Today marks one full year on carnivore. It has been quite the journey and more amazingly beneficial than anything I could have ever imagined.

I started off with carnivore as being just a weight loss hack. I had no idea there would be benefits other than those associated with weight loss. I didn't bother with any of the research on carnivore, the best ways to go about things, I just plunged right in headfirst. It didn't take too long to start learning and figuring things out. (some even the hard way)

I am extremely happy with the measurables. I started at 306lbs with my pant size 44-46. This morning, I weighed 213lbs, losing 93lbs in 12 months and a pant size of 38. If I hadn't started eating for grams of protein per pound the loss would have been well under 100 but I'm good with where and how I landed at 12 months. I have never had blood pressure or glucose issues and the only movement there is my blood sugar is now in the 80's most everyday whereas it was in the 90's before carnivore. My blood pressure has been a consistent 110/60. My cholesterol has improved some as my HDL is staying sort of constant, but my LDL dropped by 35 points on my last visit.

The biggest benefit is that I have NMO/SD, an autoimmune disease that had me on pain and inflammation medicine for just over six years. The prednisone and Neurontin sort of got me thru some rough times when the pain/inflammation was slowing me down. After 4-6 weeks on a strict carnivore diet I found I didn't need the medicine anymore. By the end of that sixth week, I had stopped taking the pain and inflammation medicine altogether. Being pain free is an incredible thing to experience and to get there without a daily medication is really hard to describe. I could not have been any more surprised and could not have been any more pleased with the first six weeks of carnivore.

I'm in the gym three to four times per week and the lifting is starting to grow both in weight and volume. It feels like I am performing better at 55 than 25.

A big thanks to the members of the board and sharing their experiences and thoughts. I'm a bigger fan of hearing someone's personal experiences over a medical study where I have to wonder if the backer had a monetary interest in the outcome of the research or whether the control subjects were really controlled subjects. I can relate to another person's story more than that of a bunch of doctors and control subjects. I really appreciate the exchange of information as it has helped me get over some obstacles here and there.

I'm still learning. After 12 months I think I am easing into carnivore becoming a life style vs. being a weight loss hack. Still, there is work to be done.

Scott

Welcome to the club!

Your story is so inspiring. It helps to hear, I want to be able to say I have been doing this for years instead of months here and there. Nice work, keep it up!

Happy Carniversary Scott.

Thanks for the replies. It has been quite the journey and most rewarding.

I "celebrated" with back-to-back nights of big ol' honking rib eyes.

Probably the best birthday cake I ever had (in more ways than one!)

Thanks.

Scott

Awesome progress, and much congratulations @Scott F. :)

On 5/8/2025 at 2:31 PM, Scott F. said:

I started at 306lbs with my pant size 44-46. This morning, I weighed 213lbs, losing 93lbs in 12 months and a pant size of 38.

The biggest benefit is that I have NMO/SD, an autoimmune disease that had me on pain and inflammation medicine for just over six years... After 4-6 weeks on a strict carnivore diet I found I didn't need the medicine anymore. By the end of that sixth week, I had stopped taking the pain and inflammation medicine altogether. Being pain free is an incredible thing to experience and to get there without a daily medication is really hard to describe.

You've done so well with regard to the weight loss, and getting to live life without the dependency on daily prescription drugs would have me absolutely glowing as well. If you ever want to talk about that in an interview-style video, either live or prerecorded. Let me know!

Hello Scott! What does a day of eating look like for you in terms of food you eat?
Thanks,
William

For the most part it is a variety of meats. My wife does not do carnivore so I eat what she eats meat-wise most of the time. So it is a variety of meats from beef to chicken to pork to fish and a lot of eggs.

On several stretches I have solely red meats and I feel like I do better on beef as the primary coupled with eggs and butter.

This week my wife is out of town so I had rib eyes on Saturday and Sunday with three or four fried eggs. Last night it was a pound of ground beef (80/20, as it seems 73/27 is not all that popular anymore in our area) browned with four eggs and just a little bit of cheddar cheese. I will have bacon and eggs later this morning and tonight it will be a chuck roast steak.

Although I have had a ton of success as I look back I don't think I was all that smart with my approach. I have a lot of room for improvement. In the very beginning I didn't get the fat content nor the electrolyte/salt content correct. As soon as I worked that out I tried to outsmart carnivore by eating leaner cuts of meat, one they were cheaper and two, I thought I could lose more weight without as much fat. Soon after I made the adjustment to a higher fat moderate protein intake the results in the gym/from the gym started to show and I made another mistake. I concentrated on hitting a protein target for muscle growth and in that pursuit the fat content faded. One I was not thinking, and two it was really hard to eat the sheer volume of 200 grams of protein. I gained weight. Once again, I found that the lack of fat in my daily diet was more important than the protein, not slighting protein and its importance, but they both have a job to do and one can't be successful without the other.

Sort of babbling on. But I eat all of the meats and my wife plays a big part in which ones each night. I prefer beef but that does not totally work in our situation. We grill most every night of the week so a lot of times I do a brisket or a pork butt or beef tenderloin I will eat the same thing several days in a row.

My first year has been some prime examples of what not to do. LOL

Scott

On 5/14/2025 at 4:29 PM, Bob said:

Awesome progress, and much congratulations @Scott F. :)

You've done so well with regard to the weight loss, and getting to live life without the dependency on daily prescription drugs would have me absolutely glowing as well. If you ever want to talk about that in an interview-style video, either live or prerecorded. Let me know!

Yeah, that sounds like fun. Live or pre-recorded, either/or. It has been a really successful first year. Like mentioned in the post above, I think I have intentionally and unintentionally made the mistakes a lot of people make diving in head first. I sort of proofed the effects of the diet on myself, maybe by blind luck, or maybe by I was eating a such a dumpster diet that anything remotely close to carnivore was going to be really good for me. LOL

But yes. I would be interested.

I appreciate the 'availability' of the meeting last night. We often talk about not being able to talk to people about how we eat due to their reactions and aversions, but at the same time sometimes I feel obligated to at least put it out there. I shouldn't be hogging all this 'good' just for me. LOL Thanks for help spreading the word.

Scott

On 5/20/2025 at 5:29 AM, Scott F. said:

Yeah, that sounds like fun. Live or pre-recorded, either/or.

Awesome. I'll send you a private message over the next few days and we can set up a time.