Just One Small Change Leads to Amazing Results
It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it 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. Thank you for reading!
Mark,
I just celebrated my 29th birthday, and thanks to this lifestyle, I’m almost completely pain-free for the first time in over 10 years. I made the switch about 5 months ago, but unlike a lot of people who find the Primal Blueprint, I wasn’t looking for a change.
If you had asked me 6 months ago, I would have told you that I was in the best shape of my life and in the best shape I could be. I had daily gastro-intestinal problems, debilitating migraines almost weekly, chronic back and all-body muscle pain, and serious sleep disruptions – but I was sure that was as good as it could get for me.
At 28 years old, I had accepted that pain was just a part of my daily life and always would be. I felt tired and sick to some degree every day, but I had given up on anything more than minimizing the pain and finding ways to push through or ignore the sleep and stomach problems.
A little background: at least back to adolescence, if not before, I’ve had severe muscle pain (mostly in my back and legs) and headaches. At my worst in high school, I would get a migraine every single afternoon and couldn’t do anything for hours until it subsided. I also can’t remember ever sleeping completely through the night; I thought everyone tossed and turned and woke up 5-10 times every night like I did. I would sleep 12 or 13 hours and still feel tired. I could never understand how other people seemed so rested with just 7 or 8 hours of sleep.
Then, in late 2000 (during my senior year of high school) I found a grapefruit-sized tumor in my abdomen that required major surgery to remove. The surgery resulted in the loss of about 3 feet total from several sections of both my small and large intestine.
After the surgery, nothing gastro-intestinally ever worked right again for me. For 10 years I had daily problems, ranging from ulcer-like shooting pains to symptoms more akin to Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I tried to figure out what foods would cause the worst problems, but the patterns seemed random and not linked to any one food. Both the doctors and I wrote it all off as the unfortunate and permanent side effects of missing large parts of my intestine.
Then in college, I finally decided to talk to a doctor about the muscle pain, headaches, and sleep problems, and I was diagnosed with Myofascial Pain Sydrome (similar to Fibromyalgia). They gave me prescriptions for an antidepressant and a migraine medicine, which helped me sleep a little better and stop a migraine after it started, but nothing prevented the pain or headaches. The antidepressant also made it hard to wake up in the mornings, and I wasn’t totally comfortable taking a medication intended for a problem I didn’t have.
Fast forward through five more years of headaches, back pain, and stomach problems. I am 5’6” tall, and 6 months ago I weighed 135 lbs. I had been working out 3-5 times a week for several years, my blood pressure and cholesterol were good, and I ate what was considered a fairly healthy diet by conventional wisdom: lots of whole grains, limited fat and red meat, plenty of fruit, no soda, etc. I was doing everything right! And my doctors agreed: I was doing well for someone with my kinds of problems.
Then I met my boyfriend, who didn’t see my pain as normal or under control. He started telling me about the Primal Blueprint and the way he ate, and he told me it could really help me with my problems. The concept made sense to me, but when you have problems like I do, it seems that everyone you meet has some cure-all solution you’ve never thought of, so I was skeptical.
Doctors never talked to me about diet at all (after all, I wasn’t overweight!), so I couldn’t believe just eating differently would do anything when doctors had already done all they could. So, on a lark and mostly to prove this guy wrong, I decided to try it. Of course, I didn’t do any research or visit your website, even though he told me to check it out at least 10 times (sorry, but I can be stubborn!). I just decided to stop eating grains and to limit processed sugars for a month to see what would happen.
Around 11:00am on Day 1, after not having my bowl of cereal and glass of juice for breakfast as I had every day for most of my life, I realized I didn’t have my usual mid-morning blood sugar drop and sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
After a week, I realized my stomach had been feeling a lot better and fewer foods were upsetting it.
After two weeks, I took an overseas trip and did all the usual things that would have caused serious muscle pain and migraines – sleeping on planes, walking miles in bad shoes, carrying heavy bags – and yet I felt good every day and didn’t have much of my usual pain.
At that point, I was a convert. Two weeks of cutting out grain and most sugar but not changing anything else in my life, and I felt better than I had in 10 years! With that one change, I had achieved results doctors couldn’t give me with any advice or medication.
Since then, I’ve been reading a lot more about the Primal Blueprint and working to improve the rest of my diet and exercise habits, and I’ve seen amazing results. Five months later, I am off all of my prescriptions but am still sleeping much better with just some natural supplements. I lost 15 pounds I didn’t even realize I needed to lose, and have started to notice a lot more muscle gain from my workouts.
Everything gastro-intestinally is now better than it was even before the surgery, and foods that I used to think I couldn’t eat don’t cause me problems anymore. My muscle pain is completely gone most days, and is just a low-level annoyance on my few “bad” days. My migraines are also almost gone – I’ve had 1 or 2 in the last 5 months (down from 2-3 a month), and each time I could point to my own bad eating as the immediate cause.
Several people have told me that I also seem much happier lately, and I am – funny how not being in pain every day can do that for you! I hadn’t realized it, but all those problems also had a huge effect on my mood and general happiness. In fact, I just noticed the other day that I am no longer amazed every time I realize that nothing hurts. Thanks to this lifestyle, I have a new, pain-free “normal,” which is something I never imagined I’d have.
I wish I could send you a picture of my newly happy, healthy, and better-rested muscles, stomach, and intestines, but even if I could, I don’t think anyone would want to see that 
. I don’t have any dramatic before or after pictures to show, either, so I’m just attaching some happy after-shots.
I hope my story can help other people like me see that this lifestyle can do more than help you lose weight. I never looked at my diet – and neither did my doctors – primarily because I wasn’t overweight. I am proof of what a huge impact diet and other lifestyle choices can have on severe and chronic pain, and in my case, even on problems caused by physical damage, like the after-effects of major surgery.
Thanks for all the great information and inspiration!
Lindsay
Grab a Copy of The Primal Blueprint 21-Day Total Body Transformation and Start Getting Primal Today!
Posted By: Mark Sisson
I too healed my fibromyalgia, joint pain, depression, and chronic fatigue etc from eating paleo. I was born with ehlers danlos and thought I had to live with a lifetime of pain and meds. Now I’m lifting weights and pain free.
Thank you for sharing your story.
Lindsay
I had goosebumps reading your story, what pain you have suffered and how FANTASTIC to be pain free now!!! So very thrilled for you and continuing to be amazed the more I read about primal.
What a story, Lindsay!
Like you, I have always been quite fit (former swimmer) and ate what I thought was the best diet going: low-fat, lots of whole grains, very little processed foods and piles of fruits and vegetables. But at the age of 30, I was diagnosed as suffering from arthrites. No dietary advice given by the doctors – just one of those things that happen as you age.
For 10 years I suffered from excruciating lower-back pain, sciatica, joint, and muscle and whole body pains. But I was slim, muscular and fit. My blood works were fine until 2 years ago when my cholesterol began to rise. At the age of 47, I started to develop the so called “love handles” – but I could not complain, after all I still looked bloody god for my age. What people could not see was the constant pain, the painkillers just to get through the day and the constant bingeing on chocolate and cereal bars.
One of my daughter’s best comments ever made (she’s a gymnast and 10 years old) was that I was getting fat round the belly! Bless her!! That hurt like hell, especially me being a former athlete, and I decided to Google the best way to get rid of my mid-section without starving. Dr Lauren Cordain (the Paleo Diet) has been part of my life for the past2 years and 6 months ago I added Mark’s fantastic Primal way of living.
The pains and aches have improved by 95% ages ago (the other 5% still lingering due to my impossible addiction to all things sweets!!). I am now trimmer just like I was in my 20′s. My chronic zits and spots on my face and arms completely disappeared; I am bursting with energy despite the fact that I work full-time, have 2 very active children and run a home with military precision, if there’s such a thing! (Lol)
I have over the years faced tough criticism from people who do not look/fee anywhere half as good I do. They seem very frightened of natural, preservative-free, grass-fed, organic natural foods. They can’t understand why I changed my eating habits when I was already so fit and slim. What I never told them was that the pains and aches – and all the painkillers – were a common feature of the lie I was living.
My brother and a few friends have now converted to Paleo/Primal and can not thank me enough. So I just want to pass my thanks to Dr Cordain, Mark and all the Paleo/Primal community out there who have made this transition OK for me.
A big thanks, boys and girls!!
Fantastic your own story Olivia!
You should post it on its own!
AMAZING! I love this success story! I’ve been noticing a lot of changes in addition to weight loss with this lifestyle and it feels fantastic.
Yay!!!! That’s sooo awesome!!!! Congrats
So happy you found a solution!
I didn’t read the article because it is too long, but I did do a search through the text for “ass” and “butt” and “badonkadonk” and found that Lindsay forgot to mention that this diet has made her ass totally pop. It should be called the bacon and ass diet or something, cause you eat bacon and get a sweet ass. I been trying to get some of dat ass for a long time, but I think this diet upgraded her to out of my league.. Damn you Mark!
This is so cool!
I know people with daily migraines, and I have told them about Primal but it’s usually too extreme for them to even consider. I’m going to send this to them.
Thanks
Not only do you deserve kudos but your boyfriend as well. Excellent!
Preach it – contrary to what people believe it’s NOT ok and NOT normal to live in constant pain or discomfort!!
I love stories that involve more than dramatic weight loss. Not that those aren’t amazing, but I think these highlight the complete package that eating primal foods delivers.
This was a fabulous read! Doctors really aren’t educated in nutrition, and even dietitians can give unhelpful advice. I would know as I’ve been to loads of them for all my gut issues. After suffering from an eating disorder for several years, my guts became very upset with pretty much anything I ate. In my mind I knew that all the carbs I was eating was causing this problem….but the doctors and dietitians kept pushing them on me. It wasn’t helping me gain weight, and most days I just felt unwell. So I took my health into my own hands and decided to cut down drastically on grain foods. I’ve eliminated gluten, and have been symptom free since. I eat lots of plants, and animals, some fruit, and have noticed such a difference. Hopefully I’ll be able to put on more weight and muscle now that my guts are starting to heal. Hearing these stories every week is still an inspiration to me!
A very inspiring story, I’m so pleased for Lindsay.
I wholeheartedly agree to more success stories, especially when it has turned around chronic debilitating conditions.
When I was diagnosed with one I looked it up on the internet to find out what I could do – there were so many horror stories of people 10years + suffering and getting worse that I was depressed and frightened by what was happening to my life.
What changed my mindset was finding a book devoted to telling peoples’ success stories on getting better – it led me in a roundabout way to PB and changing my diet has proved to be the biggest factor in changing my life around for the better.
You suffered so much, Lindsay! I hope that this lifestyle pays you back with years and years of comfort and deeply joyful health.
Congrats Lindsay – that’s an inspiring tale. But congrats more to the muddy boyfriend who showed considerable primal perseverance in the face of CW stubborn resistance!
This is great timing: I’ve been pointing a mock parental finger at myself and clucking disparagingly. Woke up with ‘arthritis-like’ pain and stiffness, my carpal tunnel was roaring, and I’m feeling a bit “stupid” (groggy, slow, uncoordinated).
“See?” says I to myself, “you KNEW better than to eat those pieces of (commercial) flatbread last night — you had already decided to give the rest to the squirrels… so why did you decide to keep eating some, after also deciding it tasted worse than cardboard?!”
(Maybe I needed the reinforcement? Maybe I was just bein’ careless? Whatever — it’s a good reminder that the gut does NOT give you a ‘break’ just ’cause it’s only a little bit.)
But now I’m off to the Y for my “Body By Science” weightlifting, and that will help me feel better!
Thanks, Mark, for the great and motivating success stories!
Cheers from Quebec!
Amazing!! I’m so happy for you. Keep spreadin’ the news!
Dr. Fred Bisci always said it’s what you “leave out” of your diet that makes all the difference!
That is such an encouraging post! So excited for you! We’ve been doing paleo/primal for a few weeks now and I’ve been experiencing a LOT less hip pain, I’m still wondering when it’s going to come back…I have a long way to go, I’ve got at least 70 lbs to lose but I’m 20 weeks pregnant so it’s going to take awhile
Thanks for sharing your story, I’m hoping to be able to have a similar story in a few months/year. Thanks!
Very interesting. I know people that have muscle pain, headaches and such and never thought about diet as a approach. I’ll have to dig more into this.
Wow I am impressed by your story. My family and I have been primal for 4 weeks now. YAY! I have lost 10 pounds already. My daughter has some very similar problems. She had chronic appendicitis (yes there is such a thing) no one believed me. The docs kept insisting is was a stomach bug every time. Finally I had to go crazy mom on them one night because they said it was a bacterial loss from her colon and they wanted to do cultures. I said she will be dead by the time they come back from the lab in 72hrs. They hadn’t even looked at her yet…so I said I will not leave here until you give her a cat scan. This doc was so annoyed but took a look at her and hit her on her right heel (test they do for appendicitis) and she screamed and just about flew off the table. So the cat scan came back that her appendix ruptured and was so swollen for so long it swelled up her right kidney and ureter. She had emergency surgery and was in the hospital for a week because the infection was so bad. After the surgery she started with the screaming bouts of stomach pain that I could not control. After being told by my pediatrician she was faking I decided to go to a pediatric gastro. One of the test comes back positive for celiac everytime but his says that one can give false positive. Anyway she was eventually diagnosed with abdominal migraines with cyclical vomiting. I have never ever seen something so violently painful. Liquid lortab couldn’t control the pain. They said when she hit puberty they might go away in the stomach and move to her head. Well unfortunately she has it both places now
She takes elavil which in an anti depressant and has helped her to live a normal life again. What kid wants to be on the couch three days a week screaming in pain and then just to wiped out from pain to do anything for days. I am hoping this diet will make a difference for her as it did you. She also complains about all over body pain as well. I would love nothing more than to get her off the medication. I will take her off this summer to see as I don’t want her to miss anymore school. I have let her be a little more lax with the diet than us but I am rethinking that now. I am going to have her read your story so she can see for herself that this new way of eating could make changes she wasn’t even expecting. Thanks for giving me some hope that my baby can get rid this and the medication. Congrats on your new pain free life!
Great story, Lindsay! I too am a person who has had no weight problems, no major medical issues (i.e. high cholesterol, etc.), and I maintain a fairly active lifestyle and “healthy” diet; however, since going Primal I no longer wake up with a stuffy nose! Allergies (to dogs, dust, pollen, air conditioning, whatever!) have always been a major problem, until I cut grains from my diet. I’ve made additional efforts to increase my veggie intake and as a result my energy is through the roof – in a good way… and for the first time in 5 or 6 years… I “get” to eat butter. Oh, and my abs look SICK.
Thank you for sharing this Lindsay. I am in tears after reading this. My husband, 48 years old, had his entire colon removed 7 years ago. It has been a nightmare. He is always in pain, due to surgical scars and food. His level of health is not near what it should be. We are just starting the PB and your story has so encouraged me. Thank you. I can’t wait to share our story here in the near future. Love this website.
Thank you for sharing your story Lindsay, its only day one for me on PB. After suffering for over 10 years with Crohns, and having tried every diet and medication known to man (well it certainly feels like it!) I arrive at the PB door and I’m stoked to be on a journey that so many others have found tremendously helpful. Stories like yours give folk like me the extra encouragement needed to attack this new way of living with gusto. Thanks again, Kel :0)
Hey Hey! Lindsay, thanks so much for sharing your story with us. I recently read a blog about making small diet changes – it totally changed my life! It’s been a month and I’ve already lost about 5 lbs. I really feel like this is something I can stick with. Here is the blog I read:
http://betterhealthwashington.com/?p=618