The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy (Primal Blueprint Series) [Paperback]

Mark Sisson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 14, 2012 | Series: Primal Blueprint Series

The Primal Blueprint is a simple, flexible plan to help you look and feel your best without struggling or suffering, by adapting the simple lifestyle practices of our hunter-gatherer ancestors into modern life. Sisson presents the compelling premise that you can reprogram your genes in the direction of weight loss, health, and longevity by following 10 immutable Primal Blueprint lifestyle laws validated by two million years of human evolution. Weight loss is largely about insulin; moderate your production by eliminating sugar and grains, and you will lose the excess body fat you desire even while eating delicious, satisfying foods. Plus you will improve your energy level, reduce inflammation, and eliminate disease risk. Eating meat, eggs, and a generally high-fat diet not only is healthy but is the key to effortless weight loss, a healthy immune system, and boundless energy.Slowing down your typical cardiovascular workouts, and incorporating brief, intense strength sessions and occasional all-out sprints can produce fitness benefits far superior to workouts that are longer and more grueling-and can eliminate the risk of burnout.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Primal Nutrition, Inc.; 2 edition (January 14, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982207786
• ISBN-13: 978-0982207789
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (443 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diets & Weight Loss > Low Carb
  • #7 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diets & Weight Loss > Paleo
  • #11 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Health and fitness expert Mark Sisson is the bestselling author of The Primal Blueprint and one of the leading voices of the burgeoning Evolutionary Health Movement. His blog, MarksDailyApple.com, has paved the way for Primal enthusiasts to challenge conventional wisdom's diet and exercise principles and take personal responsibility for their health and well-being. From its humble--and controversial--beginnings in 2006, Marks Daily Apple has grown into one of the highest-ranked health information resources on the Internet, with 1.6 million unique visitors each month. Mark, 59, has a BA in biology from Williams College and is a former world-class endurance athlete, with a 2:18 marathon and a fourth-place finish in the Hawaii Ironman World Triathlon Championships. Today, Mark directs his competitive energies into high-stakes Ultimate Frisbee tournaments against competitors decades younger! Besides blogging daily, Mark conducts seminars on the Primal Blueprint way of life across North America and hosts weekend "PrimalCon" retreats in California. He operates Primal Blueprint Publishing in Malibu, CA, publishing his own titles as well as work from other authors promoting ancestral health principles. Mark is married to Carrie and they have two children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Primal Nutrition, Inc.; 2 edition (January 14, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982207786
• ISBN-13: 978-0982207789
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (443 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diets & Weight Loss > Low Carb
  • #7 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diets & Weight Loss > Paleo
  • #11 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness

More About the Author

Health and fitness expert Mark Sisson is the publisher of the acclaimed MarksDailyApple.com, a popular health blog with millions of pageviews each month. His 2009 book, The Primal Blueprint, climbed to a top-10 ranking in amazon.com's health and fitness category, and has been critically acclaimed for challenging many flawed elements of Conventional Wisdom about diet and exercise. Sisson's "Primal" theme encourages us to reconnect with our hunter-gatherer ancestral roots: eating natural plant and animal foods, getting plenty of low-level daily activity interspersed with occasional brief, intense exercise, and engaging in lifestyle behaviors that balance the stress of hectic modern life. Sisson was one of the world's most versatile and accomplished endurance athletes, with a 2:18 marathon to his credit and a fourth place finish in the Hawaii Ironman World Triathlon Championships. He also served as the first anti-doping leader of the International Triathlon Union and consulted internationally for the International Olympic Committee on endurance training, nutritional supplementation, and the effects of performance enhancing drugs on athletes. He is the founder and president of Primal Nutrition, Inc. a Malibu, CA supplement company. Sisson lives in Malibu with his wife and two children.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#58 in Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting

#61 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting

#58 in Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting

#61 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 108 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget the pounds - do it for the pain relief!-WITH UPDATE! March 8, 2012

By Maryland Shopper

Format:Paperback

My husband can't eat gluten and I ran across this book while doing my endless research on grains, inflammation and diet. This book is wonderful in many ways, but I'm going to focus my review on the information the book covers on grains and why we shouldn't be eating them. Give it chance. Don't immediately think this is the Atkins diet only with organic foods. Don't roll your eyes and think that this whole "gluten-free" thing you keep hearing about is some trend that the celebrities are talking about. This book spells out what grains do to us. Even though we had removed wheat from our diet, we had really just replaced it with a lot of corn products and other seemingly "safe" grains. We were overweight, always hungry, and my husband had a lot of pain throughout his body - just mysterious aches and pains everywhere. I was beginning to think we needed to get to a fibromyalgia specialist or a pain management doctor. I kept hanging onto this book and after several weeks of prodding, I finally got hubby to agree to give me a month on this diet. It was not an easy sell because he had already given up so many favorite foods by going gluten free, but I finally got him to say "yes." I cleaned out the pantry, made a shopping list, bought the food and we started in mid-January. Now we are in early March and we've both lost about twenty pounds each. Attention Ladies - the belly fat came off -six inches worth off my waist (I'm 49-not easy to do). But that is not why I love Mark Sisson and this book - not at all. I love it because the body-wide pain my husband had is nearly gone. He said he feels better than he has since he was a young man. I am so grateful to Mark Sisson because I was days away from looking into prescription pain relief for my husband as he deteriorated before my eyes.... I hope some day I can meet Mr. Sisson and shake his hand. This morning as I left for work, my husband was bopping around the kitchen, making breakfast and looked happy and healthy. A few weeks ago he was hobbling around like an old man. His mother called me crying when she saw him walking from his car into her apartment building because she said he looked 80 years old.

Do yourself a favor and give it a month. Many people say the foods on this diet are expensive, and it is a shock to buy organic produce and meat, but a week or two into the diet, you are just not very hungry and I have found that I actually spend less on groceries. I buy grass-fed ground beef and large packs of organic chicken from Costco. We eat loads of organic salad, broccoli and kale. If we have a sweet craving we eat a little dark chocolate. Even if you can't buy totally organic - just apply the principles in the book and avoid the sugar and grains and you will feel like a new person.

Bottom line - we both feel great and my husband's pain is soon to be a thing of the past. It's great to have smaller pants, but it's even greater to have our health improved in such a short period of time.

UPDATE: September 2012 - my husband and I continue to shrink. This is the first time I have ever lost more weight than him (40 pounds)and that's just because he eats more fruit smoothies than I do. The big news is that my husband's bloodwork has completely changed in the time since I wrote the original review. Cholesterol dropped over 40 points, good cholesterol went up and triglycerides went down. CRP (inflammation) went down under 1 which means my husband is out of danger in terms of cardiac risk. This time last year my husband was in daily pain, couldn't remember anything and was being treated by a cardiologist. My husband's doctor told him he would never be able to turn his cholesterol around without statin drugs. This month, when the doctor reviewed my husband's labs he was amazed. He said, and I quote "what was the name of that book again?" This way of eating has changed our lives in ways I could not have imagined - we have so much more energy, brain fog is gone, more new pants for me, more inches off my waist, and people who haven't seen us for a while say we look 20 years younger. This plan takes commitment, but if you truly clean out the junk foods (grains) in your house and hang in there to get through the initial cravings, you will never look back. It is such a relief to never be hungry and not have to always think about food. If you are heading down the heart attack path of high cholesterol and your doctor is saying you have to get on statins - do this instead. If you have pain from arthritis or fibromyalgia, try this. It is truly life changing. Read more ›

321 of 353 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Continuous References to Web Site... Why Buy the Book? February 6, 2011

By Steph

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

First let me say that I am a believer in the Primal Blueprint Plan. I stumbled across Marks Daily Apple web site and wanted to learn more. I was pleased to discover that he had written a book. I figured rather than dig through the web site to find out more, I would buy the book and have the whole plan at my fingertips -- no more searching the web site.

WRONG. The book continuously gives an introduction and then section after section, refers you to marksdailyapple.com for more information. It doesn't say where on the web site, either. If I have to mine through the web site, why did I need to buy the book?

I agree with other reviewers who indicate the book is very repetitive without giving solid examples -- lots of overview. There isn't a 7 day plan or 30 day plan or sample work outs, just generalities. Again, if you want examples, you are referred to the web site.

I purchased the Kindle version of the book -- there are no charts or graphs, all text. I am not sure if the printed book is presented in the same format, but I find it hard to read. For example, identifying fruits from most favorable to occasional, a chart would have been easy to read. Instead, it is written in paragraph format.

Again, I am a supporter of the plan and am beginning to adopt it myself. However, I can't really recommend the book. It seems that all the info you need is on the web site. If you buy the book, you will be referred to the web site anyway.

273 of 303 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Info, But Not For the 50+ Woman February 15, 2012

By Mary Ann Farley

Format:Paperback

Without question, the logic of this book is rock-solid. And as time goes on, the theory that it's the carbs that are making us fat will be seen as truth, not cutting-edge theory.

However, for anyone buying this book for weight loss, particularly post-menopausal women, you may have to go elsewhere for help. I've been doing this diet for a solid two months, and I've actually gained three pounds. And believe me, I've been diligent...no cheating, no overdoing it on the calories.

What's funny about Mark's web site and books (I have two) is that in the photos that accompany them, he proudly shows off his strapping physique (good for him). But the woman he's with is clearly much younger than him. Undoubtedly, she's doing the primal thing, too, but as any post-menopausal woman knows, your weight issues before and after "the change" are two entirely different animals.

I even went to marksdailyapple.com for advice, but the only listing that came up under a search for menopausal weight loss was one discussion board piece written by a woman who'd suddenly gained weight after menopause, even while following the whole primal protocol. Her solution was to severely restrict her calories.

But that was the ONLY INFO on his site...or in this book for that matter...for the 50+ gal. Not criticizing his theories here...just alerting women like myself that you may feel a bit left out of this whole discussion. I'm currently researching other books that will address this sudden weight gain. (I've gained 18+ pounds in just 3 years. Pretty freaky when you've been very thin your whole life.) If anyone has some suggestions for me, I'd appreciate it. I'll be back to check the comments.

94 of 103 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but fluffy January 5, 2012

By Jon Schipp "Keisterstash"

Format:Hardcover

I've been familiar with paleo-lifestyle for about a year now. I recently heard of Mark on an episode of the Lew Rockwell Show.

Wiki: "Mark Sisson is an American fitness author and blogger, and a former distance runner, triathlete and Ironman competitor. Sisson finished 4th in the February 1982 Ironman World Championship."

I agree with most things in the book and have shifted my eating habits in his direction. I thought the book was informative, easy to read, but way too fluffy. I didn't like the fact that the book exceeded 200+ pages for the content presented. I feel like you could have understood everything in the book by just reading a few articles and in less time.

The book could have been easily trimmed to 100 pages.

Though, if you aren't familiar with the primal lifestyle then this is a good book to get started.

Mark presents an exercise routine and some dietary guidelines which I liked.