In Part 2, Lori Balue gets into the adventures that prove the work. She's been returning to the Grand Canyon every year since 2016 — first with excruciating knee pain on every downhill step, then progressively stronger, then completing rim-to-rims with ease, then setting her personal best on Bright Angel. The Canyon is her measuring stick. She uses it to track what her body can do now versus what it could do before.

This half of the conversation also covers the divorce that happened while she was figuring all of this out, a hiking fatality she witnessed firsthand on Mount Wilson, why she'll never do a full marathon, how she fuels for big days in the backcountry, and what 63-year-old Lori would say to the 12-year-old version of herself who had no idea what was coming. Plus: the hiking hack that gave her a magical lift on Bright Angel, and a shout-out to the national parks she loves enough to ask you to actually pay the entrance fee.

If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, start there — it dropped 10 minutes ago.

Show Notes

About the Guest


Lori Balue is a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner and metabolic restoration practitioner based in Southern California. After losing 100 pounds in her 50s and reversing asthma, pre-diabetes, and chronic joint pain through metabolic restoration, she has completed multiple Grand Canyon rim-to-rims, runs half marathons annually, and summits peaks across the San Gabriels and Sierra Nevada. At 63, she is training for Mount Whitney.

What's Covered in Part 2


Why We Get Fat — The Full Picture

Nobody chooses to be overweight. The environment is toxic. Lori traces the dietary shift from pre-1970s eating — natural fats, protein, whole foods, three meals a day — to the fat-free era of the '70s and '80s, when sugar and ultra-processed food replaced fat and protein. The result: chronically elevated insulin, suppressed satiety signals, and a food supply engineered to override the body's natural appetite shutoff. It's not willpower. It's biochemistry.


Lori's Journey — The Full Arc


From the teenager who lost weight on Atkins and felt her depression lift, to the 225-pound woman cycling through Nutrisystem and starvation diets in her 30s and 40s. Wheat and dairy sensitivities she didn't yet know she had. Food addiction she couldn't overcome through willpower because willpower isn't the right tool. Pre-diabetes. PCOS. Twenty-five years of trying. The Wheat Belly, the HCG diet, paleo, finally keto — and then the moment her brain turned back on and she understood what had been happening to her body the whole time.


How to Restore Your Metabolism


Metabolic restoration starts with diagnostic labs — a roadmap of digestion, gut health, hormones, food sensitivities, and mineral levels. Fix the digestion first: if you're not absorbing protein, no amount of eating right will work. Add back the minerals — potassium, sodium, the spark plugs of the body. Reduce insulin response through low-carb nutrition. Build muscle through protein and movement. The metabolism follows. Three to six months, guided. Not complicated, Lori says — just the basics, done right.


The Grand Canyon as a Measuring Stick


Lori has been returning to the Grand Canyon annually since 2016, when she went down to Phantom Ranch with her then-husband and had excruciating knee pain on every downhill step. Each subsequent visit she tracked her body's progress — more strength, less pain, less altitude sickness. The rim-to-rim came when her body was simply capable of it. Her most recent hike: a personal best on Bright Angel, five hours from the river to the rim, passing younger hikers who were struggling. She fueled just right. She didn't sit down once.


The Mount Wilson Fatality


Lori was hiking with a group at Mount Wilson when a member of her party — an experienced runner in excellent shape, headed for the Grand Canyon — stepped too close to the edge and fell. She was 30 minutes behind and saw the aftermath. Her takeaway: it was not a bad decision. It was a complete fluke. Trail safety reminders she takes from it: approach narrow sections front-to-back, not side by side, and never stand on edges — not ever.


The Divorce


The husband who asked, without looking up from the couch, when she was going to lose the weight — he didn't wait. They divorced. She lost the weight at 60, after the marriage ended. Twenty-five years of learning. She got there anyway.


Half Marathons — and Why Not a Full


Lori stumbled into half marathons when a friend invited her to Zion. She trained, showed up dialed-in nutritionally, and walked-jogged to a finish in three and a half hours. Now she does one a year, gets her time down a little each time, and dances at the finish line because she's full of joy. A full marathon, in her assessment, introduces oxidative stress she doesn't want to take on. She stays half-marathon ready as a baseline. That's enough.


What 63-Year-Old Lori Says to 12-Year-Old Lori


I would give her a hug. And just say — you're gonna be okay. We're gonna get through this. We're gonna make it. We're gonna survive. It's okay. I've got you. I've got you.


Mount Whitney — What's Next


Lori is on the wait list for Mount Whitney and has been told to expect to go. Training with Mount Baldy. Planning a day-trip push with a Meetup group. She's been studying the hiking guide. A little nervous — it's new territory. She'll do her best to get up there and enjoy it.


Hiking Hack — Ketone IQ and Perfect Aminos


Two products, one outcome: more in the tank on big days. Ketone IQs — exogenous ketones taken three to four times on the way up Bright Angel — gave Lori what she calls a magical lift, passing hikers half her age who were struggling. Perfect Aminos — free-form amino acids used for two years — have produced measurable strength gains year over year, with noticeably stronger legs on her most recent rim hike versus her rim-to-rim. Both are coming to Mount Whitney.


Off the Beaten Path — Adventure Sports Podcast


Lori's media recommendation: the Adventure Sports Podcast with Kurt Linville. She also follows Grand Canyon Facebook groups as a trail-planning fix, and scouts hikes on YouTube before going — most recently The Hiking Guy's Mount Whitney video.


Pay It Forward — National Parks


Pay your entrance fees. Buy things at visitor centers rather than gift shops — more of the revenue goes directly to trail conservation. Join the National Parks Association and donate directly. The parks are always struggling for funding and they're worth protecting.


Links & Resources



  • Lori Balue — Website: https://www.loribalue.com

  • Adventure Sports Podcast with Kurt Linville: https://www.adventuresportspodcast.com

  • The Hiking Guy — YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheHikingGuy

  • National Parks Foundation: https://www.nationalparks.org

  • Ketone IQ — Exogenous ketone supplement. Lori's trail fuel for big climbing days.

  • Perfect Aminos — Free-form amino acid supplement. Used daily for strength and recovery.

  • Keto Brick — 1,000-calorie ketogenic meal brick. Lori's Grand Canyon lunch at the river.

  • OTTR (Off the Trail Recreation) — Durable, high-quality outdoor gear. Sponsors the Hiking Hack segment.

  • Hilltop Packs — Lightweight, durable, custom gear. Sponsors the Off the Beaten Path segment.


Southern California Trail Recommendations from Lori



  • Mount Baden-Powell — Lori's favorite. Starts around 6,000 feet, climbs to approximately 9,400 feet. In the forest, with sustained elevation.

  • Mount Wilson — Recently completed. Technical enough to require stops and pacing. Be aware of edges and trail exposure.

  • Mount Baldy — Current training target for Whitney prep. Notorious for fatalities in winter conditions — don't hike in winter without proper gear and experience.

  • Rocky Peak — 17-mile trail, approximately 3,000 feet elevation. Completed in about six hours.

  • Towsley Canyon — Local warm-up trail, five miles, good for a dialed-in training day.


Connect with Hiker Trash Radio



 

Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Comments & Upvotes

Listen On

Also In Season 11