The Path is Too Deep

Travel can be the ultimate disruption to a healthy lifestyle. At home, I am the master of my domain. My fridge is stocked with clean proteins . My pantry is devoid of inflammatory oils . My 22:2 fasting schedule runs like clockwork. But the moment I step into an airport, that control vanishes. I am suddenly at the mercy of delays, time zone changes, and a food environment designed to sell me sugar, starch, and seed oils at a 400% markup. For a long time, I used travel as an excuse. "I'm on vacation," I'd tell myself, or "I can't find anything keto here." That excuse usually led to a weekend of "dirty keto" convenience foods, inflammation, and a sluggish return to reality. I don't do that anymore. I’ve learned that you don't need a kitchen to stay clean; you just need a strategy. Here is my "Road Warrior" rulebook for surviving airports, hotels, and highways without breaking my protocol. Strategy 1: The Airport is a Fasting ...

If you remember anything from high school biology, it’s probably this one sentence, repeated like a mantra until it lost all meaning: "The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell." It’s a meme. It’s a cliché. But for a 53-year-old man trying to manage educational policy and compliance by day and complex RPG campaigns by night, it is the single most important reality of my life. We talk a lot about "energy" in vague terms—feeling "tired" or "wired." But energy isn't a feeling; it's a physical currency. As a Game Master (GM), I deal in resources. My players have "Hit Points", "Spell Slots", and an "Action Economy". When they run out, they stop functioning. My body works the exact same way. And my clean keto lifestyle is not just about weight loss; it is a dedicated engineering project to upgrade my internal power plant so I don't run out of "Spell Slots" at 2:00 PM on a Tuesday. Here is the ner...

If we ever go out for dinner, you might see me do something that horrifies the average person. We’ll finish a great meal, the server will come around for drink orders, and at 8:00 PM, I will order a large, black coffee. And then I will go home and sleep like a baby. For years, I thought this was just a quirk. I called it my "caffeine immunity." I figured my tolerance was so high from my three-mug-a-day habit that the caffeine just bounced off me. But as I’ve dug deeper into the science of my (ADHD) brain and my metabolic health, I’ve learned that this isn't just a quirk. It’s a fascinating biological phenomenon involving genetics, neurochemistry, and a dangerous illusion that might be costing me more than I think. Here is the science of why I can drink a midnight espresso, and why I (probably) shouldn't. 1. The ADHD Paradox: When Stimulants = Calm To a neurotypical brain, caffeine is a stimulant. It ramps up the nervous system, increases heart rate, and creates that ...

In the world of clean keto, we obsess over macros. We track grams of fat, we count grams of protein, and we ruthlessly eliminate grams of carbs. We treat our bodies like complex equations, believing that if we just get the inputs right, the output (health/weight loss) will be perfect. But for a long time, I was ignoring a variable that was just as important as the steak on my plate. I used to treat sleep like a nuisance—a "time tax" I had to pay between days of working, gaming, and stressing. I thought I could "hack" it with caffeine and willpower. I was wrong. I’ve learned that sleep is not a passive state of "doing nothing." It is an active, metabolically critical period where your body does its most important work. You can eat the cleanest, grass-fed, organic diet in the world, but if you are sleep-deprived, your body will function like it’s running on sugar and stress. Sleep is the "Missing Macro." And here is the science of why it’s a non-ne...

We all know the image: Steve Jobs, the visionary behind Apple, standing on stage in his signature uniform—a black mock turtleneck, blue jeans, and New Balance sneakers. He didn't wear that outfit because he lacked fashion sense. He wore it because he was a genius at resource management. Jobs famously realized that the human brain has a finite amount of decision-making energy every day. By wearing the exact same thing every morning, he eliminated one trivial choice from his life. He automated his wardrobe so he could save his "Decision Fuel" for the things that actually mattered, like reinventing the smartphone. This concept is called removing Decision Fatigue . And while I’m not inventing the next iPhone, I have applied this exact "black turtleneck" philosophy to my diet. As someone managing mental health, personal stress, and a demanding job in compliance, my brain's "RAM" is precious real estate. Adopting a One Meal a Day (OMAD) lifestyle didn...

In my Hallowe'en post , I gave you the tactical guide to surviving restaurants. I’ve spoken about how to spot the "seed oil trap" and how to interrogate a waiter about corn starch. But I’ve realized that navigating a menu is actually the easy part. The menu doesn’t have feelings. The menu doesn’t get offended if you don't order the lasagna. The menu doesn't say, "But I made this specifically for you!" The real "Boss Fight" of this lifestyle isn't the food; it’s the people . Navigating social pressure is a hard skill to master. When you change the way you eat—especially when it involves something as radical as One Meal a Day (OMAD) or skipping the beer at a BBQ—you hold up a mirror to everyone around you. And sometimes, they don't like what they see. Here is my guide to handling the "Food Police," the well-meaning pushers, and the skeptics without losing your cool (or your friends). The Cast of Characters (Know Your Enemy) In ...

Today, I wanted to share a serious warning. It’s a "gotcha" moment I experienced recently that stopped me in my tracks, and it might just change the way you look at that bottle of "natural" vitamins on your counter. In my quest to optimize my health, lose weight, and support my cardiac recovery, I did what many of us do: I hit the supplement aisle. I looked for things that promised to boost metabolism, fight inflammation, and support heart health. I assumed—like most people—that if something is sold over the counter and labeled "natural" or "herbal," it must be safe. I was wrong. I discovered that two of the supplements I was taking (or considering) were creating a dangerous, invisible chemical war with the prescription medications keeping me alive. The "Natural" Trap: My Two Near-Misses I take a specific cocktail of medications to manage my heart health, including Atorvastatin (Lipitor) for cholesterol and Clopidogrel (Plavix) plus A...