Day 40 of 40 Day Sugar Only Experiment
Notice that I made two slight changes to my daily title today. This will be the theme of this post, as well as the culmination of this rewarding series!
First inform us, this was an experiment, rather than a diet. Calling it a diet the last 39 days was a misnomer! I am very clear on this now! 
I have learned that experimentation of how different approaches to food consumption and their resulting impacts on my health are a great way to educate myself on how to achieve optimum health.
Why? Because all of the learnings, the take aways if you will, are first hand experiences. They are real because I lived them. They are not fiction or someone’s opinion or someone else’s results. They are mine. Proven to me!
Today is not Day 60, it is Day 40! The same exact number of days I experimented going without food, drinking only glasses of water from late October thru early December last year.
My nutritionist and overall health guide Christopher Kidawski and I have come to the conclusion that it is time to transition off this sugar only experiment twenty days early.
Not because we don’t think we can go another twenty days. That would be a layup!
Not because it did not produce amazing results. It did! I am in the best shape of my adult life (more on results below).
So, what gives?
Fruit consumption, and reducing the amount of fats I am eating are ideal for my body and are here to stay. However, the intense level of regular strength training I am doing calls for more protein than I have been consuming during this experiment. Now, there are some developing theories out there that this might not be true, we don’t want to chance it at this juncture of my health journey.
So, since we will be upping my protein significantly, we cannot continue to claim to be on a sugar only diet after today! We have made the decision to conclude this experiment today.
So, what did I learn from this 40-day experiment and what were some measurable results:
LEARNINGS
1) Before this experiment, I was unknowingly over-consuming healthy fats for my body type. This contributed to bringing back some stomach distention and weight gain that I fought so hard to eliminate from my 40-day water fast.
2) I am no longer fearful of consuming too much fruit. When this diet started I was still holding on to my fears stemming from a half dozen diverticulitis episodes that I believe resulted from eating up a ponder of seeds. If you have ever had a diverticulitis episode or know somebody that has, it is not a pleasant experience.
To combat the episodes, I zeroed in on the elimination of seeds so I had to go without the entire berry family of fruit for over a decade.
Chris suggested that the 40 day fast might have healed my intestinal tracks from the openings that those episodes had created and if they were now sealed my body should be able to process foods with seeds just like anyone else. So, we took the risk and I began eating blueberries, raspberries, and boysenberries again.
Chris was right - no more diverticulitis episodes! That threat is now officially behind me!
I mention this because berries played a significant role in this experiment. I now have resounding evidence that consuming the right fruits with regularity actually does more to keep me symptom free from any form of diabetes than my previous strategy.
Doctors and online health influencers had drilled into me that I should avoid fruits in order to ward off spikes to my blood sugar.  I now have evidence that while this may be an effective short term strategy to ward off temporary spikes, it is not a winning formula for healing me long-term from experiencing symptoms of diabetes. 
3) I was consuming red meats that were too large in size and too fatty. Sorry weight lifter community, but my body doesn’t respond well to daily 16 ounce ribeyes! This experiment has proven to me that leaner red meats and smaller portions are far better for my health and performance. Add to this, more wild caught fish and skinless chicken breast too! That’s my protein family going forward!
4) Post water fast I eliminated all processed foods from my diet except one - greek yogurt. I was convinced that its benefits outweighed the fact that it is processed. I have learned that this is not true. It causes me bloating and leads to overheating as I was turning to it way too often as a substitution meal. After eliminating it as a staple on my diet, the bloating subsided.
5) Blood sugar rises are not as important as their duration. Going for a walk or doing air squats during a spike are great ways to recover faster. The addition of a Continuos Glucose Monitor during this experiment prove this to me beyond any doubt. 
6) About 50% of what Internet Nutrition Influencers say is either outright wrong or not ideal for my body type or health goals. I do acknowledge that it may work great for them, but that doesn’t make it good for me. The learning here is that one size does not fit all. Get to know your own body through experimentation, rather than trusting somebody else’s marketing ads.
7) Strength training is a massive game changer, especially as we pass 50 years of age. Discipline that creates healthy routines is a winning formula for a healthy lifestyle. Being disciplined enough to hit the gym three days a week is a winning formula for optimizing my health. 
8 ) Environment matters to me. Miami has been the perfect one for me. Hawaii was not. Now, lets see if I can flourish regardless of where I reside. I move to Paris for a few months this October. That will be my next big test and maybe my next series. Maybe I’ll call it 60 Days of Healthy Living in Paris!
9) Having accountability partners who cherish health, and our knowledgeable about it through their own experimentation, is a very smart strategic move. I am fortunate and grateful to have three in Chris, my trainer Titus and my wife Lori (and many of you). 
10) Sharing information that I attain from my health experiments has increased my absorption of my own learnings. Simply put, this leads to better retention and long term adoption.
I can’t tell you how many enlightening conversations I have had about health during this experiment. Whether it be with random people that I’ve met along the way or sidebar conversations that I have had with many of you within this group, it has all been valuable. 
RESULTS
- This morning I woke up to a massive achievement. When I started this experiment, my number one goal was to eradicate any symptoms from diabetes. My 40 day water fast did a tremendous service bringing my resting blood sugar all the way down from the 130s to 100ish. However, the last six months before this experiment my resting blood sugar was averaging a 99. This put me on the cusp of prediabetic or healthy. Not good enough!
After these 40 days, I have successfully lowered that average score by 18 points down to 81 and today I woke up to a personal best of 79!
One could argue that I am no longer diabetic!  This is what I now believe! You won’t hear me call myself a diabetic ever again!
- 20 lbs of weight loss (started at 235 lbs) - graph below says 217 cause it upgrades every couple days and hasn’t registered today’s weigh-in yet!
- 7 lbs of added muscle & refuced body fat 4% (mostly due to added strength training)
- Was never in any of the ranges in the chart below from my CGM application but ended in range on all the measured categories. The progress was simply remarkable.
- I survived another 40 day experiment no worse for wear! I didn’t die! I wasn’t hospitalized! I didn’t blow a casket! I’m still here despite all the loving concerns for my health. Thank you for caring! I love you too! ❤️
So there you have it, I’m bringing this experiment to a conclusion. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and that you learned a great deal from it. I know I have!
I encourage you to not take my word for any of it, and instead attempt your own experiments to see what works for your body and health. Firsthand knowledge is the best kind of knowledge!  See what works for you and take that to the bank!
Thank you for reading my posts. I receive it as a form of encouragement and I am grateful for it. I look forward to creating the next series in the near future.
