The Primal Blueprint Health Challenge: Progress Report
The Prize:
The winner of today’s Primal Blueprint Health Challenge Progress Report Contest will receive their choice of any of Vibram’s four designs of Fivefingers.
The Contest:
Today’s contest is a piece of cake. Simply leave a comment in this blog post describing your experience on the Primal challenge thus far, and do it in 3 sentences or less.
How does the reality of achieving your challenge goals compare to how you thought it would be when you began the challenge? Has it been easier? More difficult? Are you happy with your early challenge results? What does Primal living mean to you?
Contest Deadline:
Midnight tonight, August 17th.
Choosing a Winner:
One comment, and thus one winner, will be chosen at random.
Eligibility:
From the United States to the United Kingdom and from New Zealand to New Delhi everyone is eligible. No restrictions.
Other Important Info:
- Remember to use your real email address in the comment board. If you don’t we won’t have a way to contact you.
- Multiple comments won’t get you multiple entries. One comment is enough.
To track all the contests visit The Primal Blueprint Health Challenge Contest Page for daily updates.
Visit The Primal Blueprint Health Challenge for challenge details.
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
Eating primal has helped my moods stabilize so much. I’m off the carb/sugar roller coaster!
Primal is the way of life!! It hasn’t been easy, but the way it makes me feel in incredible!!
Biking to work, hiking, doing pushups and sprinting, it all feels great on the primal diet. It has been easier than I though to deepen my primalness, which for me is to reduce dairy and too much nuts, gather more food in nature, do more high intensity training and sleep more. Primal to me is all about being in nature, eating nature, sweating in nature, playing in nature and relaxing in nature.
Veins emerging in forearms and calves for first time. Thank you.
Diet – I’ve cut out all added sugars and grains, very much enjoying the added veg and fats.
Exercise – Cut out all “chronic cardio” and added sprints.
Lifestyle – Taking some extra time each day for “play”
I’m down to 56,3 kg, the lowest I’ve ever been (as an adult). I’m starting to see some real muscle definition, which I really like! Energy levels are high despite low calories (I’m on a strict diet, but it’s Primal), so I’m doing great! I really loved the book too, so thanks
I did a linear least squares fit of my weight data (daily weighings). Looks like I will lose about 5 lbs. by the end of the challenge if the current trend continues. I was hoping for about twice as much weight loss.
My goal was to make my “lift heavy things” workouts harder, when I was done I had to ask myself ” could I of done better?” Writing down a plan of what I was going to do before the workout is what I believe helps, I didn’t just go through the motions, I really DID IT and did it with an attitude like a GROK star;)
Eating cleaner, playing more, living better!
I’m coming from 30 days of a stricter-than-strict Paleo challenge, so these two weeks have been great; more lifestyle/normal than out-of-the-ordinary, if you know what I mean. They’ve proven to me that living Primal is a very sustainable, natural way to live, and it’s the way I’m choosing for so many reasons: health, vitality, appearance, and happiness. And, perhaps most importantly, it’s a way of life that my kids can easily grasp, and use to build a great foundation for a healthy, vibrant life.
Having already been eating and exercising Primally, I chose to focus on the lifestyle components like sleep, play, and also my stress levels. Yoga, meditation, and incorporating many tips from MDA.com have helped me to start managing my stress better, and I’m sleeping better as well. For the rest of the challenge and beyond (because this will be my lifestyle forever!), I’m going to keep working at the play aspect in particular to bring it up to the level of the other “laws,” and I’m also going to tighten up my carbs to lose some body fat.
30 days so far, and feeling primalicious! Lifting stronger, running faster, getting leaner all while eating more food than ever before! This is the true path to the best me I was originally created for.
My goal was to find the perfect combination of weight-loss and ultimate health.
My side-results goals, were to influence others to want to ‘follow’ me because of my results, without having to push people.
I have since had wonderful weight-loss to where I can FINALLY see my muscles AND I seem to have new ‘converts’ daily, due to my (and my husband’s) obvious results!
Having another primal challenge has been great for me. It has kept me in line and it is becoming easier and easier to stick to this life style every week!!
It’s been harder than I thought (I love corn chips!). I am veeeerrrry happy with the results! Primal living means, to me, correct living.
Since going Primal I’ve dropped about 14 lbs and I no longer feel the desire to shovel food RIGHT NOW DAMNIT the minute I feel hunger pangs. Plus my energy levels are constant and I feel much more…involved/connected(?) with the food I’m eating. Preparing and eating food has become much more of a meditation process, something I’d never equated it with before.
Awake, alive, refreshed…
Going Primal has given me 10x the energy I used to have. I’ve also rediscovered the joy of play and sport rather than getting bogged down in regimented strength and fitness programs.
Finally, after Zoning, carbing, counting calories and other plans an eating plan that works for my life, and lets me live my life too! Losing weight and energy level is through the roof, while enjoying my food, and my life. Primal has been mostly easier than I expected and more rewarding than I expected too, and I love the community here that makes me feel at home.
Ten months primal living and averaging about 5 lbs a month weight loss – I’m 39 and now back to my 23 year old body with an added 10 lbs of muscle.Latest Challenge has been a focus on my weaknesses (stress, dairy and alcohol) and it is working great – I am sticking to it. I wear a size 13.
I’ve been Primal for a number of years now but the latest challenge / forum reading has actually made me go more Paleo.
I’ve dropped fruits, vegetables, nuts, dairy etc. and increased my saturated animal fat considerably.
Th results? I feel great!
The Primal Challenge has been surprisingly easy for me to adjust to. I expected that I would dog it more than I have – and I am very happy with my results. I’m 25 lbs lighter than when I began living primal back in June.
My 30 day challenge to give up sugar hasn’t been as difficult as I thought it would be. Your mind causes you to think you aren’t capable of things that are totally doable. Journaling is really helping me stay on track and will be a good way to look back and see how far I’ve come.
I can’t believe I was a carbo addict! The first 2 weeks on the Primal Diet I went thro’ total Carbo-Blob to Grok transformation w/ all the withdrawal symptoms that entails including headache’s, brain-fog, low energy, crazy cravings (my hubby of course had none of this…men, really!). Then, last week everything suddenly cleared and I’m now a fat-burning, energy-generating machine. Amazing, but true!
So far, it’s been great, about five months in. I love not having that “carb haze” after (and even during) my meals–though I’ll admit to having been stuck on the “20″ side of “80/20″ lately due to a stressful couple weeks at work…
Hey Mark,
Since reading this site and doing some research, I’ve given up the meal replacement shakes I’ve been drinking (3 times a day) for the past 3 years. I’ve switched to having bags of almonds on my desk to munch on all day long, and I’ve worked on just complex lifts at the gym (deadlifts, squats, pull ups, and presses). I’m definitely stronger and leaner already!
-Steve
I have gone strict paleo this past month. It was hard the first week, but I stuck to it, and now I’m feeling better than ever. I’m losing fat and gaining muscle, and my strength and cardio are increasing as well.
The best part for me has been the almost absence of my shoulder impingement symptoms.
I guess this is from the lack of inflammation after eliminating grains.
As an Army Officer, primal living has afforded me the physical ability to effeciently lead my men from the front. In a world where physical prowess speaks highly of your character, my first impression is high in my ‘office’ environment. I enjoy the challenge of constantly improving myself and upping the ‘anty’ for my soldiers at our Physical Training (PT) sessions, Grok On and Hooah!!!
I’ve been getting really good at eating only when I’m hungry, and not because the clocks says it’s time.
This lead to the realization that, most days, I can get away with 2 meals, with a few snacks in between.