I was a distance runner in high school, but as the years went by, my commitment to fitness went on the back burner for a busy family and career life. When my father had bypass surgery, it opened my eyes to the importance of taking care of my diet and exercise habits. I’ve always been able to go out and run a few, or more, miles; the biggest challenge for me was my horrible eating habits and late nights in front of screen entertainment. My addiction was sugar, and it was an easy drug to get to, since it’s pretty much in everything we eat. I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, borderline diabetes and depression. I was slowly killing myself. I needed help, and I was ready and willing to do something about it.

I’ve tried everything from Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers to the ViSalus (90 day program). I was successful with the ViSalus program for a short time, but I felt like I starved myself to drop my weight. With ViSalus, I was able to go from 206 lbs down to 165 pounds…seemed like a successful attempt at losing weight.

But wait, what do I do now that I have reached that goal set for me? I turned to my childhood friend, Brad Kearns. He was always supportive and never judgmental of me, even at my lowest point. He gave me The Primal Blueprint, and I devoured it, peppering him with near-constant email and phone questions for over two years.

From that high point of 206 pounds, I now easily maintain a goal weight of around 145 pounds (I’m 5’7″). The journey I took to this point was not easy. There is no quick fix for this. It took me many years to get fat and ugly, and it took a while to get my six-pack back! Once you accept that it’s not a quick fix, write your goals down, log your intake of food, weigh in, and remind yourself it can only get better. And yes, there will be good days and bad days. All part of the cycle of life.

My daily eating habits: Breakfast is a shake with Primal Fuel, bananas, natural peanut butter, chia seeds and flax seeds. Sometimes my breakfast will be eggs from a local chicken farm and lean bacon. Lunch is sometimes a shake, grilled chicken or a salad. Dinner is fish, chicken, meat (depending on the mood I’m in) with lots of veggies. Dessert is fruit, nuts and seeds.

I do weights here and there (dumbbells 25 lbs each), but mainly sit ups, pull-ups, chin-ups and pushups….If I wear my hernia belt, I can also do planks…. Since getting healthy, my knees are not sore (had issues with them in the past…

I run between 120 to 174 miles a month at an aerobic pace. Yes, following the principles of Primal Endurance I was forced to slow way down. This actually helped me get the final success happening. I went from a stall at 170 pounds down to 145 when I slowed down my training pace because this helped me finally free myself completely from sugar addiction/sugar cravings. I decided to cut sugar out of my diet and focus on being a Primal eater….with more mileage on the road (running) – I was able to burn the fat, not muscle using the Maff formula and concentrated on HR training.

It’s hard to believe that it’s true. The sugar addiction that keeps us unhealthy can be traded in for a healthy lifestyle with positive support and a desire to live long and drop dead.

Gil Maroko, Wellness Coach

Meridian, ID
“Originally published on Mark’s Daily Apple.”