What 5 Weeks of Living Primal Looks Like
It’s Friday, which means success story time. Today it is my pleasure to share Dorene’s story. She went Primal on January 1st, not long ago, but as you’ll see from her pictures, sometimes five weeks is all that’s needed to see change.
If you have your own Primal Blueprint success story and you’d like to share it with me and the MDA community please feel free to contact me here. Have a wonderful Friday, everyone, and thanks for reading!
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Wowzers, my body is changing!!! I’ve done the low carb thing for 10 years on and off but not the Primal way…
The first time I did Atkins, I lost 20 lbs. Like I was on crack.
I think I was Primal without realizing it. I ate burgers, no bun, shrimp in garlic butter sauce, bacon, eggs and basically only meat. Very few veggies. At the time I was 28, surfing 4+ hours every day (playing), waiting tables (walking), no car (more walking), and lifting weights.
I gained the weight back a couple years later (bad eating habits never die if you don’t change your lifestyle). I tried to lose it again using Atkins, but I would binge on pepperoni, salami, cheese, more cheese, diet cokes, weird Atkins bars, pork skins, ranch dressing and basically low carb crap. I would lose the water then stall out. Or I would lose a few pounds, then cheat. I cheated because I felt crappy eating all that dairy and processed crap and I would crave fruit and carby stuff. I thought maybe I had made myself immune to low carb living by eating that way for so long.
I finally found the Primal way of life through CrossFit last year. The CrossFit I went to actually recommends Dr. Cordain’s book. I read the book and tried to change over but since I was eating low fat meats I was always hungry and my portions were huge. I would eventually end up cheating because I was always hungry. Then I was introduced to this website by a friend who told me this was much easier because Primal wasn’t as strict.
So finally, after researching and reading the posts, I went Primal on January 1, 2011. I cut out dairy (trigger food and I over consume), coffee, and limited fruit and nut intake. I have lost 10 pounds. My scale occasionally will say I’m 129 and I haven’t seen the 120′s in about 10 years. I’ve always been very active with yoga and paddling competitively and still couldn’t get below 132. Now my clothes are too big, muffin top is gone, I look toned, my stomach is going back to its flat self and the best part is my cellulite is going away. Cheeee hooo!
Though, I haven’t been perfect. I probably ate more fruit in the beginning than I should have, too many nuts at times, a few cheat days when friends were in town including late night grilled cheese sandwiches and fries after a night of drinking. One dinner party, I couldn’t resist the dessert… a few too many 80% chocolate bars and one incident with too much ice cream. The difference is, when I cheated I didn’t feel guilty; and the next day I continued with my Primal way of life. Before, that would have ruined me. One day would’ve turned into a week, maybe a month, or even a few months of cheating. I would gain weight with the mindset that “tomorrow I start my diet, so let’s binge today!”
This is a lifestyle change, not a diet, and this has changed my thoughts on food. Last year I spent too much money going to the doctor trying to figure out why I felt weak, dizzy, low energy, depressed, moody and tired all the time. Since changing my way of eating, I have so much energy. I don’t need coffee and I look forward to the gym and my long walks. I also notice what the scale says doesn’t mean sh#%. I lost 6 pounds the first couple weeks, then, according to the scale, gained that back the 3rd and 4th week but my clothes were big and I was definitely smaller. I hid my scale so I wouldn’t freak out. I think it was the new muscles making my scale creep back up. Last week I weighed my self and low and behold it said 129.5 I’m starting to buy new clothes because some of my things are too big.
About me : I’m female, 38, fairly active and definitely cheat a li’l bit. I rarely eat dairy (I use it as a cheat meal). No more processed meats like salami (also a cheat meal). Almost zero fruit because I’m trying to lose weight. I walk 5 miles about 4 times a week and lift weights about 3-4 times a week (not CrossFit, can’t afford it). Lots of beach time (live in Hawaii), walk to work and around town. I don’t do sprints (yet). I do yoga a couple times a week. I hope this helps anyone that may be struggling. Ignore the scale, listen to your body and try to eat real food. Grok on!!
-Dorene
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
CONGRATS! Awesome success!!
I want a stomach like that.
Great job, Dorene!
Way to go, hottie! Your story is an inspiration to many. Keep it up and Grok on!
You look amazing!
Congrats! you look awesome! Thanks for sharing.
I’m hosting a 40-day grain free/sugar free challenge to help people go primal. Check it out at http://wellnessmama.com/1926/i-challenge-you-go-grain-free-for-40-days/
**applause**. well done.
off with my fruit binging. i eat about 5 a day. and i eat too many nuts.
You look fantastic! Thanks for sharing your story.
I seem to be a freak of nature – everybody is having these great results and I. just. stay. the. same.
I started on Jan 5 – have lost about 2 lbs. Cheating has been very minimal.
But I am grokking on…
hang in there, Polly, some of us just have more stubborn bodies…. i may not be as thin and fit as i’d like, but eating this way definitely makes me FEEL better!
38??? I had to go back and read that again. When looking at the photo, I though early 20s.
Fantastic job!
I’ve got a lot of fat to lose yet, and I do eat too much fruit on occasion, for sure, and probably a few too many 90% chocolate bars, as well.
My food obsession is pretty much GONE though with this lifestyle, as well as 18 pounds since Jan. 3.
Thanks for sharing. It’s wonderful to see another success story and a female success story! I’ve been paleo since Jan 1 and lost 8kg thus far (17.6lbs).Still a long way to go since my starting point was a lot higher than yours, but I’ll get there.
@LIZ:
I did this last June/July, and lost 17 pounds in 8 weeks. Won’t get into falling off the wagon and having it back over me several times, but will say that this time, that isn’t going to happen, especially after reading
Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, and learning the real science behind this stuff.
I started at 222 on Jan. 3 of this year (I’m female, 5’6″) and am not going to stop. I passed my 8 week mark from last year, so it’s all good!
Your stats are almost the same as mine! I’m about three pounds heavier than you right now. I used to run about 130 in the summer, 135 in the winter and I’m medium build so I carried it well. I haven’t seen the other side of 200 since 2005.
Strong work! You’re looking fantastic!
Awesome results! This mom-of-three is hoping to join your ranks soon! It seems to be a slower journey for me but I love the inspiration!
You look amazing girl!
Wowzers, indeed! You look amazing, and this is just the motivation I needed – thank you!
Wow Doreen! Great job! Thanks so much for sharing.
Is there a non-creepy way to say “Yummy!!”? Yikes, you look awesome. Congrats, and keep up the good work!
Amazing! And very inspirational, since we share very similar body shapes/types. I’m cutting out the cheese!!!! lol
Ditto to what DTinLA said! Thanks Dorene you inspired me to get seriously focused. Your changes are amazing and a real life role model (I’m four years younger, same height, and now think maybe only 10 more pounds to go instead of 20-25). Grok on!
Your look fantastic!
I just started CF 3 weeks ago and primal 2 weeks ago. I’ve now lost 16 inches and right at 3 pant sizes. Still have a little way to go to get to my goal.
However, I really wish I would have taken before pix like you did. I had no idea how well this would work! <3
You look great, and I really needed this inspiration today. I started CrossFit 2 months ago and am up 6lbs from muscle gain and am discouraged about my weight. I gave up dairy this week, so hopefully that will help me too! Good job!!
Dorene, great job! Reading the comments I see that you have motivated more than a few readers (add me to the list!). You’re to be highly commended! I’m going to tear a page out of your book and (finally) go dairy-free and see what happens. I make so many excuses for cream (what do I put in my coffee?) and cheese (it tastes so good!), but perhaps I will be better off without it. I will keep my coffee, but I will drink it black as the night…
I just wish I lived in Hawaii and could swim and paddle every day! You are a lucky gal…
Keep up the great work Dorene!
Rob
I posted earlier about coffee without cream or sugar, but in case you missed the post, have you ever tried coffee made from freshly ground locally roasted beans? The taste is soooo much better. Give yourself a few days and see if your tongue doesn’t acquire an appreciation of black coffee made from good quality beans.
Doreen – WOW! i’m in day 6 of i guess what you’d call primalish
before i ate whatever i wanted but avoided gluten and wheat. Now i eat lean meats, veggies, no dairy apart from 2 coffees a week (compared to 2 a day!) nuts (yes im probably ODing on these a little too much) and fruit. My guilty pleasure that keeps me going is a small glass of wine. After seeing your results i may cut out the wine to just weekends! Great inspiration 
hope i look like you in 4 weeks time 
I do pretty well with dairy in my diet–I wouldn’t want to overdo it because it’d make me feel stuffed and sick more than because it’d make me gain. But I can see where Atkins bars and the soybean-oil-based salad dressings would be a problem. I would like to get to the point that we are totally done with soybean oil in this house. (We still have some commercial salad dressing around, and I don’t make my own mayo yet either.)
I don’t even mind sausages or pork rinds but it depends on how they’re made. The plain rinds are pretty harmless but you want to keep them to a minimum because pork tends to have higher PUFA content, especially the CAFO variety (grain really screws up an omnivore’s fatty acid profile). Sausages can actually be a good source of organ meats if you can’t stand those by themselves. I found a summer sausage that had beef heart in it. As long as it’s not overloaded with sugar it’s not bad once in a while.
Atkins bars are soy city though. I got a few in the mail today, dunno why they mailed me another starter pack (they sent one last year), but they have, and it had three bars in it. Those things are candy bars, they shouldn’t be everyday snacks. I don’t even buy them anymore.
Awesome inspiration!
Wow! Great job! Thank you for sharing your story. You are an inspiration!
Wow, you’re looking great, Dorene! And those photos are really motivating. Thanks for sharing.
You look fantastic …healthy and happy ..just what ladies should aspire to look like ..
Looking PRIME…or is that PRIMAL.Well done!
That’s your five week result! Wow, you look so fine, girl! I can only imagine how you’re going to look in another five weeks. Congratulations Dorene! Keep it up!
Frank
Fantastic job! Your frame is very similar to mine and I have trouble losing from hips and thighs. You’ve really inspired me to keep on at it.
Great Work!! Grok on!!!!
Congrats. I also did really well on Atkins when I was much younger but somewhere along the line i just got too busy and was eating fast food crap while running my teenager all over the place. when I tried atkins again it just wasn’t cutting it. Hopefully this will work better for me. No matter, I’m convinced i need to do it for my health anyway. I definitely needed to get away from the chemical sweetners. I’ve kept some dairy though, cream in my decaf.