I received a shorter version of Cheryl’s story on my Facebook page. It was amazing and I asked her to share her story with everyone. If you are like me you will read this and at the end you will have a feeling like you nearly stepped into traffic, or fell off a building. You get the struggle, the emotions and ultimately the VICTORY of gaining control of one’s life. You also get the sense of a near-death-experience.
I love working with “athletes” but the impact I can have on the “elite” is really quite small. By contrast, the impact of a Paleo/Primal orientation is literally lifesaving. I cannot think of something I’d rather do than the work I’m involved with. Thanks to Cheryl for giving this a try and for sharing. Thanks to y’all for the continuing support. Here is Cheryl’s story:
Being a little OCD I have a strict rule about calling before you drop by my house. So on December 25, 2009 as I lay in bed in agony from a migraine that was so indescribably painful that I actually hoped that I wouldn’t wake up, Death knocked on my door. But as he hadn’t called first he did not gain admittance. He’s been pissed ever since. I can’t say I blame him. After all, I was asking for him.
But I’m getting ahead of my story.
I’ve spent the majority of my life in a weight war. As a result I’ve tried everything there is to try: popular methods, fad diets, potions, pills, voodoo, I was even a vegetarian for seven years. You name it, I tried it. All to no avail, of course. Then in 2004 a friend of mine lost 80 lbs by joining a gym and getting a personal trainer. She was thin, defined, energetic, and so enthusiastic about her accomplishment that I bought into it. I joined the same gym (though at a different location) and hired a personal trainer. I spent the next four years doing everything he told me to do and eating what he told me to. I would lose 30 lbs only to gain it back. It was a yo-yo diet with machines added in.
Four years later in early 2008 I was angry, frustrated, broke from the exorbitant personal trainer fees, and not making progress. Another friend of mine said a very magic phrase: You should try CrossFit.
Now I’d never heard of CrossFit. When I asked him what it was he would only say, “Google it.”
So I did. And when I saw the WOD listed for that day my eyes popped out, my jaw dropped, and I yelled, “Are these people CRAZY?!” I continued to shake my head as I scrolled down and clicked various videos. “Mm,” I thought, “this is for those nut jobs who are obsessed with fitness.” No, this was NOT for me. “Military? Law Enforcement? Elite Athletes? Where the heck was the workout for Fat Girl who just wanted to lose weight??” I closed my browser, still shaking my head.
Funny thing though – I couldn’t get those images out of my mind. The women were beautiful. They weren’t grotesque manimal-looking Miss Universes. They were strong and powerful and there was somethingnatural about the way they looked. Most women these days look either starved or stuffed. The women on the CrossFit site looked like graceful animals you would see in the wild. Their muscles weren’t exaggerated or disproportionate and everything about them was compelling.
So in May 2008 I found myself caught up in the CrossFit phenomenon. I watched every video I could find on the basics and took the information back to my trainer. Naturally, he didn’t even have a clue what a clean was so I had to teach myself. But after that point I refused to use the machines anymore. It wasn’t long before the contract with my trainer was up and I was on my own doing CrossFit at my local gym.
I have a tendency to have an all-or-nothing mentality so once I started CrossFit I was determined that I was going to do it right. That meant nutrition. That’s your solid foundation, right? But where to start? I subscribed to the CrossFit Journal and looked at all the nutrition advice. The Zone was everywhere. My first impression was that it was too complicated and if it was that complicated I wouldn’t be able to stick to it. Next! IF. Fat Girl go without food? Pfft! Right! Next! Paleo. I found a suggested shopping list from some guy named Robb Wolf who was plugging Trader Joes like he owned stock. So I’m reading this list and getting madder by the second and yelling at my computer. “Who the heck can afford all this food? Trader Joes? I’d have to take out a second mortgage just to shop there! I don’t know who the heck this Robb Wolf is, but he doesn’t have a clue what it’s like to be a struggling single mom with two kids. Screw you, Robb Wolf.” Then I closed out my browser again. I decided pretty quickly that I hated Robb Wolf.
I went back to my friend who had suggested CrossFit. I figured since he was a power lifter he’d give me some good advice. He said to just “eat clean”. So I did some searches and ended up at Fit for Life. I printed out a bunch of recipes, bought my cheap food, and was fairly successful. Within six months I had lost 30 lbs and could deadlift 210. But I didn’t think I was losing weight fast enough. I felt stronger and looked better, but it was like everything was still hidden under all the fat. I was getting frustrated again and since I was now posting on the message board on the CrossFit site I was being bombarded with The Zone. Fine! I’ll give it a shot. It only took a couple of weeks of feeling like I was starving to give that up. 12 blocks was just not enough for Fat Girl. I struggled a bit longer with my nutrition and attempted to go back to just eating clean despite the fact that it didn’t seem to be the optimal diet for me. Then disaster struck.
By the time October had come around I was so obsessed with CrossFit that I was doing two workouts back-to-back. I was doing the regular WOD and then afterward doing a Burgner Oly workout. In November I began to notice some twinging in my back, but considering the workload I was doing I wasn’t surprised. I just ignored it and went on. That was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made. The following Friday during a snatch workout my feet hit the ground and a pain shot from my lower back all the way down my leg. The bar hit the ground and I nearly did too. It felt like I’d been electrocuted. I could barely stand and walking was excruciating. And I only had myself to blame. I had a pre-existing back condition that I used to see a chiropractor about. I had been adjusted weekly right there at the gym. After he left to open a practice in another city I stopped going. Another mistake. I spent the weekend in bed and on Monday went to my mom’s chiropractor. He took x-rays and said my lower spine looked like someone had twisted it like a wet rag. This was causing pressure on my sciatic nerve and it was not letting up.
That was when I gave up. All or nothing, remember? I couldn’t work out – hell, I could hardly walk. So like a petulant child I decided that if I can’t do CrossFit I might as well eat what I want. So for the nine months it took to get my back “lined out” (ha!) I did just that. Not surprising that I gained everything back and then some.
By the summer of 2009 I felt like my back was strong enough that I could start working out again. But by this point I was so huge I wasn’t sure I could do much of anything so I decided I needed to get the nutrition back on track first. I knew that the “clean” eating had worked before, but I also knew that it had stalled quickly. I needed something better. During this time I ran across a number of references to Gary Taubes and because these were disparate sources I took it as an omen. I bought and read “Good Calories, Bad Calories” and felt like I’d experienced an epiphany. I bought a meat cookbook and got started.
The first two weeks were amazing. Delicious meat dishes with fresh veggies or fruit to round it out. I even discovered that I loved cooking. I cooked and cleaned and pored over recipes in the book and online. Then I became obsessed with ketones. I bought some ketone sticks and checked my levels every time I went to the bathroom. I would panic if it wasn’t dark enough. And because all the meat and fat kept me from being hungry it was easy to slip into not eating any veggies or fruit. In fact, after the first two weeks I didn’t even like the taste of fruit. After six weeks I was down to nearly zero carbs, but I was giddy because those ketone sticks were burgundy, baby! Whoo!
Unfortunately, there were two problems with this. Despite the fact that I felt amazingly “clean” on the inside, my ass was d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g. I attributed this to not getting enough carbs. The other problem was – I wasn’t sleeping. I have suffered from OCD as long as I can remember, but most of the time it’s manageable. The compulsions are always there, but it’s goofy things like having to have my eggs evenly distributed in the carton in a symmetrical pattern. The obsessions come and go. I get fixated on something, but after a while it just goes away. I tend to enjoy my obsessions because I get this energy burst where I’m all wired and frenzied and it’s fun to be able to dedicate myself to something so completely. But when it gets out of hand I stop sleeping. I’ll go for days and not sleep. And this happened right about this time. It got to the point it was affecting work and my ability to care for myself and my kids. It hadn’t been this bad in ten years. So I made yet another mistake and went to the doctor.
You guessed it. He whipped out the prescription pad and wrote one out for Zoloft. Yet another monumental mistake. The progression was slow at first so I didn’t really notice it but I started eating things I hadn’t eaten in six weeks. And I couldn’t stop eating them. On top of that I was feeling agitated. I had started grinding my teeth constantly and I was getting a very short fuse. After two weeks I couldn’t take it any more. I called my doctor and told him that I didn’t think I could take the Zoloft anymore and told him why. He said, “Double the dose.” My reply was, “Oh my god! You’re going to make me homicidal!” He laughed and said that my body was “fighting” the medicine and we needed to up the dose so it wouldn’t be able to. Umm…ok. He’s my doctor though. He knows what he’s talking about, right? So I doubled the dose. Within a couple of weeks you could now hear my teeth grinding, I was yelling at perfect strangers on the street, I was hostile and belligerent, and I was sucking down food like I was a vacuum cleaner.
I started feeling really bad one Saturday. I was eating Lucky Charms (the frosted oat cereal with marshmallow surprises!) bowl after bowl after bowl. I began feeling very bloated and heavy. It was like my food wouldn’t go anywhere. And I just kept thinking, “If I eat another bowl it will “push” it down.” Before it was over with I had eaten the entire box. And it wasn’t a little box. It was the mega-jumbo-feed-a-family-of-eight-for-a-week box. And I’d polished it off in one sitting. I was bigger than I’d ever been in my life.
Then a couple of weeks before Christmas I was at work. I travel for work so I was going from one location to another and decided to stop for lunch. I stopped at Bo-jangles and had a Buffalo Bites combo. I ate it in the parking lot then drove the 20 minutes to my next location. I was sick before I got there. It felt like there was a boulder in my stomach and my head was starting to hurt. I texted my boss and told her I was going home for the day. My head was pounding before I got home. I took some Advil and went to bed. The headache was still there when I got up. I took something else and eventually it went away.
Over the next couple of weeks this would play out over and over again always with that “rock” feeling in my gut followed swiftly by a headache. These were sometimes so stubborn they would last for days.
On Christmas Eve night 2009 I was up all night wrapping presents and getting everything together to take to my mom’s Christmas morning. At some point I noticed that I was having a hard time walking. I looked down and my calves, ankles, and feet were so swollen that my toes had almost been engulfed by the swollen flesh. That heavy “stone” feeling in my gut was now so much a part of every day life that I didn’t notice it but I did notice the headache coming on. By Christmas morning I was feeling nauseated from the pain of the headache. But it was Christmas. I had to push through. My two little girls were counting on me. I took four Advil and went to mom’s. I suffered through the gift-giving and Christmas lunch (of which I ate comparatively little) taking a total of eight more Advil during this time. I told mom that my headache still hadn’t gone away and that I felt like I needed to go home and rest. I didn’t tell her how bad it was. I remember thinking that animals often crawl off to die alone.
By the time I arrived home the pain was so intense that all I could do was cry. I took another handful of Advil and went to bed hoping that when I woke up it would be gone. It wasn’t. I woke up an hour later gasping for breath and the pain was so excruciating that I considered calling someone to take me to the hospital. But it was Christmas. Who wants to be in the hospital on Christmas? So I took another handful of Advil, wondered momentarily how many Advil it took to kill you, and cried myself to sleep. An hour later I experienced an identical repeat except instead of wondering how many Advil you could take before it would kill you I thought, “I don’t care if they kill me”, took another handful, and cried myself back to sleep yet again. After the third time of waking up feeling like I was suffocating and like my brain was trying to squeeze out of my ears I understood why people with terminal illnesses want to die. I had only been suffering for a few hours and I already didn’t want to live. With my next handful of Advil I actually had the thought, “You’re probably not going to wake up” and then my mental reply: “I hope not.”
You can see why Death might have it in for me. He hates it when he doesn’t collect, especially after he’s been summoned.
I began blaming everything on the Zoloft. The problems began when I started taking the meds and I thought that they would go away if I quit taking it. I didn’t consult my doctor. I just stopped taking it. I knew that you were supposed to wean yourself off of it, but I was so sure that it was the cause that I couldn’t bear the thought of taking it one more day. I figured any withdrawal couldn’t be as bad as what it was doing to me. Within the week the teeth-grinding had stopped, I was not as irritable, and I could slowly feel “me” coming back. But I was still sick. The swelling in my legs, ankles, and feet went down some, but it would always come back. The suffocating feeling I had experienced waking up on Christmas day was now happening multiple times every night and even when I was just sitting around I would suddenly feel like I couldn’t breathe. The “rock” in my stomach became visible – a large football-shaped bulge appeared between my rib cage and under my breasts. I felt like I was swollen all over.
January came and I was still convinced that everything was because of the Zoloft. I felt damaged. I was positive that it had messed up my brain chemistry and screwed up my whole body. I just didn’t know what to do about it and things weren’t getting any better.
Eventually I ended up at the hospital. But the problem with going to the emergency room is that they want to fixate on one thing. I was mostly concerned with the swelling in my feet and I knew that whatever was causing it was what was causing me to have trouble breathing. But you go into the emergency room and tell them that you’re having trouble breathing and all they want to do is check your heart and lungs. When I pushed them about the swelling they decided to check for blood clots. Blood work was requisite, of course, but not telling. In the end they sent me home with a prescription for TWO anti-inflammatory pills which they told me to cut in half. If that didn’t help I needed to see my regular doctor. Yeah. A lotta help they were.
My regular doctor wasn’t much more help. He did have the presence of mind to ask about my bowel movements. I’d been so sick I didn’t even realize I wasn’t having any. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d had one. He gave me a list of things to take to ‘clean me out’, did a bunch of blood work (of course) and referred me to a GI Specialist. I chose the one my mother goes to and went to see him in early February. Of all the doctors I saw my GI Specialist was the most help. That’s not saying a lot, but he was at least able to pinpoint a few things that helped ME figure out what the problem was.
My mother suffers from auto-immune hepatitis and non-alcoholic cirrhosis. I briefly wondered if I was in the process of suffering the same fate. Some of my symptoms were similar, but I didn’t have any of the itching that she had when she first got sick so I discarded that thought quickly. Besides, it was the Zoloft, right?! The testing process to figure out what actually was wrong with me was long and drawn out, but as long as they were testing I felt like I could stand it because at least I was *doing* something. I couldn’t stand just sitting around not making an effort to get better.
I won’t go into every test they took, but suffice it to say I have seen every nook and cranny of my insides. During the testing this is what we discovered that was helpful:
1. My stomach was emptying it’s contents at half the normal rate.
2. My C-reactive protein level was a 12.04 when tested on Feb. 8.
Other than that I seemed to be in perfect health! Being a layman my thinking at this point was that the Zoloft had messed up my body chemistry and set off the inflammation and this in turn had messed with my digestive tract. Nobody believed my Zoloft theory. My GI doctor (and every doctor I had seen up to that point) was scratching his head. I made the comment that when we finally figured it out I could be on an episode of Mystery Diagnosis and we laughed. Then he asked me if I knew Dr. House and we laughed again. He said that everything pointed to auto-immune, but he couldn’t figure out what auto-immune disease would shut down the gut like that. The only thing he knew to do was to refer me to a rheumatologist based on the CRP numbers. In the meantime I had to take a handful of pills at every meal just to make my digestive tract work properly. Two of these were prescriptions and one I couldn’t even buy in the United States. I had to order it from New Zealand.
My GI doctor called the rheumatologist and made me an appointment. For six weeks later. Six weeks? I couldn’t wait that long. I called them to see if I could be put on a cancellation list. Apparently they don’t have one. I hung up and screamed, “I COULD BE DEAD IN SIX WEEKS!”
Now, as well as being obsessive-compulsive I am also impossibly stubborn and bull-headed. Who knew those could be positive traits? I decided I was going to figure it out myself.
My GI doctor was positive it was something auto-immune so I made a list of every auto-immune disease I could find online. I pulled each one up individually and compared the symptoms with my own. One after the other I crossed them off the list. Then I got to Celiac Sprue. Eerie. It was like reading a list of everything I was suffering. I called my GI doctor and asked him if he had tested me for celiac. He said, “No, I don’t think that’s what wrong with you. But we can test you if you want.” Umm, yes please! I went in on a Wednesday morning to do the blood work. I decided it might be a good idea to forgo wheat until I got the results back. You know… just to see. Funny thing – I felt a little better. That awful bloating/sick/rock feeling wasn’t there after every meal anymore. I was still as blown up as a zeppelin, but I felt like I was onto something. That Friday night, my GI doctor called me back and said the tests were negative for celiac. Hmm. “That’s funny,” I told him. “Especially considering the fact that I’ve gone without wheat for three days and I’m feeling better.” He seemed surprised at first when I told him this, then decided that perhaps it was a wheat allergy. He recommended staying wheat free for two weeks and then getting the CRP redone.
After being off of the wheat for five days I no longer had to take any meds to assist in digestion. On Feb. 18, ten days after being wheat free, my CRP was down to 8.47! We called it a wheat allergy. I was bummed, of course, (who wants to give up cake?) but I was thankful that I had found the apparent underlying cause of my illness. The GI doc recommended that I stay the wheat-free course and I agreed. Just a month later on Mar. 15 we retested my CRP again and it was down to 6.8.
So it wasn’t the Zoloft (damn!) and I apparently had the cause and effect backwards. I now believed that I had developed this bizarre wheat allergy, it had shut down my digestive tract and subsequently caused the systemic inflammation. But not only was it treatablewithout medication, my condition was obviously reversible based on the falling CRP numbers. Yay!
I spent a few weeks wondering how I could bill all these various doctors since I was the one who figured out what was wrong with me and then one Friday evening a peculiar thing happened – I got sick. I had eaten rice and got sick. I don’t normally eat a lot of rice, but after cutting out all wheat products I found myself looking for other things to fill the void. I thought maybe it was a coincidence. After all, wheat is sneaky. It’s in everything. Maybe I had misread a label or something. So I gave it a couple of days and tried rice again. Sick, sick, sick. Very nearly as rock-stomach sick as wheat made me. Since then I’ve read quite a few things about rice and I’ve seen so many people – even in the Paleo community – who consider it the least evil of all the grains. Every time I see a comment like that I just want to cringe because what rice did to me is only a few degrees shy of what wheat did. Trust me – it’s evil and there’s nothing good about it.
Eliminating the wheat and rice stopped the GI issues I was having, but for some reason I still had the ebb and flow of inflammation in my legs. I knew by now that it was directly related to nutrition I just didn’t know what was causing it so I began my own food elimination test trials. I went without sugar for a month and it seemed to help some, but not enough. I knew I had to continue to test and eliminate, but it seemed so futile considering how long you had to wait to see the effects.
Then near the end of my sugar-free month in late June of this year I was up late packing for a trip to the beach the following morning. I started getting that familiar heavy feeling in my legs and sure enough – they were swollen nearly as bad as at Christmas. I was angry, frustrated, exhausted, and at my wits end. I couldn’t do anything the week I was at the beach except lay on the couch looking out at the ocean. My stubborn streak set in again and I opened up the laptop and did a search for “inflammation and nutrition”. And what should pop up but The Zone. DAMN!!! But at this point I was willing to do anything. When I had failed with The Zone before, it was because I was hungry. Since then, I had begrudgingly read “42 Ways to Skin The Zone” after Coach Andy Hendel at CrossFit Charlotte suggested it. I was still annoyed with that Robb Wolf. After all, if you change the amounts of the blocks then it isn’t The Zone anymore, is it? It just didn’t make sense. But as I said – I was desperate. This time I figured I’d try going the recipe route. We were still at the beach and I had someone drive me to Books-A-Million. I bought The Zone and The Zone Cookbook and read them while I was laid up on the couch. When I got back from the beach I started immediately.
I managed to stay on The Zone for a whole month this time. And I felt better. Sort of. I wasn’t hungry like I had been before and the swelling went down a lot. The problem was it never went away completely and sometimes it would come back out of nowhere. I also had some other problems with The Zone. I DESPISED weighing and measuring. I would rather slit my wrists than have to weigh and measure my food. The LAST thing Fat Girl needs is to obsess over food. Another issue I had was the fact that every freaking day I had a dishwasher full of dirty dishes. I felt like I was working in Hell’s kitchen. And lastly – and this was my biggest beef with the diet – I was sick at my stomach half the time. And this was while I was taking Prilosec. I finally figured it wasn’t worth it. It obviously wasn’t controlling the inflammation like it claimed.
Then one day in late summer I was messing around on Facebook and noticed that a Crossfitting friend of mine had “friended” Robb Wolf. “Mm,” I grunted, “THAT guy.” Then I shrugged and thought, “What the hell” and sent a friend request. After nearly two years of mistakes compounded by mistakes I had finally made a good decision. I saw that Robb had a book coming out. It seemed he was going to make Paleo accessible to the masses. And despite the fact that I “hated” that guy I was actually looking forward to reading it. Desperate times and all.
When Robb’s book finally came out I did read it. Cover to cover. I looked at my finances and took into consideration the incredible expense of all those doctor bills, hospital bills, lab bills, and radiology bills, and figured that paying for good food was actually a better deal. I decided to make some cuts. I eliminated several monthly charges that were frivolous and decided that I would do whatever it took to make Paleo work for me. That included getting the kids on board. I have two daughters, the oldest is 14 and the youngest 11. I made them understand how important it was that they support me and that they understand the necessity of what I was attempting. They were completely supportive and seemed happy that mom was finally doing something to get better. That is until I cleaned out the pantry. There was most certainly a melt down for a couple of days and a hunger strike by the youngest. I know I was being tested. I don’t know who they thought they were dealing with though. They’ve known their entire lives that their mother is an immovable object when she sets her mind to something. Needless to say it didn’t take long before they were eating what I was cooking.
I began my 30-day Paleo test on September 27, 2010. That morning I had my blood work done as recommended. Within two weeks I started feeling like a human being again. When I got my pre-paleo test results back I got a big shock – my CRP was down to 0.9! This was before Paleo and after ONLY eliminating wheat and rice. Even on The Zone I had other grains, dairy, and legumes so I knew that the drastic change in my CRP numbers had nothing to do with that. Seven months wheat free and five months rice free and all of the indicators of systemic inflammation were GONE.
I realize now that what I was experiencing was full-blown metabolic derangement. (Being deranged was familiar enough, but the metabolic part was new.) I have no doubt that had I not worked so hard as my own health care advocate that I would have developed, or been diagnosed with, an auto-immune disease. I got lucky. I dodged a bullet. And that’s how I think of refined carbs now – it’s a game of Russian Roulette with a machine gun. The more you eat the more ammunition you’re putting in the gun and eventually the odds are stacked against you. The thing is you never know which bullet is going to get you or when.
During my 30 days on Paleo a lot of things changed. The swelling in my legs, ankles, and feet is gone. My skin has cleared up. I started sleeping like the dead because the sharp pain in my right hip joint (which I’ve had for a year) is now gone. The swollen bulge in my abdomen disappeared. I feel better every single day. By the end of my third week I stopped taking Singulair for allergies and Prilosec for acid reflux. Two days later I was sorry I had stopped taking the Prilosec. Apparently you can’t fix that much damage in three weeks, but I felt so much better it was hard not to be optimistic! On the 27th day I had to buy clothes a size smaller. My wrist is so much smaller that I have to push my watch farther back on my arm or it becomes a bracelet. At the end of the 30 days I had lost 12 lbs and had a waistline again. As for the blood work numbers I have that too:
Total cholesterol – Before: 229, After: 208
HDL – Before: 44, After: 29 (I know – big concern. With the inflammation in my legs now gone I feel like I can get back to Crossfitting. That should fix it.)
LDL – Before: 175, After: n/a (The nurse said, “Apparently it was so good that it didn’t register because it came back n/a.”) Crazy!
Triglycerides – Before: 51, After 45
Glucose – Before: 112, After: 100
LDL Particle Size: Before: Type A (because it was already type A before we didn’t have this re-tested.)
A1C: Before: 5.5, After: 5.3 (They consider this normal? They didn’t even want to re-test.)
CRP in March was 12.04. In September 0.9.
The biggest change, however, has been in my attitude. There is a stigma attached to being obese. You are viewed as undeserving. You are ridiculed and snubbed. People find you disgusting. And worst of all – you think these same things, and worse, about yourself. What I hated the most was that I was obviously weak. I have never felt like a weak person. I am forceful, opinionated, intelligent, confident, and optimistic. I’m a Leo for god’s sake! We RULE! How could I be so weak when it came to food? I found countless things over the years to blame it on, but in the end I would hate myself even more knowing that I was an adult and had the power to let that stuff go. I’ve always despised individuals with a victim mentality and I hated it even more in myself. But then I read Robb’s book. I no longer look at myself and see someone weak and repugnant. I see a girl who has been fed a steady diet of nutritional misinformation, confusion, contradiction, and outright big fat lies. We don’t look at diseased people and find them repulsive and yet that’s how the obese are seen. But in fact, obesity is just a huge red flag that a very ugly disease is looming. After reading Robb’s book I no longer believe that I’m weak or that I have a problem with will-power. When I look in the mirror now what I see is a very sick girl who is finally getting the help that she so desperately needs.
I’ve had many teachers, coaches, and directors over the years who I’ve detested. They pushed me and harassed me and I hated being singled out. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized why they pushed me. The teachers I despised the most were the ones who saw my potential. They knew what I could accomplish when I didn’t. At some point during my 30 days I realized that this was why I hated Robb Wolf. He isn’t one of those guys who wants to be your pal and pat you on the back and say, “Sure, it’s ok to have a Twinkie as long as you watch the portion size.” Robb is the guy who sees your potential. He knows what you’re capable of and he’s not going to lie to you. Trust me, the last thing that Robb will ever do is “sugar coat” ANYTHING. He’s going to smack that Olive Garden bread stick out of your hand and say, “Don’t eat that! It’ll kill you!” Ok, maybe he won’t do that. At least to a total stranger. But he is going to ask you to do things that you don’t want to do. He’s going to ask you to give up things that you don’t want to give up. You’re going to hate him. And that’s ok. Because in the end you’re going to be very grateful. Just like me.
Thanks, Robb, for not pulling any punches.
What a hard story to read. How devastating it must have been to be so sick for so long and not have any answers. Kudos to the author for sticking it out and fighting for herself! As a certified Crossfit trainer and co-owner of a Crossfit gym, I find it really difficult not to “smack that Olive Garden breadstick” out of my clients’ hands, but I think everyone must embark on their own fitness and nutrition journey just as Cheryl did. We can provide the information. Ultimately, though, each person has to come to his or her own conclusion about what works for him/her. Some people (like Cheryl) get that, and some, unfortunately, never will.
You’re absolutely right, Davina. I’ve only been Paleo for a little over six weeks but it has made such a drastic change in my life that I already find myself trying to save the whole world. But like you said, all we can do is provide the information to others and leave the decision in their hands. Knowing what I know now it’s hard not to feel helpless when I see other people making disastrous nutritional choices. My only hope is that my story helps someone out there who may be in a similar situation and doesn’t know where to turn.
“Robb Wolf. ‘Mm,’ I grunted, ‘THAT guy.'” LOL
Great, story! Thanks “Fat Girl” for writing and thanks Robb for posting! I’m going to share it with the Strong is the New Skinny community right now! 🙂
Thanks again,
Adam
Adam, the grunt is quite accurate and I probably use it far too often, but I find it is more socially acceptable than actual words depicting my sense of disgust or disbelief. 😀 Thank you so much for spreading the word. I truly hope my story helps someone in your community.
Oh man, what an inspiring story. I swear I have goosebumps.
What a journey and I soooo can identify with the riduculous doctors. You get taught that they know and you don’t. Most of the time they haven’t got much of CLUE. It is all about this and that pill to mask the symptoms.
I am so glad I have found Paleo. I too have some health issues. I am working on them and thank God everyday I changed my lifestyle. All i can do is wonder where i would be if I hadn’t done so.
Thumbs up for living this and for sharing this with us.
@ Robb: I love your podcast, got your book and even travelled to Denmark to hear you speak. It really has been an eye opener. I have learnt a lot and am critical of my choices every day.
Thank you
Thank you, Carla! And congratulations to you on your successful Paleo journey!
I give the doctors a hard time in my story, but they’re good guys and I know they meant well. I have spoken at length with both my regular doctor and my GI doctor since finding Paleo and begged them both to read Robb’s book. We’ll see. In truth, the main reason why I had my bloodwork done wasn’t so much to see my own progress in solid numbers, but so my doctor could see what a difference Paleo made. I take my copy of The Paleo Solution in with me every time I have an appointment as a little reminder for him of why I’ve been so successful. If I can convince my doctor of how powerful Paleo is I’ll feel like I will have made a big difference. I don’t know if I’ll be successful, but I’m sure going to give it a shot!
My story has a lot in common with hers (especially the “epiphany” at reading Taubes’s book). One day I will write it down and make it public. This would be a small thing to thank all the extraordinary people – Robb Wolf being the last, but the most important of a long series – who helped me OUT of hell. And, let’s say it, I would also like to stress how many times the very specialists who were supposed to “help” me actually tried (thank God with no avail) to push me in the WRONG direction. Had I followed them I am sure I would have found myself with some SERIOUS psychological disorder. At one point, many, many years ago, I was really close to become anorexic or bulimic and I am now sure I have to blame the “medical” establishment for this. They have to know.
They will know, Thalin. Paleo is saving lives every day. That fact cannot be ignored forever. I hope you’ll let us know when you’re ready to tell your story. I would love to hear it.
Inspiring and heart-warming. So glad you kept at it and found what works for you. Keep us posted on your progress. Congratulations.
Thank, Alan! Don’t worry, I’ll keep Robb updated. I feel way too good not to want to share it!
This will be a long comment.
I am of course going to post this on facebook and tell EVERYONE to read it.
But I am also going to say something that isn’t said in this article outright.
There is a psychological, emotional component to obesity and food addiction that does not obey logic. That’s why it’s emotional and psychological. That’s why it’s an addiction. We read of the struggles to lose weight, but then it returns to “and I gained it all back” or “I stuffed my face with everything I saw.”
WHY?
You are an amazing woman!!! And luckily you reached a point when your desire to change was high enough that Robb’s book helped you save your own life!
I think what we need to realize is that there are many like you who will read his book, go paleo, get the amazing benefits, and then one day go back to “And I gained it all back” or “I stuffed my face again with everything I knew I shouldn’t eat”.
And when we see that, we realize it’s not the fault of paleo or of weakness. It’s addiction.. it’s deeper than food choices or a desire to change. And we need to have compassion and understanding for that struggle, even if that compassion is expressed in the form of tough love.
I’m rambling but your post really touched me deeply and made me think of the true meaning of hell – when you know better, but do it anyway. OVER AND OVER.
We all hope that Paleo is a SOLUTION for people, not just a diet. And that the changes allow a healing of the addictions that create so much suffering in people who truly do know better. I hope that is true for you over the long term and you keep us informed of your success!!!
eileen
Thanks to Eileen for her comment about food addiction, and kudos to Fat Girl for her determination and honesty!
I, too, have had an abnormal relationship with food my whole life. One of my earliest memories is of getting scolded for eating too many deviled eggs at the family Christmas party. I was five.
I have been off refined sugar and flour nearly two years, and Paleo about two months. I’m newly working with an MD who practices integrative medicine to tweak my food choices and supplements so I can feel even better and continue losing body fat.
My carb cravings are gone (!) but stopping exposure to food allergens is only part of the addiction. Ever hear of a dry drunk? That’s like a food addict eating cleanly but still struggling with the emotional/mental reasons for overeating (or not eating).
Paleo is the antithesis of a reducing diet. Particularly the way Robb presents it, this lifestyle is self-loving and self-affirming. Today, I make food choices based on well being, not weight loss. For me, combining a traditional approach to addiction recovery with the Paleo lifestyle is bringing me ever closer to wholeness.
Luanne
“Paleo is the antithesis of a reducing diet. Particularly the way Robb presents it, this lifestyle is self-loving and self-affirming. Today, I make food choices based on well being, not weight loss.”
That is the perfect summation of how I feel right now. Beautifully, beautifully put. I’ve battled my weight my entire life, but after I got sick it was the last thing I was worried about. Going Paleo for me was not about losing weight. It was about getting well and staying well. And even now when all of my symptoms are gone (sick for MONTHS and those symptoms gone in mere weeks on Paleo along with a few symptoms that I never even attributed to food!) I’m still not concerned about the weight. I am eating healthier than I ever have in my life and I feel SO good that the weight isn’t even a priority anymore. It will go when it goes. And it WILL. Paleo is NOT a diet, at least for me. It is a LIFESTYLE. And it is so much a part of my life now that anything else would seem abnormal now.
Thanks for commenting, Luanne!
Eileen, I have yo-yo’d up and down so many times in my life that it’s scary, and addiction is a good word for why. And when I look at my extended family I’m not surprised. My whole family is full of individuals who go overboard in a myriad of ways – particularly alcohol – so I definitely have the genes for addiction. But when I learned from Robb about what food (particulary those nasty refined carbs) does to your body I heard an audible “click” of the puzzle pieces fitting together. Some people can eat refined carbs at a minimum and leave it at that. I can’t. Most people in my family can’t. And I believe it’s because we are just genetically more susceptible to the deleterious effects of those foods. I think that in my case they simply dull my leptin sensitivity more quickly and easily than in most people. (And it didn’t help that the Zoloft turned on the I’m-freaking-starving-feed-me-now button in my brain.) And I know I’m not alone. There are thousands of people just like me out there and all I want to do is REACH THEM and tell them about Paleo. The decision will still be theirs, but at least they’ll have the tools to fight the battle when it comes.
Thank you so much for bringing this up and for taking the time to comment!
You know, this is also a part of what killed me about the CrossFit approach to food. They ADVOCATED a weekly bender of whatever you want. Well, for many (most?) people that ensures failure. Can some people get away with that? Sure, but here again, it’s not a one size fits all approach. If we do not tackle things in a way that maximally stack the deck in OUR favor, it;s going to be harder than it needs to be.
Thanks for this comment and your amazing article. As a nutritionist – I learn so much from listening to others own experiences. As someone who does not have an addictive genetic type, this is an area that I get huge value from others experience as it can then be passed on to clients who find this difficult.
Certainly strict paleo fixes the issue for many of my clients. They find the cravings for junk just go. And so does the desire for cheat meals.
And I love the focus on food as healing and healthful rather than weight loss. For me paleo is about that, keeping my multitude of health issues at bay.
My focus with clients too has shifted from weight loss to health improvements – a whole lot more satisfying.
WOW, remarkable story. Stick with it.
Awesome story (and very well written), Cheryl! I enjoyed reading it!
That was awesome and a pleasure to read…. 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to share your story – you’re going to save lives just by sharing it and allowing a reader out there to connect with what you’ve said.
Absolutely incredible story. Thanks to Cheryl for sharing that with all of us! And thanks to you, Robb, for all you have done to help the average Joe (or Jill)!!
Best story I’ve read on here in a long time, maybe ever! Thanks for sharing!
My story isn’t nearly as dramatic, but I do feel like I owe Robb my life, or at least my quality of life. 6 years of plantar fasciitis finally gone, depression disappeared, digestive problems gone, teeth cleaner, breath fresher, waistline down 3 inches… I can’t thank you enough for all that you do, Robb.
Best of luck to you, Cheryl — you’re on the right path, keep it up!
Yea, Robb Wolf is a pretty cool cat.
Great story Cheryl. I followed a similar path: mild OCD, using the CrossFit connection to find Paleo, self-diagnosed celiac – going from afraid to leave the house due to GI issues to perfectly normal within 6 months with gluten-free paleo + dairy.
I am afraid for everyone out there that is suffering the same horrible fate and is not going to find the right answer. This is going to sound gross, but I work for a large company and from what I hear in the shared restrooms, many guys are suffering from horrible GI issues — one of my friends at work noticed this too. I am imagining it is all the Hot Pockets and reheated frozen pizza, and wheat heavy fast food they eat (even Taco Bell has wheat in the meat). I think the problems are much more widespread and severe than people know, because of the embarrassment factor.
Totally inspiring. Sending it out to everyone I know.
Amazing!! already forwarded to my entire family.
Thank you for sharing your life-changing story, Cheryl. And thank you too, Robb.
Wow, Cheryl.. thank you for sharing this with all of us! What an amazing story.
Great stuff. More people need to read stories like this when “they” ask “us” why we don’t eat bread.
Thank you for sharing your AMAZING story, Cheryl. Best wishes for the future!
Remarkable!! Thank you so much, Cheryl, and Robb for sharing such a passionate story!
Oh wow honey. I have so much to do this morning but I could not break away from your story. I’m at a loss for words other than thank you for sharing it. I’ve been through the medical and nutritional wringer and through my own determination have figured it out. But it has taken years of my life and thousands and thousands of dollars but all i can say is FRACK YEA to be on my way! I’m sending your story to my parents. They’re reading the book now. I know Rob, I know, hard to move mountains and parents are harder still, but one can hope:-) Many thanks to you both.
Awesome story!
You think the low HDL is because of a continued fear of saturated fats? Women usually have higher HDL than that because of estrogen, right?
Interested to hear how you feel a year from now!
To be honest I don’t know anything about the relationship between estrogen and HDL, but I was anything but squeamish about saturated fats. I eat nitrate free bacon with eggs fried in the grease nearly every morning. I didn’t catch on to coconut oil until around my third week into Paleo though. I simply assumed the low HDL was from being inactive. I’ll be fixing that!
Thank you for sharing. My sister in law (who has been Paleo/Crossfitters for over a year) just found your website and shared it with me. I am 26 years old and have been battling a lot of health issues and medical bills since I had a sudden gall bladder attack and had it removed in Aug 09. I am on week 3 of paleo, have seen some swelling going down, have lost 8 lbs but still have other simptons, such as hives still occuring. Haven’t figured everything out but think I am finally on the right path and have a postiive attitude for the future.
Thanks again for sharing your story and thanks to Robb Wolf for your book and podcast!
I loved hearing that you’re finally beginning to recover. I know how overwhelming being that ill can be so getting a positive attitude back says a LOT about how you’re feeling. Hang in there! It gets even better.
Thanks for sharing your story and congratulations on your success, Cheryl. And you’re quite the storyteller.
Robb, I finally figured out how you can make money off this Paleo gig. Robb Wolf breadstick-smacking action figures. Get on it.
Better yet, how about a Robb Wolf version of Terry Tate: The Office Linebacker?
Goosebumbs! Thanks for sharing this amazing story. I just started Whole30, totally inspired by the women of Paleochix. I’m on day three and feeling great. I have been searching the web for inspiration and motivation to stick with it. Stories like this and individuals like you really make a tremendous difference. I told my friends and family that I was doing Paleo and they are all looking at me like I have two heads….but I know better, I know that 30 days from now I am going to be writing a short story about how my life, my power, my strength and my passion have gotten all better because of it! Thanks!
Daphne, that’s exactly what I love to hear! My family looked at me the same way. Then I got better. Now they’re not poo-pooing what I say anymore. Like Robb said to me – let the results speak for themselves. I can’t wait to read your story!
“I am forceful, opinionated, intelligent, confident, and optimistic. I’m a Leo for god’s sake!”
:-). Yes, you certainly are. A powerful story by a strong woman.
From Leo to Leo: you are also a wonderful writer. May your story inspire many.
Thank you SO much! I’m just so grateful you guys took the time to read all that! I kept expecting Robb to email me back and say “give me the abridged version.” LOL
WOW! What a story! Congrats on making the change! There are so many others out there who are living similar stories to yours right now…my hope is that we can all make a difference in the lives of many more people by continuing to get the word out about the benefits of paleo. It is clear where the FDA’s [government’s] and Big Pharma’s interests lie.
Jamie
Jamie, all those people out there with similar stories are the only reason I did this. My family, even my daughters, don’t know that Robb posted my story, and they would probably be surprised that I opened up like this. But when I found the answers to all of my health problems by going Paleo I couldn’t keep it to myself. I want everyone to know so that they can get better too.
Loved the story and can totally relate. I LOL’d at the “Hell’s Kitchen” part…I have been there…cooking separate meals… one for me and one for my family and ending up cleaning the kitchen for hours on end! This year all of the sudden I have been whacked with multiple symptoms I have kind of been “in the closet” about…auto immune disorder that no one has been able to explain….losing large patches of hair, swelling in the lower extremities, and constant pain no amount of icing or pain relievers have been able to cure. I have been on a meal plan for the last few months that I thought would be beneficial, and of course EASY since I didn’t have to cook…and although it is supposed to be HEALTHY and developed by doctor, well, it is loaded with things that probably explain a lot of my symptoms. I had thought that maybe Crossfitting had caused some the the swelling and damage, but after reading this I had the lightbulb moment that it is more likely my diet.
So, thank you for sharing your experience with me. I am taking what I have learned from this and applying it to my life immediately! : )
Stacee, I got very choked up when I read your post. I told Robb that if my story could help just ONE person then everything that I suffered would have been worth it. THANK YOU! I wish you every success as you head down the Paleo path. I have no doubt that you will be amazed at how incredible you feel. Please feel free to contact me any time at [email protected]. I’m still new to Paleo myself, but I will do anything I can to help you make the transition as easy as possible. I know it’s even more of a challenge with a family so I’m sure we can give each other tips on dealing with that aspect of it. Even if you don’t need my help, PLEASE let me know how you’re doing!
I couldn’t break away either, what an amazing story! Cheryl, you should write a book,or start a blog or something. You are a fantastic story-teller…well, I guess you have a pretty fantastic story to tell!
Funny, last Christmas, I was convinced that I had appendicitis or something. It hurt to even do a light jog. I had all the horrible skin rashes and they were getting worse, and for the first time in my life I had what I thought was a migraine headache. Is it all the holiday baking that triggers these episodes? I didn’t find Paleo until recently, but I found low carb in March of this year and since I have always tried to stay away from processed foods my version of low carb wasn’t that far from Paleo. Within a few weeks I was on the road to recovery!
Sorry if I missed it, but do you do CrossFit still or the exercises in Robb’s book? Thanks so much for sharing your story! Sometimes I still have doubts about if it was really the grains that were the cause, but you give me confidence that they are indeed the villain!
Don’t doubt it, Patty! As far as I’m concerned grains are Trojan Horses. Don’t let them in! And I know for a fact that there was a direct link between my own wheat consumption and the migraines I was suffering from. I don’t doubt that all the excess grains consumed during the holidays could affect others in a similar manner.
I haven’t done any CrossFit since I hurt my back, but I actually have a lot of equipment here at home, so now that all of the inflammation is gone (both systemic and localized) I finally feel like I can get back at it. Just today I was re-reading Robb’s chapter on Paleo fitness and how our bodies are designed to be fit. And it’s going to sound odd, but I get that feeling all the time (now that I’m not sick) – like my body just wants to MOVE or pick up something ungodly heavy. I can’t wait!
Thank you so much for the compliment about my writing. Making money as a writer would be my dream job and one that I haven’t given up on. I will say that after much thought I’ve decided that it might be a good idea to do a blog. I wasn’t sure that I would have much to offer since everything that I’ve learned about Paleo I got from books or online and is therefore readily available to anyone, but a friend of mine pointed out that I spent a great deal of time researching and reading and that most people (who don’t have the motivation driven by sickness or are OCD like myself) aren’t going to go to that much trouble. Not to mention there have been a lot of people who wanted to be kept updated about my progress. I’ll certainly let you guys know when the blog is up and running.
Thanks again, so much, for taking the time to comment. I’m delighted to hear that you began recovering so quickly after starting Paleo. Must be something to it if it’s working for all of us, eh? 🙂
Thanks for the reply Cheryl! I am so happy to hear that you are able to start working out again. My doubting if grains are so bad comes from family members that eat them and have none of the symptoms I did. But you are right, and I resolve is getting stronger all the time. I am in the middle of reading Robb’s book also, hoping that it will be the answer to dropping these extra 20 pounds. Partly because of your story, tomorrow is the start of 30 days of strict Paleo (foregoing my beloved eggs and nightshades too!) even though I haven’t finished reading the book. I’m just ready to get started!
And I am so excited to hear you are going to start a blog! Please make sure I know when it is up! I personally would like to see a lot more from other women on Paleo, and hopefully one day from women over 50 (like myself), so you have lots to offer the community. And you should be making money writing…no kidding!! But the lives you will touch with your story, progress and encouragement will be worth even more.
Wishing you continued success with your health and writing Cheryl!!
Thanks to Cheryl for writing your story and thanks to Robb for posting. After reading it, got after some things that I had been just talking about for a long while. You inspired me Cheryl and, I am sure, many others.
I really appreciate you taking the time to read my story and I’m even more thankful that you were able to take something away from it to apply to your own life. Thank you!
When I agreed to let Robb share my story I did so without very high expectations. I suppose I thought that anyone who read it would already be Paleo and so I would be “preaching to the choir”. My modest hope was that there might be one lone soul out there who saw something of themselves or a loved one in my story and use it as motivation to make their lives better. I was not expecting that it would be forwarded all over Facebook and Twitter and linked from dozens of websites and blogs.
I have been overwhelmingly touched by the comments and stories of all who have posted here and I cannot thank you enough for your kindness and support. It is people like you who make it easy to succeed.
Be assured that I will keep Robb apprised of my progress. And I hope that if my story has inspired someone to give Paleo a try that you will take your own 30-day challenge and afterwards tell Robb your story too so that you, in turn, can inspire someone else.
Thank you, everyone!
Cheryl
What an amazing story. She is inspiring beyond the dietary changes. Such a strong, smart, articulate woman. What a great story.
Thank you so much! I believe you made me blush. 😀
What an absolutely amazing story! Thank you so much for sharing. It’s engaging and nothing short of inspirational. Bloody well written too!
I’m new to CrossFit (7 weeks) and Paleo (2 weeks) but already totally addicted and feel so enthusiastic about both. I think I’ve finally found what I’ve been looking for – a long term relationship with food and exercise.
As another Fat Girl who’s “tried it all” it is easy to be sceptical to all things new – one gets despondent after so much failure. I’m truly encouraged by your journey, Cheryl. Thank you so much for caring enough to share it and giving such overwhelming thumbs up to Paleo. This was an honest look inside you, and I see a lot of my own soul there… You crazy girl 🙂
Thank you, Robb, for you.
WOW! What an riveting story! This is a much more inspiring story the jack a$$ Kansas State University Professor’s Twinkie diet. Way to go Cheryl in finding your own way.
Thank you so much for sharing your story. There were parts of it that I had to make sure I had not written, it sounded so much like me. I was able to find my way out, albeit a bit of a struggle at times but well worth it. Now I must tackle my family. My dad was just dx with cardiac disease and needs a bypass. I’m giving him Robb’s book to read and will mention your story for some inspiration.
Great story! Thank you for sharing it! So glad you are such an advocate for your own health.
Thanks so much for sharing your story, Cheryl; I also hope you’ll start up a blog! I too spent a couple of years feeling miserable, finally got tested for celiac, and was disappointed that it came up negative (because I just wanted to know what was wrong with me). Six months later I did a detox program which involved cutting out common allergens for a few weeks, and I felt so much better! After adding foods back into my diet, I figured that it was indeed the gluten grains that were causing me problems.
It sucked suffering for all that time, but it was empowering to figure out the problem on my own. If we don’t take care of ourselves, nobody else will! I know the docs do mean well, but a lot of them are just plain igonorant about nutrition 🙁 The first GI doc I saw thought I was bloating out every day after lunch because of stress at work, and gave me antacids. I saw another one when I was considering participating in an IBS study; I told him how great I feel since cutting out grains as a regular part of my diet. I told him I had tested negative for Celiac, and he replied that since I didn’t have celiac, there was no need for me to cut out gluten. *headdesk*
Well, I’m starting to ramble! Just wanted to let you know how much your story resonated with me, and I look forward to your updates, take care!
Good grief! It sounds like you could have written my story too! How many of you are out there?! 😀 I *know* how frustrating it is. I remember when I called my GI doctor and told him what I had figured out he said, “Well it sounds like you’ve found the right solution…for you.” I wanted to reach through the phone and throttle him. For me?! There is not a single person on this planet who wouldn’t benefit from a Paleo diet! After I got my last CRP results I called him back and told him exactly what had caused the huge drop and begged him to read Robb’s book. I haven’t spoken with him since then, but I know he was writing it down because he asked me how to spell Robb’s name. But all I can think is that even if he reads it and says something to his patients about it, people don’t want to change. My hope right now is that the benefits of a Paleo diet will eventually become so blatantly obvious, and the stories like mine so commonplace, that they won’t be able to ignore us anymore. I know – I’m an optimist!
For everyone who was interested – my blog is up and running! (You should be able to click on my name and get there.) I only have a few posts up so far but I have lots of ideas so there will be plenty more coming. I would love to hear from those of you who have started, or plan to start, your own 30 day Paleo challenge. Everyone has their own unique difficulties with the transition from their Standard American Diet to Paleo and there’s no better place to find solutions than with others who have gone through it.
For those of you just wanting to check in on my progress there will be plenty of personal “dailys” that deal with the day-to-day aspects of being Paleo from my own perspective.
I’d like to thank everyone again for all the kind words and encouragement. And for those embarking on their own Paleo journeys I wish you every success and hope that you will feel free to contact me anytime. We all need encouragement once in a while!
Thank you!
Cheryl
What an amazing story. Thanks so much for sharing it Cheryl (and Robb)!
What an amazing story. Thank you for telling it.
I am working on a guinea pig here is Australia and I have forwarded him your story as inspiration to stick to the eating and exercise as he has been having troubles but nothing as bad as yours. We aren’t doing CrossFit but the exercise program will be similar. The eating is going totally Paleo and we are tracking his results online.
So thank you.
Jeff
Dear Cheryl – I was very moved by your story. Thank you so much for sharing it, and congratulations for persisting and surviving!!! Our whole culture is addicted to grains and sugar, and it is very hard to go “against the grain.” I have never been overweight or suffered as you have, but I have been a sugar addict, and I have experienced many benefits from eating paleo style. At 45, I am leaner than I was at 25, and my skin is clearer, my digestion is much better, my thinking is clearer, I am stronger. Your story inspires me to be stricter about the diet in order to gain even more benefits – since other foods sometimes creep in, with their undesirable effects. Also, your story reminds me to feel deep compassion for people who are struggling with their weight and the diseases of the Standard American Diet. There is a great need for empowering information.
Wow… what an inspirational story. Thanks for sharing. Makes me want to work even harder at being 100% primal!
Maryann
Loved your story- I laughed, cried and was on the edge of my seat. I have tried paleo, ditched it, tried it again, snuck a few rice cakes, felt like crap…..time to dust off Robb’s book again. I have celiac disease and am allergic to whey and soy so Paleo seemed like the perfect thing, except I am a carb addict :/
Gotta get tough I suppose. Thanks for posting this.
This story is fantastic. I am a diabetic and I had a heart attack last year after years and years of the low fat/high carb/whole grain way and then a bunch of failed attempts on the opposite the low carb/high fat way. I couldn’t even get the stick pink.
Clealy the real problem is modern foods. I am at least 90 pounds overweight still and I know exactly what this lady is talking about when she talked about the self-blame. I have exercised and dieted and had my blood gluose checked annually for Years and still diabetes caught up with me. Oh – I had the heart attack after walking 15 miles in a marathon lazy I am not. Tonight I reread Robb’s book – tomorrow I start the 30 day trial.
Congratulations on your success! I am in love with this story! I love it BECAUSE you had and used every excuse in the book. And you tried everything else before reaching Paleo. After reading everything you went through, I can’t help but think “if you did it, then I can too!!” I’m happy to hear that you are feeling well, and I’m sure your children are loving this change in you as well! Great job – I hope you have continued success as you live the Paleo way.
What contributed to the migraine headaches?
My grandmother’s physical therapist told me to look up Robb and the Paleo diet after listening to me ramble about having high blood pressure and tachacardia(sp?) since the birth of my last son one year ago. Before getting pregnant I power walked atleast 6 miles a day. I worked in home health with alzheimers elderly patients and was a school bus driver. My grandmother also lived with me while undergoing a radical mastectomy followed by chemotherapy. All this and then some did not cause any anxiety. After the birth of my son I have severe anxiety attacks. The doctors all want to prescribe antianxiety meds. This I know is just a vicious cycle. After having been tested for this and that by an endocronologist, cardiologist, gastroenterologist and a primary care, not to mention the ER docs,I can hardly wait to get started on the Paleo. It just makes since, especially after reading your story. I also do the OCD thing with the egg carton. lol! LM
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