Interview with Zach

1) Introduce Yourself.

My name is Zach, I’m from Texas and have been eating a strict carnivore diet since October 2019 in an attempt to heal my autoimmune disease. In 2015, I survived multiple daily heart attacks and triple-bypass open heart surgery at the age of 23, caused by inflammation and 95-99% blockage of my coronary arteries.

2) How did you eat before Carnivore.

I switched from a standard American diet to keto starting around May 2019, and moved gradually more towards carnivore in an attempt to lower my inflammation further.

3) Why did you try Carnivore to begin with.

When I started keto, I initially had much more inflammation than my previous SAD diet, but I believe that was from eating such a large amount of dairy which might be a dietary trigger for me. While outward inflammation that I’m able to see or feel has been non-existent since switching to carnivore, my blood markers for inflammation still have a ways to go. I’m in the process of trying different things to lower that. Also to note, I did lose 20 lbs of extra weight I had very quickly when I went keto, but I’m sure it would have been lost just as quickly on carnivore.

4) How do you personally approach the Carnivore Diet.

My approach is to keep things as simple and easy as possible. I recently bought my first 1/2 cow, buying in bulk saves a lot of money and I like not having to buy meat as often. Just about every meal I eat is either air fried, broiled, or cooked in a pan. I usually eat around 2 lbs a day, most days 1 lb of ground beef and 1 lb of a whole cut. The ground beef I spread into a big patty in my cast iron pan, cook one side until it’s nice and browned, flip, and repeat. Usually in my 10 inch pan, the patty is thin enough to cook all the way through by cooking both sides once. For whole cuts, most days I put them in my Ninja Foodi with the Broil setting (an oven or toaster oven on the Broil setting works just as well here!), 7-8 minutes on one side, flip, and 5-6 minutes on the other side. I don’t care that much about the doneness of the meat, I usually just aim to get a good sear and keep most of the inside as rare as possible. Really thin cuts I will air fry from frozen for about 15 minutes, flipping halfway. That method is really useful if you forget to thaw something! I don’t pressure cook or slow cook very many meals anymore as it seemed to upset my stomach, but oxtail is amazing and can only really be cooked that way, and I will make the occasional batch of bone broth as well. There are so many different cuts and ways to cook beef that I never really get bored!

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

The biggest benefit I’ve found is not having to think about what I’m going to eat, nor having a constant hunger to worry about. I just pick a cut of meat out of the fridge, cook it how I like, then eat it. The boredom some people have with eating nothing but meat is nothing to me, since I gain the simplicity of having all of my meals already planned out.

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

When I started keto in 2019, I had a ton of energy, while with strict carnivore my energy levels are a bit lower. However, my energy level is consistent all day long, and is much better than when I was eating SAD.

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

Before the whole Coronavirus lockdown, I was getting in some exercise two or three times a week by going to my local climbing gym, but since they’ve reopened, I’ve only been going once every one or two weeks. It’s a great way to exercise for me since I love rock climbing, but taking such a long break from it really set back my progress. It will take some time for me to get back into it at the same level I was before, but I’m definitely looking forward to doing it often again! It was definitely interesting to see how quick my recovery was when I stayed strict carnivore, versus when I would cheat and be incredibly sore for several days after.

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

If you do try it and see improvements in your health, but rebound back to eating sweets and other carby foods due to cravings, just know that getting back on the diet and trying again makes the cravings weaker each time. My first 4 months of carnivore were plagued with so many cheats, and more inflammation came with most of them, but each time I persevered for the sake of my health and it only got easier. Now I’m at a point where I don’t have any desire for cheats, and I love every single meal I eat, despite being the most limited version of carnivore possible with only beef, salt, and water.

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

I hope it will be, I really think we should turn the plant based agenda on its head and have meat based dietary recommendations instead. We would have a much healthier society that way, and I’m sure we’ll get there if enough research is done on low carb and meat based diets.

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

If you’re interested in my full heart surgery story, you can view my imgur album here: https://imgur.com/gallery/4jq7z

Also please follow my Instagram page @EZCarnivore if you would like updates on my autoimmune journey, or just to see pictures of my food and the super easy methods I use to cook it!

Ketogenic Endurance – I hoped you enjoyed this post.

If you like what I am about, check out the below.

Amazon

Carnivore Fit Expanded edition – my eBook and Paperback looking at why meat is good for you, why plants are bad, and how to exercise on zero carbs.

Low Content Books – Carnivore & Keto inspired Journals, Notebooks, Diaries, and Planners.

Clothing – wide range of Carnivore & Keto inspired apparel under the brand Ketogenic Endurance Carnivore Success Company.

Media

• The majority of my personal journey is documented on Instagram.
• Carnivore Diet Success Stories Facebook group.
• Carnivore Diet Success Stories Newsletter.
• I am an ambassador for the lifestyle brand Descended From Odin, have a look at their apparel and accessories: Click here and get 10% off with the code “ketogenicendurance”

Stores

Etsy – Unique Carnivore