Beat the Creep: Gradual Weight Gain Stopped and Reversed
It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!
Hi my name is Mauricio Sada-Paz and I was born 37 years ago in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. I have been in banking for 14 years and have always been very athletic. However, every year my weight was gradually going up. I initially simply tried to increase the distance I was running still mixing it up with weights. When this did not work I decided to train for two marathons and dropped the weight training. In 2010 I ran the London and NY marathon, yet my weight stayed in the 99-100 kgs area (~220 lbs). I am 192 cms (6′ 3″) tall so I did not look overweight, but I did not look like a fit marathon runner despite running NY under 3:30. The first picture with me on the boat is in April 2010 only 4 days before I ran the London Marathon.
In 2011 I did not train for any marathons as I was starting a new job and my weight continued to increase. I peaked after New Year’s 2011 (second pic below) in the 107-108 kgs area (~238 lbs) after having had my wife’s family and then my own family visit for the holidays. I knew something was wrong when I ran 7 days, 15 kilometres every day during the holidays and my weight was still going up. Clearly I was eating and drinking wine, but still I should not have been going up at that pace. When I spoke to my boss about it, he said do not worry…I have the right solution for you. Simply read PRIMAL BLUEPRINT by Mark Sisson and the fat will just melt off. I trusted him as he is a super fit cyclist who has his body fat down to 6%.
I ran to my iPad and bought the book on the 9th of January 2012. Ever since that date I have only deviated from the diet on one day when I ate a burrito with tortilla, black beans and rice. I felt so bloated and gassy afterwards that this will not happen again. My weight has plummeted. By the end of January I was already at 102 kgs (~225 lbs) and by the end of February I was at 97 kgs (~213 lbs). At the end of March I touched a low of 92.9 kgs (~204 lbs) with 16.8% body fat.
I have not only changed my diet but I have also changed my workout routine. I stopped running so much and now only run once or twice a week to commute back from work, but never get above 75% of my max heart rate. In addition I have started lifting weights once a week. In order to comply with Mark’s recommended sprints or interval training I started doing the INSANITY workout videos which are very good the rest of the week.
So I now have a six pack for the first time since I was at Georgetown 15 years ago and my face looks 10 years younger (no longer like a model for Botero, the Colombian artist who paints obese grain fed people). I had my tailor come to my house two days ago so I could buy a new suit and alter my other two. These are suits from 2010 when I ran both marathons. In waist measurements I have gone from 38.5 inches to 35.5 inches. However it is more extreme when you compare 3 trousers I bought from Hugo Boss in November 2011. They were 40L. On Sunday I went to buy three new ones and they were 36L!!!
I do not consider the Primal Blueprint to be a diet but more a way of life, as I do not experience any hunger and eat everything I like except for a few things. I still drink red wine every night, but have stopped drinking beer (which is made out of grains) and distilled alcoholic drinks. I eat a three egg vegetable omelet almost every day, a big salad for lunch then some grilled protein with broccoli for dinner. For dessert I will have some blueberries, strawberries or raspberries. If I wake up and am not hungry then I will not eat and do a nice 12 hour “IF” (intermittent fasting). I always carry a small bag of almonds for an emergency when I go to a work event and they only have anti-Primal canapes. I have taken notes from the Primal Blueprint and saved it in my NOTES on the iPhone just in case I have a question. If the answer is not there then I Google it and 95% of the time, MARKSDAILYAPPLE.com has an article answering my question. That is it…easy peasy lemon squeezy. Many thanks, Mark!!!
Grab a Copy of The Primal Blueprint 21-Day Total Body Transformation and Start Getting Primal Today!
Posted By: Mark Sisson
Good job! Crazy how similar his story is to mine. Ran marathons yet kept putting weight on as I got older. Ate what I wanted. Finally started Crossfit and ate Paleo/Primal. Dropped 30# of fat (at least) and had to get all my suits refit (also in banking). My new diet is almost exactly the same… bacon and eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch and meat and veggies for dinner. Don’t forget the red wine! Cholesterol dropped like crazy, too. Fun story!
Wow, Great to see and hear from you Mau, and very big congratulations on all of your accomplishments, most especially having the discipline to follow a Primal lifestyle. I for one have been on and off with Primal for the past 2 years (I only do it 2-3 months prior to CrossFit competitions we have here in Laredo in the summer and again in the winter). Today marks my 3rd week going Primal (again) and I was looking over on success stories b/c I was about to throw in the towel. Not sure if you remember me (We would play basketball back in the day in my back yard, I was Mauricio Murillo’s neighbor, and I still see you brother Gabriel every now and then). Anyhow, I’m still the 6’0”, 170 Lbs., skinny dude, yet a lot older now. I to have also ran my share of marathons, but now I just do Crossfit, trying to maintain my fitness. I just can not manage to get below the 16% body fat, so I went Primal again for these next few months to see where it takes me.
Great success story and thanks for the motivation!
Juan de Dios Benavides
Laredo, Tx.
Hi Juan de Dios, Of course I remember you. What good times playing basketball in your house with Murillo. In Laredo where you have the mix of American and Northern Mexican food (southern and coastal mexican food is healthier) I think it would be harder to be primal so I admire you a great deal. In addition in Laredo we used to drink a lot of beer which goes straight to the belly. I do not buy beer anymore and when I get home stressed after a touch day and am peckish I will have a Spicy Seed Mix from Whole Foods and a small glass of white wine instead of beer. With dinner I will have a glass of red of course without fail. I have also eliminated all sports drinks. They are rubbish. Stick to good old fashioned water and you will thrive. Contact me on mauricio.sada_paz@me.com if you want more tips and to catch up further. un abrazo, mau
Thank you ever so for you blog.Much thanks again. Really Great.
Hey Mauricio, its Rafa from portugal, Benny fw me the e-mail, congrats man nice job there!Come visit us soon, we only drink red wine this time :p
Great tips, Maui! Hopefully I’ll be able to drop some very reluctant pant sizes with these recommendations, also. Congrats, dude!
Why don’t you just call this what it is. An advertisement and not real information. The sycophants on this site sound like any infomercial you can watch at 4 AM.
Emilio: This site is not an infomercial! Everyone shops for food; it’s what you take home in the bags and prepare that drops the weight. All this diet info is free on other websites listing what to eat and not eat, etc. If people don’t want to buy books they sell, fine
Sorry, wrong name, reply was meant for SkunkW.
Good job!
ShunkW….i live in London so not sure what they show at 4am in the US but you clearly have too much time if you are awake at that time watching tv. I wrote this letter to thank Mark and to help others. Your loss if you do not use it. Rgds, MSP
Congrats on the success and thanks for sharing your story. Would you tell us, how often do you do the Insanity workouts? What other details can you share about your workouts?
Thanks,
Wayne
Great story! In ’05 I ran three marathons in a 4 month stretch (Big Sur, San Diego, San Francisco) and I still was stuck around 220 lbs. Stopped eating carbs and the weight just melted off.
I am very proud of you Daddy