Recently by Mark Sisson: 8 Reasons Why You Act Against Your Own Better Judgment
It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!
My name is Pamela Mathews and I’ve always been an active person. I also have never been shy when it comes to eating. After three kids (the last one having an emergency C-section) and two arthroscopic knee surgeries on the same knee (six months apart), my weight started to skyrocket. I bought my first pair of size 14 jeans and I weighed 180 pounds. I could no longer play on my city tennis team due to my knee problem. Two doctors told me I needed a knee replacement but they wouldn’t perform one until I was 50 years old. I had almost 10 years to go. I couldn’t run anymore and I thought my stomach didn’t have a chance after my C-section. My husband, David Mathews, and I have a garage gym that we used at least 6 days a week. We also thought we were eating correctly. You know whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, black beans and brown rice, Kashi cereal, plain yogurt, meats, fruits and vegetables.
In June 2007, my husband went to a certification. When he returned he said, “Something is not right. The people running the certification are all so lean. We are missing something.” David did some research and discovered they were eating Primal. He bought your book, The Primal Blueprint and after reading it he started to eat Primal. He spoke with me about eating this way. He suggested at first I cut out cereal in my yogurt each morning. I did and I lost a little weight but then he told me he was going to eat Primal for good and he wanted me to do the same. I’ll have to admit it was not an easy decision for me. I thought long and hard about it for a while. I thought, “This might cause a huge problem between us. If I prepare a meal and he doesn’t eat it then I’ll be upset.” I wasn’t sure I could eat Primal for good but David was dedicated to this way of life. I decided I had nothing to lose, I was 41 years old and overweight and I was concerned about developing diabetes.
On November 15, 2007, our 21st wedding anniversary, I went Primal. I made my decision that I was going to give this a month. I cut out all pasta, bread, sugar, beans, and potatoes. I had already eliminated cereal from my diet. I was now eating nothing but meat, vegetables, very little fruit and a few almonds and walnuts. After two weeks, I was looking in the mirror and it looked as if the fat on my midsection was melting away. What an incentive! After one month, I lost ten pounds. The next month, I lost another ten pounds (I had a lot of fat to lose). I ended up losing 40 pounds and since I continued to exercise while I lost weight I became toned. It was amazing!! I was back to wearing a bikini. I never thought I’d see that day again and my jeans are now a size 6.
