In the fall of 2011, I was working on a decade of being overweight, out of shape, loaded up on
prescription medication, and generally unhappy with myself. I changed
jobs in September of 2011 to lower my stress level, and we went on a
family vacation to the beach on Hilton Head Island. When I saw the
pictures of myself on the beach, I was shocked. I knew I was out of
shape, but I hadn’t really gotten a clear picture of how bad it really
was. I realized that I was a 39 year old on a very dangerous path – I
was overweight, on drugs for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and
anxiety, and regularly using chewing tobacco to try and curb my
appetite.
It wasn’t too long after this that Steve and Ashley Hartle announced
they were opening Backcountry Crossfit, and the classes were free starting
right after Thanksgiving. I thought I would go to the free classes,
and that would jump start me getting on to my own “real” exercise
program. From there, I would get busy getting into shape. From the
first day of going to Crossfit, I was hooked. Not only was I getting
pushed harder than I had ever pushed myself, I was seeing and feeling
real results. I felt stronger. My endurance was improving. However, I
was looking in the mirror and seeing a slightly-more-fit overweight
person looking back at me. I asked Steve if we could do some exercises
that focused on our abs, since I needed to lose weight there. Steve
diplomatically told me that “when you start to lose weight, you’ll lose
it everywhere.” I took the hint – diet had to be part of my change, and
started thinking about the Paleo diet.
I told Ashley I was considering “going Paleo”, and she told me they
were starting the Whole 30 Paleo challenge. I thought it would be a good way to
measure my progress. I had already started cutting out things like
pizza and pasta, so it seemed like the next logical step. I had no idea
how many things I was eating that were terrible for my body. Rice,
beans, corn, soy - all things I thought were healthy, were now gone. I
started the challenge, and almost immediately I started seeing the
effects. My double chin was receding. Instead of looking ahead to
workouts with a sense of dread, like I had done for the last 15 years, I
was excited about going to see what I could do today that I couldn’t do
the day before.
The effects on my weight were noticeable, to be sure.
I lost 25 pounds in the first 3 weeks, at last check I was down 40. But I wasn’t prepared for some of the other effects. My blood pressure dropped from typically around 140/110 to 120/80; I stopped taking the meds for that. My cholesterol went down
by 53 points. I used to get mysterious acne breakouts on my scalp
occasionally, and that has completely gone away. Regardless of how hard
I worked at it, I’ve been scolded my whole life by my dental hygienist
about plaque buildup on my teeth. My last dentist appointment was toward the end of the Whole 30 program, and the hygienist said “this is not
the same mouth I saw 6 months ago.” I have more energy than I’ve had in
years. All in all, I just felt better, happier, and more positive -
all day long. I stopped taking anti-anxiety medication; I didn’t need
it anymore.
The whole Paleo experience has been life changing for me. I’ve been
lucky, I’ve had tons of support to get this far. My wife has been
trying to feed me healthy food for our entire marriage, but as the
saying goes, you can lead a fat guy to a salad, but you can’t make him
eat it. I will eat and live Paleo from now on. The life I had 6 months
ago – I’ll never go back.
