Hello everyone! I came here seeking inspiration and the opportunity to rely on other people’s experiences. I have done low-carb diets off and on for years and it’s always been the best for controlling my weight. I’m the type that likes to dig into and study the science behind these diets. Recently, I’ve learned about the many benefits of a carnivore diet besides just weight loss. So I decided to give it a try. It’s been great, but I’ve had a few hiccups. I’d greatly appreciate any advice. 

A little about myself. I’m 36 y.o., 5’8” tall. I work night shift three nights a week, grueling 12-hour shifts that mess with my routine. I started the carnivore diet end of last year. I dropped 15 lbs in two months. Holidays came around, though, and I slipped off track. Getting back on was rough, but I’ve been strict again for about 2 months now. Problem is, the scale’s barely moving this time. I started at 221, got down to 215 last week, but now I’m back at 217.

On the flip side, I’m seeing some wins off the scale. My headaches are gone, knee pain’s disappeared, and inflammation’s way down. My face looks leaner, and the brain fog I used to fight is minimal. I’m stoked about these changes, but I’m scratching my head about the weight. Last time, it fell off fast. What’s different now? Anyone else experience something similar? Any tips for getting the scale moving again? I know that sometimes our body just needs some time to adjust. One major issue I’m facing is I just have no appetite on this diet because of all the protein and fat. I know I’m not eating enough for a man of my weight. I get down maybe one pound of beef in the afternoon and a few eggs in the morning.

On 4/17/2025 at 2:29 AM, ViniVici said:

On the flip side, I’m seeing some wins off the scale. My headaches are gone, knee pain’s disappeared, and inflammation’s way down. My face looks leaner, and the brain fog I used to fight is minimal. I’m stoked about these changes, but I’m scratching my head about the weight.

Those NSV 's are great. Cherish them. Sometimes when we hit these plateaus it's because the body is focused on healing instead of losing weight. On the other hand...

On 4/17/2025 at 2:29 AM, ViniVici said:

One major issue I’m facing is I just have no appetite on this diet because of all the protein and fat. I know I’m not eating enough for a man of my weight. I get down maybe one pound of beef in the afternoon and a few eggs in the morning.

That does sound like you are not eating a lot. You're coming in less than 1500 "calories" a day provided it's 80/20 ground beef and you're slurping up all the grease from your plate. Your body may be adjusting it's metabolic rate to counter the low caloric intake (we only mention "calories" here in the sense that it gives you a rough idea how much or how little you are eating). I'm not sure how active you are, or how much sleep you are getting, but here's some ideas worth trying...

1. Increase your consumption. The 1lb of beef is a good meal but breakfast could be bigger if you are only eating 3 eggs.

2. Don't eat and then go to sleep on it.

3. Try to consolidate your eating into an 8-hour feeding window at most. Then fast the remaining 16+ hours.

4. Throw in an extended fast here and there.

Thank you for the response, Bob. I definitely try to not eat just before sleeping. The only time I have breakfast is around 10 am if I’m not going to sleep due to night shift. For the most part I’m intermittent fasting. I haven’t yet included a 36 hour or longer fast but plan to do so soon. Aside from that, do you recommend I try pushing through my lack of appetite to eat more than I feel I can? I’m not feeling stuffed in the stomach necessarily. I just lose all desire from the brain side and the food loses its appeal for me.

It is not always about how much you eat and sometimes what you eat plays second fiddle to when you eat. If you can skip the traditional breakfast and eat later in the morning it will give your glucose time to spike up and then drop back some. By then you are active in your day. I too work a lot of nights and it is really easy to get off work, eat and go to sleep. That is a bad combination for weight loss. Then couple that with eating the wrong foods. Double whammy. I lose faster when the fat content is up for a higher fat/moderate protein approach. I left home on Wednesday morning at 215. I am sure I will see a weight gain tomorrow when back at home. I have eaten the right things but have not had a meal since we left. I have been snacking on the meats throughout the day while we ride. I ate a lot of food but never let my body adjust/empty/make room before I was snacking again. Timing will be more my issue when I weigh tomorrow.

On 4/17/2025 at 1:29 AM, ViniVici said:

and I slipped off track. Getting back on was rough, but I’ve been strict again for about 2 months now. Problem is, the scale’s barely moving this time.

Welcome to Carnivore Talk Mathew.

I’ve seen this a lot in people who get off carnivore and then try to get back on track. I don’t know why this happens but it does seem like the body is saying “Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you”.

On 4/17/2025 at 1:29 AM, ViniVici said:

I know I’m not eating enough for a man of my weight

There’s a common understanding in the carnivore community that you must eat enough to lose weight. If you don’t your body will go into starvation mode and retain fat as a hedge against leaner times. That may be why you aren’t seeing the weight loss you expect. You also may not be getting enough fat either. If your main food is hamburger and you are not pouring the rendered fat back over the burger as a sauce then I guarantee you aren’t getting enough fat. I don’t care how much fat is in the burger most of it renders out in the cooking.

Try to eat an equal amount of fat and protein. Shoot for 1 gm of fat to 1 gm of protein per your ideal body weight.

Another though also, with working shift work like you are do you get good sleep? I know I didn’t when I had to work nights. Poor sleep can raise cortisol levels and that can definitely have an effect on weight loss.

Hang in there and give it time. Focus on the benefits you are receiving and try to remember that nothing tastes as good as how you feel.

17 hours ago, ViniVici said:

do you recommend I try pushing through my lack of appetite to eat more than I feel I can? I’m not feeling stuffed in the stomach necessarily. I just lose all desire from the brain side and the food loses its appeal for me.

Possibly. As a general rule of thumb, don't eat unless you are hungry. Then when you do eat, eat until you are comfortably stuffed (NOT overly stuffed). Basically, comfortably full and satisfied. Don't snack in-between meals. You could technically do 3 meals a day to start, but most people find themselves happy with just the two meals because the fat and protein on the carnivore diet are so satiating. Intermittent fasting starts to come naturally.

3 eggs (210 cals) in the morning would not do it for me. I need like 7-10, lol (490-700 cals) + butter.

13 hours ago, Geezy said:

You also may not be getting enough fat either... Try to eat an equal amount of fat and protein. Shoot for 1 gm of fat to 1 gm of protein per your ideal body weight.

This is true as well. For example, if I eat a lot of lean fish and lean chicken, I will get hungry more often and maybe even gain weight. Without sufficient fat, the body will convert that protein into glucose and I won't be using ketones.

13 hours ago, Geezy said:

your body will go into starvation mode and retain fat as a hedge against leaner times

This is why I said to try and maybe consume a little more - so the body doesn't go into "conservation mode" because it's under the impression there is a famine or lack of resources. Intermittent fasting will allow time to metabolize what you consume. The occasional extended fast is good when you metabolism is running "high". But then eating low calorie or having a prolonged extended fast will put you back into "conservation mode". So a good routine is 2 meals a day within an 8 (max) eating window, and an occasional extended fast here and there. Some people actually eat one meal a day, but make it count by basically eating 3 meals in one setting (which isn't my thing, lol).

23 hours ago, Scott F. said:

It is not always about how much you eat and sometimes what you eat plays second fiddle to when you eat. If you can skip the traditional breakfast and eat later in the morning it will give your glucose time to spike up and then drop back some. By then you are active in your day. I too work a lot of nights and it is really easy to get off work, eat and go to sleep. That is a bad combination for weight loss. Then couple that with eating the wrong foods. Double whammy. I lose faster when the fat content is up for a higher fat/moderate protein approach. I left home on Wednesday morning at 215. I am sure I will see a weight gain tomorrow when back at home. I have eaten the right things but have not had a meal since we left. I have been snacking on the meats throughout the day while we ride. I ate a lot of food but never let my body adjust/empty/make room before I was snacking again. Timing will be more my issue when I weigh tomorrow.

And just when I thought I was in a position to provide some applicable information, 'ol' carnivore thru me a curve.

I ate an awful lot since Wednesday. I didn't eat an actual meal since Wednesday morning. I packed all the meats I cooked into quart bags for the trail. Every couple hours I would eat whatever bag I had pulled that morning. I ate off and on, more akin to snacking, all thru the day. Between eating multiple times per day and even late at night as we did night rides I thought my weight would go up. It did not.

I dropped 2 pounds since last Wednesday. Completely unexpected.

Carnivore threw me an 0-2 curve and I whiffed.

Scott

I really appreciate all of the input here. Lots of good info and advice. I believe that I have probably been underrating the importance of eating an equal ratio of fat. Come to think of it, the first time I was on carnivore, my stools were very loose compared to this time. I think I was eating a good amount more of butter as an easy to eat source of fat. I just haven’t done it this time looking back. I also believe night shift is causing higher cortisol levels like has been mentioned. I notice most of my weight loss happens when I’ve been off work for a couple of days at least. I’m going to try and cut back on the snacking to keep my meals to a tighter window and keep my appetite up for my actual meals.

9 hours ago, ViniVici said:

I’m going to try and cut back on the snacking to keep my meals to a tighter window and keep my appetite up for my actual meals.

If you feel the need to snack between meals you may not be eating enough during your meals.

On 4/19/2025 at 5:08 PM, ViniVici said:

Thank you for the response, Bob. I definitely try to not eat just before sleeping. The only time I have breakfast is around 10 am if I’m not going to sleep due to night shift. For the most part I’m intermittent fasting. I haven’t yet included a 36 hour or longer fast but plan to do so soon. Aside from that, do you recommend I try pushing through my lack of appetite to eat more than I feel I can? I’m not feeling stuffed in the stomach necessarily. I just lose all desire from the brain side and the food loses its appeal for me.

Night shifts are sometimes killers for a healthy eating plans. Pre-Carnivore I worked 2nd shift for 30+ years and coming home from work was like a free license to eat another supper @ midnight. I've learned so much from the Carni community and you will also. Research and read as much as you can and it will just become your way of life. Good luck to you. Also if you can throw in a short extended fast once in a while, that is a big help for health. Start slow and work your way up to longer durations.

Edited Monday at 07:25 PM2 days by Terry

I hope you're thinking in terms of long term and sustainable. Eating to little without a doubt will tank your metabolism, It sends info to the metabolism to shut down as much as it can so you and it survive. The sustainable solution is to walk, lift weights and "feed the beast" Eat whenever you get hungry until you're full. This will promote good habits and good health for a lifetime. Don't expect to see multiple pounds per week of weight lose. Building muscle offsets some of your fat lose.