How My World Changed!

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 My story is a fun one. Nothing crazy drastic, but fun nonetheless. It started January of 2012, when I first started reading success stories from MDA. At this point in my life, I was no stranger to the human body and how best to treat it. I exercised moderately, and ate plenty of vegetables and fish as part of my normal diet. I tried to get at least 6-7 hours sleep and remained injury-free. So when I first started reading, I thought this makes sense. It’s working obviously—however, I’m not going to take the plunge quite yet.

Also, wasn’t quite sure what exactly this Mark guy was selling. My problem, like everyone else’s, with taking that leap was giving up my wonderful sources of carbs. I freaking loved bread and pasta—they made up the better part of my diet. I, however, did ramp up my fat intake immediately.

It wasn’t until the first week of April that I decided to pull the trigger. And how my world changed! After 7 days I lost 9 lbs and was able to pull a 29-hour fast like it was nothing! I was able to feel for the first time in my life, what true hunger felt like—much less mild than the crippling “starving” feeling. Two weeks into it, I was squatting on the potty—not with a Squatty Potty mind you—and my lifelong constipation and hemorrhoids were gone. After three months I was down 25 lbs, corrective lenses forgotten, hours in the sunshine without protection and burning, and just boundless energy.

As soon as I made the plunge in April, I could not get enough info crammed into my brain. I would spend up to 8 hours a day reading article after study after lecture, and podcasts, back to articles. I would jump from MDA to Chris Kresser, Chris Masterjohn, Robb Wolf, Dave Asprey, Jimmy Moore, Abel James, Denise Minger, Peter Attia, etc. The more I read and listened, the stronger the fire grew to learn. By June of 2013—just a little over a year into it—I had amassed approximately 2000 hours devoted to learning as much as I could though reading, watching and listening.

And then I had a baby. I lost sleep, lost hours at work (translates to lack of money), so I ate less. Fasting 18 hours everyday became part of the routine, and certainly not with enough nourishment. I of course ended up losing even more weight, and got all the way down to 136 by August ’15! As a reference, my starting weight was 170 back in April of ’12, and I am 5’10. I made the conscious effort to eat more, and naturally my sleep improved—both from eating and from a baby who was more often sleeping through the night.

Also in August ’15, I finished the Primal Expert Certification (now the Primal Health Coaching Program) and started my own Health & Wellness business, Revolution Food. I started out with a couple clients and transitioned into cooking meals for families—primarily Primal meals of course. In May ’16 we ended that service and suspended our business as we were about to embark on a transitional period. My wife enrolled in the NASM Personal Trainer course, and became certified in August ’16. I had taken a retail job to have a regular paycheck, and even more so ate and slept more regularly. In December 2016, I finished my classes for culinary school and was able to take on a new client. My first real (paying) client as a Primal Health Coach, and one that I was able to devote more time to.

As of today, I sit between 150 and 155, and am now making a conscious effort to exercise more—whether it be doing MovNat or hitting the gym. I am enrolled in the NASM Personal Trainer program myself, with the goal of being MovNat certified by this time next year. One can never have too many certifications.

This is my story of lighting a fire, rolling with life’s punches, and turning that fire into blaze. Mark is right, don’t let a bad decision one day, or a few days out of the year define you. If you are thinking of leaping into this community, just let the damn bread go—trust me, you’ll thank yourself for it.

Jamie Farrington

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