Dirty Carnivore Testimonial

Trisha, Southeast Missouri, USA

love-hate food relationship
... once puberty hit and the hormones started running amok, the chubbiness set in.

I grew up eating the standard American diet; white bread, potatoes, corn and sugary breakfast cereals were staples in our household. I was never overweight as a child but once puberty hit and the hormones started running amok, the chubbiness set in. Looking back now, I realize I've had a love-hate relationship with food ever since my teenage years. I grew up in the 60s and 70s and so knew nothing of carbohydrates and the damage they can cause. I would be in my 40s before coming to understand this concept.

I've tried a lot of different diets over the years...simple starvation, counting calories, low fat. -You name it and I've probably tried it. Of course they all worked initially but I never kept the weight off for very long. I used to have a "high weight" in mind of 180; in other words, that was my limit. If I reached 180 pounds or even got close, it was time to diet and or start another exercise routine. In 2003-2004, after finishing chemotherapy for ovarian cancer, my weight reached an all-time high of 186 pounds. I could have blamed it on the chemotherapy but in all honesty, it was my own fault for giving me permission to eat badly. In 2005 I was finally ready to get serious about my health.

atkins and beyond
I knew it was time to leave when eating a salad made me insanely happy.

I found out about the Atkins plan through a friend and coworker. I remember listening to her explaining the basics of low carbing and thinking, "This will NEVER work. There's no way a person can lose weight by eating just meat and veggies." Thankfully I learned otherwise! My husband, who had also grown a bit rotund, decided to embrace a low carb lifestyle with me. It was, and still is, one of the best decisions we ever made. However, after a couple of years of regular low carb, something changed. I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but eventually I grew weary of eating most vegetables and fruit. I was a bit concerned with this avenue that my body seemed to be taking, since avoidance of veggies and fruit flies in the face of all conventional food logic. I turned to the internet and starting searching for articles and references to no carbs or zero carbs, etc. and those searches led me to Charles Washington's site called Zeroing In On Health (ZIOH for short). -Great site, great people. I learned a lot there and discovered that I was not crazy for wanting to give up all veggies and fruit. I ate only meat, mostly beef, for almost two months straight and it was wonderful. I lost some pounds, my belly started flattening out and most of my cravings disappeared. But then I started coming back around the other way; every now and then I wanted to eat a salad. Every now and then I fancied a diet soda or having some veggies...not every day and not every meal. -Just once in a while. Well, the deal at ZIOH is that, to be a member, one must eat "clean"—100% zero carb 100% of the time. I knew it was time to leave when eating a salad made me insanely happy. I could have lied and stayed a member, but my conscience wouldn't allow me to do so. A friend (Katelyn) at ZIOH had left the site for other reasons at the same time and she told me about the forums at Active Low Carbers (ALC). I joined and quickly befriended a whole new group of people. Someone at ALC (Satya perhaps?) coined the term "Dirty Carnivore" to describe folks like me who live their lives as mostly zero carb but who occasionally partake of vegetation or other non-zero carb foodstuff. Being a Dirty Carnivore allows me the freedom to listen to my body's needs and wants for any particular day and tailor my eating habits to that extent.