Doglett's primal journey! page

[thedoglett]

Hello there, long time lurker (and primal convert) checking in!

Here's little bit (well, ok, a lot!) about my journey...

Back in 2009 I started Slimming World which, over the course of 3 years, worked as I lost 4 stone. But, looking back, it makes me shudder when I think of all the low fat processed 'eat-as-much-as-you-like' rubbish I was constantly putting through my gob (because I was getting hungry every few hours) and it does make me wonder if the high intake of this stuff caused or contributed to my condition...

...for the past 12 months I've had MRI scans, x-rays, blood tests, seen consultants and neurosurgeons - the lot.

Why? I've had a problem with my hips and legs - they feel incredibly heavy and when I walk I feel like I'm dragging lead weights with me. Walking any distance is very difficult and slow. My legs and hips constantly ache. Pain killers make me feel worse and no matter what the doctors did they couldn't work out what was wrong. There's no signs of nerve damage, muscle damage, spinal problems, cysts, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy or motor neurone disease, and the doctors are at a loss as to what is causing it.

So, in October 2012 - when I turned 40 - I was at a pretty low ebb. My weight had increased by almost a stone (to 11stone 9lbs), I was so slow that I was being overtaken by pensioners in the street and in constant aching pain. I found painkillers (I've had four types over the 12 months or so) made me feel a lot worse (I hate taking them anyway) so I just stopped taking them. I knew that the only person who could help me now was myself and so I decided to look up a way of relieving the pain naturally. I trawled through a lot of sites and stumbled upon marksdailyapple.com.

The stories from this site showed that a lot of people have found a massive improvement in their conditions so I ordered the book and started the plan.

Within 3 weeks of starting it the heaviness was vastly reduced and the lethargy in my legs had almost gone - my balance had been so bad that sometimes I'd need to use a stick. Now I don't need it.

I'm not saying it cured me (they return for very short periods i.e. a day or two every now and then) but it has made life much more bearable. I still don't need to take painkillers.

Two months ago I couldn't get to the end of our road without aching and feeling really tired - now I can walk normally, quickly and without pain. Not only that but I've also started the 'Convict Conditioning' exercise plan and am now doing pushups, pull ups and leg raises etc! I never thought I'd be able to do anything like that again (or at least for a very long time).

I believe that *my experience* of going primal has both improved and changed my life - I'm more aware of what I put into my body and how it affects it and I have every intention on staying on it for life.

I find that I don't eat breakfast anymore as I'm simply not hungry in the mornings. I have a coffee with double cream and eat a tablespoon of coconut oiland that gets me through until lunchtime.

Lunchtime for me used to be 12pm, when I'd be starving, but now its more like 2pm-3pm. If I'm still not massively hungry I'll make the day into a small 'fast' and not eat until the evening. After all, you should eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full.

I don't feel the need to snack anymore. Full stop.

I enjoy my red wine at the weekends, however I've found that in the last month or so I'm losing the urge to drink it - sometimes I'll drink one glass and that will be enough, whereas previously I'd get through two or three glasses.

So, basically, the Primal Blueprint has made a massive change to my life - I'm due to see my consultant on 15th January and am looking forward to showing the improvement I've had from simply changing my dietary habits.

My wife at first said it was unhealthy (saturated fat alert!) until I showed her the many articles and youtube vids which explain the complete skewing of a healthy diet and she's now completely won-over and, whilst not keen on giving up bread (bah!), she has reduced her consumption of it along with pasta, rice and processed foods and is more aware of how unhealthy a lot of our foodstuffs are and how they affect us. She now sees that the conventional 'healthy diet' is in reality unhealthy due to all the additives and misleading guidance.

I've now dropped to 11stone 3lbs - I've probably dropped even more fat because my arms, chest and legs are getting quite a bit of muscle with all the calisthenics I've been doing.

Funny enough, the other day I was looking through an old book from 1921 called 'Jack's Reference Book' and whilst skimming through it I saw a section on obesity. I've linked to a scan of the page and highlighted a small section which once again shows that granny really did know best.

Finally, thanks for everyone who takes an active roll in the forums - you've all been a source of inspiration and knowledge!

[Nigel]

My wife at first said it was unhealthy (saturated fat alert!) until I showed her the many articles and youtube vids which explain the complete skewing of a healthy diet and she's now completely won-over and, whilst not keen on giving up bread (bah!), she has reduced her consumption of it along with pasta, rice and processed foods and is more aware of how unhealthy a lot of our foodstuffs are and how they affect us. She now sees that the conventional 'healthy diet' is in reality unhealthy due to all the additives and misleading guidance.

My wife will not change her CW beliefs no matter how much evidence, and personal experience, I show her. I am just happy that I have found a lifestyle that I am happy with and can stick to. I do not adhere strictly to some of the thoughts here but wheat, rye, barley & oats are the biggies for me. I eat legumes apart from peanuts, I eat carrots and other root vegetables and some other things (like rice occasionally) not recommended by some people here.

My point, is that I now understand more about how the food and drink decisions I make are likely to affect me, I'm happy to make those choices and know that I am far healthier than 10 months ago.

[thedoglett]

I think it will be an ongoing adjustment for her - she can't imagine not eating bread (neither could I, but 2.5 months later I haven't had any bread since) - but its really good to see that she understands and is actively looking at the primal blueprint as a healthier way of eating. I think the drastic change in my health did have a lot to do with it though!

I've been doing intermittent fasting á la leangains and fast-5 and that's really helped shed an extra few pounds.

Never felt so good since I went primal - I even did my first two dead hang pull ups the other day!

[Nigel]

Still can't do a pullup again yet but I am slowly getting there. Perhaps if I lose another stone that would help. I believe I've still got 15 - 20 lbs of fat to get rid of judging by my one pack. At least I've lost 57lbs and am off both the blood pressure tablets I used to take. It's obvious to me now that my lack of upper body exercise over the years has caused a lot of muscle loss. At least I am heading towards getting on the right path.