Burpees, Blueprint & A Steak: Week 6
Test results came in. Suboptimal is an understatement.
The results are in
I have to admit, I was not expecting the results I received. My blood tests came back the same day as my TruDiagnostic test.
Historically, my blood work has always been pretty normal. Once a few years ago, my cholesterol was a little high, but a few little tweaks and it was right back down.
So, these results were pretty eye opening. Certainly not where I wanted to be. As I failed to my blood work prior to my dietary changes, I now can’t tell if this is an improvement, or a further decline.
If it is an improvement, then my cholesterol must have been pretty bad before. So, if you happen to be considering making some dietary changes, I’d recommend you get a baseline before you start.
I certainly wish I had.
LDL here is a problem. The rest of the panel looked really good. Right in the middle of normal ranges across the board. Just the LDL is high, which is not great.
Moreover, the TruDiagnostic test was an eye-opener as well. Again, not great.
Red bad, green good.
And, that’s a lot of red. I’m super grateful I did this though. It’s nice to have a working baseline that is contemporaneous with my dietary changes.
Next steps
This was definitely a wake-up call. I decided immediately to take this more seriously.
I briefly toyed with the idea of strictly following the Blueprint protocol, but a couple of things are still tripping me up.
First, the supplement load is pretty substantial. Not just in terms of raw consumption, but also logistically. The recommended supplement protocol requires consuming over 80 pills a day.
On the website, they are apparently about to offer their own branded supplements, which cuts the load and logistics down significantly. With the branded version, “only” 31 pills per day are required.
I’m still a little dubious of the supplement load. I have to reflect on it a bit more before I make a decision. Nevertheless, for the near future, I think I’ll stick to dietary modifications and await the release of the branded version.
The other thing tripping me up is the Nutty Pudding. I find it intolerable to consume and a real pain in the ass to make.
My workaround is to incorporate most of the ingredients into my version of the Veggie Bowl. Mine has a more soup-like consistency.
I found a nice, organic ceylon cinnamon, turmeric & ginger powder that I add to the soup. Alongside, I add pecans, walnuts and/or pistachios and some berries. I also added some spinach.
Thus, the soup contains:
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Shittake mushroom
- Spinach
- Nuts
- Berries
- Spice powder
- EVO
This I eat daily now. I was very lax before. I am committed to making this a daily regiment.
I cut down a little on meat consumption as well. As I mentioned last week, on some days I was effectively eating carnivore style.
That was more out of laziness than anything else. Now, with these results in hand, I’m committed to being much more thoughtful about protein and fat composition and portion size.
I continue taking a daily methylated multi-vitamin, daily slow-release magnesium and daily vitamin D supplements.
Exercise
My resting heart rate and blood pressure were excellent at my last visit. I think this is owing to the very intense burpee routine I’ve been following.
I have slowly started incorporating stretching (finally!). I’m doing a very modest amount. It’s more to get the habit going than anything else. I was surprisingly resistant to starting and I’m pleased I finally got off zero on that count.
Obviously, I will continue my burpee routine. It has proven remarkably effective. Now that I’m taking this far more seriously, I’m also hopeful my weight loss will accelerate, which will help across the board.
It’s nothing but clean living from here for me. These results are intolerable and I simply won’t allow myself to continue to degrade at this rate.
I’m also seriously contemplating doing a medically supervised water fast. There is a facility in Northern California that offers this service, albeit for a pretty substantial fee.
I think a good 7–10 day fast would really help accelerate some of the metabolic healing I clearly need to do. I’ll post my decision in the coming weeks.
I think three months from now will be a good time to retest. I just heard from my doctor and she approves and thinks that is a good time frame.
Time to make my veggie soup. Until next week, be healthy!
