Eric’s problems began at an early age. His parents were trying to follow diet guidelines and didn’t understand how carbohydrates could drive eating disorders. He was a heavyset kid, living with a great deal of stress from his parents’ failing relationship.
Eric’s diet was the standard American diet (aka “SAD”), which included meat but also a lot of carbs and sweets. This caused him to be a “heavyset kit” who reached 212 pounds in junior high school at the age of 12. Being so overweight was an additional cause of stress, as he learned to find stress relief with more eating.
Eric’s parents separated when he was 12 years old, adding an additional layer to his already stressful young life.
The pattern of dealing with life stress by self-medicating soon escalated into an IV drug addiction, abusing a variety of opiates to dull the stress from being overweight and having grown up in a very stressful household.
Drug abuse combined with a poor diet and being overweight led to a perfect setup for a disaster. After watching the “Cowspiracy” documentary, Eric decided to go on a plant-based diet. This lasted about a month, and further contributed to his eating problems. After that, he followed no other diets except the standard American diet.
In 2018, Eric committed to getting off of opiates after his son was born. Watching Jordan Peterson being interviewed on The Joe Rogan Experience, he learned about the carnivore diet. Jordan Peterson shared how the carnivore diet had completely transformed his life for the better, and Eric was ready for a change at 267 lbs. He decided to try it and see what happens!
Within the first few weeks, Eric had lost a lot of bloating and water, 10lbs in 1st 2 weeks. He initially tried eating “nose to tail” but ended up with beef, eggs, bacon, and occasional chicken wings.
Eric says he’s “Been awesome since then. Things are coming back to me.”
He did experience a little family pressure, too. “When I got on this diet, I was told ‘you’re fine, why do you need to eat all meat?’ Even when I’d lost all this weight, I had family members telling me ‘hey man you’re looking kinda small’ and I’d way ‘what do you want me to do, be over 200 pounds again? I feel amazing!’ I have a CAC score of zero still, I feel great everyday, I wake up and I actually feel great it doesn’t take me twenty minutes to get out of bed, I’m in the shower in minutes.”
Eric has been on the Carnivore Diet since july 1st 2018. His weight dropped to 190 by January 2019, and then he started going to the gym. He lost more weight, started moving better, and his loose skin healed.
Eric currently fasts 18-20 hours at a time, and says “I feel like superman every day, I get things done and still have energy. It’s been a lifechanger. New body, new lifestyle. It’s given me the opportunity to be the best father to my son.”
