Lisa has always been a very active person. Even before discovering the carnivore way of eating, Lisa was a long-distance runner. She also enjoyed hiking and dancing. Lisa is now sixty-one years old but says she struggled with maintaining her weight in her forties and fifties. She ate a primarily low-fat diet and relied heavily on artificial sweeteners. Lisa says she always felt like she was hungry and never felt satiated.
Approximately four years ago, Lisa discovered the ketogenic diet, which she says was a game-changer for her. Though she was still careful not to overdo it on fat, she found that she had more freedom with the keto diet. Lisa says she struggled with disordered eating as a teenager and didn’t feel like she could eat large amounts of food even as an adult. When she began the keto diet, she ate more and worried less about calories. Lisa says while following the keto diet, she ate a lot of lean meat like fish, non-starchy vegetables, and salads– lots of big salads.
Lisa says the “keto diet worked until it didn’t work.” She still found herself feeling bloated and sometimes struggled with her satiety. Also, Lisa has struggled with depression and anxiety for most of her life. While the keto diet made her feel better in other ways, it did little to help her mental health.
Lisa began to learn about the carnivore diet in her keto circles. She says her husband is a scientist by trade, and a natural researcher, so he began to look into the benefits of the diet. After Christmas this past year, she and her husband decided to jump into the carnivore way of eating, and they haven’t looked back.
Lisa says that eating meat-based feels like “taking a Valium.” Her new way of eating feels very calming. Lisa describes that though she knows her mental health struggles will always be there, at least in the background, she feels her anxiety and depression are both “in remission.” Beyond her mental health, Lisa has also seen improvements in her sleep, and she feels much more rested and mentally clear.
Lisa’s husband has seen improvements as well since starting the carnivore lifestyle. She says her husband has always been very lean, but now he is starting to develop more muscle tone. She also says the carnivore diet has been great for her and her husband’s hormones and libido.
A typical day for Lisa involves eating within a four-hour window. Lisa says she enjoys eggs, meat, and bacon– bacon is her favorite treat, and she likens it to eating cake. She also drinks bone broth and eats various types of liver, which she says makes her feel like a superwoman. Lisa is still experimenting with what works for her body and is not eating dairy. She says she isn’t opposed to adding it back if her body seems to do well with it.
Lisa’s advice to anyone looking to start a carnivore journey is, “don’t listen to the naysayers.” She says she has people in her life, especially her running community, who don’t seem to understand the carnivore lifestyle. She says, “you just have to do what’s right for you and tune everyone else out.”
Lisa says she loves getting to do this lifestyle alongside her husband. She’s also been getting involved in the community and recently reached out to a health coach who was able to give her some minor tweaks to optimize her health. Lisa is proud of all that she has accomplished in just a short time as a carnivore diet follower and says, “I don’t think I will ever go back.”
