The short version — An engineer by trade, born and raised in Montréal, Québec, now residing in Vancouver, Canada, with my partner, Tony.
The long version — I struggled with weight, anxiety, digestive disorders, severe allergies and general poor health for most of my life. My childhood “headaches” morphed into multi-day migraine episodes at age 30, sparking my interest in very low-carb, ketogenic diets. Spoiler alert: keto didn’t total cure my migraines, but it helped reduce the severity, and fixed just about every other chronic ailment that plagued my body.
TIMELINE FOR REFERENCE:
- 1984: Began dieting in the 6th grade, after noticing I was “bigger” than the other kids.
- 1990: Transitioned to high-carb/low-fat diet. Was hungry and tired all the time.
- 1996: Graduated university. Landed first “real job”. Started gaining weight.
- 1999: Weight peaked at 150 lbs. Tried Atkins, lost 20 lbs, but felt horrible.
- 2001: Got laid off right after 9-11.
- 2002: Moved to northern Alberta. Worked long hours. Gained more weight.
- 2004: Moved to Calgary. Started exercising, mostly cardio and interval training.
- 2005: Migraines became more severe, now generally lasting several days.
- 2009: Got laid off again. Became a gym rat (mostly due to boredom).
- 2013: Quit my job. Moved to Vancouver. Joined the YMCA.
- 2015: Transitioned to very low-carb (VLC) ketogenic diet.
- 2018: Ditched all cardio. Got serious about lifting weights.
- 2020: Started personal blog.
RANDOM FACTS:
- Was raised in an Italian family. Didn’t think I could ever give up bread, pasta or pizza.
- I’ve kept some form of diary or journal since high-school.
- I live in a tiny shoebox apartment, so I don’t have a lot of “stuff”.
- A minimalist to the core and obsessively organized, long before it was cool on Instagram.
- Clutter, disorder and noise cause me great distress.
- I go to bed early, usually by 9:30pm, and usually wake-up before 4:00am.
- I would never put butter in my coffee … I think it’s totally wrong (see bullet #1).
- I stopped watching TV in 2018 (although I have since become addicted to YouTube).
- I have massive collection of pens, pencils, stationary and art supplies, most of which I don’t use.
LIST OF FAVOURITES:
- Favourite drink: Americano (espresso + hot water) with heavy cream
- Favourite food: Cheese (particularly Italian, British and Danish)
- Favourite indulgence: Cheesecake (keto-style, of course)
- Favourite TV series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Favourite book: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
- Favourite movie: The Truman Show