(Nitro coffee is the new milkshake for Gormy!)
At his heaviest, Michael Gorman weighed 540 pounds. Today he weighs roughly 260, and counting (down!) Life changing weight loss like that doesn’t come without a story, and Michael’s has been inspiring other people for some time now. In fact, Michael is an inspiring individual, period. When he decided that the Ketogenic diet was the best path for him to achieve his goals, he shared his journey publicly through his now incredibly popular Instagram page. It’s the place where he holds himself accountable, shares both the ups and the downs of his journey, and encourages those who are facing similar challenges to find their own path to weight loss success while providing as much support as he can.
Michael is incredibly knowledgeable about the Keto diet and an avid user of bone broth, so, with the recent launch of our new Keto Chicken Bone Broth, we thought it was the perfect time to sit down with the man who successfully lost over half his body weight.
Let’s start at the beginning. How did your weight loss journey begin?
I’ve struggled with weight my entire life, and although I had some success through the decades, nothing came together long term. I reached my heaviest around 2008 (540 pounds) and through a series of events (including being close to poverty when work fell through) I started losing weight. I got down to 210 pounds in 2013 then I put 270 pounds on again!
That’s a big rebound! Why do you think that happened?
I wasn’t focused on what I would do when I reached my goal. And I was engaging in bad behavior such as starving myself on low calories with a kind of low carb/paleo hybrid diet. I wasn’t following any advice and didn’t have a plan in place on how to live this way.
When you decided enough was enough, why did you settle on Keto?
I realized that my weight was ruling the choices and decisions that I was making in my life, and also that my parents needed me physically active. For one of the first times I realized that I really did want to live and make a change. Keto was coming to the forefront in the circles I was in at that time, and I knew low-carb was sustainable for me in terms of behavior and hunger issues (as it’s more satiating) so I started reading. I love reading and absorbing knowledge.
How long have you been following the Keto diet now?
Well, in February 2017 I went traveling with my family at Christmas and found that it was hard simply moving my body from one country to another (I weighed 470 pounds at that time.) So I started with what you call “Lazy Keto” where you cut carbs and eat keto-approved food to fill in the holes. When you’re that heavy, it can be ok to start that way. It has the effect of naturally cutting back on calories. I did that for a year and a half.
What changed after your first year and a half on the “lazy keto” diet?
I plateaued and knew I needed to get more serious tracking calories so I started working with a coach. I’ve been working with one since October and have lost almost 40 more pounds. I want to go into the last stretch with my eyes open this time. I want to lose a little under 50 more pounds to get to 210 again.
At what point did you realize that this was really the diet for you?
In the winter of 2017 I got very bad pneumonia. I was in the hospital 16 days and almost died. I was down over 100 pounds at that point and doctors told me that I would have died if I hadn’t lost that weight. It reinforced what I was doing in a powerful way and gave me the fire to keep going. By time I was back to normal I was very weak but I stuck to keto the whole way through — even in the hospital. I proved to myself that if even in that moment — with a doctor telling me I could die — I could still stick with it, I could do it forever.
What do you say about the dangers people talk of when following the keto diet?
There are a lot of people a lot smarter than me who look at research, but a lot of the correlation in the original studies is wrong. This is part of the reason I encourage people to do research for themselves.. Something I have shared a lot is that when I was hospitalized it was my first interaction with doctors in decades. I am sure I was full blown Type 2 diabetic during that time period. I now talk to medical professionals and try to take an active role in the policing of my body. I know that if I’d carried on the way I was I wouldn’t be alive now. But instead my blood sugar and cholesterol are normal as are all my other tests. I live by my own experiment. People who run into issues with keto are worrying about low carbs and high fat but not looking at what kinds of fat and protein they are eating. I think a lot about the sourcing of my protein and if I am eating a lot frankenstein food or food that’s grown on a farm. You can do every diet right, and you can do every diet wrong.
How do Lonolife products fit into your diet?
I discovered Lonolife over a year ago. I was big into collagen and bone broth and I was making my own for a long time. It helped with my immune system and inflammation but making my own was a big commitment. I found it hard to get the taste great. I’ve tried at least a half dozen pre-packaged bone broths and I just think it’s the best flavor! The nutrition content is great and the protein is well sourced. And I love the use of chicken fat for the fat source in the new Chicken Keto Bone Broth. I’ve literally tried everything at this point bone broth wise. For me it comes down to looking at price point, quality and taste, and Lonolife has the other brands beaten easily.
You can follow Michael’s journey on Instagram at Gormy_goes_keto
