It’s Monday, 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 Monday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!
When did I first see it? It was in November 2017. I stepped on my scale and proceeded to log my information into my fitness tracker and there it was staring back at me. The tracker already knows my age and height and it spit out a calculation that never really caught my attention before. Under the heading for BMI (Body Mass Index) the word Overweight was highlighted with a color meant to get my attention. It did.
I’ve never had what you would call a weight problem. In fact at first glance most people would call me tall (at 6’2″) and skinny. But with a BMI at 25.8% I now was in the “overweight” bucket. I realize that a BMI calculation that is done this way doesn’t factor in a lot of things and someone that is muscular will have a higher BMI and that shouldn’t be a good indicator of a healthy weight. But that’s not me, I don’t have a muscular build so that excuse doesn’t hold water. The fact was that I let my weight and body fat creep up, I had let myself go. Most importantly, when I looked at my naked self in the mirror I wasn’t happy with what was there and wanted to change.
Now I had already loosely followed Mark’s Daily Apple and was very well aware of the new Keto Reset Diet book that had recently been released and caught my attention. So I made a quick decision to order the book and get ready to start my reset experiment before the big holiday season. My goal was to begin November 1 2017 and go through until at least the new year. Most importantly tracking my body fat percentage and along with it my weight of course.
I did just that, and here are my results. (These body fat and weight details are from my home scale so they are not exact figures, but they show my steady and consistent downward track overall.) These results DID NOT include a new workout routine. In fact I did no exercise program at all for the first 45 days then started to add in 20-40 minute fast walks 3-4 days a week in mid December which I continue to this day.
- Started 11/1/2017 – 24.2% fat / Weight 201.2 lbs / 25.8 BMI
- 12/1/2017 – 19.0% fat / Weight 183.6 lbs / 23.6 BMI (Month totals -5.2% fat / -17.6 lbs)
- 1/1/2018 – 19.6% fat / Weight 177.4 lbs / 22.8 BMI (Month totals +0.6% fat / -6.2 lbs)
- 2/1/2018 – 16.5% fat / Weight 170.6 lbs / 21.9 BMI (Month totals -3.1% fat / -6.8 lbs)
In those 3 months I reduced my body fat by 7.7%. My weight reduced by 30.6 lbs. And my BMI now set comfortably in the “normal” category going from 25.8 down to 21.9.
Was it easy? Yes and No.
The plan itself was easy and I had no problem with the transition and knowing what I should and shouldn’t be doing to get the results I wanted.
The hard part was keeping myself on track during those holiday gatherings filled with sugary treats and that bachelor party weekend of booze and more treats. Was I perfect? Far from it! But I made a lot of good choices too. When I did allow myself to “cheat” I did it in moderation. For example, I did have a piece of my mom’s pecan pie on Thanksgiving, but it was a small piece and I passed on the ice cream. During the bachelor party weekend I drank more alcohol than I should have (go figure) but I tried to stay away from the beer and kept it at straight liquor and some wine.
I continue on this journey with a desire to keep reducing my body fat percentage. The first 90 days of success have given me confidence that I can do this and more. I am now going to add in some resistance training and see what kind of muscle I can add to this 48-year-old body. Something I’ve never been able to achieve in my life. The Keto Reset Diet book gave me the tools to take better control of my body and overall health.
As of the writing of this, Valentine’s Day 2018, I am at 16.1% fat, weight 169.8 lbs with a 21.8 BMI.
I also have additional health benefit that should be more than a side note here. I ordered a lipid test when I completed my first 90 days just to see how this new routine may have affected my overall health. My triglycerides as of 2/2/18 were at 64 with a HDL/Tri ratio of 1.08. The most recent test before that was 10/18/2014 and I was at 168 for my triglycerides and my HDL/Tri ratio was 3.7. What a huge improvement, a drop of 104 for my triglycerides! I wish I had a closer baseline test, but I know very little changed for me in my diet and actively since that previous test, if anything it got worse. I doubt my numbers were any better when I started this just over 3 months ago but I’m very happy with where I am now.
Thanks for everything you provide Mark (and Brad)! It’s been life changing for me.
The readers featured in our success stories share their experiences in their own words. The Primal Blueprint and Keto Reset diets are not intended as medical intervention or diagnosis. Nor are they replacements for working with a qualified healthcare practitioner. It’s important to speak with your doctor before beginning any new dietary or lifestyle program, and please consult your physician before making any changes to medication or treatment protocols. Each individual’s results may vary.
The post The First 90 Days Have Given Me Confidence That I Can Do This—and More! appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
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Also, my parents were supposed to come up on Saturday, but my mom came down with some sickness cold and they had to cancel as well. We had so many plans for the weekend and ended up just staying home all day.
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