Wherein the Narrator Introduces Himself

Hello my Primal brothers and sisters! I'm so excited about the changes I've been making to my life in the course of the last week, and I can't wait to really dig into them with some posts. I'm only five days into this experiment, and the difference I'm feeling in everything is incredible. I'm holding off on the good stuff until I hit the week one bench point, just to allow for fluctuation, observation, and the possibility of that whole Placebo Effect thing.

Today's post is an informal introduction. An about myself post of where I've been, where I'm at, and where I'm going:

*The name is Chris, and I'm a 21 year old, theater student living in the south part of the San Francisco Bay Area. ( Wayyy south, Silicon Valley actually. )

*I believe in intellectual thought tempered by, but not ruled by, the empirical. I'm a firm atheist and skeptic. I insist that the world around us is astounding enough as is without having to layer on some higher being.

*I'm an actor in training. I'm currently studying in a two year Theater Conservatory program and loving every second of it. It's not enough to satisfy me though. I aspire to be a modern day Renascence man, and some of my other passions include good food, cooking, exercise, the outdoors, gardening, music, literature, and studies of the mind.

*I'm gay, as much as you can qualify anyone as being anything. It's easier to say homosexual than it is to lay out a long ramble about the fluidity and nuances of human sexuality. I am not "flaming" in any sense, though I'm often theatrical. My sexuality is an aspect of who I am, but I would consider myself weak if it was the defining characteristic.

*Four years ago I was small, doughy kid in class who went home every day to play video games, get no exercise, and stuff myself full of pizza rolls, diet soda, and frozen food in obscene quantities.

*In the years since there's been a gradual and ever escalating transformation into total health food NUT. I learned to like, then love, the taste of vegetables. I completely cut out all artificial food from my diet. I became open minded and went out of my way to try new tastes. But, I was still heavily based in the carb camp.

*The drive and will that brought me from an unhealthy kid, to a health conscious young adult took it's toll. Up until this week I was constantly pushing myself to the edge with overtraining cardio sessions. I would get hungry and BINGE OUT on whole wheat crackers, peanut butter, all natural desserts, powerbars, anything "healthy" I could get my starved little mits on. Believe me when I say BINGE. Some people have a cookie and think they've been bad, but that's not the case here; I would down 4000 calories in a sitting and still be ready for another jar of Almond Butter. Ashamed by these massive slips I'd immediately begin "fixing" the problem by withholding and pushing myself even harder. Of course, this cycle just pushed my body to overcompensate by binging again.

*About a week ago I had reached my limit. I realized that something was wrong with my lifestyle when I tried to take a day of rest for my body and instead went on a three hour hike in the blazing sun, followed by sprints. Scouring the internet on the subject of over training I stumbled upon Mark's Primal Blueprint site. I set about reading and everything I saw resonated with me like nothing else ever has. I'm not a diet person; I'm a lifestyle person. I don't believe in focusing on the minute details, cleansing, or fad diets. I'm into the broad sense, big picture, food is food is food type of mentality, and I could see that Mark thought the same way.



I think that's enough bullet points for now. While writing this up I've finished off a heaping breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs. I feel energized, full, and I'm off to spend my day roaming around Berkeley with friends. Ciao!