This is the amazing story of Jeremy Collum.  Jeremy is a client of ours at our downtown location, CrossFit on 18th.  I got to know Jeremy when I was learning more about the Paleo lifestyle from Stephanie Provance, who is one of our trainers downtown.    Popular in the CrossFit community, the Paleo lifestyle was not only helping people lose weight and get lean, it was dramatically improving their athletic performance as well.   I wanted to see what why and so, last August, I embarked on my own Paleo lifestyle, and 9 lbs and 13 inches later, I’ve never looked back.  It’s not just about the fat loss- it’s about how good you feel eating this way.

I met Jeremy at one of our CrossFit Friday Night Workout of the Day.  (I was watching, by the way- not participating).  I’d seen Jeremy before in the gym but had not had the chance to meet him one to one.  I’d been impressed by his passion for the workouts and for his positive spirit.   Jeremy wasn’t your typical CrossFitter- when he started doing CrossFit with us he tipped the scale at around 325 lbs.   A year later, Jeremy now weighs 246 lbs.  How did he lose nearly 80 lbs?   Jeremy adopted a Paleo diet template.

When I sat down last week to talk to Jeremy, he told me that while he started working out with us in January of 2010, he didn’t really start to drop weight rapidly and consistently until he incorporated a Paleo template to his diet in July of 2010.   That’s when he really started getting results, dropping from306 bs at the time to 258 in just 12 weeks.

To get started, he joined the city wide Cerner Fitness Challenge with some people from his work at the Kansas City Transportation Group.   In the first week after switching to a Paleo template, Jeremy lost 12 pounds!  And then he lost another 10 pounds the second week!  After that, he says he’s lost a steady 2.5-3.5 pounds per week.   “While the scale may slow down from time to time, the inches just keep peeling off, so I know I’m still losing body fat and keeping the muscle which is what I care about,” Jeremy told me.    He knows the scale alone can be deceiving as it doesn’t always reflect what’s going on with your body composition.   The proof is how much your body changes through inches lost.  Jeremy knows- he’s already given away about 3 trash bags full of too big clothing!

JUST CHECK OUT JEREMY’S AWESOME RESULTS!

Jeremy also said that since he’s begun this program he’s had the following benefits:

• he sleeps better and more soundly
• his blood pressure is better
• he has better mental clarity and memory
• improved athletic performance and recovery times

When I asked Jeremy what advice he might have for others who want to change their lives through exercise and adopting a Paleo lifestyle, he offered the following tips:

1. “When you start eating this way, don’t think of what you ‘can’t’ have but what you ‘can’ have.  Focus on what you can eat,  then stock up on it and get creative about your meals.  It doesn’t take long to develop a preference for the ‘can’ list and a distaste for those foods you have left behind.”

2. “Set a specific time goal.  When I started, I did a 90 day challenge.  That means I gave up eating anything that wasn’t wholesome – no crap for 90 days.  I had a specific release date to be finished too- that following week I would allow myself anything I wanted to eat and to skip workouts if I wanted.  Knowing I had a specific time date helped me stay on track.”

3. “Set smaller goals and track everything.  It’s important to have big goals, but all the smaller goals along the way need to be celebrated too.  I tracked everything so I could see the smaller successes adding up.”

4. “Go public.   Tell your family and friends what you are doing and why.  Ask for their help and support.  Cultivate those positive people and relationships that help you move forward to your goals.  Your gym community is a rich source of support.”

5. “Help others.  One of the best things about CrossFit on 18th is that EVERYONE, not just the staff,  is helpful to each other.  When I first signed up for the trial membership, I was a bit nervous like anyone new coming into that situation.  But the very first day,  Brian came up to me and said, ‘just do about half of what you think you can do today,’ which was so helpful because it allowed me to relax and have fun.   Everyone is there to see that everyone else is going to give their best- no one’s going to let anyone else quit.  I think that’s part of what makes this community so special.”

 

 

 

Jeremy with CrossFit compatriots Matt Scanlon,
Mitch Stout, Stephanie Provan ce, and Miriam Feingold
at a recent CrossFit Charity Throwdown.

Jeremy wanted me to include his contact information should anyone need some extra help getting started on their own Paleo template.  If you would like to talk to Jeremy, please email me, tina@pilates1901.com and I will be happy to put you in touch with him.

Thank you Jeremy for sharing your amazing success!  You are an inspiration to all of us!

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