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How Losing 80 Pounds of Weight Saved His Life with Ben Azadi - E57
17 Plays1 day ago
If you’re overweight, imagine how losing a staggering 80 pounds could change your life.
Creating lasting health changes like that is tough, because we tend to focus on diet tweaks and quick fixes, while neglecting the deeper patterns driving our habits. The demands of daily life, nagging mental roadblocks, and the pressure of past failures can leave even the most well-intentioned among us feeling stuck.
This episode dives into why mindset is the key to true transformation, and how shifting your thinking can unlock consistent progress across nutrition, fitness, and wellbeing. Cutting through empty motivation and buzzwords, we explore building metabolic health from the inside out, and all from someone who learnt it all the hard way.
Ben Azadi is a keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling author of "Metabolic Freedom", recognized for his expertise in metabolic health and nutrition. After overcoming obesity and depression in his early 20s, Ben built his authority on transforming pain into purpose and now leads Keto Camp, an online coaching platform with over 120,0000 subscribers to achieve metabolic flexibility. He is also the host of a top 15 podcast, “Metabolic Freedom with Ben Azadi”. Ben's game-changing approach to health has made him a trusted resource for anyone seeking sustainable wellness.
“More important than the physical six pack that I achieved was, was the mental six pack and the suicidal thoughts, the depression, all of that just started to dissipate…” - Ben Azadi
In this episode you will learn:
- How Ben transformed his life from obesity, depression, and poor health through mindset shifts and taking personal responsibility.
- The concept of “mental obesity,” why mindset is foundational to any health transformation, and how self-image and identity shape lasting results.
- What metabolic flexibility means, why continuous ketosis is not recommended for most people, and the practical approaches Ben uses for cycling between fat and sugar burning.
- How Ben structures his nutrition, including periods of carnivore eating, high-carb refeeds, and how he uses continuous glucose monitoring to personalize his choices.
- The importance of prioritizing protein intake and strength training for preserving lean muscle during fat loss and supporting long-term health.
- Why foundational habits like sleep and social connection are as vital as diet and exercise, and how trade-offs for quality of life play a key role in sustainable healthspan.
Resources
- Connect with Ben on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebenazadi
- Listen to Ben’s award-winning podcast, “Metabolic Freedom”: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1470779784?app=podcast&at=1000lHKX&ct=linktree_http&itscg=30200&itsct=lt_p&ls=1&mt=2
- Order Ben’s book, “Metabolic Freedom: A 30-Day Guide To Restore Your Metabolism, Health Hormones & Burn Fat”: https://ketokamp.clickfunnels.com/metabolic-freedom
This podcast was produced by the team at Zapods Podcast Agency:
https://www.zapods.com
Find the products, practices, and routines discussed on the Alively website:
https://alively.com/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Metaphors and Life's Pressures
00:00:00
Speaker
what happens when you squeeze an orange? What comes out? Orange juice, because that's what's inside. Well, same thing with us as human beings. What happens when life squeezes you and applies pressure? What comes out is what's inside, which are your thoughts.
00:00:13
Speaker
And if you change your thoughts and change your feelings and change your attitude, then you're not a victim. You're not reacting to all these things that are happening in your life.
Introducing Ben Azadi and His Journey
00:00:21
Speaker
You are pausing and you are responding.
00:00:26
Speaker
This is the Home of Healthspan podcast, where we profile health and wellness role models, sharing their stories and the tools, practices, and routines they use to live a lively life.
00:00:40
Speaker
Ben Azadi, it is such a pleasure to have you on the Home Healthspan today. And before we get into all the books you've written, all the lives you've touched, how would you describe yourself? Yeah, I am Ben Azadi and I'm a lively professional keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling author of Metabolic Freedom.
00:00:59
Speaker
And numerous other bestselling books, but yes, Metabolic Freedom is the most recent one, the one we were just discussing before that I read or slash listened to. Listen to while you're working out the gym. I love
Overcoming Health Challenges and Finding Inspiration
00:01:10
Speaker
it. Yeah, exactly. And there are some amazing stories from that I want to dig in and double click on.
00:01:16
Speaker
But I think... For our listeners who might not be familiar with you yet, I think there's this idea that a lot of people they see on social media or are writing the books. If they haven't read them and understand the full story, they think, oh, it's easy for that. Like they've always had that.
00:01:30
Speaker
And this isn't for me. I know your personal story is very different from that. Do you mind just giving a little background on how you got in to what you're doing today? Of course, Andrew. Yeah. And that I think my, my authority doesn't come from the books I've written, the stages I've spoken on my accolades and all that egotistical stuff.
00:01:50
Speaker
My authority comes from pain to purpose. And I can relate to a lot of people that are unhealthy and obese physically and mentally. That was my life for 20 years. and And in 2007, when I was 23 years old, when most people who are 23 years old are graduating school, starting a career, maybe starting a family, that was not my life. I was actually looking for ways to end my life. I was depressed.
00:02:15
Speaker
I was physically obese and mentally obese. Inflammation all over my body. Back was going out left and right. I had high blood pressure. pre-diabetes, erectile dysfunction, and I was just completely lost when it came to nutrition, fitness, and and health in general.
00:02:33
Speaker
And like so many people, Andrew, I made an appointment with my doctor because I was not feeling well and I would explain my symptoms to my doctor. And the question that was never asked was, what are you eating, Ben?
00:02:46
Speaker
Let's discuss your lifestyle, Ben. The question that was asked, at least the doctor was thinking, what can I prescribe for this young man? And he recommended some medication. And I felt like I was too young to go on medication. I didn't want to do that 23 years old.
00:02:57
Speaker
So I thought the best route was just give up on myself and take my life. And I explored that, but... What stopped me from pursuing that was my mom. And she didn't know I was going through this, but I kept thinking about her.
00:03:08
Speaker
I didn't want to cause it that sort of devastation for my mom. I love her. So it forced me to figure things out. And for me, it started with with studying self-development and
Lifestyle Transformation and Mindset Shift
00:03:17
Speaker
mindset. Dr. Wayne Dyer played a big role in my transformation. Bob Proctor played a big role.
00:03:22
Speaker
And I learned a lot of things from these authors, but the main thing that I learned that was my first step to great change was taking responsibility. I finally took ownership. And when you take ownership and responsibility, you stop being the victim of your history and you start to become the victor of your destiny. And that's exactly what I did. I started to...
00:03:40
Speaker
Treat my body better. Eat real food. I didn't do keto or fasting or biohacking or or the supplements that I do now. I simply just moved my body, ate real food, single ingredient foods. And I went through this incredible transformation where I lost 80 pounds in nine months. I went from 250 pounds at highest 170 pounds at my lowest.
00:03:57
Speaker
to hundred and seventy pounds at my lowest 34% body fat to as low as 6% body fat at that time and completely transformed my physical appearance, which which was great. But more important than the physical six pack that I achieved was was the mental six pack and the suicidal thoughts, the depression, all of that just started to dissipate and dissipate until it was no longer there.
00:04:21
Speaker
That's what got me into this space of health and nutrition. and Of course, there's been a lot of iterations in this space, but that was 17 years ago. I've kept the weight off. I know that I was young when I went through it, but I know it doesn't matter what your age is.
00:04:35
Speaker
Your body's not broken. It's just being interfered with. And if we could identify what that interference is, remove it, your body will heal whether you're 23 or 93. And I'm living proof of that.
00:04:46
Speaker
Yeah, and you certainly are. And i know so many of the people you've helped are as well, right? You continue to do it not just for yourself, but you amplify that impact. Now, I think as the mastermind behind KetoCamp and these others, i think a lot of listeners might expect that as we go through kind of health protocols, everything, we might start in nutrition. But I'd actually...
00:05:05
Speaker
go back to the mindset part, right? One thing that I think maybe you got glossed over that people might not have heard it mentally obese. I wasn't just physically obese. I was mentally obese. And we think about health, you could eat the right stuff. You could move your body, but you need that mindset to truly believe you're a healthy person.
00:05:25
Speaker
I know this is a big part of metabolic freedom, but it was also a big part of your own personal journey. And so I think we've heard some on what it looked like, but could you define what mental obesity is and not just what you did over time, but what you're doing today to kind of maintain that, Hey, I'm a healthy individual. I'm a healthy person every day.
00:05:45
Speaker
What that means. Yeah, it does. And then so it's so important. It it really is probably 95% of the ah transformation that we're all looking to to achieve. it's It's an inside out job. And we can make the conscious decision to do keto or fasting or you know want to lose the weight, but there's there's there's a lot going on subconsciously. And it starts with a responsibility, as I mentioned.
00:06:08
Speaker
You can't blame other people, your genetics, your enabling family members and all the things that I was blaming and make progress and make transformation. You know, I was 23 years old and of course I've heard of the word responsibility as a 23 year old, but I didn't understand that word.
00:06:23
Speaker
And when I was reading Dr. Wayne Dyer and he would explain the word responsible, And he explained it in a way that made it click. And I'll share it with your audience because i hope they understand the word that I now understand. And that word responsibility, it's your ability to respond to life.
00:06:39
Speaker
And if your ability to respond to life is the victim mindset, it's a poor response, you're going to get... poor results. But when you take ownership and your ability to respond to life is improved, you're going to get improved results.
00:06:51
Speaker
So responsibility is your ability to respond to life. And then he would say things like, look, I know that there's challenges in life. I know that there's pressure there's There's stressors in life. But the example that Dr. Wayne Dyer gave is what
Victim Mindset vs. Self-Ownership
00:07:05
Speaker
happens when you squeeze an orange? What comes out?
00:07:07
Speaker
Well, it's obvious. Orange juice because that's what's inside. Well, same thing with us as human beings. What happens when life squeezes you and applies pressure? What comes out is what's inside, which are your thoughts.
00:07:19
Speaker
your attitude. And if you change your thoughts and change your feelings and change your attitude, then you're not a victim. You're not reacting to all these things that are happening in your life. You are pausing and you are responding. Like Viktor Frankl said in Man's Search for Meaning, between stimulus and response, there's a space and in that space lies your power.
00:07:38
Speaker
And it could be a really short space, but that is the response versus the react. So that's something I think about with everything that happens in my life. And that was the starting point for me that helped me achieve great change.
00:07:50
Speaker
Yeah. As a student of stoicism, we studied a lot and wrote wrote a book on it, that this whole idea of the only thing we truly ever own our body, we don't write a virus that come in bacteria. The only thing we ever own and we have it from birth is our mindset.
00:08:02
Speaker
And yet we just give it away and kind of run it back. And I've had that victim mindset. I was having the conversation yesterday, early in my career, I was at McKinsey, I was a consultant. And this person was saying, Hey, what did you think of it? and I said, look,
00:08:13
Speaker
I don't know if it matters what I thought about it at the time because I thought it was happening to me and I didn't take ownership. And there are a lot of people that i respect who are brilliant, who have made beautiful careers there and love it.
00:08:24
Speaker
And I think I had the wrong mindset when I was there and didn't make the most of it. And the the me of now would be a different person going through that experience. And whether it's work or our health or our interpersonal relationships, you know, I think one thing you bring up in the the book is, hey, I'm a person that's trying to quit smoking versus I'm not a smoker.
00:08:43
Speaker
yeah And that those two different ways of seeing yourself and telling other people have dramatically different results on the outcome of, do you end up quit smoking or not?
00:08:55
Speaker
it's It's exactly, Andrew. It's how you identify yourself, image of yourself plays a huge, huge role. And I go in chapter 10 of Metabolic Freedom.
Exploring Ketogenic Diet and Metabolic Flexibility
00:09:04
Speaker
I talk about this book from the 1960s, Psycho-Cybernetics from Dr. Maxwell Maltz. And he he was a world-renowned plastic surgeon.
00:09:13
Speaker
And he he called... this self-image, the greatest physiological discovery of his generation and even to this day of our generation. And here's how he discovered how this self-image works and how it relates to, let's say, weight loss or just getting healthy.
00:09:28
Speaker
He would work on patients that had these really wicked facial disformities through an accident, maybe a birth defect, but they were very unhappy. They were depressed and they were very self-conscious, low self-esteem.
00:09:42
Speaker
And they would hire Dr. Maltz to perform plastic surgery and because he was one of the best in the world. And he would remove their facial disformities. And he noticed with almost all of the patients, even post-surgery, they were still depressed.
00:09:55
Speaker
They were still self-conscious. They were still unhappy. Some of them would literally look in the mirror. and see the facial disfigurement even though it wasn't there because they never changed the self-image. Their self-image still identified as that person with the facial disfigurement.
00:10:09
Speaker
It wasn't until he changed their self-image, which is in their subconscious mind, that they were able to improve their lives. It's the same thing with us. If we identify with our diagnosis, if we identify with...
00:10:20
Speaker
being an overweight person, we can make a conscious decision to change and we'll make some progress. And then we'll find a way to sabotage ourselves to match that self image because we never changed it. So we need to change what's happening at a subconscious level for us to get lasting results.
00:10:37
Speaker
It's very vanilla sky. i don't know if you remember that movie. do remember that movie. I saw it a very long time ago. Yes. Yes. It makes a lot of sense. I would um like to jump over to the keto side, right? Keto camp and nutrition and the idea between fasting and keto and these as tools and how you yourself use them.
00:11:00
Speaker
I mean, is it, hey, I'm always keto or I cycle through and kind of here's what my day to day nutrition profile looks like. Personally, I um don't do continuous ketosis. I'm not a fan of, for most people to be in continuous ketosis. There's also there's always exceptions like epileptic patients. and Which is where I had got discovered, right? like That's how I got created in the first place, yeah.
00:11:22
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah. The 1920s, exactly for for children with epilepsy, right? And then they created new medication and would they forgot about the keto diet. um So I don't advocate or teach continuous ketosis. I teach flexing, as you mentioned. So going in and out.
00:11:36
Speaker
So for me personally, 90% of the time, maybe 80% of the time, I'm in a fat burning ketosis, ketogenic state. And then I intentionally get myself out of ketosis to burn sugar, to maintain ah metabolic flexibility, ah to have that balance, right? but For 93% of Americans, and I use that number because that's what the studies show, that a 2022 study that I referenced in the book showed 93% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy.
00:12:02
Speaker
They're essentially in a keto deficiency. They're stuck burning sugar. And there's really nothing wrong with using sugar slash carbohydrates as a fuel source unless you're always using sugar and glucose and and carbohydrates as a fuel source. it all It's a fast path towards these metabolic diseases. So...
00:12:19
Speaker
they really need to enter this fat burning process of ketosis. And the cool thing about keto and what makes keto different than other diets out there, like a paleo diet or vegan diet or whatever diet is out there, keto technically is not even a diet. It's it's a metabolic process.
00:12:37
Speaker
There's nothing new about keto. It's just maybe new to some people or nuanced. But this metabolic process of ketosis has been around even before they discovered it in the 1920s. It's been around for as long as humans have existed, right? Our ancestors all utilized ketosis.
00:12:54
Speaker
How do I know that? Well, they didn't have... carbohydrates and food available all the time. Andrew, you know this. So they had to enter ketosis. It was a different fuel source for them. Now we've forgotten how to burn fat. So I view it as a tool.
00:13:07
Speaker
And for 93% of Americans, it's the first tool in the shed that I use for them. And there are a couple ways or maybe more to get into it, right? So I think people might be more familiar with the high fat, almost low carb, no carb and low protein approach.
00:13:22
Speaker
But fasting is another pathway to get there, right? And so when you're doing it, do you play with both now? And and what does that look like? Yeah, to your point, exactly. There's numerous ways to enter ketosis.
00:13:33
Speaker
the The overall goal is to lower insulin. And how you get there could be through, as you mentioned, Andrew, fasting, ah carbohydrate manipulation by restricting carbs. ah Even exercising and strength training is another way to lower insulin, getting quality sleep. So there's different avenues to get there.
00:13:49
Speaker
for For the most part, the way that I have it outlined in the 30-day plan of metabolic freedom is to gradually lower the carbohydrates so we can lower glucose and insulin as we increase healthy fat. So it is more of a higher fat, lower carb approach for the first couple of weeks. After that, we actually manipulate the fats to lower it and bring the protein up.
00:14:09
Speaker
Carbs stay low. So there's different ways to do it. That's the general way that I teach it to people, but there's many ways to do it. As you mentioned, you do a 24 hour fast, you're probably going to enter
Protein, Strength Training, and Fitness Insights
00:14:18
Speaker
ketosis. So ah different avenues, but as long as you lower insulin, you'll unlock ketosis. And you're kind of 90% staying in ketosis. Is it based on your macro consumption that is what keeps you in ketosis or how how do you do it?
00:14:33
Speaker
Yeah, because personally what I'm doing now, and I've been doing this for about a year, it works really well for me and I'm feeling really good doing it. Monday through Friday, I do a carnivore diet where I eat just meat. I eat red meat, anything that comes from an animal. No carbs essentially, just just meat, a carnivore diet.
00:14:49
Speaker
Sunday, I don't do carnivore. I don't fast and I don't do keto. actually do a very high healthy carb day where I'll bring my carbs up to three to 400 grams of carbs on a Sunday, healthy carbs, and I don't fast.
00:15:02
Speaker
And that's kind of what I'm doing as a way to maintain metabolic flexibility. And for me, this this approach is working for now until I change it up. When you say healthy carbs, I mean, can you give some examples just so listeners can understand what that means? Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:16
Speaker
Single ingredient carbs. So fruit is a single ingredient. So blueberries, that's it. Strawberries, anything that comes from a fruit, single ingredient carbohydrates, rice, ah potatoes.
00:15:28
Speaker
I do really actually do really well with white rice, not so much brown rice. So I'll have white rice. I'll have fruit. I'll have yucca. I'll have potatoes, either white or sweet potato. So whole food, single ingredient carbohydrates is what I consume.
00:15:39
Speaker
that so that You do really well with right white rice. i think this, for listeners, is part of the importance of at some point trying a CGM, the continuous glucose monitor, because it is so personalized.
00:15:51
Speaker
you know Some people react to legumes and others people don't. Some people will react to white rice, and not brown rice. and It's all different. and It's not consistent, right? A woman over the course of her cycle, or depending on how much sleep you got, or all these other factors come into play. If you exercise before, what your order of eating is, like so many things come in.
00:16:09
Speaker
So it's a fun thing to play with for anyone interested in that. I agree. Yeah, it's it's a good idea. You know, you don't have to get a CGM because you're diabetic. Definitely if you're diabetic, get a CGM. But if you're not, like use it as a tool, like you just said, Andrew, and I've used it for many, many months.
00:16:24
Speaker
I have found that like legumes and nightshades spike my blood sugars, right? It doesn't work for me. Even something like coconut whipped cream, organic coconut whipped cream, would jack up my blood sugars to like 165. I would have never thought that.
00:16:39
Speaker
But if I was not wearing the continuous glucose monitor, I wouldn't have seen that. And I would think it would be okay for me, but we're so different. You mentioned there's so many variables, women versus men, sleep, et cetera. So CGM is a fantastic tool.
00:16:52
Speaker
Yeah. and And then you talk to another path to it is intense workout, strength training, cardio training, what is your kind of fitness and movement routine? Because when you're losing that much weight, I think people need to be conscious also of not necessarily losing too much lean mass in the process.
00:17:10
Speaker
And so it's not just how you're fueling, it's what you're doing with that body once you fuel it. So how do you think about that? Yeah, yeah, there's, to your point, there's a difference between losing weight and losing fat. We wanna lose body fat, not necessarily weight, because a part of that could be muscle and we don't wanna lose muscle.
00:17:26
Speaker
ah We know muscle is, incredibly important for insulin sensitivity, you know, to prevent fractures and keep your bones strong as you age. And also ah it's called the longevity organ because it really is going to extend your lifespan and you're going to have a better quality of life with with more muscle mass.
00:17:43
Speaker
So the way that I preserve muscle mass and build lean muscle mass personally, and also for the people that I, the students that I work with is to prioritize protein. You know, when I mentioned the first week is high fat, low carb, but protein is kind of moderate. We're not really focusing on protein, but once I get the person in ketosis, then it's going to be a higher protein ketogenic approach where they're going to consume gram of protein per pound of their ideal body weight on most days.
00:18:11
Speaker
So if they're... If they weigh 155 pounds, but their goal weight 130 pounds, I would ask them to aim to get at least 130 grams of protein, ideally from animal-based protein. Now, some people have a difficult time getting that much protein, especially when you practice fasting. So what I suggest to them is to fill in the gaps with essential amino acids, a big fan of essential amino acids, and also creatine supplementation is huge. And then, of course, strain training.
00:18:39
Speaker
is huge. Something that I'm personally working on is putting on 10, 15 pounds of of muscle in the next year or so. So strength training, creating a stimulus, getting enough protein, and then combining that with sleep and recovery is is how you do it.
00:18:53
Speaker
Yeah. And when you say animal-based proteins, is that including whey and protein shakes to try to top it up, or you're trying to get them to hate go eat whole animals as much as possible? Because some people can have a hard time just eating that much. Do depending Yeah. I mean, ideally you want it to come from the flesh, like the steak, the burger, the chicken, the eggs.
00:19:13
Speaker
um I'm okay with having some supplements and protein shakes as a supplement that it should supplement the diet. weight Whey protein is interesting, Andrew, and want to hear your thoughts on it because I used to think many years ago when I used to own my CrossFit gym here in Miami that like whey protein was the best. It's like everybody needs to be on whey protein, trying to lose weight, consume whey protein. and then I started studying insulin and whey protein is is highly insulinogenic. It spikes insulin very rapidly.
00:19:40
Speaker
And for somebody who's already insulin resistant, that might not be a good thing unless, unless you're timing it after ah workout, right? So I did a workout this morning. I did a 40 minute strength training workout, about 25, 30 minutes of basketball in my driveway. And then a 20 minute sauna session,
00:19:58
Speaker
And I was pretty depleted and I knew I had interviews like this one here today. So I had two scoops of whey protein and then um I had half a rotisserie chicken. So I intentionally spiked my insulin with the whey protein because I did a strenuous workout.
00:20:12
Speaker
So I'm okay with whey if you're doing it like that. But in general, protein shakes, I'm a big fan of beef protein isolate and collagen protein that has less of an insulin effect.
00:20:23
Speaker
I'm similar. i'll I'll do the collagen. I have like my morning potion mix. It's like mushroom tea, amla powder, collagen that I just do as one big shot.
00:20:34
Speaker
Yeah. with spiritly he deliciousious Yeah, exactly. To get a baseline. And that doesn't, i haven't seen an effect on insulin spike, my glucose, anything there.
Prioritizing Sleep and Social Life
00:20:43
Speaker
But then when i do protein otherwise, it's always right after a workout.
00:20:47
Speaker
And so typically, because I'll go pretty hard, I mean, I'll crash. Like you'll spike during the workout, but then by the time I come home, I mean, I'm i'm really crashing. And so it it levels me out and doesn't spike it on the back end.
00:21:01
Speaker
i do mix vegan and whey. i had gone you know i had Dr. Greger on the show and the How Not to Die a whole approach, and I had gone very whole food plant-based.
00:21:12
Speaker
And just was having a hard time getting all protein I needed without stomach issues. And so now I mix some more animal-based proteins with it, ah do eggs, things like that. Yeah. Everybody has the unique approach, right? got find what works for you.
00:21:26
Speaker
And it changes over time, right? Like I i was very much on the Tim Ferriss slow carb, very close to ketosis, you know, the seven days and the seventh day cheat day mix, which wasn't always healthy carbs like you're doing. But I've tried a few different things there. I remember that. I remember that book, Four Hour Body. I read that back in the day. It was a great book. Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:46
Speaker
Something that's come up a few times already is sleep. And you had a story in the book that and I just think is phenomenal where this person is trying to lose weight and he's getting up so early every morning to go to the gym and he's seeing no progress, no progress, no progress.
00:22:05
Speaker
And what you realized that he needed more sleep, right? He was not recovering his body in the right way. And so he couldn't get in line. and what you did was like, Hey, you're not allowed to go to the gym for right now. going to more sleep and finish the story. you Kind of talk about what you saw, what you did in the results.
00:22:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So he was about 70, 80 pounds overweight. He had a prediabetes on his way to full-blown diabetes. He was using a sleep apnea machine every night and he wanted to lose weight. He wanted to get healthy. So he he signed up for a gym membership and he, which is great. You know, um' I'm all for gym memberships. I'm all for working out.
00:22:42
Speaker
However, he was sacrificing a couple hours of of quality sleep to wake up in the morning, go to the gym, work out, and then go to work all day and have a stressful day. And then he wasn't recovering from that. It wasn't in enough time. So what I told him is actually right now you need to sleep and recover and you actually burn fat during deep stages of sleep and REM sleep.
00:23:01
Speaker
Let's stop going to the gym instead of shaving off those two hours to wake up early and go to the gym, stay in bed. Let's fix the sleep, get quality sleep, get some momentum, and then we'll bring in some of the exercise later on. And Before we even broaden the exercise and just making that change, you started to lose weight, five pounds, 10 pounds, 15 pounds. And it goes to show you that you know exercise is important, but it's not the best strategy for for fat loss. You start with the foundations and sleep is one of those foundations.
00:23:27
Speaker
Yeah, sleep, how you fuel. And then it's the it's kind of building the muscle. Oh, that was one thing I did want to come back to on if you're trying to add the muscle. I don't know if you follow Andy Galpin at all, but he had this super simple protocol of, I think the average participant put on more than eight pounds of muscle over this kind of period. And it's just two workouts in A and a B, and you do them each twice a week.
00:23:49
Speaker
and And I did it and kind of put on six or seven pounds of muscle in a relatively short time. Wow. And it's just super basic and easy and you're going to track your weight. So how long were the workouts?
00:24:00
Speaker
They, I added a little stuff to it, but it's less than 60 minutes. So you do that twice a week? Yeah, I'll do an A, B, then maybe a swim day in between and then another A, B. So pretty much two hours of working out each week.
00:24:14
Speaker
four. Okay. Okay. Cause A and B. Okay. Well, it's not much though. It's not much. So, and you, how long did it take for you to put on the yeah eight pounds or so of muscle? It was just a couple of months. Cause I used to swim a lot. Like I would do a lot of cardio. I was an open water swimmer and all this. And so just cutting back how much ah cardio I was doing helped me be able to put on more muscle. It was really hard for me That's one of my challenges right now, Andrew, is the cardio. like that I love basketball.
00:24:42
Speaker
I play too much because like you mentioned, I'm getting a lot of cardio. I enjoy it. I'll put it ah at the end of my workouts. I'll play on Sundays with my friends here in Miami. And I think I'm doing too much in terms of like the gains I want for my muscle mass. And it's it's been a difficult balance for me to get enough strength and gains and also enjoy playing basketball and cardio.
00:25:03
Speaker
This brings up the next point I wouldn't bring up. And I'm so happy you phrased it, right? Because you're playing basketball with your friends. And... I think of these trade-offs we have of you could look at the principles of, hey, I want to take the box on. Here's exactly how I eat. Here's exactly when I go to bed and wake up Here's exactly the strength training protocol I have and be super efficient.
00:25:25
Speaker
But what we always say, the fifth pillar of health span, which is this quality, healthy life, is social connection and purpose. And if you do not to knock him, like he's putting a lot great stuff out there, like the b Brian Johnson approach of every single thing is going to be so perfect, but I have no other humans that I can engage with because I have such a strict schedule.
00:25:50
Speaker
i really have long-term concerns because as humans, you you' talked about what we were like, Before we had carbs, I mean, what we were like when we were out in the wild, we had to work together. We were going to survive on our own.
00:26:01
Speaker
We are social creatures. And I'm not sure that that trade-off you're making is not the right trade-off of yeah maybe I can give up a couple of pounds of muscle to go get this beautiful benefit of this social connection. So how do you think about that? I mean, we could talk some about vitamin G and and purpose and everything you covered as well.
Understanding Health Metrics and Lifespan Impacts
00:26:19
Speaker
Now, I agree with you. And then, you know I commend Brian Johnson for his discipline and his dedication. It's really, really impressive and and and inspiring in a sense. But yeah, like it's like the social component. It really isolates you from community. And you know when we think about blue zones, there's a lot of flaws with like these blue zone studies, but what they have in common for sure is that they all have community.
00:26:40
Speaker
And you just mentioned we are social creatures and that's gonna extend lifespan. And I love basketball. It's my favorite sport to watch, my favorite sport to play. It's just like... a hobby for me. It doesn't feel like exercise. And I have a hoop in my driveway. It was one of the determining factors of this house. Like, can i have enough room for a hoop? Like the next house I moved to, it's going to have to have enough room for a hoop. That's how important it is for me. And every Sunday, me and my you know buddies, we go to the park in Miami beach and we play for a couple of hours and that camaraderie.
00:27:09
Speaker
ah So yeah, it feels like the trade-off is worth it. you know, if that's slowing down my gains a little bit, but it's bringing so much quality of life to me, ah I'll take it, bro. I'm not changing it. Yeah, I tend to think that is the right answer ah personally. And it I didn't always. right I would was a very isolated person. Like, wait, I only have this time. I need to get the perfect workout in and I'm not going to go train with my friends because they'll distract me. And I just realized...
00:27:36
Speaker
One, it's not really a trade-off. I mean, what what are you buying these extra hours for, if not for this quality life in the first time? I don't want to invest 18 hours to buy two, right? Think about how you do that.
00:27:48
Speaker
Right. One thing, this is more a personal question, because you bring up A1C. You talked about pre-diabetic and diabetic. And I have had relatively high A1C, even though you know i eat whole food, plant-based, everything. I brought it down over time.
00:28:03
Speaker
But speaking to my functional health doctor, he was saying but how it's measured is... the the sugar on the the red blood cell.
00:28:15
Speaker
And the healthier you are, the longer that red blood cell is around. So it's typically kind of 90 days, like over 90 days, how much sugar has accrued to this red blood cell. But if you're 10 or 15% more than that, because you're healthy, you have 99 days, you have 100 plus days, it can show is higher because you've had more time to accrue, but it's not an accurate measure on the baseline. How do you, what do you see there?
00:28:40
Speaker
I've seen that too. I've seen that too. I've seen healthy individuals have higher A1Cs. Now that's not to say, you know, if your A1C is over 5.7, like that's an issue, right? That's, that's prediabetes. And then of course, 6.5% or higher is, is full on diabetes. But let's say it's like, you mentioned yours was a little bit higher than usual. can do you mind sharing the number or, or,
00:29:00
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I think it it was at like a 5.6 and then it's since come down maybe 5.3, 5.4. So you were like borderline pre-diabetes, but there there are other moving parts there. So when I see somebody and I've seen this before, it's not common by the way, but I've seen it before where somebody is doing keto fast and carnivore, they're doing insulin friendly routine.
00:29:19
Speaker
yet their A1C is still a little high, i would look at fasting insulin as a more important metric than the A1C. In general, a fasting insulin is a more important metric than an A1C because that's actually showing you what's happening at the pancreas level of actually the beta cells of the pancreas producing that insulin. And if your A1C 5.6, but your fasting insulin between 3 and 6, then is three between three and six that's not really a concern for me because you're, you're insulin sensitive. And to your point, depending on also where you live, people at are at elevation like Colorado, utah also have different links of red blood cells and you don't get accurate A1C measurements as well.
00:30:01
Speaker
So that's a fact. I don't know if that's a factor for you. Yeah. More, uh, C-level, C-level, yeah. Yeah, yeah, so me too. um So it's not really your factor, but yeah, there's different variables there. That's why we don't put too much emphasis in one marker.
00:30:16
Speaker
And something else you can do is look at postprandial glucose as well, right? You test your blood sugars before you eat a meal, you test it two hours after, and if you have a healthy response to that meal,
00:30:27
Speaker
your two-hour blood sugar marker should be back to baseline or close to baseline. And as long as you're seeing that, even with a high a higher A1C, as long as you have a fasting insulin as' sensitive and your postprandial glucose looks good, I wouldn't put too much value in that one reading of the A1C.
00:30:45
Speaker
okay I appreciate that Yeah, yeah, for sure. But the A1C is a good marker. There's a study that I referenced in in the book on diabetics because it showed um an A1C of 7.5%, which is full-blown diabetes. But it showed in the study that they estimate if your A1C is at 7.5% or higher, every single year it's at that level, they estimate 100 days come off your lifespan, which means if it's at that level for 50%, 15 years, you lose four years off your lifespan. That's how destructive high levels of blood sugar are because there there's so many reasons why high glucose levels shorten your lifespan. But one of the main reasons is that it depletes nitric oxide.
00:31:27
Speaker
When glucose goes up and it stays up, nitric oxide... plummets. And nitric oxide is a very important gaseous molecule. One of the main roles of nitric oxide is to create vasodilation. It opens up your blood vessels. It allows oxygen and nutrients and blood flow to deliver to tissues and heal tissues.
00:31:45
Speaker
When you deplete it, it creates vasoconstriction. Now your heart has to pump harder, which is what high blood pressure is. And it dramatically increases your risk of heart disease, which is the number one killer in the US and in most countries as well.
00:31:58
Speaker
Well, and I think maybe even more important, though it's harder to measure, is the impact on your health span over that time. but You could lose more years of health span and you're suffering that while you're here.
Conclusion and Resources
00:32:10
Speaker
And I think that's probably the more critical thing. It's while we're here, we want to be healthy and enjoying life. That's fair. Let me, let me add to that because it's hard to measure that in a study, but you're absolutely correct. Cause the person who has 7.5% A1C or higher, they're, they're taking their medication every day. They're pricking their finger.
00:32:30
Speaker
They have vision loss. They have neuropathy. They have a erectile dysfunction. Their quality, quality of life is depleting dramatically, even probably more than the lifespan is their health span is depleting ah dramatically. So I agree with you.
00:32:45
Speaker
I mean, the chronic inflammation, I mean, these are the people that think it's normal, but when they get out of bed, it's it's painful in the morning, right? Like when they step, when they move, like, oh, this is just what it is because it happened maybe relatively slowly over time.
00:32:56
Speaker
yeah But it's not fate. you You don't have to feel that way. You can hop out of bed and I'm ready to go. That's right. The way that we were designed, bro. That's it. Yeah. Well, Ben, this has been amazing. i have a lot of vitamin G for all your work and the the most recent book, Metabolic Freedom.
00:33:13
Speaker
Everybody should give it a read or listen if you're like me with it. Ben narrates it and he's great. We'll certainly put it in the show notes, but so people can hear it. Where can people find you, follow you, learn more about Keto Camp, everything you do.
00:33:27
Speaker
Thank you, Andrew. I'm grateful for you, my friend, and your in your amazing work and the great conversation we had here. The book is available everywhere, bookstores, Barnes & Noble, Books & Books, Amazon, most people go there. um Support your local bookstores if you have that. It's going to be there. But ah we have a free course we're giving away to anybody who buys the book at metabolicfreedombook.com. You get a free course on the metabolism.
00:33:49
Speaker
And we also have ah four exclusive interviews in that course with some metabolic health leaders, Dr. Jason Fung, Megan Ramos, Cynthia Thurlow, and Dr. Daniel Pompa. So if you want access to the course, the interviews for free, go to metabolicfreedombook.com. You'll see different retailers to buy the book. You simply just buy the book and then put your name, email, order number, and you'll be instantly sent the course with the interviews. And then my main website is benazotti.com. You can find um my programs, my social media, everything on my my website.
00:34:19
Speaker
Amazing. Yeah. And everybody should go check it Ben's done amazing work for many, many years now and continues to do. And I can't wait to read the next book that comes out and continue to learn from you. So thank you so much, Ben.
00:34:31
Speaker
Thank you, Andrew. Keep up the good work, brother. Thank you for joining us on today's episode of the Home of Healthspan podcast. And remember, you can always find the products, practices, and routines mentioned by today's guests, as well as many other Healthspan role models on Alively.com.
00:34:46
Speaker
Enjoy a lively day.