Carnivore Diet, My Failed Experiment.
I was feeling like health and nutrition was never going to happen for me. Mainly because there are so many polarising opinions about the best way, the right way or the quickest way to go about it. This was overwhelming so I remained stuck. This was unacceptable.
What made sense to me was: Energy In = Energy Out. Essentially, whatever I was eating should be burned off so that I could create a deficit and my body could start using the stored energy (fat). I tried this for about two weeks and it just wasn't happening. I had crazy highs and lows of energy throughout the day and my cravings weren't helping.
This led me to the next stage - So what if I did something extreme to reduce my body fat percentage and increase my muscle mass.....
Enter the Carnivore Diet
The Carnivore Diet boasted top results in weight (fat) loss, mental clarity, consistent energy throughout the day which ticked all my boxes and at the same time seemed so counter intuitive to cut out all fibre, veg, fruit and legumes. I had to give it a go.
This diet consisted of only; Meat, Cheese, Salt and Water (although some days I did also add pepper). Some people also eliminate the cheese in this diet.
I was so pumped to try this new diet, that I went directly to my favourite butchers and bought 9kg of meat. Half went in the freezer and half in the fridge and you know what, I only lasted 6 days. This is what I ate:
Day 1: Steak & Eggs, Chicken drumsticks & Cheese, Lamb chops & Mozzarella
Day 2: Steak & Eggs, Chicken & Mozzarella
Day 3: Steak & Eggs, Lamb chops & Mozzarella
Day 4: Steak & Eggs, Steak & Egg & Mozzarella, Cheesy Omelette
Day 5: Cheesy Omelette, Steak & Cheese, Cheesy Omelette
Day 6: Steak & Eggs
Around day 3 my portion sizes were getting smaller and I wasn't feeling as hungry.
The meals are very repetitive and on day 5 I was getting sick of eating meat. The smell was off-putting and the thought of eating more made me nauseous.
By day 6 I was starting to get really bad headaches and my tinnitus was as bad as ever.
Its not all bad
It seemed like all hope was lost and I felt like it was a silly endeavour, but actually there were 5 upsides to doing this diet (despite it lasting only 6 days):
- The Carnivore diet is also a type of elimination diet, which meant that I detoxed from all sugar/carbs and anything else that might have been a trigger for me.
- It put my body in a state of ketosis.
- My energy levels didn't dip throughout the day. This was a big bonus.
- I lost just over 3kg (6.6lb) in 6 days. I'm sure most of this was just water weight, but it was encouraging to see results so fast and it was very motivating.
- The Carnivore diet is a restrictive diet. It requires self-control and discipline and as such, I was able to exercise and achieve a level of self-control that I would have otherwise struggled with.
With this in mind, this was a perfect point to jump into a keto diet. I was already in ketosis and I had the self-control required to follow through with it now. Plus I still had all that meat in the freezer to get through!
My conclusion
The Carnivore Diet is hard and if you're able to do it for longer than 6 days, you're a freaking machine. I don't think it's a sustainable long-term diet, but it's worth trying if you're curious. I also think this is a great "gateway" diet because it sets you up mentally, emotionally and physically to take on any other diet.