Testimonial written by: Damien
Almost two years ago, I wrote to you the email below to express my gratitude for all the good things you brought into my life via your book and the Paleo Solution podcast. I was also very happy to receive few words from you afterward.
Once again, it is time for me to take the time and thank you for all the things you taught me and many other people during those two years via the podcasts the Paleo Solution, the Controversial Truth (and the apparitions you did on other shows – loved the Rogan one), I am still listening to them weekly. Let’s not forget the links and other interesting (or funny) things on your Facebook pages.
Two years ago I was living in Australia, and I was trying to convince my parents via Skype to give a shot at the Paleo diet for 3 weeks since my dad was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and my mom from insomnia. As you can imagine, asking a couple of French 50+ year old’s to stop eating bread just didn’t work out… But there’s a happy ending to that story.
After living abroad for 10 years, spending most of those 10 years in front of computers (for my studies and job), hearing about Paleo diets and cavemen and so on, I decided it was time for a change. So I thought about it long and hard (for the majority of a year) and decided to quit my job in IT for Investment banks and come back home to see how the situation was here. It was bad.
My father’s RA had become way worse than when I left Europe 2 years ago. But of course no one would tell me over Skype. My mum had put on weight and my sister too after her 2nd child. Being 17kg heavier than she used to be, she started getting clinically depressed.
As soon as I came back, I started going to all my dad’s appointments with the doctors and the unemployment office – because of course, he’d lost his job in the meantime. His company went bankrupt, and having been a builder for almost 40 years, being 55 with RA, he won’t be able to find another job. Thank God this is happening in France. Even though I think things have been pretty sh*t for a long time in this country, the medical system is partly taking care of him financially.
The whole situation looked pretty bad but still, I managed to change the eating habits of those 3 people. The gatekeeper was my sister.
I asked her if she wanted me to create a diet and training program for her to lose weight. Her answer: “Yes, I need help. I don’t know what to do, and I hate running!” – “No problems, what about weightlifting? Just 3 sessions a week and a nice 30 minutes walk every day?” – “Err, I don’t want to look like you!” (Since starting Paleo and lifting weights twice per week as S&C for my Muay-Thai, I’d put on 7kg in 2 years) – “You’re a girl, not enough testosterone, don’t worry”. 12 weeks later she’s lost 6.5kg and has a pretty decent deadlift.
Seeing that my sister managed to survive on a meat, fish, vegetables, fruits and the occasional dark chocolate diet, seeing she didn’t feel the need or craving for bread and cheese – and maybe fed-up of hearing me begging him to try – my dad gave it a go.
I pulled up the autoimmune protocol from your book and added some supplements like glucosamine, chrondotoin, etc. I asked him every day at breakfast, lunch and dinner how strong his joints pain were from 0 to 10 (once he told me that 10 meant he couldn’t walk). We started at an average of 8. Two weeks later, he’s around 3-4. It’s been a complete game changer for him. Where before he was relying only on what the doctors had said: “You can eat whatever you want, you have RA, food isn’t going to change anything, you have to live with it”. I was in the room when his doc said that (because I’d ask about food causing inflammation such as gluten and dairy) and I was fuming inside. But I didn’t say anything, after hearing how useless it was to argue with doctors.
At this point I had convinced 2 people out of 3. My dad was now thinking more about his diet and the pain “It’s painful today, oh yeah, we had some heavy cream with the fish at your uncle’s last night, I’ll avoid it next time” – I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. And my sister was losing bodyfat while getting stronger at the same time, she just wouldn’t stop smiling and laughing, all the opposite of when I came back. But my mum… she just wouldn’t try. I tried to talk to her, and she wouldn’t even consider it: “I NEED bread to get through the day”. So knowing her I waited.
And she took the bait. My dad had lost 2kg and my sister another dress size. Mum: “If I do your lifting thing, will I lose my belly fat? I just want to lose my belly fat.” – “Mum, 80% of the progress is the diet”. – “What’s the point of starting the diet? I’m going on holidays in 2 weeks.” – “Great, then, try it for 2 weeks, if you’re happy with those 2 weeks then we continue afterward, if you’re not, then you haven’t had bread and dairy for 2 weeks and you can have a feast on holidays. Deal?” – “Ok”. In 2 weeks, she lost 2 kg and slept like a baby: no more insomnia. She went on holidays for 12 days with my dad (during which I took care of the “farm”: rabbits, ducks, chicken and a huge garden) and they both came straight back to Paleo.
After 3 months on the lifestyle change, my dad’s RA pain has gone to 2 now. He’d started at 8. He doesn’t clench his hands anymore, doesn’t have cramps in his fingers either and almost doesn’t limp anymore (his right wrist and left foot have been deformed by the RA).
Right now I am thinking into getting him to lift weights twice a week. I’m looking around the internet to see if it is a wise thing or not due to his condition. I am aware that what I am doing now with Paleo and weightlifting sounds like “when the only tool you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail” – and by being conscious of it I try I always ask myself if my approach is the right one – but he has lost 14kg in the last 5 years since the RA started. The guy was a builder, short and strong, you could say he used to look like one of the dwarves in the Lord of the Ring movies!
Anyway, hopefully I should be able to put some muscles back on him and also to get the RA pain down to 0 so he can slowly try to get off the antibiotics and Enbrel.
So that’s it. That’s the happy ending Robb, and it’s thanks to you. I used all your advice, all the experiences you shared with us, your greasy salesman pitch and so on. I had never been much of a family man, but now at the age of 29 I can finally enjoy spending time, sharing and teachings things to them. I can finally help them. We always used to fight with my sister and it was nasty, now we’re making up for this wasted time. My dad was never a big talker, now he opens up more because he sees I care about him and try harder than the doctors to “fix” him. And I can now spend some one on one time with my mum during our morning walks. I’m confident that one day my brother will give it a go too, and my nieces are having a better start in life now since my sister gives bacon and eggs to her 2 year old’s instead of cereals and biscuits for breakfast.
I know this whole story sounds a bit mental: “Paleo fixed my family”, but it kinda did. And I have to say it is thanks to you Robb. Like I said two years ago, “You are one of the few people I admire and consider a role model in this world.” And I still think so.
Many times you asked on the podcast why people where still listening to the show when you felt you had answered all the questions. It’s going to be weird again, but hearing your voice is comforting, because it feels like sh*t hits the fan everywhere, in every part of the world, it’s all doom and gloom but when I listen to the podcast it reminds me that there are few guys like you who haven’t given up on doing the right thing, doesn’t matter what, and it gives me hope. That’s what I think anyway.
Right, this is getting a bit long, and I don’t want to waste too much of your precious time. So thank you for all you do, thank you for the positive impact you had on me and my family.
I want to be like you when I grow up! Man… you look better at 42 than me at 29! Congratulations on your second child, you and Nicky have a great Wolf pack 🙂 I wish you all the best, you deserve to be happy and have a great life Mr. Robb Wolf.
Much Love – but not gay Love! (You look great but I still prefer girls – petite, blond, blue/green eyes so you’re not my type, haha).
One last time: merci, sincérement.
Damien.
Damien before : December 2011, 6 months before going Paleo, 77kg, 3 Muay-Thai sessions per week + 2 bodyweight conditionning sessions per week.
Damien after: March 2014, almost 2 years on the Paleo diet, 84kg, 3 Muay-Thai sessions per week + 2 weightlifting sessions per week (following Robb & Greg’s advices on the podcast to include some barbell traning).
What an incredible story of transformation. It shows you really do have to do it for yourself first, then you can help others. Awesome, Damien!
This is a great story! I am also slowly working on my diabetic father, hypertension mother, and gestational diabetic sister…but you have done a great job spreading the paleo word! It is not easy to constantly be fighting for what you think is right when it comes to food, especially when you are fighting against doctors and our parents, people we have grown up trusting. But you have made everyone’s life better in the process! Props to you and you look great! keep up the good work abroad!
Thank you very much Amy and Merky. I think leading by example is the easiest thing to do to get people to try things. But even if it is the “easiest” way, it’s still so damn hard to convince our own family to try. Because like you said Merky, we have grown up trusting “doctors and parents” and so once those 2 categories have established something, then we don’t question it anymore, it becomes set in stone even if it means that you have to “accept and live with the pain”. Anyway, couple of more people have asked me for “advices” let’s see what will happen, but I am hopeful 🙂
Great story! I also have RA and have felt loads better since going paleo. I am currently going a bit beyond AIP to follow the Paleo Approach and I think it really helps. Just my opinion, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to do any weight lifting if the RA is still active, as you can risk damaging the joints further. I focused on gentle strengthening/mobility exercises like yoga until the strength returned to my hands and then was able to start working with weights again. RA is a beast and unpredictable and so far I have been unable to heal entirely from diet alone. A great deal of stress a year ago lead to a resurgence of systems which have still not gone away entirely. Best of luck to you and your family. I think your enthusiasm is contagious!
I meant symptoms, not systems! Cheers!
Damien,
Great job! How much protein do you take in?
Hi Karen, it is great to read that going paleo has also helped you a lot with RA.
After a lot of mental torture about what you described (damaging the joints further) and a lot of reading around the internet I have started my dad at weightlifting 4 weeks ago. One lifting session every 3 days.
We started very carefully with light weights and increased the main lifts by 2.5kg each time he was ok with it. Every day, 3 times a day, I have been asking him where he was in terms of pain. From 0 to 10, he’s always been at 2 – same as usual.
He was just really, really, really sore after the first sessions, especially after the bodyweight squats. I asked him if he wanted to stop, but he said no, because it wasn’t painful, it was just the muscles working. And those are the term we use: “is it painful, or is it working?”. So far, it’s only been working.
After a week, he regained quite a bit of flexibility and told me that he feels a lot stronger, walking and climbing stairs is getting easier. Even his brother told me that my dad was “moving better lately”.
So yeah, so far so good and hopefully it’ll stay this way or even get better. But I really do understand your worries, I share the same and monitor my dad very closely. Robb asked me to stay in touch so I’ll send an update in 6 months or so.
Until then, all the best to you Karen, and thanks again 🙂
Hi Justin, thank you very much. Last time I monitored, I was getting between 170g to 200g on the days I train. Hope this help.
Congrats – all sounds good.
I personally don’t bother trying to convince anyone ( anymore).
It’s too much work and people don’t want to hear it.
If/when people ask I tell them I a bit but even many that ask don’t like hearing it’s all about not eating processed foods and a bit of excercise – not sure what they want to hear.
More food for me…
Thank you so much for sharing this lovely story! I just bought The Paleo Solution to learn more about Paleo and how it can help me with my RA. I’d love to eventually get off of my toxic meds. I’m so glad your dad is having success with it. . . That gives me hope.
Best wishes!
I Have been following the FREE online autoimmunesummit.com which Robb is a part of, and WOW at the information. I am very focused on RA because my sister and aunt have it and there was some very interesting results surrounding oregano oil…excerpt…” In fact, after I attended the functional medicine seminar, spending a bit of time with you in Seattle, I met a patient with RA that took the micro-emulsified oregano or oregano extract, and in six months, he was free of his RA, having been told by his rheumatologist that he would have the condition forever. He’ll probably need methotrexate and steroids for the rest of his life, which he chose he didn’t want to have. A piece of the paper by Alan Ebringer and Rashid, I gave him the copy; he then decide about the—even though he can’t get the test for proteus, I’m going to perceive it is. So, the micro-emulsified sustained release oregano extract has been the primary natural product that I use, but that is not so effective against viruses. So then, after years of using that, other practitioners then would have paired it with RA, for example; they recommend a month to take this oregano extract and they became free of RA as well. And so, hope is a cascade in a snowball effect to that. I consistently found that the vast majority of RA patients that have chlamydia pneumoniae, not proteus, as far as we can tell, so they require that treatment. So, the oregano extract was the sub at least, then I discovered the humic acid, which I’ll talk to you more about.” ~ ANTONY HAYNES BA(HONS) DIPION
I hope this helps someone. I feel like a soldier in the army of health trying to fight all of the misinformation. I appreciate everyone who gives so much to this cause.
Glad to hear that Paleo has brought your dad out of most of his RA pain and disability. It’s refreshing to see a young man taking that much interest these days in his families health and wellbeing these days.
I’ve personally seen the benefits of the paleo lifestyle (I refuse to call it a diet). I actually have a coffee mug with a picture of Garfield the cat on it, and the inscription, DIET is “DIE” with a “T.”
I’ve also fought, and continue to fight, the same battles that you are fighting, with trying to get those you care about to just try something different. My wife, a retired RN, simply refuses to embrace the total paleo lifestyle. She’s constantly complaining that this hurts or that hurts, or that she feels like this or that, and “if I could only lose X pounds….”
And while she acknowledges to everyone that asks, my 52# weight loss and much better physique (no Adonis, but I’m doing ok), she continues to subscribe to CW that we’re eating “healthy” if we have a balanced diet of grains, wheat bread, some carbs (in the form of rice or potatoes, and that red meat is bad for you? Sometimes, as with any other addiction, it takes hitting rock bottom, before you can work your way back to the top!
As for the weight training, I agree with what you’re doing with your dad. You did your homework, and as long as he can handle light weights, then use them cautiously and give his body time to adapt and heal.
I would have personally started with bodyweight exercises and a suspension system such as TRX. TRX gives him the option of “adding” weight when he’s ready, simply by changing the angle of attack (tilt).
I’ve been a gym rat sine I was in my teens. I’ve also been a martial artist most of that same period. Unfortunately, I had gotten away from both for several years. At the same time, during a career in law enforcement, and my time in the military, I’ve “acquired” several injuries to my back, neck, knees, elbows and shoulder. Now in my later years (58 now), I’m paying for those injuries. Paleo, Crossfit, bodyweight/TRX gave the ability to regain a lot of my “youthful” energy. Until a recent auto accident blew a C1 vertebrae out of whack, I was still weight training 3-5 days a week, and training in two forms of martial arts (Aikido and American Kenpo).
Even when one of the old injuries would flare up, suspension and BW training allowed me to continue training in some fashion until healed.
If you’re not making use of suspension system training, I would highly recommend it. If you get one of the commercially available set ups, they’re also portable so he/they can take them on holiday.
To sum up, I think you’re doing a hell of a job with your dad, and please keep us all updated as to his progress as well as the rest of the family.
Stay well and stay safe.
OD