Ketones are NOT magic fat burning pills.

Conventional wisdom says glucose is the preferred fuel source for the brain /body but did you know that even in the presence of elevated levels of glucose, the brain, heart, & lungs will use ketones for fuel first?

What’s sad is that most of society doesn’t know how to unlock/activate them, or that they even exist within us or that we can consume them via drinking them.

The old way tells us that carbs are necessary & healthy, fat makes you fat, & experts continue to say the key to increasing health & performance is to eat less, move more, follow restrictive bland diets & lower your fat intake.

An important factor to know is that a natural byproduct of making energy from any food source & oxygen is the creation of chemicals called free radicals, which are normal & healthy as long as they stay in check.

Too many free-radicals are like pinballs bouncing around the cells causing damage & inflammation, which can lead to things like brain fog, declined energy & performance, fat accumulation & are the cause of major disease like diabetes, cancer, heart disease & so on..if not addressed. Carbs yield more free-radicals than fat/ketones do & carbs produce less ATP (our body’s’ energy currency) per molecule than ketones.

Ketones are a byproduct of burning fat.

Ketones are essentially powerful energy & signaling molecules. Think of them as little biological hackers that can reprogram your genes to work in your favor & at the same time they are like these little motivational speakers running all throughout your blood. Imagine what it would feel like to have that running through your veins during the day & how much better you’d feel.

Have you tried the new strawberry peach Keto//NAT from Prüvit​?

-Josh P. 💚🧠✌️

Power of Intention

There’s a lot of fear being shared right now.

I’ve learned that fear is a choice in thought that ultimately creates a chemical reaction known as a feeling or emotion.

These emotions influence our actions on a daily basis and if we’re not careful, it’ll form our identity moving forward.

Something I’ve learned from my virtual and personal mentors is that where our intention and focus goes, our energy flows.

If you’re worried about an outcome in the future that has not yet manifested, how do you think that’ll influence your emotions and actions?

Will it be aligned with your desired outcome or aligned with your fears?

More times than not, it’ll be aligned with whatever our majority focus is set on and it’s why it’s important to audit our thoughts.

It’s ok to think something as long as you don’t give too much energy and focus to it, if it’s an unwanted thought.

Easier said than done, especially right now, but it’s worth the effort from my experience.

Our unconscious mind/brain doesn’t know the difference between “I don’t want” and “I want” as it just takes in the part that follows either statement.

I’d love to know your thoughts so let me know!

Josh P. 💚🧠✌️

What Are You WILLING To Do?

What are you willing to do for the things you say you “need” and “want” in your life?

Are you willing to sacrifice moments of instant gratification for the long game of sustainability?

Are you willing to put yourself in uncomfortable ale situations or moments of immense pain like I experienced in this photo?

The difference between a pro and amateur is the willingness to push past moments of physical and mental pain, fear, doubt, worry, judgment, stress and whatever else comes your way.

The future vision we create as a pro of our life’s journey is what defines us. We’re not defined by our past, who we showed up as yesterday, the times we fell down or “failed”, or the times we heard the word “no”. We are clear on our purpose behind the vision and won’t let anything stop us, no matter how far off course we find ourselves.

Pain is just information. Use the information to trouble shoot navigating forward to success.

When you find yourself comfortable, that should set off an alarm that it’s time to optimize.

Adaptations are healthy and necessary to build strength, but comfort can lead to stagnant phases in life and lead to unhappiness.

That’s what I’ve found in my life and BMX has taught me there’s always more in us to optimize our current level in area of life, if we’re willing to put the work in.

Get after it with clear, purposeful, and align intent that matches the vision you’ve created for your life.

Don’t settle for anything less and don’t let moment of pain persuade you off the path.

Josh P. 💚🧠✌️

Keto Context

I can’t stand posts that say “carbs don’t make you fat.” Or “fat doesn’t make you fat” when that’s both true and false.

How so?

Context. Context of the individual and the source of said fat or carbohydrate. Some fats promote insulin resistance while others promote ketogenesis. Some carbs are slow digesting and don’t raise glucose levels nearly as much as others.

Not everyone can eat certain carbs or in specific amounts. Not everyone has the same insulin sensitivity or lack thereof. Not everyone is the same age with the same body composition. Not everyone has the same metabolic health in regards to mitochondria. AND, not everyone has the same lifestyle.

Blanket statements like these cause harm and confusion with people that don’t know that there’s a ton of context involved.

AND yes, you can put on body fat even with consuming exogenous ketones.

Exogenous ketones ARE NOT a fat burning drink. Drinking exogenous ketones to reach a state of ketosis DOES NOT mean you are burning fat. It means you drank a form of energy that puts ketones in your blood. Yes, exogenous ketones come with calories (energy) and can contribute to fat gain in some circumstances.

That’s why having a goal with a clear purpose, a proper plan of implementing progressive steps that bring a ton of clarity to the picture, and a way to track progress beyond just a scale is beyond critical.

Also, someone in your corner that knows how to guide/navigate others to reach their goals without trying to sell you a miracle “fat burning” drink misleading you to think that’s all it takes. Exogenous ketones are an amazing tool, if consuming the correct form and brand and doing so “responsibly”.

Context context context.

Josh P. 💚🧠✌️

Ketones & Mitochondria

I don’t have a weight loss journey that led me to keto.

That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with that but it’s my belief body composition is just scratching the surface and is a by-product of prioritizing brain health.

Because we can’t see our brain, I find we often dismiss how we harm it on a daily basis. I learned this the hard way and it’s my life’s mission to shift perspectives through the lens of my life journey so others can choose to make changes from a state of joy and gratitude rather than pain and suffering as I experienced and was forced to reactive to a situation to save my life.

The profound benefits from ketones in regards to 🧠 health & performance come from optimally performing mitochondria and sufficient, superior, and efficient fuel to the 🧠 and body that produces less damage as a natural byproduct of metabolism.

When we’re running off of glucose for fuel predominantly, we produce more free-radicals and inflammation in the body, which damages mitochondria and create more free radicals and inflammation, which creates a damaging cycle.

Over time, from chronically elevated glucose levels and trauma to the brain (TBI, toxins, stress, depression, anxiety, etc.), the mitochondria can also become dysfunctional and begin producing less energy, storing fat, and can lead to more serious issues.

The problem with getting this message across?

There’s no way to measure WHEN issues may occur.

That’s why I share my story. I was 21 when I was diagnosed with a brain tumor even though my external looked “healthy”. Educate yourself and choose to change for the health of your 🧠 and from a state of gratitude.

Josh P. 💚🧠✌️

Focus

Focus: the center of interest or activity | pay particular attention to.

My focus was BMX.

My focus was myself.

My focus was proving others wrong.

My focus was making my dream a reality.

Then my focus shifted to staying alive after being diagnosed with a brain tumor when I was 21, 23, and again when I was 28.

After the third diagnosis and my younger brother taking his life, my focus has shifted all-in on a purpose to inspire perspective in others to take care of their brains and show them the potential we all have in life but don’t tap into it due to fear.

One aspect of my life I’m super passionate about is living a ketogenic lifestyle and how ketones have amazing ability to improve our focus among many other profound brain health benefits like mental health and increased resilience and energy production.

I’m stoked to have readily available and bio-active forms of exogenous ketones thanks to @justpruvit.

Until recently, the only form of exogenous ketones was in the form of a salt based powdered you mix with water.

Then came along Keto//UP, which is a liquid version of exogenous ketones in a free-cell technology that isn’t bound to a salt/powder.

You just crack open the can and enjoy but what’s interesting about this form of exogenous ketones is that it hits your bloodstream even more rapidly than the salt form.

This allows for quicker absorption and uptake by the brain and other cells in the body.

Thanks to SPECT imaging with @doc_amen and @ryanplowery, I have scans looking at my brain in terms of blood flow, focus, mental clarity, ADHD support, improved testing abilities, and other cognitive benefits from exogenous ketones.

What do you do for focusing in your life? Have you tried a ketogenic diet and exogenous ketones?

Thanks to @d_sunrise_w for the images and @justpruvit for having me speak and perform.

Josh P. 💚🧠✌️

Purpose > Giving Up

Never in a million years did I think this was possible.

That I would be speaking to a crowd of hundreds to thousands of people I don’t know.

Especially with my insecurities of being “good enough” to speak on such a stage.

Or, my social anxiety of speaking with strangers and how they may judge me and my life decisions.

Or, thinking “who wants to hear what I have to say? I’m just a high school dropout that pursued BMX as a career option, overcame some challenges along the way, and am trying to find my way in life beyond my past identity as just a BMX athlete living with brain tumors”. That’s the thing about being on PURPOSE, though.

You overcome the mental challenges to pursue the mission at hand while finding yourself in situations you never fathomed being in.

In this case, my mission is to inspire new PERSPECTIVE in others that leads them to making the choice to step into their power of creating the best versions of themselves.

With that said, I find myself speaking around the world, making videos sharing my journey, experiences, passions and my TRUTH, and reaching out to strangers to have a conversation to what value I can provide and what perspectives/insights I can learn.

The last decade of my life has taught me 3 valuable pieces to life that I live by and am passionately sharing as much as I can:

– perspective is essential.

– Health is internal.

– our reality is a manifestation of our choices.

The more I focus on my purpose to serve others, the more the anxiety, fear, and overwhelm disappear but it’s a constant work in progress to do so.

As a former professional athlete and multiple brain tumor survivor, I find myself being incredibly hard on myself and thinking I could be doing more.

I’m learning this perspective is limiting my ability to fulfill my purpose on a archer scale and manifest my goals in an efficient and the least challenging way.

The fact that I get out of bed every day & don’t give up even when I feel as if I’m a failure, I can’t handle the overwhelm & stress, and think “why bother because no one would care either way”, is something to be grateful for.

If you haven’t given up, be grateful & see the value in that.

Josh P. 💚🧠✌️

Pursuing BETTER

No words will do this feeling justice beyond euphoria and gratitude.

I’ve never felt the same emotions since competing other than before, during, and after I step on stage to share my TRUTH with 1,000’s of people.

The energy from a Prüvit event, the love and support from this amazing community, and the atmosphere of the Louisville Palace is incredible.

I’ve only been speaking for about a year now and to have spoken in front of such an amazing audience in a historical and iconic theater blows my mind and I’m incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity to speak in such a venue to such a crowd.

As I stepped on stage and looked at all the amazing humans challenging BETTER for our society, I felt at home. As I looked up into the second level balcony, I took a breath and allowed all the love and gratitude in as I felt more belief in my purpose to empower people to be BETTER and realize their potential in life as soon as they choose to step into it.

I couldn’t be more grateful for Brian Underwood (Prüvit CEO) trusting me to share with his community and to have the opportunity to experience such an amazing time with Brian Guilmette Prüvit and PrüvitNation.

Thank you all for the love Prüvit, thank you to those who’ve ever given me fuel by saying I couldn’t be successful or that I wasn’t good enough, and thank you for whoever read this all the way through.

My top HACK for BETTER in my life is to become as conscious as possible in such a way that we can audit our personality (our thoughts, actions, and emotions) to see how aligned we are with our desires….and drink Prüvit exogenous ketones!

Josh P. 💚🧠✌️

Hacking BETTER

Excited to speak at the “Louisville Palace” theater for “HACKING BETTER” hosted by Prüvit.

I’m excited to share my gratitude for such an amazing and supportive community challenging the current status of brain health and optimization.

To me, Hacking Better simply means to optimize. But, in order to optimize, we must become conscious of the way we think, act and feel. This trio is a set of behavior patterns known as our personality, which is what creates our personal REALITY.

I will be speaking about this sense of consciousness a bit more, as it’s what I’m super passionate about today, and how it’s shown up in various ways to help me in my life along with a ketogenic lifestyle.

After overcoming 3 brain tumor diagnosis, and living with 4 tumors in my skull today, I’m become very aware of my life and how I show up.

The more I audit who I am and how my personality influences my alignment with my life vision, the more clarity and abundance I find.

I can’t help but share all that helps me with others as I want everyone to be as healthy, happy and successful as possible.

I suffered for a while on my journey to empowering myself as a byproduct of having to react to my life being threatened. I don’t believe it takes such an experience to shift our perspective and that’s why I share my story.

I believe we can work SMARTER and be PROACTIVE rather than wait for a wake up call like I experienced to be initiated to be on PURPOSE and optimize my life reality.

Josh P. 💚🧠✌️

Is Keto hard or is it hard to break your food addictions?

I cringe when people say “keto is hard” or “I can’t follow keto because____”.

It’s not hard and anyone who wants to create the best version of themselves can apply the fundamentals of a ketogenic diet if I and countless others who travel, are busy, or had past food/sugar addictions can.

If someone’s willing to change their mindset and stop making excuses to hide behind, any type of change is possible.

It’s not that “keto is hard”, the reality is that the person saying this may have food/sugar addictions they’re not addressing, isn’t educated on the topic, or is being held back from emotions of fear.

This was the case for me when addressing my lifestyle and really beginning to audit my choices.

Then a brain tumor almost killed me in 2010 but thankfully I experienced this because that’s what got me to get over my excuses and fight/change for my life.

It was that emotion of fear for my life tied to that experience that led me on the path I’m on today and has helped me stay persistent and consistent while dropping the excuses to play small.

My biggest struggle with my life purpose today is helping others overcome their past selves and their excuses.

Not everyone has a wake up call as I had to fuel their fire of change.

That’s why a WHY or a purpose is so critical for all of us. Vanity purposes, in my opinion, are not complete. There’s always a deeper rooted motive to look good and it comes down to our past and the emotional baggage that we’ve brought into our adults years.

Creating a future version of ourself, mentally and physically, I find leads others to change for their better when becoming conscious to this level of thinking.

It’s not guaranteed that tomorrow will come, yet so many of us believe it will. I was one of those thinkers before I learned the hard way.

It’s my mission to get people proactive about their future to be as healthy, happy and successful as possible.

Are you being defined by your vision for the future or the past experiences you’ve had?

Josh P. 💚🧠✌️