From Soccer to Running: Christina’s Journey
An avid athlete, Christina grew up on red meat and casseroles. When she got to college, however, she swapped out the red meat for a “healthier” diet of grilled chicken, salad, protein shakes, and Special K cereal—the low-fat / high-carb diet recommended to athletes the world over.
Initially a soccer player, she got recruited to run track her sophomore year of college when the track coach attended a game and noticed her speed. Happy to avoid future injury on the soccer field, Christina agreed to try out—the coach suggested she run the 400-meter dash.
“The first time I ran it collegiately—I didn’t even know how to come out of blocks—I ran 58 seconds. So, he was like, ‘Oh, we’re keeping you on track!'”
Struggling with Hypoglycemia and Gut Issues
Christina would go on to become a two-time All-American, but behind the scenes of her athletic success, she was struggling to manage severe hypoglycemia. Even though she would make sure to load up on carbs before every race, it still wasn’t enough to help her avoid a crash—sometimes leading to her passing out.
As she neared graduation, she started to experience painful gut issues as well, and although she had Olympic dreams—with her health problems persisting—she decided to hang up her cleats.
Rediscovering Red Meat and the Carnivore Diet
After college, Christina became a teacher and track coach in rural Nebraska. She also went on to get married and start a family and was blessed with two beautiful daughters. On her 30th birthday, she came down with a terrible case of the flu.
While miserable and sick in bed, she discovered Dr. Ken Berry’s book, Lies My Doctor Told Me. After reading it, she decided to incorporate red meat back into her diet, and within a month—she felt drastically different.
Christina’s bloating and stomach distress completely disappeared. Her hypoglycemia went away, and since going on the carnivore diet, she hasn’t had a single hypoglycemic episode in four and a half years!
Christina’s passion for running was also reignited, and she began training with a coach again, who encouraged her to compete at the Master’s level. She also has a six-pack and more muscle now in her mid-thirties than she had in her twenties.
Christina’s athletic goals took a slight detour after she became pregnant with her son. She continued to eat a carnivore diet throughout all nine months of her pregnancy, joking, “I built this child on steak and eggs!” She observed that she experienced much less fatigued with her third pregnancy than her previous two—and her body bounced back so quickly—she was able to return to training only seven weeks after giving birth!
From Pregnancy to World-Class Athlete
A little over a decade after she kissed her athletic aspirations goodbye, Christina is now an 800-meter specialist running world-class times.
Over the last two years, she has won 4 National Titles in the 800m and the 1500m and is currently training for her first World Team event in Toruń, Poland, in March of 2023. She beams with joy as she says, “I’m super excited—it’ll be my first Team USA uniform.”
