Tag Archives: Eating Disorders

Zero Carb Interview: Doug Wright

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Doug today after one full year on an All-Meat Zero Carb diet at age 25.

1. How long have you been eating a Zero Carb (No Plant Foods) diet?

One year to date.

2. What motivated you to try this way of eating? Weight? Health? 

Curiosity & health. At age 20, I started a ketogenic diet of white lean meat and greens. I followed keto for 4 years before embarking on the carnivore path. While keto was very effective at helping me to lose a lot of unwanted body fat – I weighed 380 lbs. when I started keto and I was down to 223 lbs. at the 4-year mark  – I was always tired and hungry! Consequently, I knew it wasn’t sustainable long term for me because I continually felt deprived. So, I was looking for a way of eating that would help me to maintain and continue my body fat loss, while also improving my energy level and providing greater satiety.

Doug prior to beginning a Ketogenic diet of lean white meats and greens at age 20.

3. How long did it take you to adapt to a Zero Carb diet, both physically and psychologically?

One month.

4. What books or people were most influential in guiding you to this way of eating?

The Big Fat Surprise

Good Calories, Bad Calories

5. Do you eat only meat, or do you include eggs, cheese, and cream in your diet?

Predominantly eat red meat, very little else. Once in a while I will have raw egg yolks or raw salmon.

6. What percentage of your diet is beef verses other types of meats?

95%

7. When you eat beef, do you cook it rare, medium, or well done?

I prefer raw, but I will eat it blue-rare in social situations. I initially started this way of eating by cooking all my meat. But as time went on, I gradually desired it more and more rare until I was eating it totally raw most of the time, LOL! I have discovered, surprisingly enough, that I feel much more satisfied when I eat the meat completely raw than if I cook it even slightly.

One of Doug’s typical “fast food” meals of raw ground beef and raw salmon.

8. Do you add extra fat to your meat? (i.e. butter, lard, tallow)

No.

9. Do you limit your meat consumption or do you eat until satisfied?

Eat until satisfied.

10. Do you eat liver or other organ meats? If so, how often?

Rarely, but plan to eat liver more often.

11. Do you consume bone broth? If so, how often?

No.

12. How many meals do you eat per day on average?

1 or 2, but usually 2.

13. How much meat do you eat per day on average?

2-3 lbs.

14. Do you eat grass-fed/pasture-raised meat, or regular commercially produced meat?

Mostly conventional beef.

A rare steak while eating out with friends.

15. Do you drink any beverages besides water? (i.e. coffee, tea)

No.

16. Do you use salt? 

Rarely.

17. Do you use spices?

No.

18. Do you take any supplements?

Not in the form of man-made tablets, capsules, powders, etc., but I do fresh liver – which I consider to be nature’s most nutritious food – whenever I feel the need for something extra.

19. How much money do you spend on food each month?

Approximately $360.

20. Do you have any tips for making this diet more affordable?

Shop weekly specials at your discount grocery & get to know your butcher  and find out when markdown meats are put out on the shelf.

21. Do you exercise regularly? If so, how often and how vigorously?

2-3 days a week of heavy lifting, and I stay on my feet as much as possible.

22. What benefits have you experienced since beginning a Zero Carb diet? (i.e. recovery from illness, overall health, body composition, exercise performance, hormonal, mental or psychological, etc.)

Little to no inflammation (I always used to be achy, stiff, and sick); very steady energy; enhanced mood; clear skin; calm and relaxed state of mind; increased sun tolerance; continued body fat loss; increased muscle and lean body mass gains – I now weigh 5-10 lbs. more at 240 lbs. – since adopting an all-meat diet as compared to when I was following a Ketogenic diet of lean white meat and greens; greater mental clarity. In other words, I feel WAY better since removing all plant foods from my diet. I’m just so happy all the time now!

23. What do you enjoy most about eating a Zero Carb diet? 

The simplicity of it all and how good I feel.

It doesn’t get much easier than this!

24. Do you have any advice for someone who is just beginning a Zero Carb diet? 

Eat only meat, preferably beef, for a minimum 30 days. Drown your cravings/hunger/boredom in it. Eat as much fatty beef as you need to feel satisfied. No plants whatsoever, as they will just keep your cravings active. Once you adapt to an all-meat diet, you won’t want to go back.

25. Are your friends and family supportive of your Zero Carb lifestyle? If not, how do you handle this?

My family and close friends are very supportive, as they have seen the drastic health benefits first hand through me. However, I’m a bit of a social outcast among my peers in general who drink, smoke, and eat junk food. Thus, finding like-minded friends through the many Facebook groups dedicated to an All-Meat Carnivore or Zero Carb way of eating has been a real godsend for me and has prevented me from feeling isolated and lonely on this unusual dietary path.

26. Is there anything you would like share about this way of eating that I have not already asked you? 

Keep it simple. The more non-optimal foods you remove from your diet, the better you’ll feel.

You can follow Doug on Twitter @Wright_Doug

Life cannot get much better than a plate full of grilled hamburgers enjoyed in a beautiful, relaxing environment!

If you are interested in meeting other Zero Carb Carnivores, please join us in the Facebook group Principia Carnivora.

 

My First Four Months on Zero Carb by Ginny Walker

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Prior to finding the Zero Carb diet, I was eating very unhealthy. I was eating a lot of sugar and a lot of starchy carbs. I did not limit the amount of foods I ate. I ate without thinking about what I was putting into my body. I ate when I was hungry, bored, sad, depressed, etc. Food was more of an emotional crutch instead of a fuel for the body.

I have always had an unhealthy relationship with food. In my teens and early 20’s, I suffered from binge eating and bulimia. Through out my adult life I have tried numerous diets only to fail repeatedly and return to food, especially sugar, as my addiction. Eventually, my weight reached 278 lbs. This was the highest it had ever been in my life, and I was miserable.

In August of 2014, I was diagnosed with polyostotic fibrous dysplasia. I have benign bone tumors in 7 ribs, my entire pelvis bone, my femur, my skull, and my right facial bones. I had been in severe dilating pain for a couple of years and was on prescription pain medication that made me feel like a zombie.

This bone disease has no known cure and pain management is the only medical approach. I knew my weight was contributing to the pain and that I needed to make some changes to help myself. I did some research and came across this website. The information and stories inspired me and I started this way of eating on March 6, 2015. That was the beginning of my new life.

My transition to a Zero Carb diet was moderately easy. I really liked how simple it was to understand this way of eating. There is not a lot you have to learn in order to put it into practice. Eat meat, drink water. It is a mindset. Once you decide to do it, you just do it. I really want to live a better life and have better health, so I have decided I will do this to improve my life. I also want to be a better example for my children.

I did experience a few symptoms in the beginning. I had some mild headaches. I believe this was from sugar withdrawals. I also experienced some weird itching and tingling sensations on my skin that lasted a couple of weeks. That was mildly annoying and a bit alarming. I believe my body was detoxing in some form. After a month or so of Zero Carb eating, I experienced no more itching or tingling and my skin is now clear and refreshed looking.

My daily food intake: I average at least one and a half lbs. of beef a day and some days 2 lbs. I eat until I am full and satisfied. I usually consume one meal a day on average, but occasionally I will have two. I eat a lot of ground beef. I have two strips of bacon with every meal.

Sometimes I add cheese, but I try not to eat too much dairy due to weight loss plateaus it has caused in the past. I cook every meal in pure butter and drink water. I will have the occasional cup of black coffee with nothing added.

The biggest benefit I have experienced so far:

A 60 lb. weight loss in just over four months. I still have several lbs. to go, but this is huge for me!

Equally significant is that I no longer have bone pain from the bone tumors, and I am off all of my pain medications.

Although I am now 43, I have the energy of a 20 yr old.

I have been able to discontinued the medications I was taking for high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

My skin looks amazing.

I no longer have insomnia, and I have normal sleeping habits for the first time in 6 years.

Additionally, my overall emotional health has improved tremendously.

I am looking forward to seeing what other benefits Zero Carb has in store for me in the future!

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Please visit my Testimonials page to read the stories of others following a Zero Carb diet.

If you are interested in meeting others who practice an All-Meat diet, please feel free to join us in the Facebook group Principia Carnivora for support.

 

My First Two Months on Zero Carb by Sura

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Sura’s precious kitty.

Well, my name is Sura and today is the 58th day of my Zero Carb journey. Sorry for not posting any before/after photos, or more personal information about myself, but – for now – I’d like to keep my new way of eating a secret. But I’d love to share my story with you because you understand me, because – if you’re already reading this amazing blog – I know you won’t criticize my choice to eat this way. However, some of you do know me from the secret Zero Carb group on Facebook called ZIOH 2 (an off-shoot of the public Zero Carb group on Facebook called Zeroing in on Health).

I’m 23 years old, and I’ve always had some extra body fat on me. When I was a child, I never liked candies, cakes, or cookies, and I really didn’t have a sweet tooth. My favorite foods were chicken, salty fish, beef, sausage, etc. I was in a good shape for my age, and I was healthy. But when I was 15 years old, I made the worst decision of my life, and I became a vegetarian. I love animals, and I thought that it was not fair to kill them for food.

I also thought that being a vegetarian would help me to be skinnier like the Victoria Secret models. Well, I forced myself to eat and love vegetables (I hated them before), and I also started eating a lot of baked foods and sweets. Each year, I gained more weight and reached to my maximum of 72 kilos (or 158 lbs.). It was a nightmare for me, and – during those 7 years – I tried a lot of stupid diets in order to lose weight. I tried to eat nothing but steamed rice during one month, then only potato, yogurt, cabbage…etc. But after each of these crazy diets, I just weighed more and more.

Finally, in November of 2013, I started following the ‘recommended’ and ‘healthy’ low fat high carb diet, plus working out, which I did for 3 months until February 2014. Did I lose weight? YES. I lost 2 whole kilos!!! 2!!! (or 4.4 lbs.) But – mysteriously – I looked bigger. Then I discovered counting calories and downloaded 20 different apps to my phone to count them. I spent 2 hours at the gym, EVERYDAY! I was exhausted. But, I started losing weight and this caused me to restrict my calories even more.

I developed an eating disorder called anorexia nervosa. My worst nightmare. I started eating only 400-500 calories daily – just from steamed vegetables and fruits. My period stopped, I was always cold, I lost a lot of weight and was now 49 kilos (or 108 lbs.) at 165 cm (or 5′ 5″). I looked sick, my hair started falling out, my skin was dry, I was starving all the time, I was fainting everywhere I went because of hunger, I couldn’t sleep at night because of my heart pain, I became anti-social, and lost all my friends.

Then my father died and this made everything worse. I was sure that I was very sick, and I that would also die very soon. But I promised myself to keep it in secret because I did not want to make my mum to worry or be sad. Because…I’d rather die than be fat! See how smart I was?

In November 2014, I learned about the ketogenic diet, and all the problems associated with eating too many carbohydrates. I read and listened to every single piece of information I could find in books, articles, videos, etc. about ketogenic eating, and it made so much sense to me. So, I decided to quit my long coveted vegetarianism, and I started eating chicken and fish again.

But the fear of fat made me eat only lean chicken breasts, lean tuna, and low-fat cottage cheese. I knew that I needed to eat high fat, moderate protein, and 20 gms. of carbs daily but I had a hard time making myself do it. Anyways, I was still counting calories, and counting my macro-nutrients (i.e. protein/fat), and spending a lot of time thinking about food, and craving carbohydrates constantly. I was even thinking about what to eat for a snack while I was still eating my dinner!

I also forced myself to do intermittent fasting (IF) while I was hungry. Yes, I was maintaining my weight at 53 kilos (or 116 lbs.), but I was also maintained my ‘zombie look.’ I work as a diplomatic representative, and my career was almost over because I couldn’t concentrate on my work.

The positive side was: I stopped exercising all the time and could still maintain my lower weight. But nothing else. I was tired and wanted to sleep all the time. I was not happy and was – in fact – very depressed. Plus, I was spending a lot of money on taxis from work to home (the way is only a 10 minutes walk on foot) because I felt so weak.

One day, in February 2015, while asking some questions about chia seeds on the Internet forum ‘Reddit,’ I saw a post about Kelly Williams Hogan‘s blog My Zero Carb Life. I clicked it and started reading her blog. I read it again…and again…and again. I’ve literally read each article she has written at least 50 times! While reading her story, I was amazed and shocked at the same time. I could so relate to her experience and struggles with food and weight. So, I decided to give the Zero Carb diet a try.

Well, it has been almost 2 months now that I’m eating only from animal kingdom: beef, chicken, fish, eggs, bacon, pork, lamb, butter, ghee, and tallow. I’m not counting calories or macro-nutrients, or anything else. Can you believe it? I still can’t believe it. It is like a dream. This is the first time in years that I am able to allow myself to eat until I am completely satisfied.

But at the beginning of eating this way, I felt like something was wrong. I was eating a lot of meat and fat. It seemed that I could not eat enough. At first this terrified me, but Kelly calmed my fears by explaining that she was also insatiably hungry during her first 6 months on Zero Carb and did gain some unwanted pounds. (Yes, she saved my life again!) Then, her appetite went down, she needed less food to feel satisfied, and the extra body fat easily melted away. (Please see Kelly’s post When Lowering Carbs Causes Weight Gain where she explains this in detail.) So, I trusted her and kept going.

The interesting part is that although I did gain weight initially, I actually felt skinnier. I now understand that I was losing inches and gaining firm muscles, while simultaneous losing body fat. My body is more lean and strong now. Finally, I am skinnier like Victoria Secret models, but I don’t really care anymore. Why should I look like them? I’m better just being me : )

The main benefits I have experienced so far…

  • I’m not excessively hungry anymore. I eat meat and drink water until satiety. Some days I eat a lot, some days I eat less. Sometimes I crave meat even after just eating a good sized meal. And so I eat it more.
  • At first, I thought…one day I’ll get sick of eating just meat, but – to my surprise – each time I feel hungry and eat, I enjoy it more.
  • I no longer feel cold anymore, and I have no more heart pain. I’m full of energy all the time.
  • My hair is thicker, my skin is so clear and soft, my nails are stronger, even my eyes are brighter.
  • Mentally and psychologically, I feel so confident and healthy.
  • I don’t lose time counting my macro-nutrients or looking for different recipes, so I can concentrate on my work better. And, amazingly, I got a big raise on my salary 10 days ago. YAY!
  • I am around my relatives and coworkers who have flu and cold all the time, but I never get infected.

I eat twice a day because I stay satisfied for a long time after eating. Breakfast and dinner are enough for me. I don’t drink coffee or use coconut oil (because they are not from animals), and I don’t eat dairy (because it always makes me crave more dairy and I easily overeat it). When I first started Zero Carb, I was using a lot of spices on my food, but now I don’t like them anymore. I use salt and pepper.

Another interesting thing is that I now prefer eating beef and lamb to other animals. Chicken and fish just don’t satisfy me anymore. I cook with tallow or ghee, and I add some butter just for taste. I’m not an experienced chef – because I never cooked meat before in my life – but I’m practicing and learning.

My butcher helps me to choose the best meat and my mum helps me with recipes. She is so happy that I am eating meat again. My fridge looks like a horror movie for my vegetarian friends, but fortunately I live alone with my cat. I’ve also turned my cat’s diet to Zero Carb and she is very happy about this!

My period is still missing (it has been almost a year), but I trust she will come in good time. I don’t want to go to my doctor, because they never understand me. Last time my doctor tried to make me eat a high carb low fat diet and gave me a lot of medicines to use. I threw them all away.

My bowel movements are okay. I only go once a week, but – somehow – I don’t feel bad about it. I’m not bloated, constipated, or in pain. It comes and goes naturally.

I don’t work out, but my muscles are very strong. I sit mostly at my office, but I do try to walk whenever possible. Additionally, I do yoga, just because I like it. I’m not mixing cardio with yoga anymore. That was making me feel too stressful, not relaxed.

Finally I want to say that when I decided to start this diet, I didn’t ask anything (I don’t say that asking is bad). I just read Kelly’s blog and started. All I can say is that this is the simplest way of eating ever. Eat meat, drink water, live your life! The rest is up to you.

Coffee, coconut oil, dairy… If they don’t create problems for you, then you can keep them. I’m not a coffee addict, I don’t like coconut oil, and dairy creates problems for me. So, I left them all behind. I simply embraced Zero Carb as ‘eating just from animal kingdom, nothing else.’ But, I do drink herbal teas because they warm me. I don’t worry about the calories or the macro-nutrient ratios anymore; I just let my body to decide it how much food it wants. If I am hungry, I eat.

If you are already healthy, and your metabolism has not been damaged too much by excess carbohydrate consumption, you really cannot overeat and gain weight on Zero Carb. But, if your past is dark and full of terrors – as was mine – then, in the beginning, your body might ask for a little bit more food to fix itself. Respect your body and feed it whenever it asks.

After some time, your body will fix itself, and you will lose that wild hunger and any extra body fat you may have gained. I sometimes wondered, what would happen if I had gained more weight in the beginning of Zero Carb? Today, after only 2 months of eating this way, I can confidently say that I would definitely keep going anyway because it saved my life and the benefits extend far beyond weight issues.

Yes, sometimes I still feel bad for eating animals, sometimes I keep my new way of eating a secret from others (like now), sometimes I have to eat before going to invited dinners, sometimes I have to pretend that I have allergies just to avoid eating birthday cake at a party… But, I now realize that this is how we should eat. It is the natural, ancient, and – I hope – future way of eating.

I am so happy to have discovered Zero Carb, thank you Kelly, thank you all of the other Zero Carb for your support and advice. Thank you, Esmee, for this blog. I enjoy being one of you. You are… we are… creating a new era. Thanks for reading!

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Sura’ very happy and contented Zero Carb kitty.

Sura posted an update on April 20th:

I always have terrible allergies during spring time. I had allergies to everything! Trees. Flowers. Air. Dust. Sunlight. My sensitivity to sunlight was the worst. Even 5 minutes of direct exposure to my skin would ruin my whole day. I could never go to the seaside. I have had to live like a vampire and stay inside all day or wear long sleeves when I go outside. But now, I am not reacting to the sunlight at all. Today, I spent 2 hours outside in the sun with my cat, and nothing happened. I am totally fine. I finally get to enjoy sunlight. I can’t believe this. This is a miracle for me!

Please visit my Testimonials page to read the stories of others following a Zero Carb diet.

If you are interested in meeting others who practice an All-Meat diet, please feel free to join us in the Facebook group Principia Carnivora for support.