Hey All!
We wanted to share a 1 year update from our friend Roger M. Woodbury who had a previous testimonial on our blog that you can find here.
Testimonial written by: Roger M. Woodbury
It was just about one year ago I had my blood pressure taken while accompanying my wife to one of her doctor’s appointments. I have written to you previously, but to briefly restate: my weight: 232; my blood pressure 160/118…too high for even me to deny that it was just wrong. I was 69 years old.
I made an appointment to see the doctor myself. The doctor scheduled me for a blood test and said that although higher than ideal, I shouldn’t (yet) panic. He prescribed more exercise, some effort at losing weight and gave me the option of a low dose of blood pressure medication to drop the pressure…basically a water pill; the most benign blood pressure medication commonly prescribed.
I took the medication and immediately had ALL the side effects the pamphlet inside the package said I’d have. It was very dramatic, probably because I at that time took no medication of any sort.
Then my son, a pharmaceutical representative in another state told me about “The Paleo Solution”. I bought it and read it quickly, got excited and gave it to my wife (the principal food preparer in the house) to read also. She got excited and we immediately began Robb Wolf’s “Thirty Day Challenge”.
In those first three weeks, I dropped nearly fifteen pounds.
The results of the doctor’s ordered blood test wasn’t pretty. My triglycerides were off the chart, my cholesterol numbers were all on the bad side of anything that looked like normal and it was obvious from the emailed information from the doctor that at my next appointment I would likely be discussing some sort of cholesterol medication with him.
Meanwhile in this house we had gone completely paleo. Surprisingly enough I suffered no longings or cravings for the bread and pasta that I had left behind.
In June I saw the doctor again following a second blood test. This time I asked the questions I had learned to ask from reading “The Paleo Solution”. The results were promising, all except for my triglycerides. The triglycerides were down more than 100 points! In a bit more than a month. The doctor was astounded!
I recently saw the doctor again. I was seventy in January, and I was very much interested in seeing what my blood panel was going to reveal after nearly one year eating like a hunter-gatherer.
My weight was down around 200 pounds and in February I started training at the gym again. In the doctor’s office I was not at all surprised to learn that my blood panel was entirely within “normal” range in every category. The doctor was impressed once again. My blood pressure remains higher than ideal but the doctor merely said, “You pass, but I want to take it again in six months to be sure.”
In the gym I find much of the strength I had when I stopped training in 1998 will return. During the 1990’s, following my retirement, I worked for six years with a personal training to get myself back into shape. Now, I think with a combination of dedication, careful work, and applications of “The Paleo Solution”, I can regain most of the strength I had nearly twenty years ago. My intention is to work toward and perhaps compete for, the men’s senior bench press record for my age group at the meet next February.
I know there are many nay-sayers out there, and many who believe that it is possible to be “sort of” paleo. I believe they’re wrong. Simply put, I believe paleo is the only sensible way, less a diet than a lifestyle change. I feel much better now than I did for the past few years and I never knew how poorly I felt. It’s all in the diet.
As I write this, my weight is very near where it was in 1997 after working out and trying very, very hard to drop off some of the weight I had accumulated in the last ten stressful years of my career. Today, I am not working specifically to lose weight, but expect now that the spring is nearly here, with an increase in outside activity, I will drop more weight. I have no “ideal” weight goal but will let my “inner caveman” weigh whatever he wants, whenever he gets there.
Oh, yes. One more thing. In the course of becoming “paleo”, I have dropped one full shirt and suit size; lost more than six inches from my line and even my socks and shoes fit better. Yes, it raised hell with my wardrobe, but it was worth every inch of it. Now if this loose ring of skin around my waist where my gut used to be would just go away, I’ be perfect!
I’ll let you know how things go in another year, but I thought you might like to know what “The Paleo Solution” has done for me over the past year.
Roger M. Woodbury
Nice story! Sometimes it’s incredible what Paleo can do for people. Keep up the good work and I would love to read your new review next year!
Great story!
I, too, am plagued with that ugly loose skin across my abdomen. It’s like my last hurdle and it’s winning. I’m 60, so my skin is not as resilient as it was in my youth, and I was in my late 30’s when my only child was born, so that’s probably a contributing factor, too.
Any suggestions?