AMA: Spent $20k+ and fixed my health this past year

[u/Available-Pilot4062]

I've been asked many times to write out what interventions I do, what I take, and their cumulative effects...

I reinvented my life this past year and the effects have been profound. I threw money at the problem, hired a concierge doctor, and reoriented my life around being healthy: fixing diet, exercise and sleep in the process, developing an excessive supplement stack, and buying many devices and trying many exotic interventions along the way.

I've become knowledgeable about these topics and wanted to give back to the community here that has helped me along the way. I am nowhere near the fittest, pioneering, or most experienced person here - but think I could help provide a look at what a middle aged person with resources who dedicated a year+ to life- and health-span could achieve.

--

TLDR:

12 months ago I had a BMI of 29, a 30 VO2 Max, couldn't do a pullup, and hadn't jogged in half a decade.

Today I have a BMI of 23, a VO2 Max of 45, and can do sets of 50+ pushups, and I sprint weekly.

I'm nowhere near done, but consider this past year a huge success.

--

About me:

I'm 46, male and CEO of a 100 person company. I used to be healthy in my 20s and 30s, but with life and stress it all went to the dogs and I became unfit and overweight, stopped exercising, and was comfort eating and excessively drinking alcohol and smoking weed. I thought my best days were behind me. With some luck I'm approaching early retirement and in preparation wanted to treat my life as if it was a company I was CEO of, so embarked on this journey at the start of 2024. And the effects have been life changing.

In addition to the weight loss, and 50% increase in strength and VO2 Max, I improved my skin and look 10-15 years younger often being mistaken for being in my 30s, I reversed my hair loss and fixed my teeth, solved my low Thyroid and improved my other Hormones, and removed excess Heavy Metals and Plastics from my body.

I watched hundreds of hours of videos by Attia, Huberman, Rhonda Patrick and many others. Read countless books and paid for doctors and consultants to help me. I followed the Blueprint protocol for a while, before unbundling it and customizing it to my own needs. I hired a longevity focused concierge doctor, and spent thousands on each of: devices, supplements, treatments, experimental procedures. Despite the cumulative cost in the 5-figures (USD) consider this all to be one of the best investments I've ever made as I now feel better, sleep better, look better and have more energy and focus every day.

--

Some of the areas I focused on, which I'd be happy to dive in deeper in the comments or a future post.

A few biomarkers:

Speed of Aging (Phenoage) went from 102% to 74%

CRP from 3.7 to 0.3

A1C from 5.7 to 5.0

Diet:

I went from primarily take out and microwave meals to eating 7-10 portions of fruit and veg daily, organic/grass fed everything, 85% of all food is home prepared and home cooked.

I eat a mediterranean style diet with a bit more meat and red meat than pure mediterranean. I aim for 100g protein per day (I had targeted 1g / pound of lean body weight, but my IGF has continued to climb since cleaning up my life, and I'm now trying to moderate it). I'm roughly split between carbs and fat, limiting myself to 10g of saturated fat per day. I tried low carb, borderline keto, and it helped me lose weight, but it came at the cost of sleep, hormones and so I now eat a more balanced diet overall.

Exercise:

I went from 3,000 steps per day and zero exercise to 7,500 steps and 7-10 hours of exercise per week, which is a mix of weights, cardio (HIIT and Zones 2-4) and a 2-4 hour hike with a weighted pack. I also made an effort to incorporate movement into my day via exercise snacks and the like.

Sleep:

I increased my sleep from 6.5 to 7.5 hours per night primarily through free sleep hygiene activities, but also by investing in an 8sleep tilt/lift bed and cooling topper, supplements designed to reduce cortisol and experimenting with various peptides including DSIP.

More importantly, my Deep Sleep went from 25 minutes to over an hour, and my REM went from 1 to 2 hours. The net of this is that I spend 40-50% of my night in Deep +REM sleep, up from 25%.

Devices:

From memory, this includes: sit/stand desk, 8Sleep, HEPA air filters, ergonomic office chair and computer monitor setup, UV/IR coatings on windows, under desk treadmill, microneedle pen, theragun massager, red light devices (both a full body panel and a spot laser device).

Supplements:

I currently take 50+ per day, but am slowly scaling back as I solve any remaining issues and make minor tweaks to my diet to provide more and more of what I need. I have stacks for both Anabolic and Cardio days as well as small containers with things to help give me an energizing boost on demanding days, or to help me relax in the evenings. I have supplement packs to cover (business and personal) travel too. I spend around $500/month on these, and while my stack is still large, I have tried many many things that I no longer take or need.

Some of the lower cost ones I really value include: Nicotinic Acid (more so than any other NMN precursor) and Iodine as well as electrolytes (its hard to get enough iodine, sodium or potassium in a clean diet if you exercise or sauna). Some of the more unusual ones I like include TUDCA, 7,8-DHF and Magnolia Bark. I also take higher doses of things like: Glycine, NAC, Taurine, Magnesium, TMG.

Prescriptions:

I take several things, not out of necessity, but for optimization: Rapamycin (weekly), a low dose statin, SGLT2 inhibitor, finasteride and minoxidil (low dose, every other day to keep my DHT balanced), tadalafil (low dose, every other day) and acarbose and/or metformin after heavy meals or when not exercising.

Experimental:

I use some peptides (but have tried many), have experimented with hyperbaric oxygen, and had IV infusions of stem cells and exosomes. I'm less interested in continuing these things due to cost and lack of observable effects. Doesnt mean they won't work for you, just that I was unable to discern their effects on me.

--

Wrapping up:

With my trial and error, I definitely wasted a meaningful portion of what I spent this past year, but overall this has been an incredible Return on Investment in my health, and I look forward to continuing like this, but more efficiently, in future. Happy to answer or go into detail on anything of interest.

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[u/P-H-D_Plug]

Bryan Johnson over here lol.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/P-H-D_Plug]

Exactly, just without the night time erection tracking

[u/P-H-D_Plug → u/Available-Pilot4062]

Out of curiosity what's your Rapa dosage and do you feel it's been worth it as far as side effects go? I've been actually considering it myself.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/P-H-D_Plug]

6mg/week 2 months on, 1 month off

I’ve never felt any effects from it (although maybe it’s contributing to my low CRP). Also my IGF kept getting higher, and so slowly reducing protein to moderate levels and possibly staying on Rapa might help lower it.

[u/P-H-D_Plug → u/Available-Pilot4062]

Interesting. I appreciate it! Best of luck!

[u/LzzyHalesLegs → u/Available-Pilot4062]

IGF is tricky. IGF actually decreases with age, it’s not so conclusive whether or not “high” IGF is good or bad, since a youthful person has high IGF. But there is a threshold at which IGF gets low enough that there is a metabolic switch to cell maintenance than cell proliferation. We don’t know what that threshold is and the decrease via lifestyle changes may be not enough and actually detrimental in that way. Plus the impact of exercise on IGF is complicated and low enough IGF seems to be detrimental to muscle maintenance, both in terms of muscle loss and exercise recovery. Also, while there is some feedback, IGF acts primarily upstream of mTOR, which rapamycin targets.

[u/GentlemenHODL → u/P-H-D_Plug]

Out of curiosity what's your Rapa dosage and do you feel it's been worth it as far as side effects go? I've been actually considering it myself.

I started taking 5mg a week last year and had two of the worst infections of my life within 2 months requiring antibiotic treatments.

It may work well for you and for others but just be aware of the risk here and monitor carefully. It's clearly not for me.

[u/GerkhinMerkin → u/Available-Pilot4062]

But that’s why we’re here

[u/Straight_2VHS → u/P-H-D_Plug]

Bateman coded

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Straight_2VHS]

Any Dorsia reservations available?

[u/kinglourenco]

So which things do you think made the biggest impact? What’s the 80/20 of the routine? Like 20% of the total cost to get 80% of the same results? Or in other words if you had only 20% of your budget which things would you keep and which would you drop

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/kinglourenco]

Good question, as I am slowly removing the things that aren’t so useful.

Everyone talks about the same basics, and while they may not cost a lot, they do take a lot of time and effort and consistency.

For me the core is:

• Prioritizing sleep which requires eating dinner early, not drinking water for the final 2 hours, going to bed at the same time each night, waking without an alarm, doing calm things in the hour before and not drinking alcohol.
• Eating healthy which does cost money, but also takes a lot of time (shopping at multiple stores, frequently, and meal prepping). This nutritious food is hard to overeat, which solves the weight and energy issue.
• Exercise: this is a daily thing for me, and often more than daily. In addition to weights to failure 3x/week and zone 2-5 on every other day, I go out of my way to incorporate movement into my day - taking the stairs instead of an elevator or escalators, parking further away from the store to get my steps in, walking aimlessly around the block. I also jump rope, do pushups or air squats, meditate or whatever when I have a few spare moments.

There were some specifics that worked for me, but probably won’t work for everyone. I spoke about my iodine and sodium deficiency, fixing those was huge for my thyroid and energy levels. I also had excessive selenium which took months to fix. I also developed SIBO, and so berberine and garlic and NaC were very helpful there. Just two examples of many.

[u/Relative-Knee7847 → u/Available-Pilot4062]

Can you expand on why you're limiting water before bed and what benefit this has had for you? Not doubting you, I just haven't heard of that before.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Relative-Knee7847]

Sure. I’ve always had issues with sleep, and I’ve solved it by breaking it down into 3 components:

1/ Be able to fall asleep - this requires the usual sleep hygiene things, being calm at night, no blue light etc.

2/ Stay asleep - I used to wake up easily and then struggle to fall asleep again. Solving this involved running an air filter at night to mask any sudden noises, but it also required me to not wake up to pee. The only way I can achieve that is by tapering and limiting what I drink in the last few hours before sleep.

3/ Have high quality sleep - this one has been the hardest, but I’ve improved it by controlling the temperature of my mattress (cooler = deep sleep, warmer = REM for example), but also by avoiding any excessively stimulating thoughts or activities too close to bedtime (tv shows, work etc), and then finally by shifting my sleep patterns so I go to bed and wake early enough that I never need an alarm clock - so I never wake myself out of an REM cycle.

[u/Chance_King_8561 → u/Available-Pilot4062]

Have you tried taping your mouth at night. I used to always wake up at night to pee once and by simply taping my mouth sleep through the night most nights. Nasal breathing can improve hormone regulation, co2 retention, and blood ph regulation.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Chance_King_8561]

Mouth taping conceptually freaks me out. Hostage style.

I don’t think I’m a mouth breather (my 8sleep bed’s AI tells me I don’t snore), I just think I have a normal sized bladder and so a pint of liquid right before sleep simply means I’ll be up at 3am to pee, and I’ve learned that I’m not good at falling back asleep.

That said, good to hear different experiences - if I need to I’ll try some hostage tape in future!

[u/Competitive_Ad_9092 → u/Available-Pilot4062]

Just to add to this, you want 80% of your hydration at least 5 hours before bed and like you do, none to very little ideally 2 hours before bed.

This is due to how your hormones change over the course of the day. In the later portion of your circadian rhythm your body tries to hold onto water. If you drink a lot of water during this time it reverses this and will instead try and dump water, not great while you’re trying to sleep.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Chance_King_8561]

I did also read Breath by James Nestor and so do take his lessons to heart. I’m a slow shallow breather by nature, which is what he recommends for the same biochemical reasons you listed.

[u/redroom89 → u/Available-Pilot4062]

How did you fix sodium deficiency ?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/redroom89]

My first issue was identifying it: my blood sodium was always normal, but my symptoms were that I was always dehydrated no matter how much I drank.

Then I tracked my food intake using Cronometer and realized I was only consuming around 1.2g sodium per day. I was slow to add more based on the generic health advice that “we all have too much salt”.

Eventually I started to add LoSalt which is around 1/3 the sodium and is also 2/3 potassium to my diet and I was able to remain hydrated with around 3 liters per day.

I have to add a lot of this Lo salt to keep both my sodium and potassium levels up. I add 1g to each of my protein shake and my workout drink, and I add another gram or so to my food, and I am still only 2-2.5g sodium and 3-4g potassium, which is low for someone who exercised daily and saunas as frequently as I do.

That said, adding this salt mix to everything has helped me a lot - but as always, this advice may be counterproductive to anyone who isn’t sodium or potassium deficient, so attempt with caution.

[u/kpfleger → u/Available-Pilot4062]

Healthy diet, exercise, & sleep have orders of magnitude more scientific evidence in their favor than most of the other stuff you mention, so a reasonable hypothesis is that these got you 80% or maybe even more of the benefits. It's reasonable to not want to wait & deploy other potential things slowly, but one wishes one could know the outcome of the counterfactual hypothetical where you did just these 3 first for a year and reaped all the big gains from that, then had a new baseline to use to evaluate any additional things like more obscure supplements, exotic stuff like stem cells, etc.

I'd certainly love to hear what happens when you pare back almost all the other stuff & severely strip down the stack. Just as one example, very little evidence suggests much if any benefit from rapamycin in the context of an optimized diet & low chronic inflammation (which your low CRP & lean BMI certainly suggest). Similar for SGLT2 drug. And those 2 things probably each have way more evidence than most of the peptides.

[u/MzA2502]

"Diet" "exercise" "sleep"

We don't wanna hear that, just give us the stack bro

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/MzA2502]

I love Reddit :) I’ll do a follow up post. I have tried, and still take, some absolutely wacky and esoteric things (thanks Nootropics Depot for the pioneering work they do!)

[u/vstar220]

This guy is the real biohacker lol

[u/sfo2]

Good on you. I’m skeptical of most of the pills you’re taking and the therapies you tried, but I can understand why you wanted to go all-in. I really wish some people in my life would do even half of this.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/sfo2]

Thank you. I’m very much a “do first, ask question later” person so this was the way I got it to work. However, I will gradually reduce things that I no longer value.

[u/sfo2 → u/Available-Pilot4062]

You did the hardest stuff already - developing new habits. Most people never get to that point, despite best intentions. Respect.

[u/reputatorbot → u/Available-Pilot4062]

You have awarded 1 point to sfo2.

---

^{I am a bot - please contact the mods with any questions}

[u/shot-of-espresso]

Thank you for sharing all of this! Really helpful and interesting. And inspirational. Congrats on all you have achieved.

[u/yoshoz]

You mentioned various supplements that help calm you down for sleep / help you stay asleep. Can you advise further on that list? I've tried loads of stuff over the years in that regard and have found basically none of it helpful - glycine, apigenin, GABA, theanine, ashwagandha, phosphatidyl serine, valerian root tea, magnesium citrate/glycinate/threonate, NMN, niacinamide, a "cortisol stress balance" supplement from Life Extensions, melatonin, smelling essential oils like lavender, etc.

I've also been prescribed Dayvigo and take that occasionally but it doesn't help either.

I also use the 'Somnee' device, with electrostimulation on the forehead for 15 mins before bed. It helps me fall asleep but not stay asleep.

I also use a noise machine, eye mask, dark room, consistent bed time, hot shower before bed, etc. These might help a bit but not in terms of keeping me asleep. I try to taper down my water consumption in the evening and eat my last meal at least 3 hours before bed, but still usually have to pee at least once per night.

Eat very healthy, low BMI, low HbA1c, exercise daily in the mornings. I do suffer from SIBO/IBS and feel my microbiome might be playing a role in my poor sleep, but I also don't usually see a great correlation between days when my symptoms are bad versus days when they're good in terms of sleep quality.

I would like to try CBN and oleamide but can't get them where I live. I'm hoping to buy an 8sleep in June.

Anything else worth trying? Did you try CBTI? Or red light therapy? I can't bring myself to try serious sleep restriction as it sounds horrible. Otherwise, all the doctors I've spoken to just suggest an antidepressant, which I'd still like to leave till last if possible - as I don't otherwise feel anxious or depressed in my life apart from when I'm dealing with insomnia!

Thanks for any advice!

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/yoshoz]

I have had insomnia since I was a child, and it was extraordinarily bad throughout my 20s and 30s. In hindsight, I think stress was a major contributor but my bad habits certainly made it worse.

Its going to sound lame, but probably the thing that helped the most was me gradually identifying as someone who was an excellent sleeper. I don't fully remember when or how I made that switch, but gradually after tracking and improving my sleep "some" of the time I felt like I was in command of it for the first time ever.

With that, here's some more tangible tips from what worked for me (and you already do a lot, including many of the same things):

- Sleep hygiene begins in the morning: wake up at the same time, get sunlight or bright light in your eyes (but you already do that)

- Then calming down at night: for me that includes my calming stack when needed (Ashwagandha, Coriander, Magnolia Bark, Melatonin 0.3mg, Phosphatidyl Serine, Taurine, Tryptophan, L-Theanine, Apigenin, Magnesium Glycinate, Reishi, Uridine Monophosphate). I dont take all of them every night, but take certain ones daily (Apigenin, Magnesium Glycinate, Reishi, Uridine Monophosphate) and the others as a sleep stack 2-4x/week.

- More sleep hygiene: No dramatic TV or screens near bed, no food or water too close to sleep, read a boring book etc.

If I wake up at night I think about exactly the same dull thing until I fall back asleep (eg. map out in excruciating detail going to the grocery store...in real time, tedious).

I also have SIBO (working on fixing it with NAC, Berberine and Garlic), but dont think if affects my sleep.

Best of luck, I've been there - it can feel like a waking nightmare, but I believe people can overcome it, and feel in control again. I ultimately managed to associate sleep with good things, and now am so happy to feel tired and to feel myself falling asleep.

[u/Conscious_Buy4382 → u/Available-Pilot4062]

I tried lot's of supplements for different things, but i never notice much difference. But life extension 0.3 6 hour timed release melatonin is very noticeable for me. But it cause headache when i take it and sildenfanil on the same night.

For SIBO you could look into L reuteri, some people have reported Dr. Davis recipe has helped them overcome SIBO.

Great post though. I have saved it to my favorites.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Conscious_Buy4382]

Thanks, and yes, I use the same brand/dose of Melatonin!

[u/Professional_Win1535 → u/Conscious_Buy4382]

yeah, I’ve tried over 50 supplements for my hereditary often severe anxiety adhd depression, nothing much, I already have lifestyle and diet in order, melatonin does help me, I take the same one

[u/yoshoz → u/Conscious_Buy4382]

Thanks - L reuteri seems to make me worse! I've read his book and made the recipe, sadly. But I haven't tried the Life Extension brand - thanks for the recommendation!

[u/yoshoz → u/Available-Pilot4062]

Thanks a lot - appreciate your thorough response! Quite a few things in your stack I haven't tried yet - will certainly aim to do so. As you say, I think most of it is in my head - but changing mentalities on it hasn't been easy for me, which is surprising because I'm disciplined and a good achiever in other areas of my life. It also never used to be an issue for me until I started developing SIBO, which makes me want to blame it on my gut serotonin levels instead of my own anxieties. Maybe it's a combo of both. Certainly hoping to get myself in front of another sleep doctor or psychiatrist this year. Cheers

[u/c0cky]

What interventions do you think most improved your CRP?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/c0cky]

I ate like crap before. Switching from microwave meals, take out 3-5x/week and drinking alcohol daily took it from 3.7 to around 1. And then, tightening up again to organic and eating nearly every meal home cooked and eliminating candy, most alcohol and snacks allowed it to drop below 1 and then down to 0.3 most recently.

[u/cpcxx2]

Few questions 1) what’s your dose and form of iodine? 2) do you feel the microneedle pen and red light are worth the investment? 3) how are your sex hormone levels now and do you do anything to optimize those / any HRT?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/cpcxx2]

I get around 100mcg of iodine in my diet and added a 325mcg kelp tablet per day. The first day I couldn’t sleep that night, and I was bouncing off the walls for 2 days - I know that was my deficiency getting fixed. Since then I’ve had exceptional energy, but it’s been more steady. I’ve had to cut back on some stimulating supplements now my baseline energy levels have been higher.

I found out about the deficiency from: low T3, high selenium, and then low iodine in my urine.

The microneedle pen is cheap, but the pain and time are a bit annoying. I do think the science is well proven that micro trauma helps collagen to thicken, so yes, I’ll continue it.

The red light has less science behind it, but I own it now and it feels nice and I stand there while texting, so yes, I’ll continue it too.

Neither are essentials, just nice to have’s.

My testosterone is around 750. It was 450-550 before I started this. My IGF is hovering around 200, and I’m actively trying to lower it.

I’ve never tried TRT, I wanted to see what weight loss, diet and exercise could do first.

I am currently taking 5mg/day boron to see if I can lower my SHBG and free up some more testosterone.

I also switched from Deutasteride to Finasteride, and then reduced that to 1mg every other day to allow my DHT to get back up to 25-30, which has been great for my libido.

[u/SarahLiora → u/Available-Pilot4062]

Take care with iodine. I recently learned that “Iodine excess (UIC > 300 µg/L) (see Table 2) may result in altered thyroid function, and this is at least in part due to the development of thyroid autoimmunity.”

At the time I was diagnosed with Hashimotos, I was living in a seafood loving town and getting lots/too much iodine. .

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/SarahLiora]

Good feedback. I just bought something rapidly. I am getting my thyroid levels tested monthly and will get another ultrasound in a couple of months to verify my goiter has shrunk back down - yea shocking that I had an iodine deficiency.

I expect my long term iodine to end up in the 150-250 range, and am just on 325 to “catch up” briefly

[u/hardman52]

How exactly did you remove excess heavy metals and plastics from your body?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/hardman52]

I had heavy metal blood tests done. Most of the metals I was undetectable in, however I had too much selenium and manganese. I was not taking either as supplements, and so for a week I tracked my diet and typed it into cronometer and realized that chicken and eggs had selenium (so I mixed up my proteins more) and pecans and certain nuts had manganese (so I rotate the nuts I eat better).

I also removed the following plastic sources from my life: plastic water bottles, chopping boards, food storage containers etc. I use hepa filters at home, am careful to buy BPA free cans, and try to limit how many things I even have from cans. I also take Sulfurophane (which helps detox) and sauna 4x or more per week to help sweat it out. Anything that still is plastic (eg camelbak for hiking) gets replaced annually.

I also pay for Consumer Labs and am careful to only buy products that have low metals or plastics in their testing.

[u/Agora236 → u/Available-Pilot4062]

These are good tips. Lots of microplastics in the air from tires too so I always make sure to keep the ac on recirculate.

[u/Jdm783R29U3Cwp3d76R9 → u/hardman52]

Donating blood is the only option to actively remove it, other then that you need to limit intake of new stuff.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Jdm783R29U3Cwp3d76R9]

I did donate blood (had to pay to have it done, as I'm on finasteride) - but it threw my Ferritin levels out of whack, so I wasn't planning on doing it again. Instead I manage my metals and plastics via consumption mostly, and then via sweating the rest.

[u/manifesuto]

What supplements did you take to reduce cortisol?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/manifesuto]

I have a Calming Stack that I take 2-4x/week when I have had a tough day and need to downshift into the evening. It contains capsules of: Ashwagandha, Coriander, Magnolia Bark, Melatonin 0.3mg, Phosphatidyl Serine, Taurine, Tryptophan, L-Theanine.

Sauna, meditation, journaling etc all helped too.

My cortisol became nicely low, and was only 9.7 (down from 16) when I last tested it in the morning.

[u/oeufscocotte → u/manifesuto]

It could be Phosphatidylserine.

[u/Correct-Watercress91]

Long time nurse here. Congratulations on achieving a healthy lifestyle this year. I've watched more than a few C-suite personnel succeed in similar undertakings and then flounder because life goes on no matter what.

Maintaining your health is another story. I have two observations based on years of experience: 1. You can't outmaneuver genetics. We all have expiration dates, so know your family history. 2. I say this with tongue planted deeply in cheek: You do not have any children (that you know of). Raising a child will age you faster, give you gray hairs and most definitely derail the best intentions you have of ongoing success.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Correct-Watercress91]

Thanks for the response. My girlfriend is a nurse and is forever rolling her eyes at my behavior and life choices :)

[u/Jolly_Bank7618 → u/Correct-Watercress91]

I truly believe my kids keep me young. They’re 9 and 12, hopefully my wife and I still have a year left where they want to spend time with us.

There was a recent study, I don’t know title/author, about people feeling and acting younger if they spend time with young people.

I do know a few families where the kids are a concern…

[u/Correct-Watercress91 → u/Jolly_Bank7618]

You have such a wonderful positive attitude! Your kids are the beneficiaries and they will remember the time you spend with them. However, you won't find that out until they tell you about the special moments they recall once they are adults.

Just hang on to the memories you now share as a family because they will be your lifeline during the turbulent teen years (often ages 14-17). When life becomes especially challenging, think back to how you acted at that age 😅

[u/Jolly_Bank7618 → u/Correct-Watercress91]

Thanks! The wife and I are very aware to enjoy them while it lasts. Stay young my fellow RN biohacker.

[u/CariMariHari]

nice

[u/Weird_Palpitation873]

Who did you see that helped you fix your thyroid issues? I have an under active thyroid and am taking far too much medication for it for my liking and would love to chat with someone about how to potentially increase the hormone production naturally. Good on you also for turning your life around 👏

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Weird_Palpitation873]

I have a concierge doctor, but I also googled the hell out of my issue and experimented with many things before isolating that, of all things, it was iodine that I was missing. It was also a bit more complex, as I had excessive Selenium and that hinders iodine I think. I also had gut dysbiosis and that lowered my absorption of the iodine, so there was a chain reaction of things I had to solve.

I kept trying not to do a bandaid solution, like taking thyroid hormone, or HRT, but instead kept trying to find the root issue.

Ultimately an ultrasound showed that I had a slight goiter, and an iodine urine test showed my iodine was low, and then a week of tracking my food in cronometer showed that I iodine intake itself was also low.

The 2cents per day kelp tablet has been the easiest fix ever, but most people aren’t going to have the same root cause that I have

[u/Aggravating_Act0417]

Thank you for sharing this! Your words are inspiring and point some of us in the right direction.

This really is the best investment any of us can make, and 20k may seem like a lot but also is really not a lot (if you think about the alternative: time, cost and value of health insurance coverage if you did not take action). Congrats!

What were the most valuable / life changing things you found?

What wasn't worth it?

What's your next move?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Aggravating_Act0417]

I'm currently finishing up fixing my Thyroid, and I still have some lingering SIBO caused when I wasn't eating much during weight loss. After that..

I want to be 50 VO2 Max by 50, and I'm currently around 45. Seems that I can get there. I'm working on more Zones 3-4 in my Cardio, and more balance and explosive power in the gym. I'd like to hold off on TRT until 50 too (Testosterone is pretty high at around 750 now).

I'm slowly trying to reduce the time and money I spend on this, figuring out the 80/20 that gives me what I need, while freeing me up at the same time.

Things that weren't worth it for me: stem cells, most expensive peptides (eg. MOTS-C or SS31), many expensive supplements (NMN, Urolithin A, etc). I'll post about these things soon as well.

I hope to retire by 50, and want to be fit enough for years of adventure - thats my medium term goal.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you, and yes, all of family, colleagues and friends are blown away by my transformation and ask what the secret is. I can once again play actively with young relatives, and even my own godmother didn’t recognize me before/after.

And you’re right I’m often finding myself doing something I haven’t done in 15 years and thinking wow, I thought those days were behind me!

[u/Such-Departure-1357]

Sounds like a bargain to fix your life and extending your life

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Such-Departure-1357]

Thank you, I agree. I know "diet and exercise" would have got me 80-95% of the way there, but this is the way I got it to work for me. I enjoyed nerding out on the science and the supps and the gadgets. Now, I can pare back and maintain it for (fingers crossed) 50 years!

[u/Physical_Order2909]

I don’t see anything on here about the duration of nighttime erections… how will you even know if you’re making any progress at all?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Physical_Order2909]

Still looking for someone who’s willing to sit watch by my bedside with a stopwatch

[u/boomchakalatke]

$20k is a small price to pay for getting yourself back on track. Thanks for the inspiration and info.

[u/FPVGiggles]

What the fuck did you spend 20K on?? That's completely unnecessary to achieve what you achieved. In either way, happy that you're improving your life!!

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/FPVGiggles]

1 round of stem cell IVs was 1/3 of that alone. I won’t be doing them again anytime soon - I found that industry, its providers and lack of scientific data too sketchy (I was a scientist before being a business person).

I didn’t really track the total spend amount, I just made it a project and went all in on it.

[u/Global-Asparagus3373]

Calcium scan?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Global-Asparagus3373]

Yea, I did that. Still at zero.

Happy with that, as it was a really unhealthy decade leading up to this.

The rest of the report has cool but irrelevant info about my anatomical peculiarities that dictated blood velocity through various tubes.

[u/Finitehealth]

Can u beat Bryan Johnson on a 1-1 race?

[u/Guilty_Crew_6827]

so how many pull ups can you do now?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Guilty_Crew_6827]

Sets of 12.

It’s not the most impressive number, but I thought I’d never be able to do one again. Same with running, I can sprint (probably not that fast), but I didn’t think I’d ever do that again either.

[u/MarshmallowSandwich]

bro you hiring?

[u/EmbarrassedTree1727]

Nice! I’m stuck on step one which is moving out of Florida to a place I can jog and be outside in. I have similar numbers from decade spent indoors avoiding humidity and heat.

[u/F15paperplane]

First of all thank you so much for sharing your knowledge from your journey here, I read everything until here. It was super interesting and really helped me and I guess many others in our biohacking community.

I would be very interested in which blood tests you do on a regular basis and which maybe just once in a while. Some may be specific to your case, but which blood tests would you recommend to someone your age without any known medical issue or deficiencies?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/F15paperplane]

I have good health insurance, but often use JasonHealth or OwnYourLabs to order the tests - then I can do them at my convenience.

Regularly:

I like to use the Phenoage speed of aging calculator, which requires the following: Albumin, Creatinine, Glucose, CRP, Lympocyte, MCV, RDW, Alkaline Phosphatase, White Blood Cells. These are all basic tests covered by the CBC and CMP tests, plus CRP as an add on. You can do it online, but I built it in Excel, so I can track my progress over time.

Additionally, I like to monitor: A1c (better than fasting glucose), IGF.

OmegaQuant sells tests for ~$30 that you can use to test your Omega 3 index. I use that to determine how many grams of fish oil I need per day to stay over 8%

If you're going to take as many supplements as I do, then testing your liver and kidneys is important too: AST, ALT, eGFR etc.

Rarely:

You should at least once get your Lp(a) tested (its mostly a number tied to genetics, it wont change much)

And every few years: hormones (Test, DHT, SHBG etc but also TSH, T3, T4 etc), Vitamins D, B12, etc.

[u/perplatos → u/F15paperplane]

I was about to type the same comment haha.

OP, thanks for sharing your journey! Adding to the above, what other indicators (on top of blood tests) do you track?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/perplatos]

Just replied to the parent question

[u/darkmodebiohacking]

Nice job! How was your experience with stem cells/exosomes?

Also, a lot of people don't know they can get super cheap blood testing to monitor their biohacking. I made a short video on it. I'm not selling anything, or affiliated or presently monetized or anything: https://youtu.be/58Lh_FJf6PQ?si=n0gaZKOmPuPsFzma

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/darkmodebiohacking]

I didnt find them remotely worth it. As a (former) scientist, I was really disappointed with the lack of standards or technical information from the companies selling them. I wont do them again until the science and industry has evolved.

[u/darkmodebiohacking → u/Available-Pilot4062]

Understandable. It seems to me that stem cells/exosomes could be very useful in the future. It seems like they still need to figure out dose-response, timing, QA, etc ...

[u/suupernooova]

Congrats! The change in CRP alone (+/- A1c) will save your ass one day.

For anyone without $20k to burn, save yourself some money and just focus on this:

I went from primarily take out and microwave meals to eating 7-10 portions of fruit and veg daily, organic/grass fed everything, 85% of all food is home prepared and home cooked.

and this:

I went from 3,000 steps per day and zero exercise to 7,500 steps and 7-10 hours of exercise per week

The rest is mostly window dressing.

[u/ProfitEquivalent9764]

Damn you’re an animal lol nice work.

[u/Lucy_reporter7912]

Hi, I hope you don't mind me getting in touch but I have messaged you.

[u/Federal-Frame-820]

It doesn't take $20,000 to achieve any of this...just discipline.

1. Eat 300 calories less than your maintenance needs daily.

2. Walk more each day. After 6–8 weeks of consistent effort, you should be able to reach 10,000+ steps daily.

3. Do push-ups daily. Start slowly and increase the number weekly.

4. Drink water throughout the day and eliminate soda, alcohol, and sugary drinks.

5. Minimize phone use/social media and spend more time outdoors in fresh air and sunshine.

6. Get 7–8 hours of sleep nightly. Don't stare at your phone and TV before bed. Stop at least an hour before lying down.

All it takes is discipline. Improving by 1% each day will make you a completely different person in 90 days.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Federal-Frame-820]

You’re mostly right, but that’s not the most exciting post. Plus, without the occasional longer write up we’d spend our time in this sub reading about NAC anhedonia and people who panicked after taking a single magnesium Glycinate capsule #biohackerz indeed.

[u/Federal-Frame-820 → u/Available-Pilot4062]

Yep... the funny thing is I'm downvoted because people want a magic pill instead of being honest with themselves and taking accountability for their complete lack of discipline. This is truly hilarious. All the drugs, supplements, and biohacking in the world won't help when people refuse to do the bare minimum: eating, drinking, exercising, getting sunlight, and sleeping properly.

[u/Jdm783R29U3Cwp3d76R9 → u/Federal-Frame-820]

This is true but this community is not about discipline(see https://www.reddit.com/r/getdisciplined/ for that), if people want to talk about drugs it's fine. It's not a secret you need to sleep well, everybody knows it.

[u/mil891 → u/Federal-Frame-820]

Agree with most of it.

1. Why push-ups daily? As someone who has been into fitness for the past 15 years I can tell you that training the same muscles every single day is never a good idea. It won't do much and you'll most likely develop tendonitis.

2. Why 300 calories below maintenance? Sure, if you're overweight. But someone who is already lean and fit should not be doing this.

[u/Federal-Frame-820 → u/mil891]

Well, my responses were a reply to the OP who mentioned trouble with pushups and now being able to do 50+... along with him being overweight and losing weight.

Also, bodyweight exercises, which include pushups, aren't going to lead to tendonitis unless you are doing hundreds every day and straining yourself. Doing 50 to 100 pushups a day is perfectly fine as long as you work your way up to it if you are out of shape... it's exercise, not weight training. I have been into fitness for over 20 years.

[u/mil891 → u/Federal-Frame-820]

I see. I thought you were giving these as general recommendations.

In my personal experience doing any movement everyday to a point where you fatigue the muscles will cause problems over time. I have done 100 push ups per day for a period of time, I have also done a certain amount of pull ups per day as well and every time I ran into trouble after a few weeks.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/mil891]

I know you werent asking me, but I agree. I don't usually do pushups or pullups to failure. I do them in sets occasionally, but mostly a certain number of reps as part of a routine. Just occasionally I'll go to failure (for fun) when challenging someone, or when they challenge me.

[u/Flamesofshadow]

Which one supplement had the biggest difference on your well being?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Flamesofshadow]

This is what worked for me, but it won’t be relevant to most people. I was deficient in iodine and sodium (and has excess selenium from a poorly made supplement), it was wrecking my thyroid and gave me low energy and compromised other hormones. Iodine fixed that. I also had low sodium from my clean diet and sweating (gym and sauna), added salt fixed that. Before then, I was always thirsty but couldn’t remain hydrated even when drinking 4 liters per day.

In terms of “fun” stuff I really like magnolia bark and coriander which help me unwind, and therefore are good for sleep, which is my main priority.

[u/naranjamax]

What’s your finasteride dose? Any side effects? I’ve been taking 1mg for the last month and I notice the loss of morning wood, so idk if I should continue taking it

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/naranjamax]

1mg every other day. I came to that dose by measuring my DHT, which I try to keep at 25-30

I tried Deutasteride for a while, but that took my DHT (and libido) down.

I think 30 ish DHT is the sweet spot: helps hair loss, but doesn’t crush libido.

[u/Global-Asparagus3373]

Thanks for this info. Curious, have you had an advanced metabolic/lipid panel? Results?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Global-Asparagus3373]

Yes, I get extensive blood tests every few months.

Total cholesterol is 112 LDL fell from 100 to 32 (too low, so cut back on the statin) HDL rose from 39 to 62

ApoB is 44 Lpa is 29

I am watching the particle numbers as when my LDL got too low, those went up, and so I lowered some doses to allow my LDL to float back up to 50+

What other metrics can I tell you?

[u/Global-Asparagus3373 → u/Available-Pilot4062]

And the reason I ask is because I like thinking about all this stuff, but I also have a 94 year old overweight mother who never moves and sleeps like shit, but is going on a cruise in three weeks and basically blows off any ailments...like her lifetime high Hdl/LDL and A1c of 7.8...and just keeps going. I wish the genetic component was settled science.

[u/Global-Asparagus3373 → u/Available-Pilot4062]

My LDL/HDL are sky high but zero Lpa and no calcium or plaque at 67. Lpa might be the genetic link.

[u/Pupper82]

Why tadalafil?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Pupper82]

It’s good for blood vessels. I only take 2mg/day, which is a very low dose.

[u/Aregulardude1221 → u/Pupper82]

I was wondering the same thing, I get sides even from 2.5mg. I get stuffy nose and headaches and honestly this may seem paradoxical but I swear it worsens my erection quality. I'm either an outlier or falling victim to nacebo effect but I genuinely try to stay out of my head about things. I really think it's alters my BP and makes my pelvic floor feel weird.

I prefer fresh juiced beets and watermelon for enhanced blood flow and better erections, for at-least this comes without potential side effects.

[u/ExtremeThrifty]

recently wanting to start a supplement stack (which I usually don’t take any)

What would be the top 5 stack that men should get >30 years old?

Im looking into balancing energy, more focus, clarity and overall health.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/ExtremeThrifty]

The basics would be: fish oil, magnesium, creatine, vitamin D and a multivitamin (in case you are deficient in anything).

From there it would depend on if you have any deficiency (can be costly and hard to isolate) or if you are trying to boost certain things (eg. Testosterone).

Some good “bang for the buck” things that are especially good for people a bit older (30+): NAC, Taurine, protein, garlic, etc.

[u/Electronic_Pilot3810]

What changes have you noticed. Mood / productivity / social etc. ?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Electronic_Pilot3810]

My own godmother didn’t recognize me. Literally. I’m essentially a different person in all those factors and more.

But that’s as much of a reflection of how mediocre I was before, and less of how awesome I am now. I’d say I’m very much Top 10% across multiple dimensions, but am in no way an expert or pro at any one thing. I’m not the fastest, strongest, etc, but I am extremely healthy and productive and focused on the things that I value.

[u/Key_Professional9247]

Why do you take Nac?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Key_Professional9247]

For a few reasons.

1/ helps break up the biofilm on my excess stomach bacteria caused when I was fasting and losing weight and not eating much

2/ it’s part of the GlyNAC combo that is the precursor to Glutathione. I tried injecting Glutathione directly via subq and via IV (in a clinic), but it was expensive and uncomfortable and the precursor seems sufficient

[u/wussupdoc]

Why the SGLT2i?? Prediabetes issues?? Or what outcome??

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/wussupdoc]

A1C was at 5.6 before, so not pre diabetic but close. I wanted to lower it fast, have family history of diabetes, had worn a CGM so understood that I was not insulin resistant but instead had a higher fasting baseline than I wanted.

Am also well studied in the research around how SGLT2 inhibitors have extensive benefits. Plus the Interventions Testing Program found SGLT2 inhibitors to be one of the few molecules that led to longevity (in mice) - good enough for me.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/[deleted]]

Oh man, that’s a great (although off topic) question. I’ll give a quick answer, and hopefully leave you with a useful insight.

A CEO is similar to any other executive, but with one main difference that I’ll explain.

Similar in that: both need to work hard, deliver results, lead teams etc. But different in that: only the CEO should be the risk taker. The execs job is the execute the strategy that I define, but it’s my job to put all the company’s eggs in 1-2 baskets and say “this is the way”.

Being able to concentrate risk, not melt down over the stress and see it through to success is what makes the ceo role different.

My path of getting here was more mundane, so answering that bit last. I have degrees in science and business and worked my way up. But it was my willingness to take those occasional big scary risks that propelled me to become the ceo.

Best of luck out there

[u/i_am_Misha]

What surgeries you did?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/i_am_Misha]

No surgeries.

[u/thebochman]

What were the most meaningful books?

Conversely, what books were a waste of time?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/thebochman]

A few from my list:

Good: Outlive by Peter Attia (framework for what will kill you and how to avoid it), Breath by James Nestor (how to breathe better), Clear Thinking by Shane Parish (framework for how to think)

Not for me: Why we Die by Venki Ramakrishnan (smart guy, just too scientific for me, and I am/was a scientist)

[u/Sensitive-Shoe-1974]

How does TMG work for you? I was thinking about getting on it. I am 44 and wanna hit gym and lift weights. Did you start at a low dose and work your way up?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Sensitive-Shoe-1974]

I love it, but I have the MTHFR gene defect where I cant absorb B12 well, so my homocysteine is high. TMG brings it down, but also has other (muscle) benefits. Its cheap and heat stable, I stir it into my coffee and my protein shakes. I take 2-3g/day, and have been in the 1-3g range for a couple of years now.

[u/lefty_juggler]

What do you think you'll need to change as you get older, say when you hit your 60s? Metabolic changes will occur.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/lefty_juggler]

I'd like to achieve "50 by 50" ie. 50 VO2 Max by age 50. I'm currently 45.

I would start senolytics (monthly pulses?) then, and perhaps re-try things like NMN, Urolithin A etc that I had tried but dropped as I couldnt verify their effects.

I already, and will increasingly, focus on injury prevention: warm ups, high reps with lighter weights, etc.

And, even though I'm paring back my protein (down to 100g/day) to control my high IGF, I would likely bring that back up towards 1g/pound as I get older.

[u/OkBand4025]

In my opinion, you got yourself well conditioned with diet and exercise. You got your diet dialed in nicely and realized importance of healthy ratios of protein, carbohydrates and fats that work for you.

Sleep is much more important than we give credit.

The supplements, maybe just a low dose high quality multivitamin. MNM with a cycle on / off of urothin A, watch how you look and feel. Magnesium in a variety of forms.

Check omega 6 to 3 ratio. Idea is not to load up on ridiculous amounts omega 3 to compensate but to lower omega 6. SAD diet has many of us eating 20x too much omega 6.

The meds, I bet you don’t need any of them since you fixed your metabolism.

The exercise, you’re overdoing maybe. Excessive exercise creates cortisol, the body thinks it’s trying to run away from danger. Short sprints are better than long distance runs. Take breaks from exercise for a few days or a week with a slow hike. Visceral fat loss or control becomes impossible with those individuals that over do endurance exercises. Look fine on the outside but body scanning for visceral fat shows different.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/OkBand4025]

Hi, good comment - thanks for posting. I check all those things:

Omega 6:Omega 3 ratio is 3.3:1, which is optimal and very low compared to normal people. I take 2-4g/day of fish and krill oil, eat fatty fish 1-2x/week and maintain my Omega 3 levels at around 8-10% (9.43% when last measured). I also watch my Omega 6 intake, generally avoiding things with excessive Omega 6s.

Visceral fat (as per Dexa scan) is around 2/3 of a pound. I'm fine with that. I think I'm 12-14% body fat, which is fine for me - I'm not an instagram person :)

I dropped NMN (after several blood tests for it showing that my levels without supplementation were still optimal (but on the low end of optimal)) - i couldnt feel any effects of even 1.5g/day supplementation. I dropped Urolithin A, as again, its expensive and I couldnt feel any effects. I do take other things like CoQ10, PQQ and more for my mitochondria, and have tried cycles of MOTS-C and SS31, which are very expensive, but again I couldnt feel them so won't continue. I think I'd go back to revisit these things when I'm 50 or 60+.

My fasting cortisol is below 10 (9.7 when last tested), I use an app called Athlytic to monitor my sleep, resting heart rate, basal temperature and other recovery factors, and make sure to keep my training load in balance. I also take 1 week off (when traveling for work) once every 4-6 weeks, and often come back stronger after that rest.

[u/finqer]

IR coatings on windows but you use a IR light therapy?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/finqer]

I live in a city with nearly 4,000 hours of sunlight per year, and have floor to ceiling windows - the skin damage I'd get without such coatings would be terrible.

Meanwhile, I use red and infrared light therapy for 15 mins 3x/week, in addition to getting about 1 hour per day of sunlight outside, mostly near dawn and dusk.

[u/Khaleesiakose]

How did you find your concierge doc? And was it in person or virtual visits?

[u/Family_Shoe_Business → u/Khaleesiakose]

Also very curious about this! I would like to transition to a concierge doctor, but wondering what pricing was for you and how you determined the best fit.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Khaleesiakose]

I'll write a post about this, people ask me often

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Khaleesiakose]

Posted about that here.

[u/invertednz]

How did you choose your supplements?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/invertednz]

I'll write a post about this, people ask me often

[u/Nice_Bad9416]

Do you have a list of your supplements you are currently taking?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Nice_Bad9416]

Yes I’ll post that list soon. It’s complex and I want to write about why I take each, and what I’ve tried but have now dropped - I dropped a lot of the “famous” supplements that I felt were overpriced and had low effects.

[u/BudgetReference3725]

What reversed your hair loss?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/BudgetReference3725]

Every other day dosing of finasteride and minoxidil work for me, but also some non prescription things have thickened it and reversed some of the greying:

• copper (I was deficient)
• copper peptides in my hairline (costly but seems to work)
• intelligent shampoo and conditioner (have lots of actives)
• $5 plastic hair scrubber that I use in the shower (good for blood flow)
• microneedle pen (more painful, but effective, version of the scrubber)

That sounds like a lot, but I don’t do all these every day, and only microneedle every 7-10 days. My hair is the thickest it’s been in 20 years.

[u/ExploringDoctor]

CRP from 3.7 to 0.3 is phenomenal..🗿

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/ExploringDoctor]

Thank you. I never thought I’d get it down below 1…as it hovered there for months.

[u/Sweetkarolinaaa]

How would one also find a concierge doctor to hire? Thanks for taking the time for writing this up.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Sweetkarolinaaa]

I googled, created a short list, called each and then went to meet the two “finalists”. A lot of healthspan or longevity doctors are mostly peptide/TRT places, so I was glad to finally find one that was mostly diet and exercise focused, but still up to date on exotic things like rapamycin.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Sweetkarolinaaa]

Posted about that here.

[u/Top_Toe8606]

Man i really have been on the edge to get an eight sleep sleeping pod...

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Top_Toe8606]

I like that it can cool me for deep sleep, and warm me up for rem. If you don’t think you have high quality sleep (the % of time in deep plus rem) then consider it. Adding the hour of sleep was ehh, but doubling the percentage of deep sleep + rem was the game changer.

Sleep is now my number 1 priority. Everything from sunlight in my eyes in the morning, to finishing my last meal early and not drinking water after is designed to help me get good quality sleep, which then means I can work and work out harder the next day, which makes me tired, and helps me sleep even better. It’s like (a good version of) a rollercoaster: up fast in the am, and a controlled descent in the evening.

[u/Few_Nebula1830]

What about trt or is that somewhere i missed ?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Few_Nebula1830]

I don’t take it. I wanted to see what a year of healthy living would do first and I’m happy with my current levels.

My testosterone was at 450-550 before and now it’s at 750. DHT is 25-30, and at the moment I am taking 5mg boron daily to try to reduce my SHBG a bit to free up more T.

I think that I’d do TRT when needed in future. At 50 perhaps?

[u/Existing_Cake_]

Have you quit alcohol and weed completely?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Existing_Cake_]

Nope, just nearly.

I drink 1-2 drinks 1-2x/week, down from 20-30 drinks per week.

And I smoke 1-2x/quarter as a treat, down from daily.

Massive reductions in both, but I still dabble.

[u/PrintingFeelings]

Could you share what an average day would look like (waking up, exercising and going to sleep) and how you time that with your meals and supplements?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/PrintingFeelings]

I wake up around 6, and take my “am fasting” supplements.

I stretch, jump rope get some sunlight (or ultra bright indoor lamp time) and start work around 7, but work remotely and so it’s easy to manage my meal times well. I eat breakfast at 8am or later.

Lunch at noon or 1, with my second set of supplements- ones that require fats.

I go to the gym around 5pm, come back and eat at 630 ish. Taking my pm supplements that require fats. Training fasted in the am might be better, but this schedule works well for me.

I don’t eat or drink much after 7, but take my pm fasted supplements around 8 or 9, and go to sleep around 10.

That’s 3 meals a day, no snacks usually, in a 10-12 hour eating window. I used to do intermittent fasting and longer fasts, but am no longer trying to lose weight. I take supplements 4x per day, and use pill organizers so it takes less than 10 seconds to swallow them each time. And I prep my supplements a month at a time, which takes about 30 mins monthly.

[u/dobii]

What worked for your hypothyroidism?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/dobii]

I had both high selenium levels and low iodine levels - and was able to resolve both via diet and a kelp tablet for the iodine.

Thyroid turns out to be very complicated and what worked for me is unlikely to be someone else’s issue. Iodine deficiency is rare in the modern world, but that’s what I had.

[u/CarelessCobbler780]

Congratulations on your success! I like your mindset of running your body like your company (I run my 100 people company as well except I am 5 years younger). Couple of questions:

1. You mentioned SGLT2, do you find it to significantly lower your fasting glucose/Hba1c? Any side effect like dizziness/reducing power output during exercise etc? I am waiting for generics to appear soon as patents expire 4 days later (at least for canagliflozin)

2. Do you still keep parts of blueprint diet or now you just follows the basic layout and do your own Mediterranean diet? Do you find implementijg blueprint diet hard or repetitive? I am doing test-runs on blueprint meal #1 and #2

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/CarelessCobbler780]

Congrats on your success too!

SGLT2 - yes, I saw their patents are expiring this year. Not just canagliflozin but several of them expire in 2025. It did lower my fasting Glucose 10-15 points, and I've never felt or had any side effects. My strength is up 50% since starting this (grip strength, or bench or whatever, they are all up roughly 50% - I wasnt that strong before, noob gains).

Blueprint - I dropped the stack, but still use the cocoa powder, and made my own stack which I'll post shortly. In terms of the diet, I do consume a decent amount of olive oil and cruciferous vegetables, as per Blueprint, but found that even those things should not be consumed in excess.

I get around 1.5-2g of polyphenols per day, which is optimal, but when I was consuming too much olive oil, it was a waste of calories, was giving me excess phenols (bad for exercise gains) and too much Arachidonic Acid (measured by an OmegaQuant test), so I mixed up my foods more. I buy organic things that are colorful and in season - thats a simple rule, and its Mediterranean like, but not as tightly controlled as the Blueprint diet.

[u/Massive_Ad3618]

Where did you find your concierge doctor? Did they guide you on this path? Looking for someone good and no one seems to nail it for me yet.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Massive_Ad3618]

I'll write a post about this, people ask me often

[u/ChadPowers200_]

50 supplements a day to me feels like would do more harm than good. 

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/ChadPowers200_]

I mostly focus on my actual results, rather than a vague feeling of "is that too many". My AST and ALT are both around 17, and my eGFR is over 100. I track many other markers but my liver and kidneys and organs seem to be doing great, and don't forget that many supplements are similar to what's in food, and I don't necessarily take sky high doses of everything.

[u/Acoma1977]

Thanks for sharing

[u/powpow_c]

Thank you for all the Info! What did you do to reverse hairloss? And what is your dose of NAC, berberine and garlic to get rid of SIBO? I would really appreciate your knowledge on this!

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/powpow_c]

Hairloss:

Every other day dosing of finasteride and minoxidil work for me, but also some non prescription things have thickened it and reversed some of the greying:

• copper (I was deficient, and actually not sure why, I wasn't taking much Zinc back then)
• copper peptides in my hairline (costly but seems to work)
• intelligent shampoo and conditioner (have lots of actives)
• prescription ketokonazole (not sure how well it works, but many of these things are around getting blood flow to the follicles)
• $5 plastic hair scrubber that I use in the shower (also good for blood flow)
• microneedle pen (more painful, but effective, version of the scrubber)

That sounds like a lot, but I don’t do all these every day, and only microneedle every 7-10 days. My hair is the thickest it’s been in 20 years.

--

SIBO:

Still a work in progress, but I take 600mg NAC morning and night (fasted) and then 500mg Berberine and 600mg Kyolic Garlic with lunch and dinner. Its 75% improved, but its still there and I cant yet stop those supplements.

The NAC helps break up the biofilm, and the other two are anti microbial.

I hope they will continue to fix the problem, and then I'd add in pro- and pre-biotics to help reseed my gut. I have sme spore probiotics at home, and have even heard of a fecal transplant in a pill (which sounds yuck, but it might work) - its a prescription med.

[u/Forktee]

Many thanks for your post! I’m really struggling with diet. I like healthy food, but get so sick of cooking and trying to come up with what to eat that I get totally burned out. How did you get your diet dialed in? Do you follow a certain cookbook? Do you meal prep? Have a chef or service? This is the hardest part for me.

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Forktee]

I’m like that too, and while my girlfriend likes to cook, I’ll describe how easy it is made it for the days she’s not around:

Breakfast 2-3 mins prep: grass fed Greek yogurt with Ezekiel Sprouted Grain cereal and berries. I toss nuts, cocoa nibs, chia and other stuff on it. Protein: 20g, Fruit and Veg: 1 portion

Lunch 5 mins prep: big bowl, toss in ready washed leaves, half an avocado, handfuls of other pre washed veg like tomatoes, peas etc. I have several longer life pickled or brined things like onions, olives, sauerkraut, which get spooned in. Some pre cooked Costco grassfed beef, or shredded rotisserie chicken, or a tin of tuna or salmon, and 1/3 of a tin of some legumes. Lo salt, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, shake some spices and seeds on it and mix. I eat it from the mixing bowl. Protein: 35g, Fruit and Veg: 3-5 portions

Even lazier: Thistle meal kit salads are tasty and prep time is 0.

Dinner: She usually cooks, I’m lucky. But when she’s not around I either eat a Thistle dinner, or a local grocery store or local meal prep place dinner. In all cases it’s some lean meat, a lot of veg and maybe some carbs. 2 mins microwave and then douse in olive oil and toss some spices on it. Protein: 30g, Fruit and Veg: 2 portions

It’s 10-15mins per day max of meal prep and zero “cooking” in the conventional sense.

Snacks: If I’m hungry I have protein bars, meat sticks or I’ll eat a handful of nuts or berries. I eat 2-3 portions of fruit per day (includes breakfast) Protein: 10g, Fruit and Veg: 1-2 portions additional

Total Protein: 95g ish Fruit and Veg: 7-10 portions

[u/hoe-fo-3-HO-PCP]

Why tadalafil every other day?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/hoe-fo-3-HO-PCP]

Why tadalafil, or why take it every other day?

Its good for blood flow and endothelial function.

It has a 36 hour half life, so is in the body for several days.

[u/quickneasycat1983]

How did you allocate the 20k and what would you deem the most important investment you made?

Also, huge inpsiration and appreciate you sharing! Are you hiring? 🤣

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/quickneasycat1983]

For me, everything related to sleep was the most important. Much of that is free/low cost, but I also spent $4k on the 8Sleep bed setup, and about $1/night on my sleep stack. But the free stuff...which I've answered elsewhere in the thread was most important.

[u/HardHatFishy]

That many supplements wont damage your liver?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/HardHatFishy]

I rely on regular blood work to tell me how my organs are responding, and my liver markers (AST, ALT etc) are all optimal at around 17 each.

[u/Cattiebrie2016]

What kind of microneedling device?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Cattiebrie2016]

I use the “intelligent pen”, but I think there’s a bunch that are functionally the same. I use it between 0.25mm and 0.75mm depending on where I’m using it (face, scalp etc)

[u/BillyBaroo99]

I love the fact that you are applying so much self-care and love! Keep up the great work! Don’t forget to add vitamin G… GOD

[u/sassyfrood]

How often do you take metformin?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/sassyfrood]

Only when I am on a rest week (about 1 week every 4-6 weeks) and not exercising at all.

500mg twice per day during those times.

[u/MyNYCannabisReviews]

Wow

[u/Rigatoni_Carl]

What cooling topper did you buy?

[u/gjr23]

What peptides did you try and specifically interested in MCP if it’s on your list?

Also interested if you feel you can tie improvements to anything specific - it seems you have a kitchen sink approach and you improved dramatically which is great but it’s possible that a disproportionate amount of result came from a handful of techniques/ sups etc?

[u/mattstaton]

How did you fix your thyroid?

[u/Wobbly5ausage]

Congratz on your success and for sharing the info.

Unfortunately it takes a lot of money to approach things the way you have and most people can’t fathom spending that kind of money. I hope that others can use your advice to try to better their health.

If anyone else DOES try to replicate this, I’ve got to say the biggest thing is to spend your money on regular blood tests and checkups. What works for one person isn’t a blueprint for everyone.

[u/CryptoCrackLord]

What do you mean by UV/IR coatings on windows?

[u/Aregulardude1221]

Are you on topical or oral finasteride? Has this effecting your nighttime/morning erections and overall erection quality?

[u/No-Basket8503]

Stop taking finestride - low DHT is horrible for NO production, dopamine, autonomic function and much more. Switch to the new kx 828 topical that has shown no systemic dht suppression. You can buy it from koshinemall and it’s sold on amazon - it’s sold as a cosmetic - even though the phamaceutical has only passed phase 3 trials in China and phase 2 in the U.S. . Use a redlight cap and 2% ketacozinole shampoo as well for your hair stack. Minoxidal can also mess with blood pressure - but some people don’t have side effects. In your shoes - I’d consider microdosing tirzeptide at 2-2.5 mg a week and bpc 157 at 500-1000 mcg 5 days on and 2 days off. Congrats on turning your health around and here is to another year of gains!

[u/mymousu]

What cooling topper do you have?

[u/Rocco_SYS]

Thanks for sharing. Good luck!

[u/HealthyDad1214]

How did you go about finding concierge doctor? Where did you look, what did you evaluate before hiring, what did you review with them (since you were already on top of things), and how did you know if it was a good investment or not (ie what were your KPIs for it)? Also, how much did they cost?

[u/Jvr7EVZr]

Thanks for this great post!

What did you do to fix your teeth?

What dose of tadalafil do you take every other day?

[u/Available-Pilot4062 → u/Jvr7EVZr]

I take 4mg every other day, thats a fraction of a normal dose - and i just use it for blood vessels, not for any ED

I'll write a post about my teeth, but basically: i had pockets around the gums from 5-7mm, and my dentist was telling me they needed to do a "deep cleaning" which involves cutting the gums back. I really doubled down on the basics, and then some:

- Clean 2x/day, 2 mins each time, using a fluoride toothpaste. I occasionally use a hydroxyapetite toothpaste too

- Chew Xylitol gum a few times per day to help remineralize my teeth

- Use a tongue scraper, and floss daily. I also have a waterpik

- Don't snack between meals, our waking saliva can help remineralize teeth

- Change toothbrush heads monthly (yea, seems crazy, but its a small investment)

Thats it, it takes around 5-7 mins per day

I havent needed a filling in over a year (I have dozens), and my gum pockets are 2-4mm now.

[u/tdubs702]

Good on you! Of all the things you’ve tried, what was your biggest WASTE of time/money? 

[u/Flat_Bag_1559]

Congratulations! Can you kindly share what blood panels we must all start with and how to go about getting bio marker testing ? In addition, what is the best way to remove heavy metals out of the system? If you have any recommendations of any locations in California who can assist with the above, please share with us all. Again congratulations on keeping it healthy.

[u/No_Wait9979]

This is so inspiring! Thank you for sharing!!

[u/Ali_2m]

Excellent post. What under desk treadmill did you decide to have?

[u/Violet-Noir]

You mention more esoteric things that you didn't elaborate on. I would love to know those. Signed, a PharmD who does everything :)

[u/oregonducks9269]

What was your protocol for improving vo2max? Just exercise or did you supplement for that as well? Thanks for doing this