Trying the Carnivore Diet
A couple of weeks ago, somewhat on a whim, I decided to give the Carnivore Diet a try. I’ve dabbled with a more traditional ketogenic diet (high fat, very low carb) and had great success losing weight, but never really found my groove from an energy perspective.
Part of the reason for that, I believe, was that there are too many tasty “cheats” on a traditional, high-fat ketogenic diet. You can eat things like Lily’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, which are only “healthy” relative to other processed foods. The point is, my fat sources got lazier and lazier the further into the diet I got.
The Carnivore Diet is a ketogenic diet that offers no such versatility. There are different variations, to be sure. The most strict would involve only water, salt, meat (say, 80%+ red meat), and organ meats. Even a flexible Carnivore Diet would allow little more than the addition of some honey and fruit.
I’m not convinced that the more flexible option would have anywhere near the health benefits because of the ups and downs of blood glucose levels. Plus it’s easy to overeat things that taste sweet, especially when you have zero additional sweets in your diet. To me, something close to the full blown Carnivore Diet seemed most likely to produce good results.
Before we jump into what exactly I’m doing, let me give you a few “whys” for trying this out.
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Why the Carnivore Diet
Some of this is going to be a bit politically incorrect, so if that isn’t your cup of tea you might just want to take a pass on this post (or me in general).
Weight Loss
When I don’t have specific rules for myself, I am prone to dietary deviation. Most of this year has been “high protein, relatively low fat, and low-glycemic carbs.” But that is pretty general guidance, not specific. Unsurprisingly, I’ve put on a few not-so-flattering pounds since March (I was doing 75 Hard through March 16th so no chance of gaining fat then).
Muscle Gain
I’ve done a non-keto diet for quite a while and, even with heavy lifting, I haven’t seen a discernible improvement in my muscle size or definition. A lot of people will say that keto is suboptimal for musical gain and that carbs would help. That may be true, but I’m putting it to the test. It at least stands to reason that eating a boatload of high-protein beef could help significantly in this department.
Mental Clarity
I’ve noticed that even with low-glycemic carbs at lunchtime (e.g., Ezekiel cereal, hummus, black beans), I still get tired in the afternoons. I’m curious if cutting the carbs down to effectively 0% of my diet will help.
Doing the Opposite
Long story short, I’m of the belief that are often misled by “experts.” Sometimes this is probably unintentional, other times not. Remember the food pyramid that told you to eat a ton of bread, pasta, and grains but to limit your intake of eggs. That now sounds like the worst dietary advice you could give, in my opinion.
Just doing the opposite of what conventional wisdom says may sound cynical, but I think it’s healthy skepticism in a world where lying or misinforming is cheap, easy, and will be forgotten shortly thereafter. What is my point here?
Everyone that I don’t trust says to eat less meat. The World Economic Forum. PETA. The Washington Post. Greenpeace. The Atlantic. The Federal government.
If they say to eat less meat, then my best guess (and it is just a guess and an experiment at the moment) is that eating more meat is the right path for me.
My Carnivore Plan
Instead of opting for the flex plan (with honey, fruit, etc.), I decided to go right for the strict option, with a few very minor exceptions:
- I would include eggs, as do most Carnivores
- I would include high-fat, zero-carb dairy (butter, ghee, whipping cream, occasional cheeses, etc.)
- I would keep my coffee (which comes from beans so not usually allowed)
- I would include small amounts of carb-free alcohol (i.e., bourbon) only in occasional social settings
- I would include basic spices besides just salt (mainly granulated garlic, onion powder, and ground black pepper)
Other than that, it’s water, steak, and organ meat. Here is what that basically looks like on a daily basis.
Breakfast
I don’t, and haven’t for a while, eat breakfast. I feel fine in the morning and no calories means less mental drag while working. I do water and black coffee, nothing else.
Lunch
I eat lunch right after I work out, which means I need protein. That used to be a whey protein shake and I’d add in some low-glycemic carbs.
I’ve replaced that with mainly organ meats and butter. I’ve been doing food prep early in the week and make a bunch of beef kidney, heart, liver, bone marrow, and bone broth. I put a couple of ounces of each on a plate, add butter or ghee on top, throw it in the microwave for 30 seconds, and feast.
I drink the bone broth after warming it in the microwave as well. If I’m particularly hungry or finished a hard weight workout, I’ll add two or three scrambled eggs to the plate. If I have time, I’ll add some leftover meat or sliced short ribs to the mix.
I haven’t done the math on macro or micronutrients (quick guess is about 750 to 1000 calories because portion sizes are rather small), but this has got one of the most nutrient dense meals you can possibly eat. Liver alone puts almost all vegetables to shame when it comes to vitamin and mineral levels.
I’m definitely getting a good hit of post-workout protein and it’s enough food that I haven’t been feeling hungry in the afternoon.
The other good thing about the Carnivore Diet that I’ll mention here is that what you can snack on is relatively limited. The best options are meat sticks, but those get expensive if they are high quality and sugar-free. This keeps my snacking to a minimum, if anything at all, throughout the day.
Dinner
Dinner on the Carnivore Diet is the best for me. I think I’ve probably eaten a ribeye steak (eight to 12 ounces) about 10 of the last 14 days. I’ll put ghee or bone marrow on top to add some good fats and to flavor to it.
And that’s about it. I don’t really need anything else because my lunchtime organ meats cover all the micronutrients I need for the day. I’ll drink some water and maybe a bit of bone broth, but that is it.
“Dessert”
Again, a benefit of the Carnivore Diet versus keto is that there aren’t great snack or dessert options, so you don’t overindulge in crap. If I’m hungry after dinner, I’ll whisk up some whipping cream with a drop of diluted stevia (yes, technically cheating but c’mon) and eat it with a spoon. After a day of all steak, eggs, and organs, it’s a nice change of pace.
Water
I am reliably taking in between 100 to 150 ounces of water a day. Additionally, half of my coffee intake (about 32 ounces) is decaf which is probably net positive for hydration.
I’m putting a pinch of salt into every 32-ounce bottle of water I consume to keep my electrolytes high. To answer the obvious question: yes, I am using the restroom a lot these days (and nights).
Supplements
I am still taking a few supplements:
- My multivitamin (which is more habitual than necessary, I suspect)
- My omega-3 supplement (because I’m not eating salmon quite as often as I used to)
- An electrolyte supplement (you lose a lot of water weight and electrolytes on a ketogenic diet)
- An iron supplement (I was deficient on a recent blood panel, but probably not eating carnivore, honestly)
- A vitamin C supplement (I was borderline deficient and it’s not clear to me yet what that looks like on the Carnivore Diet)
- A vitamin D supplement (only on days that I have little sun exposure, which is relatively rare)
- A digestive enzyme supplement (to help me retain normal bowel movements during the transition to keto)
First Impressions
Again, I’ve only been at this a couple of weeks. The transition from glucose to ketones as fuel can be rocky – irregular bowel movements, lack of energy, everything you don’t want.
But I’ve done it before, so the transition has been easier so far. I had about four days of feeling pretty tired and now I’m doing great.
The first couple of days, I really missed even boring, low-glycemic carbs and the taste of sweetness in anything. Two weeks in and most of that temptation is gone. Meals aren’t very exciting, but I’m learning that if I view my food as a source of entertainment (rather than just fuel), I spend more time preparing it and consume a surplus of calories. Besides if my life is so uninteresting that my food has to be exciting, that is something perhaps worth reflecting on.
If I’m really wishing I could eat something good, I have dry-brined short ribs and ribeye (cut in half to last me longer) on hand that I can throw in the skillet. In about 10 minutes, I’ve got a meal that anyone would envy.
From a weight loss perspective, I’m down about eight pounds (mostly water weight, I assume). I’ll be interested to see if I can add some muscle while losing body fat, as I did during 75 Hard. I now know it is possible, but it requires dietary discipline and intense workouts. The latter has been tough, as my hamstring is still quite knotted up from my 340-mile kayak excursion.
I think one thing that I’m appreciating about the Carnivore Diet is that I can do some great food prep on the front end without having to concoct a bunch of different meals. I’ll prep my organ meats and bone marrow for lunch early in the week and then, at most, scramble some eggs to go with it. I dry brine all of my steak for the week at the same time and ensure that every ribeye I eat is tender and delicious.
My only complaint about this way of eating is that my wife isn’t doing it, and neither are my kids. That means that we are eating different things for dinner each night. Because my food doesn’t take long to make at all (10 minutes on the grill), that isn’t a big logistical issue. But dinner is usually something that we could enjoy sharing, and that is no longer possible for now.
I’m torn as to what this looks like long-term for me. I love the simplicity, the way I feel, and the dismissal of conventional “wisdom” that the Carnivore Diet offers. But it is more than simply a way of eating; it is a way of life. Travel, social occasions, birthdays, etc. all become more difficult to navigate.
Carnivores are also easy to misunderstand. If I refrain from birthday cake or pizza or whatever everyone else is eating, there is a tendency for folks to assume I’m sending some kind of a message or judging their lifestyle. I’m not, but that perception can create a divide, nonetheless.
Overall, I’m an experimental kind of guy. I like to try new things and to push myself. So far, I’d say my Carnivore Diet experiment is going well. Check back in a few months to see what I’m doing then…
Have you ever tried the Carnivore Diet? Any tips or suggestions for me moving forward? Send me your thoughts at michael@theothermichaeljordan.com. I hope to hear from you.
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