Interview with Sim
1) Introduce Yourself.
My name is Sim van daele, originally from Belgium, moved to Norway in
2015 to work as a Personal Trainer. The move to Norway was the end
accumulation of years of hard work on my psyche and physique. At nine I
got diagnosed with Major Depression as an initial diagnosis. However, my
mother remained very skeptical as I didn’t only display the
characteristic traits of depression. Like my erratic behavior and
moods, outbursts, breakdowns, sensitivity to all stimuli (light, sound,
touch), constant nightmares, severe anxiety (especially with strangers),
inability to deal with surprise or change, poor social skills or social
understanding. My parents couldn’t even leave the house for an evening
without it turning into a scene for me.
When they diagnosed me with (mild) autism at age 11 it put those
characteristics in perspective. Which lead to a ton of therapy in
different therapeutic methods. I had weekly meetings with a counselor at
school, which I hated at the time because it put a bulls-eye on my back
and enforced the idea that I was somehow different. That being different
wasn’t something I perceived as positive, it was actually inherently
negative. I tried to not stand out, to hide in my clothing, behind a
cap, behind my hair. Whatever put a barrier between me and the outside
world was welcomed and used.
Eventually I was forced to change my lifestyle and eating habits when I
saw a picture of the weight I had gained between 11 and 18. The picture
really confronted me with the undeniable reality of how I had been
eating and living. Eating grilled cheese sandwiches each day with a
loads of mayonnaise, as eating was my coping mechanism throughout my
depression getting worse from being in a hostile high school
environment. My circadian rhythms was broken because I refused to go to
sleep as I couldn’t bear the coming day and it’s terrors. So
understandably all the junk food, poor sleep, poor circadian rhythms,
little exercise, little sun exposure started to add up.
It wasn’t until I started running stairs are home and changed my diet
that things started turning around for me. The physical and
physiological changes brought for psychological changes, which also
allowed me to do the heavier psychological work as time went on. After
taking my training outside and changing my diet to a low carb and
fasting approach my autistic tendencies disappeared. My depression had
completely gone for a while by then. From there on out I had the
opportunity to work on myself daily through exercise, nutrition, sleep
and philosophy that has brought to where I am today.
2) How did you eat before Carnivore.
Before Carnivore I ate Paleo pretty strictly. The emphasis in my dishes
was animal protein with a little bit of vegetables fried in fat or oil.
I’ve been experimenting with different fasting protocols since 2009,
which has helped immensely to offset some of the intolerances I have
food wise.
3) Why did you try Carnivore to begin with.
I tried Carnivore because of the first episode I saw of Dr. Jordan
Peterson with Joe Rogan. When he talked about his diet experience and
how some foods would put him back into depressed state that matched my
experience almost perfectly. I didn’t get depressive bouts as much as
really negative and moody. So I had to look into it, which brought me to
Dominic Rapson (@origins.nutrition) through the power of the instagram
algorithm.
4) How do you personally approach the Carnivore Diet.
My approach to Carnivore isn’t as much my approach as it is Dominic
Rapson’s suggestions and guidance. My girlfriend has Psoriasis so I
urged her to work with Dominic. Through his work with her, buying his
book and interacting with him I had a general idea on the approach. Upon
his recommendations and his knowledge of me, I stay pretty strict with
meat, fish, eggs and some avocados. I’m still dealing with some fungal
issues in the gut so my adherence to his advice is on point.
5) What benefits have you seen since starting the Carnivore Diet.
The major benefits I have experienced and experience now is extremely
stable moods and clarity of mind. Nothing like I’ve ever felt before,
even with Keto. I went from Warrior Diet, to low carb and fasting, to a
Paleo template, then to Keto, then to a stricter Paleo style. None of
that made my moods stable or my mind as clear as Carnivore does. It’s
like you’re able to see and understand more, while residing in a more
logical and reasonable part of your brain.
6) What negatives have you found with the Carnivore Diet.
Haven’t experienced any negatives to the Carnivore Diet. Should I want
to go off protocol I’m aware of the trade off and the price. Going off
protocol is very rarely worth the short term pleasure of whatever I ate.
7) Do you exercise on the Carnivore Diet, if so how do you find it and
what do you do.
I maintain a movement practice, very similar to Dominic’s practice.
Which means it’s a combination of body-weight exercises, mobility, joint
conditioning, stretching, end range training, locomotion, lifting and up
until recently martial arts (Krav Maga, Submission Wrestling, MMA).
8) What piece of advice would you give someone who is interested in
trying this diet, but hasn’t taken the leap yet.
A piece of advice I give to people that are on the fence is that
experiential understanding always trumps cognitive understanding. You
don’t know if you don’t try, and quite frankly: most people have nothing
to lose.
9) Do you think Carnivore will ever be accepted as a mainstream diet.
I think as the anecdotal evidence keeps mounting and the testimonials
come in people will have to start taking it seriously. Because of my
experience with my mental health conditions I didn’t need much
convincing after so many people’s experiences reflecting my own.
10) Anything you would like to add, and where can people follow you.
It’s worth the adherence and consistency. Takes a while to find the
optimal for oneself, which requires experimentation. I also maintain
that those first few months you really should get someone to guide
through the process like Dominic Rapson (@origins.nutrition).
People can follow me https://www.instagram.com/simvandaele/?hl=en
or check out my site: www.simvandaele.com
I do a lot of writing on medium as well:
https://medium.com/@cafshadow/how-slipknot-saved-my-life-98f313662f62
If you want me to expand on something let me know 😀 I tried to keep it
coherent and digestible!
I’m working on a platform to help more people called PTGM
Post Traumatic Growth Method.
Ketogenic Endurance – I hoped you enjoyed this post.
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