A Decade of Meat: Linda’s Carnivore Journey
What started as a 30-day experiment to lose a few pounds of baby weight has transformed into a decade-long lifestyle for Linda, who will celebrate her 10th anniversary on the carnivore diet this April. “I thought it was going to be a 30-day experiment. I thought, how bad could it be? Let’s give it a go. And here I am 10 years later,” Linda explains.
Originally from New York but now living in North Carolina for the past 20 years, Linda discovered the carnivore approach through online communities after previously experiencing success with the Atkins diet’s induction phase. Inspired by others in the zero-carb community who seemed to be thriving, she decided to give it a try.
Beyond Weight Loss: Unexpected Health Benefits
While weight loss initially motivated Linda to try carnivore, the unexpected health improvements kept her committed. “I started to realize how lucky I was that I went in there for a few pounds of weight loss because all of these other symptoms that I had been dealing with, thinking they were just normal signs of aging, started to fall away,” she shares.
Among these unexpected benefits were the resolution of joint pain, migraine headaches, anxiety, depression, and significant improvements in interstitial cystitis and lipedema symptoms. Linda, now 49, emphasizes that these benefits far outweigh any dietary restrictions she might face.
“Even if there’s weight gain, these things are so worth keeping to a meat-based carnivore diet,” she states firmly. Her experience with interstitial cystitis—a painful bladder condition that feels like a constant urinary tract infection—has been particularly transformative, with the carnivore diet providing relief that medications couldn’t.
Simple Nutrition: Finding What Works
Linda’s approach to carnivore focuses on simplicity rather than complexity. Her typical day includes a protein coffee in the morning (beef-based protein powder with MCT oil and electrolytes), followed by meat-centric meals throughout the day. She enjoys a variety of animal products—beef remains her staple, but she also regularly includes lamb, chicken, seafood, and eggs.
“Beef is great because it’s just got a great balance. No matter what cut you’re getting, you’re typically gonna have a great fat-to-protein ratio,” Linda notes. Over time, she’s found that a higher protein approach works better for her body composition than extremely high fat, allowing her to maintain muscle mass and reduce body fat.
Performance Fuel: Dancing Through Life
As a competitive ballroom dancer who trains three times weekly and competes at regional and national events, Linda appreciates how the carnivore diet fuels her athletic performance. “When you’re competing at a high level and you’re fat-fueled like the carnivores are, you have this unlimited amount of energy to work through during the competition,” she explains.
She notices a stark contrast between herself and other competitors who race for carbohydrate-rich snacks after performances, while she maintains steady energy levels throughout competition days.
Practical Approach: No Perfection Required
Linda maintains a relaxed perspective on the details that often consume newcomers to the diet. She doesn’t believe that grass-finished beef is necessarily superior to grain-finished and questions the emphasis some place on omega-3:omega-6 ratios in beef.
“The amount of extra omega-3s that are in grass-finished meat are negligible when you’re looking at absolute amounts,” she explains. “If you want omegas, head to the fish. Just a forkful of salmon is gonna more than make up for the amount of omega-3s that you would be getting by switching from grain-finished to grass-finished beef.”
Long-Term Sustainability: Decade-Long Success
After nearly 10 years on carnivore, Linda dismisses concerns about the diet’s sustainability or potential long-term issues. She’s maintained excellent health markers, including a perfect arterial calcium score of zero and what she describes as “happily elevated” cholesterol with high HDL and low triglycerides.
When asked if she’s had to modify her approach over the years, Linda’s answer is simple: “I’ve been very consistent in terms of the amount of plant foods I eat. It’s like next to nothing.” The only significant change has been adjusting her fat-to-protein ratio to optimize body composition.
For Linda, the proof is in the results: a decade of improved health, athletic performance, and freedom from symptoms she once thought were inevitable parts of aging. “I’ve not had to add back in any fiber. I sleep really well. I go to the bathroom very normally. There’s just been nothing that I’ve had to say, ‘Carnivore was great, but I’ve got to do this.'”
