, involve a discussion of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other forms of cryptocurrency. Fascinating as always, these discussions on cryptocurrency (from here out Crypto) often end in a regulatory roadblock. For the average person, delving into understanding crypto can be, well cryptic. This post isn't about the basics or history of crypto as there is a wealth of resources available to anyone interested; this post is about whether or not it is a good investment for a portfolio.

As with all articles this is not a specific recommendation to invest and if you choose to do so, it involves significant risk and should be undertaken with a better understanding of your specific risk appetite. However, this post will involve a general opinion of whether or not it's something to potentially invest in.

As a Financial Advisor, I owe it to pay it forward to all potential investors in helping them make prudent investment choices in their portfolios. I believe it's important to stay ahead of the bell curve of trends in the investment world as well as relying on fundamentals that have served so many well over time.

It's highly important to understand that crypto is a 100% digital currency that is (at the time of writing) unregulated by major governments. This lack of regulation is what appeals to many and why the returns that so many tout have been to extraordinary. But, like many unregulated or protected investments, more often than not, the stories of loss far outweigh the stories of gain. And the stories I have heard of those gaining small fortunes were the ones who "timed" their exit correctly and even have remorse on their exit as "too soon" due to the further running of their crypto holdings.

However, this does not mean it is a bad choice to be prudent and stay updated on timely news in the crypto world. When major news outlets like Bloomberg have reports on bitcoin and others, it means it is time for the layperson to keep a prudent eye on the next cryptocurrency. Allow me a moment to create a metaphor. When Myspace came out, it was a big phenomenon and drew many initial investors to it's web. Facebook was quick to enter the ring and be a major contender. At the time, no one had a crystal ball so it was uncertain as to whether Facebook or Myspace would be the "one" to be adopted my most. Here, 15 years later MySpace is a dinosaur and most youth have never heard of it. Facebook is still a well known platform and I personally, still use it as a tool to grow my business. However, now Facebook is losing to digital media that appeals to a younger and younger audience like Snapchat and Instagram. Correlations of digital phenomena such as the aforementioned can be drawn for crypto. Crypto appeals to a population that favors unregulated invesments. Other unregulated (or at the very least, less regulated) investment include things like Pink Sheets or Penny Stocks. There is no doubt people, to this day, are making fortunes in the Over The Counter stock market.

The penultimate choice of whether or not to invest in crypto comes from this train of logic. Until major regulation comes, and there are major governments and central banks that are investigating crypto as the future of currency. I postulate that one day, we will move further into this as a medium, but until the average person can be protected from fraud and other pitfalls, it is important to talk with someone you trust. Take baby steps in your understanding- everyone moves through life at their own pace and being patient and taking the time to understand it may pay dividends for your portfolio rather than jumping in to the next big crypto craze.

At Thomas Wilson & Co we are keeping a keen eye on the ever evolving environment of crypto as we see the benefits to position our clients and keep them ahead of the curve to capture an upside on the move towards a global currency that will most certainly involve a blockchain basis. As a Forbes article mentioned, "Blockchain won't solve everything, but it will certainly make things a lot easier for everyone."  Given this, it is important to delve deeper into the companies and governments that are using it and investment accordingly. True value will be gained from investments that are timely, well researched, and diversified.

In an increasingly digital world, it is vastly important to make prudent decisions with the help of experts. There is no replacement for a face to face meeting with a trusted advisor.

To Further note some advantages of blockchain and crypto: It helps simplify business and personal life through Transparent transactions. Blockchain is cost effective, long gone are bank and ATM fees. Once a transaction is confirmed the transaction is recorded on a digital ledger forever. Given it's decentralization, the availability of blockchain is available to almost anyone with a smartphone.

Recently, I learned that Kenya leapfrogged the 20th century due to smartphone technology. The key lessons learned are that Kenya has a corrupt culture involving bribing; however, with the introduction of cell phones and online banking power has been returned to the people of Kenya allowing them simplified protection of their money. This has allowed more money in the pockets (banks) of the people! Kenya and Uganda are two countries, well positioned, for exponential growth due to their acceptance of technology. I am planning a trip to these countries to see for myself and I will write a post on my experience.

Correlations of how blockchain will affect citizens globally can be postulated from this case study. You could further postulate that investing in crypto would be like investing in a bank stock; perhaps it's more prudent to find the companies and banking systems that are using blockchain to move their business into the next few decades.

At Caelian Capital Strategies, we are excited for the changes that blockchain will bring and the potential growth in our clients portfolios by investing in the companies that are using it. Click here to schedule a meeting with us, whether by phone call, face to face, or online scroll down and select it on our calendar.