Hello, my name is Matt. I wanted to get in touch mainly to thank Shawn for writing his excellent book, but also for the time he’s dedicated to the medical world and the community. The success stories I’ve seen are fantastic, I thought I’d share mine since I’m a little more of a normal case than some of the people with very difficult conditions I’m grateful not to have to deal with in my life.
From vegetarian to carnivore
I’m 30, lightly active, office job, a bit heavier than I should be, grew up vegetarian but have eaten meat on and off for the last 10 years of my life. Since researching the carnivore diet and following advice from various sources since around October 2019 I bought your book and decided to give it a proper go in January. I’m not 100% there but stick to meat as much as I can, around 80% of my food source is beef, pork, chicken with the remainder being as low carb as possible. I still drink coffee/milk, eat cheese/yoghurt, but avoid anything sugary.
The main things I’ve noticed
- Loads more energy from morning to around midnight. Before I’d peak about 3pm, and then by 7pm I was wiped out.
- Stamina. I enjoy bouldering, I can climb for longer, push harder, recover quicker.
- I don’t experience hunger in the same way. I don’t feel ill when I’m hungry, I don’t crash, it’s a bit difficult to describe. It’s more like a thought than a physical feeling in my stomach.
- I’m awful at running but I did a test, I ran 2 miles before starting, did the carnivore diet for 2 weeks, then did the same route. I knocked 2.5 minutes off my mile pace with no training in between. Since then I run 1-2 times a week.
- I lost 10lbs in a month without “dieting”, I just upped my beef intake so I didn’t feel like snacking.
- I feel the need to drink more water, which has the knock on effect of cutting out headaches. I often used to get headaches and migraines.
- My joints feel looser/more fluid. I feel more solid, muscles feel more dense.
- More confidence and drive, able to think more clearly.
- No digestive problems, I used to get indigestion every night. Now I never have it.
Keeping me sane
Before I started looking into the carnivore diet my family went through a really tough time. For the last 9 month I’ve been juggling hospital visits, a full time job, no time off, financial issues, a death in the family unrelated to the hospital visits, personal stress. I honestly feel like this diet has helped me pick myself back up and carry on.
I would urge anyone to give it a go and take from it what they can, use what works for them. It’s certainly not a diet only for those with ailments.
Cheers,
Matt
