This is part of 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 Lisa’s story below.
Last year, at this time, I was home recovering from a major abdominal surgery that was physically and mentally exhausting. It left me in a weakened state, my hair was thinning and I was always tired. I lacked the energy to be able to work out the 1-2 hrs a day that I always though was expected to lose weight and stay in shape. You see I use to teach aerobic classes. Step Class to a Hi Low class on top of jogging and doing weights. I also would eat the Standard American Diet. Low fat, low calore, whole grains, skim milk, yogurt, lean meat, fruits and vegetables. It was not working. The food did not seem to give me the energy I need to sustain long workouts. The long workouts seemed to cause my joints to hurt and I was gaining weight not losing it. I was depressed, frustrated, poor body image and it exacerbated any other little problems in my life.
But then………
The New Year rolled around and my hair dresser told me about her cousin Kyle, who was doing personal training, and it was different. I needed different so what did I have to lose? I made the appointment and drove my nervous self over there.
And that is when I was introduced to crossfit and the Paleo diet.
Within a few weeks I had lost weight, lost inches, I felt strong, my joints stop hurting and I finally had more energy. My recovery time is fantastic and I have not gotten sick when illness has gone around my place of work. My dermatitis cleared up, my cravings went away.
I became passionate about learning all I could about the paleo diet and cooking. I use to hate cooking and now I look forward to the weekends to cook Paleo for the week and sharing my recipes with other members at the gym.
Now after almost 6 months my friends and family have taken notice and I seem to be the go to person and their Paleo source. Of course I send them to Robbwolf.com!
– Lisa
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Lisa says
Yes, my name is Lisa as well. Just a technicality, but isn’t the SAD (Standard American Diet) not low fat, low calorie, high in whole grains? My understanding is that the SAD is a high fat, high calorie, very high carbohydrate diet. Lisa (the one in the profile) was following what she believed to be a healthy diet – low fat, low calorie, and high in whole grains.
Lee says
OR, as you no doubt meant to write, well done Lisa!! Glad you made the leap and are reaping the rewards.
Jeremy Vaught says
How can you say the SAD is high fat. Everywhere you look products are advertised as ‘Low Fat’. But the problem is ‘low fat’ usually means ‘high carb’ and if you also read people like Gary Taubes, you’ll know that we should be eating high ‘good fat’ diets.
There are arguments as to what constitutes good fat, but it looks to me like saturated fat is the one everyone is trying to lock out, when it should be the one we strive for. And if you are truly trying to eat like they did in the Paleolithic period, they ate a diet high in saturated fats (ie, animal fat).
So SAD is low fat. The more good fat you eat, the healthier you are.
michelle says
I didn’t get dermatitis until a year after I started eating primal/paleo. Not sure why/how I got it but I’m terribly self-conscious about it because it’s on my face. It just sort of showed up as a red, blotchy spot under my nose, with flakey dry skin and it’s spreading across my upper lip and around my mouth.
I haven’t really changed anything since I started this diet so not sure what’s up. I cut out the dairy at first and added it back in with no issues. I don’t drink milk, just some homemade yogurt, some cheese and kerry gold butter. Thought this might be it so cut it back out again with no change to the dermititis.
Any ideas? Thanks!
Amy Kubal says
Michelle, I would encourage you to keep the dairy out for now. I’m not sure how long ago you removed it, but sometimes it takes a bit of time for things to clear up. The next thing that you may want to consider pulling out would be eggs. In some people, the proteins found in eggs (usually the whites, but not always), cause a reaction. Give that a shot for awhile, give it a bit of time. If nothing changes let me know and we can trouble shoot this some more!
Jenna says
Might be hormonal,autoimmune. But first see if it is dermadactyl. That is a quick fix with a special cream – gone in 2 days.
Christa says
Michelle, you might consider cutting back on any plants in the nightshade family. When I first started eating paleo, I was making everything with sweet and/or hot peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant. (I don’t eat potatoes much but those are probably the most common nightshade foods in people’s diets.) Anyway, I was getting sores in my mouth and having other problems. Once I cut back on the nightshades, I started having fewer issues.
Good luck!