| Life Saving Interviews |

A Life Unburdened, written by Richard Morris, is a moving example of persistence, bravery, heroism and success. Descending from over 400lbs to 220lbs, Richard reclaimed his life, family and independence. His persistence shines through as he details the personal failures met with fad diet after fad diet. His bravery shines through as he summons it to abandon food hype and follow the road less traveled. His heroism shines through as he teaches and encourages his family to follow in his footsteps. His success is loud and clear as he details becoming free from the shackles of obesity – courtesy of the road less traveled. Not a book just for the obese. A Life Unburdened is for everyone who strives to live free and independent while living vibrantly healthy. Learn about his road less traveled and purchase A Life Unburdened at www.breadandmoney.com - Shane Ellison, M.Sc., Author

Shane: What was your tipping point - the point at which you decided to take action?

Richard: I had a job working in the software industry in New York in 2003. It was a very high-pressure job for a big client and the stress was unbelievable. I had to walk about 4 blocks to work and the stress along with weighing over 400 pounds really got to me. I was in constant pain, couldn’t focus, couldn’t sleep and felt like I was nearing the end of my rope.

I’ve got two children and I was starting to wonder if I would be around to see them grow up. I decided to go on a semi-fast, eating chicken mostly and discovered that I felt much better after a couple of days. I remember thinking that it couldn’t be the chicken that was making me feel better. That’s when I realized that it was the stuff that I wasn’t eating that made the difference… things like MSG, sugar, preservatives and additives. That got me started on the road to eliminating processed foods from my diet and replacing them with whole foods.

Shane: Were you always overweight?

Richard: No. I was very athletic in high school and college. I lifted weights, played a lot of basketball and really enjoyed running. I’d run 4 to 12 miles 4 or 5 times a week. I was in great shape or so I thought. After college, I found I had less time for exercise, but I still managed to run, hike and ride my bike, but the weight started creeping up on me sometime around my mid-twenties.

People have a hard time understanding this, but you can gain a fantastic amount of weight before you actually ‘see’ it youself.

Shane: Many things cause obesity. But what do you think was the main cause of your fat gain over the years?

Richard: I suffered from complete ignorance about what constitutes good nutrition. For instance, in high school, the coach told us it didn’t matter what we ate or how much, so long as we worked it off in the gym. I didn’t realize at the time that the massive surges of glucose into my bloodstream and the subsequent insulin spikes that followed were making me insulin resistant and slowly setting me up for weight gain later in life. Like alot of people, I fell for the whole low-fat lie and ate lots of food that was low in fat, but high in sugar and generally speaking, nutrient poor.

Shane: As a result of being obese, what other health problems manifested?

Richard: Man, I was a walking encyclopedia of contemporary disorders. I had hypertension, sleep apnea, asthma, depression, chronic fatigue, persistent brain fog and my libido was MIA. My muscles were pretty much turning to mush because after a while, I could barely walk, let alone exercise. I got really scared when my knees would just give out from time to time, with no warning.

Shane: Did you try prescription drugs?

Richard: Yes, my doctor put me on asthma and hypertension meds. For a while, I was also taking Xenical, a weight loss drug that impedes metabolism of dietary fat.

Shane: Did they help?

Richard: Not really. My asthma only got worse and while the hypertension was somewhat under control, you might say I was really only managing the symptom. The underlying problem that caused the elevated blood pressure was still there and if I skipped my meds, I felt it. The Xenical was a failure. It’s basically a behavior modification drug that ‘punishes’ you for consuming too much fat. Outside of giving me an unpleasant case of diarrhea (I guess there’s no such thing as a pleasant case) it did little else. I never refilled the prescription.

Shane: Do you think drugs play a role in losing fat and getting healthy?

Richard: Some drugs can be of some use under some circumstances, but generally speaking the answer is no, not in my experience. I have a lot of respect for science, but I simply don’t believe that we’re smart enough to outsmart human physiology. Our bodies are hardwired with all kinds of redundant fail-safe systems. Take a drug that interferes with one metabolic pathway and another one kicks in, or worse, the body responds by breaking down somewhere else.

One of my favorite drug industry quotes comes from a spokeswoman from the American Dietetic Association. She said, “…a ‘wonder drug’ that wards off obesity while allowing people to eat all they want has long been the goal of pharmaceutical companies worldwide.” There’s your problem right there with the drug industry.” If the goal is to enable us to maintain our poor dietary habits, all we’ll ever accomplish is to increase our dependency on drugs.

Humans don’t really need prescription drugs if we have access to the right food, environment and lifestyle. Our bodies are chemical factories. We’ve evolved a symbiotic relationship over millions of years with the food sources and microbiota that evolved along with us. We have the innate capacity to heal ourselves.

Shane: Do you ever go hungry?

Richard: Not at all. One of my pet peeves is the diet industry perspective on deprivation. We’re told that we should eat whatever we crave, because to do otherwise is to create a satiation deficit that manifests itself as a craving that ultimately leads to binge eating. As they used to say in the nineteenth century, “poppycock and balderdash!”

I really enjoy the food I eat. It’s very satisfying. If you’re satisfied, you won’t feel deprived so the cravings go away. Bottom line is that you can’t be deprived of something you neither want nor need.

Shane: Do you ever skip meals?

Richard: Usually no. I travel so sometimes I’m on the road, but even then, I always take some food with me like dried fish, pemmican (beef jerky mixed with beef fat), nuts, cheese or fruit.

Shane: What is your favorite dish?

Richard: Uncured bacon (no salt, preservatives, etc.) and pastured eggs. I have them almost every morning for breakfast.

Shane: Do you limit fat intake?

Richard: Not at all. There’s no need to. I discovered the hard way that my body will allow me to eat only so much fat. If I exceed that limit, I get seriously nauseous. I’ve heard this from other people too. I believe that unlike carbohydrates, our bodies have a built-in dietary fat regulator. Fat is also very satisfying, so you don’t need to eat much.

Shane: Do you count calories?

Richard: When I first began to change what I ate, I did. I’m a bit of a computer geek, so I enjoyed tracking my macronutrient intake and pouring the data into a spreadsheet so I could generate charts and graphs. My wife thought I was nuts. I don’t do that anymore. There’s no need to. Once you learn to listen to your body, you know how much you should eat.

Shane: Do you workout every day?

Richard: I usually work out six days a week. I do a combination of lifting and aerobics in the gym, street hiking (up to 16 miles) and TAEBO. My wife got me into the TAEBO. I was resistant at first, but it’s a helluva workout, especially the resistance training that compliments what I do in the gym with the free weights.

Shane: Besides losing weight and abandoning all the medical complications associated with obesity, what has been the best thing about your transformation?

Richard: I know this may sound corny, but changing what I ate enabled me to change my body and my life. I realize now, that for a long time, I was a consumer zombie… just shuffling along, taking my meds, watching TV and living well below my potential. Now I’m a new person inside and out. My relationship with my family has improved 1000 percent. Losing the weight was great, but seeing the world the way I see it now is the real reward. What’s more is that now I get to travel around the country and tell others about how they can realize the same transformation in their life.

Shane: Many obese people feel helpless. Exercise is too difficult. Learning how to eat can be confusing and arduous. They default to prescription drugs. What advice can you give these people to take action?

Richard: Read, think and learn. If I hadn’t turned off the TV, picked up a book and started reading, I don’t think I’d be alive today. For instance, your book, Hidden Truth about Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs is a great place to start because everywhere I go I encounter so much fear about cholesterol. If people really knew the truth about it, they wouldn’t be so afraid. Anthony Colpo’s, The Great Cholesterol Con is another good one.

Bottom line is this, don’t just take my word or anyone’s word for how to be healthy. Consider what the experts have to say, but do the research yourself. That’s the key. As you learn, you’ll find that you’re depending less on the approval of the experts because you’ve learned how to make your own decisions about your health.

I was a worse case scenario who thought my life was over. I want people to know that no matter how bad off you think you are, you can change. That’s what’s so wonderful about the human spirit…. our ability to use our intellect to recreate ourselves and realize our potential.