Tony Konvalin - My BIG Why

Why?, simply because I consider health, fitness and performance as vitally important. Through my 50+ years as an athlete, father, husband and professional I’ve found OFM to be the most integrated and individualized way to achieve these goals and one fully aligned with Nature.

This is because my worldview is that God has created me to honor Him with all that I have and I want to do so as best I can. This includes my physical body which means I need to be responsible to do all I can to be a good steward of my body. If my health and fitness are less than optimal I can’t function as I need to.

Performance is not constrained to simply athletics but, even more importantly, performance in every aspect of daily life, be it at work, playing with the grandkids and, yes, participating in two sports I love – cycling and running. As the Bible says:

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” - 1 Cor 10:31

Thus - To be able to do all to the Glory of God I need to be the best I can be in every area of life.

As part of my “Big Why” I have spent quite a bit of time looking at how we have been designed and how our bodies work optimally.  Part of what I found – keep in mind I grew up running in a carb-centric world – is that while we hear endlessly about how our main fuel source are carbs this misses, to our detriment, the true beauty of how we are created.  We have two principal fuel sources that are use; Fat and carbs. Based upon the body's requirements, fat should be our main source and carbs (glucose) for those more intense or urgent times, often called “fight or flight”, when we need a quick surge of energy.  This dual fuel source is amazing, especially fat metabolism which can actually produce ketones and glucose from fat,  but, over the years of listening to the so called “experts”, our bodies are not able to access and utilize fat as our principal energy source and, thus, the self-fulfilling prophecy of reliance  on carbohydrates which is not how we are created.  

After looking at and trying all the options; Primal, Paleo, Keto, Carnivore and others, I’ve found that while they all had a place they were not the long term answer for me.  In this journey I came across and started reading about OFM after hearing about Vespa – and eventually talked to Peter and over the last few years have learned how the performance, fitness and health triad all are based upon the proper metabolism of fat. This goes far beyond energy production but to the vast majority of metabolic processes in our bodies. 

Bottom line is to have the best health, be fit and perform as we have been designed, we need to get our bodies back to working as they should.  My goal is to help people do just that. OFM, in my book, is the best and that is why I work with them.   While OFM is a game changer for sports performance, it is even more of a game changer in life performance, thus allowing us to be the best version of ourselves in every way. 

At 64 I want people to see what is possible and lead by example to guide you to your potential. While  your purpose and goals may be different from mine as an ultra-endurance athlete, the need to be healthy and fit are the same.

As importantly, you need to reject the ‘normal’ expectation that, as we age, we are destined for the walker, wheelchair and prescription medications. OFM is the solution to this ‘normal’ trajectory so that whatever endeavor you pursue, you can have an active, vibrant and full life. I and other OFM Athletes are living proof of that!