Obligatory forum Introduce yourself thread page 428

[hunneme]

Hi Primal People, I have been lurking for the past week and I am looking forward to the accountability on the boards. I am only primal for 8 days, my man and son are not. Still have pasta lurking about in the pantry. I am making dinner a primal event to get them used to this lifestyle. I don't want my son to grow up to be a part of the epidemic of obesity, and I need for his Dad to be healthy and in our lives for a very long time. My weight loss goal is modest from my current 160 lbs to 140.

The Questions:


Your location: Atlanta, GA

Age (If you want): 48 in 10 more days!

How Primal are you:90%

Do you consume dairy: Half and half in my coffee, cook with butter, and I enjoy cheese on my BAS

Do you drink coffee or tea: Love both, coffee in the morning and peppermint tea in the afternoon

Motivator for switching to Primal: I am going back to work next week after taking 3 months off (= 10 pounds). I need the extra energy!

Favorite exercise: Walking/hiking while my 3 yo son rides his bike.

Favorite Primal food: Meat!!

Best part about being Primal: The energy, I have been back on for 8 days and can already feel the surge.

Worst part about being Primal: Last night, I was craving a beer and/or a chocolate chip cookie! I settled for sharing a banana with my son. Giving in last night would have derailed 8 days of hard work.

[Loukia Maria]

Already two weeks Primal!

Your location: Ioannina (very temporaly), Greece

Age (If you want): 27 years, 6 months, 2 days and...a couple of hours old

How Primal are you: No grains - no sugar - no dairies - no nuts. I am still battling to stop the bad diet-soda-habit and be able to not overindulge in dark chocolate (it's really hard for me to have a whole chocolate bar in my house and restrict myself to 30gr each day)

Do you consume dairy: Not anymore. But it was really hard for me to get rid of dairies (cottage and low-fat yogurt have been my weaknesses for such a long time). Dairies (and dark chocolate) are my weaknesses

Do you drink coffee or tea: I drink lots of coffee (no sugar and milk added). I don't like tea.

Motivator for switching to Primal: Improve my eating lifestyle radically! I am already feeling the positive impact of Primal

Favorite exercise: weight lifting generally

Favorite Primal food: chicken breast will a lot of paprika!

Best part about being Primal: experiment with healthy food-options

Worst part about being Primal: I wouldn't say that there is sth 'worst'.

[thadius]

Your location: Raleigh, NC USA

Age: 31

How Primal are you: 80-90%

Do you consume dairy: very minimal, once or twice a week 2tsp or less, but this might increase

Do you drink coffee or tea: yes two cups of coffee per day, black one cup of tea in the evening

Motivator for switching to Primal: I realized that i was gaining weight and feeling worse every day. So I quit smoking six months ago and then started gaining more weight and still felt worse. I switched to primal once I realized that weight was only one part of the formula. So far so good.

Favorite exercise: Kettlebell swing + squat

Favorite Primal food: Any large chunk of fatty beef slow cooked with a sweet potato and an onion

Best part about being Primal: My knees do not hurt anymore

Worst part about being Primal: I still miss crusty bread

[lilelizabee]

Ok, so here goes! I've been browsing these forums for the last month, but never registered until yesterday!

Your location: Northern Virginia

Age: 23

How Primal are you: Just about entirely, I Just came off a Whole30, and haven't changed anything since finishing

Do you consume dairy: No, it doesn't agree with me

Do you drink coffee or tea: coffee black, maybe 2 cups per day, and herbal teas a few times a week

Motivator for switching to Primal: A general interest in gut healing and an overall lifestyle "reset"

Favorite exercise: walking, cycling, running, more recently kettlebell swings!

Favorite Primal food: Eggs, avocados, beef, salmon jerky, young coconut, beets

Best part about being Primal: Hormonal calm- no PMS! I feel stronger and recover faster.

Worst part about being Primal: Traveling and socializing when I travel (visiting people, and going out to restaurants and bars with them) is inconvenient. I mean, I'm happy to eat my nuts, jerky, and tuna, but it sucks having to really think about that stuff when you're trying to have a relaxed day out with people who are "I want to try anything and everything" foodies.

But I love being primal! I'll take a little inconvenience over ill health and unhappiness, and I'd rather be open and share about how I eat and live rather than keep it secret at home

[Rspeedygo]

The Questions:


Your location:Sonoma CA

Age (If you want):58

How Primal are you:

Do you consume dairy: cream for coffee & some Freek Yogurt

Do you drink coffee or tea:coffee

Motivator for switching to Primal:long term improvements to overall health

Favorite exercise: weightlifting

Favorite Primal food: bone broth

Best part about being Primal:haven't had an asthma attack in months & ran my 1st 2 5Ks this year

Worst part about being Primalarticipating in some of the conventional outings with friends

[saraingreen]

Hi I'm Sara. I've been dabbling in being Primal for a little over a month now. I have been doing really good with it and surprised at how easy it is to stay Primal! Figured it's about time I quite lurking in the shadows of MDA and say hello in the forums.

Your location: Los Angeles, CA

Age (If you want): 33

How Primal are you: Haven't yet incorporated strength training, but I've been following the food recommendations. Want to be MORE PRIMAL! RAWR!

Do you consume dairy: Occasionally. Yogurt maybe twice a week.

Do you drink coffee or tea: Tea daily.

Motivator for switching to Primal: An overall feeling of sluggishness and heaviness. Something has got to change.

Favorite exercise: Dancing and hula hooping.

Favorite Primal food: Kale! Coconut! Eggs!

Best part about being Primal: The increased energy and absence of abdominal bloating. And holy cow my skin looks great!

Worst part about being Primal: Looking at all these awesome recipes online and not having time to try them all, right now!

[Raven29]

I started with PB about 4 weeks ago after seeing MDA on another forum I frequent. I read through a lot of the primers and PB 101 info and it made a lot of sense. I have an ectomorphic body type and am looking to add mass to my frame. I am currently at 5’11”, 136 lbs, 10% BF. Just four weeks ago when I changed to this WOE, I was at 140.5 lb, 12 % BF. Those BF readings are with my Tanita scale, so I don’t trust the accuracy, but should give a relative measure. The weight loss was not intentional and is a combo of starting to get back into regular exercise and feeling more satiated by eating more fat, thus probably eating less calories.

Some history: I have always been skinny. Around 2005 I really wanted to bulk up so I started regularly lifting weights and upping my caloric intake. I got up to almost 175 lbs and significantly increased my squat, deadlift, and bench strength. By the end, I was eating nearly 4000 calories a day to gain .5-1 lb a week. Large quantities of fat, carbs, and protein. I put on a significant amount of fat in addition to muscle, and experienced frequent bloating, gas, and snoring issues. I later started doing Crossfit style workouts and frequent mountain biking and lost a lot of the weight. I later stopped most weight lifting and focused on endurance mountain bike racing and half marathoning and lost even more weight. Since I had kids (3 YO and 1 YO), my exercising has become very irregular and I am now looking to change that, put on some lean mass, and stop being skinny fat.

The Questions:


Your location: Maryland

Age (If you want): 31

How Primal are you: 80-90%

Do you consume dairy: Yes. Half and half, butter, cheeses, cottage cheese, milk, full fat Greek yogurt

Do you drink coffee or tea: 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning, 1 cup of tea most afternoons

Motivator for switching to Primal: General health and increased energy. Set a good example for my kids. Gain lean mass.

Favorite exercise: Trail Running and Mountain Biking

Favorite Primal food: Meat, fish, a lot of veggies. I’ve never been a picky eater.

Best part about being Primal: More energy and better sleep. Feeling stronger.

Worst part about being Primal: Expense and I need to become more efficient in meal planning/prep.

[Arriviste]

'ello, all,

Even though I'm a long-time reader of MDA and like–minded blogs and listen to The Paleo Solution podcast, I just got The Primal Blueprint and am now in the midst of reading it. Been eating cleaner for six months, or so, and am recently paying even more attention to the quality of my food. I quit smoking three weeks ago and feel pretty incredible.

I'm 5'7" (170cm) and 125 lbs. (56.7 kg), so I'm not concerned about losing weight—just tired of being weak and skinny–fat. Haven't been measured for body fat percentage, but I'm sure it's disappointing.

---

The Questions:


Your location: Jackson Purchase region in Kentucky, United States

Age: 37

How Primal are you: 60-80%

Do you consume dairy: Yes, but I tend to swing in-and-out of it, depending upon what my body tells me. Whole milk, butter (of course), soft cheeses, sour cream, and full-fat Greek yogurt.

Do you drink coffee or tea: Yes. Black coffee and some green tea (both regular & decaf, hot or cold-brewed)

Motivator for switching to Primal: My motives are controlling arthritis pain and inflammation, increased energy, stamina, and focus, losing IBS symptoms, getting sexier, and getting swole.

Favorite exercise: Running, but I quit because of osteoarthritis. (I hope that Paleo will give me a few extra years before I have to get a knee replacement.) Hiking and canoeing rock my face off, but I don't get the opportunity very often. So I walk (**yawn**) and am starting a home exercise routine with body weight, dumbbells, and stability balls. Cycling is another favorite; however, to get any speed or get into The Zone, I have to drive my bicycle away from town to get away from the stop signs/lights and cagers. Mostly use my bike on an indoor stationary fluid trainer (**double-yawn**.) Someone just opened a kettlebell club within walking distance of me, so I'll try that out soon.

Favorite Primal food: Grilled steak, sautéed kale, cooking with coconut oil, and I will go all Edie–from–Pink Flamingos on some eggs.

Best part about being Primal:

• Really listening to my body and being rewarded for it.
  
• Feeling great and having increased energy.
• Having something to look forward to: a longer, healthier life.
• Coconut oil: I can eat it and smear it on my skin and hair—at the same time if I want to!

Worst part about being Primal:

• Learned to make decent bread last month, but I won't be doing that very often anymore.
  
• I thought I'd really miss my dark beers, but I haven't had much of an urge to drink any sort of alcohol for quite some time.
• Quitting smoking has been easy compared to what it will be like if I ever cut cola out of my life. I've been mixing fresh citrus with soda water in an effort to reduce the amount of Coca-Cola I drink every day.

Reading the introductions inspires me and I look forward to reading more of the rest of the forum. Thanks, everyone, for this network.

[AKHITK]

Your location: Alaska

Age (If you want): 54

How Primal are you: Not very right now. I've had some issues that I need to research to move on.

Do you consume dairy: Yes but only heavy cream, some full fat cheeses, & Kerrygold butter

Do you drink coffee or tea: Yes, love my coffee but not much of a tea drinker.

Motivator for switching to Primal: To be healthier, reduce inflammation.

Favorite exercise: Walking, squats, ball crunches, & a few weight lifting exercises.

Favorite Primal food: Eggs & beef

Best part about being Primal: Not being hungry & reduced swelling in my extremities (when I am low carb)

Worst part about being Primal: Horrible & bizarre dreams plus crying - A LOT!

This last issue has side-lined me but only temporarily until I can find the problem. It's not a carb problem - I think carbs have just masked the issue for 20 some years (I can trace this problem back that far). Looking into absorption issues, pancreatic enzymes, low stomach acid, B6 supplements among other options but still looking for answers & hoping someone has them here!

Please let me know if you have any ideas! I'm open to options!

[IanG]

Your location: Salobrena Spain. Overlooking the Med.

Age (If you want): 46

How Primal are you: Not at all. I've been looking for some answers for a while now and I read an article about a BBC fasting program where the presenter fasted for 2 days of the week. One of the comments on the article mentioned Doug McGuff and watching a Youtube video he in turn mentioned Mark Sissons, so here I am.

Do you consume dairy: Yes. But I can easily cut this down.

Do you drink coffee or tea: yes, tea, lots of it. I love it. Its my favourite drink. Strong. 1 teaspoon of sugar and milk.

Motivator for switching to Primal: Well. Heres the thing. I'm not sure. I exercise daily. I push myself on runs, play tennis, but I never shift the belly fat. Dont get me wrong, I'm no way enormous, but even when I was playing football to a fairly high standard, I always had a, well, lets say, covering. I dont eat bundles, I eat loads of fruit, I dont drink to excess, in fact, properly well less than 10 units each week, yet, I still have a gut. So somethings wrong and I'm looking for answers. Primal might not be it! But I'm hoping it is.

Favorite exercise: Running. I dont do gyms.

Favorite Primal food: Whats a primal food? :-) I am a newbie, but I'm a great meat eater.

Best part about being Primal: Lets see!

Worst part about being Primal: Again lets see.... But I think it will be giving up grains. I have corn flakes most morning. Easy, can give them up and replace with an omlette. No problem. But Bread. Love it! If its bad fro me, then it makes sense to give it up , but it will be hard. Pasta, again, probably my meal of choice, so giving up the grain is going to be hard. But I'm more than willing to give it a go.

I'm sure the right place for questions is in another part of the forum so will take a browse. I must say I find just the info on this website overwhelming, so its difficult to know where to start, but hey, I'm diving in!