Welcome to the Paleo Network.

Suzanne-Crawt-Suz-Paleo-Primal-Diet-Robb-Wolf-Mark-Sisson-Sally-Fallon

From top left: Meeting Dr Terry Wahls, Sally Fallon, Mark Sisson, David Gillespie, Robb Wolf, Erwan Le Corre, Nora Gedgaudas, Jimmy Moore and Barefoot Ted

This is the place to come to find out everything you need to know about how to lead a Paleo lifestyle.

Find Medics, Nutritionists & PT's who can work with you from a Paleo perspective.  Learn how to cook your favourite dishes, with hundreds of Paleo recipes – all free on this site.

Arrange your schedule with details on all of the up and coming Paleo themed events in the region and worldwide.

Connect with other Paleo people, just like you – in your area.

Find out where to buy Paleo supplies locally at the best price.

My Paleo Journey – So Far…

I’m Suz, I’m 30-something (not sure how that happened) and I’ve been living in Sydney, Australia since 2008, and am honoured to have become an Australian citizen in early 2013.

Today, I spend my time learning about this lifestyle and meeting as many of the experts and leaders of this lifestyle as I can.

I’m English and prior to Australia had lived in the south of England for my whole life.  My life in England was very un-Paleo.  I used to commute to work by car, very rarely exercised (I fact I HATED any form of exercise with a passion) and my diet comprised of lots of take-away meals, refined carbs and junk foods.  I also spent many weekends refining my skills in the great British talent of binge drinking.  I was very overweight and unhealthy.  I developed asthma in 2005 and became resigned to the fact that I just was overweight and unhealthy.

Coming to Australia changed a lot.  Mild 3-month winters – instead of the seemingly permanent bitterly cold winters in the UK, automatically lead to a more outdoor life.  A trip back to the UK and some old ice skating photos made me realise I had not always been fat and unhealthy – in fact before I left home at 18 I used to be slim and fit (I had a very healthy diet growing up, not too far removed from Paleo).   I returned to Sydney from that trip, on a mission to find out everything I could about health.  This coincided with a month of feeling ill; I seemed to have never ending colds and pain.  This was further proof that I needed to change something, quickly.  But what?


The turning point photos – ice skating at 15

I immediately threw out all processed food in the house and replaced it with “healthy” wholegrain bread and “healthy” wholegrain rice (I know, I know!), I bought organic vegetables and a ridiculous amount of organic fruit.  I started to spend a lot of time at the library reading everything they had on nutrition.  I read some crazy books!  I spent my lunchtimes at work in the book store reading all of their nutrition books – until I’d read them all.  I could tell you exactly which shelf, which book was on.  Many of the books made no sense to me what so ever.  Find out your blood type, and eat from this list of foods.  Measure exactly what is in your food and only eat this many grams of fat, buy this special formula and magically lose weight, go vegan…  When I found the Primal Blueprint and the Paleo Diet, I finally found ideas and concepts that just felt right and logical.  I then threw out the grains and started eating a (semi-strict) Paleo diet.


I spent weeks reading every single book on nutrition, in my local book shop.

At the same time I’d also enrolled in my first ever dance classes.  I’d always thought you had to be six years old to start dance classes, so was very hesitant about starting.  I found a fantastic dance studio that had been in my suburb all along.  I started with Bollywood dancing, and then took more and more classes, until I was doing Commercial Jazz, Broadway Jazz and Ballet too.  I found it very challenging from a fitness perspective initially, but the immense enjoyment was far more compelling than the hard work.  After a few weeks, for the first time ever, I actually started to enjoy the exercise element in its own right.

My fitness was also growing, as (at the same time, I don’t do things by halves!) I started walking the 4.6km (2.9 miles) distance between work and home.  It’s crazy looking back now, to how big a deal this seemed initially.  I started off walking home a few nights a week, then every night – and after a month I was walking to and from work every day.  I instantly felt so much better; fitter and “well”.  I love this time each day as I get to reflect on the day, listen to music and podcasts, and often get some sun.

I fairly quickly lost just under 20 kilos (44 pounds) and felt fantastic.  I have not experienced the slightest asthma symptom since November 2010, despite trying to replicate situations that would have previously triggered it.  I can’t think of a single cold I’ve suffered from in all this time either.

Some months later I joined a gym intent on becoming stronger – with the aim of achieving chin-ups and proper “man” push-ups.  I started having PT sessions and have made serious headway with my goals.  I currently have two to three sessions a week, and am looking forward to seeing exactly how much more I’m capable of achieving.

I’ve continued to read as much as I can about Nutrition and Ancestral Health which has lead to more changes and refinements to how I do things today.  I’m sure there are further refinements and tweaks to come too, as I learn, experiment and discover more.

I’d been a regular reader of Marks Daily Apple for a while, and decided to go to PrimalCon in April this year.  I also went back to LA in August for the Ancestral Health Symposium.  These trips significantly increased my knowledge and commitment to the Paleo lifestyle and I’m immensely looking forward to attending both events next year too.  I just wish they were a bit closer!  PrimalCon was the first time I’d met other people leading a Primal lifestyle and it was a wonderful experience.  I’ve since been to a few meetups with the Sydney Paleo Meetup group and am so pleased to have finally met locals with similar lifestyle ideas.  Since the AHS I’ve been very strictly Paleo, the main change was losing the dairy – and finally the artificial sweeteners.  I’ve also not had any alcohol since I got back from America (not sure how much longer I’ll continue with that experiment, but so far the results are well worth it).  I’ve also (hopefully by example and not pressure) converted my Paleo sceptic housemate to a Paleo lifestyle!

Since I’ve been strict Paleo another pleasing side effect has been sleep.  Back in the UK I used to always be fighting sleep in afternoon meetings at work.  I’d then wake up in the evening, go to bed late, struggle to get to sleep, struggle to wake up when my alarm went off – and start the whole cycle over.  Since I dropped the grains, legumes and processed foods I stopped struggling to stay awake during the day.  However, I was still wide awake at night and relying on my alarm clock every morning.  Since I’ve been strict Paleo, along with a few other changes I’ll talk more about in a future post, my sleep has transformed.  I now feel tired in the evenings, fall asleep quickly and I’ve woken up before my alarm clock everyday!  What a difference proper sleep makes.

I’ve still got somewhere between 10 and 20 kilos or so to go but, slowly, I’m definitely on the way.  Perhaps if I get brave enough I’ll post my “before” and current “during” photos!

How did you find out about Paleo?  What differences have you noticed since you made the change?

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