My new primal way of life.

So two years ago I started making some changes in my life and in my diet.   I started eating whole foods, whole grains, and no processed foods. I started making everything from scratch. I made granola bars for the kids, made homemade bread, ate more fruits and vegis, cut the fats  and did just what you are supposed to do to live a "healthy" life. Or so I thought. In June of 2011 I had some blood work done and found that my cholesterol was sky high. My total cholesterol was 239 while my  LDL was 145 and HDL 36. Now hear comes the shocker , my triglycerides were 352! I was a heart attack waiting to happen. My doctor suggested that I add more whole grains and cut back on fats etc. Just to give a little background I called my 30s my hurty thirties because for ten years I would wake up with a stomachache, I was diagnosed with IBS in high school, diverticulitis and ischemic colitis in my 30s I had 1/2 my thyroid taken out after the birth of my son, I constantly had knee pain. I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune skin disorder called wells syndrome. I always felt awful.

january 2012

Well  I went on another six months after getting those results doing what I had been doing until I went to visit my sister in Arizona.  We had been talking on the phone before my visit and she had mentioned that she cut out grains and cut added sugar from her diet and I thought she had flipped her lid. She said her blood work had come back better and her doctor told her to keep doing what she is doing. How can anyone give up grains and sugar? It can not be possible, at least that was what I thought. Well before I left my sister gave me a book by Gary Taubes called Why we get fat.  I had nothing to do on my flight home so I started reading and reading and reading until I finished it a few days later. It is a tough read with a lot of examples and data showing that carbs are the real reason we get fat and not fat we eat. My sister had also suggested I read a blog called Marksdailyapple.com which I did. I read success story after success story of people who ate according to marks Primal Blueprint diet which is similar to what Gary Taubes suggested in his book.  I decided on april 1 of 2012 to give it a shot. I now avoid all grains except quinoa once a week and cut out almost  all added sugar. I do have 2 pieces of Trader Joe's 72% dark chocolate each day as the benefits of dark chocolate out way the little bit of sugar . I eat whole foods at home and my kids and husband do the same.   We eat a lot of meat and organic eggs, seeds and nuts, lots of fruits and vegis and full fat dairy including whole milk, cheese, yogurt and grass fed butter. I also cook with olive oil and coconut oil and have a few pieces of coconut each day. No bread, no pasta, no rice no crackers.

Friends and Family nearby thought I was crazy, just like I thought my sister was crazy. However after two weeks and a little "carb flu" I was feeling amazing, I was starting to lose weight and my stomachaches and everyday aches and pains went away.  I was starting to feel great.  I started walking and then running and I am back to walking again due to a knee injury.  I only walk or run 2 days a week so I am not going crazy with exercise, but the weight keeps coming off. So now it is November 2012 and I am down 25 lbs. which is great but to top it all  off I recently got my numbers back and my total cholesterol went from 239  to 145, my LDL went from 145 to 100 and my triglycerides went from a whopping 352 down to 53! I have been waiting for my blood work to comeback before I "talked about it" on the blog but I can say 100% now that I suggest this to anyone.

december 2012

Let me know if you have any questions.

Maura