Listen to Coach Andy tell his story of how he found the carnivore diet and healed his anxiety, brain fog and started to lead a healthier life.
Book Coach Andy for your 30 minute session and get all of the help and support you need!
Tracy experienced a health crisis that put her into the hospital. She was diagnosed with high blood pressure, low potassium and pre-diabetes.
Listen to this busy mom’s story and how she got herself off several medications and became a certified carnivore health coach!
Book Coach Tracy for your 30 minute session and get all of the help and support you need!
My name is Kiki.
I have been eating a carnivore diet of 90% beef since March 2018.
I eat 2 meals a day of 1 lb. of beef each meal.
I usually eat my meals at 11am and 6pm.
I eat when hungry. I always eat to satiety. I do not limit meal size or calories.
I supplement with salt.
I do not test ketones, use a food app, or weigh myself.
I was a 35-year vegetarian and during that time often vegan.
I was very attached to my vegetarian way of life and the belief system that I was eating the ideal health diet while contributing to a better planet and global future having been inspired by many popular vegetarian and vegan books of that time.
I have been involved in Yoga since I was 19 years old, for nearly 40 years now. This dedicated practice as well as decades of Yoga teaching – with more than a dozen study trips to vegetarian South India over a 20-year period – kept me tied to vegetarianism as part of a spiritual belief system and the supposed foundation for luminous health. Simultaneously I embraced a strongly pushed vegetarian propaganda that meat eating and animal farming were causes of global disease and global destruction. These are ideas that most vegetarians accept without question and sacrificing all logic.
I have always been highly physically active – from a competitive runner in high school, professional dancer and actress and an intensely dedicated yoga practitioner – waking at 3am and doing 2-3 hours of intense and advanced yoga asanas for decades while running a yoga school, directing yoga programs and teaching world wide and with a roster of celebrity clients as well as creating yoga programming for individuals and communities with MS, Spinal Cord Injury, disabilities, and vets with PTSD.
From the age of my late 30’s, I began to develop more and more digestive problems (swinging from constipation to loose stools) and kept trying to address this through shifting how I ate a vegetarian diet – from cooked, to raw, to Ayurvedic to macrobiotic to vegan. As well as adding herbs, superfoods, supplements etc. I also developed increasing chemical sensitivities to paint, chemicals, and cologne leading to rashes, flushed skin, and stomach upset.
From being uniquely strong and high energy, I began to develop more and more body pain and stiffness. When I would travel to India – for the first ten years, I would always become more strong and flexible and focussed. But this eventually changed. Rather I would almost instantly have more pain and terrible inflammation. I thought it was due to the intensify of yoga practices, along with so called “over use syndrome” – but now in retrospect I see it was legumes, cereal grains, and toxic plant compounds. I cannot tolerate these at all today.
My health continued to plummet with B12 anaemia that included visual and auditory hallucinations, fainting, intense brain fog, and extreme exhaustion I was also extremely deficient in most B vitamins and vitamin D (and yes, I supplemented with B12 for decades)
For nearly 10 years leading up to my carnivore diet change, I needed to soak in a hot bath everyday to begin to move. I got weekly massages as well as weekly acupuncture and was usually getting an additional kind of therapeutic healing like fascial release sessions, chiropractics, Somatics, barefoot movement and the list goes on. All this to manage 24-hour pain and to just get through my week.
A looming crisis of faith along with my determination to beat these health concerns and a belief that we can heal ourselves (and that I could reverse my situation and thrive) with food choices led me to deeply research Weston A. Price, bone broth, Ketogenics, paleo, zero carb and I found my way to the Low Carb Down Under, Ancestral Health and other presentations where I learned from Dr. Shawn Baker, Dr. Georgia Ede, Sally K. Norton, and so many others whose research I embraced to completely heal. Several Facebook groups like Principia Carnivora, Women’s Carnivore Tribe and Vegan and Vegetarian Recovery offered a great deal of community support. I also listened to every Human Outliers Podcast for a year.
I am so grateful to this Carnivore community and to all those that are participating in research and spreading the word on Carnivore, ultra low carb, zero carb and plant-free lifestyles.
Today I have more vitality than I could have imagined. I feel that I have turned back the clock 20 years (years that were lost to me due to pain and exhaustion). Just a few months ago I registered a Guinness Book of World Records for the Longest Held Downward Dog Pose at 1 hour and 20 seconds. I have taken up kettle bells as well as other athletic and optimal development practices.
My hair and nails are thick and growing. My skin is smooth and my body is lean and toned. I am strong and energetic. I recently moved onto my sailboat and am living a sailing life (this would have been physically impossible 2 years ago).
All the health concerns listed below have disappeared except for some remaining tinnitus, occasional insomnia as well as sensitivity with minor rashes and some low back pain when I eat off plan (which includes a few animal foods I cannot tolerate like pork, dairy and eggs).
The List:
20 years of intensifying body aches
24-hour pain
Very cold hands and feet all year around
Cold all the time.
Intense exhaustion
Injuries not healing
Rashes
Chemical sensitivities
Weakness, extreme stiffness
Difficulty in walking – hip inflammation – sciatica like pain
Tinnitus
Swollen and seeping ears
B12 anaemia (hallucinations, fearfulness, fainting)
Anxiety (I did not know I had this until it was gone) I had accepted this mind state as normal.
Superstitious
Paranoid
Sadness / very emotional
Low thyroid (I took a medication which I no longer need)
Weak nails
Slow growing hair
Some hair receding
Extreme tinnitus
Insomnia
Racing thoughts and sleeplessness
Digestive concerns – constipation to loose stools
Some weight gain that I could not control with accompanied inflammation and sudden cellulite and skin dimpling (2 years prior and leading up to Carnivore change)
Non-motivated to exercise
Constant need to nap
Wanting to sleep all the time
Brain fog
Uninspired
Gnawing hunger
An all encompassing fear of losing my community and being judged.
More about me at KikiFlynn.com, Kiki Says on YouTube and Kiki_Says on Instagram
Cassie lost 100 pounds lost in 9 months on Carnivore!
I’m never going back. I was sick, in pain, and tired. I don’t ever want to be that person again.
Six years ago (at age 45) I started Paleo because I was 376 pounds, walking with a cane, taking naps every day, and on allergy medicine because of constant allergy attacks. I had candida overgrowth which was causing me issues and when I googled to find a resolution it led me to Paleo. I did Paleo for 2 ½ years and lost 170 pounds. It healed most of my problems but I eventually stalled and then started to introduce Paleo treats which fueled my carb addiction (which had never gone away). Eventually I started eating processed foods, sugar, and corn again. I stayed gluten-free due to my IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) / leaky gut.
In late 2019, my candida overgrowth had returned with a vengeance and when I googled again for a resolution, I found Carnivore. I had heard of the zero-carbers when I was Paleo but thought it was radical so I never tried it. This time there was a lot more information on zero-carb and Carnivore. I read up on it, watched videos, and decided to give it a try. I decided I would do it for a few weeks in November 2019 but that I would go off of it while I was traveling for work and enjoying Thanksgiving. I did the same in December. Each time I had the carnivore flu.
When January 3, 2020 arrived (age 50), I started again from my highest weight in the past 5 years of 294 pounds. I told my husband that I was doing “zero-carb keto” for a while. I didn’t admit to being Carnivore until a month later. I had the carnivore flu (again), bathroom issues, and fatigue. I knew now what to expect and I was learning a lot of information from Facebook. When I joined MeatRx, I attended as many meetings as I could to learn from everyone on the new platform. The meeting leaders were great and had all been on carnivore for 6 months, 1 year, or even longer. It was also great to be on the same path as other new people starting in January.
In the beginning I ate a lot of chaffles (egg and cheese in a waffle iron), bbq (unsauced), and bacon. I always carried bacon with me including when I traveled twice in January for work. I had a burst of energy at week 3, but then was fatigued for a few more weeks. I had meat aversion around week 4, but I did short fasts until my appetite came back. By week 6 my carb cravings were gone. Sweet treats still smell good to me, but I have absolutely no desire to have one. I never want to go back to feeling so sick, dazed, and confused.
By the third month I felt fully dedicated–nothing could dissuade me from staying on Carnivore for life. I’m a total convert. My work capacity has increased dramatically. I feel like my brain was operating at 30% compared to 100% now. I have so much energy I overdid it with construction projects at our new home and now I’m having some physical therapy for shoulder / rotator cuff tendonitis. I haven’t truly exercised but I do get out 2-3 times a month for a 2-mile run/walk when the air quality in California allows.
Two questions I get asked frequently after losing 100 pounds in exactly 9 months. Do I fast? I did a bit of fasting the first 6 months but since I was doing so many projects on the house I needed the food for fuel. Now that I am healing my shoulder and not taking vacation I am more sedentary. I generally fast now either 1, 2, or 3 days a week. It just depends on how hungry I am. The other question is about excess skin. I do have it which is one reason I fast (for the autophagy) but I fully expect to have some skin removal surgery on my arms, stomach, and thighs. You can’t lose almost 200 pounds in 6 years (half my body weight!!!) without needing some help through body contouring.
I do not have insulin resistance or thyroid issues. I think this is why I can lose weight easily at age 50/51. I’ve lost 100+ pounds three other times in my life (WW, Exercise, Paleo). Another reason I do well is that I don’t deviate from plan. I know I’m a true carb addict so I must completely abstain. I don’t ever want to lose this. Even if I never lost another pound I wouldn’t care. I’ve gotten more of my life back in less than 10 months then I ever anticipated. I still attend MeatRx meetings when my schedule allows so if you see me in the evening social meetings or at the carb addiction meetings (which I lead), please say hello. See you on the other side!!!
Food: I eat beef, bacon, pork, chicken wings, duck, black coffee. Gave up eggs (even egg yolks caused me nausea) and now only have a small amount of cheese. Dairy (heavy cream, soft cheeses) do slow my weight loss / cause weight gain.
Exercise: I run/walk a few times a month about 2 miles each time
Healed: Carb cravings, brain fog, plantar fasciitis, heel spur pain, severe candida overgrowth, edema, back pain (which required me to take anti-inflammatories every night and to sleep sitting up)
I don’t normally do this, but my experience so far with carnivore has been so powerful and LIFE CHANGING that maybe this could be inspiring towards others.
My Carnivore Journey
I always had a problem with weight since I was a child. When I got older it would yoyo
back and forth reaching a peak of over 260 pounds. When the scale said 260 I stopped
weighing myself, it was too depressing.
During nursing school, I began going to the gym, juicing, and experimenting with
intermittent fasting. The weight slid off. I looked good and felt good. I was eating lots of
kale, spinach, and broccoli.
Around 2015 I began to notice that after exercising it felt like I never recovered. I was
sore all the time. My joints began to ache and I lost my strength. I would sit on the
weight bench dreading my next set.
I thought maybe I was over exercising and began backing off hoping that would help. I
began using less weight and going to the gym less frequently. I gradually went from 4
days a week, to 2 days a week, to one day a week, to none.
During this time my health began to deteriorate. My worst symptom was brain fog. I was
a corrections nurse and at times I had to be on my toes. It became frightening when I
had to respond to a medical emergency and struggled to remember what to do.
My symptoms included joint and muscle pain even though I was no longer exercising.
No strength, no drive, and no libido. I felt cold all the time, my skin was dry, I was
gaining weight, and constipated.
My life became centered around finding the strength to make it through a day at work. I
would drink a pot of coffee in the morning, drink coffee at work, go home and rest, go to
bed, and repeat. I had to drink the coffee for physical and mental energy to function,
and then rest at home hoping to be able to do it again the next day.
I ended up switching jobs to a psych unit which was a bit easier. While I was at that job
a new symptom emerged, I lost my eyebrows. One day I noticed in the mirror that my
hair was looking thin and then realized my eyebrows were almost completely gone. As
time went by I watched them slowly fade away to the point that someone at work asked
me if I shaved my eyebrows. Very embarrassing.
I spoke with some people at work about my health issues and someone suggested
hypothyroidism. When I looked into it many of my symptoms, including the lack of
eyebrows fit. So February 2018 I decided to go to the doctor. He had me get labs and
checked my TSH. It was 2.4085, right in the middle of normal. I didn’t know what else to
do, nor did I have the strength to do anything. I felt like I was waiting to die.
June of 2018 I watched the Joe Rogan podcast with Jordan Peterson where he talked
about his daughter Mikhaila and her health problems. I then watched Joe’s podcast with
her. I was inspired and hopeful that maybe if I gave the carnivore diet 30 days it might
help me. I had a blog that I wasn’t updating anymore and decided to use it to record my
progress and see if it worked.
I weighed myself, took pictures, and did some measurements. I decided to be as strict
as possible so I didn’t accidently sabotage myself. I ate only beef, salt, and water. Over
the 30 days my health greatly improved. The brain fog began to lift, my weight and waist
began to shrink. I felt more energy and my pain began to diminish.
During that 30 days I delved into as much information about the carnivore lifestyle as I
could find. I found Shawn Baker’s podcast with Joe Rogan and the meat heals, now
meatrx website. The meatrx website has been a source of inspiration for me. I devoured
the testimonials. Reading all the success stories gave me hope that if it worked for them
maybe it can work for me.
After the 30 days I felt so healthy I never wanted to stop and take a chance of my health
deteriorating again. Today, a little over 2 years into my journey I have relaxed my diet a
little. I eat bacon, cheese, and egg yolks with beef. I have also included liver and
kidneys (Kidneys are $.50 a pound and I am a cheap bastard). I also use pepper and
tobasco sauce for additional flavor.
The majority of my health issues have resolved, including my eyebrows. They are still a
little thin but they are back! When I would get into my car my knees would hurt, now
they don’t. Even today when I get into my car I am amazed that they don’t hurt. My
constipation is mostly gone, my skin is nails, and hair are much improved. My strength,
energy, and drive have returned.
I believe my health had deteriorated to the point that it is taking some time to come
back. I still have severe seasonal allergies however as I am writing this it is the first fall
that is not so bad, things are still getting better, even after 2 years. So I want to give you
hope like so many have done for me. If you are having health problems try the carnivore
diet for 30 days. If after 30 days you still have some health issues give it time, you might
be like me, and need a few years to rebuild.
My name is Josh and I am 32 years old. Back in December my wife and I had a baby, the months leading up the delivery of our baby girl, I was eating anything and everything. If the wife would get cravings I would get cravings. All of a sudden we are sent into a lockdown due to Covid which just got my diet out of control and I desperately needed a change. I started to feel very out of shape, weighing my heaviest at 210 lbs.
I have seen a free online 30 day shred competition pop up on my Facebook one day that was starting May 1st, 2020. I thought to myself, hey I may as well register and that will be a great start. I ended up winning that competition and with that came 3 months free training from a very reputable trainer based out of Los Angeles. My diet consisted of animal based products and a lot of training! 6 days a week, twice a day. I did a daily fasted cardio early in the morning before work, and then I would do some weight lifting at night.
Fast forward to today I am at my goal weight of 180 lbs. Thanks for allowing me to share my carnivore diet success story!
My medical history consisted of very few issues. I had always been about 20 pounds overweight and I have always struggled with undiagnosed OCD that was annoying but never bad enough that I talked to any professional about it. Around age 7, I had developed allergies to just about every pollen but that was easily managed with over the counter allergy medications. By age 18, I had a reoccurring MRSA infection problem (managed with over the counter antibiotic ointment), some adult acne, and I would constantly have a flu or cold. I figured that’s just the way things were and would continue to be. That was the normal I knew, I hadn’t really experienced much better.
As a child, we were quite poor. My mother knew how to cook and would cook delicious meals using butter, whole milk, and beef but she insisted on vegetable consumption constantly and Cheerios for breakfast. Additionally, we utilized food boxes and government programs that often included large amounts of grains and sugary items. Macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and hot cereals were a staple in our home. Education in nutrition was extremely lacking, I received a quick discussion of the food pyramid around age twelve and nothing since. When I began college, I chose to rebel against my mother’s nutritional teachings and began what I referred to as a ‘bachelor diet’ – beer, candy, and pizza rolls. Unsurprisingly, I gained the Freshman Fifty that stuck with me long after I graduated in 2016.
After college, I wasn’t much better. I worked a job with extreme flexibility in schedule that also had me responding to emergencies at any time. I developed a diet of sugar and caffeine in place of meals as a way just to get by. I rarely ate a meal, opting for whatever sugary snack (Rice Krispie Treats, Fruit Gushers, cheese snack crackers, Oreos, Kit-Kats) was in my desk drawer and a Monster energy drink or Coke Zero every couple of hours.
In April of 2019, I went to the doctor for a persistent ingrown toenail. At that time, the doctor also informed me that I had high blood pressure and was pre-diabetic. This was terrifying as my entire family has had high blood pressure and diabetes, suffering horribly from both their entire lives. Additionally, I was only 25 years old. The problem was, I had no idea what to do about it. The doctor’s only suggestions were exercise, a better diet, and medications. Not wanting to start on such hard core medications at such an early age, I opted to increase exercise, eat Cheerios for breakfast, and start taking Garlic and COQ10 supplements that were said to lower blood pressure.
About one month later, I met someone who would change my life. We had both gotten stuck in an eight hour training course for work. The topic of diet had come up (I assume because he had noticed I was on my third Coke Zero and granola bar meal of the day and it was only noon). He had mentioned something about how I needed to eat healthier. I remarked that I’d love to but I hate just eating lettuce all day, “if I could eat steak and butter and be healthy, I’d do it but that’s not how it works”. Oh, how little I knew. I should have known by his smirk at that response that he had trapped me. After a day of question after question and a logical answer from him for every single one, I threw out all my supplements, did a 30 hour fast, and started a fully Carnivore Diet.
I saw results very quickly and have been seeing results like crazy since. I have been losing weight (about 30 pounds right now). My OCD and related anxiety are much more manageable now, I would say it is 85% gone. I have no allergies and have stopped taking allergy medication entirely. I have not had a MRSA infection since starting the diet, my acne is disappearing, and I haven’t been sick with a cold or flu in quite a long time. My blood pressure it amazing and I am no longer pre-diabetic. Somehow, I have more energy while only eating once or twice a day. I sleep better and my mood is better and the joint pain I always attributed to years of ballet has mostly gone. Everything that I had learned to live with because I figured that was just how it was has disappeared and that is truly amazing.
I have been losing weight (about 30 pounds right now). My OCD and related anxiety are much more manageable now (...) I have no allergies and have stopped taking allergy medication entirely. I have not had a MRSA infection since starting the diet, my acne is disappearing, and I haven’t been sick with a cold or flu in quite a long time. My blood pressure it amazing and I am no longer pre-diabetic.
This diet has done one other thing that has truly change my life. I have spent most of my life not only uneducated but also uninterested in my body and nutrition. Yes, I was never taught a lot about nutrition but I also never tried to reach out and learn more about it. The minute I heard about this diet, I suddenly cared. I developed this thirst for information about how my body worked, how the diet worked and why it worked. I drove my friend crazy with questions, I watched (and still do) an insane amount of YouTube videos on all sorts of topics related to the diet, I read stories of people who had done the diet, and I talked with friends about it. I’ve actually been compiling all of my information in to a document so, when people ask about a resource or for information, I can direct them right to it. I’m even looking into becoming a Dietitian. Because of the Carnivore Diet, I care about making sure my body is functioning to its best and making sure the rest of humanity gets on board. I want to ensure that this diet touches not only my life but my significant other’s, our kids’, and anyone I meet with an open mind.
I started off in life with very little understanding of nutrition in general. I was taught the old school food pyramid when I was very young and not much beyond that. I didn’t even know sugar is a carbohydrate!
So it wasn’t too much of a surprise when I went into college weighing 130 pounds and came out weighing 180 pounds on a 5’3″ frame. Almost three years after graduation from college in May 2019, I still had only made it down to 170 pounds and I had just been told by a doctor that (at 25 years old) I was pre-diabetic and had high blood pressure. I had no idea what to do and it shocked me. These were diseases I remembered my grandparents dealing with and I was starting to deal with them before I had even reached 30! With a distrust of the healthcare system’s medications and a quick google search as my guide, I slapped a garlic and CoQ10 supplement band-aid on the problem and continued my old habits.
I thank God everyday I met ‘J’ a month later. J had been on the carnivore diet long enough to know how to get started and teach me the basics. The results were astounding.
I’m down to 150 pounds and still counting. I’m no longer pre-diabetic and my blood pressure is amazing (and I don’t take garlic or CoQ10 – I quit those when I started the diet)! But it’s the surprising little things that I didn’t expect that have really changed my life.
The seasonal allergies I’ve gotten every spring/summer since I was 10 are gone. The lactose intolerance I thought I had must have been something else in my diet as I consume milk products just fine now. I sleep better, I am more energetic, I am happier, and I just feel BETTER. I have never felt this good. But there is an even more amazing trade off.
I never cared about nutrition or diet or going to the gym every day before this diet. I had no idea how my body worked. In fact, a year ago, my daily diet consisted of Monster, Coke, Americanos, Rice Krispie Treats, Fruit Gushers, sugar cookies, candy, and granola bars. If there was sugar or caffeine, it was consumed daily – even more so if you could get both into one product! I felt terrible constantly but didn’t connect that to my diet. I just figured my diet was what was pushing me through whatever was making me feel crappy. It was energy and got me through the day until I could go home and not sleep despite feeling like death. I never cared to know what was going into my body or how my body even worked. I lived by a “don’t read the ingredients” mantra. It tasted sweet and made me feel energetic for 10 minutes and that was enough for me. But this diet changed all that.
The old food pyramid was so ingrained in my brain that the effects I began to see the carnivore diet having on my body boggled me. How can no vegetables and animal fat be good? I had to know why and how it worked. I watched video after video and article after article. I learned about how I get the nutrients on this diet, what they do, how carbohydrates act as fuel vs. how fat acts as fuel, differences between animal fat and vegetable oils, about plant toxicity, oxalates – I learned from every resource I could get my hands on and I am still learning every day.
I have no doubt that the carnivore diet saved my life because it is the first thing that has ever made me take the time to understand how my body works and care about treating it right. And that is a gift that has changed my life forever.
1.5 years in and Carnivore is still keeping me in peak condition! Getting excited to see what happens years and years down the line!
1.5 years in and Carnivore is still keeping me in peak condition! Getting excited to see what happens years and years down the line!
Thank you,
Kay
Listen to Kay’s success story on the MeatRx.com podcast below:
Stephen, AKA Orbi-Wan, is using the Carnivore Diet to repair 25 years of damage from diabetes and carb
addiction.
My name is Stephen, also known as Orbi-Wan on the internet. I am a 60-year-old retired military veteran
currently working as technology support for our local school district.
I am working to put my 25 years of diabetes into remission through a commitment to eating what is best for
my body. I am the first to admit that, while I have made great strides towards this goal, I still have a long way
to go. Being diabetic with poor management and terrible diet habits for 25 years has taken its toll. It’s going to
take a while, perhaps two or three years, but I am committed to stick with it, and the Carnivore food lifestyle
is the key.
I was diagnosed in 1998 with Type 2 Diabetes, and a review of my military medical records show that I went
undiagnosed as far back as late 1995. I retired from the Navy in 2002.
Prior to discovering the Carnivore food lifestyle, I ate pretty much anything I wanted to, and was especially
addicted to pastas, rice and certain fast foods. I was obese – my weight fluctuated anywhere from 190 to 230
over a period of several years. I suffered from lethargy, multiple sinus infections a year, was put on high blood
pressure meds and statins, and of course, more diabetes management drugs than I can even remember. Of
course, everything I was suffering from was pretty much a direct result of the complications of my diabetes,
my Standard American Diet, and the lack of education about the best way to deal with my condition.
During the fall of 2019, my wife and her sister both began transitioning to the Keto food lifestyle. I was
resistant. I was drinking what I considered healthy green smoothies every morning, loaded with fruits, kale,
spinach, and artificial sweeteners, and thought that was enough. I was on multiple types of medications, both
for diabetes management and associated “medical” problems. I was still putting away massive amounts of
“healthy” foods with carbs but knew in my heart that I was really not doing myself any favors.
As I approached my 60th birthday, something finally clicked. I was coming off an extended recovery after I
broke my foot, and my wife was constantly playing videos by Jason Fung and Ken Berry. The phrases “insulin
resistance” and “reversing diabetes” kept popping up, enough that they finally wormed their way into my
consciousness. I actually began to listen to what they were saying. I watched Fung’s reversing diabetes course
on YouTube, and finally decided on my 60th birthday to make the commitment to put my diabetes into
remission through the Keto diet.
For the first few days of 2020, I gave the old college try, but discovered that I was still running higher glucose
levels. That’s when I started looking at ALL carbs, not just “bad” carbs. Then I listened to Berry and Robert
Cywes (who is my actual doctor now) talk about the Carnivore way of eating. On January 6, I transitioned to a
higher fat/moderate protein/near-zero carb way of eating, and wow. That is when things started taking off.
The first thing that happened – I began losing weight fairly quickly. I lost 15 lbs. within the first few weeks and
am actually stabilized now at between 155 and 158 lbs., which puts me in the middle of ideal weight for my
height and body type. I’ve gone from Extra Large to Medium shirts, and 38/40 pants down to 30/32s.
The next thing that happened, I immediately began to feel better. I had more energy. My sleep became
deeper and my dreams became very vivid. After my initial bout of adjustment, what they call Keto flu, I have
not been sick, lethargic or felt physically bad. I usually would have at least two upper respiratory infections by
this time of the year, but I have been in great overall health, even in the midst of this pandemic. I am
especially grateful for this considering that as a diabetic, the complications associated with CoVid infection for
diabetics can be more severe than with other health issues.
Towards the end of January, with the weight loss and the higher energy levels I was experiencing, I went to my
endocrinologist and explained what I was going, what my goals were, and that I wanted their support for the
path I had chosen. I told them who I had listened to, the research I had done, and that I felt it was a realistic
and achievable goal. To my surprise, the doc laughed at what I said, and proceeded to tell me that their 20-
years of experience trumped what anything new I had learned about managing and reversing my diabetes.
Needless to say, I have not been back to see that endocrinologist. Instead, three days later I had my first
appointment with Dr. Robert Cywes, the Carb Addiction Doc, and he has been my guide. He supports the
Carnivore food lifestyle, and his views on food addiction, especially carbs, has helped me stay committed to
this way of eating.
He has taken me off of all of my blood pressure meds, statins, and all supplements, agreeing with this
community that I can get everything I need for health from eating the right way. He also took me off most of
my diabetes management drugs, although he has helped me realize that although I am eating healthier, I do
have 25 years of damage to repair, and I will need some support through Metformin and carefully considered
and administered insulin injections from time to time.
The good news is, my blood sugars are steadily stabilizing and normalizing. When I started Carnivore, I was
coming off a high A1C of 8 to 9. My last A1C at the end of June was at 7 and, if my Continuous Glucose
Monitor is to be believed, I could be looking at an A1C of 5.5 or even lower in a couple of weeks, as I prep for
my next appointment with Dr. Cywes. And the absolute foundation that I am building on is the Carnivore way
of eating. I have learned I have nothing to fear or even be concerned about when it comes to Cholesterol.
My typical food day: I was able to establish a routine of one “eating” meal a day, in the evening, that fits both
my and my wife’s work schedules. To keep from getting hungry otherwise, I put a couple of tablespoons of
butter and heavy whipping cream in my coffee first thing in the morning, and then again around noon, about
the time of Shawn’s daily meeting. For dinner, we eat rib eyes, bacon, eggs, pork belly, etc., on a rotation,
throwing in some fish and other animal products from time to time. It’s a simple plan, we love the food, and
we both only eat until we’re satiated.
My exercise is considered moderate, primarily walking and the lifting, pushing and stretching that comes with
the physical aspect of my job as technology support on the fairly large campus where I work.
Let’s talk about MeatRx. I joined in February, and I enjoy and use the resources available to me. The primary
resource I take advantage of are the multiple meetings available. They are my support groups. I regularly
attend Shawn’s daily meeting, the weekly diabetes group, the mental health meeting, and a few others as I
can find the time. I find the comradery, encouragement, and fellowship invaluable as I continue on this
journey.
So that is my journey and my goal. I am only in the early stages. I celebrate the victories and study and make
improvements when I encounter setbacks. In it for the long haul, I want to enjoy being alive when I am in my
90s and playing lightsabers with my great grandkids.
Check out Stephen’s facebook page:
Listen to Stephen’s success story on the MeatRx.com podcast below:
Listen to Tracy’s success story on the MeatRx.com podcast below:
Live Q&A with experts, social meetings, exclusive discounts, workout challenges, and much more…