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!
My name’s Sri, and I’m a 29-year-old physician. During my high school and college years, I was on the “anti-primal diet”. Growing up in a South Indian vegetarian household, it was carbs, carbs, and more carbs. Rice, sugary cereals, pasta, ice cream and cake and cake. Probably 500 grams a day for years. No meat. Little-to-no protein. I was 5’7?, a bit over 200 lbs, with terrible asthma. It took me 12 minutes to ‘run’ a mile, and my confidence was at rock bottom. In 10+ years of college, medical school, and residency, I tried *everything* to chip away at my weight. Protein shakes, crash diets, cabbage soup, diet pills, two hour cardio sessions, two hour weight training sessions, zone bars, more diet pills. I put on some muscle, I lost a couple inches, but I was still out of shape and facing my physical (asthma) and emotional (mood swings, anxiety, depression) hardships every day.
I stumbled onto CrossFit last year after getting tired of a traditional weightlifting routine that was getting my nowhere with strength, size, endurance, or fat loss. The intensity and unpredictable nature of the workouts was a revelation. Around the time that the members of my gym were embarking on a “Paleo Diet Challenge”, I found your website and purchased The Primal Blueprint. It was your book that helped to convince me that there was a healthier, truer, more natural way to eat, something that would genuinely treat my body as a vessel of God and honor its creation. As a scientist myself, I was intrigued by the physiologic arguments for a low-carbohydrate high-fat diet, and the theories on the importance of epigenetics are very interesting. Add to this that your outlook on a healthy, fulfilling life is FUN! Low stress! Full of flavor and playfulness and experimentation!
I love cooking now, and I love sprinting in my Vibrams. I love being out in the sun with my shirt off and (after much soul searching) I love eggs and chicken thighs. I don’t beat myself up over the occasional high-fat dessert.
Numbers: in three months of the Primal lifestyle, I’ve lost 15 pounds – mostly fat. I was 175 lbs with 22% body fat and a 32-inch waist. Now I’m 160 lbs with 15% body fat and a 29-inch waist. I can almost see my abs! I’m no longer self-conscious about my body, and I look great in small athletic-fit polos. Most of all, this lifestyle is sustainable long-term, good for the earth and for my sanity. I’ve recommended your book to plenty of friends and patients, who will hopefully have as much luck and enjoyment as I have! Grok on!