My name is Jeffrey, and I am Primal. I started my Primal journey over two years ago, beginning on Aug 21, 2009. I weighed 310+lbs and was an unhappy person. I luckily started young enough that serious conditions never developed for me. I frequent MDA forums, under Jstrick, but typically am more of a stalker and not a replier. Primal changed my life forever, and this is how:

Childhood for me was many things, but health never was much of a concern. All the way through adolescence into young adulthood I put very little thought into the fact that my dietary choices were in fact playing a large part of my health. As a young boy I had always been bigger than the other kids; I had a stockier frame and was heavier set than most. Luckily for everyone else I was also a gentle soul (bullies didn’t bug me much either). It wasn’t until junior high (around age 12) that my size began to really increase. By age 15 I was easily 250lbs, but at 6’2″ that was not too much of a concern, especially in the minds of my football coaches. On life went as I carelessly ate whatever I wanted. I remember a few distinct times being allowed to buy no-bake cheesecake, and on the following Saturday morning I would sit down and eat the entire thing. (Not exactly sure what my mother was thinking, allowing me to do that.) When junior year of high school hit I made varsity football which kept me in a very physically active lifestyle. With the heavy weight lifting, plus the frequent intense cardio I was able to maintain a 270lb body weight, even with my compulsive eating.

They call it the freshman fifteen, but this hardly applies to me. With my dead football career, so followed all my physical activity. The lack of exercising paired with my still unchecked eating habits I not only begun to gain fat, but lose muscle. My favorite meal at the time was either: A.) A minimum of four plates of food at my favorite Chinese buffet or B.) A 98 cent Totinos pizza topped with shredded cheese, and a quart of store bought potato salad. After a year of community college I dropped out and started working full time at my local Starbucks. This introduced a whole new world of food and drinks to consume. Even at this point my appetite and waistline were only growing in size. I was a size 44 and weighed somewhere in the ballpark of 310+.

One day however, my mother sent me a link to a website on five tips on how to get a great night’s sleep. This was very interesting. This website was full of facts and science I had never heard of before. What was this Primal living? So I spent some time investigating the website, and eventually decided to buy the book to find out more. This is the point where everything changes.

I was living with my dad at the time so I had zero influence on the foods I was eating. However, upon moving out I made the decision to take over my health and go Primal. I had read as much as possible and with this new found knowledge I implemented to the best of my ability. At first it was very hit and miss, what I thought was okay then I know now wasn’t very good (although at the time it helped me transition into Primal). Also, what I thought may have been a no-no back then I couldn’t care less about now (like my large veggie consumption). No more grains? Check. No more sugar? Check. No more bad oils? Check. Stay under 50 carbs, check. With these changes came instant conflict. Still in my career at Starbucks, I was daily under pressure to consume non-Primal fare. The only way I made it through this phase I believe was some unknown will power to resist. I knew that if I gave an inch in this area I would in fact take a mile. So all things but coffee with HWC were out of the picture (which is 98% of the menu, mind you.) Early on I implemented a once a month cheat meal, which worked for the first 5 or so months, but as time went by I became more and more lax, which at the time may have slowed progress, but I feel was completely necessary for me to stay Primal without being overwhelmed by the strictness. In some ways it was kinda eating Primal, I never really cared for bread, and who doesn’t want to eat bacon everyday?

At home Primal looked pretty plain Jane to most people, but it created the simplicity I needed at the time. I typically wouldn’t eat until around lunchtime, because I found my hunger being satiated after having a cup of coffee with a good helping of heavy whipping cream for what most would consider “breakfast”. Around lunch time was when I would first eat, and it was usually 3-4 slices of bacon, 5 eggs. Delicious and simple. If I was working a closing shift at work, for the longest time I would do a very odd thing. At work we have a plethora of lunch and breakfast sandwiches adorned with various meats, cheeses, and egg. So I would just take a few slices of ham, turkey, what have you and make a big messy pile of sandwich fixings without the bread and heat it up in our store oven. I made due with the resources I was given. This worked for quite a long time until I became more serious about avoiding the extra chemicals and additives that are used to keep these foods fresh for very long periods of time. Once I started purging my diet of the hidden ingredients I resorted to precooking my suppers at home; so it had to be something quick and easy and reheat-able. This is when I started being a little more creative with my cooking, preparing bigger more intricate dishes that I could eat at home or pack up and take to work.

So after two years of Primal what does my diet look like? Well, I still do the cup of coffee in the morning, although (prepare yourself) I did switch from HWC to just Half and half. I found that I was consuming a large amount of excess calories, which was preventing further weight loss. I still eat the same breakfast, albeit a little bit earlier than I used to. Four slices of bacon and five eggs (it’s a magical ratio). For my second meal (it no longer fits into typical eating times) it is going to be something simple and easy, usually ½ lb of ground beef with frozen veggies. I’ve incorporated a third meal into my day for the most part, purely out of the fact that I get hungry later in the day (therefore I eat).

About six months ago I met a fellow Primal, one who goes by Ikaika on the MDA forums, and she helped propel me towards a more refined, consistent Primal way of living. During my Primal life before her, I was the only Primal I personally knew of, so I had no real reference point for what Primal life could look like at its fullest. However, after a few Facebook conversations and such we decided to get together and hang out for a few days. Let me tell you, it was such an influential time! She ate all grass-fed, no compromises, and she also made the most delicious meals ever! She put my ground beef plus veggie combo to shame with her Primal Enchiladas. The next morning we went to her local CrossFit box and got dominated. When we eventually made it home we had Cod wraps, with homemade mayo, taking my typical 4 bacon, 5 egg lunch and making my usual lunch seem like cardboard. Anyways, here is a post about my trip. When I eventually made it home I was much more determined to live Primal to the fullest, and that is what I did… eventually. With one more move (which put me closer to Ikaika) I am now far closer to The Perfect Primal (I just coined that term, just now) that I was my first year and a half being Primal.

I don’t want to mislead anyone by suggesting I am able to be the perfect Primal. To this day I still have issues with maintaining a healthy level of exercise. I contribute most of it to working on my feet 8 hours a day, but also I tend to like to sit at my computer and do stuff (computer science major). This summer was a great time for me because I consistently lifted weights 3 times a week, but have once again slipped into old habits with school starting back up. Also, I am a compulsive eater. This has been true since I can remember, I eat until I’m sick or out of food. *Ikaika* my Primal girlfriend (who I mentioned previously, we started dating shortly after I moved :D) can attest to this. To this day I can easily consume over a pound of meat plus a very healthy portion of veggies and still not quite be done. It is possibly a mental condition but is something that I just have to make due with. Primal is the perfect fit with my compulsion however, because it gives me a lot of leeway in the sheer amount of food I can eat without going over a calorie restriction or some-such.

All of my achievements and success can be attributed to one thing. Time. With time my desire to eat non-Primal dimmed. With time my coffee addiction turned into an appreciation of coffee. With time my body has been transformed, not only from weight loss, but it has also gained many healthy full years of living. This has become much more than a way to lose weight for me, it is ingrained into who I am.

I am a strong, happy, healthy, life-loving man.

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