One Year of *Two Meals A Day*

Grading my sustainability predictions

Yesterday marked one year since I finished reading Mark Sisson’s and Brad Kearns’ book, Two Meals a Day: The Simple, Sustainable Strategy to Lose Fat, Reverse Aging, and Break Free from Diet Frustration Forever. It has been a life-changing book that will stick with me for the rest of my life.

I thought it would be useful to check in on how my lifestyle changes have gone, partly as a follow-up to my “one month after” post last year (EDIT: A “two years after” post is here). That post has many more details about what the book recommends and what specific changes I made to my behavior. Keep in mind that I have been eating two meals each day for much longer than one year.

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Changes to my body

In the last year, I’ve seen the following positive changes that have persisted. Some of these I covered in great detail in this past post.

Body composition

📉 Lost 15 pounds (9% of my body mass … 10 of those 15 pounds came off in the first month)

📉 Lost 2.8 percentage points of body fat

📉 BMI down 1.8 points

Blood markers

📉 Total cholesterol (135 → 101)

📉 LDL (81 → 40)

📈 HDL (42 → 49)

📈 Triglycerides (55 → 62)

📉 Fasting glucose (97 → 87)

The only questionable change here is the triglycerides, but it’s not clear how much of that is random variation across tests. In any case, the levels are quite low (anything under 150 is supposed to be great).

Overall, the blood work looks excellent, from what I understand about these different measures.

General health status

Aside from hard measurements, I feel great and have also had multiple people favorably comment on my physical changes. Some people have commented that I look a decade younger than I actually am. I didn’t think 15 pounds would be so noticeable, but I appreciate everyone’s kind words.

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Sustainability of practices

In my previous post, I laid out a set of practices that I thought would be sustainable. So, have they been? Here’s a review:

✔️ Walk at least 7,000 steps every day, no matter what

I’ve had upwards of 95% compliance here, and it’s been the backbone of my positive changes.

✔️ Don’t eat any of the junk foods that other members of my household eat

This one comes and goes, but mainly I’ve kept up with it. It’s always difficult to stick to it when on vacation, hosting family, or at other social engagements.

✔️ Eat whole foods (fresh produce, meat/fish)

I have kept up with this. My typical lunch is full of nuts, berries, and kefir with a side of biltong. I also frequently eat salads, eggs, and “protein style” hamburgers.

✔️ Eat fermented foods

I go through about two quarts of plain kefir each week, and it’s glorious. I’ve definitely noticed improved digestive health, and I’ve found that the kefir is gentler on my system than a comparable amount of regular milk or yogurt.

❌ Eat organ meats (“nose to tail”)

This has been a tough one. I tried eating liver tacos, but they just didn’t taste as good as steak or ground beef. While I do enjoy picking up tripe tacos whenever I visit a taco truck, I’d like to figure out better ways of incorporating organ meats into my diet.

❌ Make sure I get enough electrolytes each day

I have not done a great job with this. I originally tried LMNT but found it to be too expensive. I found a workaround that combines True Lime powder, Stevia powder, and salt. But it just isn’t as good, so it hasn’t stuck. I also am not sure how critical it is to “stay salty” or if it is dangerous to over-salt.

✔️ Stay active throughout the workday by taking short breaks each hour to move my body

This has turned into a habit. I continue to take breaks from my desk throughout the day to stretch different areas of my body, bang out a set of pushups, or climb a flight of stairs.

✔️ Intentionally park farther away from my office or stores so as to do more walking

This has also turned into a habit with nearly 100% compliance. It is an effective strategy to get to my 7,000 steps goal each day.

❌ Do a bit of cold exposure by turning the shower to the coldest setting for 1–2 minutes at the end of my shower

I did this for a bit at the end of last summer, but once the weather started to get cold, it lost its appeal. I never got back into it. I also am not sure how much or how exactly it benefits health. The scientific literature seems divided.

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New goals

With all of the positive changes more or less on autopilot, I’ve branched out to try and perfect other areas: flexibility and muscle building. My two go-to resources here have been Kneesovertoesguy and Strength Side, with a side of Fitness FAQs.

My end goal is to “bulletproof” my joints and maintain flexibility throughout the rest of my life. So far I’ve worked on the following exercises, focusing mainly on hip and lower back mobility as that has been my biggest weakness:

• Walking backwards

• Split squats

• Seated good mornings

• 90/90 hip rotations

• Making sure to squat properly whenever I need to get low to pick something up

• Jefferson curls, couch stretch, butcher’s block, etc.

For the past month I’ve also tried tracking my macronutrients because of folk wisdom that suggests consuming at least 1g of protein per day per pound of body mass. The MyMacros+ app has been helpful here, but it has also highlighted just how difficult it is for me to get that much protein. I’m convinced it’s nearly impossible without supplementing with a protein drink of some sort.

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Overall Evaluation

Overall, I’d give myself a B+ or A- for maintaining sustainability of the Two Meals A Day suggestions. I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you’re interested in improving your health!