My Approach

I feel healthier when I eat animal products but I’m not about to reject fruits and vegetables completely. My approach is carnivore-ish in that I prefer to eat meals rich in meat, eggs and dairy but I also like avocado, nuts, berries, some veg and the odd sweet potato.

My body had naturally been pulling me towards a more carnivorous diet for years but I’ll never be fanatical about what I eat. Carnivore-ish seems like a good way to describe my approach because it’s more realistic for me. A strict ‘carnivore’ title would make me feel like I’m constantly failing, whereas carnivore-ish gives me a little leeway to relax the carbs a bit, depending on the time of the month.

Carnivore-ish, for me, is a diet based on animal products but with a few plants and the odd day off throw in. Nothing extreme, nothing complicated – just me listening to my body and focusing on what it wants each day. Optimal nutrition with minimal thought.

My decades-long battle with food addiction has taught me that sugar is public enemy number one in my life. It’s also shown me that my brain gets sharper, my energy increases and my cravings vanish when I cut the carbs and eat more animal fats. Throw fasting into the mix and everything about my life gets better. In short, food isn’t the main focus of my life anymore.

With sugar being so harmful to me, it makes sense that my body’s asking me to choose meat, eggs, cheese etc. over things like bread, pasta and cakes. It also makes sense that it wants me to eat less often – to fast for the majority of the day and to eat my meals within a 4 or 5 hour period. It’s pretty savvy!

I’m basing the majority of my diet on meat, in particular beef, lamb, pork and chicken, in that order. I’m eating eggs most days and cook in butter, lard or tallow. I have two or three meals a day and avoid eating until at least 12pm, sticking to an eating window of between 4 and 6 hours. If I’m not hungry, I don’t eat. Some days I have a longer eating window and occasionally I don’t bother with time-restricted eating at all. Around the time of the month I eat more carbs and more food overall.

A typical day would be bacon and eggs, steak, sausages and a burger with garlic, cream and butter, and a snack of hard-boiled eggs, cheese, chorizo and yoghurt.

“It’s about what I avoid more than what I eat. Processed food, alcohol, sugar – they’re out to get me, so I stay out of their way.”

THE APPROACH

For me, being fanatical about my diet is never going to work. I don’t have an issue with fruits and vegetables, I have an issue with processed foods, artificial ingredients, sugar and alcohol. I feel sharper, stronger and healthier eating a diet rich in meat and dairy but I’ll have the odd avocado, or a roast dinner with all the trimmings. That’s why I refer to my lifestyle as carnivore-ish, as opposed to full on carnivore.

THE GOAL

I have a total of 150lbs of excess weight to lose. That’s an entire person, or half my body weight. More than that, though, I want to get rid of anxiety, joint pain, low motivation, stiffness, lethargy and a general lack of fitness. I’m aiming to lose all of my weight in 12-18 months. I know my goal is achievable with a carnivore-ish lifestyle, mostly because it eliminates cravings and balances me both mentally and physically.

THE PLAN

My plan is to do a combination of a carnivore-ish diet alongside time-restricted eating; to walk for an hour at least 5 days a week and to build up my fitness by taking on challenges; to make videos recording my journey; to record my progress in a food tracker, weight loss tracker, body measurements tracker and online journal; to create a book and coaching course to help others once I’ve reached my goals.