My Belief in Calories In/Calories Out Theory
From my teenage years, I fully believed in the calories in/calories out theory. I believed that carbs were good for you and I looked pretty good. I even competed in a bodybuilding tournament (all natural, no steroid show).
My Active Lifestyle and Healthy Eating Habits
I played semi-professional soccer and competed at a reasonable level in tennis (winning one singles tournament). As I got older, I began running and being really active. I did not smoke or drink. I ate porridge with skimmed milk and bananas and freshly squeezed orange juice.
Healthy eating was my thing. On a trip to the United States, I had egg white omelettes for the first time. I was the poster boy for calories in/calories out. I avoided fat. I even did 6 months on a soy-based diet (worst I had ever felt).
Unexplained Health Issues
I got into running and even in my forties was running some great times. I include this because even though I was doing all this, I was getting fatter! Also, I was getting sicker. Nothing seemed to make sense.
Heart Scare and High Risk Score
I suffered from the following: rashes to the forehead, athletes foot (for over 10 years), pains in the lower right quadrant (I had a colonoscopy), I developed a cataract, I was pre-diabetic, and I was overweight.
Yet I was eating right and doing activity and not smoking nor drinking? The final straw was having a heart scan. The CAC is the ultimate measure of how well your heart is doing. My score was 639.
This is the highest possible risk (you want it to be zero) and it was made apparent that according to my score, I was likely to have a heart attack before I left the hospital!
The bands of risk go 0-100, 100-200, 200-300, and high risk is 300-400. I was above the high risk. The point being, it really is high.
Misconceptions About Food
So I did research and saw that I’d been misled about food. I dropped the carbohydrates, starch, and fruit and saw immediate improvements.
- My weight dropped dramatically in just three weeks when I decided to go full carnivore!
- My athletes foot went
- My pain in my stomach went away
- My rashes on my forehead, gone.
- My hunger diminished
- I started to eat more! (but the right things)
- Bowel movements improved
- I noticed a complete lack of gas!
The less carbohydrates I ate the better I felt and looked. I am lucky that I am in the health and fitness industry so I can take my bloods and as a qualified phlebotomist can look at my results and interpret them. All my bloods improved.
I then tried zero carb and tracked my testosterone and other markers. My testosterone went up by over 30% in 2 months.
Losing Fat and Gaining Muscle
Further Improvements: I wanted to now add more muscle and decrease body fat percentage further. This I have been able to do. Losing fat and gaining muscle required eating more “calories” than recommended.
Yes, you can lose fat while eating more food, as long as it is the right food. I tracked my body composition for the next phase. Muscle up, body fat down, bone mass up, and visceral fat down. I intend to keep eating this way; I have never felt so good!
Yes you can lose fat while eating more food, as long as it is the right food. I tracked my body composition for the next phase. Muscle up, body fat down, bone mass up and visceral fat down. I intend to keep eating this way, I have never felt so good.
I hope you found my story interesting.
Stephen T
January 2020
6 thoughts on “Stephen improved his muscle mass, digestion, and skin on a carnivore diet”
When do you plan to re-test your CAC assessment? Hope you post follow ups.
I am hoping to re-test on my 56th birthday. In the Uk they limit radiation exposure so I can’t have one sooner!
Wow, this is a great story with proof and everything. Thank you so much for sharing this! 🙂
Nice banana hammock. 🙂
Please post your CAC scan results when you have next one – thanks
very impressive.im trying the diet but have been gaining weight.how often do you eat in a day and where do you receive the cac ? thanks