This is a quick update on my Primal lifestyle progress. This is six months after beginning a relatively low carb and relatively high fat diet based around The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson and with convictions gained after reading Why We Get Fat and What to do About It by Gary Taubes.

Weight Loss – I’ve lost a total of 30 pounds but I’ve been maintaining my current weight for six weeks or so. I haven’t been tracking body fat but wish I had a scale or other device that would measure it. Along with the bit of weight I lost last year restricting calories, I’m down a total of forty pounds since Jan1 of 2010. I do have some fat that I’d like to lose, but I’ve reach a weight number that I’m satisfied with ( about 175 lb).

Clothing Sizes – Before going Primal, I was wearing jeans with a 34″ waist, but I’d have to pick out the biggest ones with that label. In slacks it took a 36″ size to be comfortable. Now I’m due a new wardrobe. I’m very comfortable in 32″ jeans and slacks and may have to go smaller.

Fitness – I’m generally following Sisson’s Primal Blueprint Fitness plan. I’m walking five to six days a week (moving slowly) for 45 min sessions. Twice a week, I ‘lift heavy things’ (myself) and once a week I do a sprinting session (for now those are running sprints). I’m able to power through the workouts consistently now,although I’ far from mastering all the exercises.

How I feel – At this point I consider this diet to be therapeutic and would not consider going back to my former diet. Heartburn is non existent, my energy level is high and consistent. I have no bloodwork data such as cholesterol but I’m confident it has improved as well.

Other anecdotal cases of success – My Dad has lost over 20 lbs and has had similar results with heartburn symptoms. My Uncle has also lost weight and has been able to eliminate one of two blood pressure medications and his acid reflux meds. Now my pastor has started the diet and has lost almost 20 lb in the last six weeks or so.

We still need to improve our food quality. Most of our meat and veggies come from conventional sources, but I’d say we’re well within Sisson’s 80/20 rule.

Interested in the Primal blueprint? Check out Mark’s Daily Apple.

This week I wanted to feature another podcast that I’ve been getting a lot of mileage out of since starting to follow the Primal / Paleo lifestyle.  This podcast is by a guy named Angelo Coppola and is called Latest in Paleo.  You can find Latest in Paleo on the 5BY5 podcast network and the show notes are over at LatestInPaleo.com.

My single favorite take-away from listening to all the episodes (at least the ones of 5BY5.tv) is that humans are not broken.  That’s right.  We used to get by just fine without drugs to manage our blood chemistry and sanity and every other ailment that the food, drug and medical industries market to us ceaselessly these days.  Disease prevention by diet and proper exercise is very difficult to monetize so we end up getting treated with drugs instead of good food. Read More→

I ran across another great blog this week. It’s written by Hank Garner over at MyLowCarbJourney.com. Hank has lost some serious weight in the past year following the Primal / Paleo eating plan and he interviews some great people on his Low Carb Journey Podcast.  One particular episode that deserves a link is Hank’s interview with Mark Sisson.

The reason I like this interview is that Mark and Hank have very different body types, yet the Primal way of life worked for both of them.  Mark never had a weight problem and has been a runner most of his life. Hank is a self-professed “fat man looking for the truth”.   So no matter where you are right now, I think you can relate to some part of this interview. Read More→

Once again I’ve decided to post a weekly update on my Primal progress. I feel like I’m driving some of my friends and family crazy talking about how much better I (and Amy) feel since starting to eat following the Primal / Paleo way, so one reason for continuing to blog about it is just to fulfill that need to share.

Last year at this time I was in the middle of a calorie-counting diet. I had lost ten or twelve pounds; maybe fifteen of the twenty I ended up losing. The last few pounds came off VERY slowly. I think there was one pound that took almost a month! I just attributed it to normal plateaus that come with dieting and workouts.

Since reaching my twenty pound weight loss goal in late April last year I had gained just about seven pounds, most of that since Christmas. I ate a bunch of Valentine’s chocolate during the month of February. Man was I dreading starving myself again to get those most difficult pounds off again!

Enter The Primal Blueprint. I’m glad to announce that as of this morning I have lost the seven pounds. In three weeks! Most days I’ve actually felt like I’m OVER eating, but the fat keeps coming off. I’m sure it will plateau from time to time but this effort is not driven by a certain amount of weight loss. It’s still nice to see some results this soon. Read More→

Last week I shared about my all-of-a-sudden move to a healthier way to eat and live. I like the term ‘Paleo Lifestyle’ so I’m going to adopt that term for my efforts.

I promised some background that led up to my decision to adopt this diet/lifestyle. This post turned out to be longer than I meant for it to be, and is probably more info than you need, but I wanted to document it for myself if nothing else. At the end there’s an update on my first week’s progress so you can jump there if you like. Read More→