Testimonial : Conquering Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

At the start of the year things weren't looking too good for me - 2 stone (28lb) overweight and suffering from CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) - also known as ME. No energy, feeling sluggish, and whatever I seemed to do diet-wise, the excess weight would just not go.

A bit of research and reading led me to Paleo, and I came across Darryl's site. I must admit I contacted him with some trepidation - what if he says I'm too old/too overweight - but of course Darryl said neither of those things. Right from the start he instilled in me the confidence, mindset and hope that I can make positive health changes.

Exploring my goals with Darryl helped me to see that lifestyle changes for me weren't just about the weight loss - I wanted to have energy to play with my children, to be an active participant in their lives not a bystander, to not have to rely on coffee to prop me up during the day, to wake up feeling refreshed; actually just to feel good!

We arranged a Nutritional Consultation too, and Darryl's thorough advice and guidance helped me to adjust my diet and supplementation to help with the Chronic Fatigue. Moving to a Paleo diet also involved some big emotional adjustments for me - I hadn't eaten meat in 26 years - and Darryl's knowledge helped me to understand what I needed to do to ensure I was eating in the healthiest way possible to help my body.

I also started on Darryl's Virtual Fitness Programme, 3 sessions a week, it was fun, and tough but how proud did I feel when I did my first proper push up! 8 weeks later my strength had improved, clothes were getting too big, excess weight was reducing, my fitness had improved, and most importantly of all I had the energy I needed.  To go from 2 years of struggling to get out of bed every day to feeling invigorated is wonderful.

But this wasn't just about me, this was about me making changes for my family too, they deserve a healthy mum, and I asked them (in their own words) what they have noticed since I started my Paleo fitness journey:

"A lot of the time my mum was a bit poorly, she would stay in bed later and sit on the sofa a lot more. She is definitely a lot fitter now. She gets out of bed early now, she takes the dogs for walks more, and she plays with me and my sister more"

"My mum is going out a lot more now. When she was asked to go out with her friends before she would be too tired. Last year on holiday she would sometimes stay in the holiday cottage while we went out for the day. This year she didn't and she got in the swimming pool with us. We went out a lot more on holiday, and we go out more at home too."

This programme has made such a difference to my life and my well being already - I no longer feel resigned to a life of inactivity, weight gain and fatigue, I now have health and optimism, so thank you Darryl for instilling hope and setting me on this path.

- Linda