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There are many scientific studies showing that low carb diets work, and many scientific explanations behind the processes carbohydrates trigger to promote weight gain,  but what most people will not tell you is the fundamental, common sense reason why low carb diets work.  When the why is understood, it is far easier for a person to implement a solution tailored for their likes and dislikes.

Don’t Eat for Winter provides the common sense answer why low carb diets work, but that’s the thing about common sense, sometimes it isn’t common until someone actually says it out loud.

The underlying reason why low carb diets work so well is that they simulate the food available in seasons other than autumn (or the macro-nutrient ratio at least).  For example the ketogenic diet simulates a time in nature when there are few carbs available e.g. winter and spring.

Typically, carbs only appear in nature in autumn time (the further from the equator you go the more acute this period is) and I believe help prepare the human body for the food shortages and cold of winter through the depositing of body fat.  This is why our current high-carb diets are responsible for weight gain.

Think about it, grains, fruits, potatoes etc. typically ripen from late summer to early autumn and then they perish soon after. i.e. they are seasonally variable, unlike protein and fat from animal/fish/poultry sources, which are relatively stable.   Below is a graph of the increase in GI of foods over the course of the year, you can see a pronounced spike in nature’s sugar levels in late summer and autumn.

Carbohydrates cause blood sugars to rise, which triggers an insulin response and the body then can create and store body fat.  There are other processes too that make us want to gorge such as the release of dopamine, which is known in lay terms comfort eating.

In english, this means that nature is beguiling us into gorging on foods that trigger fat storage, in order to protect us from the oncoming hardship of winter.

Human body fat serves two purposes in Winter time:

1. as a backup energy supply for when food becomes scarce and
2. as an insulation layer to protect us from the cold.

Thus, nature worked symbiotically with us through the provision of sugary and starchy foods in autumn time, and through our own evolution and adaption we responded to this by developing the ability to use this food type as the trigger signal to store excess energy at that time as body fat in order to survive the oncoming winter.  Those of us who can put on weight quickly are the result of this evolution and this is the fundamental reason why these foods taste so good.  It is all about survival.

The problem nowadays is that not only do we live in an environment where autumnal carbs are a component of practically every meal and snack, the carbs are also refined so that the good is removed and practically only the energy remains, and thus we are living in an amplified infinite autumn, further compounding the problem.

Traditionally winter would have knocked off the temporary weight we gained in autumn time, but nowadays winter never comes and so we continue to pile on the pounds over years and years and we all know the outcome: the obesity epidemic, which is now killing more people than malnutrition globally. Can you imagine that, we’ve practically solved world hunger through our ingenuity, only to cause an even bigger problem, which is causing untold death and suffering worldwide.  We need to use the same ingenuity now to solve this crisis.

It get’s worse however as high carb diets were recommended to the masses by experts for the past 60 years, just google the sugar scandal to discover the full story but essentially the role of sugar in chronic heart disease was downplayed and fat got the blame and so we have had high carb / low fat diets as a result, which have been promoted by health experts, education systems, governments etc since then.  It turns out this finding correlates with the increase in obesity worldwide and so we can conclude that the low-fat era has been absolutely disastrous for human health.

At least now there is an admission of the problem with sugar taxes being implemented, with the food pyramid having vegetables and fruit moved to the bottom and with organisations like diabetes.co.uk running a low carb programme, so we are moving in the right direction but more needs to be done and more quickly too.

Personally, I don’t like a complete flip flop and demonisation of sugar.  Low carb does not mean no carb for me.  Extremely low carb means very high fat diets and that would be difficult to come by in nature.  Our bodies run extremely well on a both glucose and fat and so there has to be a happy medium. I believe that happy medium is precise carb but as with everything, timing is critical.

At rest the brain will use approx 400 calories a day of glucose, which the body can get from sugar or starch.  It is preferable to get this sugar from natural, plant based foods that are full of fibre and nutrients. That’s about 60% of the body’s requirement for sugar for a sedentary person.  Most of the rest of our energy should come from fat as our bodies will use this very efficiently aerobically (respiration).  The body actually runs at 85% efficiency on fat at rest.  The variables come in when you add in activity into the mix and the type of work also matters.  Eg. lifting weights is sugar based, whereas a very long walk at low intensity would be more fat oriented so the fuel for exercise should be considered over and above the calories and supplement our basic requirements.

Don’t Eat for Winter is a diet book by amateur world kettlebell champion Cian Foley, who lost 90lbs of fat himself. It promotes what would now be considered a LC/HF diet (Low Carb / High Fat) but is essentially a very balanced diet.  It is only low-carb in comparison to today’s extreme-carb diets, and is not particularly high fat either, but it does recommend getting fats from really good sources containing omega-3 polyunsaturate fats for example.  It is a moderate balance of carb, protein and fat based on the rules of nature and our daily requirements of nutrients from both an energy and functional point of view, however the combinations are also important and a critical aspect of it is to avoid nature’s squirrel formula.  It paints the scene, discusses the problem and provides a solution known as The DEFoW Diet, that creates a balance between our evolutionary heritage and the alien food environment in which we find ourselves in today through a novel approach of eating seasonally on a daily basis in terms of macronutrient ratios.

You can get a copy of  Don’t Eat for Winter here if you wish to find out more.

Always look to nature for the answers… In early 2016 I looked out my window having been researching diet, in particular, insulin response, and noticed there were no apples on my trees at that time of year, it was then that I realised that there were no carbs in nature for most of the year, no crops, potatoes, fruit etc. and soon after came up with the phrase “There’s no Starch in March.” I then organised natural foods by their optimal harvest month into a spreadsheet organised by their GI values (how much they affect blood sugar levels) and noticed a huge bell curve, a natural sugar spike in nature in autumn time. In terms of food, carbs are a seasonal variable in nature. Fat and protein stay the same but high gi carbs spike in autumn time.

As part of the animal kingdom, we adapted to our environment and those of us who could store fat were better able to survive the food shortages and cold of winter through an ingenious backup energy supply called body fat. How about that, the ability to store fat is a talent!!! Go us!!!

I was asked to speak at the recent IPAV AGM in Powerscourt Hotel about the ingredients required to reach goals and I believe the key to any sort of success in life boils down to 3 key ingredients…

Passion – Focus – Belief

All 3 interlock like the arms of the triskelion (triskel), an ancient symbol.  It doesn’t matter what you wish to achieve be it work related, nurturing a talent, getting fit etc. If you are conscious of these three things and apply them you will progress in whatever your endeavors are, and progress is more important and fulfilling than any achievement but there has to be a destination for you to plan a route.

The symbol depicts a wheel with three spokes: without passion there’s no point in starting a journey, without focus there’s will be no movement and without belief there’s no route for you to follow, so it is apt that the 3 are encapsulated within the wheel.

Passion

Without passion, what’s the point in doing something, OK  we all have chores and responsibilities but there’s no point in wasting your life doing things you don’t want to do. Don’t look back and regret not doing the things you felt passionate about.  You will be happier and more fulfilled focusing on the things you love to do. If you want to see something through to the end, find the things you’re passionate about and make them a priority in your life.  Anything I’ve ever become totally passionate about has materialised.  I set up a festival in honour of Irish hero Thomas Francis Meagher because I felt his name wasn’t being remembered and felt compelled to do something about it.  I lost 7 stone of fat because when I became truly passionate about my own health, and I won an amateur kettlebell world championships after 5 years of training because I became passionate about unlocking the potential of my physical capabilities.  Currently, Don’t Eat for Winter is my passion because I genuinely want to help others who were in my situation. Without that motivation I would never have had the energy or determination to see it done.

Focus

We can be passionate about several things, this is where prioritising focus comes in.  If you want to unlock potential in a specific area it takes absolute focus.  It means decluttering your life to make time for the things you wish to achieve no matter how big or small.  The fewer passions you focus on at once means the greater level of excellence you will achieve with each so make sure you pick the things you most love and focus most of your time and effort on those. If you focus on too many things, it’s not really focus at all and you risk floundering between tasks. In computing terms this is known as thrashing as processors waste so much time switching between tasks they eventually get none of the tasks done and so the computer slows to a halt. It is the same with human beings, the process of switching between tasks becomes overwhelming so give your passions the focus they deserve. In order to write Don’t Eat for Winter I had to let other things in my life slide, like my kettlebell training for one, but that’s what it took to get a job done and done right and I don’t regret it as I achieved what I wanted to with the sport. Now that the writing and publishing is done I have to be just as passionate about promoting the concept in order to give the concept the life it deserves, but with passion and focus I will never lose the energy to take it as far as I can.

Belief

Sometimes we need a long term vision of where we wish to be.  Maybe it’s being able to play a guitar solo perfectly in front of an audience, getting a top class physique, giving a public speech like a Ted talk, winning a big competition of some sort.  Pick something you believe you can achieve one day, why not you! but do not make that the focus, and do not become so passionate about the prize that you miss what’s right in front of you.  Keep these dreams in the back of your mind believing there’s no limit to your potential but also understand that you cannot reach your dreams if you can’t focus on the immediate steps ahead.  So use the carrot to guide you, but don’t trip over yourself by always looking to the carrot, take the steps necessary.  I trained for kettlebell sport and kept my eye on the next training session working towards the next competition, and when I got on the platform to compete, I wasn’t nervous at all unlike some of my competitors and so I always got a good performance out.  I trained to win, but I didn’t make winning the be all and end all, if it was going to happen so be it, if not, it was a privilege to be and be able to compete at a high level.  My big dream with Don’t Eat for Winter is to see an avalanche of fat fall from the Earth to help people individually but also see a major change with regards to worldwide obesity, I can see it happening, but it has to happen one step at a time… it started with me, the fat melted off when I discovered the concept, then my wife Nicola, and now dozens of readers that I don’t know personally, and so the initial drip has become a snowball, which may eventually lead to an avalanche.  Now that is a big dream but I believe it can happen with applied passion and focus. I don’t ask why, I ask why not!!!

We are not defined by your achievements, unlocking our potential is more important than any conquering that we do, and there is a real sense of fulfillment in making progress towards a dream.  The key thing is being driven to do something you want to do for yourself and taking action, that to me is what life is about.  We are built to work and have a sense of purpose.  You know what it is that you want to do already, what you love doing (you’re probably already good at it), so concentrate on that over everything else and believe you can reach great heights once you give it the focus it deserves.

1. Become passionate about you, not in a narcissistic way and not just about appearance but about health, vitality, strength, energy levels… I know it’s a cliche but you have to put on your own oxygen mask before attending to others… you can give more of yourself to others when you look after you.
2. Don’t overthink it. Act. Even if you feel bad just do something. The most likely thing that will happen is you will be buzzing afterwards and you’ll want more of that. Exercise becomes a good habit, the most difficult thing is making the decision to do it, so don’t debate about it, do it.
3. Dream big, but take small steps. Have an idea about where you would like to be, but focus on the immediate steps. Trust me, even when you get to where you want to be you will still want to go further, that’s the nature of it so be happy with wherever you are along the path.
4. Don’t overdo it. Train don’t strain. Consistency is more effective than intermittent trojan effort and you’re more likely to love doing it and feeling the positive effects from it.
5. Choose the right exercises for you. Don’t go pounding the roads immediately if you’re carrying a lot of weight. If you run with partners and they are much lighter it will be tougher for you. Resistance training and cardio on something with low impact like a bicycle, cross-trainer, rower is a good place to start. Don’t overdo first circuit or weights session, and wait for muscles to heal before the next to avoid injury. It should be enjoyable and not torture.
6. Don’t change your entire diet all at once. Make small changes, cut down on sugary drinks and added sugar, opt for americano instead of latte, try having a meal without carbs like breakfast or lunch. When you begin losing weight from the small changes, stick with it until the weight stops coming off and then make another small change. Small changes over time = BIG RESULTS!!!
7. Make time to train. Don’t make excuses here, we are all busy. When you train you will be more motivated and have more energy for the other things in your life. Whether it’s your kids, your job, your friends, your hobbie etc.
8. Make time to prepare food. I don’t mean gourmet chef meals. I’m talking prepping a quick salad, throwing on some veg, fish, meat etc. Do things in batches, to economise on time and energy. Boil up some extra eggs when cooking your breakfast, eat them later cold with next meal for example.
9. Eat right before training. Make sure you have the energy to put in a good session. This is a good window of opportunity to have some carbs. You need energy to train, don’t do it on empty or it will be tougher than it needs to be. Protein supports muscle repair after training too so don’t neglect that either.
10. Don’t give up. Sometimes people expect results too fast, it takes time to realise your maximum potential and for your body to adapt and adjust. If something isn’t working, change it up, change is the key to fitness as we are built to adapt to work and become efficient at it. Shock your system with new challenges often so that you get maximum results and keep things interesting.

Tomorrow is a new day… make it yours!

Don’t Eat for Winter is a book by Cian Foley, IUKL Amateur Kettlebell World Champion and Computer Programmer, that gives the reader the knowledge to hack nature’s rules in order to minimise the body’s fat storage processes and gorge instincts whilst ensuring excellent nutrition.  It offers the reader a solution that allows them to tend towards an energetic summer hunter’s physique as opposed to the lethargic winter hibernator’s.  

Here’s a few tips to help you keep your blood sugar levels stable over the course of the day, whilst also getting in key macro and micronutrients so that your FAB Machine (flesh and bone machine) can keep it’s motor humming…

1. Cut out cereals for breakfast, especially kids ones, they are loaded with sugar and have a very high GI. You will most likely be hungry before lunch time. If having cereal choose natural fibrous one with low sugar.
2. Load up on healthy fats and oils in at least one meal in the day, but don’t have anything sweet or starchy within a few hours. Great energy source and supports major body functions.
3. When choosing your 5+ veg/fruit a day, steer clear of sugary fruit juices, opt for low gi veg and fruit, have max. 1-2 portions of sweet fruit and use for activity. Try and get all colours in everyday.
4. Have milky coffees like lattes as a special treat, otherwise go for americano or tea with a small amount of milk if you have to have milk. Try and cut down sugar if you take it, remember 1 teaspoon is enough sugar energy to run your brain for 1 hr, and you probably have plenty already from your food.
5. Replace sugary soft drinks with water, lemon squeezed into water is tart but refreshing for example. Soft drinks are a treat and often loaded with crazy amounts of sugar. Look at the labels.
6. Get some protein in with each meal, very satiating and supports body repair and will keep your muscles strong. Protein can help stabilise blood sugar levels through the release of glucagon, preventing sugar levels dropping too low. If the protein source is fatty choose fibrous low gi veg instead of sugary/starchy carbs with it.

I’ve heard some nutritionists suggest that fat storage cannot be caused by carbs through insulin response because protein causes an insulin response too.  This is true, however protein also triggers a glucagon response at the same time… they often forget to mention this…

*SCRATCHY VINYL RECORD SOUND*

Glucagon, Insulin, what now?  Ok, lets rewind a little first.  When sugar enters the blood stream from the food we eat, the pancreas releases insulin in response so the body’s cells can absorb the nutrients eaten.  Glucagon is kind of the opposite of insulin as when blood sugars get too low, glucagon is released from the pancreas to tell the cells in the liver to release sugar into the blood stream. One of the livers functions is a little back up battery for sugar (it cant store an awful lot).

This is the magic dance that happens every day within us, insulin/glucagon signaling cells to do their stuff.  Insulin = store (everything), Glucagon = release (some things – mostly sugar and fat).

Carbs trigger insulin to store stuff. Once tummy is empty and body begins using up what’s in the blood stream, glucagon opens the cells in the liver (for sugar) and body (fat release) so the blood fills up with nutrients from what’s stored to keep things moving.

Make sense?  I hope so.

So, if protein causes an insulin response, wont that put me into storage more too you say?

Yes it does! But wait, protein also causes your pancreas to release glucagon at the same time!!!

*OH NO BRAIN MELTDOWN*

Ok let’s keep this simple… why does it do this, and this is my basic computer programmer understanding…

From a protein perspective, if you have not had much carbs with the protein (say it’s spring time in stone age land), your body will not have much sugar available, so when you eat the protein insulin would drive down your blood sugar levels down under normal circumstances, however, because glucagon is also present, cells refuse to absorb the sugar so fast but they will happily receive the protein (glucagon also tells cells to release fat, but insulin tells them to receive, so depending on the balance the flow will happen one way or another but in a very controlled manner).  This means blood sugars are kept stable for hours upon end as the protein is digested, a constant stream of insulin and glucagon to play a balancing act to keep you using the energy of the food for the now.  The liver won’t release sugar as it would normally because insulin is telling it to store, so again a fine balancing act is going on there too.

Add in carbs and it’s a different story, insulin will overpower the glucagon and you go into storage mode for the future, remember carbs are autumnal and so they are the main trigger for the storage of everything.  It will bash things into your cells.

Conclusion

Protein will cause both an insulin and glucagon response from the pancreas, putting you into both storage and usage mode at the same time, the net effect is slow absorption of energy and nutrients for right now.

Carbs cause a much greater insulin response and 0 glucagon response and so it will cause you to store energy for the future (prepping the body for winter?).

The baby milk formula is an overload of carb and fat with low protein.  This means minimal glucagon response, large insulin response causing the inactive baby to store most of the nutrients provided by mother so that it grows hardy as quickly as possible.

Thought For Diabetics: There are huge implications here for diabetics.  I’ve emailed a top Diabetes Doctor and will post my thoughts on that once I’ve run the idea by them.

If you want to find out a simple way to avoid winter fat storage you can get a copy of Don’t Eat for Winter via the homepage.

 

Recently I was contacted about hospital food by a member of the Don’t Eat for Winter Facebook page and I was shocked to find out that almost all meals contain autumnal carbohydrates, some meals were exclusively carbs (what are carbs).

An example day included:

Cereal (Flaked corn, wheat biscuits) or Porridge for breakfast with toast and tea, all high GI foods, which would cause high blood sugar levels.

Lunch included Meat, Mashed Potatoes and Carrots. Both carrots and potatoes are high gi carbs, again spiking blood sugar levels. The carrots and potatos are a source of micronutrients too but something like brocolli would be great to lower the GI of the meal.

Dinner was a choice of beans on toast, beans and mash/croquetes, sausage and mash, or a salad. Most options here are again very high gi, at least there was salad on offer to get some colour and nutrients in.

Patients were also offered jelly and ice cream and tea and biscuits for snacks. It’s no harm having a treat now and again, but 2 treats would go against the food pyramid and with all of the other high gi meals, it’s more sugar piled in on top.

I was informed that fruit and boiled eggs were available to patients also, on request, which is good as eggs are a brilliant source of protein, fat and nutrients and of course fruit is necessary, however bananas would be more starch on top of an already excessive carb diet.

For sedentary patients I think this is a very high amount of sugar in the diet (starch is unsweetened sugar), and it seems that there are too few natural fruits and veg in the diet also. It’s worrisome. Another poster sent a picture of nuggets and wedges being served to a child after having crisped rice for breakfast.  When you consider budgets for patient medication is so high, there is no budgetary reason to not provide patients with the best food options possible as food makes us what we are and can help us recover faster.

The Don’t Eat for Winter theory is based on the fact that natural High GI/GL Carbs exist almost exclusively in Autumn, and refined carbs. Essentially, in the 21st century, many people are eating Autumnal Carbs 24/7 365 days a year, we live in an Infinite Autumn, and with refined carbs, it’s an augmented autumn. I’m not demonizing carbs at all, they have their use but the over-consumption of them keeps us in Winter Storage Mode indefinitely and that is the primary reason I believe that the world is suffering from an obesity crisis. There are too many health issues to list out here but it’s causing us a lot of pain and we can do something about it.

You see if we eat autumnal carbs and derivatives 4 times a day our bodies are responding with insulin all the time to try and deal with the sugar… we’re flooded with the stuff and is it any wonder then that the pancreas which produces this substance get’s knackered and the cells that are being forced to received nutrients are becoming resistant to it also???

By the time our kids are 20 years of age, they have eaten for 80 winters… not only does this potentially affect their BMI, but it also affects their teeth too.

You can escape from the Infinite Autumn with me. My solution (The DEFoW Diet) is to eat seasonally on a daily basis i.e. chose to have autumnal carbs once a day, maybe twice and do not exceed the basic requirement for carbs based on your level of activity. By my calculations this is approximately 800 cals in the 2000cal reference diet. 420 for the brain and the rest for body at rest including some light activity (for heavy activity more carbs should be considered). Also, if you tend to use the carbs around activity they will feel more energized and the energy will be much more readily used by the body e.g. for resistance training, or moderate to high intensity cardio. The rest of the diet should come from protein, fat and fibre rich low gi/gl vegetables. When you do eat carbs it’s important to try eat fibrous foods such as wholegrains, and the skin and flesh of fruit too as they contain minerals, vitamins, critical to body function (unless you’re having a real special treat or you are an athlete replenishing glycogen levels or loading blood with sugar for very high intensity work). Also, when eating fats, eat poly/mono as a priority and saturated as a secondary source and try to approximate the daily guidelines of each source of nutrient. Some of the best sources of good fats include fish, nuts, seeds, avocados, olives.

Through this approach, along with exercise, I’ve created version 2.0 of myself, I’m leaner, stronger, healthier skin and no pain, whereas before I used to have trouble going downstairs, pains in feet, groin and chest pain.

To discover the full theory of how to escape the infinite autumn in which we live, you can get a copy of Don’t Eat for Winter here.

It’s not every day you get to meet a real-life hero.  A couple of years ago I went on a pilgrimage to compete in the pan-American kettlebell championships at the Arnold Sport Festival in Columbus Ohio to meet my boyhood hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger. I got to spend an hour in his company and it was epic.

Today was even better, I got to spend 2 hours with a new hero of mine named Dylan Condron, an inspirational young man who against all odds won his colossal personal battle against obesity.

At the age of 19, Dylan weighed an astonishing 32 stone and 8lbs!!! Now, he weighs a mere 12 stone 13lbs.  For European readers, that’s a transformation from 207kg to 82kg; and for American readers, 456 pounds to 181 pounds. That’s a total loss of approximately 19 and a half stone, 125kg or 275 lbs.

Simply incredible!

To put it in perspective, he lost a stone more than I weighed at my heaviest and I was pretty hefty weighing in 18 and a half stone. That’s an entire me in terms of mass, made of pure fat, that now no longer exists.   It’s difficult to fathom it’s so fantastic.

Although this is an amazing good news story, it is not all rainbows and roses however, as Dylan lost so much body fat, he is now left with the problem of loose skin and he would love to get surgery to get rid of it so that he can lead the life of a normal young man in his 20s and not have to feel self-conscious about his body.

I met Dylan for a coffee in the Costa at Odeon cinema in Waterford, a trendy young man, very open and frank about his experiences.  He was drinking a bottle of water. After I grabbed a cup of coffee, the first thing I asked him was “what was the worst thing about being overweight?”  He said, “putting on my socks was very difficult, my head would nearly explode with the pressure, I was afraid to go into town too so I just stayed in my house and around the garden mostly. It used to be a real effort to get downstairs, I’d be in bits at the bottom.” At that stage Dylan wore a 6XL t-shirt that he had to order as he couldn’t find clothes  in local shops to fit him.

In contrast, he said “the best thing about being a normal weight now is being able to go out shopping to get nice clothes and how they fit” and he really conveyed joy at that aspect of it, along with being able to play soccer, walk for for miles and feel good and healthy. He’s tells me that he is always active and feels great going into town now.

Dylan wasn’t always obese, he was a sporty kid having played football for St. Saviours, but somehow it all went wrong for him between the age of about 16-19.  I asked him what his diet was like during that period. He told me “I didn’t eat a hell of a lot, maybe 2 or 3 meals a day and some snacks,” and out of interest I asked him to take me through a typical day of his diet back then. Here’s what he told me:

Breakfast:  “I’d have a bread roll containing breaded chicken, cheese and tomato ketchup, which I might have anywhere up to 12 midday and wash it down with a coke.”

Lunch: “Sometimes I’d skip this but if I had it, it might include a toastie and a bag of crisps and a coke.”

Dinner: “Maybe a burger and chips or pasta.”

Snacks: “Probably a bar of chocolate, crisps or a coke.”

“I would never drink water!”

This sort of diet led him on a dangerous path and only for his family, he might be in a worse situation today. They were his catalyst for change, his mother was worried about him and in particular his brother Jason really motivated him to do something to turn the tide. Jason organised for him to get involved in a 12 week transformation programme at Body Shape Performance run by Derek Rowe and so Jason and some of Dylan’s other brothers chipped in the money for him to take part in it.

Immediately he saw results.  He got a buzz out of the first session and knew he would continue. He went carb free initially (what are carbs?) for 6 weeks and lost 2.5 stone, now he was motivated.  Another 6 weeks went by and now he had lost over 5 stone.  When the programme ended, he continued his journey and managed to lose a total of 19.5 stone over the course of 2 years.  That’s almost 3lbs a week for 100 weeks!!! This all took guts, determination and understanding of what needed to be done.  His coach set him on the path and Dylan kept going and going and saw it through to the end just as it should be.

He found it very physically demanding, and took me through his routine of weight training performing big movements like squatting, dead-lifts, presses and so on.

During his low-carb phase it was, high protein egg breakfast with some yolks removed, chicken and greens for lunch, protein and plenty of water before and after training, and chicken/beef/turkey for dinner, again with greens such as broccoli, peas, kale etc (great natural sources of nutrients).

After 6 weeks he introduced carbs after training and told me that after his initial loss of 2.5 stone, he had a cheat meal, “I had lasagna and chips it was nicest thing I ever tasted in my life!”

I then asked him about his current diet.

Breakfast: “Now I’d have poached eggs with some bacon and maybe a slice of low-gi brown toast” (fat, protein and modest carb)

Lunch: “Chicken and vegetables with a slice of brown bread” (lean protein and moderate carbs.

Dinner: “Chicken or Beef with pasta”

… and water!!!

He told me that after he dropped a lot of the weight, he took on a course in horticulture and walked 5 miles home every day.

From my perspective it’s quite obvious that Dylan had been loading his body with a disastrous combinations of carbs and fat for a few years and he was continuously eating processed carbs and so this was an classic case of eating autumnal foods in combination with fats (and not good sources of fats either).  The foods contained high fat, high carbs and modest protein mimicking the squirrel formula  (50/40/10).  The refined carbs spiked insulin levels making the body conducive to storing the fats.  The nutrient content of the diet was also poor and drinking of sugary soft drinks instead of water also compounded the problem (it wasn’t them alone).

One thing I would stress here is that this was not Dylan’s fault, he is a victim like so many others because we’re not taught about the dangers of all sugary and starchy foods properly in school, and it’s so easily accessible too. Dylan is very aware of this and said to me “there’s should be more healthy options around, it’s still very difficult to eat well when out and about.” Now that Dylan has an understanding of the foods he eats, he has become acutely aware of the problems we face as a society. He has escaped from the Matrix against all the odds, he is an inspiration for others.

His new diet then consists of good fats from the eggs, plenty of protein and much less carbs than he ate previously.   The healthy lean cuts of meat are far more nutritious and combined with the vegetables, support his body for his life and activities.  It is a much more balanced diet and the carbs he eats are burned off through his activities. He now plays soccer regularly too.  Based on this way of eating Dylan said “I have no bloating and I’m not stuck to my chair after eating, I have much more energy, I’m never too full, just nice and I’m never really hungry and if I am I grab a bit of fruit.”  If having something like a roll now he fills it with lean breast of chicken and lettuce and onion with no fats, which again ties in with the ethos of Don’t Eat for Winter.  Dylan found out what works and just went with it and the results have been nothing short of miraculous.

“I’ll never go back to the way I was because I know better now and I have too much fight and belief in myself.  I have a girlfriend now and I love going down to see her in Cork on the weekends.”

Dylan told me he’s not a perfect eater and that he still has treat meals but when he’s treating himself to takeaway he still tries to choose the least fattening option so he’ll go for something less sweet and sticky with batter if going to the chinese and opt for something like chicken schezuan and boiled rice and skip the banana fritter dessert. He feels safe having a treat because he knows he deserves to cut loose after a long week and knows that he will use up the excess energy.

 

I first heard of Dylan’s story through an article by Darren Skelton of the Waterford News and Star.  I saw his appeal to raise money for his skin operation and felt compelled to try and help him somehow.  I think he deserves a leg up from us all, government, businesses, friends, family.  I’m writing this blog to try and drum up a bit of support through the Don’t Eat for Winter community and my own network.  Already, Peak Fitness have come in behind Dylan and gave him a year’s free membership, maybe he will be a kettlebell champion one day, who knows!

I am going to help him run a quiz on the 18th of May in Revolution, Flash has kindly offered the venue for the night and we hope to have a big raffle for prizes donated by anyone that will help him.  If you can spare a prize please email me cian@donteatforwinter.com and I will pass on to Dylan.  If you can come on the night, it will be at approximately 8.30pm and tables of 4 are €20, €5 a head.  Do not worry if you can’t bring a team, just come along and we will find you one.

If you can’t make the quiz, donate a prize etc. and you want to help you can make a donation towards Dylan’s operation on his gofundme page here: https://www.gofundme.com/99rf3-help-me-get-my-body-back.  Even sharing this blog post would be very helpful.

Please help this inspirational young man, he has come this far himself, he needs us to help him finish the job. He told me as we left the cafe that his final goal is to get really toned and I said, “maybe after your operation and we get you ripped to shreds, Calvin Klein will come knocking on your door!”

If you’re watching CK, there’s two ex-obese lads here that are open to a bit of part-time work LOL.

Before I get started into the experience, here’s a tweet by Today FM with a little snippet of the interview…

Cian Foley @wellboy used to weigh 18.5 stone and found it difficult to tie his shoelaces. He’s made some massive changes! #DermotAndDave pic.twitter.com/yvCnRoqdNo

— Today FM (@todayfm) April 20, 2017

I had the absolute privilege of being interviewed by Dermot and Dave on Today FM on the 20th of April 2017.

Dermot Wheelan got back to me on Twitter after I tweeted to himself and Dave Moore about my new book.  He was on holidays and asked me to contact their researcher about coming onto the show the following week so I did that and it actually happened YIPEE!!!

I had to take the morning off work (I work for a great company in Waterford called Kyckr) to go up to the show, and my wife Nicola took the morning off too and came along to keep me company (she’s quite a lady). ROADTRIP!

So we flew up the M9 and got into Stephen’s green nice and early and got a nice cuppa coffee nearby, I hadn’t a clue what I was going to say because I learned a long time ago on radio interviews etc. that you just go with the flow and try be yourself because you just don’t know what you will be asked.  Of course, being me, half way through my coffee I realised that I forgot the books I had for Dermot and Dave and I had to run back to my car, which was on the 4th floor in Stephen’s green car park and then run back to cafe where Nicola was.  Just what I needed, panic before my interview.

Then I got a call from Roisin, the lovely friendly researcher who looked after me before going on and told me I needed to go to the fourth floor of the Today FM building.  Now I was starting to sweat partially because of the running and partially because of my nerves.

I got to reception and the receptionist settled us in and got us a welcome glass of water, and I sat there jittery waiting to be called by Roisin into the lions den.  I was very nervous before the interview until I heard one of the lads say “Our next guest is going to tell us how to lose weight by eating like a BEAR.” Well I nearly fell down the stairs laughing all the way into the studio.

I was greeted in the studio by the lads and they immediately put me at ease.  It felt great to be brought in and trusted to talk live on air about a concept they didn’t know a hell of a lot about.

I had a quick chat with Dermot before the interview and from the few seconds we had, he used what I told him to prompt me along a couple of times.  I thought this was exceptional and shows why he is such a brilliant interviewer, to be able to pick up on points so quickly and help the guest along.

So after the introduction, Dave interjects and says “I have to just say for our listeners, you are an absolute ride!”  Well, all I could do was laugh in my mortification but again it put me doubly at ease and I managed to get through my dry mouth and get going…

To listen to the full interview here’s the link to the Don’t Eat for Winter interview with Dermot and Dave on the Today FM Site

Dave ended the interview with more messing asking me about how my sister and Keith Barry got together, I’m glad I could clarify that it was Keith who asked me could he shift me sister… fair play to Keith for being so honourable and up front about it LOL.

Here’s a snippet video (I didn’t know I was being recorded so I’m glad I wasn’t picking my nose or worse)  of the interview posted by Today FM on twitter…

Cian Foley @wellboy used to weigh 18.5 stone and found it difficult to tie his shoelaces. He’s made some massive changes! #DermotAndDave pic.twitter.com/yvCnRoqdNo

— Today FM (@todayfm) April 20, 2017

Aside: Dermot asked me during the interview what carbs I miss and I went down a path of saying that I don’t miss any food because I’ve gotten rid of the noise of sugar from my diet and this is true, but I also meant to say that I still eat carbs every day, I don’t have any foods that I wouldn’t eat at all, as this is not a restrictive diet, rather it is about understanding food and controlling the carb aspect of the diet in order to give the body the exact amount of energy it needs, especially when it comes to the foods that turn into glucose in our blood streams (i.e. sugars and starches) and invoke an insulin response. I do have plenty of treats and so I do go for pizza, or eat a bit of chinese, and have the cake now and again, so it’s not like I’m some sort of monk denying myself, but I am conscious that these foods trigger the most pronounced instincts in mind and body because they follow the squirrel formula, which is why they taste so bloody good… they invoke our primal instincts to gorge for winter and make us feel good because they tend towards the same formula as baby milk (ps I’m not suggesting baby milk is bad but it is designed to make infants get hardy quickly and so the same formula would do similar things to an adult in larger sized portions).
Finally, I got my photo with the lads and Dermot walked me out and said hello to Nicola who had been listening up at the reception area. Dermot is a top guy, and I really appreciate the lucky little break he gave me.

I received lots of positive comments from everyone that heard it afterwards which I was delighted about, I was buzzing after meeting the two lads and many people enquired about and got a copy of the book off the back of the interview, which means the simple message of Don’t Eat for Winter now has a much larger reach.

Of course the core concept is that autumnal foods are designed by nature to help human being survive the winter, through the temporary storage of fat, and now that we’ve made these foods readily available all year round, we’ve essentially created an infinite autumn, which means people put on weight indefinitely and never get the chance to lose it like our stone-age ancestors would have annually… it’s the opposite of the Game of Thrones phrase “Winter is coming!” In our case, Winter isn’t coming, so we have to simulate that somehow and that’s what The DEFoW Diet aims to help people achieve in a nutritious, balanced way through eating seasonally on a daily basis.

Myself and Nicola had a great day and enjoyed the whole experience and were delighted on the spin home seeing the reaction to it online, which was very heart warming and encouraging.

I would like to express my thanks to Dermot and Dave, Roisin and TodayFM for giving me such an amazing opportunity and experience. You don’t have day like this every day but it was brilliant and worth every second of the trip to the big smoke!

If you wish to find out more about Don’t Eat for Winter or get a copy, check out the homepage of the site, which explains the concept and has links to get the book direct using PayPal for a copy of the limited edition first run, and via Amazon Kindle.