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!
I am writing you today with a deep feeling of gratitude and admiration for your tireless work and commitment to improve the lives of others. You are an inspiration and a role model to me as well as all your readers around the world. I hope your day will be a bit brighter knowing that you drove another amazing lifestyle transformation and helped another person enjoy a fuller, happier and healthier existence.
I have the privilege to write you from a truly amazing place, the tropical South Pacific attol of Vanuatu (were just right of Australia if you check the map) where I am serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a small costal village and living a uniquely Primal lifestyle. My goal here is to support sustainable development, live as one with the community & build capacity in people to help them better their livelihoods. I also get to climb coconut trees, walk around with a 12 inch machete, pick fresh mangos in the bush and spear fish for lunch… very Grokkish I’d say! All of this goodness thanks in large part to you and Mark’s Daily Apple.
When a friend introduced to Primal living and your website 2 years ago, I could not even imagine the profound impact your work and the Primal Blueprint would have on my life. At the time I was a 23 year old kid toiling away in a prestigious but extremely demanding, 80-hour a week, international finance job which took me from Tokyo to New York. Stressed, woefully sleep deprived, constantly sick, and unenergetic my health (don’t even mention fitness) was at an all time low. I have always been a big proponent of fitness but years of endurance athletics in school, unconscious nutrition, chain-gangesgue work schedule, bad advice and conventional wisdom knocked me down every time I tried to take control of my physical wellbeing. I looked for information and knowledge but encountered contradicting and unsustainable advice which made me feel more helpless.
Enter the Primal Blueprint. With the support and encouragement of a friend and the information on MDA I made the switch to Primal living in 2008 and never looked back. Reading your poasts entirely shifted my perspective on healthy living. Here was something that made sense, that was all encompassing and that was proven by thousands of years of evolution… finally! I had the whole picture in front of me and it was a masterpiece. Applying the principles of Primal nutrition I was able to completely transform how I felt, performed, and looked. No more grogginess after that pasta lunch, no more exhaustion in the morning, no more colds, no more lethargy, flu and headaches (I have not been sick in 2 years!). All this while enjoying the lowest body fat Ive ever had and most strength & muscle. One of the most rewarding parts of the transformation was that I saw the effects almost immediately. As soon as I ditched sugar and grain I IMMEDIATELY felt more vitality energy and health. Dumping cardio and replacing it with things like heavy lifting and walking as well as taking control of my sleep had huge benefits not only on my body but my mind.

The confidence, and emotional strength I gained through my transformation helped me make a decision and commitment to live the life I wanted, a more happier & healthier life. In 2009 I chose to get out of the unfulfilling rat race of corporate America and embarked on a journey of international service. I ended up in an isolated village without roads, electricity or running water on an island in the South Pacific where I am successfully continuing my Primal journey (yeah the roosters at 3AM tend to be unpleasant but tracking through the bush looking for wild pig makes up for it). I even managed to build a full gym out of concrete blocks, local wood, sand bags and rocks and I am working on a manual to help other volunteers do the same and live healthy on their islands. Needless to say its been an eye opening learning experience so far.
As I continue my Primal journey and experience more and more benefits of living like our ever-wise ancestors I can not help but feel a tremendous sense of gratitude for your contributions. Thank you for changing my life.
Yegor – Malekula, Vanuatu, South Pacific
If you'd like to add an avatar to all of your comments click here!