First and foremost, let me say that I really have enjoyed reading your book so far. Your book shows that God made us inherently to be efficient and healthy human beings. It is our society that is making us sick. It also has shown me to accept responsibility for my own health rather than passing the blame onto someone else. You make great arguments against the conventional wisdom of current societal propagandas, and the claims by the pharmaceutical industry that a pill can cure it all. I only wish that I would have come across this information years earlier.

Now, a little bit of information about me. I am 34 years old, 5’9 in stature, and consider myself to be a very active person. I have always been in good health, no issues with cholesterol, blood sugar, etc. Up until I finished college I was extremely active. Growing up I was constantly playing some sort of sport or walking to meet up with my best friend who lived two miles away from me. Back then, we were not much into video games like kids are today. So in order to combat boredom, we would just be out and about playing. Then after college, things started to change. I started working full time in a very demanding field and was struggling to keep my work life balance in check. To top it off, I was overtraining and over eating. I did not realize this until I became familiar with your principles.

I would often become very frustrated at the fact that I was not seeing the results that I wanted. I think for anyone else, they would have just given up on exercise, but luckily, I am one of the few people out there that actually enjoy living an active lifestyle. At my heaviest, I was at 200 lbs and sporting a 35 inch pant size. It never occurred to me that changing the way I thought about food and fitness would yield the results that I wanted.

It wasn’t till I met J.J., a trainer here at the gym we have at Royal Caribbean Cruises, that everything started to change. He basically started to teach me your principles and suggesting I try a new workout routine. He led me to your website and your book, which from there; I started to educate myself on your theories. Whenever I discovered something new, I would talk about it with J.J. to get his thoughts.

I have to admit, that at first, this was all very new to me. I decided that I needed to challenge myself and to give your system a try. So on October 2009, I started my journey. My motivation for doing this is simple, stay healthy so that I can live a full life and care for my aging parents, and attain the best possible physical shape that my genetics allow. I think so many people defeat themselves by believing that they will always look and feel a certain way no matter what they do. I was one of those people. I decided to try this out because it was obvious to me that what I had been doing, was not working. I set a goal for myself, which was to be at 10% body fat by summer of 2010. At that time, I was 175 lbs, 19% body fat, and a size 34 waist.

I knew that the eating part was going to be tough for me. What really helped me was the fact that living on my own allowed me to have full control of the food that I bought and made. I have to say that the first three weeks were the hardest for me. My body went through complete sugar withdrawal. After those weeks, I slowly started to feel better. I would eat lots of vegetables and meats. To crave my sweet tooth, I would have plain yogurt with fruits. I started experimenting with different types of meals. I have always enjoyed cooking, and your website inspired me to try new things.

The exercise part was not as bad because believe it or not, I was actually working out less than what I used to. In the past, I would spend 2 hours at the gym and doing high intensity cardio on my off days. In contrast, my new sessions would include the following.

• 3 days of 30 – 40 min full body circuit training with weights.
• 1 day of track work with my running club, which included 400 meter sprint intervals. These workouts lasted only 15 to 20 min at most.
• 2 days for light jogging or hiking in the beach for one to two hours keeping my heart rate below 70% of my max.

I would also walk a lot more often than I did before. I barely use my car on the weekends, which helps cut back on gas. Little by little, my weight and body fat started to drop like a sack of potatoes. I am writing this after seven months of following the primal lifestyle. My current weight is 162 lbs. I am at 9.6% body fat, and my pant size has dropped down to a size 30. The best part is that I feel better than ever. I am back in the shape I was when I was in my late teens, early twenties. I am able to run faster, lift heavier things, and have more energy throughout the day. What I find remarkable is that your system allowed me to do this even at 34 years old, where it is said that your metabolism starts to slow down. I am beginning to believe this is just another unfounded propaganda.

In closing, I would like to express my gratitude to you and to JJ, who has also helped many other people here at our workplace. I would also like to thank my friend Melissa, who unknowingly used to follow your principles on eating and exercising. At the time she would give me new ideas to try that were in line with you book. I think that you have contributed tremendously to the cause of health and fitness. I myself have been teaching my parents and family about your principles. They have seen a big change in the way I look, and have asked how I was doing this. I truly believe that in life, everyone at some point should practice teaching something that they have learned to others. It is the way societies have advanced since Grok’s era to now. I recommend your book whenever I can to folks that are trying to do something about their health.

Regards,

David

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