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Every time I go to cut a winter squash, I find myself holding my breath. Because no matter how sharp my knife is, cutting through its thick skin and dense flesh is never an easy task.

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No Excuses: No-Equipment-Needed Workouts for Small Spaces

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I feel about March kind of how I feel about Wednesdays. It’s the time of year when the worst of winter is over (so long, February!) and there have been just enough nice days that I’ve (foolishly) considered putting away my puffy coat. But then Mother Nature reminds me with windy, bone-chilling days that spring isn’t here just yet, even though I am so ready for it.

The good news is that these blustery days are perfect for spending in the kitchen. That might mean tackling an all-day project like, say, making ribs in the oven (an endeavor I attempted last weekend with moderate success and only a very minor grease fire) or something less ambitious, but still totally satisfying, like whipping up a batch of my new favorite brownies. Either way, an upbeat soundtrack is never a bad idea — especially one that starts off with David Bowie.

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I never thought I’d be saying this, but the microwave is an underappreciated appliance of convenience. Sure, it does the job faster than the oven or the stovetop, but it’s not just a tool for reheating and boiling. Your microwave has the power to cook and (even bake) quite well — as long as you take advantage of its most important feature.

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I’ve been without a microwave for the majority of my adult life, but when we moved into our current apartment a couple years ago, there was already one installed into the kitchen. While I was a bit put-off by it (I’d been a proud, anti-microwaving human after all!), my now-fiancé was elated — because as far as he was concerned, he could finally reheat food the easy way again.

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My mom’s hand mixer has been around for as long as I can remember, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve called it Wally (I had a crush on the older Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver). Growing up, if Wally was on the kitchen counter, it meant Mom was preparing something delicious. And since Wally had two metal beaters, I was usually able to lick one if I played my cards right.

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This week Twitter was obsessed with one important question: Can you tell the difference between a dog and some random food item? There’s the image you see above, which is a bunch of puppies and some bagels, but then there was also a series of labradoodles next to fried chicken, and then a chihuahua and a blueberry muffin.

Can you really tell the difference?

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It was Fall 2013, and I was just finishing up my annual physical checkup. This year was no different: hearing from the doctor about how my bloodwork numbers were incredibly bad and how I needed to explore some other options in my diet (and needed more exercise). I was also informed my weight was at 332 lbs, the heaviest I had ever weighed in my life. When it was time for me to leave the doctor’s office, I even received a gift, considering my numbers were on the edge of me becoming diabetic: I got to take home a blood glucose monitor, just to kind of keep an eye on things. That little device would never come out of the box.

In the meantime, I would go on with my daily routine. Waking up in the morning, after not getting enough rest, dreading getting out of bed and walking on my sore knees and painful plantar fasciitis feet as I got ready for my workday. I just so happened to work at a grocery store, so anything I wanted food wise was available to me on an almost daily basis, and I was sure to take advantage of that. Fresh bakery donuts in the morning, whole frozen pizzas or frozen dinners, conveniently prepared in the break-room microwave for lunch, and pick me up snacks in the afternoon, all right there. I needed those things, because, dang, I was hungry and I was working hard, right?

Sure, I was overweight, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t ever tried not to be. As far as I can remember, I had always been considered overweight. A few years before reaching my heaviest, I had a couple hernia surgeries and each time was reminded that I was “morbidly” obese. At one of these consultations, the idea of bariatric surgery was even pitched to me. So around that time I took interest in some diets, with none of them really staying with me or making me feel like I wasn’t depraving myself of something. I did lose 20 lbs at one point, proving that I could at least lose weight, but it ferociously came back to me with additional weight added on. But in the Spring of 2014, I noticed someone who had lost a decent amount of weight and was determined to find out how they did it. I found out that I needed to look up Mark’s Daily Apple.

Wheels were about to be set in motion, or should I say, I was about to be set in motion on. I really like information and MDA seemed like it had much to offer. So I poured over the website quite a bit, and on July 1, 2014, decided I would give some of the principles a shot. I set what I felt were small, realistic goals, and decided to pursue them. The grocery store wasn’t all bad after all as it’s not a sedentary job, and it did allow me to lift heavy things now and again. There were also a lot of opportunities for me to look at labels and see just what I had been putting into my body, and it alarmed me. I started eating different, kept a watchful eye on my carb intake, and didn’t feel it was unbearable. I never knew I liked almonds so much, or that I could crave a good salad over a bunch of potato chips any day, and heck, grass fed beef tasted so much better than any beef I had eaten in the past.

After a few months the weight was steadily coming off. I decided I would start taking walks outside every now and then. I was enjoying being outside and getting some fresh air and sunlight. However, I knew cold weather season was on the horizon, so, I needed to get indoors, but somehow keep up my activity. So, I joined a gym and just started strolling on the treadmill for awhile. Eventually I decided I wanted to try to speed it up and try the running thing, and decided I wanted to get some sort of weightlifting in as well. The weight continued to come off in a steady manner and I wasn’t starving.

That brings me to where I am now on this journey. I sit here today weighing 178 lbs, having run one 10k and two 5k’s with very reasonable results (2nd in my age group in one!). There will be more runs in my future. But, most importantly, the Primal lifestyle will continue into my future. I no longer have to get out of bed in the morning with my foot or knees hurting. I’ve been to the doctor recently for another one of those annual physicals, and my numbers have taken a complete turnaround, with nowhere close to the word “diabetes” being brought up. Having just turned the age of 40, I think I may be in the best shape I have been in my life.

My story reads pretty clear and smooth, but, I will be the first to say it necessarily wasn’t, I just didn’t allow myself to give up. I had the foggy low carb flu in the beginning. I had some bumps in the road, but, you just get back to it and tomorrow is a new start. I still have some cravings and I still eat some bad things (80/20 rule, thank you!). You just have to be mindful of yourself and let your body reset, I think that is what has been most impactful to me. When I eat something out of the guidelines now, I can definitely feel how it alters the way I feel, giving me insight into whether I actually want to eat that option in the future. There really is so much more to The Primal Blueprint than the weight loss, I just can’t begin to write it all here and that is why I believe it works for me.

I have always been a little reluctant to write my “Success Story” because, what you have read here are just “chapters.” My story is not done, I can confidently say that with the lifestyle The Primal Blueprint has given me. Along my journey I have heard things such as “Determination” and “Willpower” and it brought to mind to me one day early on in the process, that it was “WANTpower.” So, I extend to you the questions, how bad do you “want” to lose weight, have a better understanding of your body, or even just simply feel better? You can do it, it can be done and with the help of MDA, I became proof!

GROK ON, EVERYONE!

Tadd Davis

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Sunshine Smoothie with Coconut Clementine & Turmeric

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Smoothies are one of our favorite breakfast options year-round, but especially in the winter because it’s an easy way to brighten the mornings by adding extra fruit to our diets. And since frozen fruit works just as well (if not better — hello, icy, creamy texture), there’s no worry about whether it’s in season.

If you’re stuck in the doldrums of gray days, try these tropical smoothies. It won’t be quite like you’re relaxing on a white-sand beach, but it’ll be closer to it than your normal bowl of oatmeal.

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When I made plans to spend a week in Cuba, my gluten- and dairy-free diet was really the last thing on my mind. I was more worried about how many sundresses to pack, whether I would remember my newly learned salsa steps, and if immigration would stamp my passport (they didn’t). I’m pretty sure my travel companion, a vegan, didn’t think too much about what she would eat either. Spoiled by the food options in our respective cities (Brooklyn and Las Vegas), we naively assumed our meal choices were not something that we had to plan for or worry about.

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