The Protocol With 50% Attrition

At 37, I was 238 pounds and carrying nearly one-fourth of that as fat. My biological age clocked in at 39.8 years or slightly older than my chronological one. At 42, I’m 214 pounds, around 11% body fat, with a biological age of 31.2, a resting heart rate of 52, and a VO₂max of 59.6, the level typically seen in elite endurance athletes in their 20s.

The data tells a story of systemic transformation, one that can be measured across every axis of organ, cellular, and cognitive function. I built an entire protocol around this; one with a 40% attrition rate. Here are the key principles. 

Metabolic Efficiency

At 37, the engine ran on unstable fuel. Elevated glucose variability and mild insulin resistance forced this body to rely heavily on glycogen stores. Each meal created a surge, and each surge took a toll, aging mitochondria faster than they could regenerate. By 42, that system is rebuilt. My body now oxidizes fat as a primary energy source. This shift, driven by years of aerobic base training, controlled fasting, and clean macronutrient distribution, means lower insulin demand, lower glycation stress, and cleaner mitochondrial output. Energy comes steady, not spiked.

Translation: the same workload now costs my body much less.

Organ and Hormonal Regulation

At 37, the liver and pancreas were compensating. Elevated inflammation markers and cortisol cycles interfered with efficient recovery and hormone balance. Testosterone utilization lagged behind production; the signal was present, but noise, sleep inconsistency, stress, alcohol, or poor nutrient timing. They each blocked expression. Now, the human body's organ systems operate with clockwork precision. The HPA axis is balanced, cortisol is pulsed not chronic, and growth hormone peaks are restored during deep sleep. Liver enzymes trend lower. The thyroid is responsive, not reactive. Each organ is tuned to operate in synchrony instead of survival mode.

Cardiovascular and Muscular Adaptation

The difference between a resting heart rate in the mid-60s and one at 52 bpm is the story of cardiac remodeling. His heart now ejects more blood per beat (increased stroke volume) and uses less oxygen at rest—a metric of endurance efficiency.

Muscles, once hypertrophic and anaerobic, have transitioned into high-capillary-density aerobic engines. The byproduct: better recovery, greater endurance, and a stronger parasympathetic tone.

Glucose Regulation

At 37, fasting glucose was likely in the high 90s to low 100s, a warning light for metabolic drift. The pancreas compensated by secreting more insulin, gradually dulling sensitivity. At 42, fasting glucose is in the 70–85 mg/dL range, with minimal postprandial variability. The body now clears glucose with minimal insulin load—reducing oxidative stress and promoting youthful gene expression through sirtuin activation. Stable glucose = stable cognition, stable energy, stable mood.

Cognitive and Neurological Function

The mind reflects the body’s chemistry. At 37, my productivity came through adrenaline and caffeine. Chronic stress hormones blunted neuroplasticity, and executive function relied on brute force. Now, with elevated BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), improved oxygen delivery, and reduced neuroinflammation, cognition is cleaner. Focus is sustained, memory formation is stronger, and the brain recovers faster between bouts of effort. It’s not just mental sharpness—it’s neurological youth.

Dermal and Cellular Health

The visible difference in skin isn’t cosmetic—it’s metabolic. Reduced glycation (fewer AGEs), increased collagen turnover, and higher NAD⁺ recycling have restored elasticity and tone. Cellular repair pathways like autophagy and mitophagy are active. The surface reflects what’s happening beneath: the efficient removal of cellular waste and constant mitochondrial renewal.

Longevity Markers

At 37, biological age exceeded chronological by nearly three years—a subtle but significant signal of accelerated aging. At 42, biological age trails chronological by over a decade.

That reversal implies epigenetic reprogramming: silencing inflammation-linked genes and activating those tied to repair and stress resistance. This shift wasn’t achieved through shortcuts. It’s the cumulative outcome of:

• Aerobic density over ego lifting

• Glucose stability over cheat cycles

• Consistent sleep and stress control over stimulants

• Mitochondrial resilience over aesthetic gains

System Summary

The Meaning of It: Notes on Attrition

Over a five-year span, I synthesized insights from more than 372 medical journals and peer-reviewed studies, merging them into a unified framework that bridges science, behavior, and performance. I shared dozens of these findings with our private, 200 person WhatsApp group called Optimization. I started the group shortly after Harvard Business School, where I was inspired by several people who seemed nearly insane. They found delight in consistency. So inspirational, I began a “second job” of becoming a scientific layperson, working to understand the biology of the successful and the fit. Thanks, Sezen.

Each paper: spanning endocrinology, mitochondrial biology, exercise physiology, neuroplasticity, and metabolic health was distilled, cross-referenced, and tested through personal experimentation. The process wasn’t academic for its own sake; it was an applied pursuit of truth across thousands of pages of dense literature, where patterns emerged about how diet, sleep, and movement orchestrate cellular renewal.

Of the 18 participants in the study, six were women. Five participants were American, though none of the American women fell into the attrition pool—an early sign of higher consistency and resilience among the female cohort. Across all phases, the women demonstrated a unique steadiness in what the study termed the “Four C’s”: consistency, compliance, composure, and cognition. While the 12 male participants showed more volatility in results, the women sustained measurable gains in body composition, glucose regulation, and recovery metrics. Their data reflected an adaptive resilience, an ability to maintain equilibrium under identical physiological stressors, suggesting that behavioral stability and emotional regulation may be underappreciated drivers of optimization outcomes.

The outcome is something extraordinary: a living model of optimization, not theory, but proof, that modern humans can reprogram their biological age and extend their high-performance years through evidence-based discipline.

The experiments personally cost me about $19,000 on top of what was donated to Optimization to take part of the protocols. The costs were worth it, one of the current expressions of my new levels of fitness and recovery? As of publishing this report, I have run a 10 kilometer race (or more) every day for over 651 days. The goal is to surpass 1,107 days, breaking the Guinness World Record for the feat.

What you’re seeing is the proof of concept behind the Optimization ethos: that human performance isn’t linear decline—it’s adaptive potential. Between 37 and 42, the system didn’t just lose weight—it re-coded its metabolism, hormonal rhythm, and cellular logic. At 42, I am not biologically younger by chance. It’s more by design. Biology, once reactive, is now responsive. Proof that age is a variable, not a verdict.