CARNIVORE DIET - Why?

On September 1st of 2023 my husband and I started a 30 day challenge with the Carnivore diet. I had been following along several others journeys on Tiktok and Instagram for quite some time before I was brave enough to give it a try. I figured, hey I can do anything for 30 days right? My favorite inspirational doctors on the subject are Dr. Ken Berry, Dr. Shawn Baker and Dr. Phillip Ovadia. There are so many doctors waking up and starting to research better practices and understanding how food impacts our health.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO START SUCH A "WEIRD" DIET?

• I had suffered from several migraines a month that last 3 days each for the past 30 years. They were getting more severe and greatly interfering with my daily life.

• I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and that scared me into action. I asked my doctor what I should do and she told me there is nothing we can do. I just have to wait for my numbers to get to a certain level and then we'll start medication. I absolutely rejected that advice and started my journey of looking for help.

• I was 52 and steadily gaining weight at a fast pace! I couldn't lose weight no matter how little calories I ate or how much I exercised! I could see this was about to get out of control.

• My husband suffered from chronic IBS. After meals he always had horrible gas pain and would have upset stomach daily. He thought it was normal!

DID YOU SEE ANY BENEFITS FROM THE CARNIVORE DIET?

• Absolutely!! I was shocked at how fast I lost weight! I lost 30 pounds in 30 days! I didn't exercise anymore than usual either. And the best part is I ate as much as I wanted. No starving myself as I had been doing before.

• My migraines are almost completely gone! I haven't had to take my medication since November 2023. Nearly a year free from pain and medication. I only get them now when I go out to eat! I wish I could get everyone to try this way of eating. It's so amazing.

• My labs are perfect now! My labs used to be full of flags either high or low on so many things. But my last lab, was perfect! No flags anywhere. My fasting glucose is perfect too!

• My husband's IBS is gone! He no longer has diarrhea, bloating or gas! This is such a blessing to everyone in the family! ha ha. But in all seriousness, eating shouldn't cause a person distress. And if it is, it's time to investigate and change.

  
  

WHAT DO YOU EAT?

First off, you need to consider this way of eating as an elimination diet. You are trying to remove as many inflammatory foods from your diet as possible.

When we first started this way of eating, we were very strict. For the first 30 days we ate only beef, bacon, butter and eggs. We kept our coffee in the morning, but only added butter and small amount of cream. We ate until we were full. No counting calories or macros etc. We felt so amazing after that first 30 days we decided we loved this way of eating. After 90 days we started slowly adding in things to see how we felt.

In the beginning it felt "weird" to not be cooking lots of side dishes and just make a steak for each of us topped with salt and butter. But we soon adjusted and now I absolutely love how easy cooking is!

We now do more of an "ANIMAL based" or Ketovore way of eating. We've added in cheeses, full fat heavy whipping cream (free of all chemicals), full fat plain yogurt and berries. I occasionally will have veggies that are technically fruits as they are less inflammatory for me. But my husband has learned that his body does not digest vegetables. He has found that he can tolerate fermented veggies in moderation.

When we do go out to eat, I quickly realize if I ate something that was inflammatory for me and I'll wake up in the morning with a migraine! Seed oils, heavily processed foods and salads seem to cause me the most issues. It is surprisingly easy to stick to our new way of eating. We don't like feeling bad!

Even if you feel this way of eating is way to extreme for you, I would challenge you to "rebel" against the food establishment and start investigating what is actually in the food you are eating. READ THE LABELS! Eliminate all foods with vegetable oils, canola oils etc. We cook with butter or tallow now. If you stick with single ingredient whole foods and to the outside aisles at the grocery store and you'll be on the start of a healthier life.

Be a rebel and eat a steak!