Success Stories

Mark.

You have been great with answering questions and sharing your info. Let me entertain you for a second as a way to say thanks.

You really don’t know who I am.

I am 48 and recently had blood tests done after switching a couple of years ago to a 90% primal diet, with some grain to a currently Primal with no grains and including regular exercise “no crazy slow-extended or moderate cardio at all”. I’m posting this along with a note on Facebook. I’ll tag you in case you’d like to share a thought.

Here are blood test comparison which I’m sure will make you giggle and a photo of this 48 year old dude from Canada, taken a couple of months ago.

Cheers and thanks.

Koko

Hi Mark,

I’m an avid follower of the daily apple blog and a big fan and wanted to send you a message about something you might find pretty interesting…

So my brother is a golf pro who goes to florida to practice in the winter. He is pretty fit, but like so many of us who aren’t lucky enough to have been educated by your advice he was doing lots of cardio such as running regularly at about 70/80% max heart rate with quite a grainy carb heavy diet. However, in the states he was valet parking cars, which included lots and lots of sprints, coupled with playing golf every day (low level cardio) and lifting weights/gym work. He wanted to lose some weight so dropped sugar pretty much (which was as much as he knew to do). He has come back in the best shape of his life! And has even starting taking some diet advice from me with everything I am learning from you! He is proof that your take on things are so sound and the results are amazing, and it was really interesting for me as he had been working out the exact way you recommend, and which I was just learning about, without even realising what he was doing. He is now so lean with much better muscle definition and tons more energy.

Anyway, without rambling on too much I just wanted to say thanks and awesome awesome website, you have made things I have been struggling with for years so clear and given me a perspective on our environment and lifestyle which I was seeking but couldn’t quite put my finger on. Even your advice on giving yourself a cheat meal 90/10% rule helps me give myself a break! Your advice makes so much sense and I am studying to be a personal trainer right now, so I will be sure to be training my clients with the primal blueprint in mind. I really think that- admittedly a minority percentage- of people are waking up to what is going on around us with the pharma industries, agricultural industries, sugar, government etc. I hope that I can help to contribute to the public health in as positive a way as you and make people realise that health is a matter of their own responsiblity and far easier to improve and maintain than ‘they’ would have you believe.

Thank you thank you and keep up the great work!

All the best,

Jordanna

PS can’t wait for the book!

From Mark’s Daily Apple Comment Board

As a binge purger, eating more primally and cutting out grains has finally allowed me to let go of the “OMG, those 50 extra calories will go straight to my thighs!” mentality. Before pb, even when I ate what I wanted till I felt full, 2 hours or so after a normal (carb-based) meal I would immediately get headaches, and hunger pains, which usually lead to more snacking on fruit/grain based snacks and eventually a massive binge.

But by switching to a more pb regimen, I’ve managed to cut waaaay down on the binges. I find it near impossible to binge on hard cheese, the salty-ness and richness make you start feeling sick much faster. Also, since you don’t get to the accompanying sugar rush from carbs, it forces you to realise how pointless self-medicating with food is and that it’d be more effective to deal with what triggered the binge in the first place.

Sarah

Five years ago I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. I struggled with the disease for about 2 years before I got it under control with medication (which included a steroid with horrible side effects). I recently started the Primal Blueprint and have never felt better. My diet has rendered the disease innocuous and I have not experienced any discomfort since starting the PB. Not only do I feel great, I am doing it with limited support from medication. I have cut my dosage by more than 75%. Normally, this substantial decrease in medication would send me into a excruciating relapse but the PB has my digestive and immune system functioning like its supposed to. To be able to live like a normal person and do normal things without the ominous threat of the disease on my mind has totally changed my life. Exercise, golf, skiing, softball… you name it!! All things I would not have attempted with the disease looming about.

I’ve tried A LOT to get the Crohn’s under control and I can honestly say the PB lifestyle has been more successful than all the medications, supplements and other diets I’ve tried.

Further proof that this lifestyle works and can do wonders for everyone. I think the one thing I like most about it is how EASY it really is. I think so many people would find it such a relief from their diet books and magazine articles. I think the toughest thing for people is to abandon mainstream ideas and “proven strategies” of healthy fitness and nutrition. I think your book will be a successful and effective vehicle in getting the message out. Can’t wait for its release!!!

Jake

Hey Mark, your website is awesome. I’m down to 5.5% bodyfat and don’t eat more than 20g/day of carbs that aren’t from fruits and veggies – this is how i finally got past 9% b.f.- thanks to your site.

Take care and keep the info coming!

Mac

From Mark’s Daily Apple Forum Board

While I’m new to the blog & forums, I received advice back in December/January to start following the Primal lifestyle. My cholesterol numbers weren’t great: 239 total, 241 triglycerides, 142 LDL, 49 HDL. I’m 5′11″, 44 years old, male, and in December weighed about 206lbs.

So beginning in January I adopted a primal diet — very low carbs, lots of meat & vegetables & some fruits & nuts. I exercised a bit, and took some supplements (fish oil, vitamin D, niacin, and a multivitamin), and in March of this year had my cholesterol checked again. 180 total, 76 triglycerides, 99 LDL, 66 HDL. Sweet!

Now it’s June. Haven’t had my cholesterol checked again, but my weight is about 149 (57 lbs down), my waist size is a loose 32″ (down from a tight 38″), and I feel great. For exercise I do mostly bodyweight stuff — pushups, lunges, squats, dips & pullups. Still working on pullups, I’ve never been able to do them until this year, and I’m up to 6 in a set now.

I believe I’ve (more than) met my weight loss and cholesterol goals. I’m about halfway through reading The Primal Blueprint, and am slowly catching up on the blog here. Next step is to start adding more muscle mass.

SteveMeister

Before

After

5’8”, 225 lbs, 42” waist, multiple asthma medications, depression medicine, blood pressure medicine, topical testosterone. That’s where I was 4 ½ years ago – a freaking wreck and a dream patient for big pharma.

June 2006: Through hormone therapy and a low-carb DIET only, I trimmed down from 225 lbs to 170 lbs. Great? Not so great. Like so many people, I was able to lose weight and that in itself is a good thing, but I did not do it the right way. How do I know? Because when I stopped the meds and went back to a ‘normal diet’, I quickly climbed the scales back to 210 lbs. I had not changed a damn thing!

June 2007: I was watching TV in the wee hours of the morning. I came across an infomercial for P90X (very Grok-like). What I saw was an incredibly tough workout with real people who had great results. It looked so difficult that I figured it had to be legitimate. So in June 2007, I began P90X. This was my first introduction to Mark Sisson as he talked about sports nutrition at the end of one of the workouts. Mark would later become a larger part of my success as I started to eat and move more like Grok (unknowingly at the time). We’ll get to Mark and Grok a little later. As I moved forward with my new workouts, little did I know a Pandora’s Box of health, extreme fitness, and a completely new way of life would engulf me and my entire family. Between June 2007 and November 2007 I would complete 2 rounds of P90X. End of story? Happy ending? Not quite. Hang with me…I’m getting somewhere.

November 2007: 2 rounds of P90X complete. I was moving more like Grok and eating more like Grok…but not completely. I had trimmed down to 178 lbs and felt worlds better than I had in a long time. But after a nagging shoulder injury, multiple business trips, the flu, and pneumonia, 3 months had quickly passed since I had exercised, at all. And when you struggle with guilt from making bad decisions…again, not only do you not take care of yourself with exercise, but proper nutrition suffers greatly. And they did for me. This is the story for so many people.

Although not the drastic weight gain of times past, I crept back up to the 190 lb range much to my dismay and frustration. That feeling of stepping out of the shower and in front of the mirror after having been in great shape just 3 months earlier…what a feeling a failure. Why did I let myself down? Why did I not start back earlier? Why did I not at least maintain proper nutrition? One sentence sums up the answer to these questions: Do it for the right reasons. I was not doing it for the right reasons. I set myself up for failure before I even started. I wanted to look good and have other people tell me I looked good. After realizing that fact, I was ready to start doing it for the right reasons.

March 2008: my life changed for good. This time I would do it for all the right reasons: physical health, mental health, gene reprogramming, & family. And this is where my story takes a dramatic, compelling, and incredible turn. My eating habits were better and I understood why I was eating the way I was; not only for results (although great results were what I wanted) but rather to feel better and feed my body the proper foods with purpose. And although I struggled with lowering my body fat to my satisfaction, a much bigger change was morphing inside my body. Underneath the skin and muscles that everyone else was seeing, my blood vessels, lungs, heart, chemical makeup, hormonal makeup, genes, brain cells and tissues were changing in dramatic and unprecedented ways. Within the next 3 months, not only did my weight get down to 170 lbs, and my waist shrink to 31.5”, but my life had changed forever. Remember the litany list of medications I mentioned before? Depression medication: Gone. Blood pressure medication: Gone. Testosterone: Gone. And for the first time in 30 years…let me say that again…for the FIRST time in 30 YEARS. Asthma medications: Gone. Done. Finished. Wow! What a concept. Proper nutrition and exercise – the best medicine available to mankind. Big Pharma and FDA beware! We are coming after your business.

How did this happen? I started to live more like Grok. I cut way back on whole grains and legumes. I was eating lots more plants and animals, whole lean proteins, fruit, and tons of veggies. I lifted heavy things often. I got 8+ hours of sleep every day and napped when I could; even if only 30 or 40 minutes.

During this time period, I discovered numerous resources online that helped me tremendously. Tom Venuto was one, especially in understanding macronutrients and calories. Mark Sisson and MarksDailyApple.com was another. Through visiting MDA and pestering Mark with neurotic emails on how to get leaner he encouraged me to do several things: eliminate grains, sprint, continue to do the things that had proven successful, and try intermittent fasting. Since that time, I have leaned down to 11% body fat, 157 lbs, and a 30” waist. Self-admittedly, I often do too much – a neurotic decision fueled by my obsession to get to single digit body fat (aka, Mark Sisson ripped), but MDA and Mark have taught me the right ways to get there. Sprinting has become a permanent part of my routine (at least 1 day/week but usually twice/week). And no sprinting routine would be complete without my Vibram Five Fingers (as close to barefoot as you’ll get with a ‘shoe’); yet another introduction that Mark is responsible for. If you don’t have any, go get them now. Your knees will feel better and you’ll feel more like Grok as he sprinted either from being killed or to kill (except he was barefoot). Intermittent Fasting (IF) is my newest ‘endeavor’ and I feel a sense of accomplishment and clarity. As I continue to eat and move more like Grok, I’ll be glad to update my accomplishments.

Lastly, as I sat at a recent sales meeting (I work for a Biotech company that sells hormone replacement therapy for diabetes – yeah I know I’m in a unique field considering my belief system regarding obesity, diabetes, and overall health and fitness), I wanted to take the stage and scream at the top of my lungs. I wanted to scream! I wanted to scream that pharmacologic intervention and the billions spent on their marketing would be completely and utterly unnecessary if companies (pharma, agra, government) and doctors would spend a fraction of their time, money, and energy preaching the truth about exercise and proper nutrition. Although, at times, I don’t think that they even know (educated ignorance I guess). Sure, they offer diet and exercise as first-line treatment for a lot of medical problems. But only to fill a ‘check-the-box’ requirement for insurance companies before they move on to drug therapy. If people truly knew the healing power of proper exercise and proper nutrition, there would be nothing to stop them. But alas, the almighty dollar and the greed that fuels companies and politicians will always trump common sense and hard work. The masses have been fed a load of crap and Big Pharma, the federal government, the FDA, and Big Agra are keeping the masses fat and (un)happy. I want to be a messenger for Grok! Will you join me?

Sterling

Update Photos: 07/31/09

I just wanted to say thanks. You have provided such an incredible resource with Mark’s Daily Apple. Since I stumbled upon your website two months ago, my views on health and fitness have been changed (for the better!). The Primal lifestyle is exactly what I needed. I had tried diets and workouts but nothing worked. I didn’t need a way to eat or a way to exercise; I needed a way to live. I wasn’t terribly overweight but I was out of shape, out of energy, and ready to stop trying to be healthy. The Primal Blueprint was like a breath of fresh air! In just two months I’ve had more energy and drive than I can ever remember having…and it’s so easy! Who knew eating well and exercising could taste so good and be so much fun? I’m sure you get these emails everyday but I just wanted to say thanks again. Thanks for not just talking the talk, but walking the walk.

B.J. Begoon

After a healthy high school sports career (swimming, water polo, and cross-training), I went off to college and found that, like many people, I had a much harder time exercising without a tight practice schedule and all the camaraderie that goes with being part of a team. I made occasional forays to the gym and played some pickup ball now and then, but by 21 or 22 I was caught in the perfect storm of a backwards sleep schedule, way too many available calories, and a general lack of discipline (I was a largely self-supervising researcher at the time, and it turned out I was not a very strict boss!).

The “before” photo was taken during a family trip to Big Sur in 2003, and it definitely embarrassed me into action (that, and being invited for a run by the cute girl in my creative writing class). Having found the motivation I was looking for, I started running, first 1-2 miles, then 3-4, then 5, 6, 7, and immediately took off weight. I also began to get much more serious about vegetables, and took advantage of the local fish market to get hefty servings of Omega-3s. However, I was still stuck in some of the classic fallacies of modern diet and exercise: thinking that more distance meant better health, and that caloric balance was a simple, zero-sum game – i.e., eat all the pasta you want as long as you run it off. This continued for a few years.

By mid-2006, I was in decent shape, but spending too much time at my desk and increasingly susceptible to the many burrito options in San Francisco. I had given up running due to severe knee pain, but had not yet learned the value of high-intensity, high-variation exercise. Then, in the fall of 2006, a friend told me about a new approach that drew inspiration from the caveman lifestyle, and pointed me to Art de Vany and eventually, Mark’s Daily Apple. As I got more and more serious about the Primal Blueprint, I found that not only was I losing weight, getting stronger, and feeling more physically and mentally energetic, but the chronic colds and sinus infections that I had always accepted as a fact of life stopped getting me. I did not get sick once in 2007, and in September of that year, I did something I could never have imagined doing a few years prior: swimming the Golden Gate. In true Primal fashion, no wetsuits allowed!

Now, I’m 27 and a solid 5′8″, 160 lbs. In addition to eating Primal, I’ve been incorporating intermittent fasting and find it to be another valuable tool for keeping myself in balance and focus. I still have a way to go, but I’m enjoying the journey every step of the way. Thanks Mark!

Gabe