We had the honor of interviewing one of the most inspirational transformation stories we have heard yet. Billy was suffering from undiagnosed Lyme Disease, resulting in a stroke, internal bleeding, and an unsure future. While looking for help, he stumbled upon the keto lifestyle, and his life has completely changed forever.
Read and share this story with those who could use some inspiration today!
How did you learn about the keto diet?
Loooooong story. So let me try and "readers digest" it here. First, in 2012, I had a memory wipeout out of nowhere driving home from work in Massachusetts. TIA, stroke. It left me with no speech, no left side. Ice pick hits in the head 80 times a day and internal bleeding. Fun times. I was told in the next 3 years everything from, "I was making it up." (internal bleeding, I was imagining the blood they were seeing) to "PTSD". Yes, my father's death suddenly reappeared after 45 years and bit me in the ass. To, being called a "drug seeker". Literally, 3 years of hell and no answers. One last stop. I was only going to try one last stop and that was the Cleveland Clinic in Florida. We went to our home town in Vero Beach and I ran into my friend, Dr. Melissa Dean who has The Dean Wellness Institute there. She kinda lit into me for not getting in touch with her first. I went that Tuesday and she is the one that introduced me to the ketogenic lifestyle. She told me she had been reading up on it and if it worked I needed to get my head around it, that it was for the rest of my life. I said, "Ok, when do I start?". She leaned forward and said, "What part of the rest of your life was unclear?".I started that night.
Within 4 days the bleeding stopped. I had spent 7 months in the hospital with internal bleeding in the year before going keto. In the 3 years since I have spent 4 days, and that was in the first month and I cheated. On a side note. All illnesses were caused by Lyme [Disease]. Doctors missed it for 3 years.
What diets have you tried in the past?
If we ask what diets haven't I tried, we'd probably be here less time. The only one I ever had any success on was Atkins, but I couldn't sustain it. I got the "HANGRYS". Like, I would bite your throat for a muffin. I don't get that here. That's the beauty of this lifestyle. Whatever I crave I've learned to make. I have fat bomb recipes that will almost make you want to pass out. Ice cream and cheesecake to die for.
Was the transition of using glucose, too fat for energy, difficult?
For me, not at all Now my wife and son experienced what's known as the "keto flu". Your body detoxifies all that crap out of it when you go clean and some people react differently and can get flu like symptoms, Also the one thing that I try and warn everyone about is that this IS NOT A HIGH PROTEIN DIET, as a matter of fact, THIS IS A HIGH FAT DIET!!!!! BEWARE!!!! Your overflow valve may get stuck open at first until your body assimilates know what mean?
Real Ketones Prime D+ will help greatly if you have flu like symptoms. So will the
Real Ketones Prime protein as it has the nutrients and fiber.
What is your favorite keto meal?
Ok, Real Ketones Prime protein! Man, I do all kinds of stuff with it too. I add peanut butter and ice and make a smoothie. I make these fat bombs that taste like nestle crunch bars and I make that peanut butter smoothie and add those crunch bars in to chop them in. AMAZING.
With the
Real Ketones Prime protein you can do the same things. You can get keto friendly instant pudding mixes and add them to the vanilla smoothie. Do you know what I would add to the vanilla? Cacao powder and peanut butter.
Now if you are talking about regular food I am a good ol' boy from the South. Give me fried chicken. We use crushed pork rinds for the breading. And fried okra. Same breading. with an egg wash. I use spicy rinds. BEST EVER.
Important to note, we don't use chicken breast. We use leg quarters and wings. Mostly the dark meat is higher in fat. Skin on.
What advice would you give a beginner to the keto diet?
If I'm going to get censored this is the spot where I'm going to get censored. Go to Universal Studios and get on a roller coaster with your sons, [and] when it won't close, they bring out the fat boy extender strap to make the belt bigger. [And] then, 2 guys try and clip the damn thing shut in front of your wife and children and everyone on the ride and waiting in line. All staring at you in disgust. Then you are asked to exit the ride. Totally humiliated, you walk away from your family. Straight to the food court. That happened to me. Now you take a person like that, with that kind of self esteem. Living paycheck to paycheck, and tell them they MUST go all organic, grass-fed, hormone free, milked-by-monks-in-Tibet BS, and they go to the store AND BANG!!!!!! You just hit a discouraged person with an I'm-never-going-to-be-able-to-afford-this. If we love our brothers we don't stress the stressed. When I found this I was almost dead, now I'm not. I DID NOT do the organic, all-purified, non-GMO, blessed-by-an-unorthodox-minister-from-Eastern-Uganda.
Here are the tips of what I actually do.
- Start your morning with a Bulletproof [drink] or meal replacement
- Take your first Prime D+ about an hour and a half after
- ONLY EAT WHEN HUNGRY!!!!!!!!
- Have fat bombs around
- Remember, it's high fat, not high protein
- As a rule, if the veggie is grown above ground, it's ok, with a couple of no-no's
That only eat when I am hungry. Remember if you are using
Prime D+ you are already putting yourself into a state of ketosis. All you want to do is not screw it up. There is no need to eat 4 or 5 times a day. Your body is literally running itself, on itself. It will tell you when it is time to feed it. Learn to know when the "feed me" hits, and when "that's enough" hits. 100% of everyone I talk to that has tried this says the same thing. "Man, I'm just not hungry." It's working. Eat when you feel hungry, [and] make the meal keto. If you get a pang during the day, drop a fat bomb or two. Or celery and blue cheese. I [also] make homemade Cheese-its out of jalapeno jack cheese.
What products do you recommend for maintaining the keto diet?
Tough question. Everyone is different. One thing I can tell you for sure, I personally believe that everyone should be on Real Ketones Prime D+ There is flatly, too much scientific evidence on the benefits of exogenous ketones. I am also a HUGE fan of the Real Ketones Prime protein This is a saving grace for me on mornings [when] I have to move quick, or nights I just want a frozen treat. At this point, this is what I personally am using, but in the beginning, I used every tool there was available. I don't mean to sound redundant but my life was on the line and did I want to stay or go? That was a real decision. I had been living feeling like I was being cut in half for 3 years. Seven months in a hospital the year before. Thank you, Dr. Dean. Thank you, Dr. Dom.
Do you follow a fitness regimen?
CENSOR NUMBER 2! NO. I've never set foot in a gym. But I'll strip my shirt off for anyone. I barely have any hanging skin, a little around the middle, and what I have left is ripped and striated. My body has turned itself into what it was meant to be. Now if I want to pack on muscle I can, but I had to lose the fat first. According to my Dr., I can still go more. I'm not sure if I want to. Besides, getting on something and going for miles and miles and miles with all your effort grunting and sweating and never going anywhere sounds too much like what most people do for a living.
Do you track your macros?
What's a macro? Never have. No need. I am not trying to get into nutritional ketosis. I am simply trying to STAY in nutritional ketosis. BIG difference. All I have to do is drink my
Real Ketones Prime D+, eat sensibly when I feel hungry, watch it happen.
Do you test your ketones?
I don't anymore, but I did in the beginning. There comes a point where hope turns to faith and faith turns to belief. I started this journey at 375.6 pounds. This morning, I was 174.4. That's an entire overweight person I've lost. As the weight started to come off in droves, mind you, I lost the first 165 pounds
in 8 months, hope turned to faith, then the weight stayed off for 2 years. Then, I lost another 40, [and] faith became a belief. All of this because of
Dr. Dom and his research.
Real Ketones Prime D+ got me to 200 pounds lost. The blood that I had tested just to make sure, is clean as a whistle, except for Lyme.
How has the keto diet changed your life?
How hasn't it? It has had a positive effect on every aspect of my life. Physically, come on, I've lost over 200 lbs and have almost no hanging skin. That in and of itself is a small miracle. I haven't bled internally in almost 3 years.
Mentally, my memory capabilities are increasing instead of decreasing as they were after the stroke due to the positive effects of ketones on the brain. I have an extremely positive outlook on everything. Spiritually.......I can kneel in prayer at 174, I couldn't at 375. That may not mean much to some, but for this old cowboy, this has been another great chapter in what has been an epic story of survival.
Where can our readers go to learn more about you?
Thank you so much, Billy, for sharing your story! You are an incredible person, and we look forward to following along on your keto journey!
