Hello everyone. I'd like to ask for your attention and help/advice regarding how to follow a Carnivore Diet when you have financial restrictions.

I followed a carnivore diet for 12 months. I wasn't very successful in my weight loss goal. I lost around 15 pounds of fat. (I still have at least another 15 pounds). I am around 22% Bodyfat and my goal is to be under 15BF%

After the 12-month period, I ended up trying a more ketogenic model, but without success in terms of fat loss.

I'm Brazilian and live in São Paulo. Red meat prices have risen considerably. Therefore, I'd like to ask how to follow the Carnivore Diet if I can only afford eggs and hamburger patties.

I'm 180cm tall. My bodyweight is around 175-180 lbs(+- 79kg to 81kgs). I am 36 years old, have a sedentary job. I go to the gym (where I do perform resistance strength training) 3 times a week.(to build and mantain musle mass and improve fat loss) My goal is to lose 12-15 pounds of bodyfat.(until the end of 2025)

I don't know how to calculate how much food I should eat on a Carnivore diet based on eggs and Hamburger patties. (I'll leave some questions here about how to proceed :)

100 grams of Hamburger patties contain:

Calories = 135 kcal

Carbs: 2g

Protein = 11g

Fat = 9g

I man at my size and phisical activive usually ingest 2500kcals to mantain his weight. However, in a Carnivore diet most people dont control calories and sometimes even macros. I tried last year to eat to satiety but after the initial 100 days i was not able to lose bodyfat.

Allow now to aks a few question about how to set a carnivore diet , with the purpose of fat loss while only being able to buy lard, Eggs and Humburger patties(hard financial restrition):

1-How can I figure out how much food (and calories) I should eat to lose weight?

2-Should I count calories or follow the eating-to-satiety model, even if it hasn't worked for fat loss? (not after the initial 100 days of the Carnivore diet).

3-How do I deal with hunger when eating a carnivore diet with the goal of fat loss?

4-Would it be possible to lose 12-15 lbs by the end of this year without going hungry?

Thank you very much for your attention.

Excuse any grammatical errors. English is not my first language.

I look forward to your guidance.

1-How can I figure out how much food (and calories) I should eat to lose weight? The rule of thumb is to eat til you are comfortably full and then eat again when you are hungry, then repeat. For me, carnivore works best for me if my first meal is around noon. Some days I eat again at supper time but most of the time I eat again the following day.

2-Should I count calories or follow the eating-to-satiety model, even if it hasn't worked for fat loss? (not after the initial 100 days of the Carnivore diet). I don't count calories as far as a total daily intake goes. However, I have counted protein for the last several months. I'm 56 walk and resistance train regularly. I'm trying to offset normal muscle loss as we age plus the debilitating effects of an autoimmune disease. It is hard for me to eat 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass.

3-How do I deal with hunger when eating a carnivore diet with the goal of fat loss? Eat. A lot of times if you are not eating enough your body will respond by storing for another day. You will stall in your weight loss. Snacking is not optimal as it moves your glucose and insulin up and down throughout the say. But if you must, make the snacks as carnivore as possible. A burger patty broken into four sections is four bite size snacks.

4-Would it be possible to lose 12-15 lbs by the end of this year without going hungry? I would say yes. If you are already doing resistance training and a little cardio here and there eating fattier meats should help in the weight loss. Carnivore is a higher fat and moderate protein approach to eating. Once the body becomes fat adapted normally the weight starts to drop with consistency. I added a protein shake to get to a protein mark, but the sugar added to my appetite, and I gained weight.

I started carnivore with just weight loss in mind but stumbled upon several life changing positive effects to my health. Losing weight is positive and for most, it is the goal, but the other benefits are just as impactful.

Good luck.

Scott

Following this regimen as a weight loss short cut isn't what the majority of this community found carnivore for as much as health reasons.

Eating ANY fatty meat, staying away from ANY carbs is recommend. The more fat the better you can even add butter for fat content.

I ate 16 eggs/day for 6-8 weeks last year to break my stall and it worked while being full all the time.

Can it get boring ??? Only if your goal is to lose weight and you THINK you need a variety.

When we just need a little snack or especially when we had cravings still we kept strips of cooked bacon in the fridge (we cook them on a baking sheet and then they keep in the freezer once cooked as well). We always cook extra for our meal and have leftovers available. Pork is more reasonably priced where we are so we offset cost with that and hamburger. We avoid hamburger patties here because they can contain fillers (carbs). We tolerate the pork well. We no longer use spices except for salt, pepper and garlic so we save money on all the extra sauces and spices we used to buy. Also very little waste on this diet so we save money there as well.

On 8/20/2025 at 8:31 PM, Andre said:

I'd like to ask for your attention and help/advice regarding how to follow a Carnivore Diet when you have financial restrictions.

It's okay to eat cheaper cuts of meat. You mentioned hamburger patties, and those are great provided they are 100% real beef. Don't rule out pork, chicken thighs, etc. In reality, if all you can afford is hot dogs, vienna sausages, canned seafood, and bologna, don't be shy about enjoying these options as well. Yes, many of these may contain fillers, but just look for the cleanest ingredients possible.

On 8/20/2025 at 8:31 PM, Andre said:

1-How can I figure out how much food (and calories) I should eat to lose weight?

2-Should I count calories or follow the eating-to-satiety model, even if it hasn't worked for fat loss? (not after the initial 100 days of the Carnivore diet).

You have to be your own N=1 experiment. As a general rule, ONLY eat when you are hungry, and when you do eat, eat until you are comfortably full (not painfully stuffed). I personally don't count calories, but yes, you CAN overeat on a carnivore diet and gain weight.

I am about the same height and same weight as you are. If I eat 3 meals a day and snack in-between, my weight remains stable. This is because every time you eat you bump up your insulin levels, which retards fat loss. However, if I practice intermittent fasting by eating 2 times a day or once a day, then I lose weight. I will make these 2 meals or one meal count though. I don't eat any less, but I basically take the food from that would-have-been 3rd meal and add it to the other meal(s).

The more time you give your body to rest in-between meals the more it is able to utilize the fuel you gave it as well as to tap into your body fat reserves.

On 8/20/2025 at 8:31 PM, Andre said:

3-How do I deal with hunger when eating a carnivore diet with the goal of fat loss?

4-Would it be possible to lose 12-15 lbs by the end of this year without going hungry?

A little hunger won't kill you. For example, I eat at NOON and at 7/8pm. Am I hungry in the morning before my first meal? Yup. Might I also start to get hungry around 5 or 6pm? Yes. I just put up with it until it's meal time. And if I really can't stand it or start to feel nauseous, I'll just have a little butter to hold me over.