Lifelong illness and adult obesity had me looking for answers for a long time. The beginning of my struggle with obesity was actually CAUSED by Weight Watchers and their extreme calorie and fat restriction. Thanks WW, greatly appreciated. They also had an influence on my life in early childhood thanks to my mom's constant weight obsession, on and off starving herself while on the program. Thanks again WW.

I found the Atkins Diet in my late 20s so from then on I knew my body thrived on a high fat, low carb diet. I hadn't connected yet that grains/starch/sugar were the biggest part of my problem and that a dietary change had to be permanent.

By about age 35-36 I found Dr. Cordain's "The Paleo Diet" but unfortunately the anti-fat approach was a big huge fail for me. I understand his reasoning for his recommendations but avoiding fat is always the worst thing for me to do. So, instead of looking deeper into Paleo, I tried to go back to "healthy" grain and legume based diet and of course sticking with that was impossible.

It was another 3 years or more when i found Mark Sisson and the rest is history. Now I read a lot of Paleo viewpoints but it was the Primal Blueprint that finally stuck (well, I read it at least a year before finally going ketogenic Primal - sometimes it takes me quite awhile to finally decide to do something lol). I continue to read a wide variety of topics on health and nutrition, and even history and anthropology as they directly relate (love the work of Dr. Price).

The biggest difference with my past experiences and now is that before it as all about weight loss. Now it's all about health. I have never ever stuck with one lifestyle for over two years, or found it so easy to get back after straying (never with wheat). I have resolved so many health problems that I truly see Paleo as the answer for everything. Not everyone agrees.

It has been a long journey for me. I grew up on processed and packaged food: tv dinners, canned soups, spaghetti with jarred sauce, macaroni and cheese, etc. When I got married I realized I wanted to be healthier and that the first step would be cooking my own meals. I got some cookbooks and slowly started experimenting with chicken breast, eventually I added in ground beef to my rotation.

It took a few years of leaning toward "healthier" cookbooks before I started making more significant changes. I wasn't changing in weight any and my husband and I still ate out a lot. We switched to "clean eating" or "real food" and dumped everything processed/refined from the house. We still had whole grain breads/pastas, brown rice, potatoes, beans, soy and dairy though in regular rotation. We ate like this for 2 years, then one summer we tried carb cycling. That worked amazing for my husband he got super lean and fit and added a lot of muscle, and I just didn't see any changes.

After the holidays I was back up to my peak weight (175lbs, at 5'11, really not bad, but just not what I wanted) and I decided to change our diet again. I was on pinterest and saw a friend had started paleo, so I decided I was going to do it too. This was January 2013. I did an elimination diet, but it wasn't quite a Whole30 because I still made paleo desserts and used honey/maple syrup/etc. I still experienced phenomenal improvement. My chronic headaches were cured, my energy skyrocketed, I lost 10 lbs, my stomach had never felt better and I was so happy!

I've been somewhere around 80/20 since. I fell off for a few months probably closer to 60/40 and made it pack to my peak weight again. I then made some adjustments and participated in the Whole Life Challenge, which ran May through June. I had a pretty eventful and stressful past few months but decided I need to get it together. I am currently training to compete in my first bikini competition and doing it while I stick to paleo. I started a Whole30 last week and am on day 7. I'm happy to say I am currently at 155 which is the lowest weight I've been as an adult. I am also back to the crazy energy, crazy happy version of myself.

I have resolved so many health problems that I truly see Paleo as the answer for everything. Not everyone agrees.

QFT. My mom has RA and I KNOW she would be better off if she'd go paleo, but her quack doctor thinks the answer is always more meds. Pisses me off.

I can relate so much. The doctors have destroyed the quality of life for my grandparents for the last 50 years with all the procedures and meds but the rest of my family think it's a huge success because they are still alive in their 90s (one is from a family that is long lived anyway). Longevity is the only thing that matters? Fifty years of (unnecessary) sickness and suffering is a win? :noway:

Those same family members are constantly sick and in pain and they excuse taking any kind of responsibility for their own health by saying it's "genetic", "I'm too old", "it's too late". Frankly, it's hard to listen to it after awhile and they find my positivity and solution minded attitude hard to listen to as well. I've set the example, provided the information and there's nothing else to do. However, I do NOT listen to all the gripes and instead remind them that it's up to them to do something about it. Then I change the topic.

They've seen the huge difference in my life, comment frequently on how well I am doing, but somehow they think I'm a special snowflake and won't even TRY in their own lives. So be it. It's very hard to watch loved ones continue to CHOOSE to destroy themselves (which is especially the case with my mom) when one knows there is another option, but it is their choice and the best we can do is be a quiet example of what is possible. People come to things in their own time and sometimes not at all, unfortunately. We have to find a way to love them while also accepting what they choose for themselves, even if it's a life of sickness and suffering.

I had been battling my weight for ages and my career was on the line because if I failed another fitness test I would be kicked out of the military. My dad had a student of his ask him if cavemen at bugs, so the nerd that he is went on a google search. In his search he came across the "caveman diet" and spent all day reading about it (it was summer school and he was there just as a chaperone if the "team" was called for a disruptive student) that day he dtiched the bread from his sub and started eating "paleo". He told me about it and I was skeptical, especially since i had monthly appointments with a RD and had to show my food journal every time i saw her. I knew she would balk at my not having any grains, beans or potatoes on my log. I didn't see him again for about six weeks and in that time frame he had lost 27 pounds and 7 inches from his waist. I knew then I had to try it.

It was like a miracle. I lost 10 pounds the first month, which after three years on the fitness program and monthly visits to the RD with only about 10 pounds lost in 36 months...just amazing. After 6 months I was down almost 50 pounds, and over 10 inches from my waist. It saved my career.

Later in research after I was struggling again to lose weight after having my son, I learned there is a link between gluten intolerance and thryoid disease, especially if it is auto-immune thyroid. It solidified my need to be on a paleo template long term. I am not perfect by any means, I still eat a good pizza or bread on occasion but it is very rare. It literally saved my career.

Me? Well I was getting fat, (again) and so I fired up the Atkin's diet, although I knew it was not sustainable (it was my third time). After a month or so I heard about Cauliflower pizza and went looking for recipe which took me to Mark's Daily Apple and a few other sites and the bell rung. I was so tired of the ups and downs so I researched it and knew this would work for me because I love fresh whole foods and the stuff that got me to where I was, was not that mostly. Everyone I know is still waiting for me to fail and start eating junk again but this has gone on so long I see no need to change what I am doing, and I have several converts at work getting healthy.

I can't really remember, but I think I was inspired by someone on MFP. And I thought, why not look into it? She was passionately talking about how happy she was to feel so fulfilled, and lose her excess weight. My mom had been telling me grains were a bad idea, but I always thought it was hogwash before. I read up on everything on Mark's Daily Apple, and it made sense to me to eat more nutritious, whole foods, so I gave it a whirl. In a nutshell, the health benefits have been amazing. I have noticed both physical and mental changes! I did Primal for a long time last year, fell off the wagon, and now I'm back on with a vengeance I don't even miss grains. I have to say the very best part is not craving and overeating is no longer an issue.

Very Interesting.. I was not looking for anything.. I was going along in my life Starving at 1000-1200 calories to maintain my weight of 131 for like 20 years.... I love to talk about this so on a trip to CHICAGO i mentioned to my CROSSFIT cousins my diet and they told me i was crazy.... They told me about PALEO and i figured i would try it just to lose 5 lbs. and add a few calories..

WHAT IT DID however was change my life.... I did not even realize that all my stomach issues were the FOOD i was eating.. I did not realize that starving was stupid.. I am really happy.. I am on a path to try and fix my metabolism right now.. so even if it takes me a year or more, i am resetting my calories to 1500 and hopefully 1800 one day to maintain this weight..

Severely gluten intolerant ( sore tummy, rash, headaches the works) so been gluten free for a few years but some of the symptoms were not going away like fatigue and headaches. When Google gluten free recipes the word paleo kept coming up and after some research decided to try it. Been paleo for 2 months and I have so much more energy and my symptoms are gone!!!!!!