This story is close to home for me as this one comes from the husband of one of our amazing gym members at Norcal S&C. Be sure to check out the recipes at the end! Thank you Kiel for sharing your story and in the words of Robb Wolf, “It’s almost like this stuff works!!”
Here’s my real life story about paleo:
My wife Yvonne joined Norcal S&C in March 2007 and has been a loyal member ever since. They encouraged her from the get go to change her diet. Originally it was a bit of a more zone/paleo combo but as Robb Wolf is the owner of this gym it became definitely more paleo focused soon enough. Over the past few years she has tried to convince me to “go paleo” with her. I gave it half-hearted efforts a few times (and saw results in weight loss) but always reverted back to my old ways of eating. She too went on and off it as it was just easier to cook the same food for both of us, but she remained more strict than I was.
I am an active guy, play tennis everyday, and don’t eat a lot of fast food, sweets, etc, but seven months ago I found myself on five different medications for things ranging from hyper tension to high cholesterol and tri-glycerides. This was also right about when Robb’s book came out. I am not much of a reader but got through that entire book very quickly. This time we both committed to really making the change to paleo.
Sarah was Yvonne’s trainer so we had lots of great support and recipes to get us going. We quickly found that we were eating a greater variety of more interesting and tastier food. My wife who had always been a food is fuel person and hated grocery shopping was suddenly very enthusiastic about creating meals and new dishes. Rather than a banana for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and grilled chicken with rice and veg for dinner, we were now having frittatas for breakfast, leftovers for lunch (which means meat and veg) and recipes ranging from Moroccan Spiced Beef, African Fish or Mexican Chicken Stew for dinner.
After one month of eating paleo I had my blood work run again. Already my cholesterol was down from 272 to 160 (with a 1.9 ratio) and my triglycerides were down less than a quarter what they had been. I had also dropped some weight and was feeling better.
I just had my 6 month blood work review this morning. I am now down 2 pants sizes (20lbs), my cholesterol is even better (3.2 ratio), my triglycerides are “perfect” according to my doctor and my C-reactive, the one thing that was a bit high last time, is now down from 5.7 to 2.3. I am now only taking medication for my hypertension (which is hereditary).
My doctor said to me that it made no sense medically but that my blood work keeps improving. She thinks I must have an angel on my shoulder.
My wife and I are very happy with our life with our Paleo angel.
Favorite paleo recipes courtesy of Yvonne and Kiel!
AFRICAN BAKED FISH AND EGGPLANT
- 1 lb of filleted white fish (sole, cod, rockfish)
- 1 large or several small eggplant(s) peeled and diced
- 1 can stewed tomatoes
- 1 red onion chopped
- ½ cup water
- Red pepper, black pepper, oregano & salt
In oven proof skillet sauté onions until slightly softened, add eggplant seasoning and tomatoes and water. Cover and simmer until tender.
Mash cooked vegetables (you can do this right in the pan)
Remove half of the vegetables
Distribute remaining vegetables on bottom of pan.
Place fish on top in single layer.
Cover with remaining vegetables
Bake in oven. 400 for 15-20 minutes
Roasted Brussels Sprout & Cabbage Salad
- ½ cup toasted pine nuts
- 1 lb brussels sprouts quartered
- 1 head of red cabbage very thinly sliced
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 4 gloves garlic thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 7 tablespoons almond oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
- ½ tsp chile powder
- 2 tsp mustard
- Salt and ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 450. Toss brussels sprouts and sliced cabbage in large bowl with 2 tablespoons of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread out on cookie sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes until lightly caramelized and tender.
Meanwhile in a small bowl whisk lemon juice with the honey, mustard, cayenne and chile powder. Slowly whisk in the remaining oil and season with salt and pepper.
In a small pan heat a tablespoon of oil. Add the sliced garlic and heat until golden, about 1 minute.
Back in the same large bowl toss all the ingredients together. Serve warm or cold.
What a lovely story and congratulations on your health success. I have been eating Paleo almost 96% for about 3 weeks and have noticed a change also. This is such a great site for recipes especially for someone like myself just starting out. I will definitely try your recipes.
This is exactly the kind of story that people need to read! I need to get this to my parents a.s.a.p. I think it’s great that paleo has really worked for you guys. It can always be tough to find a significant other who is on the wagon with you, as well. I wish you guys the best of luck. 🙂 Keep up the good work. I definitely can’t wait to try today’s recipe too!
That’s awesome!! I think maybe, just maybe this stuff we speak of…….WORKS!!! lol I love to hear the success stories. I have found that helping other people with eating paleo keeps my eating in check as well because I have to practice what I preach.
Great story! I do wish I could get my husband more on board. He is partially paleo at least because he mostly eats what I make and doesn’t like to cook. I love the new cookbook – I have been doing a 31 Days of Primality page on my blog site and have featured the recipes from Everyday Paleo several times already. I don’t post the actual recipe but I have a link to this site in my sidebar and refer people there to buy your book. I give credit where credit is due! Haven’t found a dud yet in any of the recipes and I look forward to trying out many more.
Thank you Laurie!!
Just emailed this post to my wife. We are now day 5 of 30 on our first 30 day Paleo challenge as a couple.
The recipes mixed with your inspiring story is sure to put more fire up under her butt to get’r done!(even more so then already is)
Keep up the good fight and maybe Robb’s book happens to fall onto your Doctors desk…….
Thank you for sharing your story. It is very encouraging. My husband and I tried Paleo a few months ago. We both went for the 30 day detox only we didn’t make it all 30 days before we were back to our old (bad) habits. It’s amazing how old habits die hard. While on Paleo, he lost 17 pounds in 19 days (!) and I lost 4 pounds in 14 days. We both felt amazing. We are 30 years old and have 3 kids and I felt like a kid again..I had energy to run around with my kids for the first time in a long time. Since going back to our old ways…the sluggish, bloated feeling has returned and I get angry with myself every time I think about trading in my health for ice cream and chips! Well, today we are starting over and I have a feeling Paleo will stick this time. Your story encouraged me to press on. Thank you!
Good for you Faith, you can go it and it’s so worth it!! : )
This success stories always makes me smile. I eat my way with lots of lard and bacon, scarying people at work, and when they ask about it I always get funny faces… I can’t get to them -yet-, so it’s always good to see how someone get it and now they’re healthier than ever!!!
It takes people some time to wrap their brains around this way of eating but when people start notice how healthy and vibrant you are, they start to pay more attention!!
Love to hear the great stories! At breakfast today I was talking to a friend who had a solid year with major health problems that left him with scars all over his body. He went online and figure what his multiple doctors couldn’t, he had celiac disease. After a month not having gluten he was fine.
So crazy.
Wow…
Great real-life story. I don’t know Yvonne’s husband’s name but good for you for getting on board with her. I workout with Yvonne and she is such a great gym mate! I love hearing couple stories! Congratulations again and wow! cudos to the rest of you who posted your commitment as well!
I cant believe I have only been doing this for a week. It makes so much sense. Over the past 7 days Me and my partner have lost 11 pounds each and and it couldn’t be easier than just choosing the right foods:) love paleo