Scott was raised on a standard American diet filled with sugary and carb-laden foods. He jokes that his parents kept him “complicit and compliant” by offering him snacks. Until the eighth grade, Scott says he was on the “pudgy” side, but once he took up the sport of rowing, that began to change.
From Pudgy to Competitive Rower
Throughout high school and college, Scott was a competitive rower. He was recruited to the University of Pennsylvania’s premiere team and followed a strict workout regimen. “We rowed every single day year-round, sometimes twice a day. Every day included vigorous exercise on the rowing machine and intense cardio with weight lifting.”
Strict Regimen and Unhealthy Relationship with Food
Like a wrestler or MMA fighter, Scott had to maintain a certain weight to qualify. “I had to stay in shape all the time and also cut down and keep my weight really low.” His low-fat diet was focused on more protein but was still heavy in sugar and carbs. Scott says he had “an unhealthy relationship with food.” He and his teammates often fluctuated within a twenty-pound range within a week to maintain their weight.
Trying to Stay in Shape After Leaving Rowing
After graduating college in 2014 and leaving his sport behind, Scott wanted to stay in shape without rowing for 3-6 hours per day. He tried a “poor version” of a paleo diet (including vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, and lean meat) but wasn’t satisfied.
Mainly eating boneless, skinless chicken breasts and salads, Scott went from 150 pounds to 170 pounds. “I’m 5 foot 10, so I wasn’t overweight, but I was ‘skinny fat.’ I had very little muscle mass in my upper body.” Scott says his diet continued to evolve over the next two years. He tried hard to stay in shape while working 80 to 90 hours a week at a stressful job.
While Scott had some success controlling his weight with intermittent fasting, he still had concerns about his overall health.
“I was not sleeping very well, and I had really high stress levels. My body composition wasn’t where it should be, given I was doing a lot of resistance training. I had trouble concentrating during the day and was always tired.” He also recalls having poor gut health during that time.
Discovering the Carnivore Diet
In 2016, Scott came across one of Amber O’hearn’s YouTube videos sharing her experience with a carnivore diet. For the last four years, Scott has followed a meat-based diet consisting mainly of ground beef, steak, and eggs. (He’s recently added in some other foods.) He shifted to eating earlier in the day and found he got better results and deeper sleep.
Thriving on a Meat-Based Diet
Today, at age 25, Scott is thriving. “I stopped the constant, anxious madness of calorie counting, and my satiety is much better between meals.” He is stronger, more muscular, and dropped several inches from his waist size. His sex drive has returned, and he has more energy and mental clarity throughout the day.
Scott enjoys saving money and not feeling “attached to food all the time.” Since being part of the community, Scott loves “seeing how many people have benefited from a carnivore diet and how it has transformed so many lives.”
