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!
Hi Mark, I’ve been following your blog for a little over a month now, love it and looking forward to the book! My husband and I went paleo/primal on January 26 of this year on the advice of his sister, a pharmacist. In the first month, I dropped 10 pounds with no problem, down from starting weight of 168 to 158. (I’m 5’ 8” by the way.) As of March 1, I started working out doing three days of walking/running intervals and basic strength training on the other two days, with weekends off. Since then I’ve gained back four pounds and have been hovering there ever since. I may lose a pound one day, but gain it back the next, giving me a net overall loss of roughly six pounds.
I’ve been really good with the food. No problems getting enough protein, eating lots of raw & cooked veggies, no fruit, only olive, coconut oils to cook with and butter for fat and flavor. A typical day’s menu looks like this: 2-3 scrambled eggs, 1 cup mostly decaf coffee with coconut milk for breakfast; a salad with 4-5 oz. meat; homemade olive oil & vinegar dressing for lunch; a handful of almonds around 3; 4-5 oz. meat and raw or steamed veggies for dinner. I’ll admit I will have an occasional bowl of popcorn one night on the weekends, that is my one downfall.
I’ve never worked out in my life and know as of about five years ago my body fat percentage was a very high 29%. I’m sure it hasn’t gotten any better and probably even a little worse since then. I’m one of those people you talk about who are thin but fat. I looked okay in clothes and have the appearance of being a healthy weight, yet I knew something was off. I was tired all the time, moody and contemplating taking antidepressants because nothing was working.
In the little over two months, since we’ve gone primal, I feel better than I have in a long time. I have more energy; I have more fun with my kids and am (almost) always in a good mood. My clothes even fit better…
Thanks much,
Sabrina
UPDATE:
It’s been exactly four months now since I went primal. Since I last wrote you, the pounds have been coming off a little more consistently and I’ve lost a total of roughly 11-12 pounds. I try not to pay too much attention to what the scale says because there are so many indications that my body is loving the primal lifestyle! I have more energy than I have had in YEARS. I can finally keep up with all of my five kids, including our 16-month-old twins, all day and even have some energy leftover once they’ve gone to bed. I love being able to actually run around and play with my kids!
The changes in my physical appearance are quite noticeable. My husband tells me all the time that he can really notice that I’ve lost fat all over. I can see some more definition, but especially in my legs which I’ve always referred to as tree trunks. And it feels so good to put on a pair of my pre-twin pants and not have that infamous muffin top! In fact, I think I’m ready for a new smaller wardrobe.
PrePrimal-PreTwins: This is what I looked like for most of my adult life. Not terribly fat, but definitely not what anyone would call lean or in good shape; One Year Ago: In all fairness, is me only about 6 months after the twins were born, so I was still carrying quite a bit of that pregnancy weight.
Interesting note, my 9-year-old daughter has had terrible eczema since she was very young. I asked her to try just gluten-free for two weeks as I had a hunch it was some kind of intolerance to wheat/grains. Well, it’s been a little over a week and already, her rashes are clearing up and she’s MUCH less itchy! My kids (all five of them) are used to mom fixing “weird” healthy stuff so it wasn’t a huge stretch for her but she’s super excited to think she might not have to deal with what she calls her “chicken skin” anymore!
I don’t want to go on and on, but I really can’t say enough about the benefits of eating, exercising and living the Primal lifestyle! I’ve been spreading the word to anyone who will listen! I wish you the best of luck with the book!