Author: tom44

So you wanna learn about the Paleo Diet, aka “the Caveman Diet,” eh?

Paleo is one of the most popular diets on the planet (up there with the Keto Diet), and I bet you have questions.

Well I got answers, sucka! And lots of LEGO photos.

In addition to helping people go paleo with our Online Coaching Program, we also create epic guides like this one that covers all the basics!

Is Paleo right for you? Maybe! Our coaches can help you decide:

Below in this guide, I’m going to give you the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to the Paleolithic Diet (click to go right to that section):

INTRODUCTION TO PALEO:

• What is the Paleo Diet and how does it work?
• Will I lose weight on the Paleo Diet?

WHAT CAN I EAT ON THE PALEO DIET?

• What can I eat on the Paleo Diet? (Paleo Diet Rules)
• What CAN’T I eat on the Paleo Diet?
• Can I eat grains on the Paleo Diet?
• Can I eat dairy on the Paleo Diet?
• Can I eat cheese on the Paleo Diet?

SHOPPING LIST AND EATING PLAN

• Paleo Diet Shopping Guide: List of foods on the Paleo Diet
• What does a typical day look like on the Paleo Diet?
• Paleo Recipes & Paleo Resources.

IS PALEO DANGEROUS?

• Is the Paleo Diet dangerous?
• Who shouldn’t do the Paleo Diet?
• How to do the Paleo Diet safely.

Now, this guide is SUPER long, so we took the liberty of converting it into a nicely designed guide for easy consumption (not literal consumption, unless you print it on bacon).

Grab your Beginner’s Guide to the Paleo Diet free when you sign up in the box below:

If you can actually apply the rules of the Paleo lifestyle, you can get some pretty solid results.

As the great Mr. Flintstone once said, “Yabadabadooooo!”

What is the Paleo Diet and How does it Work?

Oh lord, another “diet.”

I know, it sounds like a fad/marketing ploy, but The Paleo Diet isn’t really a “diet,” and it’s actually quite logical when you think about it.

It’s also the most time-tested diet ever.

Here’s the ENTIRE diet in a nutshell:

“If a cave person didn’t eat it, neither should you.”

As the theory goes, tens of thousands of years ago, before Nike, Cap’n Crunch, and Healthy Choice meals, our ancient ancestors thrived as hunter-gatherers.

Although it’s been a really long time, our genetics haven’t changed that much since then.

And yet…these days we’re overweight, out of shape, stressed out, unhappy, sleep-deprived, and dying from far too many preventable diseases due to lifestyle choices.

So what the hell happened?

Agriculture!

And then delivery and Netflix.

A few thousand years ago, humans discovered farming, the agricultural revolution took off, and we advanced from hunter-gatherers to farmers.

We settled down, formed societies, and the human race progressed to what we are today. Which is obviously great for a number of reasons:

• Not getting eaten by wild animals
• Electricity
• Automobiles
• Nintendo

The problem is that our bodies never adjusted properly to eating all the grains and sugar that we’re now consuming.

As paleo guru Robb Wolf puts it, think of a 100-yard football field:

The first 99.5 yards are how long Homo-Sapiens spent as hunter-gatherers. As they became REALLY good at hunting and gathering our bodies adapted to that lifestyle over thousands of years.

That last half-yard represents our species after the agricultural revolution, where our diet has shifted (but our genetics haven’t).

So, instead of loading up on meat, vegetables, and seasonal fruits, we’ve become a species “dependent” upon grains – bread, pasta, rice, corn, and so on.

66% of us are overweight, 33% are considered obese, and those numbers are only getting worse.^[1] 

Clearly, something’s not right, and we need to fix it.

The Paleo Diet is an effort to go back to our ancestral roots.

To start eating how we’re biologically designed to eat, allowing us to tap into our genetic potential and start living healthier immediately.

While this video is pretty hyperbolic, it does a pretty good job of explaining the Paleo Diet in a few minutes:

To recap the rules of the Paleo Diet:

1. Only eat foods a caveman would eat
2. See Rule #1

Note that it doesn’t mention calorie counting or meal timing or macro tracking. That’s part of the popularity of this diet: eat paleo-approved foods when you’re hungry, and that’s it.

Will I Lose Weight on the Paleo Diet?

This is the question we get above all else:

“Will the Paleo Diet help me lose weight?”

Probably. If you can actually apply the rules of the Paleo lifestyle, you can get some pretty solid results.

It’s helped many people achieve jaw-dropping transformations, including my friend Saint, (whose story you can read here):

Or Staci from Team NF, a Senior Coach in our 1-on-1 Coaching Program):

The Paleo Diet will work for you, if you do it right.

You need to have the right mindset, you need to focus on the right foods, and you need to structure your environment so that you’re not tempted to backslide and abandon the Paleo Diet after a few days.

However, it has nothing to do with what Fred Flintstone ate or didn’t eat.

It comes down to science and thermodynamics.

As I point out in our article on How to Lose Weight: What’s the Perfect Diet (For me?), if you want to lose weight:

1. Eat fewer calories than you burn every day.
2. Want to also be healthy? Eat mostly real food.

Want to KEEP the weight off?

Add #3: Do those two things consistently for a decade.

Here’s WHY you’ll lose weight on the Paleo Diet: 

1. You’re only eating meat, fish, veggies, fruits, and nuts. These are foods that are full of nutrients, will make you feel full, but don’t have nearly as many calories as junk food.
2. You are completely eliminating calorie-dense, often nutritionally deficient, unhealthy foods. This means no grains (pasta, bread, rice), no dairy, no beans. It also means no soda, no candy, no sugar.

And yup. When you only eat real food and avoid all unhealthy food, you’re more likely than not going to run a caloric deficit – and thus lose weight.

Let me share a really obvious example.

200 calories of broccoli gets you enough veggies to fill up an entire plate:

Or… 200 calories will get you exactly 1/2 a Snickers bar:

Look at that: nobody can eat that much broccoli, and nobody only eats half a candy bar!

My point is this: by eating Paleo-approved foods, you’re more likely than not to eat fewer calories than you did in the past automatically, which can lead to weight loss.

I dig into this in even greater detail in “Why can’t I lose weight?” but it all comes down to “calories in, calories out.”

So YES, the Paleo Diet MIGHT help you lose weight.

You just need to eat fewer calories than you burn every day (Here’s how to calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure). And that is easier when you are eliminating foods that people tend to overeat:

• Candy
• Soda
• Pasta
• Bread
• Dairy

But that’s all about what we’re eliminating. What are we keeping!?

what Can I eat on The Paleo diet?

In order to follow the Paleo Diet Lifestyle, here are the foods that are Paleo-approved:

• Meat* – steak, ham, pork, bison, boar.
• Organs – liver, kidneys, heart.
• Marrows – seeing a theme here? Eat ALL parts of the animal!
• Fowl – chicken, duck, hen, turkey…things with wings that (try to) fly.
• Fish – cod, tuna, salmon, and so on.
• Eggs – Look for omega-3 enriched cage-free eggs.
• Vegetables – spinach, broccoli, kale, carrots, peppers, zucchini, onions, etc.
• Oils – minimally processed, derived from plants: olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil.
• Fats: ghee, lard, or other animal fats.
• Fruits – apples, pears, bananas, grapes, strawberries.
• Nuts – almonds, walnuts, cashews, and their respective butters (almond butter is so good!)
• Tubers – Sweet potatoes and yams.

*If you can, aim for grass-fed beef and organic fruits and vegetables. But don’t go break the bank with your food purchases. Just do the best you can. 

As the Paleo Diet explains: Pick any of the foods from that list and eat as much as you want of them.

You might have noticed that a lot of the foods above are loaded with fat. And depending on what your mom told you growing up, you might think fat is the devil.

So let me address that right away…

Does Eating Fat Make You Fat?

If you’re cutting back on carbs, that means you’ll need to fill the void in your diet with the most controversial macronutrient:

Fat!

It’s gotten a bad rap over the past number of decades, so companies have been doing everything possible to make everything low fat and “healthy!” (while adding all sorts of preservatives, chemicals, and sugar).

Yup…cut out the fat, increase the carbs….and look where THAT has gotten us.

Why has fat been vilified? Rather than get into the politics of it myself, I’ll let Gary Taubes, author of the incredibly thorough and well-researched Good Calories, Bad Calories take over.

As he discusses in an article he wrote for the New York Times a decade ago:^[2]

These researchers point out that there are plenty of reasons to suggest that the low-fat-is-good-health hypothesis has now effectively failed the test of time.

In particular, that we are in the midst of an obesity epidemic that started around the early 1980’s, and that this was coincident with the rise of the low-fat dogma. (Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, also rose significantly through this period.)

They say that low-fat weight-loss diets have proved in clinical trials and real life to be dismal failures, and that on top of it all, the percentage of fat in the American diet has been decreasing for two decades.

Our cholesterol levels have been declining, and we have been smoking less, and yet the incidence of heart disease has not declined as would be expected. ”That is very disconcerting,” Willett says. ”It suggests that something else bad is happening.”

“Low fat” foods were created to follow conventional wisdom that fat made you fat (which as stated in the above article doesn’t stand up to scrutiny).

When a company makes a low-fat food, they remove the fat and have to replace the flavor with something.

That “something” is usually sugar (and often more calories).

Crap.

So, according to Taubes and Paleo folks, fat has been vilified and the real focus should have been on sugar and carbs all along.

Because healthy fats are valuable additions to our diet. 

Here are some examples of Paleo-Approved Healthy Fats:

1. Avocados
2. Almond (and almond butter)
3. Fatty cuts of meat
4. Walnuts
5. Coconut oil
6. Olive oil

In the Paleo Diet, fat makes up a large portion of one’s diet.

If you’re worried about consuming fat and how it will affect your cholesterol, read our Full Guide to Cholesterol.

WhAT Foods Can’t I eat On the Paleo Diet?

If you are looking to strictly follow the Paleo Diet, then you can’t eat foods that did not exist back in “Caveman times.”

Why?

Because – as advocates of the diet point out – cavemen couldn’t eat those foods because they didn’t exist. There was no way to create cereal and candy – you could only eat what you found or hunted.

So, that’s what the Paleo Diet advocates as the reason for avoiding these foods. And it serves as a good mental model to check with yourself: “Could a caveman have eaten this meal?”

And when you start to answer this question, you identify the foods that you’re not allowed to eat on the Paleo Diet:

• Grains like pasta, cereal bread, and rice
• Dairy like milk and cheese
• Candy, cookies, ice cream, and other processed foods

The Paleo Diet also almost completely eliminates sugar outside of fruit. No candy. No soda. No powdered donuts. Yup, even the mini white ones from the grocery store where you can eat like 100 of them (accidentally, of course).

Many studies have shown that an incredible number of diseases and lifestyle issues can be reversed by cutting out sugar and processed foods.^[3]

But I understand grains and dairy are a bit more complex.

Let me explain:

Can I Eat Grains on the Paleo Diet?

Unfortunately, nope.

The Caveman reason why: Grains require some amount of processing, and thus Cavemen would not have eaten them.

The science and psychological reason why: we have a tendency to overeat grains and the other “no-no” foods on the Paleo Diet. They are calorically dense, nutrient deficient, and they can wreak havoc on some people’s blood sugar levels.

This leads to a sugar rush followed by a crash, which can lead to more emotional or hungry overeating…and the process starts again.

Rather than me explain that part with thousands of words, just watch this three-minute video – “Why You Got Fat:”

Let’s get into some more reasons Paleo advocates suggest avoiding grains: most contain gluten and lectins.

What are they and what’s wrong with them? I’m so glad you asked:

• Gluten is a protein found in things like rye, wheat, and barley. It’s now being said that much of our population may be gluten-intolerant (hence all the new “gluten-free!” items popping up everywhere). Over time, those who are gluten intolerant can develop a dismal array of medical conditions from consuming gluten: dermatitis, joint pain, reproductive problems, acid reflux, and more.^[4]
• Lectins are natural toxins that exist in grains to defend against consumption! Yup. Grains have evolved to keep themselves from being eaten by us. These lectins are not a fan of our gastrointestinal tract, and they prevent the tract from repairing itself from normal wear and tear. This can cause all kinds of damage.

Long story short: many people cannot process grains properly, and they are usually the food that causes people to eat too many calories. So by eliminating grains from your diet, you’re more likely than not going to eat fewer calories without counting calories.

That’s a Paleo win!

Do I Need to Avoid Carbs on the Paleo Diet?

Not necessarily.

That depends on your goals and your body – you are a special snowflake!

Some people function well on a high fat, low carb diet.

Others function better on a high-carb, low-fat diet.

Personally, I function better on a higher carb, lower fat diet (which is how I lost 22 pounds in 6 months).

I will say the Paleo Diet is USUALLY a Low Carb diet, and large quantities of carbs are not required for somebody to be healthy on a regular diet.^[5]

After all, carbs aren’t evil – they’re just…carbs.

Here is the logic and psychology behind why the Paleo Diet is low carb:

On a typical Western diet, we consume plenty o’ carbs, and our bodies convert those carbs to a sugar called “glucose.” This is our body’s preferred method of fueling itself.

In the absence of carbs to create glucose to fuel our bodies, we have to do a few other things instead:

• Transform stored fat into glycerol and fatty acids (this process is called lipolysis).
• Burn fatty acids for energy or transform the fatty acids into glucose for energy (this is called gluconeogenesis)
• In the absence of glucose (through fasting or following a Keto Diet), your body can create ketones for fuel (called “ketogenesis”).

We’re going to focus on the forms of weight loss NOT related to “ketogenesis.” Unless you are avoiding all carbohydrates while going Paleo, or you are doing long fasts, you most likely won’t be in ketosis while going Paleo.

We do cover “Paleo vs Keto: Which is Better” if you’re deciding between the two.

Back to weight loss and Paleo: when you cut back on carbs, and thus most likely ALSO cut back on total calories consumed, you are creating a caloric deficit in your body.

And eat a consistent deficit over a long enough time period, BOOM caveman weight loss.

So, fewer carbs = less glucose in your system, less sugar crashes, less “hangry” moments, and smaller chance of overeating = fewer calories consumed on average.

If you’re worried about adherence to the diet, I understand – it’s the toughest part of Paleo – sticking with it!

Knowing what to eat is part of it, but following this fairly restrictive lifestyle in a modern environment surrounded by cookies and candy and bagels and pasta is really difficult!

If this whole “Paleo, Carbs, and Weight Loss” thing is stressing you out, you’re not alone!

In fact, people like you are the reason we created our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program!

We work with busy people like you to structure a complete life overhaul: handcrafted workout routines, accountability, mindset changes, and nutritional strategies.

Can I eat Dairy on the Paleo Diet? Can I eat Cheese On the Paleo Diet?

This also depends. Strict Paleo folks tend to stay away from it – a portion of the world is lactose intolerant, and those that aren’t usually have at least some type of an aversion to it.

Why? Because hunter-gatherers didn’t lug cows around with them while traveling – milk was consumed as a baby through breast milk from their mother, and that was it.

So as Paleo-stans will tell ya, our bodies weren’t designed for massive dairy consumption.

There is evidence that some adaptation to dairy has taken place throughout the years, specifically with people with ancestry in herding cultures, but this is not the majority of the population.^[6]

Paleo purists will avoid dairy like the plague, while other paleo-ish people have found that consuming dairy in its various forms work for their genetics, goals, and lifestyle.

“What about Cheese? Can I eat cheese on the Paleo Diet?”

You do you, boo. But if you’re going Strict Paleo, then unfortunately cheese is OUT too.

If you’re just looking to lose some weight while following a “mostly Paleo” lifestyle, then adding some high-quality cheese into some of your meals can be okay.

Some cheeses will tend to have lower amounts of lactose or casein – the parts of dairy that can cause digestion challenges.

So, if you’re not sure your body is processing dairy properly, remove dairy from your diet and only introduce it back in when you’re ready to see how your body responds.

If you’re not losing weight while eating a “Paleo + Dairy” Diet, you’re still eating too many calories.

Consider cutting out dairy and see how your body responds.

For reference, this is a portion of cheddar cheese (116 calories):

Paleo Diet Shopping Guide: List of Foods on the Paleo Diet

Because I like you as a person, I’ve created a printable Paleo Diet Shopping List PDF you can bring with you to the grocery store to help you decide what to buy and what to avoid.

Simply right-click on the image below and save as:

Feel free to print this out and bring it with you to the grocery store. If you happen to run into somebody else who has ALSO printed out this sheet, feel free to high five each other while singing Baltimora!

What is a Typical Day Like on the Paleo Diet?

Here is an example of a typical day on “The Paleo Diet”:

• Breakfast: Omelet with spinach with fresh fruit.
• Lunch: Grilled chicken, kale, and avocado salad with vinegar and olive oil.
• Snack: Apple slices and almond butter.
• Dinner: Steak with asparagus and sweet potato fries.
• Dessert: Strawberries and a piece of 85% dark chocolate.

That doesn’t sound so bad, right?

Make sure you check out our Paleo Diet Recipes and Resources section too for more options.

Start with a good protein source with each meal (eggs, steak, chicken, fish, pork), and then add a vegetable or fruit.

That’s it.

If you feel hungry constantly, understand that changing up a diet can cause a body a few weeks of adjustment.

Remember, your body is learning to operate on both fewer calories AND fewer carbs – depending on how low carb you go this could be a DRAMATIC change.

And this is often referred to as “carb flu,” and it can be miserable! Your body might take multiple weeks to adjust to these new habits.

Going from a processed, high sodium diet to a paleo diet you will very often end up eating too little sodium, which is an essential nutrient.

So if you’re feeling tired all the time, try adding some salt to your food or consider an electrolyte supplement – this is what we recommend with our Keto readers too.

Is the Paleo Diet Dangerous?

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via IFTTT

So you’re trying to lose weight fast, eh?

I hear ya. It’s what most people are after!

There’s just one problem. 

There’s an ABSURD amount of horrible advice out there for quick weight loss.

I’m looking at you “Weight Loss Tea” and “Fat Burner Cookies.”

Fortunately, us nerds at Nerd Fitness actually help people get healthy with things like “science” and “proven strategies that last.” 

We have thousands of success stories from our community and 1 million+ people tune in each month for our advice on getting in shape.

Below, we’ll share with you our 9 strategies for safe, sustainable weight loss. We use these as part of our Online Coaching Program and today you’ll learn them too. 

Want to lose weight quickly and safely? We can help!

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What is the fastest way to lose weight? (4 common methods)
• How much weight can I expect to lose?
• How do you maintain your weight loss? (Real talk)
• 9 habits for weight loss (that we use with our clients)
• How to lose weight fast (next steps)

We have a lot to cover, so let’s jump right in!

What Is the Fastest Way to Lose Weight? (4 Common Methods)

 

At some point in this guide, I’m going to try and talk you out of trying to lose weight as fast as possible. 

But now is not that time. 

If you are trying to lose weight quickly, there are 4 common ways of going about it. Each will have some pros and cons, so let’s discuss.

#1) Very Low-Calorie Dieting

This is probably the most common way to quickly lose weight: don’t eat much.

A very low-calorie diet (VLCD) is defined as any diet ranging from 450-800 calories a day.^[1]

For reference, there are about 550 calories in a McDonald’s Big Mac.

So we’re talking about a hamburger and maybe an apple to eat for a day. That’s it.

Unsurprisingly, starving oneself by going on a VLCD will create fast weight loss.^[2] However, these diets should only be done under medical supervision because you can run into some serious nutritional deficiencies and other health complications if you don’t know what you’re doing.^[3] Additionally, as you’ll soon learn: “temporary changes create temporary solutions.” So, following a VLCD to lose a few pounds will only work for as long as you eat in this fashion.

Not great!

Verdict: Talk to a doctor before trying this.

#2) Protein-Sparing Modified Fasts

A protein-sparing modified fast (PSMF) is much like a VLCD, but the calories you eat more or less come from protein sources.^[4] 

With a PSMF, you eat:

• About 0.68 grams of protein per pound you weigh (1.5g/kg). So if you weigh 250 pounds, you would target 170 grams of protein. 
• Typically a total of 12-17 oz in the form of lean meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, low-fat cheese, or tofu.
• Less than 20g of carbohydrates a day (about 2 servings of low-starch vegetables, with unlimited lettuce salad).
• No fats outside of those in protein sources (no butter, oils, nuts, or seeds).
• A multivitamin and some other electrolyte supplements. 

That’s about it. 

Why the focus on protein?

As we discuss in our Protein 101 guide, eating plenty of protein is critical when you’re losing weight, to ensure you’re losing the right kind of weight.

When you’re in a caloric deficit, your body needs to pull from current stores to function, which means it might pull from both body fat AND muscle. 

Obviously, from a health and physique standpoint, that’s not good.

This explains why a PSMF prioritizes protein: it can help maintain muscle during a drastic calorie deficit.

I already know your next question: is this safe?

• In the short term? Probably.
• In the long term? Ehhhh.

A two-week study found the PSMF to result in safe and effective weight loss.^[5] 

However, a three-month study found nutritional deficiencies were developing in those following a PSMF, even with the added multivitamin and supplements.^[6]

Verdict: In the short term (a week or two), this is fine. In the long term, I would check in with a doctor.

#3) Ketogenic Diets

Low-carb diets are all the rage these days.

Your co-worker, their spouse, and their dog walker’s nephew have all (probably) tried a low-carb diet recently. 

Out of all the low-carb variations out there, the Ketogenic or Keto Diet is one of the more  strict versions, as you basically cut out all or most carbohydrates. 

While the exact prescription of a Keto Diet will vary depending on who you talk to, generally a Keto Diet has you:

• Keeping carbs to about less than 30-50 grams a day. For reference, a banana has about 27 grams of carbs.
• Consuming protein at about 0.6 grams for every pound you weigh (about 1.35g per kilogram).
• Eating the rest of your calories from fat.

If you’re interested in learning more, I recommend you check out our GIANT eBook, The Beginner’s Guide to the Keto Diet. Grab it for free when you sign up in the box below:

The short and gist of the Keto Diet:

• Low-carb diets are generally considered safe.^[7]
• Weight loss can occur on a low-carb diet (as long as you can stick with it), since you’re cutting out an entire macronutrient and most likely reducing total calories consumed.^[8]
• Your results may vary.

Verdict: If you want, go ahead and try the Keto Diet. Lots of people have had success with it. Just know that it’s pretty tough to stick with, which we’ll come back to later.

#4) Weight Loss from Dehydration

If an athlete needs to drop weight quickly for a match or competition, they’ll often do so by dropping water weight.

Think of someone in MMA or bodybuilders, who need to reach a certain weight temporarily to stay in or make a certain weight class. 

If today they’re 160 pounds, but in three days they need to be 150, they’ll often dehydrate themselves to get there.

Some tricks to lose water weight include:

• Jogging around in full sweatsuits.
• Sitting in hot saunas.
• Removing all salt from the diet (since it helps you hold water).
• Going super low-carb (carbs also help with retaining water).
• Not drinking any water the day of the weigh-in.

While these tips might help someone qualify for a competition, we’re not talking about fat loss here, so avoid playing with dehydration to get in shape. Plus, many of these strategies could potentially impact your health if you’re not careful.^[9]

Verdict: Don’t bother.

If you’re wondering if there’s a better strategy for fast weight loss than these 4 protocols, we can help! If you’re interested, we’ll set you up with your very own NF Coach who will create a weight loss plan that isn’t so drastic (or soul-crushing):

Dieting sucks. Let us help you fix your nutrition and lose weight without being miserable:

How Much Weight Can I Expect to Lose?

We’ve all seen advertisements that say:

• Lose 5 pounds in a week.
• Ditch the stubborn “belly fat.”
• Get that bikini body by the summer!

Walk down any magazine aisle and you’ll see:

Flat abs in 28 days? 10 pounds lost easily? Wha…

It’s no wonder that many think weight loss can be done quickly .

Here’s the truth: no one can tell you exactly how much weight you’ll lose in any given time period.

It’ll depend on your energy balance (“calories in” compared to “calories out”), metabolism, physical activity, and body composition.

However, we can talk about some realistic expectations as pointed out below by my friends at Precision Nutrition:

By “pace,” we mean consistency:

• Extreme. You need to follow your program 100% of the time.
• Reasonable. This is about 70-80% consistent with the program.
• Comfortable. You’re consistent about 50-60% of the time.

More on this in our next section.

I should also say, your weight loss progress will not be linear.

You’ll lose fat faster when:

• You first begin your weight loss journey.
• You have more fat to lose.

Why?

Think of it this way: suppose you normally eat 3,000 calories per day and you maintain your current body weight.

Let’s imagine you bring this down to 2,000 calories, a deficit of 1,000 calories per day. With this new approach, you’ll start to lose weight.

But as you begin to lose weight, your calorie requirements will go down. 

Simply put, there is less of you that needs “fuel.”

Yep, the bigger you are, the more calories you need. The smaller you are, the fewer calories you need. 

In other words: your metabolism doesn’t have to work as hard to fuel all of your bodily functions, has less weight to carry, and thus it will burn fewer calories compared to when you were much bigger.

Here is the estimated daily resting calorie burn (“sit on your ass all day”) of a 35-year old male nerd at 3 very different weights – which you can learn from our Calorie Calculator:

• 300 lbs: 2,600 calories.
• 250 lbs: 2,300 calories.
• 200 lbs: 2,000 calories.  

WHAT THIS MEANS: Unless you adjust your calorie intake as your weight decreases… your previous calorie intake amount becomes less and less effective at losing weight, until you hit an equilibrium.

Another piece of the equation: your body will become more efficient at the exercise you do.^[9]

Here’s an example:  if you burn 100 calories running a mile, if you continue to run this same distance at the same speed, eventually you’ll only burn 95 calories running that same mile. Then 90. And so on. 

None of this is meant to freak you out, but it is important to understand if you can’t seem to lose weight. 

Alright, I told you this was coming. 

At this point, we need to talk about ALL the problems with “losing weight as fast as possible.”

How Do You Maintain Your Weight Loss? (Real Talk)

I’m going to make an assumption about you:

This probably isn’t your first rodeo, nor is it the first time you’ve looked into fast weight loss. 

How’d that turn out the last time you tried it?

I’m not asking this to be a jerk, but rather to make a point:

I like you, your friends like you, and the world needs you to be the healthiest superhero version of yourself you can be.

The problem with the four strategies we talked about earlier (and the other diets that you’ve probably tried), is they generally aren’t sustainable.

Can you live off 500 calories for a few days?

Probably.

Can you do it for a whole year? 

Nope.

As we mention in The 5 Rules of Weight Loss, any benefit you get from a diet is only going to last as long as you do the diet. 

Said another way:

• Temporary changes create temporary results.
• Permanent changes create permanent results.

Sure, it’s great when people try the Keto Diet and lose 20 pounds. But as soon as they ditch low-carb, they generally regain the weight back.

We want sustainable changes and permanent weight loss. 

It doesn’t really matter how much weight you lose in your first week or first month, but rather how much weight you have lost after 1 year, and how you feel after that year. 

That’s why in our Online Coaching Program, we don’t focus on losing weight as fast as possible. We focus on slowly developing 9 skills that help our clients level up permanently.

Although we focus on long-term behavior change and permanent progress, many of our clients end up losing weight pretty quickly, like Sarah the supermom here, who lost 30 pounds in six months. 

This might seem counterintuitive, but after years of running Nerd Fitness, I’ve learned it to be true:

Small changes, consistently taken, create the fastest path to lose weight.

Think of the classic story of the Tortoise and the Hare. 

The fast-starting hare becomes bored and decides to take a quick nap, while the slow-but-consistent tortoise keeps its pace. When the hare wakes up, it’s too late. The race has been won by the tortoise.

The morale here: the race is not always won by the swiftest.

Make a small change. Once it becomes a normal part of your life, make another. Then another.

That’s how the tortoise would do it. 

This is a message I really strike home in the video on “How to Get in Shape,” which is right here for you:

Now, let’s talk about what small changes you can make. 

9 Habits for Successful Weight Loss

Here are 9 skills to help you achieve fast and sustainable weight loss:

#1) Plan and Take Action

If you’re going to embark on a weight loss journey, you’re gonna need to do some preparation.

You can’t just open your fridge and expect there to be healthy food ready to go.

That would be a magic fridge.

 

Our first step in helping someone get healthy, whether through our Coaching Program or in NF Prime, is by outlining a plan.

Then, we need to act on it. 

There are two ways we go about this:

• Make time on your calendar. This can be a reminder to buy food, prep dinner, or go for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a huge block of time, but we need to get you in the habit of making space for your goals, otherwise they won’t happen. Step number here one is to make time. 
• Have “Daily Wins” in the direction of your goal. What we do every day will end up defining us, so daily adherence is important. However, this can be a small action, even just 5-minutes. We call this our “Daily Win.” It could be to drink a glass of water or go do some jumping jacks. The point here is to be able to crush this goal, no matter what it is. It’ll help us build momentum.

When you start a weight loss journey, take some time to plan and prepare. Don’t just say “I’m gonna start tomorrow.” Think of when you’re going to make a change, what you’re going to change, and why. 

Then create a path where you can take a step in that direction every single day, no matter how small it may seem.

This will add up quickly, I promise.

#2) Develop Healthier Eating Behavior

So many people ask us “what” to eat.

But we rarely get people asking us “how” to eat.

Both are super important for losing weight. 

There are a few things we can work on to develop this “how” skill:

• Eat mindfully and slowly. Your body takes a while to recognize it’s full, so slowing down and concentrating on your meal can help with overeating. Some of our Daily Wins here could include using a meal timer, putting your fork down between bites, and eating without the TV or your phone around (no distractions). 
• Recognize hunger and fullness cues. Sometimes, we eat just to eat. Maybe we’re actually more bored than hungry. To help fight this, a Daily Win could be to keep a “Hunger and Fullness Journal.” Here, you rate your hunger from 1 to 10 before you eat anything. If it’s less than 6 or 7, maybe pause for 30 minutes or so and check back in later. It’s the same idea for our fullness. Pause during the meal, and ask yourself “how hungry am I still?” If your hunger has subsided, maybe save the rest of your food for later. The goal here is to eat (and continue eating) only when you’re hungry.
• Create a schedule for meals. Most people do best with eating on some type of routine. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner at roughly the same time. Your body will pick up on this and naturally get hungry at the times you normally eat. Predictable meals can help with weight loss.

#3) Balance Energy Intake to Your Goals.

You’ll hear us talk about “energy balance” throughout Nerd Fitness.

As we point out in The 5 Rules of Weight Loss, study^[10] after study^[11] after study^[12] shows that our bodies obey the laws of thermodynamics and that to lose weight, we need to burn more calories than we consume regularly.

So it’s important to have a sense of how many calories you need to hit your goals.

Some actions we can take here:

• Calculate your calorie requirements. We don’t need you to be exact, but we need a rough ballpark on how many calories you need given your body composition, activity level, and goals.
• Determine the calories in the food you eat. Next, we need to figure out how many calories you’re actually eating. Apps can be helpful here, but you can also use the “Hand Portion” tool found in our ““How to Portion Control” Guide. 
• Track your progress. There’s a lot of educated guesswork in matching calories in to calories out, so the most important thing we can do is track the results. If you’re seeing progress, great! Keep going. Not seeing progress? No problem. We’ll take that information like a scientist would and adjust our experiment. 

This is one of the more difficult steps in our 9 Skills to Lose Weight, so if you want a Nerd Fitness Coach to give you a hand, we got you:

Your Nerd Fitness Coach can help create a sustainable plan for weight loss!

#4) Choose Higher-Quality Foods More Often.

Throughout our Guide to Healthy Eating, we promote two ideas:

• You don’t have to completely give up the food you love like pizza, cheeseburgers, or ice cream. These can be eaten “SOMETIMES.”
• Foods of “higher quality” should be prioritized and eaten more often. We place these in our “YES” category. 

We find this “eat more of” and “eat less of” stance to be less overwhelming to our coaching clients than providing hard and stringent rules about food. 

Less overwhelming = more sustainable = win. 

 

I’m sure you now have some questions:

• What foods should be “SOMETIMES”?
• How often is this?
• What foods should be “YES”?

The answer: it’s actually up to you to help figure that out!

That’s not meant to be a cop-out, so let me explain:

Our goal here is to move you to “higher-quality food” over time.

We can get there by working on the following:

• Set criteria for “better” or “worse.” If we’re going to adjust your eating habits, we need to define our goals. For example, whole wheat bread will typically contain more nutrients than white bread, so it would be “better.” French fries often have more calories than a boiled potato, so it would be “worse.” I put these in quotes because if you want french fries right now, it’s “better,” even if it contains more calories. This goes back to our “SOMETIMES” discussion. 
• Eat more whole, minimally processed food. You know the drill here: we’re after fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fresh meats, raw nuts, etc. These foods will generally have more nutrients intact. Plus, we want you to eat a variety of them (berries and oranges instead of only eating apples) so you get more nutrients that way. These foods are often “better” than their processed counterparts. 
• Eat less processed foods. While you can totally eat pizza and drink beer and still be healthy (I do and am), we want these to be “SOMETIMES” meals instead of “ALL THE TIME” meals. If you eat pizza twice a week, maybe we get it down to once a week.

If you’re interested in losing weight fast, a key skill will be to eat higher quality food more often.

#5) Obtain Proper Nutrients.

This one builds up from our last skill: choose higher-quality food more often.

That’s because higher-quality food will provide your body with more nutrients.

But we can get more specific than that.

Here are some actions to ensure you’re getting proper nutrients throughout your day.

• Eat lean protein at most meals. This would include lean cuts of beef or chicken, greek yogurt, or beans and lentils. Protein is one of the most critical macronutrients for your health, so it’s critical to prioritize it at every meal.
• Eat colorful fruits and vegetables. The color of produce generally signifies the nutrients it contains (green veggies will have vitamin K), so it’s important to eat the whole rainbow when it comes to your fruits and veggies.^[13] Try to include some colorful produce at most meals. 
• Choose high-fiber carbohydrates. Think fruits, tubers, legumes (beans/lentils), and whole grains here. The fiber will help slow digestion and provide long-lasting energy. 
• Pick healthy fats. Foods like avocados, nuts, and olive oil. These will help you stay full and help regulate inflammation.^[14]
• Stay hydrated. You need to be properly hydrated for all the nutrients you consume to work well.^[15] Plus, drinking plenty of water can help you stay full between meals. 

#6) Move Your Body.

Our bodies evolved to move regularly. Yet for those of us in industrialized countries, we often only move to get from our homes to our car, to an office where we sit all day, then back home.

That’s why we often need to plan regular movement.

While we’re big fans of strength training around these parts, it doesn’t have to be that intense to get started. At first, it can literally be anything that gets your body moving. Even just taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

You can even build your “workout” around movement that doesn’t feel like exercise, like playing with your kids.

The important thing: plan it! Schedule your movement, no matter how small, so that way it becomes habitual.

Yes, even if it’s just taking the stairs. It might seem small and insignificant, but if you do it regularly, it’ll start to add up quickly. 

#7) Get Good Rest and Sleep.

The other thing people often neglect in industrialized countries: sleep.

As a whole, we’re getting less shuteye than we used to, with about 35% of folks reporting they get less than 7 hours of sleep per night.^[16]

But it’s not just good quality sleep we’re after, it’s also rest.

That means not only days off from the gym to let your muscles heal and recover, but also downtime to let your mind relax. 

This matters for our discussion on weight loss:

• Sleep helps us regulate our metabolism, which partially explains the link between sleep deprivation and obesity.^[17]
• Stress, and the hormones that come with it, can influence weight gain.^[18]

If you want more help here, check out our 10 Tips for Improved Sleep. 

#8) Find a Supportive Environment.

Our environment can include a lot of things:

• Our home and work.
• The town or city we live in.
• Our friends and family.

Some of our environment is in our control. Some of it (like the weather) is not.

When possible, we want to change our environment to support our weight loss efforts, so we’re set up for success.

For our physical surroundings, we often call this “Building our Batcave.”

We want the things around us to promote our fitness goals.

This could include healthy snacks in the fridge or weights in the basement for our home gym.

However, it’s not just material things here, because we also need to look at the people we surround ourselves with or “our squad.” Having people who support your efforts, or are themselves working towards a similar goal, can be critical for weight loss.

So can having a coach in your corner who knows the path forward.

Any way that you can adapt your environment to match your weight loss goals, the better. 

#9) Balance Emotions without Food

It’s perfectly normal and okay to use food to match emotions.

• Celebrating a promotion? A dinner out can be the perfect reaction.
• Tough day at work? Maybe a glass of wine will help you relax.

As we point out in our Guide to Stress Eating, the problem arises when we are no longer in control of food because of our emotions. 

Coach Justin does a great job of explaining why here:

Food can be fine as a reward or as a relief, as long as it’s us controlling the behavior and not the food itself. Developing this skill will be important for sustainable weight loss.

If you find yourself  “stress eating,” know that you are not alone here.

One of the top issues faced by clients in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program is emotional or stress eating. With the eruption of the pandemic, these episodes have only increased.

You’re not alone in this. Learn how a Nerd Fitness Coach can help.

How to Lose Weight Fast (Next Steps)

I’m going to be real with you: developing and mastering all 9 weight-loss skills is going to take a while.

And that’s okay!

This is the fastest way to lose weight permanently. 

Here’s the thing though: you don’t actually need to master all 9 skills to see progress.

As we discussed earlier, even if you just develop 4 or 5 of them, you’ll see results. 

It’s something I discuss with Coach Matt in our video from Nerd Fitness Prime, on thinking of fitness as a “Dial,” not a “Light Switch.” 

Because we’ve found that even if people are only consistent with their goals 50% of the time, it’s enough to make some progress and build momentum..

So here’s your new mission: work on ONE of these skills by taking ONE action.

That’s it. Don’t overwhelm yourself, but do take action today.

Which one should you pick? 

Start with the first one, “Plan and Take Action.” 

Make some time on your calendar for a 5-minute Daily Win tomorrow. Go for a walk, or prepare ONE healthy meal.

Make it something that doesn’t overwhelm you.. 

The win isn’t as important as following through, because that will help us build momentum in the right direction.

If you want some help getting going, I got you.

Here are three ways to continue your journey with Nerd Fitness. 

#1) Our Online Coaching Program: a coaching program for busy people to help them make better food choices, stay accountable, and get healthier, permanently.

You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program is right for you. Just click on the image below for more details:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

#2) Check out NF Journey, our fun habit-building app that helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally). 

 

You gain access to this app through Nerd Fitness Prime.

Learn more about Nerd Fitness Prime!

Option #3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out at home” guides, the Nerd Fitness Diet Cheat Sheet, and much more!

Alright, I want to hear from you:

Any skills for weight loss that I’m missing?

What have you had success with?

What are you still having trouble doing?

You’re not the only one trying to lose weight, so share with us your journey in the comments so we can support each other!

-Steve

PS: If you’re just starting your weight loss journey, make sure you check out:

• The 5 Rules of Weight Loss
• How Many Calories Should I Eat?
• Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

PPS: Shoutout to Precision Nutrition for helping to outline the skills needed for weight loss. 

###

Photo source: Olga Yastremska © 123RF.com, Ekaterina Minaeva © 123RF.com, Nattapol Sritongcom © 123RF.com, andersonrise © 123RF.com, Samo Trebizan © 123RF.com.

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So you’ve decided it’s time to learn about the Carnivore Diet?

Well my friend, you’ve arrived at the right place!

We dissect different nutritional strategies for our coaching clients and we are really freaking good at it!

Is an all-meat diet right for you? Let our coaches help you decide!

Here’s what we’ll cover in our guide to the Carnivore Diet:

• Question 1: What is the Carnivore Diet? 
• The history of the Carnivore Diet (Surviving on an all-meat diet)
• Question 2: What are the benefits of the Carnivore Diet? 
• Question 3: What do you eat on a Carnivore Diet? 
• Question 4: Is the Carnivore Diet safe? Is an all-meat diet healthy?
• Bowel movements on an all-meat diet (I know you’re curious)
• Question 5: How do I start the Carnivore Diet? (Magnesium and potassium recommendations)
• Next steps for adopting a healthy diet.

Alright, it’s time to fire up the grill. Let’s talk meat.

What Is The Carnivore Diet?

In simple terms, the Carnivore Diet is the following: Eat meat. Drink water. Consume nothing else.

If you like steak, and not much more, this could be the diet for you.

The Carnivore Diet—as the name implies—is eating only animal products. Meat, more meat, topped with meat.

An all-meat diet would avoid:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Grains
• Legumes
• Nuts
• Seeds

Again, you just eat meat.

Dairy MIGHT be included, depending on your interpretation of the diet. Yes, it’s from an animal. However, lactose is a sugar (carb), which might be frowned upon. It depends on who you talk to. We’ll touch on different versions of meat-eating later.

The big point of the Carnivore Diet is to eat no plant products.

The literal opposite of a vegan diet.

If you thought the Paleo or Keto Diet were restrictive with regards to carbs, welcome to the next level. Eating only one food group, meat, is about as restrictive as you can get. Right up there with the Potato Diet or the “30 Bananas a Day” Diet, which are both real things, but for another day.

You might have also heard of the Carnivore Diet as the “Zero Carb Diet.” However, this is a little bit of a misnomer, because there are actually some carbs in meat. They come in the form of glycogen. Although this could be nitpicking because the total carb content is minimal, but it’s worth noting.

No matter what you call it, this diet of only animal products has grown in popularity in the recent past.

But its history actually goes even farther back…

THE HISTORY OF THE CARNIVORE DIET (SURVIVING ON AN ALL MEAT DIET)

If you’re going to have a debate on the merits of eating only meat, we should probably discuss the Inuit.

The Inuit are an indigenous tribe inhabiting the Arctic. What’s important about the Inuit, for this article, is that they have traditionally eaten a diet high in meat.

There’s not a whole lot of fresh plants in the icy Arctic. Especially in the winter months, when sunlight becomes scarce. So in order to survive, the Inuit traditionally had to subsist on a diet of animal products like fish, walrus, and seal.

There just wasn’t much to eat outside of what you could hunt.

The interesting thing: the Inuit have traditionally held low rates of heart disease coupled with no nutritional deficiencies.^[1] That is until, sadly, they were introduced to a more Western diet: including pizza, chips, and soda. Then as you would predict, diabetes and obesity rates rose.

The health of the Inuit, despite their restricted nutritional choices, is often referred to as the “Inuit Paradox” of a high-meat, high-fat diet.

So let’s bring things into a more modern era and chat about Vilhjalmur Stefansson.

Stefansson was a Harvard-educated Arctic explorer born in 1879. If you’re imagining some type of wiley-Indiana-Jones-like character, you wouldn’t be wrong.

When exploring the Arctic, Stefansson lived off the land, by adopting the Inuit way of eating mostly meat. At first, Stefansson did it out of necessity. But then a Carnivore Diet became his preference. When he returned to his home, Stefansson commented on how an all-meat diet made him feel the leanest and healthiest.

Stefansson may be one of the first proponents of a “no-carb diet,” as he gave many interviews and reports on his experiences of eating like a carnivore.

He even wrote an article where he discussed his adventures in the Arctic, including why he adopted an all-meat diet.^[2]

An important point on Stefansson: he prized the fattiest cuts of meat he could find, and ate unconventional parts of an animal, just like the Inuit. Stefansson explained that he varied between, “steaks, chops, brains fried in bacon fat, boiled short-ribs, chicken, fish, liver, and bacon.” So yeah, not just ribeyes…

Why is the Carnivore Diet becoming popular now?

Simply put, a man named Shawn Baker.

Baker literally wrote the book The Carnivore Diet.

Now, before you send me an email explaining that Baker’s license to practice medicine in New Mexico has been revoked, let me say that I’m aware. And it is noteworthy.

However, I don’t want this fact to prevent us from looking at the ideas and evidence of an all-meat diet, especially considering the fact that you’re reading this to get the real story!

Despite the controversy surrounding Baker, there does seem to be anecdotal evidence on the benefits of eating only meat. There’s an entire subreddit of people consuming only animal products, claiming it’s helped them in all sorts of ways.^[3]

Folks report losing weight, curing autoimmune diseases, and raising testosterone. All by forgoing any kind of plant product.

Which is a good segway into our next section…

What Are The Benefits Of The Carnivore Diet?

The benefits of the Carnivore Diet rests on two points:

1. Potential for weight loss.
2. To identify food intolerances or allergies.

Let’s look at both of those:

To lose weight, you need to expend more calories than you consume. And if all you are consuming is meat, you’re cutting out most major food groups.

Like, all of them, except one.

And meat can be very satiating, meaning it’ll keep you feeling full and under your calorie intake goal for the day. So I imagine a lot of folks following the Carnivore Diet are just subconsciously eating fewer calories than they were in the past.

That’s why I believe a lot of the anecdotal evidence of people achieving weight loss success with this diet.

However, as I point out in the “Which Diet is Right For Me?” article, any diet that results in calorie restriction will likely work when it comes to weight loss – at least in the short term.

You can lose weight on the Twinkie Diet, but that doesn’t necessarily make it sustainable or healthy!

So, whether it’s the Carnivore Diet or Intermittent Fasting or Paleo, if you have a plan and can sustain it indefinitely, permanent results will probably follow.

We’ll touch on this again later.

Onto Point #2: How about eating only meat to fix food allergies or intolerances?

If you have a food intolerance, it means you have some sort of negative reaction to a specific type of food. Gluten or dairy or nightshades, for example. Eliminating these potential causes for illness or discomfort in an attempt to see how your body responds makes logical sense.

And in fact, many scientific studies rely on some sort of elimination or oligoantigenic diet (another term for an elimination diet), to identify potential allergy issues in patients.^[4]

The big difference is, a lot of these elimination diets are designed to be temporary, with the goal being to reintroduce many safe food groups over time. Conversely, the Carnivore Diet aims to eliminate these permanently. In other words, there is no reintroduction stage. You just keep eating meat.

What’s so special about meat, and why eat only animals? The argument goes something like this:

#1) Meat protein is highly bioavailable. Animal protein has all the amino acids you need to live. And since you yourself are animal meat (weird to think about), the thought is your body doesn’t have to do many conversions for utilization.

Also, some nutrients like creatine, carnosine, and vitamin B12 are only found in meat. The argument goes, that eating meat is the easiest thing to support your own meaty body.

#2) Meat is a low allergen threat. Except for some seafood and shellfish, most people are not allergic to meat, especially red meat.^[5] That’s often why elimination diets okay red meat, as long as it hasn’t been processed and pumped full of additives (potential allergens).

However, it is worth noting there is a tick whose bite has been linked to creating an allergic reaction to red meat specifically.^[6] Nature can be cruel. However, for the most part, people are not very allergic to meat.

#3) Phytonutrients in plants can be pesticides. Since plants don’t have legs to run away from a hungry critter, they have to rely on other means to escape being eaten. Sometimes, it’s an outer barrier, like bark. However, it can also be chemical warfare, with plants producing toxins to poison, kill, or just bother whatever animal is eating them.^[7]

The theory goes that people can be allergic to these chemicals. Now, we’ve evolved to handle these phytonutrients, and they actually provide health benefits for most.^[8]

That’s why many health professionals encourage the consumption of vegetables, fruit, and grain. However, people can indeed be allergic to certain phytonutrients, so the argument from the pro-all-meat camp states to avoid them completely.

There’s a counterargument for each point above, which we will get to. However, the carnivore community does have some interesting objections to eating plants.

Okay, so we’ve discussed why people would eat only meat.

What’s this Carnivore Diet actually look like?

Is it as simple as it sounds? We’ll explore the ins and outs of an all-meat diet in just a moment.

First, if you are trying to lose weight and wondering if the Carnivore Diet is the solution, I’m proud of you for at least THINKING about different nutritional strategies that might align with your lifestyle and goals. 

Lots of our coaching clients come to us with all sorts of different fitness questions, like what to eat and how to exercise, proving we all start from unique situations. The important thing is that you’re beginning to ask questions and looking for answers. 

If you want help on your journey, we’re here for you. Our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program partners busy people just like you with a coach who will get to know you better than you know yourself.

A Nerd Fitness Coach can guide your weight loss and answer all your fitness questions! Learn more here.

WHAT DO YOU EAT ON A CARNIVORE DIET? WHAT’S ALLOWED ON A ZERO CARB DIET PLAN?

I thought about answering this section’s question with one word, “meat,” and moving on. However, there are some specifics and alternatives worth discussing for the Carnivore Diet meal plan.

First, if it’s an animal, it’s allowed on the Carnivore Diet:

• Beef. The primary meat of choice for those on the Carnivore Diet seems to be beef. Shawn Baker practically lives on ribeye steaks at home and ground beef patties when he’s out and about.
• Lamb. Another red meat often consumed on an all-meat diet.
• Pork. You have permission to eat bacon on the Carnivore Diet, or other pork products.
• Fowl. Our feathered friends are acceptable on an all-meat diet. Chicken, turkey, duck, etc.
• Fish. If it swam, go for it. Even if it didn’t (muscles, oysters), if it’s an animal from the sea it’s fair game.

A good rule of thumb: if a Tyrannosaurus rex that’s escaped from its pen would eat it, you can eat it too.

Just a little dino humor here. Though Triceratop Tri-Tip would also fit the menu.

I know your next question: “Steve, how about dairy? It’s an animal product. Yay or nay?”

Technically, dairy can be allowed, as it’s from a cow.

However, some advocates of the Carnivore Diet say skip it altogether, because of the possible concern of lactose intolerance.

It’s not the only gray area on an all-meat diet.

How about coffee or tea? Well, they aren’t from an animal, that’s for sure. But the calories they contain are practically zero.

Allowed? Eh, I’d say it depends on your goal.

• If you’re experimenting with a Carnivore Diet for weight loss, yeah, why not? Because again, there are almost no calories there.
• If you’re doing an all-meat diet to determine possible food intolerances, it should be noted that people can be allergic to coffee or tea. That’s why many elimination diets advise against them for a while.

The same argument could be made for spices or herbs to season your meat. No calories, but again, potential allergens. Outside of salt, any kind of seasoning allowance will depend on who’s advising you on the Carnivore Diet and why you’re doing it.  

And you might want to think about proper advice when following an all-meat diet.

IS THE CARNIVORE DIET SAFE?

Most dietitians would advise against eating a Carnivore Diet. Because, you know, the whole no fruits or veggies thing. And while here at Nerd Fitness, we believe in questioning everything (Rule # 8), the medical community might have a point on this one.

Now, I personally don’t put tremendous stock in the sensationalized headlines that state red meat is the most dangerous thing you can eat.^[9]

However, I don’t think this provides a giant green light to live on nothing but red meat either.

There are some things you really need plants and vegetables for. Some examples:

• Betaine is a vital nutrient needed for liver function. The best source? Spinach.
• Potassium is an electrolyte needed to help regulate blood pressure. Bananas, avocados, and leafy greens are great sources for potassium. While there is some potassium in meat, it’s debatable if it’s enough.
• Magnesium is a mineral that your body requires for literally hundreds of bodily functions. The best source? Greens, like spinach.
• Fermentable fiber is critical for our stomach’s microbiome. And in recent years, our knowledge of how important gut health is for overall wellbeing has grown.^[10] Eating an all-meat diet could have a big impact on gut health, because of the complete lack of fiber found in animal flesh.
• Phytonutrients found in plants can provide hormetic stress. I mentioned earlier that plant phytochemicals can act as pesticides. Well, we’ve actually evolved to handle these pesticides, and our cells become stronger after eating them.^[11] Sort of like how exercise stresses our body, but then we responded with more strength. Nature is clever like that.

And let’s circle back to both the Inuit and Harvard explorer examples from above. There are two things they did that most modern Carnivores probably aren’t doing:

1. They ate all sorts of different cuts and pieces of meat. The Inuit and Stefansson did not just eat lean pieces of caribou. They’d eat eyeballs, brains, and other organ meat, where a lot of extra nutrients can be hidden. They would also eat whale skin, which contains vitamin C.^[12] These “unconventional” cuts of meat hide a lot of extra nutrients the Inuit needed to thrive.
2. The Inuit traditionally did eat some plants. While granted, there’s not a lot of fresh greens up in the Arctic. There are some though, which the Inuit would eat when available.^[13] The Inuit would dine on berries, sea vegetables, and certain mosses when in season. While these plant products made up a small portion of their overall diet, it still provided them with additional vitamins and nutrients to complement their carnivore leaning ways. So it would be inaccurate to say they ate only meat.

So they’re not just eating lean chicken breast and grass-fed fillets. They’re eating the organs and other portions of animals that are LOADED with nutrients.

If you want to learn how to eat the entire animal, this book might help. 

But let’s get back to the challenge at hand.

Who knows what a diet devoid of vegetables can do to the body? The scary thing about that question is the answer: no one knows. That’s because there are no clinical trials done on a long-term Carnivore Diet.

Some in the pro-all-meat camp will cite this as a defense. No one has studied eating only meat. Perhaps their potassium requirements are different?

While an interesting counterargument, I veer away from the extremes when it comes to diet, especially if you don’t plan on making the changes permanent. Double especially with diets as extreme as a Zero Carb Diet.

I try to keep things simple, and not vilify or deify certain foods.

• Carbs are not inherently evil.
• Fat is not a health food.
• Butter is not a superfood just because you put it in your coffee.
• Protein is just one piece of the equation.

Our stance: I would advise against the Carnivore Diet, especially in the long term. And no diet should be started if it’s only going to be done temporarily. This creates temporary results. And the idea of only eating meat seems incongruent with a healthy, long lifestyle.

Maybe one day, the anecdotal claims of the benefits of an all-meat diet will be verified. For now, I don’t think there’s enough evidence in support, but enough to be concerned about pinning one’s health future on it

You do you, but be careful.

Sigh, you’re gonna try it, aren’t you?

Welp, I’ll get to my advice in a moment.

But there’s no way we can’t talk about…

BOWEL MOVEMENTS ON AN ALL MEAT DIET

Eating only meat is going to impact how and when you go to the bathroom. There’s no way out of it. Every person who writes about their experiences on a Carnivore Diet addresses it.

For one, the lack of fiber means you are going to poop less frequently.

Poop is made out of mostly water (75%), but it’s also composed of bacteria, protein, and fiber.

If you eat no plants, you aren’t getting fiber, which means less poop.

Also, when you go #2, it will likely be mushier (gross). Again, the no fiber thing.

It should be noted, however, that followers of an all-meat diet claim that while they don’t go to the restroom as frequently, they do not feel constipated. They simply don’t have to go.

So, ah, yay, less bathroom time?

I’ll also add some confusion to this section, by addressing a study that demonstrated people actually eased constipation by reducing or eliminating dietary fiber.^[14]

My thoughts on this study come back to balances and extremes. You need some fiber, but with anything, you can have too much as well.

Okay, I think we talked about poop enough today. We had to do it though. You know in your heart this is true.

HOW DO I START THE CARNIVORE DIET?

If you don’t heed my warning and decide to try the Carnivore Diet anyway, there are some things to consider.

Mark Sisson from Mark’s Daily Apple^[15] has some great suggestions on ways to potentially make a Carnivore Diet more sustainable:

1. Take magnesium. As I said a little bit ago, it wouldn’t be a joke to say your body runs on magnesium. I would hedge my bets and take a supplement.
2. Consider a potassium supplement. If you start to experience light-headedness and cramps, you may be deficient in electrolytes. Outside of magnesium, potassium would be a likely culprit since there isn’t much in meat. Bone broth would be a good source, but you might have to make your own because it’s normally mixed with veggies.^[16]
3. Eat eggs. It’s an animal product. Plus, it’s got all the ingredients (and nutrients) to make a bird. This could help with some of your potential nutritional deficiencies.
4. Eat liver. The liver is one of the most nutrient-dense organs found in the body. Mark Sisson calls it “nature’s most bioavailable multivitamin.”

So think about a supplement or two and don’t just live off ground beef. Animal organs are very nutritious. And maybe sneak in some occasional greens as the Inuit did.

Lost?

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EATING A HEALTHY DIET PERMANENTLY

I don’t advocate diets that are designed to be unsustainable or short term.

And don’t even get me started on cleanses.

In the fitness world, we call them “crash diets.” While they may indeed help followers lose weight, they are not designed for the long term. If you go back to your normal way of eating after your temporary change in diet, you’ll likely regain all the weight you lost. This can prove to be a frustrating step in the fitness journey.

That would be one of my main concerns on the Carnivore Diet. It just doesn’t seem sustainable to me, which means any benefits you derive from it would disappear as soon as you go back to how you formerly ate.

The other concern would be not eating vegetables.

Now, if you are trying the diet to identify food intolerances or allergies, that’s one thing. However, if you’re after weight loss, I would STRONGLY advise a different path.

Try one small incremental change. Something you can stick with. Not eliminating most food groups.

Here are some small changes you can consider, as we cover in the 5 Rules of Weight Loss:

1. Try drinking one less soda a day.
2. Grab a side salad instead of french fries.
3. Make it exercise-related and begin with just taking a five-minute walk at first.

If it’s something you can imagine doing continuously, it’s a great start. We can then work on building you a second healthy habit.

If your change seems like an impossible lifestyle for years and years, likely to be abandoned, maybe try something else.

If you are experimenting with the Carnivore Diet as a potential temporary elimination diet: track everything!

Track what you ate and how you felt each day. Even note bathroom behavior. Track it all. Then, once you have some data, you can start to reintroduce foods to see if they create an impact.

That about does it for my thoughts on the Carnivore Diet.

Want some more help from here? The perfect next step for your fitness journey? 

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Now, your turn:

• Am I way off on this one? Should we all be eating steak for every meal?
• Is this diet even crazier than I am alluding to?
• Have you tried it? Know someone who has?

Let me know in the comments!

-Steve

PS: Make sure to read the rest of our guides on maintaining a proper diet:

• How to Start Eating Healthy
• Which Diet is Right for Me?
• The 5 Rules of Weight Loss

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