Having always been relatively healthy—no chronic diseases or weight loss demands—I came into Primal living differently from many of the stories I read on Mark’s Daily Apple. Now 13 months into my Primal journey, I am grateful to be physically and mentally healthier than I’ve ever been.

My journey did, however, begin with a doctor. Despite my cushy shoes and custom orthotics, clicking, popping, and throbbing in the base of both big toes led me to seek a podiatrist’s help. I was quickly diagnosed with arthritis. A procedure had to be performed at a hospital to correct the problem and I was told to stop running and mountain biking. After telling the good doctor that I wasn’t going to take his advice because I absolutely love running and biking, I asked what he’d recommend to lessen the future degradation of my joints. He said, “Vibram FiveFingers, and read Born to Run.” I took that advice and “ran with it.” My feet have healed themselves, and now it’s rare for me to ever wear shoes. If I do, I’m in my huaraches or FiveFingers.

While talking to a colleague at work about my FF, he recommended that I check out MDA. I did and I never turned back. The Primal concepts were so simple—so logical—that I felt compelled to try it.

Like many guys in their 30s, I enjoy being active and tried to do whatever I could to stay active and not get fat. With two young boys, a career, and the Standard American Diet, this seemed to get harder every year. I wouldn’t consider myself a chronic cardio kind of guy, but runs of 5 or 6 miles and mountain bike outings for an hour at time were common. I also enjoyed an occasional 5 or 10k race where my times were respectable.

Going Primal seemed like a simple flip of a switch that improved everything in my health. The very first thing I noticed was that my energy level was always the same, no matter what time of day, assuming I got the proper amount of sleep. Peaks and valleys of energy were gone. I noticed that my athletic performance drastically improved. I went from competing with myself in 5k runs to placing in my age group in almost every race—without really training for it.

Although I was never drastically overweight, I wanted to trim down for reasons of vanity (and subsequently, health). I cut ten pounds through calorie restriction prior to going Primal, but had energy problems and I really decimated my enjoyment of eating. When I discovered The Primal Blueprint I cut another 20 lbs while feeling great. I learned to love real food and discovered a passion for cooking that I never knew existed! My waist is now the same size it was when I was a competitive sprinter and soccer player in high school. My body has found its ideal composition and I’m very happy with it.

What makes my experience more fulfilling is watching my parents have even more success than me. They saw my physique change, my diet become more fulfilling, and my athletic performance blossom, so they asked what I was doing. I introduced them to PB and their success has been astonishing. My mom doesn’t have to take her diabetes medicine anymore and my dad hasn’t weighed this little since the 1970s! They look great, feel great, and have had to replace their wardrobes because they lost so much weight!

Nowadays, my siblings, my parents, and I will be seen together eating delicious plants and animals, avoiding grains, wearing goofy shoes with toes built in them, and enjoying the Primal lifestyle!

Trip D.

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