by Keith Sanvidge

Healthful food and exercise are important to me. If you are reading this, there's a good chance they are important to you. But not everyone feels the same way.

If the greatest joy a person finds in life is eating donuts dipped in milkshakes, a low-carb Primal lifestyle is not going to sound appealing. Even when health problems inevitably show up, the donut-eater may be unwilling to change their ways. This is their choice.

I want to scream at people every day for the junk they habitually consume, but I know it won't do any good. I could throw a hundred studies at people showing how grains and sugar are the causes of many "incurable" diseases, but they wouldn't care. Even if I convince them somehow that fats are good, and carbs are bad, most really don't see the point in making any changes.

"We're all going to die anyway right? Might as well enjoy it."

If you enjoy crippling pain and debilitating diseases, more power to you. If you enjoy loss of mental faculties and incessant weight gain, then so be it. The Primal life is not for you.

If you want to enjoy long years in good health, maybe you should go Primal.

Think about this: If you were diagnosed with terminal cancer, what would you be willing to do to get better?

Before reading this, you probably would have said you would do anything. I'm sure you would be willing to take any medication prescribed, damn the side effects. Take antioxidants? Sure. But what are your limits?

What if all you had to do was to cut out the carbs?

Would you be willing?

I can't comprehend being told that there was a possible cure for my disease with NO SIDE EFFECTS, and not being willing to try it.

Yet that is what happens in studies done using low-carb diets to cure cancer. Most of the patients drop out because they aren't willing to give up sweets. Seriously? You'd rather have cancer and die than put down the ice cream? (As an aside: the treatment works 1,2)

It's not like you can't enjoy life if you give up sugar, and you can certainly still have some every once in a while. I had a bit of ice cream earlier. Have I just ruined my life? I don't think so.

Remember Mark Sisson's 80/20 principle. If you eat right 80% of the time, the 20% shouldn't matter too much. I've found that the longer I stay Primal the easier it is to resist the 20%. I have basically no desire for grain products. It doesn't seem like food anymore. Sugar still has allure, but I don't usually fall victim.

Would I stop eating sugar completely if I had to? In a heart beat.

But not everyone is the same.

I'm going to quote Richard Nikoley from Free the Animal here:

Let's say that going to the gym and doing the prescribed intense exercises gives you five extra years of life. But if you hate it, are those estimated extra years worth 40, 50, 60 years in the gym 2-3 times per week…doing something you hate?

It's an interesting question. I think you have to find exercise that you enjoy. Get out and try some sports if the gym isn't the right place for you. You may also be suffering from ingrained sedentary behavior.

When you are sedentary your body no longer maintains the proper infrastructure to support exercise. You have to slowly retrain your body. Many people find that after they exercise for a few weeks, they no longer hate it like they thought they did. After a while you may find burpees fun like I do.

But what do you want to accomplish? Do you want to live a long and healthful life? Then start making changes in your life. Build positive habits and stop sitting around all day.

Do you want to keep Hostess in business? Go on the Twinkie Diet.

You don't have to choose an extreme. Maybe instead of 80/20 you could shoot for 70/30 or 60/40. While I don't think any amount of grain consumption is optimal for human health, it is reasonable to assume that because of societal pressures some amount may be required for your happiness.

Just remember that Heroin and Crack make their users happy for a time too.