Interview with Mark

1) Introduce Yourself.

Hi, I am Mark W. Strough. I’m almost 50 years old. I live in Northwest Arkansas on a 225-acre farm with my wife & kids. I am HIT Trainer too. I train clients at my studio & do online training & coaching as well. I am a Martial Arts instructor & lifelong student.

2) How did you eat before Carnivore.

I ate in many different ways from keto to a more plant-based way of eating trying to find help for my a Rheumatic Arthritis & Psoriasis.

3) Why did you try Carnivore to begin with.

I switched to Carnivore Way of Eating because I had success with it from the late 1980’s while in College & was lifting a lot plus doing martial arts nearly every waking hour that I could. I was a huge fan of Vince Gironda who was Mr. Steak & Eggs. I only did it then for help with adding muscle & strength and it worked & I loved it. After a series of health issues from a few accidents in 2014 I went back to it to drop weight rapidly to hopefully help prevent surgery on my broke foot & ankle. I did Carnivore with just a bit of sauerkraut over the meat at that time. At that time it was not being done for my autoimmune issues just weight loss. My wife thought I had lost my mind but when she saw I lost 60 pounds in under 2 months she was impressed. My orthopedic surgeon was shocked & impressed. I went back to a ketogenic way of eating. Later I noticed after doing a three day or longer fast my pain & inflammation and my psoriasis would greatly improve. It would fully return after eating food to normal within 6 to 12 hours. I noticed when I broke my fast with meat only it did not return to normal. Dr. Stephen Gundry’s book The Plant Paradox came out at about this time. I started researching a carnivore way of eating for my issues and found lots of online resources and people that were so helpful. I discussed doing this & my wife at this point thought it would be a great thing to try. She actually wanted to try it for her IBS & other GI Issues too. I was desperate to try something because I was losing all function of my hands & especially my thumbs and fingers. I was getting lots of twisting of my digits. I was also getting to the point I could no longer engage in one of my favorite hobbies combat pistol shooting. I was getting unable to manipulate the pistols mechanisms such as doing a tactical mag release & reload.

4) How do you personally approach the Carnivore Diet.

My approach to Carnivore eating is exceptionally simple. I eat high-fat beef 95 percent of the time for my meat. It’s almost always ribeyes steak. I now eat our farm eggs with my steaks. I use a little bit of butter. I put pink Himalayan salt & a bit of pepper on my steak & eggs. I only drink water. I rarely ever do cheese. I seldom do pork. I do no poultry. I just eat until totally full & eat when hungry & don’t eat when not hungry. I generally eat only one meal a day (OMAD).

5) What benefits have you seen since starting the Carnivore Diet.

My Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis, Tendinitis, Joint Pain & Sciatica are all in full 100% remission. I haven’t felt this good in over two decades. My athletic performance has gotten even better with all the reduction in inflammation & pain. My recovery is so much better too. My sleep has gotten great better. I feel better in every category on doing Zero Carb 100% Carnivore!!

6) What negatives have you found with the Carnivore Diet.

There have been no negatives on this way of eating except a little social awkwardness at first but that is not an issue any longer. All our family & friends are very understanding & accommodating.

7) Do you exercise on the Carnivore Diet, if so how do you find it and what do you do.

Yes, I do my HIT resistance training once per week. I do a Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty approach of a split body so maybe two to three exercises consisting of one set to full momentary muscular failure. I also do sprint intervals occasionally. I do my martial arts of various things too. Not exercise but great activities of being active on the farm work & playing with the family. I love hiking, stand up paddle boarding, combat pistol shooting, snorkeling & etc. Since going Carnivore everything has gotten better especially my recovery.

8) What piece of advice would you give someone who is interested in trying this diet, but hasn’t taken the leap yet.

Do your own research. Read & listen to as many people who have done this for a while. Give it a 30 to 120-day trial and see what happens. Question everything that you have heard from all the “experts”. Check out Dr. Shawn Baker, Dr. Ben Bikman, Dr. Nevada Gray, Dr. Paul Mabry, Dr. Ken Berry, Dave Feldman, Scott Myslinski, Phil Escott, Chris Donohue, Lisa Bailey so many more too. Don’t believe all the common myths & half-truths like you will die of scurvy without your veggies & fruits. Will be constipated without fiber. Must be in a large calorie deficit for weight loss. You only get the health benefits from Carnivore from doing extreme calorie restriction. You must have your “healthy” whole grains. You will get Gout, Kidney Stones, Heart Disease, etc, etc from doing Carnivore.

9) Do you think Carnivore will ever be accepted as a mainstream diet.

No, I do not think it will ever be a mainstream way of eating because of the propaganda, advertisements & the “studies” from vegans, climate change fear mongers, Big Food, Big Pharma & Big Medicine. I hope I’m wrong about that.

10) Anything you would like to add, and where can people follow your journey.

I encourage anyone to give this a one month to 4-month experiment. It may take a little while for your body & mind to adapt but preserver and it will. I think you will be amazed at your results.

I have a Facebook Group on Health & Nutrition. I also am on Twitter @mark_strough & I’m on Instagram under the same.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Markhit/?ref=share

Ketogenic Endurance – I hoped you enjoyed this post.

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