For as long as I can remember I have been on the heavy side. I remember going through grade school being made fun of and teased because of my weight. I was raised in a traditional Hispanic household where almost everything we ate was either fried or refried. I grew up on sweet breads, sodas and gallon jugs of sugar overloaded fruit punch. Life as a teenager for me was a living hell. My life was headed in a direction that I could not imagine. I turned to food for comfort. I was an emotional eater and I was such a wreck because of my weight. I quickly ballooned up to 250 lbs. by the time I was 18.

At the age of 20 I had found my career calling. I wanted to be a police officer. I knew that getting into a police academy would be difficult. So I went on the traditional crash diet of malnutrition, severe calorie restriction coupled with hour long extended cardio sessions. I quickly dropped the weight in a very unhealthy manner. I was weak, very agitated and had the appearance of being sickly.

After only a few years of working the streets as a police officer and the need to constantly eat on the run – going through drive thru windows swallowing 2-3 hamburgers in one sitting – I quickly ballooned back up to 285 lbs. I was miserable. It not only affected my work performance but my personal relationships at home and my overall health was in jeopardy. I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes and high blood pressure and was immediately put on a daily regimen of medications.

In January 2011 at 265 lbs. my life appeared normal and I gave the perception of being happy on the outside but inside I was a living a life of turmoil. I was ruining the relationship at home with my fiancé. I didn’t feel happy about myself and how I looked so we seldom went out in public and I began to have feelings of self-consciousness in our intimacy. I finally said enough is enough and I started a new journey of getting a hold of my life and health. I started a quasi-paleo diet. It was more of a high protein, low carb quick fix. I started walking on the treadmill 3 days a week and did some light resistance training with a power band on alternate days. I gradually was able to start running again and started to see some weight loss. Around the beginning of February 2011 I had gotten my weight down to about 230 lbs. Then the unthinkable happened. My fiancé and live in girlfriend of 7 plus years dropped a bomb on me and ended our relationship abruptly. Again my life was a wreck and again I immediately turned to food for comfort. In less than a week I gained a quick 5 lbs. and felt like crap.

With the help of some good friends I decided it was time for some life changes. I had to move into a new apartment which allowed me to cook for myself and finally eat what I wanted – which meant I could control my own destiny. I could either fall into the same old rut or keep moving forward. I survived!

With the help of Mark’s Daily Apple I immediately switched to a complete Primal lifestyle. I got my life and diet straightened out. I started shopping at local farmers’ markets and preparing Primal meals on Sunday night for the entire week. I joined my local CrossFit box and worked out 3 days a week and started high intensity interval training on the treadmill at work on alternate days. The fat started to melt right off and I was building some muscle. My overall mental health improved and I was finally able to cope with the loss of my fiancé.

I recently purchased the 30-minute Primal Blueprint recipe book and use it regularly to help plan my weekly menu. I’ve learned great lessons about not only eating Primal and living Primal, but making the lifestyle change I needed to overcome my emotional eating habits and improve my self-consciousness.

I am proud to say since going completely Primal that I am down to 180 lbs. and I am starting to build lean muscle. My doctor has completely taken me off the medications I was taking. I lost a total of 85 lbs. of weight in about 5 months. I still have about another 10 lbs. to go to reach my goal weight. Living the Primal lifestyle I no longer have to worry about losing weight and constantly weighing myself. It’s not a matter of “if I get there” it’s just a matter of “when I get there.”

Jose

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