The KetoDick Story

My keto story, from the first weeks onward: what worked, what didn't, and what I'd tell you now.

• A Hard Year, Two Dogs, and No Focus Left2016-11-09Before keto: a hard year, two dogs, one still learning the rules, and no focus left for the things I cared about. Why that came first.
• The Meter Said No: Why I Jumped In Cold2017-06-13My after-meal blood sugar looked fine. My fasting numbers didn't. How a home meter, some studies and a cold pool got me to keto on June 13, 2017.
• Day 18, and the Fourth of July2017-07-04Around day 18 the hunger just left. Then came the Fourth of July and a bar night with my MMA team. What the strips said afterward.
• Day 27: The Graph Bends2017-07-10Day 27: fasting glucose bending toward normal, the scale at 224, and why I said most of that loss was water. Also: 265, 213, 237.
• Potatoes in a Shared Fridge2017-07-10Cold turkey left the carbs in a fridge I shared. I missed potatoes, leaned on pork rinds, gave up on store mayo, and ate half the fat I was 'supposed' to.
• Arts Fest, and Friends Who Stopped Listening2017-07-14Day 32 of keto: a party weekend with 500 calories of drinks still came in under 2,000, and everyone I knew was done hearing about keto.
• A Fifty Percent Chance2017-07-17I tested my blood sugar to see if fasting worked. It climbed all morning. That's how I ended up on keto, for my glucose, not my waistline.
• Gassing Out Against Younger Fighters2017-07-17Day 34: sparring guys younger and fitter than me, I gassed out sooner on keto and chose not to fix it with carbs. Here's why, and the heart monitor that helped.
• How KetoDick Got Its Name2017-07-17No book, no channel, just me filming in bed to practice talking. A joke I kept teasing my girlfriend with became the name, and people asked for more.
• A Dog with Seizures, and a Message from Bangladesh2017-07-18One dose of MCT oil in 35 days, a dog having seizures, and a woman on her third or fourth store hunting for a keto oil. Why I teach keto on ordinary food.
• A Rough Weekend and a Small Group2017-07-25Live from sparring with a hangover, a weekend of drinking, then back on keto by Tuesday and the first Keto Basic exclusive. Getting back on beats never falling off.
• 205 to 266, One Pound at a Time2017-07-31205 out of college, 266 when I'd had enough. A doctor who said it wasn't a concern, chips I badly missed, and three barbecue chips at a party.
• Twenty Points Down2017-07-31Fasting glucose from the 130s to 103-108, with one 97. Not normal yet, but close. My first Keto Update live, and why month one is about getting through.
• The Anniversary Panini2017-08-01Week three, an anniversary lunch, chips and a whole panini, and back in ketosis by dinner. Why one meal is one meal once you're fat adapted.
• Five Pounds Overnight2017-08-03A date-night steak, a big omelet, cheese sticks, and five pounds up on the scale. I filmed it on purpose and changed nothing. A diet is a week, not a day.
• Drunk Faster, and Not Calling It a Flu2017-08-04Seven weeks into keto I got drunk faster and hungover the same night, and I stopped calling the early rough patch 'keto flu'.
• An Hour of Kickboxing, No Carbs2017-08-25Two months into keto I was kickboxing an hour or more with no added carbs, and tracking showed I was in a deficit without trying.
• Six Thousand Members, and Behind2017-11-07Keto Basic passed 6,000 members while I was behind on videos, freewheeling on tracking, and doing a live Q&A I couldn't see comments on.
• Away Too Long, and a New Scale2017-12-12Before the holidays I admitted I'd been away too long. At Christmas a member sent me a body-composition scale, and I stopped watching weight alone.
• Water in the Kitchen, Off the Plan2018-01-09Off-diet over the holidays, a kitchen flood, a dead camera roll. I came back with short videos, a bouillon routine and a donations-only rule.
• A Black Eye and a Fight Plan2018-04-24I went live with a sparring black eye and a plan: two kickboxing fights, cut to 190, rebuild to 195, half a pound a week, and a Q&A every Wednesday.
• Pierogies, Night Sweats, and Hibernation2018-04-24Holidays, a bowl game and a Super Bowl run had me in and out of ketosis. I chose to hold weight and rebuild ketosis instead of chasing the scale.
• From Twenty Grams to Fifty2018-05-02In 2017 I told beginners to work down to 20 g of carbs. A year of watching people quit changed my answer: 50 g total, mostly vegetables, protein first.
• 188, and Back to 2002018-06-14I hit my goal, 188 against a target of 190, then celebrated my way back to 200. Off keto I slept worse, napped, and the pasta wasn't even good.
• A Dark Spring and a Cheesesteak Grill2018-06-14I vanished from my own group for a dark spring, came back unsure of my career, and took a summer job cooking cheesesteaks I couldn't eat.
• Five People, Pay What You Think2018-06-20I'd said no to coaching for a long time. In June 2018 I tried it small: 30 days, five people, pay what you think it's worth.
• The Wedding, and 9.2 Pounds in a Day2018-09-08My sister's wedding was my finish line: 50 lb down and a slim-fit coat. Then I went off plan and gained 9.2 lb in one day. Here's why I showed you.
• Resting Heart Rate: 53 to 702018-09-12Two weeks off MMA, a car accident and a trip without a car: my resting heart rate went from 53 to 70. The way back was a plan with numbers.
• Two Mantras and Three Songs2018-09-12In my first year of KetoDick I never talked about mental health. In 2018 I did: two mantras, three songs, thirty minutes of moving, and my own appointments.
• $960 a Year, Fifty People, No More2018-09-17Summer coaching went quiet. So I rebuilt it as a year of accountability, priced it with simple math, capped it at 50, and kept everything else free.
• The Garbage Plate2018-09-22A Penn State win, three surprise beers and a 1 a.m. plate I cooked myself. How I got over it with no punishment walk, and why I gave the fat clothes away.
• Hit in the Eyeball, No Longer Cuddly2018-11-28Straight from sparring, a fresh shot to the eye, I went live on maintenance and noticed nobody calls me cuddly anymore. Keeping it off changes who you are.
• Putting Down a 40-Pound Bag of Rocks2019-01-082018 was one of my messiest years and my best physically: 40-plus pounds gone, carbs back on purpose, a roller coaster, and a promise kept on January 6.
• Still a Big Guy in My Head2019-01-12Rebooting after a carb-heavy holiday, I named my hardest part of maintenance: an old self-image as a big guy, and a love of food I sometimes overdo on purpose.
• Chubby Cheeks Over the Winter2019-03-20Depression and a medication change put weight loss on the back burner, and the chubby cheeks came back. By March I was back in MMA and ready to bring it down.
• Two Thousand Pounds, and Ten Percent Happier2019-05-30May 2019: I'd built the stall-breaker menus and the group was down over 2,000 lb, after two tough years, with sleep, plants and music as my free 10%.
• Am I Still KetoDick If I Eat Mashed Potatoes?2019-07-28July 2019: keto fell out of my top priorities and I had an identity crisis on the way to a carb breakfast. Parking a goal isn't quitting it.
• Under $2,000 in Three Years2019-11-01November 2019: 17,000 members, Facebook reach gone, and under $2,000 earned in three years. Write your priorities down and drop the self-hatred.
• Reboot Me2019-12-24December 2019: after a stretch on carbs I rebooted with the group, and traced my weight back to clean-your-plate dinners and low-fat snacks.
• The Oreo Never Feels Like a Win2020-02-29February 2020, week eight of the reboot: slimmer, no numbers, and saying no to an Oreo still felt like nothing. What carries you is the later result.
• 246 to 225, Then Up Five2020-03-06Week eight of a 2020 reboot: 246 at Christmas to 225, boring food on purpose, a five-pound jump while fully on plan, and lose weight 350 days a year.
• The Gym Closes2020-03-18March 2020: training for a Muay Thai fight, then no pads, no sparring, two weeks sick, a little vacation bloat, and free calls instead of coaching sales.
• Lockdown Losses2020-04-20April 2020: a guy who'd worked from home for years finds lockdown hard anyway, and plans tough love on boredom eating plus a reboot for after.
• Not in My Top Three, and Happy2020-07-12Summer 2020: diet drops out of my top three, I gain weight and lose fitness, and I'm happy for the first time in years. What keto really gave me.
• On the Rower, Chubby Cheeks Again2021-01-19January 2021: takeout, Oreos and drinks put the weight back on. No guilt, a rowing machine, nothing to sell, and the group I built now supporting me.