Interview with Christina
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Introduce Yourself.
Hi! My name is Christina. I was born and raised in Boston, MA and that is where I still live. 22 years old and within the last couple years have become very interested in fitness/nutrition and specifically low carb diets.
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How did you eat before Carnivore.
I started Keto in June 2017 and followed it pretty religiously until July 2018 when I decided to give Carnivore a shot. Before that, it was a typical SAD diet situation going on. I started eating low carb because of chronic rashes, inflammation and swelling in joints, and other autoimmune symptoms that were really not taken seriously by doctors. I was given antihistamines and sent on my way, and I became very frustrated with the treatment I was getting by doctors.
My mother had already made the Keto to Carnivore transition a few months prior, and I honestly thought she was a little crazy for it. Even though we are both avid LC diet researchers and both like to keep up with the science, we really didn’t discuss her decision to go Carnivore. I judged, not gonna lie.
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Why did you try Carnivore to begin with.
Even on Keto, I did notice I was having issues with chronic bloating. There was one day in early July that I had a zero carb meal unconsciously, and I noticed that after it, Not only did I not feel bloated, but felt super alert and energized. I even felt like I wanted to go workout. Typically, after people eat a huge meal, they unbutton their pants, complain about their “food baby”, self loathe, and send themselves into a “food coma”. I had a revelation that day that led me to believe bloating is not as normal a sensation as we may be led to believe.
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How do you personally approach the Carnivore Diet.
The month of July was 30 days of Carnivore including eggs and dairy limited to heavy cream in my coffee, and 2oz or less of cheese a day. I spent the month of August experimenting with adding some plant products back in, but just didn’t feel as good. So, as of September, I started Carnivore including eggs and limited dairy again! I have had occasional avocado and occasional nuts, but I do not eat anything that doesn’t come from an animal 90% of the time. My fall schedule is in full effect and I am very busy, so I’ve also implemented some fasting and OMAD during the week.
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What benefits have you seen since starting the Carnivore Diet.
Wow, so much. For starters…the bloating went away. Neuroregulation of appetite is another one. I am continuing to get leaner while eating intuitively and not tracking my food. I don’t feel like I ever overeat and my body is so good at telling me when I’m full. I won’t say I never get cravings for other things – but the newest benefit I’ve discovered is that because my taste buds have changed to prefer savory, even if I crave sweet – I get a taste and it goes away. And the crazy thing? Things like avocado and macadamia nuts or almonds taste sweet to me now. I can eat those and feel like I satisfied my craving for “something else”. As someone who has struggled with binge eating for my entire life, this is huge. This was a benefit I didn’t really even see on Keto (although my health dramatically improved on it). I still had occasional binge episodes. In fact, my last one was in August during the weeks I was experimenting with transitioning back to Keto when my Carnivore experiment had ended.
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What negatives have you found with the Carnivore Diet.
The only negative has nothing to do with me, really. It’s really just been the backlash from people who don’t understand it – seeing comments that call this way of eating “irresponsible”, etc. I am 100% sure it’s what’s best for me and most of the time, the judgment does not bother me. But I have found myself spending more time defending the lifestyle than I’d like to.
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Do you exercise on the Carnivore Diet, if so how do you find it and what do you do.
I do! I workout 5-6 days a week and I definitely think my workouts have improved since I started Carnivore. I am on week 4 of the Strong Lifts 5×5 program, and using that program to increase strength with basic movements. I also belong to a boxing gym in my city and so I take about 4 boxing classes a week, as well as yoga for recovery and flexibility. I use working out for mental clarity and as a stress reliever, but I definitely do not think I would be able to do as much as I do without Carnivore (or at the very least, eating low carb). I was not always like this. I did not grow up athletic and I did not like fitness until I started to dip into the low carb world.
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What piece of advice would you give someone who is interested in trying this diet, but hasn’t taken the leap yet.
Personally, if you are coming from a diet high in carbohydrate I would suggest trying Keto first. I can imagine the transition person to no carb from a high carb diet would be brutal enough that it would make you want to stop altogether. I think it may be a good idea to get fat adapted, and to spend a few months getting accustomed to a low carb way of living first before you try to transition to Carnivore. If you have been doing that, I would definitely try giving it 30 days to see how you feel on Carnivore. That’s the amount of time I think people need to give it an honest shot and start to see some good results that will make them want to keep going.
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Do you think Carnivore will ever be accepted as a mainstream diet.
I would love for it to, but I think a lot of damage has been done in terms of the demonization of saturated fat, animal products, and red meat specifically. There are certainly lots of political power behind the plant-based movement. I’m not sure there is any way to get a whole society to just un-believe the information that’s been given to them for decades about health. In an ideal world, everyone will go out there and do their own research. But as many of us who promote this diet on social media have come to realize – most people do not do any research or reading of their own. It’s getting lots of negative media attention and I’m wondering if that will label it “just another fad diet”. I definitely don’t mean to be pessimistic! I would love for this way of eating to be more widely accepted, but there isn’t much profit that comes out a diet like this and therefore I can’t see it being accepted in the mainstream. Not much for the sugar industry and cereal companies to work with on this one.
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Anything you would like to add, and where can people follow your journey.
Look to people like Shawn Baker and Amber O’Hearn for Carnivore guidance! And listen to people’s experiences with the diet before you listen to what’s being put out in the media. Georgia Ede also has great info available in many talks she’s given on the potential risks of eating plants. I think this information is fascinating as I never heard anyone argue that vegetables were not a necessary part of a healthy diet until I discovered Carnivore research – and I certainly never heard anyone make the argument that they could potentially be BAD for you! The best way to understand something better is to try it, so if you’re skeptical – give it a try!
I’m most active on Instagram. You can find me at @_cmsfit J
Ketogenic Endurance – I hoped you enjoyed this interview post.
I feel great on the Contemporary Carnivore Diet, that is N=1.
My wife is experiencing similar benefits to me, that is N=2.
This series of Carnivore Diet Success Stories, shows it could be N=Many.
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