I have been following your blog for quite a while now, and am very grateful for all the information you share over here. I have changed my lifestyle significantly over the last 8 months or so, under the influence of the information on this site, and based on the Evolutionary Fitness ideas of Arthur de Vany (through whom I heard of you).

I have a question about gene expression and the ribbed look. I will get to in just a moment, but first I need to share a bit about the context I am coming from.

Over the last 8 months, I have made gradual changes to my lifestyle. Nowadays, I have by-and-large cut out the empty calories from my diet. On most days, I eat eggs and fruit for breakfast, a big salad for lunch (inspired by you!), and light meats and vegetables for dinner. My snacks comprise of nuts and berries. I also occasionally skip a meal, based on the Art de Vany’s Intermittent Fasting idea.

I workout three times a week, doing mainly Art de Vany’s Hierarchical Sets. I also play soccer and cricket for around 3-4 hours over the weekends, and on other days I keep active by walking around the neighborhood, or sprinting up flights of stairs, or cleaning out the house, etc.

Of course, my lifestyle is not ‘primal perfect’, and I do have the occasional dessert or cookie. And sometimes I treat myself to a little sugar in my coffee. But the volume of these things is orders of magnitude less than it was a year ago. Also, I live in India, and this is a very grain based society. So a lot of the seafood and other sources of good proteins are simply not available here or are prohibitively expensive. So I do the best I can with what is available. And that is but an approximation to your daily diet.

The results, nonetheless, have been extremely encouraging. I now really need a a whole new wardrobe: my old jeans just slip right off! I have had to get two extra notches on my belt. And I am also much stronger and quicker on the soccer field: I now regularly win the ’strength battles’ which are common on a soccer field, while I use to regularly lose them earlier. I am also much healthier than I was before: my body now resopnds exceptionally well to the inevitable occasional external stresses (late nights, hectic days, etc.) that are a part of life. I have pictures of myself over the year that speak for themselves. Unfortunately this forum does not enable me to attach them.

After that elaborate preface, I finally come to my question. As I mentioned, I have lost a lot of weight. I am now around 6′ tall, weigh around 140lbs, and my waist size is a tad less than 32″ (it used to by 36″ at one point). As you can imagine, I look quite thin. The muscle I can feel (based on the tightness of my shirt sleeves and chest) does not really show. And above all, I still have a thin layer of flab around my belly and the back of my arms. While this flab has reduced dramatically over the months, it has been quite stable for a while now. I simply don’t have that ‘ribbed’ look that I would really like.

I have read that in order to have the ribbed look, one’s body fat must be less than 10% . I have also read that based on genetic disposition, it could be very hard for some people to get their body fat less than 10% . I know that you firmly hold the position that how we express our genes is a key determinant on our health and fitness, but yet you do concede that genetics do play a factor.

Based on my experience, I am beginning to wonder whether I am reaching the limit of my ‘genetic allowance’ . Is it feasible that some people simply will not look ribbed no matter what they do? Or is it simply a matter of time? If so, what is a realistic amount of time before a once modern-looking (apple shaped, flabby) individual begins to look like a ribbed primal man once the primal lifestyle has been established?

Thanks for the time you take in sharing your wisdom and knowledge. It has made a huge difference to my life, and that of those around me (they can’t help getting inspired ) .

Regards,
Apurva

PS: I am a 24 year old male. After reading through my post, I thought that this might be relevant.