For Aura, a former martial artist from Chicago, the descent into poor health was a “slow-motion spiral.” Once lean and active, she hit a wall after high school. When COVID-19 hit, Aura’s health reached a breaking point. “Some people used COVID to get six-packs; I used it to gain 150 pounds,” she says.
By 2023, Aura tipped the scales at 260 pounds. She was plagued by chronic inflammation and “menstrual periods that took me out for seven days—curled up in bed, hugging my knees in pain.” She tried to fix it the way she was taught: calorie counting, 1,600-calorie “balanced” diets, water fasts, and juice cleanses. Nothing worked. She was losing maybe 10 pounds in three months—a drop in the bucket for someone with 150 pounds to lose.
The Skillet and the Spatula
The turning point came through a providential connection. Aura met her now-husband on a dating app and was brutally honest about her health struggles and her dream of starting a family. He had been Carnivore for two years and made her an offer: “Give it a shot.” Two days later, an Amazon package arrived at her door containing Dr. Shawn Baker’s The Carnivore Diet, a cast-iron skillet, and a spatula.
Aura committed to red meat for 30 days. She lost 30 pounds in those first 30 days.
The “Carnivore Calm” and the 131lb Loss
The weight loss was only the beginning. Aura describes an immediate shift in her “internal weather”:
THE CARNIVORE CALM: The high-stress, high-stakes business environment of downtown Chicago no longer left her on edge. Her “road rage” vanished, replaced by an emotional regulation she had never experienced.
PAIN-FREE CYCLES: Her agonizing 7-day periods transformed into 3-day cycles that “barely felt like a tickle.”
TOTAL BODY RESET: Aura eventually lost a staggering 131 pounds, effectively cutting her former weight in half.
A Primal Pregnancy
Perhaps most controversial was Aura’s decision to maintain a strict Carnivore diet through her pregnancy. Despite warnings from society, Aura thrived. “I started my pregnancy 60 pounds overweight and actually lost 30 pounds while pregnant,” she explains. She bypassed the standard “emergency 911” medicalized birth model, opting for a natural, intervention-free delivery at home.
Today, her son River is the picture of “Carnivore Baby” health:
REMARKABLE STRENGTH: Born with a 17-inch head circumference (the average is 13), River was rolling over and trying to crawl within his first month.
CLEAN FUEL: Aura reports generous milk production and a calm, alert baby who sleeps in 4-hour windows—results she attributes to the absence of inflammatory seed oils and sugars in her system.
Creating a Tribe
Now living in Allen, Texas, Aura has turned her journey into a mission. She leads an “all-girl gang” of 20 women on Instagram (@carnivoreaura), helping them navigate the transition to animal-based living. For Aura, the “freedom to eat anything” wasn’t freedom at all—real freedom was found in the skillet and the steak.
“I didn’t get myself sick with a doctor or pills, so I didn’t think I was going to get healthy through them either… I look at old pictures and it’s like reverse impostor syndrome. Who is that lady?”
