Written by: Dan
I wanted to take a moment to share my story and the transformation I have undergone in the last 5 months. A transformation that is truly changed my life.
Prior to going paleo I had tried just about every fad diet and exercise program known to man. I had tried many of the magic pill fat loss supplements. Problem was, I would see results for a few weeks, plateau then fall off the wagon and gain more weight than I started with. After graduating high school (weighed 215 pounds) I went on to 6 years of college where I received my doctorate in pharmacotherapy and followed that up with a year of residency. Sadly these years did not lend themselves to eating well or getting an appropriate amount of exercise. As with most college students, the temptation to eat bad/fast and drink copious amounts of beer were around every turn and sadly I cracked to the pressure frequently. The freshman 15 came and went quickly and turning into the freshmen 30, then 50, then by the time I knew it I was up about 90 pounds from my high school weight. After college my residency did me no favors either. 70-80 hour weeks once again left me with comfort foods and fast food at the ready. My weight further ballooned and I quickly found myself a whopping 100 pounds more than my high school weight (2011 weight- 320 pounds, BMI 37%). I was addicted to fast food. Lots of fast food. At least 3x a week on average. Looking back at those habits now I don’t know how I haven’t died from the destruction I put my body through. In 2012, I was able to add more exercise in and was able to lose about 20 pounds, but again plateaued at 300 pounds. I was stuck, my triglycerides were over 300 and my HbA1C was creeping into the low 6’s. As a healthcare professional I knew how troubling these numbers really were, but never had the will power to stick with a diet that took out all of the foods that I was addicted too and that were slowly killing me.
Beginning in March of this year my wife spoke with me about trying a new eating lifestyle she heard about from a friend, it was called paleo. My wife is in incredible shape fitness-wise and is actually training for a marathon, but was looking for a cleaner way of eating to improve our health together. From my previous failures with diets I was skeptical about starting a new one, but I said I think we should give it a try anyway. We started as hardcore as possible, doing the 30 day challenge to cleanse our bodies and our bad eating habits. I saw pretty good weight loss results in the first 30 days. I was feeling better, less aches and pains after working out and for the first time in about 10 years went 30 days without fast food. My wife and I just kept going. I was dropping weight and body fat like crazy. We rewarded ourselves with 1 or 2 cheat meals a month after the first 30 days and began to even question the need for cheat meals at all (we tend to feel terrible after them). The beginning of August marked 5 months with a paleo lifestyle. I am proud to say that I am now down 70 pounds in that 5 month period and only about 10 pounds from my weight in high school. I will say that again, SEVENTY pounds in FIVE months from simply eating paleo. My exercise habits have only seen a few added workouts. I still can’t believe the difference a paleo lifestyle has made in my life. My BMI is now down to 26%. None of my clothes fit any longer (March was XXL, August I am medium to large size). I feel great and am hopeful that my next round of labs will show that a paleo lifestyle truly is the key to health. I still have goals to meet and I know the paleo lifestyle will not only allow me to meet them, but blow them out of the water. At this point in my life I plan on continuing the paleo lifestyle for the rest of my life. I’ve added high intensity strength training and am now working on building my body appropriately now that I am fueling it the right way. I am eager to find ways to help others see the light and conform their eating habits to that of a primal one. The paleo lifestyle has saved my life.
The Stats
Age: 28
High Mark Weight: 320lb (2011)
2012 A1c: 6.2%, Triglycerides: 300, HDL: 28, LDL: 108 EEEK!
Start of Primal Lifestyle Weight: 297lb BMI 35% (Feb 23rd, 2013)
Current Weight: 225lb; BMI 26%(Aug 5th)
Follow up labs: to be drawn soon!
Amazing story.. Glad to see you and your wife are doing it together.
You know that a diet might be onto something when it works for those that are training hard for athletics as well as those who aren’t.
That’s amazing!!! I heard about Paleo for the first time yesterday…(I must live on another planet) I don’t know my stats from blood work, I just know I’m a hot mess at 44. I have severe Fybromialgia, arthritis, asthma, severe allergies (my body stopped producing the blocker that controls allergies …don’t wish that on anyone) my flare ups with becoming a “bubble” girl due to the allergy issue is under control as long as I take many many antihistamines. For Fybro I’m on Cymbalta, and have a standing prescription for Oxy/Percs because I have a slipped L5 disk pinching on a nerve, I go for another MRI at the end of Jan to see if I need surgery.
So…yesterday I woke up in pain as usual, coughing up a lung, sneezing up a storm and sat down with my trusty heating pad and turned on my iPad….for some reason I came across another website that talked about this Paleo diet thing…..I normally eat a vegetarian diet,, but I’m …simply put, fat. I have not gone on the scale because I’m afraid, I’m bloated and retain water like crazy and I gain weight so quickly it shocks myself and everyone around me.
Jump to today…same crap upon waking, but this time I’m pick up The Paleo Solution (crawled to the bookstore yesterday to get it lol) and have read up to the testimonials. And OMG!!!!!! For the first time in years I actually feel like I can fix my own hot mess of a body and turn this old decrepit mess into a healthy sexy young thang.
I jump on this website and see your testimonial…. THANK YOU if you and so many others can do it than I can too.
What I want from the Paleo Solution is to feel normal again, even if I can’t remember a day without pain, Gas, bathroom issues headaches and well without so many pills…that is my main goal. TO FEEL NORMAL again.
It’s great to see stories like this, it’s very inspirational. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Oh my your post could have been written by myself! Just this week starting to plan my Paleo adventure. Just wanted to say best wishes to you for awesome results!
interesting! your story is just a proof that any one CAN lose weight no matter what their age is. thanks for being an inspiration.=)
Oh wow!! Congrats man! ..been dreaming of loosing weight all my life! Been fat…sorry..obese all my life, finally managed to be in the overweight category and have been stuck there since 09. I start my paleo journey today…scary yes but sick of feeling this way with myself.
Hi Dan, what a great and inspirational story to hear your success of going down 70 lbs in 5 months. That is an incredible achievement!
I’m most glad to hear that you are able to lose the weight with only a minimum addition to your workout. Sometimes for me, doing the physical exercise is the heaviest part of getting healthier. It’s good to know that maintaining a healthy diet with just a bit of exercise can get great results too.
I that is an amazing story! What kind of workouts though?