Ryan has struggled with his weight for most of his life. He describes eating the Standard American Diet (SAD), and for many years his eating habits consisted of cereal, breakfast bars, fast food, and soda– lots of soda! Ryan says he hit 200 pounds at thirteen, and his weight continued to creep up throughout his teens and early twenties. Ryan said he never allowed himself to go above 300 pounds, but he went back and forth between 260 and 290 for many years.
Beyond weight, Ryan experienced several other health issues. He had debilitating migraines, which he attributed to genetics, and had him taking Vicodin quite often. Ryan also had severe allergies and heartburn. And he had high blood pressure, making it challenging to do strenuous activities, and he often became sick with sinus infections. Ryan also developed a bone spur on his foot, which he assumed would need surgery.
Ryan says he spent several years experimenting with fad diets, but his friend’s health concern impacted Ryan to make a change. Ryan takes care of his friend, who is disabled. His friend was diagnosed with diabetes, sending Ryan down a “rabbit hole” of learning all he could. Ryan says at the time, he listened to the Joe Rogan podcast and learned a lot about living a ketogenic lifestyle from him. Ryan began to follow a keto diet with his friend, which he says at the time was high in protein but still involved some carbs.
However, one day in early 2018, Ryan heard Dr. Shawn Baker speak about the carnivore diet on Joe Rogan’s podcast. He says that one podcast ultimately challenged everything he thought he knew about health. He began researching the carnivore diet, saying that “it just made sense.”
Ryan began to follow the carnivore lifestyle, and his health immediately improved. He lost over 100 pounds in just 185 days! Ryan says during that time, he would see people who assumed he was starving every day, but he always explained that the carnivore way of eating changed his life.
Beyond losing weight, Ryan’s migraines were gone within a week following the carnivore diet. He says it’s been very freeing to no longer carry pain medications everywhere he goes. He also noticed he no longer suffers from seasonal allergies, and his blood pressure is normal. He’s had one minor cold since becoming a carnivore diet follower over three years ago but hasn’t been sick ever since. And he says one of the biggest shocks has been the bone spur on his foot. He assumed the only way to get rid of the bone spur would be surgery; however, the carnivore diet healed that too.
Ryan says he mostly eats beef today but will enjoy just about any meat with a bit of butter. He’s even experimented with uncommon cuts and types of meat with his Asian and Hispanic friends. Ryan is also a part of the community and says while he isn’t incredibly involved now, he plans to become more engaged in the carnivore community soon.
Ryan says he can’t be thankful enough for Dr. Shawn Baker and Joe Rogan. He says they have both brought the message of the carnivore lifestyle to the masses, and Dr. Baker has, especially, changed the trajectory of Ryan’s health. Ryan says he doesn’t know where he would be today had he not heard the podcast. He knows, without a shadow of a doubt, Dr. Baker’s words “changed my life.”
