This is the second in an ongoing series of real life success stories from people all over the world who have been impacted by the Paleo lifestyle and The Paleo Solution. Read Aaron’s awesome testimonial below.
Robb,
Just wanted to drop you a line and say thanks for changing my life for the better. In 2007 I weighed nearly 300lbs and after some health scares with a couple of coworkers that were my approximate age (1 died, 1 lived both hear attacks). I embarked on a two year journey to lose 80lbs. I did it the conventional way with severe caloric restriction and lots of treadmill time.
It worked but I stalled out and for the first 10 months of 2010 I actually gained back 20lbs despite all of my work. I did not feel healthy and was frustrated. I had zero energy and was drinking 5 to 6 cups of coffee just to make it through the day. My wife had started to “eat clean” on her own and got me starting to look into the effect that the food you eat has on your hormones (insulin regulation). That is when I found your Paleo podcast and your book. When I read your book all I could think of was that’s me!! Tons of whole wheat tortillas and other processed/refined food that traditionally have been classified as healthy.
I had only read a third of your book when I decided I had to do this. So on 10/19/10 at 240 lbs, I started eating Paleo. The change was almost instantaneous. My energy levels and moods were elevated and no longer spiked/crashed. I felt that my appetite was consistently satiated. In fact, I have a hard time hitting the caloric goal that I try to meet each day (1,700 calories) without feeling full. I track my intake and calorie burn using a Bodybugg and have found that my typical caloric intake was broken down between 30-40% Protein, 30-40% Fat and 20-30% Carbs. I was actually a little scared seeing this until I weighed in the first week and saw that I had lost 8lbs. I couldn’t believe it!! Feeling great and losing weight!!
Another positive side effect is the change it had on my family. My wife was on a fitness cruise herself during the first week I was on the program and I was on 100% kid duty during this time. Both of my kids saw the difference in my attitude and physical appearance and jumped on board as well. Though both were physically fit but have a renewed sense of what is a healthy diet. Though they and my wife do not eat full Paleo like I try to do, they are employing a lot of the concepts daily and our whole family is healthier for it.
The big thing that made me decide to write you was what happened yesterday on Thanksgiving. I decided to get in a quick Muay Thai home-brewed metcon workout and after 30 minutes of hard work I decided to get on the treadmill for a bit to watch some football and burn a few more calories (leisurely) before having my first Paleo Thanksgiving prepared by my wife. After walking 4 miles, I decided to run 2 miles which turned into me saying “I’m gonna run a full marathon today!” My wife and kids said go for it and checked on me regularly and bringing me water and almonds throughout the duration. Keep in mind that though I run at least 5 days per week, I typically do not go any further than 8 miles and spend approximately half of that distance doing intervals. I also do the home-brewed CF/metcons out of my garage gym. So I was originally planning to break it into 2 sessions, 1 pre and 1 post turkey.
Well…I ended up doing all 26.2 miles in one session in 4:57:23. Not a great time, but I’ll take it. This morning I woke up feeling great with almost zero soreness. I am convinced that I was only able to do this by being stubborn and following the lessons I learned in your book.
BTW, as of yesterday (11/25/10) I am down 29lbs and can actually do real pull-ups now. That is almost 30lbs in just a little over a month.
I can’t thank you enough for helping me make this dramatic lifestyle change that I plan on maintaining for the rest of my life.
My Sincerest Thanks,
Aaron Sweeney
Satisfied Paleo Convert
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That is awesome. Big high five!
This is awesome. Amazing how this stuff just works isn’t it? Almost 30 lbs lost in a little over a month! One of my clients just had near identical results when he started evolutionary nutrition; went from 233 to 201 in less than 5 weeks and feels better than he has in 5 years! I’ll send in some before and after pics when I get a chance.
Keep up the good work.
Wow! Your story is fantastic my man!!! Congrats :):):):
While not as inspirational as Aaron’s story above (yet), I have a co-worker who is an old Marine (62 years old; decent shape; skinny legs from slow cardio and kind of broad chested and bellied). He works out in the mornings at our company’s gym and I work out in my buddy’s garage (crossfit and lifting heavy things) in the morning but get cleaned up at the facilities at work. He calls me a “ninja” even though I am a very average crossfitter who is slowly getting stronger and better thanks in large part to the Paleo Solution and diet.
Anyway, he is a little old school and mentioned he’d bought Rip’s Starting Strength. I love reading about Rip and his training, but I haven’t even bought the book. I figured he was ready for the next step and mentioned the Paleo diet on Monday of this week. He laughed and couldn’t believe his banana was good for him. I sent him links to Robb’s page and MDA. He asked to see my copy of the Paleo Solution and ordered it on Wednesday. By today (Friday), he said he thinks he is ready to try the Whole30 but will need to keep his whiskey. As a man who likes whiskey myself, I told him to give it a shot. He is the type of guy who will commit to something, and I am excited to see his progress over then next few months. The point of my story (as exampled by Aaron) is that for people with open minds who are willing to think outside of the prescribed FDA “whole grains are good for you box,” this stuff makes sense. It took my co-worker less than a week to figure it out (plus whiskey).
Great job!!!
DUDE! I’m inspired.
would just like to say i was afraid to try running after going low carb this week, switching to high fat and high protein,(not Paleo, but dropping carbs due to being tired of blood sugar crashes), since I wasn’t sure how my body might respond.
Well, if you can do it, I’m sure I can too.
I went for my first long walk today and my joints didn’t have their usual ache after, so maybe next time, I will try to run parts of it:)
I have been having so much better sleep, better moods(my husband loves this), and a lot of other benefits I probably have yet to experience.
thanks for your story!
mp