My Passion: The caveman diet has changed my life for the better

In honesty, my lunch back then was typically a sandwich, crisps and pop, which led to fatigue, eczema escalating to psoriasis and acne. I didn’t feel full so was constantly eating. I felt tired and stressed all the time. Not good.

As a father of two young boys (three-and-a-half and almost two), frankly I needed to be running at full throttle. Young boys treat us dads as human trampolines, we enjoy lots of bouncing, wrestling and play – but my poor diet and lack of exercise impacted not only on my enthusiasm for that role, but also my business. The more weight I piled on, the more demotivated and lethargic I became, especially when I realised none of my nice clothes fitted any longer.

When our second child Alexander came along, all my good intentions frankly went to pot. The sleepless and broken nights made me gravitate to easy options and my commitment went downhill.

Rather than make changes bit by bit, I have adopted the Paleo lifestyle fully this year with my wife Fiona who joined our gym four years ago. This year I have not touched grains or processed sugar.

It has been hard to start again, the first four months were difficult after Christmas and New Year, but now I can see my body shape changing and feel more energetic, lively, better about myself, healthier, more motivated.

The Paleo diet is based on no grains, no dairy, no processed food or sugar. It’s known as the caveman diet because you are eating close to what a primeval person would have done. We get through 24 eggs a week, lots of almonds and bake our own flaxseed bread.

My wife makes tabouleh similar to couscous but made with cauliflower acts as a great replacement to rice. One of my favourites is courgette ‘pasta’ with pan fried pancetta or ham hock and garlic. It tastes just like carbonara.

We drink water or Paleo ‘bullet proof’ coffee, and we have replaced our usual cooking oil with organic coconut oil which is an appetite controller. There is loads of research into its health benefits.