The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health, and Boundless Energy

Let me start off with a disclaimer: When it comes to implementing and sticking to things I'm about the laziest person on the planet. I usually get gung ho about something and then it fizzles out after a couple weeks or so. So if you're the same way, pay attention because this was so easy and made so much sense that it didn't happen with this book/program.I first stumbled across the Primal/Paleo movement on facebook a couple years ago. I read a friends status update that she had started doing it and recommended this book. She filled me in a little bit more about it and initially I thought it made some sense so I bought the book.At the start of reading the book I was a 31 year old 5'11" Male that weighed 208 pounds. I was in terrible shape, I couldn't even walk up a flight of stairs without breathing heavy. As I read the book, light bulbs started turning on in my brain... It. Just. Made. Sense. Mark makes everything incredibly easy to understand. He also has a humorous way of writing, which is refreshing when it comes to books like this.So when I first started implementing this I decided to start slowly and only change the way I eat to see if that alone would do anything. On the Sunday before the Monday I started I literally went through my entire kitchen and threw away all the trouble items that Mark describes. So all I had left was Meat, Fruit, Veggies, Nuts and Seeds. I decided that if I was going to do this, I was going to go all the way. I decided to completely quit my previous way of eating and go cold turkey. So on that following Monday I went 100% Primal/Paleo....That's when things started getting interesting. (And remember, I wasn't working out AT ALL, just eating Primal.) I was literally losing 5 pounds a week for the first couple weeks. In only 2.5 months I had lost 35 pounds!! Let me repeat that... In only 2.5 months I lost 35 pounds!! This was all due to changing my eating style. I went down to 173 pounds. I was amazed at how fast the weight was coming off.Here's the benefits I got (everyone's different) from using this book and simply changing what I eat:--ENERGY: I had way more of it. On my previous diet that was heavy on Pasta, Bread, etc. I would have moments throughout the day where I was really fatigued. Mostly in the early afternoon and the early evening. Going Primal made me feel like I was 23 again.--DECREASED HUNGER: Gone were the days of being hungry just an hour after eating a big meal. When I was on a high grains diet I would be hungry for what seemed like all the time. Since this is a high protein diet (and protein is a natural appetite suppressant) I didn't ever get any hunger pains.--BETTER SKIN: Not sure if this one was a coincidence or not, but my skin just seemed better after getting off the grains.--COMPLIMENTS: With as fast as I was losing weight I think people might have thought I had an eating disorder or something. I would get loads of what seemed like curious compliments about how I looked. Like they were complimenting me, but in their mind they were really thinking... what the heck is this guy doing?!? Inevitably their curiosity would get the better of them and they'd ask what I was doing. The sad thing is that even when I would tell people they didn't want to believe me. I quickly learned that most people are set in their ways, eating wise, and don't want to believe anything even if there's easy proof of someone standing right in front of them.Here's the downside:--BUYING NEW CLOTHES: Just in that 2.5 months I had to go out and buy news clothes repeatedly. I went from wearing a 36 waist down to my college waist of 32. This was a great problem to have.I've been doing this now for close to 2 years (it'll be 2 years in March) and haven't looked back. Since I'm now more in maintenance mode I go by the 80/20 rule and don't fret if I want to enjoy a piece of bread or a plate of pasta. I just make sure not to make a habit of it. I also now do Crossfit and would highly recommend it as a compliment to this program. There's Crossfit locations all across the country.One of my pet peeves about the Primal/Paleo lifestyle is that people think it's some sort of fad diet. When in reality it's the same as someone saying they're a vegetarian or a vegan. It's just a different way of eating, it's not a diet by any means.Do yourself a favor and get the book. Do yourself another favor and really give it a try. The only way you'll be disappointed is if you don't give it 100%.

Maybe my example is extreme, but I've lost nearly a pound per day in just short of two weeks since I've been following Mark's plan. I've always been athletic and pretty active, but since high school (BTW, I'm male, 6' tall) when I weighed 180lbs, I found myself edge just over 190 about a year ago so I started running regularly. That did get me back down to 180, which I was pretty happy about, but still felt I was carrying some extra body fat around my gut and butt. The science of his "lifestyle plan" (it's more than just a diet) makes sense to me and the proof is in the pudding (or not in the pudding, really).My wife is losing weight much more slowly, which is fine, but she is not exercising in any way. I think that is what has accelerated my weight loss. Plus, she has had more trouble with acceptable snacks -- she doesn't care for nuts on their own, doesn't like beef jerky, almond butter, celery...and I really like those things.Actually, I really have very little problem with the meals that I should be eating as well. For example, yesterday for breakfast I had an egg, with spinach, peppers, and onions sauteed in coconut oil with two pieces of bacon and half of an avocado. Lunch was off of a "natural food place" salad bar and I had mixed greens, spinach, a bunch of chicken, olives, peppers, etc with olive oil and balsalmic vinegar, with some organic ranier cherries for snack. Supper was an organic burger with a portabella mushroom cap and colby jack cheese with sauteed peppers, carrots, and onions from our farmer's market. I ate enough at these meals that I don't really remember snacking at all during the day. BTW, for drinks I had a small glass of OJ in the morning to take my omega-3's and whole food multivitamin...and a cup of green tea with some honey,peppermint and cinnamon. Lunch was a newly discovered tea that had a natural sweetness that I liked -- Guayusa, I think was the spelling. Supper was some Malbec red wine. I lost another pound and a half overnight. Granted, yesterday was my "sprint" day (you'll learn about exercise in the book too) and I walked to lunch and I push-mowed the yard...so I got my low level cardio in too.But, I love the food and don't miss much in the way of processed carbs, sugars, etc. I've only had two beers in two weeks and I miss it a little, but not the bloated belly feeling afterwards. I've simply switched my Clif bar-like snacks over to nuts, trail mix, jerky, etc. And no more bread on my sandwiches, Eggos, desserts, and the like. I'm surprised I don't miss desserts, but it hasn't been an issue. I have had a brownie and a Klondike ice cream bar in two weeks, but that's about it. When I have eaten out, I get salads with meat on them and oil/vinegar dressings or steak/chicken with vegetables. Other than having to almost totally avoid fast food joints, it's not that hard.So, I'm a believer if you couldn't tell. Again, it's more than just a diet, but as he mentions, eating is 80% of how your body is programmed...or something like that. The other 20% is a combination of exercise, sleep, and some other stuff. But, I'm telling you, it's all good "stuff" and I'm down to 169 wondering where it's going to stop. But I feel great so I'm not worried about it!

Great book and I have learned a lot even though I have been falling low carb eating for few years prior to reading this.The reason I took of a star is due to a mistake that has been made (at least in the edition I have), which can be confusing and misleading to people who are confused about the metric system.The protein requirement conversions are wrong.. E.g. 0.7g of protein per pound of body weight equals 1.4g per kg of weight and not 0.33 as stated in the book.

I'm writing this review a year since I bought the book and started eating Primal. I had been steadily gaining weight and although I was not eating a lot of bread or pasta, I was still eating oats, grains and legumes, so something just wasn't adding up. I wasn't feeling that great and still found it very difficult to control cravings, especially after eating oat cakes!?!So a year down the line, and it has been a great move for me, yes I have fallen off the wagon a few times and when I have, I have really noticed it! My mood will be lower if I eat a lot of sugar or processed foods. For me there have been so many benefits of eating primal, I have lost weight, been able to maintain my weight easier, I rarely get ill and I no longer fight the dreaded bloat. Oh, and my skin got so much better, I think some of my wrinkles actually went away! Not only that but the book is really easy to read and the principles include more than just food changes. It's a real lifestyle change, which includes barefoot, crossfit, sprinting every now and then and walking more, getting out in the sun. I have studied sports science and have always known that walking is great for burning fat. It's a brilliant read and it provides real solutions, they may not all be that easy to integrate into your life, it might take a little effort, but it's worth it.

I am so so so frustrated. I bought this then the NEW primal blueprint came out 2 days later!!!!!!!! Not sure if Kindle edition is the best, I found that it made it difficult to read, especially with the pyramids etc. However that is a comment on the useability of the book, the content however is fantastic. I am partly primal, I want to go full but it is just difficult at the minute (not due to holidays, however going away with work, ever tried asking a curry house how it is made? Nightmare. However sensible choices are still made!!). There is some stuff in there which is not of interest to me, 23 and cholesterol is something that I just find dull, sure future me will disagree. However if looking for a LIFESTYLE change, NOT a diet (diets don't really work anyway) that is surprisingly easy (by the time you have eaten all the veg and then meat you cannot believe that you would have previously been eating carbs) BUY THE NEW BOOK. Not Kindle though.

I tried many ways of eating. i've gone vegetarian, raw, vegan etc...but nothing made me feel more energetic or feel full for long periods of time. i've been primal diet for a few weeks now and it really made a difference. i have no crazy cravings for sweet stuff ( and i could eat sweets all day), i don't feel exhausted by mid day. another plus. i had those 6 kg i couldn't shed after last pregnancy.no matter what i did( exercising 4 times a week)they just stuck. and finally a shift. i started to lose weight. so only positives so far

Bit of a weird one for me, as I agreed with a lot of what he was saying and think his views on diet are sensible, but I didn't like the book! I just found his writing style a bit basic and predictable. The whole Grok thing got on my nerves almost instantly.I would recommend getting the info from his website / social media or any other paleo website / social media and not bother with the book