About Stellan

I'm Stellan Toast — 58 years old, based in the Pacific Northwest, and a former management consultant who spent the better part of three decades thinking he had everything under control.

For 25 years, I was what most people would call a "moderate drinker." A couple of glasses of wine with dinner. A few beers on the weekend. Nothing that ever felt excessive. I exercised, ate reasonably well, hit my annual check-ups. By every visible measure, I was healthy.

Then, around my early fifties, things started to shift. I was waking up at 3am drenched in sweat. My energy would tank by mid-afternoon. I started gaining weight around my midsection that no amount of exercise seemed to touch. My bloodwork — which had always been "fine" — started coming back with numbers that made my doctor pause.

The turning point came during a routine check-up when my liver enzymes came back elevated for the third time in a row. My doctor looked at me and said something I'll never forget: "Stellan, what you're doing isn't moderate anymore. Not for a man your age."

That conversation sent me down a research rabbit hole that changed my life. I learned that the liver's ability to process alcohol declines significantly after 40. That "moderate" drinking guidelines were based on studies that have since been questioned. That the symptoms I'd been dismissing — the poor sleep, the fatigue, the weight gain — were all connected.

Why I Started Writing

After making changes to my own lifestyle, I started sharing what I'd learned with friends — other men in their 40s, 50s, and 60s who were dealing with the same issues. The response was overwhelming. Most of them had no idea that their nightly drinks were connected to their afternoon crashes, their disrupted sleep, or their stubborn belly fat.

I realized there was a gap. There's plenty of information out there about heavy drinking and alcoholism. And there's plenty of general wellness advice. But there's very little that speaks directly to men over 40 who drink "normally" — and don't realize how it might be affecting them.

That's what this blog is about. Not preaching sobriety. Not selling anything. Just sharing what I've learned through research, personal experience, and conversations with doctors, nutritionists, and other men on the same journey.

The Mission

This blog exists to give men over 40 the information they need to make informed decisions about their health — especially when it comes to alcohol, liver function, sleep, metabolism, and energy. Every article is researched, cited where possible, and written from the perspective of someone who's been through it.

I'm not a doctor. I'm a guy who spent 25 years ignoring subtle warnings and who wishes he'd had access to this kind of honest, practical information a decade earlier. If even one article here helps someone connect the dots sooner than I did, then it's all been worth it.

Thanks for reading. And if you want to stay connected, join the weekly newsletter — every Thursday, I share one thing I've learned about health, alcohol, and aging well.

— Stellan