The Primal Worldview Changed My Life For the Better

Mark Sisson encourages you live a really enjoyable life. I did not think it was difficult to stick to the Paleo Diet. I was 50. I found Mark Sisson and Loren Cordain on YouTube. Soon I would be buying cookbooks and enjoying my health. It sounded true to me and I jumped on board.

I had been constipated for 40 years. Both my parents were constipated their whole life. I had believed in All Bran and Raisin Bran and healthy muffins. My mother taught me to bake bread in my teens. What a joy, it could not be wrong. In high school an instructor recommended “Diet for a Small Planet.” A few years later in college I became a vegetarian. Many of my friends were vegetarians. It was obvious that we did not need to kill innocent animals and eat them. I ate beans and rice, tofu and vegetables, peanut butter and beer.

Around five years after college I visited an acupuncturist for muscle pains. He suggested that I eat meat and fish. So, for the next 20 years I would primarily be vegetarian but would eat meat and fish. About this time I would eat a breakfast cereal in the morning, a sandwich and potato chips for lunch, and for dinner it was often pasta followed by Ben and Jerry’s on the couch. Beer and wine were being consumed for fun quite often. I did not think that any of this was bad for my body. I ignored or made up other reasons why I was constipated and having chronic pain.

Chronic pain. I injured my knee skiing in my late 20s. No surgery, only rehab. I thought it would heal. Knee pain lasted for years. Wore a support on it for a long time. Got it needled by acupuncturist. Took pain relief. Other chronic pain areas developed, like both wrists and both elbows. Used supportive strapping aids on these parts for years. It felt like the muscle was pulling away from the bone. I figured it was my active lifestyle and normal. I wasn’t sleeping that well, since I would wake up with pain in the arms. The thought that my pain came from food was never considered. It was misery. It went on.

I was changing my diet before The Paleo Diet. The first change was dairy. I went dairy free to help my sinus issues. Then I tried gluten free to help my sinus issues. Sugar was still off the radar, as I was eating gluten free cookies, breads and pasta. I laughed off my coffee and donut at 10 a.m. and M&Ms at 3 p.m. Years went by. It was in 2013 that I changed.

It was one moment on YouTube. Then another. What do you mean a Paleo diet? Click, Click, Click. I went to thepaleodiet.com and read what to eat on the Paleo diet.

Mark Sisson was thoughtful and understood what was going on. I couldn’t get enough. Primal became my diet. I owned it.

I mainly started eating more vegetables. Breakfast had been cereal and now became eggs, bacon and vegetables. Lunch went from rice and beans to meat and vegetables. Dinner became big chicken salad.

I became regular and have never turned back. I felt great. Chronic pain went away. My biggest worry had become a hip that I thought would need replacement in the future. The inflammation slowly went away. It seems to be fine.

Weeks before going Paleo I was planning on buying spray on salad dressing to lesson the amount of oil. Now at 57, I happily use Primal Kitchen® dressing and pour it on heavily. What a sea change.

I’m thankful that I am not addicted to sugar anymore.

I’m thankful for beautiful movement of Taoist Tai Chi.

I’m thankful for Eckhart Tolle for the awareness of gaps between thought.

I’m thankful to Mark Sisson and the whole Paleo/Primal worldview that changed my life for the better.

[Final photo] Six months later.

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