Nathaniel's Story

I have always struggled with trying to obtain the health and body of my dreams. I wanted to be ripped as a statue, yet strong as an ox, but did not know how to do it. I went from a 165 pound Marine to a 260 pound police officer in a span of four years and my blood pressure shot up to 140/90. This greatly concerned me due to my strong family history of strokes and heart attacks.

So in the winter of 2011, I began to lose weight the American way; caloric restriction plus tons of exercise. I worked my way back down to 168 pounds by November 2012. In the process I returned to being an amateur boxer as I had been in the Marines. Even with the weight loss, my health still was not good. My joints ached all the time, I had terrible fatigue in my fights, and whenever I stopped training all day for a few days the weight would come roaring back. I was actually trying to compete in my regular weight class of 165 pounds, but I could never lose those last few pounds.

After my last fight in January 2013, I quit boxing for good, and over the next few months I quickly went from an extremely lean 168 pounds 4.7 percent body fat to close to 200 pounds 8 percent body fat. By most Americans I was still considered very lean and healthy, but I was not satisfied with the extra fat on my body because I knew it was coming from eating SAD foods. 

In May of that year, I read Eat To Live and it changed my life. I had already sensed something was terribly wrong with the Standard American Diet and this book confirmed what I feared. So I immediately started the Nutritarian diet style in “practice” meaning I dived into this way of eating, however, I attempted to maintain some of the SAD at least once a week.  I would pig out on weekends. My weight plummeted back into the160s, however, a lipid test showed my triglyceride levels to be extremely high at close to 300 mg. I was shocked and embarrassed, and, of course, the doctor scheduled an appointment with the idea of putting me on drugs.

So for the next forty days, I went 100 percent Nutritarian. When I returned to the cardiologist my levels had plummeted to 68 mg and the doctor was shocked. After this experience I had a couple of more bumps in my road towards becoming a black belt Nutritarian, which, as Dr. Fuhrman teaches, occurs when you go so long eating Nutritarian that when you return to the SAD you get terribly sick. The last time this happened to me was May of last year. I had terrible migraines, and could not sleep for a week due to falling off while on vacation. That was the second and last time I followed the Nutritarian program for three to six months and then returned to the SAD for a short period of time.

I returned home, continued to gobble down every single one of Dr. Fuhrman’s teachings, and have not looked back since. I follow the Nutritarian-vegan style 100 percent. I weigh163 to165 pounds and have barely 4 percent body fat for almost a year now. My joints feel great, my stamina is awesome, even my skin has cleared and my blood pressure now runs from 107/65 to 115/60.

The most amazing thing about the Nutritarian lifestyle is the power of the G-BOMBS. I really took to heart what Dr. Fuhrman teaches, that no matter how much you eat G-BOMBS, the nutrients in these foods makes it impossible to gain body fat. So emphasizing G-BOMBS, I returned to strength training 100 percent. And something amazing happened. While staying exactly the same weight and body fat, I have gained incredible strength. I currently squat 400 pounds, bench press 275 pounds, and deadlift in excess of 550 pounds weighing just 165 pounds; this after only nine months!

The Nutritarian diet style has enabled me to achieve what is considered impossible; being as ripped as a competition bodybuilder while as strong as a world-class power lifter. Well it’s not impossible, and I’m living proof. You don’t have to go on crazy dangerous diets to get ripped, and you don’t have to eat dangerous amounts of animal protein to be strong. You can have the best of both worlds  You can have an 8 pack and bench press two to three times your body weight. The key is you must combine the Nutritarian life style with proper training.

I am now a certified personal trainer and I am proud to say I am the only 100 percent Nutritarian-vegan strength athlete in the world. Starting June 20th 2015, I will be competing in powerlifting competitions for the sole purpose of spreading the word about the teachings of the great Dr. Fuhrman. At just 29 years old I have a tremendous opportunity to reach the young male athlete demographic who are killing themselves with food, trying to obtain that 6 pack or get that strong bench press.

I thank God every day for the Nutritarian diet style, and I thank Him for blessing us all with Dr. Fuhrman. I wish Dr. Fuhrman a long and pleasurable life.