Premium content my brother.
As a fellow “you’re not fat though…? <takes off shirt> “wtf bro how are you fat!?” person - I wanted to pass on some incredibly random information that probably (without exaggeration) saved my life.
In my thirties, I learned that I became the oldest living male on both sides of the family. All males on Dad’s side and one female dead. Youngest death was 43. All from congestive heart failure. None lived to see 65.
Turned out to be a genetic disorder which I inherited but my brother didn’t, nor did my Sister.
Focusing on Brother for a moment >> Despite me and my brother having almost identical childhoods, diets, exercise levels etc - our body shapes were fundamentally different. Our faces look almost identical but his body always looked like the men in my Mother’s family. Mine looked like my Dad’s and his family…. Our bodies looked the same as yours.
Low hanging fat on the stomach specifically, that seemed to suspend very low. Very little fat carried anywhere else. I was often confused by how confused other people would be when they saw me with my shirt off. I thought it was normal.
Long story short, I live in the UK where they are doing a trial of a new injection (gene editing that targets the liver). I am trying to get onto this trial so I’ve been interacting with a lot of people and two companies that are involved. I had a very eye opening conversation with a researcher last month who explained that Norway and New Zealand are starting to find new indicators of this disease that is a brutal silent killer and is one of the most under diagnosed, life threatening genetic disorders in the world today.
Want to guess what one of these suspected new indicators is?
“Abnormal fat distribution around abdomen”
She said that there’s some evidence building that there’s a common “FH body type” that may help doctors spot and test for FH must faster, saving lives.
My body type was identical to yours before IF and exercise near 100% removed the majority of the fat - and if you haven’t had a recent HDL/LDL blood test, I’d say it’s definitely worth getting checked out. As it’s a disorder that does not give a shit about your diet and will just kill you stone dead in your thirties or forties.
All of the above might be completely irrelevant as what the researcher described sounded like very very very early scientific recording of indicators. But please do go for a blood test my dude.
Either way, you’re looking super healthy and having lost almost 65lb myself over the last few months, I know you’ll be feeling more human than ever before.
Good luck with the journey my dude! Healthy life awaits :)