Ricardo Argente's Story

During an appointment for a routine eye procedure, Ricardo Argente’s primary doctor diagnosed him with atrial fibrillation and informed him that he should see a cardiologist. To his surprise, he failed a stress test and had to have two stents in his right coronary artery.

“I had 99% blockage in that artery!” he said “I had no idea, not a darn clue…” At this point, Argente was approaching age 60 and his health was “a total mess.”

“My blood pressure was elevated, requiring meds to control; I was obese at 232 pounds (105 kg); gout attacks were a common occurrence; triglycerides were off the charts at 800; I was probably borderline alcoholic, having two vodka martinis every night; and the list goes on and on,” he said. “Well, I thought to myself, if I don’t do anything drastic now, I will be dead as a doorknob way before I hit the big ‘7-0’. Time to take the bull by the horns.”

While doing researching on keto and intermittent fasting on YouTube, Argente came across Dr. Berg’s videos. His main takeaway from Dr. Berg’s information was the importance of proper nutrition, especially with a keto lifestyle.

“I never knew how important nutrients like potassium and magnesium were to my overall daily nutritional requirements, prior to watching Dr. Berg's videos,” he said. “I needed to take control of my health and Dr. Berg's YouTube videos were instrumental here to my road back to health.”

Argente was his own support system during the process, acting out of pure willpower.  But today, as much as he tries, he has not been able to think of anything that was hard about losing the weight.

“I actually enjoyed the challenge and with my bathroom scale constantly confirming my small successes, my determination never diminished, not even slightly,” he said.

In exactly seven months, Argente exceed his weight-loss goal: 53 pounds (24 kg) lost with keto. For him, the best part is “looking like a million bucks.”

“Giving up never crossed my mind as I was determined to reach my goal from the get-go,” he said. And he advised: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step...[keep] walking, don't give up.”

Favorite Way to Exercise: Stationary rowing using resistance bands

Favorite Keto Recipe: “Every Wednesday night, we have an informal pilot's meeting at the Tiger Tale's bar/grill near Princeton Airport. They have two salads offered that seem almost designed for somebody like me on the keto/IF lifestyle (notice I don't like calling keto/IF a diet but rather a lifestyle choice):

• Pan-seared jumbo shrimp and day boat scallops served over baby spinach and topped with sliced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onions, and feta cheese, served with a side of balsamic vinaigrette
• Steakhouse salad: sliced london broil, grilled to your liking in a bed of romaine with blue cheese crumbles, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, bacon, and floured onion. Served with horseradish ranch dressing