HELP Heroes: Jason Chandler’s Story
Jason Chandler was one of the Alpha members of HELPcare as we developed this site. In December 2021 he posted the following story on our community discussion of "What diet or lifestyle change has helped you the most?" With his permission, I've converted his response to that question - along with before and after photos he supplied - into a blog post we hope you'll find inspiring. Here's what he said:
I’m not sure which has contributed the most, my guess is that it is a combination of both the Keto diet along with intermittent fasting. Prior to 2 months ago I had not done either. For most of my life, I’ve been active and fit and never really paid much attention to what I ate, I didn’t seem to gain much weight no matter what.
Then about 10 years ago I slowly started putting on “love handles” and belly fat. I wasn’t super alarmed, it was just a pound or two a year, but it was starting to add up.
I remember last year coming across the term, “fit fat”. After reading the description I realized that was me. My arms and legs looked in shape with little to no fat on them, it was all around my belly. With the right shirt, I could hide most of it and unless you saw me with my shirt off you might not know the extent of my belly. 😊
The last few years I’ve noticed that it has been affecting me mentally. Ever since I was in the Army and went through Ranger training, most people around me seem to have these high expectations set for me. And sure, when I was there the expectations were extremely high. If you weren’t at the top of your game physically and mentally you probably wouldn’t make it.
But that was 30 years ago. And I still hear on a regular basis, “you’re a Ranger, you can do this”. I can guarantee that there is no residual physical ability from 30 years ago.
I hit an all-time low on this subject this past summer. I was to the point that I was continually sucking in my gut anytime I was around people (which is very tiring when you do it for hours). I also didn’t want pictures taken of me, especially candid ones where you might catch me not “sucking it in.”
This past summer, I snapped at my wife for taking a picture of me at a family event. This is a problem. She is just trying to capture family memories and I’m getting mad at her, because of my own insecurities. I don’t look like a Ranger anymore.
About 2 months ago Lee and Lisa invited us over to share with us what they were up to. We didn’t really have any expectations but knew vaguely about the HELPcare idea. Susan and I have wanted to eat healthily and had tried several concepts of healthy eating, but with lack of results never really stuck with any of them very long. It is kind of frustrating because of the amount of conflicting information out there.
So, after listening to Lee and Lisa’s testimony we decided to try this Keto thing with intermittent fasting. I have to say that I was surprised by the results. I went from 175 to 160 in the first 2 months. It may not sound like a lot but for me, it was a big deal. I haven’t been 160 in probably 25 years.
Now the weight coming off is great and tightening my belts a couple of notches tighter than I have in years feels good. But some of the other things that I’ve noticed are maybe more important.
In the last couple of years, I’ve noticed some inflammation in some of my joints, especially my knees and ankles. When I would wake up in the morning, I would have to go down a flight of steps from the bedroom. Every morning I felt much older than I should. I would gingerly make my way down with both hands on the railing in quite a bit of discomfort. Eventually, my body would warm up and I could move around well.
Since changing my diet, that has gone away! NO pain and running down the stairs in the morning feeling good. Another side benefit I’ve noticed is that I am sleeping better. I’m a side sleeper and for the last couple of years every time I would roll from one side to the other, I would temporarily wake up. In the last 5 weeks that hasn’t happened at all! I’m sleeping better than I have in years. It sounds like Susan is sleeping better as well in part because my snoring has stopped.
One thing for anybody new doing this, give it time. About a week into this Keto diet, I was struggling. I woke up feeling tired and didn’t think it was working. Push through. After a few days of that, my body got used to the new diet everything moved in a positive direction. For decades, the primary source of energy has been carbs for us. It will take your body a bit to adapt to using fat for energy. Don’t give up, it will be worth it!
Metabolic health coaching is available through HELPcare Coach, helping people to reclaim their health and even reverse disease through lifestyle changes. This is included at no extra charge with HELPcare Clinic membership!
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