I Decided to Do Something About It
It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint success story. Many thanks to Albert for sharing his inspirational account of how he grabbed control of his health and lost nearly 100 pounds at an early age.
If you have your own success story you would like to share 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. Thanks for reading!
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Hey Mark,
All my life I had been a “chubby” boy, was happy, had friends and all but I knew something wasn’t right when I couldn’t run a set of stairs or catching the bus was a complete struggle…. I always had an emotional relationship with food and whenever I felt depressed or down I would reach for coke, chocolate, ice cream…..you get the picture.
One cold Monday morning while getting ready to go to work I looked in the mirror and the guy looking back wasn’t happy….it wasn’t me, I had topped at 270 lbs at age 21 and was heading towards diseases, joint pains and a sure early death.
I decided to do something about it, joined a gym and started swimming because it was the only thing that I liked back then (I’m originally from Spain and we enjoy the beach as much as we can!). Asked for advice from trainers at my gym and all of them suggested the same thing, increase cardio, eat whole grains, lean meats, egg whites, the whole thing….
While I lost some weight doing so, I was also feeling bloated, heavy and tired everyday, coffee became my best friend and I was simply struggling to get on with my life. I was counting every single calorie (taking in 1800 a day religiously) and macro nutrients (typical 40/40/20 kind of diet). Around May my weight was around 240 lbs and while I was pleased with the progress it didn’t seem to be realistic given the effort and the amount of work I was putting in…. I became obsessed with food and diet and would never go out with friends because I couldn’t eat anything that wasn’t cooked at my kitchen. You can imagine what happened, lost motivation, depressed, no social life, and the worst COMPLETELY obsessed with food.
I made the worst mistake of my life by decreasing my overall calories to 1500 a day (still on a 40/40/20 split) and my metabolism just couldn’t take it anymore, I was holding water weight and possibly had adrenal fatigue due to all the stimulants (fat burners, coffee, you name it…) and the overtraining.
Finally through a friend found open skies, he told me about dropping all grains and sugars and trying to eat more veggies and protein at every meal, he also suggested I googled “The Paleo Diet” and “Primal Blueprint”…..
That’s where my life began to make sense, I dropped down to 175 lbs by mid-July and measured my body fat at 10%, yes I had lost a lot of muscle mass during my stupid “healthy diet” trial but Primal eating, weight lifting and HIIT was getting me where I wanted to be….
Until today, I’m studying to be a Personal Trainer, currently looking to run my own business (a restaurant based in Primal eating) and willing to spread the word about these newly found lifestyle that matches my genes and makes life so much simpler, tastier and rewarding!
I just wanted to say thank you to you, to all the people that research about paleo lifestyle and to my family for all the support they’ve given me.
Grok On!
Albert
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
Oh wow! You look amazing. Even more important, I bet you *feel* amazing.
You know what I’d love to see, honestly? A paleo/primal type *grocery store.* I would LOVE to be able to walk into a grocery and not have my senses assaulted by stuff I don’t even want to eat. I have already noticed a difference in experience between shops that focus more on healthy foods (even if it’s only what they view as healthy, i.e., vegan everything) and places like Kroger, but I’d love to go that one more step and be able to skip the soy crap and the “organic” processed foods entirely.
Just a thought.
I wish I had the money to do that! In fact if I ever win the lottery that’s what I would do, restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, theme parks…. All about primal!
Thanks!
Beautiful! Inspiring!
The restaurant idea is fantastic! I was wondering about the tautness of your abs: no loose skin?? I’ve lost quite a bit of weight myself and, unfortunately, I’ve got excess skin in the abdomen region. Wonder if it’s a male/female thing?? Regardless, you look awesome!!
Thanks!
Cold showers and cocoa butter helped a lot with loose skin. I still use it and it’s slowly coming along very nicely.
Try it!
What do mean by cold showers and cocoa butter? Can you elaborate more on this, please?
Awesome work on your body!!
O.O Well hellooooooooooo there!!
Congratulations and good luck for the future! =D
Wow, you look… well maybe I shouldn’t say lol. And not just weight loss but such a great life change too. Congrats!
Congratulations Albert!
You look terrific!
Ok I just got razzed by the coworkers for checking out hot guys on the internet- LOL!
Seriously though, you look fantastic, and so much happier. Granted, ya were pretty easy on the eyes to begin with but now… hot damn!
I love the idea of a Primal restaurant. Toyed with the idea myself but my town is completely saturated with eateries. I hope you get it up and going. It would be great to visit for opening night!
Ups! Sorry! hahaha
Thanks for the comment though. The idea has been on my head for a long time, I just need the finances to make it real.
I’m sure it’d work, a lot of people care about what they eat more these days (this community proves it) and if you give them an affordable yet very high quality and nutritious place to eat out….
Right on man, that’s what happens when true wisdom is applied with vigor. I don’t care what anyone says or why, it feels good to look good!
Great inspirational story. Thanks for sharing!
You look great. I’ve also played with the restaurant idea too. But here in new orleans, people think if you have bread it needs to be deep fried and then covered in sugar! The restaurant might even get picketed…lol.
I’m a lonely primal girl down here…
Albert- How many times a week do you do your sprints? Any resistance work?
Right now I just train when I feel like really. Mainly due to work commitments and family issues…. I normally do some sprints and bodyweight exercises 2-3 times a week. Some heavy lifting when I make it to the gym.
The key is to eat right and that just comes naturally so no problem there!
When opening a restaurant based on Primal eating consider adverting it as Gluten Free. You would not have to change the menu since gluten is only found in certain grains. The advantage is you’ll get customers who never heard of primal in addion to those who have.
Good luck.
hey thanks for the idea.
You are right on that, even though primal is the way to go a lot of people still aren’t aware of it….
I’m here to change that though!!
Ha, btw dude… you look like Demian Maia who is a BJJ World Champion and a UFC fighter, google him!!
Damn! the guy is ripped! I wish i’d look like him dude…. haha
WHOA! I wouldn’t have recognized you either. Way to GO!!
GREAT STUFF!!! So amazing to see so many people with similar stories, I too lost a shed load of weight by going paleo/primal, am happier and healthier than I’ve ever been, have recently qualified as a fitness instructor/Personal Trainer and can’t wait to start helping people reach their goals and change their own lives and mindsets!
Oh… My… God…
Man alive, what a massive achievement!!! And great to see a fellow UK primal buddy featured on the success stories. Awesome, awesome, awesome, mate. Looking positively hot
Albert, I just wanted to thank you for your advice. I have been struggling to lose weight even eating primally but I think that I have been over thinking things. So thank you very much for you advice and congrats on your success. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy!!!
Thank YOU for your comment Gabrielle!
It is a lot simpler than it looks really!
Just relax, play a lot, be in a comfortable environment and eat the right things…. Your body will thank you for it!
Good luck with your goals, although you won’t need I’m sure you are well on your way.
Awesome job, Albert! Yes, please come to Chicago! I’m here too. I just started eating primal and it’s definitely hard when you go to a sandwich shop and all that they have on the menu is sandwiches and your friends want to share hummus and pita bread and you have to explain to them why you aren’t eating. I do have the excuse that I’m allergic to wheat and lactose intolerant.
Primal Chicago baby! And again, Usted esta guapo! (sorry, my Spanish is very limited but I’m taking classes
Is Chicago in some kind of “Primal revolution”?? hahaha
I wish I could go though….
Next time make some cauliflower hummus and some flax crackers for yourself, then share them with your friends and they will not miss the pitta bread full of lectins….
We should start a Primal Revolution!
I’ll have to try the cauliflower hummus with some flackers. I usually make guacamole and use sliced jicama as my chips when I’m craving something like that.
Me gusta!!!
Hola Albert! Jaw drop…damn boy..you are looking fine!! Congrats on your journey and your tremendous success!
Yours and Dave Parsons story are fantastic, among others. Thanks for sharing. Which kind of natural fat do you use the most – animal, olive or coconut or other?
Thanks!
I eat a lot of coconut products, but also use olive oil, beef tallow (amazing to cook any meat in) or any other quality animal fat. I eat a few nuts a day (some days more than I’d like) and avocados are a great source too….
Okay, these Friday stories are always inspirational, but this one is truly amazing. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, you look like a completely transformed man. Rock on.
gulp…..guapito!
wow! Thanks for the inspiration. I’m sort of ‘stuck’ right now, and needed to see this. Now, to show my ignorance, can someone tell me what HIIT is? Thanks.
HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training. I do it in the form of sprints but could be anything that has intervals of 100% effort with some rest periods in between.
Albert, how often did you weigh yourself when you started primal? did you notice your weight every going up as you were nearing your goal?
You’ve lost the bloated wheat face, you face has so much definition now. How did your mother react – did she say you are too skinny now!! WOW you look great.
ROCKKIN IT BROTHER…
YA LOOK GREAT! AND THE FOOD BUSINESS WILL GIVE YOU A HEART ATTACK LONG BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE NOW. I APPLAUD YOUR SUCCESS.
KEEP SPREADING THE WORD AND BE THAT HAPPY GUY WE SEE THERE…
MANLY BEAR HUG
DAVE
Thanks man!
Your transformation is amazing too!
I just wish more people would join this “primal revolution”…. it would make everything easier (less diseases, less depression….) oh well, I’ll keep dreaming and fighting for it that’s for sure!
Grok on dude!
If there was an option I would like this comment