I was honoured to be interviewed by Tracee Gluhaich for her High Energy Girl podcast.

Tracee is an Integrative Health Coach and Personal Trainer via her webpage www.highenergygirl.com

You can listen to the full podcast by clicking on the image below, and check some of the important talking topics below the image.

FROM CHUBBY TO ANOREXIC TO MUSCULAR

I was quite overweight when I was a kid
After some failed attempts in dieting, I did some research, read books and magazines and studied to do things on my own
My journey eventually led me to the ketogenic diet
I have been on the diet for almost 20 years now
When I in college I was going through a mild depression
I was eating between 200-400 calories a day, and ended up being anorexic
I ended up weighing 48 kilos and right now, I am 78 kilos
Keto helped me a lot. And I gained all my muscle while doing the ketogenic diet. I also managed to stay at a low body fat percentage
If you do keto properly, it is a very nutrient dense diet
I do not follow the classic body building of bulking and cutting, I preferred to do “gaintaining” where you are gaining mostly lean mass so you can stay at a low body fat percentage all day long and still gain
One can get over weight by overeating. But to get to the levels of obesity, and even with the health issues that we are facing today, it has to do with unhealthy habits
I see overeating as coping with stress in an unhealthy manner
We tend to medicate ourselves with food and food has become entertainment
People eat mostly without restraint and in most cases, to numb emotions or to just get through the day
Food has always been a central part of humanity, but we lost this connection to it where we would just eat mindlessly all day long
People think that being healthy requires an incredible amount of will power and strength, but they do not have the time, so they are content in being mediocre.
The approach of Ketogains is a little different because we don’t follow the traditional ketogenic ratios
Our diet is in between keto and paleo more so like a primal diet and we focus on nutrient dense food
Calories matter, but not all calories are the same
Even if you have a higher or lower caloric diet, and you are eating foods that are nutrient dense, then you are likely not going to be hungry. And you are not going to be missing any nutrients so your body will respond very well.

I mostly eat eggs, chicken beef, smoked salmon and some avocados here and there
I also do intermittent fasting.
People think that in Ketogains, we are anti fasting, and that’s not the issue. We are against non-intelligent fasting
People are always trying to get the higher numbers or high levels of ketones without understanding what it translates to and what it means
A Ketogenic diet promotes autophagy and even eating whole foods or foods that have a lot of antioxidants or even strength training will promote autophagy
Exercise is not to burn fat; we have to let go of that idea. I know that this has been pushed for ages, but we really cannot outrun our diet
Fat loss comes from the diet
The training we do is to build your lean mass, and even though you are not a body builder, having lean mass is highly correlated with having better health because your body stores amino acids which are not just for muscles
Every single cell in your body is made out of protein
Amino acids are needed for hormones, enzymes and many other functions
I will always like to tell my clients that our muscles are our health pension when we age
When you build muscles at a younger age, the better health you’ll have when you are old

ADVICE

Don’t fear eating protein especially that we have been told that meat is dangerous and can cause health issues, but that’s basically bullshit
If you don’t feed your body with adequate protein, as we age, your body will try to get aminos form somewhere and it will get your aminos from your muscle
The reason people get smaller as they age and become less muscular and weaker is not something natural, because it can be stopped
Most of our clients are usually 45 years old to 55 years old, so it’s never too late
There is always something that you can do and there is always room for improvement

HEALTH BENEFITS

It is something that I do not perceive that much because it has become the normal for me, but I rarely get sick
I am going to be 42 years old in a couple of months, but people do not believe that that’s my age because I don’t look 42 years old
Not getting sick and having a very good deal of energy throughout the day is also one of the biggest benefits that I have
I work normally 10-16 hours a day and I study, but I can really focus properly

Be sure to visit Tracee at her webpage www.highenergygirl.com