A few years ago I developed lumbar stenosis so severe that I was helpless and in constant, blinding agony. Bone was growth severely crushing a nerve root. Even after surgery much of the pain remained because the nerve was permanently damaged. I fought my way back to functioning fully with manageable pain, but I now viscerally understand that some things are worse than death.

Never wanting to experience that again motivated me to adopt intermittent fasting, lose 45 pounds and keep it off, and develop my core to shore up my genetically crumbling spine. I feel 10 years younger than I did before the stenosis.