When Ozempic didn't work, I went on a diet doctors warn against... the results speak for themselves

By LUKE ANDREWS SENIOR HEALTH REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: 12:15 EDT, 22 April 2025 | Updated: 14:30 EDT, 22 April 2025

At 635lb and struggling to walk, Pete Brennan knew something needed to change. 

Showing people houses for his realtor job left him panting and with shooting pains through his knees and feet that would last hours.

His wife had to assume all cooking and cleaning duties at home, leaving him feeling useless and worthless.

Brennan, 39, nearly missed his own wedding, narrowly avoiding being ordered off the plane to Mexico because he was too large to fit into the single passenger seat.

But the breaking point came when Brennan fell in the shower and was unable to stand up, having to ask his five-year-old son Nolan to help him.

'It just kind of made me realize that being selfish, and letting go of myself like I was, that really wasn't the right thing to do,' Brennan told the Daily Mail. 

The New Jersey native has now successfully shed more than half his body weight, or 352lbs, in two years while following a diet almost all doctors advise against. 

The 'carnivore diet' involves eating only meat products like steak, chicken, eggs, butter and fish. 

Brennan is pictured above around his heaviest at 635lbs with two clients. He works as a realtor helping to sell houses

Peter 'Francis' Brennan, 39, has embarked on a mammoth weight loss to slash his weight from 635 to below 250lbs. He is currently at 283lbs, and is pictured above this month

The high levels of fats and low carbohydrates puts the body into ketosis, a state where it burns bodyfat instead of carbohydrates for energy.

Many doctors, including Brennan's, warn people not to use the diet saying that it can cause high levels of LDL or bad cholesterol.

This can cause plaques to build-up in the arteries, restricting blood flow and raising the risk of complications like high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and a heart attack — which he was already at risk of.

Some, however, say it's a life changer, including podcaster Joe Rogan and controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson.

Advocates say the carnivore diet allows them to lose weight rapidly and boost their energy levels, sleep and sexual performance.

Brennan said he now consumes three meals a day, with each weighing six ounces and composed entirely of eggs mixed with sliced chicken and turkey sausages.

He aims to get in about 130 to 170 grams of protein daily, well above the US National Dietary Guidelines recommendation of about 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight — or 101 grams a day for Brennan, who weighs 283lbs.  

For snacks, he consumes peanuts and cottage cheese — which aren't strictly part of the carnivore diet but are used in the keto diet to keep burning fat for energy.

He doesn't consume red meat amid concerns that it could cause colon cancer and type 2 diabetes.

Brennan shown in the gym this month

Brennan started on the carnivore diet in June 2024, after spending a year and four months on Wegovy — injecting himself once a week.

He also had gastric sleeve surgery in June 2024, when the stomach is surgically reduced to limit the amount of food someone can consume.

Surgeons were shocked operating on him, saying at the time that his stomach was three foot long — or about three times the average size for a person.

The drugs caused him to lose 167lbs in a year and four months, which he used alongside a restrictive diet and exercise six times a week.

But the diet and surgery is what really yielded the results, leading him to lose an extra 185lbs the following nine months.

His current weight is now 283lbs, which at 5ft 11in still puts him in the obese category with a BMI above 30. When he started his weight loss, his BMI was 88 — putting him in the category of severely obese.

He aims to get his weight below 250lbs before December — and then reach his goal of weighing between 200 and 225lbs.

But despite the enormous success he has had, Brennan confessed he isn't feeling nearly as confident as he should — and its all down to the massive amount of loose skin hanging off his body.

When someone puts on a large amount of weight, the skin stretches to accommodate the new size. It may then struggle to return to its original size if someone later loses the weight.

In Brennan's case, his loose skin is 'everywhere' — hanging off his chest, stomach, back, legs, arms, neck and his face. It isn't clear how much it weighs.

Peter is pictured above at the start of his weight loss journey. He has been posting his workouts online

'I don't feel as confident as I should be after doing what I've done,' he said, 'just because I know it is just hanging there'.

'It's not how a normal person should look, I look like I've melted.

'Like, if it wasn't there I would be wearing smaller size clothes, and my legs wouldn't be as hidden.'

As well as getting in the way, the skin can also chafe against itself and clothing — causing him to develop painful rashes that take days to clear up.

His health insurance covered the Wegovy and gastric sleeve surgery, but has declined to cover the skin removal, saying this is cosmetic.

With the mammoth procedure needed, doctors have estimated it will cost $90,000 — which he is fundraising for online. He says he is also considering taking out a loan to cover the rest.

He also had surgery to remove a hernia at his belly button, with a hernia being when part of the intestine, fat or fluid pushes through a weak spot in the abdominal wall and creates a visible bulge.

Hernias may happen because of increased pressure in the abdomen, which may be caused by straining during bowel movements or obesity.

He had had the hernia for ten to 15 years, but it had not previously been possible to treat it owing to his weight.

Pete Brennan, 39, New Jersey, is pictured above at the start of his weight loss journey at 635lbs and today after getting his weight down to 283lbs. The structure in the middle of his stomach is a hernia, which he has now had removed

Brennan is thrilled with his weight loss, but said his confidence has been hit by his loose skin

Amid all the weight loss, Brennan said his life is transformed — with himself now able to help around the house and having a lot more energy.

He also works out six times a week, focusing on a combination of cardio and weight-lifting, and said people no longer stare at him in the street, like they did when he was much larger.

A number of people viewing his photos have said they don't want to lose weight because of the loose skin, but Brennan urged them to reconsider.

He said: 'I would say you just need to put the excuse aside and think more long term about how beneficial it is going to be on your life and how much longer you are going to be able to live.

'And guess what, you can get rid of loose skin with surgery...'

He added: 'Once you're past making excuses and are actually doing it, you will start to love it and start to love the new self you are turning into.'

ARTICLE SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14511377/ozempic-failure-diet-carnivore-weight-loss.html?

Congrats to him and his journey.

I can see where the skin is an issue. A friend of mine had gastric by-pass surgery and although the weight is gone, the skin remains. It is an issue for her as well.

Last year there was a push within United Healthcare to cover skin removal as part of covering some of the by-pass surgeries.

I have read there is a difference between GLP-1 weight loss and natural weight loss (carnivore, etc, etc, ) as with GLP-1 there is a lot of muscle mass lost.

Hopefully this guy finds some resolution as he has put in the work and i would hope for him to get all the physical rewards as well as both the mental and emotional rewards as well.

Scott

Great story on the desire and will to lose the weight but the reporting of it sux. I hate it when they’ve always got to put ignorant misinformation in these articles. How about just focusing on the great achievement this man has done.

On 4/23/2025 at 1:29 PM, Scott F. said:

I have read there is a difference between GLP-1 weight loss and natural weight loss (carnivore, etc, etc, ) as with GLP-1 there is a lot of muscle mass lost.

This would make sense. Taking GLP-1 injections makes you less hungry. You feel full, so you eat less. That includes less protein and essential fats and nutrition, which would lead to muscle breakdown.

On a low carbohydrate carnivore-centric proper human diet, you produce GLP-1 naturally (which is why we seem to automatically eat 2MAD or have periods of fasting, unlike before when we would constantly snackety-snack), but you are getting your nutrition and protein requirements.

Kelly Hogan lost a lot of weight as well but she didn't have loose skin. I wonder what the difference was. There's a video on her channel with the title that says something like "10 year carnivores discuss an all meat diet" or something along those lines. In it, Charles Washington says that people who lose weight on carnivore don't need to fast and go through autophagy to lose the loose skin. He bases it on the hundreds of people that they had on their original forum before this way of eating became known or popular. I really wonder about his loose skin.

Found the link. It didn't come up in search, I think it may have been unlisted. It's in one of her playlists.

Edited April 30Apr 30 by Bob
Made link clickable

2 hours ago, The S. said:

Kelly Hogan lost a lot of weight as well but she didn't have loose skin. I wonder what the difference was. There's a video on her channel with the title that says something like "10 year carnivores discuss an all meat diet" or something along those lines. In it, Charles Washington says that people who lose weight on carnivore don't need to fast and go through autophagy to lose the loose skin. He bases it on the hundreds of people that they had on their original forum before this way of eating became known or popular. I really wonder about his loose skin.

I would think it's a combination of these 2 primary factors....

1) How obese was one to begin with?
2) How rapid was the weight loss?

In other words, I think the loose skin issue is a bigger problem the bigger you are. And if you lose the weight rapidly, autophagy just can't keep up.

The autophagy is one aspect but I think the difference is like mentioned, being fat adapted and also probably a little deeper is being in ketosis.

A lot of the underlying skin is fat and the GLP-1 are removing total weight which includes muscle, fat and water. As Bob stated, when fat adapted the body is burning fat for energy and using ketones vs. carbs and proteins.

Then it is the speed of the loss as well. The carnivore weight loss person has a body that is going to the well time after time as 99% of fat adapted people have fat readily available. Most GLP-1 users are still on a carbs/sugars with lots of 'skin fat' left along the process.

Great topic.

Scott

4 hours ago, The S. said:

Kelly Hogan lost a lot of weight as well but she didn't have loose skin.

Everyone is different. What one experiences another may not.

It could be that her youth at the time may have contributed or maybe autophagy just worked better in her. She also didn’t lose her weight fast. It took her six months before she even started to lose weight. The younger one is the easier they seem to snap back.

We cannot compare ourselves to what others have experienced. That’s a bad road to go down because it can lead to disappointment.

I’m in my late sixties and I lost 67 pounds in a year and a half. Thats pretty fast. Being obese that left behind a lot of loose skin. Has autophagy helped me? Maybe a little bit even if it hasn’t there’s nothing I can do about it short of surgery and I’m just not that vain.

What’s important is my heath not my loose skin so I’m not worried about it. Nobody but my wife needs to see me naked anyways.

I

On 4/30/2025 at 6:18 PM, Miranda said:

I

Well we can't expect an article to be 100% positive about the carnivore diet without sliding in some commentary from a mainstream doctor raising his head and chirping about LDL and clogged arteries, lol. The journal probably includes such statements to cover their arse.

I'm strict carnivore with a glass of milk here and there is about the only time I go outside the boundaries of 'strict carnivore'. I have started to incorporate longer fasting and I feel like ketosis and autophagy and HGH and stem cells are playing pretty big roles in my body composition.

I have lost a little over 90 pound in 11 months. I am lifting consistently and although it was not my original plan, the amount of weight I am lifting is going up and the intensity as well. My walks are still 3.5 miles, but they are now more brisk, and a couple days a week I wear a 40lb weight vest. On the days without the vest I try to get 100 pushups along the way.

I'm not vain in the least, and like Geezy no one is really seeing me naked so it does not really matter but I am not having any excess skin issues. I feel like 90+ pounds in 11 months is a lot and it is a relatively short time span.

I know several people at my work who have had the by-pass surgeries and a few on GLP-1 type medications. They all have excess skin issues. When we change and shower at work I can see where it would be an issue for anyone who has that to deal with in their search/attempts to lose weight/be healthier.

And this is just a small sample size but what they all have in common is a not so sensible diet and the lack of exercise. One guy has lost about 60 pounds on Ozempic and was prescribed it due to weight and diabetes. His meals are now smaller, but the same, and his exercise is pretty much non-existent. This past week he missed work when his glucose was well over 400, close to 500.

This is just one person but I think is a good example of using prescription medication to treat the symptoms not the cause.

I'm not saying the carnivore diet is a cure all for everything, but looking back at Terry's post/spiff about his new pharmacy......it gives it a tone more weight.

Scott

6 hours ago, Scott F. said:

This is just one person but I think is a good example of using prescription medication to treat the symptoms not the cause.

My heart goes out to these people and I hate the doctors for putting them on that poison. Even if these people are fortunate enough to not destroy their digestive system and possibly die an early death they will never be able to stop taking the drug. It’s a forever thing for them and Big Pharma knows it.

1 hour ago, Geezy said:

My heart goes out to these people and I hate the doctors for putting them on that poison. Even if these people are fortunate enough to not destroy their digestive system and possibly die an early death they will never be able to stop taking the drug. It’s a forever thing for them and Big Pharma knows it.

I was watching a video the other day and this guy spoke about Pfi zer as big Pharma. They had just celebrated 100 years of research and medical breakthroughs. But in those 100 years they have yet to cure any disease or sickness.

There is no money in cures as it all lies in the treatments.

Scott

4 hours ago, Scott F. said:

They had just celebrated 100 years of research

Loose skin is your former prison, a reminder.

I consider myself fortunate not to have grown up with an American diet.

Props to the guy fighting for his goals, his health, and his life. Much respect.