No particular "flavor" of paleo/primal here - just a general understanding of the basics obtained by a lot of reading of all of the usual suspects in the paleosphere. Actually, maybe I would consider what I do the "keep it simple" approach. I don't do counting of anything I eat, I don't time any workouts or count reps of any excercise, I don't measure my time in the sun or track my hours of sleeping. I just eat what I eat, avoid what I don't, and try to make paleo-friendly choices with my daily activities.

I've been paleo for a little more than a year now and can say it's definitely been a lifestyle change for me more than just a dietary change.

• Supplying pastured eggs to my co-workers in a kind of "egg-share" - check
• Member of a local barefoot runners group with a potential meet-up this weekend - check
• Becoming a regular at the local farmers markets - check
• Farmer on voice dial in my blackberry - check
• Registering for Tough Mudders and other obstacle course adventure runs instead of spending time in a gym - check
• Daily run/walk from work to the store to "gather" my lunch for the day and get some sun - check
• Ditched most manufactured bathroom products - check
• Invested in some old fashioned hand tools for the yard work instead of power tools - check
• Habitually look for stairs instead of elevators - check
• Bought a George Foreman grill for the break room at work - check
• Can sometimes be found laying in my driveway on weekend afternoons taking a little nap in the sun - check

I'm still learning new things all the time, I incorporate what works for me into my paleo style. If something doesn't suit me I try it and then move on.

Why I did all this? Easy. Out of the blue one day I heard paleo explained. I'd never heard something so simple and "duh" right. That triggered a bunch of online research and then my own self-experiment. I tried it for a week - liked it. I tried it for a month - liked it more. I kept going and now it's been more than a year - still like it. Simple. :)

i got the basics of the paleo through mark sisson's vast treasure trove of information over there at mark's daily apple. however, the version i follow is probably a bit closer kurt harris's panu.

The reason i chose this dietary lifestyle- or as christo said "it chose me"- is that although i've been from moderately to highly active since my teens, i could never shake the excess weight and the health problems it caused for an extended period of time. the paleo lifestyle fixed my broken metabolism and insulin resistance- which i'm almost positive had been deranged since childhood.

as far as changes to my lifestyle, it's all been positive. it made me cook. alot. and i've gotten pretty good at too. it made me be more conscious of the things i was putting in my mouth and how it affected my body. and last but not least, it's enabled me to be a role model and then a coach for those i love so they can get back into good health. i've paleo for almost a year and don't see a reason to ever change.

I had major health issues when I was 20 that got me looking into nutrition for the first time in my life. I found paleo from the beyondveg.com website, since I was coming off a semi-vegetarian stint. Finding paleo was kinda a "duh" moment, although back then (2003) there was way less info available. My primer was Neanderthin by Ray Audette, which sadly seems to be out of print, and to a much lesser extent "The Paleo Diet" by Loren Cordain. I also took a lot of ideas from "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon, which thankfully led me away from the relative fat phobia of "The Paleo Diet" and down the "fat is good" path. The only real community that I found back then was the paleodiet.com listserv, which I subscribed to for several years and took a lot away from.

So to answer your questions:

1. No, I don't follow the Primal Blueprint, although I have read it. However my sister follows it with good results.
2. Health problems in my early 20's, the big ones being mitral valve prolapse syndrome/dysautonomia and anxiety/depression. Both are no longer problems for me.
3. I guess I made up my own version, but isn't that what all of us do really? My mantra is to just eat things that are actual food and stay away from modern processed stuff and fake crap.

I started Paleo because I was lucky enough to hear about it and like others here thought how simple and obviously right it was! I think most people with an ounce of intelligent get it, because it IS right! Only those in denial (usaully the ones seriously addicted to sugar) kick their heels in. I don't follow a specific paleo plan but I am constantly trying to update my knowledge to obtain the most information possible for the optimal diet/lifestyle.

I didn't choose it,it chose me.

My friends Barbara, Fran, Angie and Helen told me if I didn't do it, they would kick my butt....

A lot of people seem to feel that Paleo chose them; my experience has been a further twist on this. Once I knew how damaging sugar, wheat, soy and vegetable oils are to the body, I simply couldn't choose NOT to not eat Paleo, if that makes any sense. Eating SAD at this point now seems completely incomprehensible and counterintuitive to all sense of self-preservation. My gut reaction to someone asking me "why not eat SAD?" is almost identical to "why don't you stick your hand in that fire?" e.g. incredulous bewilderment that someone would even consider doing such a daft thing to their body.

Spent 15 years low carb, lost a boatload of weight then needed something new, something "more". Once weight loss was not really my goal anymore I looked for avenues for better health. It was a gradual conversion that took about a year or so. I see Paleo as "advanced low carb" I guess. Sort of like taking it to the next level. More about healthy living than numbers on a scale. As you might imagine it wasn't much of a stretch to go from low carb to paleo. I still eat very low carb but do some carb cycling and don't follow any particular plan.

1) Does anyone on this board follow Primal Blueprint? Why did you pick this version of the Paleo/Primal Lifestyle?

I'm new to this and I'm still reading up on all the different aspects & styles of 'Paleo' life style so I'm not really sure...yet!

2) What lead you to change your Lifestyle to Paleo/Primal? & 3) Did you make up your own version of Paleo/Primal -- if so, how? Meaning which foods/exercise/thinking do you fall into that grey area btwn?

About 6 months ago, mid 2010 a guy @ work started paleo life and while at first I thought he was crazy but then I saw the weight dropping off (20+ kg in 6 months), we talked about the ins and outs of eating paleo but I was still unsure if it was for me.

I've had my own struggles with weight since a teenager, in my adult life have tried a few diets with no real success (mostly due to lack of commitment/will power). The only diet I have previously tried & returned to due to some success was with Light & Easy (1200 cal a day preprepared meal palns delivered to your home). I have a very busy lifestyle so this made it 'easy' to stick with (e.g. Jan10-June10 lost about 7kg).

Then I quit smoking 5th June 2010 and basically substituted cigarettes with chocolate and chips/crisps. I put back the 7kg (and then some) in no time at all and while I was proud of my efforts to improve my health via various lifestyle changes (quit smoking/moving more), I knew my diet HAD to change! I let myself enjoy the holiday season without guilt tripping myself and decided to get my diet & health on track in 2011.

By mid Jan 2011 I knew I could not stomach going back on L&E, the food tasted bland and was not appetising to me at all, the thought of frozen dinners made my stomach turn...

So I started off minimising the about of startchy carbs (bread/rice/potatos) and inputting more healthy options (my previous work lunch would've been chips&gravy or a chicken schnitzel sandwich with a sugary drink, I changed to tuna&salad with a bit of fruit each day and water). I cut back on sugary drinks (especially energy drinks) and cut back my alcohol consumption (was never a big drinker but would have 1-2 vodka mixer drinks a night, switched to weekends only and no binge drinking).

My friend @ work mentioned the Whole9 30 day challenge to me again, and I thought 'what the heck, it has to be better than what I'm doing now, if he can get these results just by altering what he's putting into his body with minimal changes to exercise regime then I can give it a go. Besides, it could not be nearly as hard as quitting smoking and if I could do that I can do anything!'

I started the Whole9 30 day challenge on March 1st, the night before I made a nice Lamb roast with lots of 'good' veggies and gave myself a treat, some delicious roast (white) potatos. Shortly after, I started to get sharp guts pains & I blamed the roast taters as I had been slowly cutting back on all the procssed crap, I figured that was a reasonably good assumption to make.

Since March 1st, I have been almost 100% Paleo (as per Whole9 challange rules). I didn't like black sugarless coffee (I'm a latte fan) so I ended up just switching to green tea, which I love. I have had 2-3 'minor' cheats along the way, I added a tablespoon of soy sauce to one of the 1st paleo stirfries I made as I overdid the Chinese 5 spice. My next stir fry had only a teaspoon of soysauce, so I am still working on perfecting the 100% paleo stir fry. I couldn't help but use a little worsterchire & salt free tomato sauce to marinade some pork chops the other night either. Otherwise I am fully committed to just keep going, I feel better on the inside, my skin is looking better than ever, I am sleeping well too, although I need to get myself to bed earlier that's for sure.

I have lost 10+kg since Jan15, my first week of paleo I dropped 1.9 kg, 2nd week 1.7kg so Paleo is really where the action is at.

Although I have mentioned my numbers above, 'Paleo' as I know it is really abut health for me.

I don't want to end up a statistic and just accept that I will get diabetes, autoimmune disease or cancer like everyone in my family. What really kicked me into gear was when the Doctor told me my BMI (craptastic statistic I know) had crept into the 'obese' range. I am now in 'overweight' range and creeping down in a very good way.

My 'bad' cholesteral is in a good range (5.2) and this nutritionist that visited my workplace for basic tests told me my 'good' cholesteral (0.9) could be higher, which made me exicted to hear I could eat more avocado/nuts. She also spewed a lot of (crap) 'facts' about the evils of butter and the NEED for me to eat rice and carbs and vegetable oils/margarine (PFFT!).

I disregarded that bit and just ate a few more nuts a bit more frequently. I am scheduled to get my hormone blood tests soon (as soon as I can fit it around busy work schedule) as my mum & both sisters have been diagnosed with PCOS and given my crazy feeling of inbalanced hormones I think it is pretty likely I could have it to.

What has motivated me to continue has been my journey, I've seen the results, I FEEL the results, and after starting to research more about this diet/lifestyle and the possible positive impacts on my health (now & long term) I can't deny that this seems to be the best way forward.

I am definately planning a 'celebration' meal after my 30 days, but I want to keep it as paleo as possible. Maybe a sweet potato bake with full cream, definately a latte with full cream milk! I only used to have 1 coffee a day and I buy my coffee beans freshly roasted from another guy at work & I do miss coffees so much, more than chocolate and chips combined!

Sorry this is so long, I am new to this (19 days in) and I'm pretty enthusiatic to say the least.

This has got to be the best 'diet' I've ever tried, I don't feel bloated anymore and have more energy than ever before, even without the coffee and energy drinks, which is to me amazing as I have been working 50-60 hour weeks at work.

With my busy work schedule I don't always have time/energy/will power to get active on weeknights, I try to just focus on keeping with the food plan at the moment and keep active on the weekends with barefoot jogging on the spot in my lounge (go the wii machine!) and I try to do a 1/2 hour weights/stretch routine once or twice a week to build muscle. I'm still overweight, so I am careful to make sure I focus on quality of movements rather than quantity, as I've read you could overdo it and cause injury if you have been sedentry for a long time (that's me) and go to hard, too fast.

It certainly helps that I have support @ work through my friend, who gives my tips and links and the odd recipe, and his missus makes amazing paleo 'muffins' with almond meal that I benefit from every now and then!

At home my partner is really supportive and is eating paleo for dinners with me, with no issues or complaints. He has Barretts/GERD in a big bad way and he has told me his guts are feeling better too, he has lost weight even though he still has his latte each morning and drinks copious amounts of milk (it helps with the acid reflux). I still keep chocolate and chips in the house for him, I don't mind buying 'his food' while doing the grocery run as I wouldn't want to force the 100% thing on anyone. I think you really have to want it for yourself and OWN IT to make it work. We are both loving the variety in our diet (strange, cut out all this other food and still have more variety?!) and I have cooked 3 new dishes in the past 2 weeks that I have never tried before in my life with great success and pleasing results!

Anyway that's my answer, I will now go reasearch this Primal Blueprint you speak of!

I went Paleo because I had really bad acne.

It's all gone and couldn't be happier.

A relative of mine was diagnosed with Coeliac disease, and on investigation as to its cause and cure, I had my "Eureka moment"!

I kind of stumbled on the paleo diet, both through Stumble Upon and my own research on "how we used to eat." I'm one of those women who can't seem to lose weight and I wondered why it is that people were so much thinner 100 years ago. What I found was a body of research on remote populations and hunter gatherer tribes that have no "modern" western diseases and do not eat processed food. Their grains are even cultivated differently if they use grains. At the same time, I was learning about phytoestrogen, and in what foods it's found. It turns out that raw soy and flax have the most - and as I've read food labels, soy is more pervasive in the food supply than HFCS.

So, I cut the soy out as it was messing with more than one major body system and in the process discovered paleo. It was not a hard leap for me to cut grains and legumes as over the years, one by one, I've had to cut artificial sweeteners, MSG, HFCS, partially hydrogenated oils, etc. I really don't miss any of it, either.

By most standards here, my version of paleo is a bit bastardized - I eat full fat cheese and unsweetened yogurt as well as a couple servings of fruit a day, wine and some "hard stuff" - and I cheat on holidays (yesterday, the soda bread was fabulous, but then we made it with real butter and full-fat buttermilk). I'm not changing back to the SAD, though. I feel 1000x better, am sleeping like a rock, straightened out my bowels, have cycles much closer to those when I was younger, and I swear my jaw has spread and my teeth have straightened a bit. My hair has the curl back (waiting on the pigment to return in places), my skin is perfectly soft and I haven't broken a fingernail since November. Joints don't hurt nearly as bad (abused them as a kid) and the weight is coming off.

I'm sticking with this, that's for sure.

I went Paleo at 42, but a lot of my interests were already pointing me in this direction; I did an undergraduate anthropology degree and loved the human evolution/primitive technology stuff, fish, hunt, garden, and have an interest in in primitive technology and skills that includes axe throwing, archery, atlatlery, bushcraft, wild food gathering, fishing, and hunting.

When I found out about Paleo I felt like kicking myself for not having thought of it on my own.

1) I do the Primal Blueprint Fitness thing, workload permitting; I don't closelyfollow Sisson's diet. The exercise plan seems to not only suit, but actively help, my injured back.

2) What led me to Paleo was a Type II diabetes diagnosis that coincided with a back injury. I had a lot of time to kill so I started researching diet, a friend pointed me at Paleo, and a few months after I started I was able to discontinue my diabetes meds, I'd lost a lot of weight, and my blood pressure and lipid panels had fallen off a cliff.

3) I'm a fairly generic Paleo, dietwise. I don't eat any grains (with the exception of the occasional beer), pasta, bread, potatoes, processed/sugary/junk food, etc. I eat a lot of meat, fish, veggies, poultry, eggs, fruit, and nuts. I consume dairly only in the form of butter and the odd bit of cheese. I'll occasionally have a glass of single malt or a bit of dark chocolate. When presented with non-paleo foods in a social context I'll eat it and tell my friends "Hey, I'm not a vegan; this isn't a religious thing for me."