Nanci heals from osteopenia on the carnivore diet

Hello, my name is Nanci. I am 66 years old, a mother of 4 with one wonderful stepson, and a grandmother of 9. I was an RN and retired in 2016. I have been married to a wonderful man for 43 years and have also served as a pastor’s wife for over 30 years.

Early Struggles with Weight and Diets

For as long as I can remember, food has been a huge part of my life. I practiced using it for comfort early on. I first started a weight loss program when I was in high school. Weight Watchers. I weighed 140 lbs and was 5’8” tall. I have always loved sweets. I ate homemade meals growing up but also processed foods.

My weight really started to climb when I started having children in my 20s. I got as high as 275 when I was carrying my third child. I went back down to 220 and, through the years, crept up to over 300 lbs, with the highest being 312 Lbs.

I have tried over 20 diets in my lifetime but have never been able to stay on them for longer than one month at a time. The diets were always low-fat, high-carb diets. I was starving on them.

Discovering Keto and Carnivore Diets

In 2016, I retired because my knees were so painful. I needed knee replacements. I could no longer work. I have cerebral palsy, so my condition was more complicated, and I finally went out on disability.

Around the same time, I heard about the Keto diet. Diet Dr was all over the internet, so I started following their approach to weight loss. I also listened to Dr. Westman, a Cardiologist out of North Carolina, and Keto United, a group out of West Virginia.

I lost weight like a rock. Other benefits were: two weeks into the diet, arthritic pain was gone. One month on the diet, the 3+ edema in my legs was gone, and two months into the diet, my stasis ulcers were all healed up, and I no longer had to wear surgical stockings. I had a terrible fungal infection under my toenails, and it took two years to heal, but that finally is completely gone.

After a few years, I found I could not lose any more weight on keto. I know now it was because I was having too much plant sugar and keto treats. I also enjoyed listening to Dr. Ken Berry and Neisha, his wife. They made keto simple.

Then fortunately for me, I discovered Dr. Baker on Joe Rogan, and he was talking about the Carnivore diet. So I started listening to him and his VIP guests.

Transitioning to Carnivore Diet

In January 2020, Shawn started a Carnivore challenge for the month of January, and in March 2020, I joined MeatRx. The varied meetings are so informative, and the coaches are amazing. They taught me so much, and I soaked up the meetings and learned so much from the coaches and community.

I initially gained weight on the Carnivore diet. I was in a panic, but Shawn’s platform and the coaching that I received there helped me stay on a steady course.

I learned that we often have to heal from the inside out first, and that was certainly true for me. At the beginning of 2020, I was diagnosed with Osteopenia.

Overcoming Osteopenia and Debilitation

I was also pretty debilitated, mostly sitting in my chair at home. Shawn encouraged me to exercise just a little at a time but to stay faithful. I would do my very simple workouts while I was involved in watching the Zoom meetings. People were so encouraging.

Approximately one year on Carnivore, I had to get down on the floor because I dropped a control under the bed. I previously would never try to get down on my knees because I could never get up without assistance, but no one was home to help me. 

I was able to get down and up again without difficulty, something I had not been able to do for over 15 years. It encouraged me to stay faithful. I also had a coach, Stephen Thomas, aka The UK Carnivore, who helped target my exercise to help with my specific weaknesses as well as coach me with the carnivore way of eating.

Just before starting Carnivore, I was diagnosed with Osteopenia. I got another decision approximately two years later, and it showed no osteopenia. I also got a Calcium (CAC) test that shows the buildup of plaque in and around your heart arteries, and my score was zero. I was over the moon.

A New Way of Life with Carnivore Diet

When people ask me if I will continue with the Carnivore Diet or go back to the Standard American Diet, I always answer, “There is nothing to go back to.” I have never felt so good.