Growing Up on the Standard American Diet
Nicki grew up eating the Standard American Diet. She describes eating Butterfingers to combat stress and remembers being in her late twenties and eating a Poptart for breakfast. Now her breakfast meals look a little different.
Exploring Vegetarian and Vegan Diets
Nicki spent a portion of her life experimenting with vegetarian and vegan diets. She describes driving one day in her new home in Georgia and seeing a truck full of chickens heading to be “processed.” She couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for the chickens and decided to try the vegetarian diet (which led to eventual veganism). However, the vegetarian and vegan diets caused Nicki to gain weight.
Battling Fibromyalgia and Ignoring the Diagnosis
In 2011, Nicki was diagnosed with fibromyalgia after experiencing extreme pain, anxiety, depression, exhaustion, and insomnia. Nicki said back in 2011, she ignored her diagnosis. She accepted that the brain fog and breathlessness she was experiencing as just a part of life. Her fibromyalgia even made it difficult to conceive, though she was able to get pregnant at the age of forty-three with her son.
The Impact of a Nurse Practitioner’s Advice
It wasn’t until the end of 2019, when she started experiencing swelling, especially in her ankles, that she sought help from a nurse practitioner. Nicki was again diagnosed with fibromyalgia, but the nurse practitioner gave her advice that many medical professionals seem to ignore. She told Nicki to start eating more protein and fewer carbohydrates.
Discovering the Ketogenic and Carnivore Diets
From her nurse practitioner’s advice, Nicki started researching online. She found Dr. Boz and her community of ketogenic diet followers. While experimenting with the ketogenic lifestyle, Nicki began learning about the carnivore diet. Since she was seeing and feeling improvement while following the keto diet, she decided to try the carnivore diet.
Thriving on the Carnivore Lifestyle
Nicki says within one week of following the carnivore lifestyle, she started getting the best sleep she had ever experienced. She also started to have more energy and took up the Peloton bike workouts. She also felt like her anxiety and depression were gone. She describes feeling like she was in a state of “zen.”
Simplicity and Benefits of the Carnivore Diet
Nicki says she loves the simplicity of the carnivore diet. Even though her husband and son are not carnivore followers, grocery shopping for her family feels much more effortless. She even spoke about the improvements in her eighty-year-old mom’s health since she has been implementing more meat into her diet. She says her mom still eats many of the same foods every day, but Nicki sees the value in helping her mom focus on eating more protein.
Nicki’s Transformation and Improved Health
Today, Nicki typically enjoys two meals a day– something she would have never been able to do before the carnivore way of life. She says she was shocked the first time she accidentally “forgot to eat breakfast.” Nicki’s meals usually consist of beef, eggs, butter, and coffee. She says she is currently trying to eliminate pork.
She also states at the age of fifty, she feels the “best she has ever felt.” Her pain and mental health struggles are gone. She feels she has the energy to keep up with her young son and is grateful she found this way of eating.
