(And How the Carnivore Lifestyle Counters Diet Failures)
Have you ever started a diet filled with unwavering determination, only to end up right back where you started a few weeks later? The whole dieting and failing loop is a story we all know, and we get how it’s terribly frustrating.
We’re here to help you understand why diets flop more often than they succeed. So don’t throw in the towel just yet. Let’s break down those usual dieting stumbling blocks and figure out how you can conquer them with the help of the carnivore lifestyle.
What is Dieting?
Dieting involves tweaking your food choices and reducing calorie intake to reach health, fitness, or weight-related goals. It focuses on making intentional, sometimes temporary, changes—like cutting calorie intake, adjusting your menu, or following a specific eating pattern (e.g., high-carb, low-fat, veggies, or meat only) for a short or extended period.
It covers all sorts of ways to eat, from strict and rigid plans to more laid-back and flexible strategies that help reach a specific goal, be it to lose weight, increase fitness levels, or boost general health.
Many times, though, when people mention “diet,” they’re usually talking about shedding some pounds. That comes as no surprise because data from the Trust For America’s Health tell us that 41.9% of Americans are overweight or obese.
Popular diets have emerged, from Atkins to Keto to Paleo, with a ton of fad diets thrown in. We have good news and bad news. The good news is most diets work. The bad? They don’t work long term, with those who manage to lose a few pounds regaining weight down the road.
Study after study shows that even the health benefits the diets produced, such as improved blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels, reverted to their original state within a year.
What is Carnivore Diet?
The carnivore diet, also known as the lion diet, centers around eating meat and animal products while excluding plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. Because it’s meat-centered, it’s a high-fat, moderate-protein diet.
Advocates of the carnivore lifestyle reported experiencing health benefits, such as increased mental clarity and weight reduction. Some even effectively prevented their blood sugar markers from sliding into Type 2 diabetes by embarking on the diet.
Why Do Most Diets Fail?
According to the 2023 International Food Information Council (IFIC) survey, 50% of Americans followed one type of diet or eating plan in the past year. Unfortunately, a whopping 95% of them fail.
You’ll know what we’re talking about if you’ve been on more diets than you can count on both hands. And no, don’t blame your lack of willpower. There’s more to it, and that’s what we’ll tackle.
Does the Carnivore Lifestyle Help Counter Diet Failures?
The carnivore diet drastically departs from the traditional way Americans eat, which is heavy on plant-based foods. The unique aspects of this eating pattern are the very reasons it can help you get past the stumbling blocks that lead to common diet failures.
Here are the top reasons why diets don’t work and how embarking on a carnivore lifestyle can pave the way for dietary success.
1. Financial Strain
Dieting can be a struggle when money’s tight. For one, healthy foods can be pricier, so you could end up buying less nutritious substitutes. Also, some diets might suggest special foods or supplements that can be expensive.
Moreover, with budgetary constraints, hitting the gym or getting the necessary workout gear becomes less of an option, making it harder to boost physical activity.
The Carnivore Diet Advantage
We agree that the price of meat can be a bit hard on the pocket. But with the carnivore diet, you only eat meat, fish, eggs, and other animal products. That means cutting off processed junk food and carb-heavy items from your list. Watch how eliminating those foods makes your grocery bill shrink.
2. Hunger
When you start dieting, you sometimes feel increased hunger. The reduced food intake is just part of the reason. The psychological impact of limiting what you can eat can mess with your mind, making you think you’re starving.
Moreover, when you’re running on empty, your body sends signals to stock up on calories pronto. This can slow down your metabolism, making weight loss feel like a never-ending uphill battle.
What the Carnivore Diet Offers
Hunger is frequently mistaken for cravings, and guess what? Carbs are usually the culprit behind those cravings. When you consume carbohydrate-laden foods, your brain releases serotonin, a feel-good hormone, that the body craves.
By ditching carbs, you can eliminate those artificial yearnings. You may experience hunger on a carnivore diet, but it won’t be your body looking for a carb fix; instead, it’s your stomach signaling that it’s time to eat.
3. Unrealistic Expectations
Unrealistic expectations often trip up your dieting goals because it’s like shooting for the moon. If you diet for weight loss, expecting to achieve your ideal body weight or shape in a flash sets you up for frustration.
You can get easily discouraged if you expect too much too soon. When the needle on the scale doesn’t budge as quickly as you hoped, quitting becomes a possibility.
The Carnivore Diet Effect
Adopting a carnivore lifestyle puts your body in a state of ketosis. That’s when it shifts from using stored fat for energy instead of carbs. This change in how your metabolism works speeds up the fat-burning process, especially when you’re just starting the diet, leading to a rapid loss of weight. The positive boost makes it more likely for you to continue with the diet for the long run.
4. Lack of Support
Without a support system, your motivation takes a nosedive, emotional ups and downs hit harder, and social events turn into diet minefields.
Going it alone makes the whole diet thing feel like an arduous struggle with no one to share the victories or help with the tricky parts. This makes sustained success more elusive.
How the Carnivore Diet Helps
With the carnivore lifestyle’s widespread popularity, you won’t feel alone when embarking on this all-meat eating plan. The community around it is everywhere on YouTube and social media, bringing people together to share experiences and insights. This creates a friendly and supportive environment, encouraging sustained commitment.
5. Emotional Eating
Who hasn’t reached for food when they’re feeling down? It appears to be inherent in humans, making it hard to overcome. When you’re stressed, your body releases hormones that wreak havoc with your appetite and make those tasty treats more mouth-watering than usual.
Stress can also interfere with your decision-making and drain your willpower, so you find it more difficult to resist that tempting slice of chocolate cake. Unfortunately, giving in too often can lead to weight gain, throwing your goals to shed those pounds out the window.
The Carnivore Diet’s Edge
The carnivore diet counters emotional eating by shifting the focus to nutrient-dense animal foods and cutting out processed stuff. It makes eating all about nourishing the body, not just satisfying cravings. In this way, you start seeing food as nourishment, not an emotional crutch.
The stable blood sugar levels associated with the carnivore diet also help keep your mood more balanced, so you’re less likely to reach for snacks for an emotional pick-me-up.
6. Diet Complexity
Complex diets can set you up for failure. Imagine following complicated meal preps and sticking to a restricted food list where some items might not be readily available. Would you still be motivated to stick to your diet for the long haul when it feels like you need a Ph.D. to plan what you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner day in and day out?
When You Embark on a Carnivore Eating Plan
The carnivore diet keeps things simple. You mainly eat animal products, eliminating the need to plan complicated meals. Also, because your meals revolve around meat, you’ll ignore 75% of the products in most grocery stores. Shopping becomes much easier and quicker as a result.
7. Weight Plateaus
Lower intake of food and increases in physical activity often leads to weight loss. But there would be times when the scale stops budging despite your best efforts. That’s called a weight plateau, and it’s frustrating as heck.
At the start of your diet, you’ll usually drop pounds like crazy. The initial weight loss often comes from water. Diets, especially ones cutting carbs or sodium, make your body use stored glycogen for energy, releasing water as it does. This causes your weight to go down quickly. But that’s not fat melting away but water weight being shed.
As your body adjusts to the new eating pattern, the water weight loss eases up, and fat loss becomes more significant. That’s when you hit a plateau because of your body’s set point (the level of fat it tends to retain). The body wants to hang onto that fat level, so when you lose weight, your brain kicks into gear and slows down your metabolism to hoard fat.
How the Carnivore Diet Works Against This Diet Fail
The low-carb nature of the diet nudges your system to burn fat for energy, potentially breaking through those stubborn plateaus. Even if the numbers on the scale get stuck at some point in your weight loss journey, the carnivore lifestyle’s curative advantages make sticking to the diet worthwhile.
8. Health Concerns
Dieting is not mainly for weight loss. Some might use it to address specific health concerns. The problem occurs when you opt for quick fixes. You might jump onto trendy, restrictive diets, hoping for a magic solution without considering the nutritional balance or the feasibility of the new eating plan
Plus, you might start feeling some not-so-great physical effects, prompting you to call it quits.
Positive Reinforcement from the Carnivore Diet
The carnivore diet helps with inflammation, digestion, and it supports overall health. It’s a promising choice for those who have experienced challenges with other diets.
It mimics how ancient humans eat, suggesting it could be safe and sustainable. In modern times, many have followed the carnivore lifestyle without experiencing adverse effects.
9. Restrictions
Constantly having to say no to your favorite (but unhealthy) foods sets you up for cravings, and sooner or later, you might just give in to the temptation to binge eat. This cycle of restriction and indulgence can create an unhealthy relationship with food, making it harder to stick to a healthy eating plan.
Additionally, highly restrictive diets may not provide the nutrients you need for optimum health. Lack of nourishment might also lead to fatigue and other physical challenges, undermining your diet gains.
How the Carnivore Diet Helps
While it limits certain food groups, the carnivore diet’s focus on nutrient-dense meat and animal products can help you feel satisfied. Without the carb cravings interfering with your appetite, the variety of meat and other products like bacon, eggs, and butter won’t seem so restrictive, making it easier to stick to your new eating plan.
10. Impatience
Frustration sets in when you expect rapid changes and don’t see immediate results. “Why is this not working faster?” is a common question among disheartened dieters. Not seeing any progress can prompt you to doubt the effectiveness of the diet.
Impatience might drive you to ditch the new eating pattern prematurely or turn to extreme measures, hoping for quicker results.
What the Carnivore Diet Does
Weight loss is one of the frequently touted carnivore diet benefits, and we understand how you want to see results NOW. But the main aim is to be healthy, right? The weight loss does come, but it’s not all about the number on the weighing scale.
Check out how you look in the mirror, how your clothes fit, and how you feel. The changes in your overall well-being may be more telling than what the scale says.
Most diets fail, but that shouldn’t throw you off the path of progress. The carnivore diet, with its emphasis on nutrient-dense animal foods, isn’t just another trend or fad. It could be a game-changer, helping you overcome the stumbling blocks that lead to diet failures and propelling you to a healthier lifestyle.