I Just Feel…Better!

Testimonial written by: Rich

 

I just wanted to thank Robb Wolf for helping me become a healthier person and to live a healthier lifestyle.

I began my Paleo conversion a little more than a month ago after reading The Paleo Solution while on vacation. At 50 yrs. old, I was a slovenly 288 lbs. and feeling every bit of my age and weight. I was generally tired throughout the day, my body ached after activity, I had limited range of motion as my joints seemed to be turning arthritic.

My cardiologist had told me a few months back that I “must” lose “at least” 10 lbs. or risk having a heart attack. I was almost 300 lbs. at that point so I dropped the minimum necessary — I had even gone beyond it a little — but there was no real commitment to doing more. I knew in my head that before long I’d be back exactly where I was.

Every diet I had ever been on started off well but after a few weeks I’d be back to my old eating habits.

I’d been hearing more and more about the paleo diet and that Robb was one of the leading proponents of the lifestyle. I picked up his book before heading out on vacation, and while relaxing in the Las Vegas sun I read — and became excited about the possibility of what I could achieve and the benefits I could realize.

I’ll admit there was a healthy dose of skepticism over some of the claims being made, but the science behind the diet seemed to resonate with me. I couldn’t wait to give The Paleo Solution a try.

While I didn’t pass up any of the buffets I passed while in Vegas, immediately upon returning home I dove into the diet, using the meal plans offered as my guide.

I’ve been tracking my progress on the forum boards — FoolishCop’s 30-Day Challenge — and the progress I’ve made over the past 41 days (!) is what’s sparked me to write this note.

In that time period I’ve lost more than 35 lbs. and dropped several inches from my belly. I’m well within striking distance of my initial goal of reaching 235 lbs., a better than 50-lb loss. Already I can see I’m going to need a new wardrobe as my clothes are starting not to fit properly and I’ve already reached the last notch on my belt (I’m actually beyond it at this point).

But more important to me than the weight loss (and that’s pretty important) is how I feel. I just feel…better! I have so much more energy during the day, I don’t have the same aches and pains as I did before, and I don’t feel like the old man I was becoming.

When I was in my teens I had a car accident wherein I broke my hip. Although I fully recovered, as I got older I began feeling the effects. In particular, when I’d put on socks I actually had to pull up on my foot to get it in position because my range of motion was becoming severely limited. Even bending over was a chore and I’d feel all creaky and sore.

In the 40+ days on the paleo diet, that is a thing of the past! I can readily sit and cross my leg to put on socks without a problem. I can squat, bend over, even balance myself on one foot without toppling over as I used to. The change has been nothing short of dramatic.

My weight loss goals are in sight and while I need to step up the exercise component to make this a more holistic endeavor, just the diet part of the program has resulted in amazing changes.

I’ve been posting weekly progress pictures on my daily Challenge logs and though I believe you can see the changes occurring it’s not such a startling difference. But that’s only a part of the story. As I said, it’s how I feel, how my body feels now, that’s the true testament that a paleo diet, especially as laid out in The Paleo Solution, works wonders!

My initial thought was to follow the Challenge through to the end of the 30 days and then start reintroducing foods I had cut out (I love me a cold glass of milk!), but then I said I’ll wait till I hit my interim goal weight of 235 lbs. (I’d eventually like to get down to around 200 lbs. or below, even).

But now I’m thinking that with the fantastic success I’ve had thus far, and how I feel and am beginning to look, I wonder why I’d want to change anything. While I’m not completely there yet, I do believe I’m well on my way towards making this a real lifestyle change and I see no need to mess with success anymore.

This long-winded note is really just my way of saying thank you for really changing my life for the better. I know there’s no way I could have done it without having read the book and understanding why the foods we eat are actually killing us. Yet once knowing, you can’t unlearn it.

So thank you once again for a life-changing experience. I’m looking forward to my next 30-day challenge and the one after that and then again and so on.

Rich

Squatchy

Christopher Williams (a.k.a. Squatchy) is a paleo aficionado, educator, personal trainer, wellness coach, and hobbyist chef. He also works as part of the Robb Wolf team.