Rejecting the Status Quo: Saying “No” to a Common Life
It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story. Today, Mark’s Daily Apple reader J.P. shares an all too familiar tale: Boy is young, fit and active. Boy goes to college and parties hard. Boy gets a desk job and becomes sedentary. This is usually where the story takes a turn for the worst. But J.P., as he approached 30, took a look at himself in the mirror and realized something had to change. See how J.P. rejected becoming your typical out of shape 30 year old and grabbed control of his health in the process.
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 you send them in. Thanks for reading!
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When I was in high school I was an athlete of sorts, I played football every fall in a small Texas town and did track and field in the spring. I lifted a lot of weights and did the typical high school workouts. I never really worried about food, just eating whatever came my way, but I was young and active, so I was in pretty good shape.
During college, I pretty much stopped doing intense activity. Being a typical college student, I smoked a lot of cigarettes, drank quite heavily and did not eat healthy at all. I managed to maintain a pretty decent weight though, I walked everywhere, but obviously was not in the best health due to the smoking, diet, and copious amounts of beer.
After college, I started working behind a desk in a typical office environment, I quit smoking at the request of my then girlfriend, now lovely wife. This, combined with having money to eat out, and a sedentary lifestyle, eventually led to me slowly gaining weight over the next few years.
In January of 2010, I was the heaviest I had ever been, I had about 215 pounds on my 6-foot frame – most of it in my gut. I was going to be turning 29 that August and realized that the big 3-0 was coming up next year. I decided that I DID NOT want to be the typical overweight, out of shape 30 year old.
I started running. A little at first, just a mile a day, but I kept up with it. By the summer of 2010 I was running probably 35+ miles a week. During this time I was also eating your typical CW “Healthy” diet. I ate oatmeal for breakfast, turkey subs for lunch, pasta for dinner. Everything I put it my body was low-fat, low calorie. The weight dropped off during this period. I was down to about 175 lbs, I had convinced myself that I was doing great.
In retrospect, I was miserable. I did not enjoy what I was eating, I was always hungry, and the constant cardio was wearing on me. Worst of all I had started becoming really irritable and short with people. I was essentially a skinny jerk. I’m convinced it was my diet that was affecting my mood.
I had a friend who had lost a lot of weight and was in good shape through Crossfit and a “Paleo Diet”. He got to eat stuff that looked way better than my usual fare and seemed to be doing really well. I started checking out his Crossfit’s site and was eventually led to Mark’s Daily Apple. I voraciously attacked the articles on MDA, spending free time reading all about the Primal lifestyle.
Around September – I bought a pair of Vibrams and started running in them. I began to model my workouts after things I saw on my friend’s Crossfit site and even flirted with a few Crossfit classes myself. This eventually led to running less long distances, sprinting more, doing HIIT workouts, plyometrics and lots of bodyweight exercises. I also started walking during my lunch breaks, I try to get in about 30 minutes of walking daily.
I also altered my diet… cutting out the grains, processed food, and things of that nature. No more “healthy” canned soups, frozen meals, soy milk or breads for me. I started pretty much exclusively eating meats, veggies, fruit and nuts. My wife, while she does not follow the Primal Blueprint diet, has been amazingly supportive and is great about it. I also have started cooking most of our dinners, I figured that I should cook for her rather than force her to make meals based on my dietary restrictions. She has kind of inadvertently become 80/20 Primal just by association!
But I digress. After the first few months I saw noticeable differences in my attitude and my body also began to change. Whereas before I had lost weight, I was not strong and had very little muscle definition. Now I started to see muscles appearing; I was becoming “ripped”. I actually gained weight going Primal, most of it muscle. More importantly I started to become more patient with people, most importantly my wife, and overall felt better emotionally. I literally was becoming happier!
So now it’s April. For the last few months I have pretty much cut out nuts and fruit from my diet also. I love going to the store and purchasing food and preparing it. I also recently started Muay Thai boxing which has been a blast. My weight has pretty much held solid at 185 for the last 6 months or so, and I feel great.
The best thing about this transition I made is just how simple it is. I’m no scientist, I can’t explain how omega 3/6 ratios work. I don’t really know what glycogen stores are, and I don’t worry about it either. I just know that this works, and I plan on sticking with it. I also don’t worry about being perfect. I have a sweet tooth and will grab a slice of cake sometimes; I eat it and move on. I don’t stress about things like that anymore, and they don’t seem to affect me too much. While being Primal can sometimes be a little odd (I have had to explain it to my in-laws and co-workers quite a few times), and I sometimes get weird looks wearing Vibrams and doing pull ups on tree limbs in the park, it’s worth it.
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
great article and look at this if you can ;Jamie Olivers TED acceptance speech.It is on YouTube and he really goes for it.He is well known in the UK but not so well known,if at all,in the U.S .Maybe this will change.
First off, Great story JP. Congratulations!
But I’m with Holly on this one. What’s with dropping fruit and nuts? Did I miss something here?
Fruit gets your blood sugar out of balance for 3-5 hours after eating…which means burning fat is difficult during that time.
And nuts have a bad calories vs. nutrition ratio I think. Both are carbs.
I’m not sure though, nuts pack on the weight for whatever reason…I don’t eat them ’cause they’re extremely high in phytic acid.
I would think fruit is okay after a work out to replenish the muscles with sugar.
I think Mark should grow a beard!
I don’t know, a lot of blond guys don’t grow the best-looking facial hair. And Mark’s pretty blond.
But of course, we’d need pics to decide, wouldn’t we?
Mark! Primal Beard Contest, let’s go!
I’ll throw mine in the ring but I know it won’t win.
Wow, Congrats J.P you look awesome! I love reading these success stories, it really helps remind me why I chose this lifestyle! Keep up the great work!
Excellent story! And for those who don’t have a strong scientific background, “glycogen stores” are those places found on every street otherwise known as the “corner bakery”.
Hee, hee. Too funny Aaron. Nice one.
Wow JP! That is a hell of a story. I like how you went knee deep into the PB lifestyle, and ou have some great gains to show for it. Kudos to you man!
Thanks for sharing your story. What an amazing transformation! My husband recently began his Primal journey and I would love for him to have similar results.
You are jacked! I used to think triathletes looked great until I realized how skinny they were.
You know a guy is fit when you can follow those side ab muscles straight down in a V. That signals a fit guy to reproduce with to the female primitive brain.
And your arms look great. The perfect Tarzan build.
TrailGrrl
Thanks for the anecdote! I’ve been singing the tune to the primal blueprint. In terms of my sweet tooth, I’m doing whatever I can to keep it Primal, as reasonably as I can. I’m a donut fiend (especially gluten free ones). But, as of today, I’ve stocked up on 85% or higher cocoa based chocolate bars. I really think they’ll eventually replace gluten free donuts over time.
I think, over the last month or so, I’ve transitioned to eating primarily salad, with meats on the side, and I think it’s a good way to eat healthily; and cost-effectively. I’m more satisfied than typical grain-driven consumption I was doing in the past.
I love this story. Certainly not the extreme, yet its so true to most. Great photos, congratulations. Less than the beard, Id be more concerned with those sunglasses. Do you crossfit in those too?
Love the pics and the story!!!
I’m also curious about why fruit and nuts. Don’t we gain valuable vitamins from these?
Sorry, I didn’t notice page 2!
I like sunflower butter because it is so high in minerals. I’m not sure where I’d get these. I don’t really take supplements. But I wouldn’t mind shedding about 3 pounds of fat right now. I know many take pill supplements but I never have. The person who wrote this article- do you take supplements?
I can definitely relate to this story, as I didn’t start to gain fat until I got a desk job but had always been small prior to that.
It is interesting that you mention mood, because I have also noticed a huge effect on my mood since cutting out grains and this is only my 3rd week on this diet.
When I was eating grains, I was continually fatigued. I also had “brain fog”, which was just this inability to concentrate or think clearly and I forgot things often. I was run down, sad, and negative most of the time. I feel better, it is hard to explain, but I seem happier. I can think clearly and I’ve begun to want more out of life. Most importantly I don’t feel so sapped of energy all the time. Before it was a vicious cycle, I knew I needed to exercise but I was always too tired to exercise! I’m so thrilled I’ve seen so many changes in a short time. I’m pretty sure now I’m gluten sensitive.
Ill be sending my success story in soon and don’t worry, I couldn’t grow a beard if you guys gave me a year notice! These stories are great and congrats to J.P.