Man Lost Twice His Weight Following The Keto Diet And Now ‘Feels Like A Man’

By Liana Jacob

 

THIS MAN would gorge on over TWENTY-THOUSAND-CALORIES-A-DAY before he lost TWICE HIS CURRENT WEIGHT in under three years on a KETO diet – and says it’s made him finally ‘feel like a man.’

Construction marketing administrator, Mike Gorman (46) from Rhode Island, USA, was brought up in a low-income household which meant that he didn’t focus too much on healthy eating or nutrition.

Despite his family trying to put him on a diet since he was 10 years old due to being 14st 4Ib, it was around that time when his parents got divorced and this caused him to comfort eat the pain away.

He would even sneak eat and binge eat, which increased his weight to a whopping 38st 8Ib and a UK shirt size XXXXXXXL but he never let his weight affect his confidence as he was always known as the ‘stereotypical funny happy fat guy’ and had never felt ashamed of his body.

He tried many different diets between 2012 and 2013 including Weight Watchers, Deal-A-Meal, calorie counting, paleo and primal and even managed to shrink down to 15st for his 40th birthday, but as he wasn’t mentally prepared to live this lifestyle he ‘dove head first’ in to his food and regained his weight back.

It wasn’t until February 2017 that he discovered the ketogenic diet, which consists of food high in fat, adequate protein and low carbohydrates. His new routine, which includes attending the gym seven times a week, helped him shed to 14st 9lb and a UK shirt size XL.

While he used to consume over 20,000 calories a day before, he has reduced his calorie intake to an average of 2,500 a day. His new look and outlook on life has boosted his confidence and he now says that he feels like a man for the first time.

While he never would have considered relationships, for the first time he has received attention from women, but he admits he is happy being single for now.

“I grew up a very overweight child, who became a very overweight adult. My family put me on diets as far back as age ten,” Mike said.

“It was also around that time that my parents got divorced; I needed to step up in some ways and often prepared meals for myself and my younger sister.

“Even back then I was developing habits, including sneak eating and binging. I excelled in school, had jobs young, but always found time for food.

“I think my family, being from a lower income background, didn’t focus that much on healthy food options but the foods they could afford; low priced, highly processed heavy carbs dominated our tables.

“I developed an excessive appetite at a young age and did nothing about it. If anything, I trained it to get worse with my daily routines.

“From a young age the majority of my income went to food. Always. I celebrated with food, I commiserated with food, I chose food and eating over people and social situations.

“It’s funny; I was never the self-loathing fat guy bemoaning my existence. I lived my life as normal to me, oversized in eating, body and personality.

“I was the stereotypical funny, happy, fat guy who had no shame about his body existing. I did not try to take up less space when I entered a room, I took the space I needed. I took my shirt off at the pool.

“I bought clothes that fit and sat in two plane seats with no shame. I even shared my gluttonous celebration of a life on Instagram before I switched gears to working on what was really happening.

“I accepted my body for what it was, and maybe, I did it too much, I didn’t let the warning signs of health failure scare me.

“Like many big folks, I made the jokes before anyone else did. An after-effect of my size but also the bullying I received as a child.

“I also very rarely heard any concern, either because they were afraid of how I would respond or were just plain afraid that I was too far gone.

“When I did hear something like ‘Maybe you should slow down at the buffet buddy,’ I would laugh and eat even more. I had a ‘You think I am out of control now, let’s show how out of control I can be’ kind of attitude.”

A typical day for Mike before his transformation consisted of excessive sleep, a coffee with extra cream and sugar on the way to work for breakfast, a sandwich and several donuts or pastries. For lunch he would have another similar coffee, drink at least two litres of regular Coca Cola, a large pizza, two large steak and cheese subs with crisps and cookies. He would also snack throughout the day and grab half a dozen cheeseburgers and indulge in an elaborate gourmet dinner that would feed four to five people and no exercise.

Now he wakes up at 4am, gets ready for a session at the gym for 4:30am, gets a black nitro coffee on his way to work for 7am, eats a keto-based breakfast at around 9am to 9:30am, then eats a keto-based lunch around noon. He also practises intermittent fasting in the afternoon and regularly drinks water throughout the day.

“It has given me my life back; I no longer have to worry about if I can walk far enough to get somewhere, if there will be furniture that will support my weight, if I will even have food available,” he said.

“I am learning about what my real priorities and goals in life are. I like to say that I live for more than my next meal now.

“I have possibilities ahead of me and feel like for once I am present in every facet of my life, not just the kitchen.

“I feel like I am finally a man; a man who takes his responsibilities seriously, to his life and to himself. My body is scared and shows the after-effects of how I abused it for years, so honestly, I do struggle with seeing it every time I get dressed.

“I am so amazingly proud it hasn’t quit on me and I am amazed every day by what it can do. I go to the gym five days a week, most at 4:30am.

“I run upstairs that I used to need to rest and catch my breath on. I fit in any space and no longer need to waste mental energy planning every movement of my life.

“Right now, I am happy being single; I feel like tackling my weight and health has been a monumental undertaking that has honestly required I be a bit selfish at times.

“As for attention, for the first time in my life, it has happened; it is pretty wild and honestly challenging. Hard to accept other people see you differently than you see yourself sometimes.

“Take a deep breath and don’t get overwhelmed by the all the information out there; find the eating plan that you think you can live with the most and start. Just start.

“Don’t stress with trying to achieve perfection, just start moving. In the end, you can always reassess if something is working if you’re doing it consistently.

“I firmly believe it is not one specific diet that works for everyone, but no matter what consistent commitment to a plan and goals is what matters most. Also, as cliché as it sounds, find your ‘why’ and never lose focus on it.”