• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Book
  • Amazon
  • Cabo Rental
  • Projects…
    • The Inuit were never in Ketosis
    • The Manifesto
    • Gut Health
    • Elixa Probiotic
    • Resistant Starch
  • Archive

Free The Animal

Ex Navy Officer. Owner of Businesses. Digital Entrepreneur. Expat Living in Thailand. 5,000 Biting Blog Post on Everything since 2003.

Random Interaction With Readers: Progress, Reports, Misc.
Raw & Cooked: Flexibility and Varied Nutrition

Kit Perkins Gets Himself Results, Blogs: Go Figure

April 19, 2011 39 Comments

And why shouldn’t he? Tell me again how the food giants were there for him. How about his friends, who told him, most likely: "everything in moderation?" The drug companies? The media? How about academia and research institutions with with their CAFOs of Grant Whores?

Nobody was there for Kit Perkins who was supposed to be there — who one might expect to be there — and consequently, at the tender age of 21, Kit ends up looking like this. But I suppose that looks pretty average to most folks in our increasingly acclimated society.

Kit before
Kit Before

Kit writes:

When I went to college, my focus shifted to academics and social matters, and before long I had stopped exercising completely. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was headed down a risky road in a poorly maintained vehicle.

My junior year in college, the wheels fell off. Mounting personal issues, paired with a heavy load of engineering coursework, resulted in severe stress, and my friends and I medicated with beer and video games. I became more sedentary, slept less, and was constantly worrying about one thing or another. My lifestyle led to significant weight gain, and by the summer, I was at 200lbs with very little muscle on my 5’10” frame.

What I think is that Kit was very fortunate to head down this path very early in life. For me, I was always pretty reasonable in body composition until the latter half of my 30s, then dind’t do anything about it for 10 years until I found myself at 235lbs on that same, 5’10" frame.

But while I don’t think the paleo mileu mandates a low carb approach, it can certainly be effective for the initial weight loss.

I moved back in with my parents and was set to take a few quarters off from school for an internship in the bay area. The week I was set to start work, the company all but went under and I was stuck with nine free months and no job. Suddenly I lacked purpose and began doubting my self-worth.

Salvation came in the form of pick-up hockey and home cooking. My parents had been low-carb for years (my brother and I complained for years about the bacon smell originating from the seemingly unhealthy diet), and though I didn’t realize it at the time, I’m sure my carbohydrate intake dropped significantly during this time period. I was lucky enough to find another job, and spent the remainder of my time at home working and playing hockey 2-5 times per week.

I lost roughly 40 lbs during my stay at home. I looked better, felt better, and regained the confidence and sense of self-worth I had lost.

And then he went back on his own. Oh, oh.

I returned to school last March, determined to maintain my rediscovered health (and waistline). Shopping for myself again, I ate nothing but salads and pasta. School limited hockey to once per week, so I started jogging and mountain biking. I watched my portions and used low-fat pasta sauce and salad dressing.

Over three months, I gained almost ten pounds. My new clothes were getting tighter, I was losing stamina on the rink, and I was hungry after every meal. It didn’t make any sense. This was the first attempt I had made at watching my diet and I was exercising more, but I felt worse and was gaining fat. Now I realize I was starving and getting fat at the same time.

Yes, I know: calories count. Or so they say. Lots of controversy about that and who knows if it will ever be resolved; so until then, I think I’ll just stick with reader and commenter Nigel Kinbrum’s adage: "calories count, but why bother counting?" It just seems that for me and a lot of others, we felt the most hungry when gaining fat and the most satiated while losing fat.

This also illustrates the inherent limitations with the low-carb dietary approach. Does it work? Absolutely, very effectively for most, but in so many cases, only to a point, and that point is not the leanness and muscular strength retention — and even increase — you see in paleo folks. Why? Well, because low-carb is sort of a license to eat easy crap. paleo excludes easy crap in favor of real food: meat, fish, fowl, vegetables, fruits, and maybe nuts & dairy if it works for you. Chiefly, exclude all wheat (and other gluten grains or grains in general), refined sugar, and anything with former industrial lubricants: vegetable and seed oils.

Let’s see how that worked out for Kit.

I went home for a week in June before starting summer school, and my dad was in great shape. He told me he had been eating a “paleo diet.” He pointed me to Mark’s Daily Apple, Robb Wolf, and Free the Animal; I was off and running. I bought The Primal Blueprint, and the science of insulin management struck a chord with me. I looked back at the cycles of body composition I had experienced in my young life, and it seemed to hold true – carbohydrate was a problem.

I scheduled my birthday at the end of July for a last Neolithic hurrah, then embarked on a low-carb paleo/primal lifestyle on 8/2/10. For the first six weeks, I tracked my dietary intake and body weight, and wrote a post every day on a blog constructed for that purpose (now indexed here).

Maybe the carbohydrate was a problem, maybe it wasn’t, but the point is, taking a Paleo/Primal approach does two things: first and foremost in my view it eliminates Dr. kurt harris‘ "Neolithic agents of disease." Second, it is typically, at most, moderate carb.

The story gets better, as expected.

In those six weeks, I lost 13.6lbs, and got my abs back. I had boundless energy and no crippling hunger. It was easy to get out of bed every morning, and I found I actually enjoy cooking when the food tastes good. I was actually excited to see people I hadn’t in awhile, instead of embarrassed to show my added pounds. For the first time since high school, I craved activity. Suddenly, the couch wasn’t enough for me; I wanted to be enjoying the sunshine and challenging myself athletically.

This lifestyle has also had the unexpected, but certainly welcome effect of lowering my stress. I used to worry about everything. I’m not sure how it happened, but now I am an expert at letting it go; I truly release the stress of everyday issues from my body and mind. Perhaps it is because I feel confident in my health in a way I never have before.

The paleo/primal diet has been like a drug for me. I can’t get enough of the science of nutrition and diet; I’m constantly thinking about how the body works. Since those first six weeks, I’ve been experimenting with my health and fitness, all on a strong paleo base. Most recently I’ve been experimenting with Leangains and I’ve added quite a bit of muscle. In addition to this passion for knowledge, I developed a love for writing, a rare romance for an engineer.

Well damn fine congratulations to Kit. He looks like a human again. Here, see?

Kit
Kit After

Do make sure you take a scroll up to see the before shots. [Update: Kit emails in that, "I didn’t notice this until now, but the lefthand picture in the two "after" pics is actually sort of a middle pic – after living with my parents, but before really going paleo/primal."]

I thought it would be a good time to post something like this owing to the higher visits the last few days, probably as a result of the debate with raw vegan frutarian Harley Johnstone of 30 Bananas a Day. They seem to think that meat makes you fat. In science, the above is what you call falsification of that hypothesis. The cool thing about Popperian falsification is that it only takes one single instance to know you need not consider it any further. Translation: PLONK!

And for you new visitors, vegan visitors, this is no fluke. Check out Tim. Or, this "Sterling" transformation. Who hasn’t heard of Super Mike? And Chris? He’s singing a different tune. Murray to this day constitutes one of the most amazing transformations ever. Anyone remember how Austin in Singapore turned his life around? And how about Michelle and Timothy?

And finally, one of the most recent, Mel, a PhD biology researcher. All of the resources at her disposal and yet, she had to come to some guy’s blog to find a sound path for living and looking the way a human animal is supposed to look.

You likee? Then shout it to the mountain tops. Let others know, because they don’t know. Facebook and Twitter buttons are up top. Just do it.

Share55
Tweet24
Pin
79 Shares

Filed Under: General

PATREON SUPPORT

My own on-the-scene expat photos, stories, podcasts, and video adventures, currently from exotic Thailand. Plus, anything else I write or video about.

Become a Patron

VACATION IN MY CABO CONDO

THE FAT LOSS BLUEPRINT


Elixa Probiotic is a British biotech manufacturer in Oxford, UK. U.S. Demand is now so high they've established distribution centers in Illinois, Nevada, and New Jersey.

Still, sell-outs happen regularly, so order now to avoid a waiting list.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kit Perkins April 19, 2011 at 10:37

    Thanks for posting my story. Looks great!

    Reply
    • christina_aurelius April 19, 2011 at 11:27

      Kit, you look handsome and manly. Two adjectives that don’t apply to as many males as they should. Your transformation is inspiring!

  2. Primal Toad April 19, 2011 at 10:43

    Great story Kit! Thanks for sharing Richard! These never get old.

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley April 19, 2011 at 10:49

      They never ever do, PT. And they’re always my favorite. It’s why we do what we do, at the end of the day.

  3. Adam Landry April 19, 2011 at 10:51

    Way to go Kit! I love to share these stories with friends and family that are concerned about my dietary lifestyle.

    Keep them coming Richard!

    Reply
  4. Kit Perkins April 19, 2011 at 10:54

    For any interested, the full story that I sent to Richard: http://bit.ly/eppBeI

    Reply
  5. Sean April 19, 2011 at 11:12

    Great transformation, Kit. Congratulations.

    Richard, I don’t think this is an example of Popperian falsification. I consider Popper to be something of a blowhard. I think Kit’s just the opposite, an example of a tried and true formula.

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley April 19, 2011 at 11:29

      Sean:

      Having debated with people for years about Popper, I always do this: he is to be taken in context. Falsification is only valid in the strict sense of a scientific proposition, ie hypothesis. People tend to view or interpret too broadly and end up with ridiculous notions that you can’t know anything if Popper is to be believed.

      And so, if the hypothesis is something to the effect: meat as a significant percentage of calories will make you fat, stated as a scientific hypothesis, this is a pure, one-off falsification.

      Of course, it’s only vegans and the vast majority of western civilization that seems to advance such a hypothesis, so nothing to worry about.

    • Sean April 19, 2011 at 11:55

      Richard, my knowledge of Popper is neither deep nor wide. Could you give an example of Popper applying falsification only to hypotheses?

    • Richard Nikoley April 19, 2011 at 11:57

      Why? I’m simply giving him credit for working out details. If you imagine I wish to champion him, wrong place and wrong dude (me).

    • Sean April 19, 2011 at 12:13

      In that case, doesn’t your form of falsification simply reduce to the scientific method?

    • Richard Nikoley April 19, 2011 at 13:53

      Yea. Riddle me that.

    • Richard Nikoley April 19, 2011 at 13:55

      And I’ve always looked upon it as admonition, a line never to be crossed.

      That’s thet stregth of Popper. Context.

    • Richard Nikoley April 19, 2011 at 11:37

      Oh, and Sean, in case you have never seen this, here has long been my touchstone for explaining the notion of falsifiability to people.

      http://www.users.qwest.net/~jcosta3/article_dragon.htm

  6. Mallory April 19, 2011 at 13:29

    hmm….cute, primal… single?!

    Reply
    • perkinskit April 19, 2011 at 13:47

      haha not single. I have a wonderful girlfriend of over 5 years. :)

    • christina_aurelius April 19, 2011 at 15:47

      Well, Mallory and I can admire the merchandise from afar.

    • Bonnie April 22, 2011 at 11:20

      She must be thrilled!

  7. Jessica K April 19, 2011 at 20:06

    Great job and looking good, Kit! It is amazing to me how my definition of normal size has changed as I’ve changed. I’m down about 45 pounds and there is no turning back ever!

    Reply
  8. Paul Verizzo April 19, 2011 at 20:20

    Great work (or was it?), Kit! You look like guys looked like when I was coming of age in the 1960’s.

    My brother has done a lot of work consulting and setting up weight loss clinics. Some months ago on one of my very frequent bike rides to one of the public beaches (Sarasota, Florida), I did an informal survey of bodies. Sort of to see how many potential clients his clients might have.

    Once I put sort of numbers on what I’ve been seeing for several years, I was amazed. Although I don’t recall exactly, it was something like 70% of the people were significantly overweight. Very, very few of the women looked like the girls did when I was growing up. Ditto for the guys.

    I”ll be 65 in a few weeks. I can honestly say that my (still somewhat overweight) body is better than 90% of the male bodies on that beach, REGARDLESS OF AGE! Is that pathetic, or what?

    I’ve been mostly paleo for almost two years. Slacked in the winters, but overall, low carb, lots of meat, no liquid dairy besides cream in my Cuban coffee, etc., you know the drill.

    It works.

    Reply
  9. Tim April 19, 2011 at 20:34

    That’s me, “Tim” in that link. Paleo is still working fine! I now have a one year old baby boy. He is being built right on Mother’s milk, animal sourced foods, and smashed up veggies. Thanks, Richard!

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley April 19, 2011 at 20:36

      It’s always great to hear from someone a few years down the road still going strong. It’s a way of life.

  10. Tim April 19, 2011 at 20:43

    100% way of life. I read up on all the blogs and books, listen to podcaststs, and spread the info to interested parties. The Paleo stuff extends into family, community, business, too. My little caveboy is developing like our ancestors would have expected, I assume. It is profound, but it is simple.

    Reply
  11. Rachel April 20, 2011 at 05:37

    Dude, you look smokin’ hot. Congratulations!

    Reply
  12. Chad Daring April 20, 2011 at 19:27

    I found this page @leangains, kudos on the loss, amazing transformation, but I cant help but look at the after pictures and notice how pronounced your ribs are, that seems to be leaning on unhealthy, from an outsider point of view. Is there something I dont know about being that level of lean? I”ve always been told that you should maintain a double digit (but not crazy) body fat percentage to be “healthy”

    Reply
    • perkinskit April 20, 2011 at 19:44

      Honestly, I think I’m in the double digit BF%.

      I’m getting my BF checked Friday morning as part of a study I’m participating in. I’ll be sure to check back in and let you know the results.

    • perkinskit April 22, 2011 at 11:29

      According to this morning’s test (bioimpedance), I’m at 10.3% BF.

    • Chad Daring April 22, 2011 at 11:50

      That I would never have guessed, though I do admit I didnt realize that the two shots on the bottom were both “after” just one is you flexing the abdominals, so I do realize that those aren’t ribs (doh!)

    • perkinskit April 22, 2011 at 14:55

      Wow I can’t believe I didn’t notice this earlier. Both of the “Before” shots are from before I moved back with my parents.

      The “After” shot on the left is after I had gained 10 lbs trying to do it the low-fat way, and the right “After” pic is what I look like now. None of the pics are “flexed”.

    • perkinskit April 22, 2011 at 14:57

      The picture progression here is a little clearer:

      http://www.engrevo.com/blog/real-results-fta-feature/

    • perkinskit April 22, 2011 at 14:59

      Also I look sleepy in many of the pics because I take them first thing in the morning. :)

    • Bonnie April 22, 2011 at 11:22

      Those are not his ribs, they are nicely developed serratus anterior muscles.

  13. Rachel April 20, 2011 at 22:07

    It is SO much harder than you think to have dangerously low bodyfat. He is JUST FINE, trust me. When you are used to overweight bodies everything else looks extreme. This is what a healthy human should look like. My guess is he is hovering close to 10% BF, but anything 6% and up is fine for men. Women need more.

    Reply
  14. Dana April 24, 2011 at 09:45

    “low-carb is sort of a license to eat easy crap. Paleo excludes easy crap in favor of real food: meat, fish, fowl, vegetables, fruits, and maybe nuts & dairy if it works for you.”

    No, being lazy is a license to eat easy crap. The only time I ever eat something like an Atkins bar is if my inner brat is out to play and I decide I want junk food. I tell myself it beats the hell out of potato chips. Most of the time, it does.

    But you could, for instance, do the Atkins plan on nothing but Paleo foods. Easily. Actually I recommend that to people who want to still eat carbs but need to know how much is too much. Even potatoes will make you fat if your metabolism is already screwed up.

    Reply
    • Richard Nikoley April 24, 2011 at 09:55

      Atkins does not exclude crap, not in the slightest. Just look at all the low-carb websites. Paleo absolutely excludes crap.

Trackbacks

  1. » Real Results – FTA Feature engrevo says:
    April 19, 2011 at 10:52

    […] at Free the Animal posted a great feature about me today. Big […]

    Reply
  2. 04/21/2011 » CrossFit Mount Laurel - says:
    April 20, 2011 at 18:41

    […] “Kit Perkins Gets Himself Results, Blogs: Go Figure” Free the Animal Posted in WOD SHARE THIS Twitter Facebook Delicious StumbleUpon E-mail « 04/20/2011 No Comments Yet […]

    Reply
  3. Perfect Health Diet » Around the Web, Easter Vigil Edition says:
    April 23, 2011 at 13:52

    […] loss. Earlier, CarbSane engaged her critics on insulin. From Kit Perkins, a correspondent of Richard Nikoley, comes a good line indicating the link between hunger and fat regulation:  “for me and a lot of […]

    Reply
  4. A 100% Raw Vegan Success Story | Free The Animal says:
    April 24, 2011 at 12:32

    […] for any vegans who do stop by with an open mind, here's what real results look like. Kit Perkins is the most recent success. Check out Tim. Or, this "Sterling" transformation. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search FreeTheAnimal

Social Follow

Facebook3k
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter6k
Visit Us
Follow Me
Tweet
Instagram358
Pinterest118k
Pinterest
fb-share-icon
YouTube798
YouTube
Follow by Email8k
RSS780

Post Notification Options

About FreeTheAnimal

I'm Richard Nikoley. Free The Animal began in 2003 and as of 2020, has 5,000 posts and 120,000 comments from readers. I blog what I wish...from lifestyle to philosophy, politics, social antagonism, adventure travel, nomad living, location and time independent—"while you sleep"— income, and food. I intended to travel the world "homeless" but the Covid-19 panic-demic squashed that. I've become an American expat living in rural Thailand where I've built a home. I celebrate the audacity and hubris to live by your own exclusive authority and take your own chances. [Read more...]

CLICK HERE to shop Amazon. Costs you nothing.

Shop Amazon

My own on-the-scene expat photos, stories, podcasts, and video adventures, currently from exotic Thailand

Become a Patron

Gastrointestinal Health

Elixa Probiotic is a British biotech manufacturer in Oxford, UK. U.S. Demand is now so high they've established distribution centers in Illinois, Nevada, and New Jersey.

Still, sell-outs happen regularly, so order now to avoid a waiting list.

Elixa Probiotic

My Book

Free The Animal Book

Recent Posts

My Thoughts About The 2020 Fraudulent Election

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, let's call it 500 words of thoughts about the election circus spectacle and 500 words about considering ...

Read More

A COVID Cult and Clown Car Roundup

Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist ...

Read More

You Can’t Recount Your Way Out of This

It's a hot mess inside of a shitstorm From about 1990 until midterms, 2018, I was a non-voter, even though I generally supported libertarian and ...

Read More

November 3rd

Less than a week out and looking forward to forgetting about it for another 4 years. 320+, and the popular vote. Bank on it. That is all. ...

Read More

Please Wear Your Mask to Help The Spread of Covid-19

Finally some good news. Turns out, via CDC, that habitual mask wearers are the ones spreading the virus around the most. That's fantastic since ...

Read More

Popular Posts

Coronavirus #3: Denise Minger is Thorough But Misses the Boats92 Total Shares
My 8 Weeks in Thailand #188 Total Shares
Covid-19 Is Impeachment 3.0; BLM Riots, 4.0; Re-Lockdown, 5.083 Total Shares
My Musings on the Coronavirus (Covid-19)73 Total Shares
Coronavirus #2: The Dumb and the Dumber58 Total Shares
Have You Forgotten? Richard Lothar Nikoley Doesn’t Give An Eff What You “Think”56 Total Shares
I Met A Dry Fasting Nut39 Total Shares
CovidScam Unravels. Backlash Grows and Intensifies.35 Total Shares
Coronavirus #1: The Innocent and the Guilty30 Total Shares
Everything I Thought I Lost28 Total Shares

Last 10 Comments

  • Richard Nikoley on My Thoughts About The 2020 Fraudulent Election
  • Richard Nikoley on My Thoughts About The 2020 Fraudulent Election
  • EatLessMoveMoore on My Thoughts About The 2020 Fraudulent Election
  • Big on My Thoughts About The 2020 Fraudulent Election
  • Richard Nikoley on You Can’t Recount Your Way Out of This
  • Anonymous on You Can’t Recount Your Way Out of This
  • Chung Ho-Lee on A COVID Cult and Clown Car Roundup
  • Kris on Perfect Salmon and Asparagus in an Air Fryer
  • Richard Nikoley on Coronavirus #3: Denise Minger is Thorough But Misses the Boats
  • John on Coronavirus #3: Denise Minger is Thorough But Misses the Boats

© 2021 All Rights Reserved · Free The Animal Return to top