Paleo=fertile! We now have a 15 month old son!

No more colds. I used to get a cold or sinus infection every 3-4 months and it's been 7 months so far and I haven't been sick once (except the occasional tummy ache from getting glutened.) I'd always been told by my extended family that weak lungs and these sinus issues just ran in the family. I had childhood asthma and never fully recovered. Had walking pneumonia twice as an adult. I've lost about 40 pounds (still have 60 to go) and I'm actually a lot more thrilled with being able to breathe! (and let me tell you, my vanity was the main push in going this route.)

Thinking of food in an evolutionary way has improved my health so much -- and the sanity of the people around me, lol -- that I began to look at other areas in my life through the same lens. At nearly 50 years old, I've realized the things I've always craved but have downplayed in the name of "being sensible" are really extremely important: Creative expression. Time with friends. Play. And I've realized that some things that I've always felt repulsed by, but put up with anyway because "that's what grownups do" really are toxic, like spending years doing distasteful work in a distasteful environment under constant high-stress, unresolved pressure.

So I'd say I started out intending only to lose weight, and ended up planning to launch my own business and change my entire life from top to bottom. ;D

A bit saccharin but one of the better unintended results from generally being into paleo things would be becoming an active part of our little community here on this site.

I'd never been a member of a forum, board, etc. (Well, I dabbled on WAP boards but hardly like this here). I look forward to new questions, checking answers and comments from people I find interesting, getting replies to my questions, etc.

Aww, shucks.

For me, hands-down it is all of the new "friends" I have made, particularly here on PaleoHacks.

I always expected to gain health benefits. I knew given my penchant for science, that I would learn a lot about physiology, biochemistry, etc. And I fully expected that my family would benefit from it.

What I never forecasted, or certainly massively underestimated, was the number of people that I would virtually meet and have now befriended. With only a few exceptions, I am amazed at how collegial and compassionate this community is.

When I saw Jack Kronk's post a few weeks ago about his concern regarding his lipid tests, my first reaction was "my friend needs help". I have never met or talked to Jack yet that was the feeling. I'm not saying this to toot my horn at all and clearly there were many others that responded the same way.

Likewise, when I had my "coming-out" regarding my lacto-ovo implementation of Paleo due to family/ancestral baggage, I was overwhelmed by the number of supportive and thoughtful responses I got from my many new friends. I was very reluctant to write the post I did, but the community really delivered for me. THANK YOU!

So unquestionably, the relationships cultivated with many of you is the biggest surprise. And I certainly am a jokester and bullshitter at times here on PH, but this is straight from the heart. Thanks!

The most pleasant consequence, besides great improvement in overall physical health, has been an increased feeling of mental well being, like a eureka moment, like the discovery of some long lost truth.

Truth cannot be defined, although it can certainly be experienced. But experience is not a definition. Definition is done by the mind, by thoughts, but experience is done by participating. Somewhat like - If somebody asks, "What is a dance?" how can you define it..? But one can dance and one can know the inner feel of it.

My teeth don't hurt and my gums no longer bleed.

Learning to love the flavors of food again. After vegetarian -> vegan -> fruitarian ->vegetarian -> guilty occasional meat eater, relearning all the wonderful flavors of really good meats and delicious greens with piles of tasty fats has been great, experimenting with flavors I hadn't eaten in years. Plus paleo made me much more serious about finding high quality local responsibly grown produce and meat.

Paleo looks to be improving my (relatively new) marriage.

I've always been gluten free and going in and out of other food prohibitions. Until recently my husband has always made fun of me and claimed that you just need to eat a little of everything to be healthy. We typically had to eat two different dinners and it was obvious that caused him some distress.

On a road trip last week I read to my husband the first 6 chapters of NeanderThin, which go into great detail about how our Paleo ancestors ate and what happened between then and now. He was transfixed and when we got back to the house he wanted to throw away everything that contained any kind of grain. He has now eliminated all grains and we are much more in sync about who, what, when, where, why, we are eating. He has already started feeling better and has noticed positive changes in his body.

My husband now wants to learn more about the Paleo way of life, as do I, so it's now something we're both pursuing together. In a relationship where he's otherwise all about snowboarding and motorcycles, and I'm all about . . . not those things, this new combined "hobby" is turning out to be a very good thing.

I intended to lose weight and improve my blood pressure, etc., so I don't count those. The unintended consequence is that I gave myself the freedom to look at my daily life very differently. In general, I do little things for myself that previously had no personal meaning--hand washing vs. loading the washer and dryer, making homemade coconut milk or sweet potato chips, homemade deodorant vs grabbing things off store shelves and complaining about quality, walking vs driving whenever feasible. In fact, everything I eat is now prepared from scratch as I hardly ever eat out so I find I appreciate the process and the totally customized food (to my taste buds.)

Well as I lost the weight I intended to lose, I noticed that my cycle became more regular and break thru disappeared and this month not even a inkling of a cramp! I'm hoping that also means that my fibroid tumors in uterus have shrunken as an unintentional result.....will have that check up soon, wouldnt that also be awesome!!!!

I no longer get daily headaches or chronic migraines! Found out I was allergic to corn and that was causing horrible symptoms. It's a different world to not have to wake up and immediately reach for OTC headache meds.

I was always a pale person and had to hide under huge hats and clothing was the only sunblock that was good enough.

Now I tan (I still think it looks odd on me), and would have to try hard to get sunburnt.

I used to get extremely sore the day after a moderate workout, and I thought that was normal. Now I only get moderately sore after an extreme workout. Instead of forcing myself to the gym, I now have to remind myself not to spend all day there. I never expected that.

My Rosacea is gone, have not had one breakout in 4 months, yippee!, and stopped all medications.

Lower blood pressure!!!

The 10 pound weight loss has been nice, but the BEST part about it is I'm a happier person and a nicer Mama: no more food induced mood swings, no more GI distress, no more joint pain. I feel stronger during my workouts, like my body is working the way it should, not like I'm working against it to make it stronger.

I've become a better cook :)

That, and I no longer fear eating certain foods due to their oxalates. Ever since I was 17 I'd have UTI's, kidney stones, etc. and it wasn't until my lithotripsy in November of '09 that I realized it was because of my highly acidic and nutrient-poor diet that was causing the stones and recurrent infections. Cutting out beans and grains has been the biggest boon to my health, and while I still overdo the sugary fruits and occasional piece of candy, my sugar intake has been drastically reduced.

Accidentally lost 10 lbs that I didn't think I needed to lose, and now I look better than ever and I'm really happy.

Hair growing in thicker, but the new growth is still short so it is just sticking straight in the air, so I look a bit like a jackass. Increased skin quality. I feel like I have a new "hobby" that I love. Haven't been sick since I started. No gas, ever, at all, unless I eat a SAD thing. I can do pushups.

The best part? Helping people around me who have struggled with health for years transition into this way of eating and watching them reap the benefits. That part is humbling and amazing.

After reading so much there wasn't much that surprised me.

Except for the snoring . . . I don't snore any more. Seriously! I wouldn't have known otherwise, except my wife who has endured my epic snoring for 13 years mentioned it in passing 5 months into eating Paleo.