BiggestComeback Interview

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of speaking via Skype with Mike, who runs the CarnOMAD YouTube Channel. The video went live early this morning, and, despite my lack of experience with this type of thing, I thought Mike did an excellent job turning it into a decent interview.

Advice from people like @GuyNAustin helped me regain my health after reaching a weight of 278 pounds in my early 50s. This was the image he posted on YouTube to promote our recent interview.

I’ve gotten to know Mike on Twitter, where he goes by the name @GuyNAustin, and posts a great deal about nutrition with a slant towards low-carb, ketogenic, and carnivore ways of eating. One of Mike’s primary objectives is sharing information that can help people lose weight and improve health. I can enthusiastically say he’s doing a great job.

For the record, I have been eating a low-carb diet (typically about 100 grams of carbs per day) since January 2018. I have never experimented with ketogenic or carnivore diets, but I have seen firsthand the life-changing benefits those diets have had for many.

Mike asked me a series of questions that caused me to take a critical look back at my experiences over the past two years. The interview has left me with an even deeper appreciation for the things I’ve learned about nutrition and fitness — knowledge that has allowed me to transform myself from an out-of-shape, 278-pound 51-year-old to a much fitter 188-pound 55-year-old.

I won’t spoil the interview, but below I will preview the questions Mike asked, and share a few things I should have done a better job with in my responses to Mike.

The Questions:

1. Can you tell viewers about your weight loss journey and what you’ve learned about nutrition along the way? — I enjoyed talking to Mike about the journey.
2. Can you add details concerning your battle with cancer (& especially your attitude about how to handle treatments)? I provide some additional details about my cancer experience here: Having My Car Destroyed by a Garbage Truck was the Best Part of My Day.
3. Can you explain your general attitude towards physical fitness, the kinds of activities you engage in, & what your exercise regimen looks like? — I didn’t really provide a concise summary of my physical activities, so I will do so here. I have been running four miles (currently at an average pace of less that 9-minute miles) three times per week. My goal is to run a 5K under 23:00 by the end of 2019. I do resistance training 5 days per week, using body weight and free weights. Not sure why, but I’m set on bench pressing 300 pounds (1RM) again before the end of 2019.
4. What is your motivation for being involved with the nutrition & fitness community on twitter? If I didn’t emphasize it enough in the interview, the nutrition & fitness community on Twitter has been profoundly helpful to me on this journey. So many great people willing to help. I’m incredibly grateful!
5. Do you think community engagement is a good enough reason for #LowCarb/#Keto/#Carnivore enthusiasts to congregate on social media, or should we have more clearly defined goals? Listen to the interview for my response.
6. What do you think I mean by pushing #NoDadBodOnMe Day, & what can people who are just hearing about it in September realistically achieve before January 10th? I was definitely caught off-guard by this. Never would I have imagined that someone would have selected me for an interview based on a hashtag such as this. Shocked & flattered — thanks, Mike!
7. I’m sure you get tired of hearing this question, but I have to know from Chris Cornell’s own lips: Is Soundgarden better than Audioslave? — I did my best to answer Mike’s question, but also talked about my encounter with the more famous Chris Cornell. You can read about that experience here: The Night I Met the Other Chris Cornell.
8. Was there anything you wanted to discuss that we haven’t covered
9. What’s the best way for people to get in touch with you on social media? — We lost our Skype connection just before we got to the end of the interview. Virtually all of my nutrition and fitness conversations take place on my @BiggestComeback Twitter account. You can also find me on Instagram, where I post a lot of wildlife images, and an assortment of things from my life.
10. As you say farewell to the CarnOMAD audience, can you recommend a book, blog, podcast or presentation that has changed your thinking on nutrition or fitness? — It would be easy for me to recommend “Why We Get Fat” by Gary Taubes because that was the single book that was the turning point in my health, fitness and weight loss transformation. A more useful recommendation that I have started making is this: 1)Establish a goal that, if you were to achieve it, would make a major positive difference in your life. 2) Think of a person who, based on their education and experience, and their understanding of you, might be able to help you. 3) Ask that person to recommend the very best book they believe would help you achieve that goal. 4) Get the book and read it. 5) Repeat as needed.

At his request, I also shared a few Twitter posts with Mike that I thought would provide a look into my journey: