Saturday, November 1, 2008

Paleo Diet - Day 365 - Final Blog Entry

Today marks day 365 of my paleo diet experience, one that has changed my life for the better in so many ways. In the year I've been eating a paleolithic diet of meats, fruits and vegetables (no grains, no dairy, no processed foods) my weight has dropped from 233 lbs to the 160 lbs I find myself at this morning. That's down a pound from last weekend, and it appears my weight will fluctuate in that range; i.e., right around 160 lbs, plus or minus, as long as I continue to eat this way (and why would I not?).

In addition, I have gone from a body fat percentage of...who knows what (I had a gut that made me look pregnant) to a body fat percentage of only 10.9%, as of this morning - down from 11.2% last weekend.

Furthermore, a year ago, I had just been diagnosed by my doctor as a type 2 diabetic, with a blood sugar reading of 218 ml/dcl. As of seven months ago, I was no longer diabetic and this morning I'm at a normal reading of 104 ml/dcl, though my readings have been lower than this. I could get more exercise than I have been, or increase my use of cinnamon and get it back down into the 90s or 80s very easily. But, the point is, I'm no longer suffering from what my doctor falsely called an "incurable disease" that I would supposedly have for the rest of my life. I think that was just his own wishful thinking. Gotta keep up those payments on his half-million dollar house, you know.

Finally, a year ago, my blood pressure was somewhere around 180/90 and this morning it's at a normal 115/72.

So, once again, I am living proof that the paleolithic diet works and works very well for weight loss, weight control, elimination of type 2 diabetes, correction of high blood pressure and high triglycerides, and the restoration of one's natural health. Today, aside from a little more gray and a little less hair, I look and feel pretty much as I did when I was in my thirties - except that I have more lean muscle mass, less body fat and, oh yeah - I'm 56 years old.

So, the bottom line is, if you are obese, have type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides and other health problems that are the result of the diet you've been eating, the paleo diet can and will do for you what it has done for me - if you just give it a chance to.

Sure, you will have to stop eating many favorite "foods," but those "foods" were never part of the original human diet, prior to the advent of agriculture 10,000 years ago. Grain products, dairy and, especially processed foods are not foods at all. Our stone age ancestors would never have recognized them as food and none of us were ever supposed to be eating them. If you have trouble with eliminating these "foods" from your diet, just remind yourself of what you have to gain - your good health and a longer life span (not to mention looking good naked), what you have to lose (a lot of fat and, with it, all your dietary diseases) and when the temptation to eat a bagel with cream cheese or a pizza strikes, just think of how you wind up feeling after eating such garbage. I can't eat that way any longer, myself, without my blood sugar immediately spiking and feeling like crap the rest of the day.

I'm leaving this blog here, as it is, for the benefit of all who wish to change their lives with the paleolithic diet, as I have. May you benefit from my experience and from the knowledge I've gained. Thank you for reading.