Elliot is a bodybuilder who has been on a long search for the right diet to support his sport. Bodybuilding diets, while they can result in some amazingly muscular physiques, are not known for promoting health. Prepping for events has an even worse reputation, and Elliot’s experiences are a striking example of that. Thankfully, he found a way to heal, and pursue bodybuilding while building better health!
Before bodybuilding shows, athletes typically do anything possible to reduce their body fat percentage and achieve that lean, ripped look that wins competitions. Elliot explains how this triggered a destructive cycle of problems for him: “I dieted down extremely intensely for a bodybuilding show 2.5 years ago. Afterwards, I developed bulimia. I was caught in a relentless binge/purge cycle, which consisted of consuming several thousand nutritionless calories followed by extended periods of fasting, extreme cardio and occasionally vomiting in an attempt to rectify the damage. This led to an ever-worsening mental state and affected all areas of my life. It became an all-consuming secret.”
In a search for ways to solve this problem, Elliott unsuccessfully tried several different and popular approaches. He tried eating intuitively, trying to listen to his body’s appetite cues but found out that this didn’t work with the diet he was eating.
Elliot tried a vegan regime but did not find success there either. He pursued “religiously tracking calories” but found that no matter what strategy he tried, the results were the same, and “my bulimia ultimately refused to leave me. The voice remained.”
Elliot did find a little improvement from following a ketogenic diet, but not enough to warrant calling it a success and staying on the diet.
He was almost out of hope when Elliot found an interview Shawn Baker gave discussing the carnivore diet. Elliot got started, so he could see if it worked.
He found that strictly following the carnivore diet has brought him the results he was looking for: “I’ve been eating nothing but beef and lamb for the last 3 months, and I can honestly and truthfully say I’m healed.”
Elliot’s problems with binges and purges have finally resolved on the carnivore diet: “There is no urge to binge that I’m forced to suppress 24/7. The waves of shame and guilt have dissipated. The onset of fear from being around binge-inducing foods has vanished.”
Mental illnesses like bulimia may have complex causes, but solutions can be simple. The brain and body have mechanisms in place to control appetite, satiety, portion control, and energy use. More than any other food, saturated fats help people feel full, suggesting that these systems may have developed to support such a diet. Elliot says, “This way of eating has cured my mental illness, and it’s due to people like Shawn Baker that are vocal enough to speak openly and objectively about stigmatized diets such as carnivore.
“I feel better than ever and my performance in the gym has not suffered in any way. I am free.”
