I had a physical back in May where my Doctor saw a few things in my blood work. The result for creatinine was 2.0 mg/dL with a Glomerular Filtration Rate of 38. The normal range for creatinine is 0.5-1.5. Bodybuilders can typically be around 2 and I’ve built a lot of muscle through CrossFit, so wasn’t sure what to think. The GFR was pretty low though and can be a sign of kidney failure. Yikes! Also of note is I weighed around 215 pounds at the time.

The Doc wanted me to stop whey protein, BCAAs, and creatine. I didn’t consume much of them, so I figured my diet had a lot more to do with it. I was eating a lot of fast food and maybe it was finally catching up to me. I stopped taking the supplements immediately though. I also started ordering Factor 75 meals. It was right around this time when I finished up some back rehab work and was getting in the gym 4-5 days a week again, which meant a lot more conditioning work.

This week I finally got my blood work retested. Creatinine is down to 1.2 and GFR is > 60, so back to normal ranges. Yay! This morning I weighed 198.7 pounds and I was even lower at 197.1 last month before a work trip with a lot of buffets and desserts.

I’m going to start using protein and BCAAs again and hold off on creatine until after the labs at next year’s physical.

In five and a half months I was able to correct some concerning numbers and dropped over 16 pounds with good old-fashioned discipline. No need for drugs. If I can do it, so can you. You have to want it and commit to changes though, which isn’t easy.