akeelor

It's been quite some time since I've posted in the forums but while riding yesterday I felt motivated to give an update. The past two years have been some of the hardest in my life due to separation, divorce and addiction problems with my oldest child. Through this time I have been completely devastated and through it all my faith in the Lord has sustained me. I have some amazing friends and family who have supported me. I have also learned a tremendous amount around fitness, what we consume and how all of it may contribute to inflammation. Essentially, we we have been fed, no pun intended, a load of bull about what is healthy for us to consume. I have adopted a primarily KETO/Paleo discipline with the occasional consumption of the requisite Pizza. I've essentially eliminated all refined sugars, preservatives and seed oils completely from my diet. The result has been the loss of 25lbs of what I would describe as visceral fat from head to toe. I'm 55 yrs old, 6'1.5" and now weigh 174lbs. On top of that, I have eliminated almost all of the inflammation that has been increasing over the years in my lower back, knees, neck etc.

I've been riding for about 15 years and have had a number of bikes and as time has progressed I fell into the idea that a more comfortable was the natural progression, i.e. endurance bike. I'm not saying that it doesn't have it's place but like a lot of things it is more of treatment of the symptom versus the root cause. Over the winter, I was fortunate enough to purchase a Specialized Aethos Pro with SRAM Force AXS. I have put about 2500 miles on it thus far and with each ride I truly appreciate it more and more. It's light, nimble and very quiet. It climbs and descends equally well. I have Ultegra DI2 on my endurance bike and it is a bit more refined than the SRAM AXS but I really appreciate the double tap on this group. I think that it's best attribute, however, is how truly comfortable it is to ride...and have all of the other boxes checked off. The geometry and riding position on this bike are much more aggressive than my endurance bike yet I feel like this bike was made for me. I know now that so much of this has to do with the dietary changes that I've made.

Enjoy the rest of your Summer and stay safe.