Nial is a carnivore diet coach and a swimmer and always felt like he “had a gut, always felt full all the time,” even though he was an athlete and remained very physically active at age 54. When he was in Israel swimming, it wasn’t convenient to go out to eat, and he would try to fast eighteen or twenty hours, which put him in ketosis even though he was eating a non-specific diet which he called “Rolling the dice with meals.”
Nial was always depending on exercise to burn the extra carbohydrates, with his motto being “Burn a hole and fill it with carbohydrates or calories” though in time he learned that you can’t exercise out of a bad diet. Swimming, like other sports such as cycling or running, still seems to push people to fuel with carbohydrates, though the tide is turning.
Nial decided to look for “an alternate fuel source” when he was swimming in Israel, and the results of his new carnivore diet amazed him. “I have never ever hit PR’s, personal records, as consistent than I have being strict carnivore-blows my mind. And if I have 20 grams of carbohydrates in a day it’s a miracle.”
Nial lost weight when he was overseas competing and following his new carnivore diet, so much so that he was concerned. He regularly does DEXA scans to monitor his body, and immediately did one when he returned to Chicago. The results surprised him: “they said, you know, the lady that was doing it, she was a super great athlete and runner, she’s like ‘wow, man, this is the best one you ever had.’ I asked her how much muscle did I lose, and she goes ‘you didn’t lose any muscle, you lost 23 pounds of fat.’ This shoots a hole through so many theories!”
Nial has found that his carnivore diet did more than help him lose weight and swim faster, as it also helped him settle down to not thinking about food all the time. He says “I’m enjoying my life now more than I have in my entire life.”
Nial gets up at 3 AM every day, and enjoys coffee with butter and a little salt. By 530 am, he is training while fasting, lifting weights, or swimming. His favorite meal is a pound of ground beef, with salt and a couple of eggs. Nial also enjoys ribeyes, with a couple of eggs and some salt.
“Five years ago I would be like, a cheeseburger fry guy, and now I’m like ‘I’d like a pound of ground beef, please.”
Nial loves coaching and helping others find the energy, high function, and peace that he enjoys as a result of his diet. “The one thing that is absolutely clear is I’ve reached a level of peace in my life that I didn’t think was possible. I feel like a monk without the cape and the shaved head. I feel very peaceful.”
