Transforming My Health with Peptides: An Epic Journey to Optimal Fitness

I've always had an affinity for working out and a preference for healthy foods since I was 12. I remember as a tall, skinny kid, feeling like I needed to do something to gain a little more confidence and impress the girls I felt too self-conscious to approach or even talk to. I was painfully shy around girls and felt like I'd never be able to. So, I did what any scrawny kid would do - I grabbed a pair of yellow 5-pound weights and began to "pump iron" every night and throughout the day. I'd do 100 bicep curls, then 80, then 60, and so on. I felt like I was really going to impress everybody with my physical transformation. I was constantly checking out my "pump" by gazing in the mirror and saying to myself, "the girls will be crawling over each other to witness the gains I've accomplished!"

Of course, through my innocence and definitely my lack of knowledge of weight training and muscle growth, my approach at 12 years old was lacking, albeit a step in the right direction. I do feel like this lit a flame within me that has continued to fuel me as I grow through learning, experiencing, and overcoming physical obstacles. As I entered my twenties, I continued my habit of weight lifting 4-5 days a week and mixing in some random cardio with some random okay-for-me food. So, my life in regards to my overall health was just...average! Even though I was not focused on really improving my body fat percentage or looking at my macros, I was relying on mediocre decisions made with average food and a non-committed workout routine. My young age and my body's ability to repair itself really made the difference because it definitely wasn't my drive for elite physical performance!

My 30s and early 40s continued in a similar fashion. I ate mostly what I wanted within reason, took far too many cheat days, and was okay with an 80-90% healthy diet. I've always loved going to the gym, so that was never a challenge but more of a respite and a place to decompress from my long workdays. I even love breaking up most days and doing a midday workout - they're great, you should try it. I had even gone almost 44 years without knowing about peptide protocols and had never tried them obviously. I heard about peptides on a podcast with Regan Archibald with East West Health in SLC about a year ago, and he described what a peptide was, but more importantly, how we can use these natural supplements to assist in the body's ability to fix our gut, improve brain functionality and sexual drive, and enhance your time at the gym. I was hooked, as over the years, I had found it increasingly difficult to maintain my 6-pack and keep a consistently toned and physically fit body, even when my diet was on point. So in comes the peptide train, full force into my life. I felt like I needed some help, a boost to get me over the edge.

After getting detailed labs to check on about every aspect of my health, I signed up for a 6-month program where we tackled issues stemming from my leaky gut (BPC-157/KPV), then focused on the brain peptides (Semax/Selank), then we moved onto my favorite peptides, which are the muscle growth peptides Tesamorelin/Ipamorelin/CJC-1295). Simply put, the changes happened dramatically, I loved how my body reacted to the new medicine. I was finally able to have a consistent 6-pack and feel great from improvement in my joints, my muscle definition remains solid even if I take some time off (a week or so), and I recover better now than I did in my 20s. Even my Vo2 Max shows my cardiovascular age as 8 years younger than my actual age! I feel like I'm still in my infancy in my knowledge of peptides and other natural healing treatments, but I'm happy I've found the archetypical fountain of youth, or at least a badass way to keep me living my best life into my old age.

Thanks for reading! Stay well and keep an eye out for more updates.