Mike's Story

When Mike dressed up as Spiderman for his son’s sixth birthday party, he realized that if you weigh 192 pounds at 5’3, things may look different on you than you expected.

“I knew after seeing what I looked like that if I was that heavy, I must have been putting my body through a lot of stress by not giving it the nutrition that it needed

“I knew that if I ate properly and gave my body the fuel it craved that it would do what was necessary.”

Mike was having trouble doing everyday things like tying his shoes, mowing the lawn, and playing with his son. These activities would leave him out of breath and in need of a break. His clothes felt tighter and tighter — until he eventually arrived at a size 36 waist and XL shirts.

“I knew I was going down a bad path,” he said.

Mike's wife did some research on keto and decided it was their best chance to focus on their health. The couple officially started keto on March 4, 2019.

“[My wife] watched every single YouTube video [Dr. Berg] put on,” he said.
“He is really where we got most of our understanding and research. I'm so thankful for him because he is able to break down the science behind Keto in a way that is easy to understand. Anytime anyone asks about keto, the first thing I say is ‘watch Dr. Berg.’”

With his wife also following a keto lifestyle, Woodside had a lot of support during his journey. The pair would bounce ideas off one another and continuously help each other improve. Additionally, after seeing their results his parents also started keto. Now all four of them offer each other backup and encouragement.

Before finding Dr. Berg, Mike would try diets without understanding why they worked. The major lesson he learned from Dr. Berg is the science behind keto, which helped him to make choices based on knowledge instead of advertisements or hearsay.

“I used to do diets just because I heard they might work,” he said. “I never understood why they may work — which, by the way, they didn't. Dr. Berg taught me to understand why [and] how keto works. He taught me what my body craves and needs. He taught me WHY my body craves and needs [it]. It wasn't just, ‘Hey, here's portion control, do it,’ or ‘Carbs are bad so here, buy my product.’”

For Mike, the hardest part of his new diet is watching people eat donuts.

“Everyone has their thing and donuts were mine. I still take my son to get donuts every other Saturday which we call ‘Donut Day.’ It was always our thing. Even though it is hard, I like doing it because it helps me say no to the things I want. I am more disciplined because of it,” he said. “And beer. I miss beer.”

But despite the challenges, Woodside said he feels 1000 times more confident now and like he’s a different person. He no longer feels short of breath or out of shape and he has a lot more energy than he had before keto.

“I used to have to take a 30-minute nap daily during my lunch and haven't needed a nap in over eight months,” said Mike.
“I used to snore a minimum of an hour per night and now you can see on my sleep app that I have not snored once since I started keto. It sure is nice not being woken up nightly to be told to turn on my side!”

In eight months, Mike has lost 52 pounds (24 kg). For him and his wife, keto is not just a diet or something they’ll push through to the end of the year. It’s an entire lifestyle change.

“We feel the best we've ever felt,” he said. “We're skinnier and healthier than we were in high school.” Said Woodside, “There's nothing I would change [about this] because I feel I have completely done a 180 on how I live my life. A lot of co-workers, friends, and family have said that I am inspiring them to make better choices and if I can help someone be more healthy and live a better life, I'm all for it.”

Favorite Way to Exercise: “I have started doing CrossFit,” he said. “I tend to get into debates with the others at CrossFit because they get a lot of their energy from carbs and have a hard time understanding how I am able to do the workout while on keto. It's just more motivation, to prove others wrong.”

Favorite Keto Recipe: “Wow, I have to pick one... It's a tie,” said Woodside. “Dirty Keto: Flying Dutchman with grilled onions, mustard fried from In-N-Out. Clean Keto: Two eggs over medium, two slices of bacon, two sausage links, an avocado, and one cup of kale cooked in the bacon grease.”

Follow Mike on Instagram @mikedoesketodiet