The Perfect Storm (a.k.a. How I Lost Those Last 10 lbs)
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!
Female, age 45, 5’ 2”
Starting weight: Flirting with 130 lbs
Goal weight: 120 lbs
Current weight: 117 lbs
I’ve always eaten a fairly “healthy” diet (according to the latest conventional wisdom) and exercised regularly (cycling, hiking and BodyPump™twice a week), but as the years were going by my weight was creeping up. I was still at the high range of “normal”, but I was puffy and didn’t feel like my efforts with BodyPump™ were showing.
In April 2011 I stumbled upon Mark’s Daily Apple. It just clicked for me. I adopted the Primal way of eating immediately and had no trouble giving up grains and sticking to the 80/20 rule. In 2 months I had lost 5 lbs without even “trying”. My husband was skeptical.
In June 2011 my husband was diagnosed with Leukemia. He was in the hospital for 6 months. I stopped working and was by his side the entire time. This would have been an easy time to abandon the Primal lifestyle, but it was just what I needed. A little project to keep my mind busy. I read everything I could…books and online about Primal/paleo. My food choices were limited at the hospital cafeteria…hard-boiled eggs and bacon for breakfast was easy. For lunches and suppers I usually walked to a grocery store to hunt and gather. It gave me a purpose and reason to get out of the hospital, move slowly and clear my mind. Despite the stress of the situation the Primal Blueprint kept me sane and healthy. I continued to lean out and people started worrying that I wasn’t eating. I told them I was eating more than usual, but they didn’t believe me. My staples included avocados, mini cukes, cherry tomatoes, berries, tinned sardines and salmon, nuts, full-fat cheese, smoked chicken thighs, liver pate, coconut water, coffee with heavy cream, dark chocolate and plenty more! My occasional treat…good quality vanilla ice cream (and it’s still my weakness).
My husband had a stem cell transplant in November 2011. I’m thrilled to report that he has completely recovered from his illness. He’s back to work and we’re cycling again. Although he thinks I’m a little extreme on following “the cult”, he’s totally supportive. He’s even started to adopt some of the Primal ways (although it will be a while before he gives up his muesli for breakfast before work and his sandwich at lunch). Between us we have 3 “normal weight” teenagers. I feed them healthy meals at supper time, but for the rest of the day they make their own choices…often not very smart ones. As they get older I hope they become more aware of the connection between their diet and their health. In the meantime, I love it when they ask me, “Is this Primal?”
Stephanie Turner
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
I rejoice in everyone’s success stories and the determination/self worth they all involve. I am 70yo and when I look around my apartment complex I see obesity, depression and illness that I don’t want in my senior years. I did the Atkins years ago but had forgotten the success until I read ” WHY WE GET FAT. . .”, then followed up with Mark
Sissons wonderful website. I have been following a high fat/low carb (20) plan for a month, but have only lost 2lbs. My energy level is lower than I would like, so I am gradually increasing my exercising (walking/stretching-2 lb weights). How does one measure(?) 80% fat/ 20% protein? My carbs are usually lower than 20, with meat,salad greens, veg,some dairy. I am going to continue, as I believe in this, so any suggestions are welcome. Thank you and I am happy to be part of this group.
shirleyjeanne
Shirleyjeanne. At 70 you’re very smart to be joining the primal movement. It’s never too late and I’ve found it’s a great community!
Regarding your questions “How does one measure(?) 80% fat/ 20% protein?”
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that 80% of your diet should be fat. To clarify… when I talk about the 80/20 rule what I mean is that 80% of the time I eat “real food” that is primal “approved” and the remaining 20% I indulge in foods that would be considered non-primal (like a piece of bread/ white potatoes/ rice/ pasta/ cupcake/ice cream etc…)The idea behind the 80/20 rule is that you don’t have to be “perfect” and trying to be “perfect” causes stress which is not good!
It is very key that you don’t mix your 80 and your 20. You don’t want to eat 80/20 within the course of a day. Otherwise there is always carbs for your body to burn and it will selectively burn them first. If you’re not noticing an increase in energy level, this is likely what is going on.
Try going 8 days primal then relax for 2 (at least once, so you know). You may find this works better. Also, try to make your exercise as intense as safely possible for your age. Even if this just means jogging in place. These two things should start a snowball effect for you. Typically the older you are the stricter you have to be on these core principles. But it will work if you commit to them.
You look fantastic. Great effort
Stephanie,
You look amazing and are so inspiring me!!
What kinds workouts do you do?
Your arms and abs shredded!
Glad to hear your hubby has recovered.
Great story! Glad all is well! We did BodyPump a couple of times in my police academy, it was a nice workout!
GEEZ! You are ripped. Congrats on your transformation and your husband’s recovered health.
You’ve got lots to Grok on about. Don’t let me keep you…
What a really good story and I’m glad that your husband is also doing well. And look at those muscles! Wow I’m really impressed. What consist of your diet?
Wow, nice guns and guts! You really leaned out there! SO glad to hear your hubby is well again and I wish you and the whole family continued great health!
Very inspiring story I would encourage you to research and try Lugol’s iodine for your husband, it is extrmely powerful for anti cancer support and promoting overall health. Lugol’s and coconut oil are my favorite supplements.
Well Done you, you look fantastic. I hope I look that good in 15yrs. And well done you for sticking to it during the hard times and also living with those that don’t follow it, call it a ‘cult’ or are total skeptics and think it nonesense without really giving it a go themselves..ok now I am just talking about those around me haha!!! it isn’t easy but you just give me more inspiration and like you said some people just take longer to make the changes
I’m officially inspired. Thank you for sharing your success story!
Stephanie your arms are absolutely great!I am dreaming to get to that point!
I’m 37 when I started I was about same weight and same height as you, now I’m 119 lb . Mostly I was eating right, but recently decided to tone my body. You are inspiration for me, especially the way you mentioned about your kids
How long does it get to get those arms? It seems like I’m missing some key……I jog once a week for an hour, go to gym 3 times a week , but it seems like notting is changing. Any advice?