Alright so I been reading a lot here lately. page

[Captain Archer]

Well onto my story and success with the Primal way of life (so far.)

Last year back in April I decided it was time for a change. After 10 years of weighing in at 280 pounds and being 5'8. I didn't quite understand how the diet and exercise program should of been at the time. I decreased all my fat (conventional wisdom....) I increased my carbohydrates (conventional wisdom...) and I decreased my protein (again conventional wisdom...). Well with taking in everything I learned from my doctors I set forth to losing weight, I was suggested to have cardio sessions everyday from 3 to 5 hours a day by friends and family. Last summer I went down from 280 pounds down to 230 pounds, feeling awesome! Though it took me 4 months of long moderate exercising everyday everyday.. did I mention everyday? I was eating around 1000 calories a day if that.. not quite sure on the exact amount. After it became too cold to swim, I decided to go walk/jog for 4 hours a day everyday. I was still eating like I was told, and started drinking "energy drinks" for more energy. I didn't understand my insulin, my blood sugar, my body, point blank I was blindfolded. I became 213 pounds after 3 months of doing this... seriously frustrated with my body. I did the only thing I could figure out, I went on a can of tuna a day diet for 3 months. Not knowing I was destroying my body from the inside out. Not knowing that a can of tuna a day was only causing me to lose muscle mass and destroy my body. Now after 3 months of that tuna diet I was down to 180 pounds yay! I thought... I then decided I would join the military, I am enlisted in the United States Army currently waiting for basic training. So 7 weeks ago I was on the scale weighing in at 165 pounds, I thought I was happy.. yet my insides were very weak and sad. I could barely even lift 10 pounds let alone work all day.

So now onto the primal and keto discovery 7 weeks ago. I was on a site talking to a friend who was having great success with this lifestyle. I didn't understand it the first 5 days, I thought I could eat anything as long as my carbs stayed under 50grams a day. Oh good lord was I in for a huge mistake, I actually started eating more bread.. "grains shudders." So after the first week, I went back to him and told him how I felt. He told me that I was doing harm to my body, I didn't understand so I started reading this site. Since I have given up all carbohydrates except for my (vegetables god I love them..) (some fruit, meh not really a fan of fruit) and (nuts - NOM NOM NOM!) I have gone from 22% body fat down to 17% body fat without watching my daily calorie consumption. Now I know that we are not to eat more than such and such calories but truth is some days I eat 5/6k some days I eat 3/5k calories, average around 4.5k calories a day. People think I am crazy when I sit down to munch on 2 bags of spinach with a bottle of coconut and olive oil as my dressing. People also think I am crazy when I sit down to eat calf liver, calf hearts, and even cow brains. I think they are the crazy ones for not enjoying the greatest tasting parts of the animal (my opinion.) I haven't decided to eat my meats raw yet, maybe I should.. just can't get past that medium raw meat yet.

If I had some before pictures I would love to post them but sadly I burned all those pictures when I went into my tuna depression diet. Now I am skinnyfat due to starving myself with only a can of tuna a day. I am currently working on bulking, then cutting the proper way. I will keep you guys and girls posted on how my progress goes with the primal way of live.

[namelesswonder]

Great story, so sorry you had to go through all that suffering before enlightenment, but you are a stronger person for it. Good luck with basic! You will definitely struggle there, as my understanding is you eat when you can because you might not have time later, and they load you up on carbs. If you can pick decent food, combined with the workouts, you'll probably be in pretty good shape pretty quickly! And a lot happier than most of the other guys

[Captain Archer]

True from what I have been told by my recruiter most meals will include lean meats, high amounts of bread, and few if any fat.
I will probably just tell them I am vegetarian when I get there, so that way I can eat all the fiber greens I can get my hands on.
I will have to back some olive oil, coconut oil with me when I go and have been looking into omega 3 enriched olive oils here lately.

[IcarianVX]

When I went through boot camp (20 years ago mind you) there was plenty of CW going on and their food was still high in fat. It was also high in carbs, but there was nothing lean about it. LOL.

If I were you, I wouldn't worry too much about being Primal while in boot camp. You will be working/running your ass off and will need ALL of the energy from food that you can get. I am not saying to eat the donuts in the morning (you won't get those for weeks anyway) but you can eat pretty much everything there and you will NOT get fat. Don't tell them you are a vegetarian. You don't want to stand out for any reason. Trust me. My Dad was a Colonel when I went through and they found out (I have no idea how, I never spoke of it) and they made my life a living fucking hell for 10 weeks because of it. I got all sorts of extra duties, double fireguard AND I always had to add on 6 of whatever exercise we did (Colonel is O-6).
I can't imagine the horrors that would befall you if you told them you were different than everyone else. That is the last fucking thing you want to be in boot camp, different.

In the mornings, stay away from the juice and go for the milk. Eat eggs, shit on a shingle (chipped beef on toast), or even oatmeal (if that's the best option).
Lunch and dinner usually consists of some sort of meat substance (boiled, always boiled), vegetables/salad and a carb source like potatoes or rice, which you will need to eat. Just stay away from the breads if you can and you will do very well.

With the amount of physically demanding work you will be doing, you actually do want to spike your insulin to get the nutrients/protein into your cells. I know that is counter to what I said in PrimalTatooLovers thread, but he isn't in boot camp. You will get much stronger and your endurance won't suffer.

[Captain Archer]

Alright thanks so avoid standing out while in boot camp but at the same time avoid the grains while there. I just don't want to have an insulin crash while working out reason I love Primal so much is I don't crash . Instead of having to eat 6 small meals a day, I eat around 1 to 2 a day and always have energy to go through with my daily life of digging ditches for 8 hours.

[jfreaksho]

Do not tell them you are vegetarian unless you really are. You don't want to draw attention to yourself, and the amount of leafy greens they will have available are likely going to be limited. If you say "vegetarian" they will give you processed junk that doesn't contain meat, as opposed to the processed stuff with meat in it. You probably won't get enough protein if you are on a "vegetarian" diet, and you'll get it way worse if they find out you've been dishonest about it.

Also, congrats on your decision. I've been Army for 11 years. Send me a PM if you have any questions.

[namelesswonder]

Good point on not drawing attention to yourself. My boyfriend is the son of a former green beret...probably best that he didn't tell anyone that when he went in!

[SanDiegoDude]

Best advice I can give for basic training. When it's time to eat, make a big pile in the middle of all the crap they serve you, then eat as fast as you can, as you normally only have a few minutes before you have to go (oh, and never ever ever stand up while still chewing your food!). Don't worry about what you're eating in basic, you'll be burning 1000's of calories a day from marching, PT, drills, etc. Just remember once you're out of basic to switch back to healthy eating. Also, as others said above, don't single yourself out by saying you're a vegetarian... You will get harped on for saying it, fed crappy non-meat food which is going to adversely effect your body whilst burning all those calories, and god forbid if you decide to go "un-veg" while there... You'll get harped on even more.

Good luck, remember that it gets better once you're out of basic, stay strong and pray a lot, even if you're not very religious, you will become so in basic. it's normal and I've seen it with my own eyes... Mostly because when you're at church praying in basic, you're not getting yelled at!

[IcarianVX]

Good luck, remember that it gets better once you're out of basic, stay strong and pray a lot, even if you're not very religious, you will become so in basic. it's normal and I've seen it with my own eyes... Mostly because when you're at church praying in basic, you're not getting yelled at!

QFT. I am an atheist (for lack of a better word) and I went to church every Sunday just to get the hell out of there.

[jfreaksho]

And they have cookies and punch after many of the services.