Bulimia And Body Dysmorphia: Beauty Beyond Binge Eating

anorexia bulimia

Unveiling the part of me that went unseen.

I’ve never talked about it like this before.

I’ve disclosed to close friends & coaching clients that I battled bulimia & body dysmorphia since the age of 8.

It started with a scarcity mindset around food. I was the “fat” girl in class & “bigger” than my brothers. Kids in my class were cruel & mean.

As I got into middle school & adulthood it exacerbated into full blown bulimia with bouts of anorexia.

Life was bleak & I KNEW I was 50 shades of F*cked up. I knew I had to stop or I was gonna die because of my disorder &/or my Crohn’s disease complications.

With this blog post, I’d rather focus on the healing part than rehashing the past. Grateful it made me who I am so I can now help you.

In a way, I’ve purposely avoided sharing TOO much about my pre-recovery story because it can horribly backfire.

Those in the pre-contemplation or contemplation stages of change can hear these stories & think, “I’m not sick enough to get help,” “I don’t have a problem,” or “She was far worse than I am.” or even get ideas to further deepen the dark relationship with food, exercise, & self hate.

But when carefully crafted, these stories can be the very propellant that pushes someone into taking action.

The reality is, millions of people, right now, are living the secret life I once was as they battle disordered eating & body dysmorphia.

May my story instill the hope that you, too, cannot only recover but take back your power!

The Beginning

My relationship with disordered eating & poor body image started when I was just 8.

I spent the majority of my childhood & early adulthood overweight & unhealthy. Had a middle school teacher tell me I was too big to be a cheerleader at tryouts.

Kids were cruel, calling me names like lambchop because I had big 80’s hair & even thicker thighs.

My disorder began with overeating & then restricting to punish myself. I’d skip breakfast & barely eat lunch which I’d “allow” myself sugar free jello, a small travel size cottage cheese & 5 Ritz crackers.

My stomach would growl. I remember being embarrassed if the classroom was quiet enough for others to hear. Inevitably, I’d return home in the afternoon absolutely ravenous & binge on cookies, candy, cereal, chips, & junk food.

These episodes got more & more out of control. I continued eating less during the day, binging at night & sometimes I’d take cold medicine to make me sleep to keep from eating.

Years passed, & my eating habits fluctuated. I had never considered throwing up until I saw a Lifetime movie about a girl who had bulimia.

The process seemed easy. Eat whatever you want, throw up. The first time I purged was in middle school after eating a tub of ice cream.

Bulimia became a sort of coping mechanism for me. I told myself my obsession with diets & exercise were normal. It was about control. I was dealing with increased stress: school, college, & later on, relationships, a failed marriage on top of debt & drinking too much.

There were many things in my life I felt I wasn’t able to manage. I’d binge & get a rush. Then I’d get an even bigger, better rush after getting rid of it all.

12 Years Old: Barely Average


In so many ways, I guess I was an average midwest farmer’s daughter, pre-teen girl growing up in the 90s.

I played catcher, 3rd base & outfield in softball & threw shot put in track. After being criticized for going out for cheerleading being “my size,” I was mortified & self hate thickened.

I idolized Britney Spears & wished I was liked enough to be invited to the popular girls’ parties. I had boy crushes & a very small circle of friends. I was the smart girl & quiet & extremely insecure. I didn’t dress “cool” like all the pretty girls or athletes. I was awkward af. (hell I’m still awkward af 😂)

Then, one day, I did something not so average. Something I’d never done or known anyone who had but recently learned about from a boy at school.

I wish I could say I went home & masturbated, but that would be an untruth. Instead, I did something that felt extra perverse. I made myself vomit after eating.

Yes, I thought. This would make me skinnier faster & then I’d be liked.

I swore it would just be this one time. I’d just try it.

See, for about a year up to that point, I’d struggled with binge eating and fantasized about food because I allowed myself so little. My body starving, I’d gorge.

I just needed a single “fix” of ice cream or cake or cookies, and then I’d be good to go.

But then it happened again. And again. And again.

In no time at all, I met the diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa.

We always had junk food & snacks at home, so despite eating large quantities, my mom or siblings never grew suspicious. I also purged when no one was home to eliminate any risk of them finding out.

Bulimia had become my dirty little secret. A secret, unbeknownst to me at the time, I would carry for another 20+ years.

12–17 Years Old: Popularity and Pleading


Part of what fueled my eating disorder was my insatiable need to have something most every kid my age wanted: popularity.

My theory went as such: restrict food > be thin > get more friends/a boyfriend.

I went through many school days with only nibbles of food in my belly. If I had gym or farm chores in the evening, I ate a little extra so I could basically not pass out.

I wound up bingeing and purging when I got home because starving myself intensified the urge to eat uncontrollably. I could smash whole boxes of cereal, cheese nips, & goldfish.

All the while, I portrayed myself as the nice girl, the smart girl. I never reached Homecoming Queen nominee status, but I did bounce around between multiple friend groups. I got along with everyone.

I was in the honors society, president of the FFA & 4H, top part of my graduating class & received numerous scholarships to Purdue University.

I had duped everyone — even myself, at times — into thinking I was “normal.”

But no one saw me crying in the shower because I was so sick and scared or throwing up my food after every social gathering.

No one saw me looking at my reflection in the mirror and telling myself how hideous, fat, and worthless I was.

No one saw me keeled over after purging, pleading with God to forgive me for my gluttonous, grotesque behavior.

After every episode, I swore to higher power that it would be the last. Tears streaming down my face, I begged for God to not to give up on me. But week after week, month after month, year after year, the scene kept replaying.

18–22 Years Old: A Not So New Chapter


In August of 2000 I moved into my dorm freshman year & then participated in sorority rush.

I joined as a sister of Delta Gamma at Purdue University. Perhaps this — and my new life in college, in general — could be a chance to begin again.

Unfortunately, my keenness outweighed my hopefulness. I quickly learned my roommates’ schedules and when I could be alone with my behaviors.

But after a couple instances of them arriving home early or not leaving at their normal times, I realized I wasn’t guaranteed any solitude.

I secretly ate in my bedroom, blarring music to conceal the purging. They overheard on more than one occasion, and I either blamed it on being sick or hungover.

Swollen lymph nodes, puffy cheeks, and blood-shot eyes. A broken-out chin and sores on my lips from the stomach acid that often coated them.

WTF was I doing?

Still, I carried on as a social butterfly. Like my friends, I went to parties, took shots of God awful cheap tequila & vodka, and ate fourth meal at 1 a.m.

Unlike my friends, I made myself pay for it. I could easily down a super size fry & 20 piece chicken nugget meal from McDonalds. I could eat a whole box of Mad Mushroom Cheese sticks.

To make matters worse, at 22, I married my college sweetheart, not even knowing myself. I couldn’t love myself, How could I love another? My first marriage lasted 6 years, we were together 11 total. That post divorce hoe phase is real y’all 😂 let me tell ya. Added fuel to the fire.

In retrospect, my life hadn’t changed much at all in college. It was still an endless stream of lies, deception, self-hatred, and suffering.

What’s more, I’d completely lost sight of who the real me even was anymore & that continued well into my late 20’s & early 30’s.

41 Year Old: Current Flexible Carnivore Me

“My Fitness Journey” started at the age of 8. I started my Instagram over 10 years ago & that has been one helluva transformation story all on its own. I don’t even know how it happened but I feel it’s important for you guys to know the person behind the Instagram handle.

I wanted to share my fitness, health, & healing journey with y’all because it’s similar to many of yours. I want you guys to know you’re not alone, you’re seen, & you’re heard.

Before I started sharing my story, meals, fitness tips or acting like I know “everything” about “healthy” living, it’s important to share I am not a therapist, a doctor, or the best trainer of any sorts, yet, I am a person who lost a significant amount of weight, kept it off & has dedicated her life to living a healthy lifestyle & forgiving herself of her mistakes.

I’ve overcome decades of gut issues. Physical & mental hurdles.
⁃ Crohn’s disease
⁃ cervical cancer & infertility
⁃ numerous other health issues including renal stones & having my gallbladder out
⁃ decades of disordered eating, bulimia, orthorexia, & food addiction
⁃ managing Crohn’s & being a Crossfit athlete
⁃ managing social pressures of being told I needed to eat, workout, live, & BE a certain way to be “significant” & fit in a certain box

Some of you have watched & have been there for my journey since the beginning, while others are reading about this for the first time.

To put it out there plain & simple though, I’ve lost 60 lbs over my lifetime & transformed my body to all different shapes & sizes.

While that may not seem like a huge or significant feat to some, on my petite 5’1 frame – the transformations have been huge, mentally, physically, relationally, & spiritually.

Throughout my whole journey, my heaviest was 160 lbs at barely 5ft tall & my lowest in my adult life has been 97 lbs.

I’ve had ups, downs, I’ve gained, I’ve lost & learned a whole lotta life lessons along the way. My journey started at 8 years old, I’m 41 years young now, will be 42 in July, & the best is yet to come!

Everyone’s journey is different & this is mine…
I hope it can help you in any way possible & know my door is always open.

Join my Newsletter Community! I’d love to share & grow with you! It’s a weekly newsletter full of  ideas to help you become the most EXTRAordinary version of you!


Age [Whatever You Are, Doesn’t Matter]: YOUR Moment


Whether you’ve been secretly battling an eating disorder for a few months or 50 years, I want to make 3 things very clear:

You are sick enough
You deserve help
You can’t do it alone
Sadly, there are thousands upon thousands of eating disorder stories like mine, but each one is still different. Some cases are more severe, some less. But that’s all irrelevant.

What matters is knowing, at your core, you have an unnatural or undesirable relationship with food. That realization, alone, warrants getting help.

It doesn’t matter how much you’re restricting, what you weigh, how often you’re purging, or how much you’re bingeing. Yes, certain factors will determine the level of treatment you need, but you deserve help, regardless.

The first step is saying something. Is there someone who’s been there for you when you confided in them about other personal matters? Someone who exudes kindness & compassion?

I hope you can also learn from my experience and not hold out for a wake-up call or a feeling of readiness to tell someone. If you do, you may never get the chance.

As long as a piece of you recognizes there is a problem and wants something different, you are ready to start your new life & begin again!
Who you are with your eating disorder is not who you are destined to be.

You can heal yourself.

You can find yourself.

You can be the version of yourself you wish for you and the rest of the world to see!

oxox Coach K

Resonate with my story? More resources here!

bio carnivore lilbitoffit katie kelly indiana fishers

I Gave Up One Of My Best Friends This Year. Goodbye Alcohol, Hello Sobriety

Life reflections lately…2 years ago today I was at a bar crawl with this beautiful soul. Thank you Facebook memories 😆 

I have a small circle of high value people & I prefer it that way. When I was younger, I thought if everyone didn’t like me &/or I didn’t have a huge friend circle that I must not be cool or hot enough to spend time with.

In my 20’s, I lied to myself with a plethora of “good” reasons to drink, & I thought that everyone would drink if they were dealing with problems like mine…

I drank because I was depressed & hated my body

I drank to cope with the trauma of Crohn’s disease, obesity, orthorexia, body dysmorphia, & bulimia

I drank because my marriage was misaligned

I drank because it made me feel confident & vibrant (numbing social anxiety & insecurity)

I drank because I felt life was “really hard” when I didn’t

Navigating the world in a marginalized body can be hard. Add trauma &/or mental sabotaging to that, & it makes sense that some of us might use substances to cope with the weight of living in a fog of scarcity & lies

A coping mechanism doesn’t have to be healthy to be valid; we’re all just doing the best we can with the tools & level of consciousness that we have.

I Had Lots of Reasons to Think I Didn’t Have a Problem

Despite the fact that I had been admitted to the hospital one time with a BAC of .346 & on a vent, a year later after that incident I started drinking again. 

I had lots of reasons I told myself I wasn’t an alcoholic:

I didn’t drink every day or much on many occasions

I didn’t drink in the morning (unless I’d been up all night & was still drinking. That didn’t count)

I’d never had a DUI (but should have)

I didn’t drink alone. Even if I went to the bar alone, there were always people there, so that wasn’t technically “alone”

And then one day, I was fed up with giving something power over the magic of my life. 

And someone said to me, “It’s not about how much you drink; it’s about what happens when you drink & how you feel when you don’t.”

Ooof.

With that one sentence, everything fell into place for me. I started to connect the dots about my behavior & it was like warm sunshine came thru my windows of life. 

1. I Often Drank More Than I Planned

I often went out with the intention of having “a cocktail. No more than 2.” No matter what I told myself at the beginning of the night, it hard to just have a couple of drinks. I got a better handle of it in my late 30’s but would still wake up & feel less than even if I had 1. 

2. My Drinking Interfered with My Life

Waking up hungover affected my work, productivity, energy, workouts, Crohn’s disease, weight gain, energy, mood, hunger, satiety, money, relationships — EVERYTHING. 

3. I Routinely Did Things When I Was Under the Influence That I Wouldn’t Have Done Sober

I used to be the queen of drunk texting. I’d wake up & delete all my text messages before I couldn’t even read them because I didn’t even want to know. I slept around. In the morning, I never wanted to hear about what I’d done the night before. “Just don’t. tell. me!” 

4. I Was Drinking to Fix How I Felt When I Was Sober

Drinking may have caused a lot of problems for me, but the real problem was how I felt when I was sober. When I was drunk, I was relaxed & confident. I wasn’t so insecure about my body. I was outgoing, I could talk to people, & I could go places without my empathy & clairsentience going into overdrive, especially in large crowds.

5. Drinking Controlled Where I Went, What I Did, & With Whom I Hung Out

I was way more likely to attend a function if I knew there would be booze. I could be friends with anyone as long as there was alcohol involved. I avoided hanging out with people who didn’t drink like me because they made me feel guilty. I’d take shots before going out to social functions to “chill out.”

6. I Kept Promising That I Would Stop, But Never Could

I tried to stop (or cut back) drinking many times in my 20’s & 30’s. My 40s haven’t been bad, but I still enjoyed drinking less & less the more I realized how it affected me & my spiritual awakening strengthened. Remember swearing off drinking many weekends?

I’m not writing this to say you’re wrong if you drink. And I would be lying if I said, I didn’t enjoy drinking. I love enjoying cocktails & enhancing experiences. But I had to come to terms & ask myself if I was really enhancing experiences when it did nothing to make me feel better or improve my life?

If you’re reading this & thinking, “Wow, this sounds a lot like me,” then hi! 👋 I’m so glad you’re here! Thank you for reading a chapter out of my diary of life!

Knowing that other people thought & acted like me was a huge step towards getting well. It meant that I wasn’t abnormal, I wasn’t broken, & there was a solution.

As a first step, I encourage you to do some reading. Read other stories & blogs written by people embracing sobriety & the sober curious life. 

There are many wonderful venues out there now with alcohol free options, & mocktails, too. You’ll come to realize there are an abundance of life things to enjoy that do not have to include alcohol.

If you’ve read this far & relate to what’s written here, I want you to know that you are an incredible human!

Recognizing that you want to make a change is the beginning of a lifelong journey that can be incredibly difficult, but it’s one that you never have to take alone.

If no one has told you how strong you are yet today, let me be the first❤️🫶

Oxox Coach K

My name is Katie Kelly. I’m a multi modal travel clinician 🩺💀, nutritionist, high performance coach, & biz consultant specializing in human connection & process optimization with over 20 years experience. On social I’m better known as Coach K & I’m just like you!

More importantly, I want you to believe in yourself, your health, your business, your voice, & your ability to live your best life! 

I’m known as the sweary, Indiana farmer’s daughter who went from a sick (Crohn’s Disease & bulimia), overweight (lost 60lbs via the carnivore diet & CrossFit), broke bish (was 50k+ in debt) to a thriving, self loving human here to inspire, educate, & mentor! 

Welcome to my digital diary & wellness guide full of life lessons learned the hard way🫶

I post content about life/biz/self improvement anywhere from fat loss, therapy, disordered eating, Crohn’s, self love, entrepreneurship, healthcare, food, fitness, finance, & everything in between to a social media audience of 47K+!

Thank you for allowing me to add value to your lives! Grateful to have you part of my digital family ❤️

How To Eat Carbs And Still Lose Fat On a Low Carb Diet

woman smiling eating food

So you tried low carb, keto, maybe dabbled in some carnivore too & now you’re ready to add some carbs back in…⁣

Yikes, right?!

It’s normal to be a little scared & anxious after seeing results on a low carb approach to your nutrition, but feeling you need to switch things up.

I’ve felt that too! But after pushing through the fear & embracing more vibrational, functional eating, you’ll strengthen your trust muscle with each experience & season of experimentation! It’ll help you find your sustainable lifestyle approach to look & feel your best!

⁣Y’all know I’m an advocate for meat-based, protein-focused nutrition for my Crohn’s & health preferences if you’ve been here a while. If you’re new, WELCOME! Pumped to have you here in this safe space of love, wellness, & learning!⁣

I’ve lost 60lbs & put my bulimia & Crohn’s disease in med-free remission via a flexible carnivore diet approach & kept it off for over 4 years!

weight loss before and after katie kelly carnivore
Tap photo for a blog guide I documented just for you on how I lose the weight & gained health!

Y’all should also embrace that nutrition isn’t one size fits all! I fully support a no diet dogma approach & support trying new things to find YOUR WAY. ⁣

⁣So say low carb worked short term, maybe you lost a few lbs, maybe you tried it for a reset, a medical condition — whatever. ⁣⁣

For most, yes, you’ll lose weight initially, primarily because of water loss & more food awareness (quality & quantity). Most don’t stick with the low carb/keto/carnivore diet long-term unless they’re on it for a specific reason or it fits their lifestyle/preferences appropriately. That’s ok too!⁣

⁣⁣The most common reason people fail to stick to any diet regimen: “real life” & social situations ends up “getting in the way.” Adherence & consistency are the keys to any success plan. ⁣🤷‍♀️You ultimately make the decision to stick to your commitments to yourself or not.⁣

⁣⁣You can incorporate carb cycling just like you incorporate fat cycling, it’s the same concept just utilizing a different macro as a fuel source. I have a blogs on resetting your insulin & leptin resistance here and specifically how to carb & fat cycle here.

Regardless of why you stop, there are things to know to help ease your transition.

You can save this post on Instagram here!

⁣⁣MAIN POINTS

1.) Have a plan⁣

2.) Get familiar with portion sizes⁣

3.) The order you eat your food matters

4.) Focus on whole foods over processed⁣

5.) Go slow⁣

6.) Expect fluctuations⁣

Things I believe in no matter what diet:

  • ⁣⁣NO diet dogma & eating for HEALTH
  • Cyclical, seasonal eating
  • Quality, Quantity, When, & What you eat matter
  • Variety & nutrient density
  • Eating for efficient digestion & absorption
  • Experimentation & fun = learning & results!
  • Optimal protein centric meals
  • Eating for strength, health, & functionality
  • Loving your life & being kind to others!
  • Self love living + an abundance mindset!

Take it slow, you got this! ⁣ No need to exclude or be dogmatic about any food choices or diet as long as they help you be your best!⁣ 

⁣Here are some more gut friendly, gluten free, low fiber, low fodmap options that worked for me.

Great options for pre or post workout carbs. I keep mine post workout in the form of plain rice cakes mainly if I feel I need a carb refuel after heavy training or high intensity cross training or cardio. These tend to be easy on the stomach with minimal bloating & gut issues for most.

Let’s dive in further!

Regardless of why, there are some things to know to help ease your transition. ⁣⁣

1.) Have a realistic plan

One of the biggest problems with dieting altogether — lack of clarity/planning. Most people end up falling back into bad habits. What’s your why? What’s sustainable & realistic for you? What’s your relationship with food, self-awareness, and your body image? Your story matters & your results hinge on all of these details.

2.) Assess portion sizes

⁣Quantity, quality, when & what you eat all matter. With any form of restriction, especially carbs, once you allow them, you’re more likely to go ham. Make sure you’re a moderator (not an abstainer) & comfortable & ready to add them back in. Measure & weigh your portions! Check nutrition labels for anything you’re sensitive to.

It’s all about balancing blood sugar. Food order & when you eat matter. Sugar & carbs spike your blood sugar more than any other macro (protein & fats are the other 2 macros).

meal timing pyramid

Tips:

  • Don’t eat your carbs naked (by themselves): pair them with a protein like ground beef or grilled chicken or a fat of your choosing like bacon fat, butter, or a nut butter if you aren’t sensitive to those. It acts as a buffer & slows your blood sugar spike. If you can eat fiber & non starchy veggies, these will help buffer the spike as well, but not as efficiently as protein & fats.
    • Examples: white rice & butter & ground beef, rice cake & peanut butter, grilled chicken and sweet potato, etc.
    • When eating a meal, eat your protein & fat first, veggies if you eat them next, then your starchy carbs. You’re less likely to overeat as well because protein & fats are more satiating.
    • I time my carbs if I’m going to eat them after my workouts. That’s when I refuel my body & it uses the carbs more efficiently vs storing them as body fat. Also reduces your cortisol levels & helps with recovery. Choose sources that serve you best mentally & physically. I personally avoid anything treat-like or sugary, including fruit to prevent binge eating tendencies & gut issues. High fiber, fruits & veggies, & sugar are huge gut irritants for me. You may be able to eat them and that’s ok! Do you!

3.) Quality Matters

Rather than going straight for processed options like chips, pasta, doughnuts, & cupcakes, go for whole-food, non-starchy vegetables first like your greens, then white rice, potatoes, gf oats, fruit, etc. Again, choose things that are not physical or mental triggers for you.

4.) Go Slow

Keep it easy on your GI system: choose gluten free, cook food thoroughly, & go low fodmap if you’re one that struggles with any G.I. distress. Start with adding carbs in at 1 meal/d for a few weeks & assess how you respond. If you’re good, add a serving into another meal. White rice is usually a safer, gut friendly option.

5.) Expect Fluctuations

You might have weight & blood sugar fluctuations — it depends on how your body metabolizes carbs, your diet, exercise, etc. Much of the weight changes are water weight initially. Pair carbs with protein & fat to help control those blood sugar spikes. With every gram of carb, you get 4g of water.⁣ Bloating & constipation could happen because of the re-introduction of fibrous foods, drink your water! You may have more energy or less. You might feel hungrier. Again, we’re all bio individually different. Have patience.

Supplements to Help With Carb + Nutrient Utilization & Body Goals

I was tired of struggling with post-meal blood sugar spikes when eating carbs and grappling with insulin sensitivity issues. NuEthix Formulations has a wonderful profuct, Slin-Trol™, the glucose disposal agent designed to assist your approach to managing blood sugar levels.

Slin-Trol™ enhances your body’s ability to efficiently utilize glucose, ensuring it is directed towards muscle cells rather than being stored as fat.

DIRECTIONS: As A Dietary Supplement, Take 1 Tablet With Carb Containing Meals To Improve The Nutrient Partitioning Of The Meal And To Possibly Minimize Fat Storage.

I take mine prior to my largest meals & walk 10-15 minutes after eating for better digestion.

Utilyze is a dietary supplement designed to support digestive wellness and nutrient absorption.

It contains a blend of digestive enzymes that target the breakdown of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates in the body, which can improve overall digestive function and help with nutrient absorption.

Utilyze comes in convenient travel packets and aims to support overall health and wellness through improved digestion. This supplement is gluten-free, non-GMO, and suitable for adults of all ages.

DIRECTIONS: As A Dietary Supplement Take 1 Packet With Larger Meals 2 To 3 Times A Day.

Cort-Eaze is a natural supplement designed to help with stress and anxiety relief. It contains a blend of herbs and nutrients that work together to promote a healthy stress response and support adrenal function. I use it for recovery & cortisol balance, which can affect your sleep, digestion & ability to build muscle & lose fat.

Some of the key ingredients in Cort-Eaze include ashwagandha, rhodiola, holy basil, and magnesium, all of which have been shown to help reduce cortisol levels and support overall mental and physical well-being.

DIRECTIONS: Take Two Capsules Daily. I take mine post workout & before bed. One post workout & one before bed.

Helpful Educational Resources

eating carbs on low carb

EXCELLENT article on food sequencing and balancing blood sugar here

Take-Home Message

Watching glucose spikes is particularly important if you have diabetes or a handful of other medical conditions. Your treating doctor or dietitian will advise how to modify your meals or food intake to avoid glucose spikes. Food ordering & timing may be part of that advice.

For anyone wanting to live a healthier, leaner, stronger life, consider removing sugary beverages & foods, processed food, & focusing on protein/meat-based foods as the foundation of your meals. Add fiber, proteins or fats to carbohydrates to slow gastric emptying and flatten glucose spikes. Walk 10-15 after meals & shoot for 10k steps per day. Lift 3-4x per week and watch your body & well being change!

If you found this blog helpful, join me on Instagram for daily inspiration & subscribe to our newsletter community here! I would love to have you!

How to Build Muscle & Lose Fat + 10 Tiny Sacrifices To 20 lbs Shed

How to Build Muscle & Lose Fat + 10 Tiny Sacrifices To 20 lbs shed

One mindshift allowed me to finally lose weight after 3 decades of trying & failing…

In the last 30+ years, I quit binging on carbs & sugar so many times, but I always went back to it. Sometimes it took 1 week. Sometimes I resisted for as long as 3 months. But I always broke my promise. I ended up getting bigger & bigger & sicker & sicker every year. Veggies & fruit & even foods I thought were “healthy” killed my gut & caused my Crohn’s to flare.

Losing weight can be a daunting task, especially when we think about the sacrifices we have to make to reach our goal weight. However, making tiny changes in our daily routine can result in significant weight loss without having to make drastic changes to our lifestyle.

The mindshift that helped me: “You need to be okay with failure to succeed”

I’ve heard this many times but it didn’t click with me until my healing & fat loss journey “plan” finally worked.

This is not just about weight loss. When you expect results right away & get dependent on them, failure to reach them in a certain time frame frustrates you & throws you off your goal.

The solution to this problem is to be okay with the possibility of not reaching the goal. It is to be invested in the process & the other benefits of doing the work.

When you stop obsessing about the result, it magically appears!

How I’ve been able to build muscle & maintain my weight loss working 40+ hours a week at 40+

  • I maintain the same habits & commitments to myself as when I was losing weight because I want to be the healthiest, happiest, & strongest version I can be. I’ve made fitness my lifestyle.
  • I don’t let the scale determine my success or worth. I know it will fluctuate naturally with sleep, stress, food intake, hydration, workouts, etc. I do not cut food & punish myself when it goes up. I stay consistent with my plan & take it simply as data to help me.
  • I prioritize health & how I feel with food, workouts, & movement. My mindset determines my reality. I know I cannot hate myself thin, happy, strong, successful, & fulfilled. You have to diet & live from the inside out. Being active & strength training are always priorities no matter what age or season I’m in.
  • I am patient & consistent af. I know body change & healing take time. I leave room for flexibility. I do not cheat, earn, or burn my food. It is fuel, not a treat. I don’t do rules, I do what feels right.
What I eat about every day!

Your Super Simple 5 Step Blueprint

1. Prioritize Walking: you can make a lot of progress by simply walking more. Aim to take at least 10,000 steps each day.

2. Prioritize Protein: eating is where most people struggle when trying to lose weight. You can simplify your nutrition strategy. In every meal, prioritize protein. I shoot for at least 40-60g per meal.

3. Prioritize Whole Foods: building on the last point, eat nourishing, whole foods 80-90% of the time. These are foods that aren’t processed & don’t come in a package. READ YOUR LABELS! The less ingredients the better.

4. Lift Weights at least 3 x Per Week: lifting weights is crucial whether your goal is muscle gain or fat loss. Lifting weights increases metabolic efficiency and muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn on a daily basis. Lifting weights also increases excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), which means you keep burning calories even after you’re done exercising.

5. Prioritize Sleep: there’s no shortage of research showing a lack of sleep can lead to fat gain and hinder our ability to increase our muscle mass. Ways to improve your sleep quality: morning light exposure, keep caffeine in the am, avoid eating late, keep a consistent sleep schedule, create a calm, dark, cool environment, limit electronics

Strength Training as a Newbie Tips

As a beginner, you’re obviously not going to be pushing as much weight as someone more advanced. When I started CrossFit, my coaches started me of with less reps & lighter weights, focusing on the basics & proper form first.

I had to drop down to much lower weights than when I was at the peak of my more competitive CrossFit days & times when I took a break from heavier/more frequent training due to work & life stuff.

Devoting 20 minutes 3 x per week — or 10-15 minutes a couple times a day works too. Start somewhere & build from there in terms of weights, frequency & intensity.

Pro Tip: invest in a quality trainer or group fitness program. They will show you how to use equipment & movement with proper form as well as workout routines. Utilize YouTube for workout videos & education at home. Tons of home workouts programs are available nowadays with minimal equipment & cost.

Best Time To Workout?

Choose a time you’ll actually get yo ass to the gym. There’s no magic time. Some days you may need to be flexible, it’s called life. Being a creature of habit & routine will help with consistency.

Once afternoon strikes, my motivation to get to the gym is next to nothing. I prefer 5am or 10am depending on work.

This obviously varies from person to person as all of our lifestyles are different. But as I tell clients, “workout time is sacred time”. If you’re committed to it, you need to find a way to get it done.

Pro Tip: Start every morning with movement. Go for a walk, do mobility — something. Set out your workout clothes or sleep in them. You literally just have to roll out of bed & go. Split up your workouts into 2-3 mini sessions if you dread long sessions. Instead of doing 1 long workout, do 3, 10 minute workouts. It’s easier to make small simple commitments to yourself.

Realize Lack of Fitness Is An Emotional Issue

My job as a coach & mentor is to get my clients to “feel” like improving. To “feel” like doing the things they need to do to be their best. That might be working out in the morning, eating more protein, eating MORE, staying off the scales, working out less, nixing the negative self talk, etc. Binge eating especially comes from restriction with food & self worth – body, mind, & spirit.

It’s why people continue smoking when they know the risks. Why people overeat when they know it’s taking years off their life, why people would rather binge Netflix all day than go walk.

Humans seek short-term pleasures over long-term rewards. Most things worth doing take time to pay off. Most things that get you into trouble feel comfortable in the short-term. But until you “feel” like changing, long-term progress won’t happen.

Goals are great. They’re like the north star on a map. But the whole point of goal setting is to develop the habits & routines along the way to create a lifestyle.

Adherence & Consistency Are More Important Than The Details of the Training or Nutrition Plan.

I remember my first few years of work as a nutrition & CrossFit coach vividly. We could have the most “perfect” program, I could give the best advice I could. Then…the clients didn’t show up. They didn’t do the work. And they continually fell off the wagon. It doesn’t matter how good the plan is, if you don’t do it, you’re not going to improve.

Or as Joe Defranco says “a poor program done perfectly, is better than a perfect program done poorly.”

Dan John, a favorite of mine in the strength & conditioning world, has a catchphrase “Little & often over the long haul.” It’s not about how hard you can train today, how many times you train for the week, or even the month. It’s about showing up today & again tomorrow & the next day & repeat this lifestyle for years on end.

Movement, The Power of Words, & Accountability Are Important

Very few people wouldn’t benefit by taking more steps. Get up to 10,000 as a goal. I prefer to break this up into 2–3 smaller walks during the day. You might prefer one long one. It doesn’t matter, just get those steps in.

Take the word “might” out of your vocab & switch “have to” to “get to.” My pet peeve is when clients say “I might get to the gym tomorrow.” Or “I’ll try & eat good today.” They’re giving themselves an out, not committing. Don’t give yourself the option. Do you have to train at the gym or do you get to?

Group training & accountability make exercise more enjoyable, more efficient & produce greater results for most. Gyms like CrossFit, Spin, Orange Theory, & F45 have nailed what makes fitness more enjoyable.

Go through hell together & laugh about it afterwards. Or more simply: train, laugh & repeat.

Aesthetics are the By-Product of Quality Training, Nutrition, & Health.

The physical follows the physiological, target health first. Aesthetics shouldn’t be your focus. Yes, looking better naked makes us feel good. But that shouldn’t be the focus of your training/diet unless you’re an elite bodybuilder. Longevity & a sustainable lifestyle lean should be placed at the pentacle.

I’ve also seen far more “aesthetically-minded” clients get burned out, fall to binge eating, & stop training altogether than I do with “performance & longevity-minded” clients.

When your sole focus is on how you look in the mirror or the reading on the bathroom scales. You lose hope when it doesn’t change & often develop an unhealthy relationship with food and fitness.

Pick some performance goals. Let’s say a 2-mile run, max pull-ups & increasing your back squat. If you improve your performance on these 3, your body will look better, I promise you that.

Final Thoughts

Create your own framework & system for success! With all habits, developing them often comes down to mental hurdles.

Your body is the reflection of inputs & outputs. If you fuel your body with healthy, balanced nutrition & stress it with strength training, it will adapt appropriately.

10 Tiny Sacrifices To 20 lbs Shed

  • Cut out sugar
  • Drink water
  • Increase your protein intake
  • Cut out processed foods
  • Walk more
  • Cut out alcohol
  • Get enough quality sleep
  • Cook your meals at home
  • Practice mindful eating
  • Reduce your portion sizes & try fasting

Biohacking Guide Here

I understand what it feels like to be a prisoner in your own body with no idea what to eat or where to start. Wish you all the best of luck!

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1:1 Fat loss solution coaching available! Resources & guides in link here

Shedding Old Versions Of Yourself: Calling in Fresh Energy, Partnership, & Attracting the Right People

blonde girl at sunrise

Journaled my feelings & thoughts this morning around energy, intentions, & alignment.

Big Dolly Parton energy ✨

I realize I’m constantly shedding skin into new versions of myself. Like peeling layers off an onion. I reflected back even 2 years ago & wow such a transformation inside & out!

body weight loss transformation before and after
Check out my transformations throughout the years & join my digital fam on IG here

I share this in hopes of being relatable to y’all wherever you are right now too. We’re all humans living this experience.

I reminded myself this morning I deserve people & companies & connections who are SURE. SURE in themselves and SURE about me. Because I SURE as heck is sure about me 🙂

This year, one of my big intentions is calling in aligned partnership & connections. I’m open to receive whatever is meant for me & my highest alignment without judgement or questioning.

Yeah, it’s painful & uncomfortable af for someone who loves control 👋 😂 

Another change is the way I view time. I had to let go of my old “routines” & simply organize & schedule my daily activities & energy management to cycles that serve me best.

So I decided to stop looking at time like the norm & view it in cycles authentic to me. Maybe you can relate to this too?! ⏰ 

February is the month of love. I hope you manifest & receive whatever love (for yourself, others, & your life) is meant for you🙏💕

I was asked before if I had a “best friend.”

So I thought, well,  I guess I don’t really use labels like that at 41 🤔 

As I’ve aged it doesn’t “fit” in my life anymore.

I view people in terms of frequency & the qualities they bring out in me – you see, they’re all different. 

I don’t judge people based upon race, sex, sexual preference, religion, politics, size, shape, whatever da fugg you wanna put here.

I ask myself:

Do you make me want to be a better person?

Do you bring me joy?

Are you kind & energy giving?

High vibe?

Do you embody a human & life I align with?

Yes? 

  • Cool. We can hang out.

I have friends that hold keys to all different doors of my personality. I have close friends I’ve never even met in real life thanks to social media. I am incredibly grateful to have all of you in my life!

Some keys open my mind. Some my heart. Some my entrepreneur. Some my introvert or extrovert. Some my feminine side. Some my masculine. Some laughter. Some adventure. 

Some Saint.

Some Sinner. 

Some my rawest, deepest, ugliest, & most beautiful parts too.

Some I haven’t seen in decades or years, past lovers, acquaintances, friends, family, yet they’ve been a part of the most pivotal moments in my life.

They all take a piece of my heart that I plant in my garden of life. Some only grow & bloom for a season, or moment, or a lifetime.

It’s OK if a past friend, family member, spouse, or partner don’t hold all the keys to your billion dollar home or nourish every part of your field of life.

Some of the most beautiful weeds are the most beautiful flowers, some of the most magnificent creatures are the most unruly. 

Throw away the labels, definitions, boxes, chains, & cages – let love grow wild. 🥀🌱🌹

Be fearless. Let your guard down. Always put your oxygen mask on first. Stand by your boundaries.

Love fiercely (especially yourself) because this all ends.

Morning ponderings.

Oxox love y’all 

Coach K

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How to Stop Fitting In to Finally Belong

I know what it’s like to ache for belonging…

I had a teacher tell me in middle school I was “too big to be a cheerleader.”

I was CRUSHED

➤ That meant I was different.

➤ I was less than.

➤ I didn’t. Fit. In.

 (I’m 60lbs lighter than I used to be for people new here. I spent the majority of my life sick, over weight, & broke af. You can find my weight loss/healing story in the link in my IG bio) link here

weight loss before and after carnivore lilbitoffit katie kelly

In the absence of love & belonging there is suffering.  -Brené Brown

I still feel alone (not lonely – big difference). 

I truly am a dominant introvert. Being around a lot of people is really hard & energetically draining.

I won’t, however, sacrifice my loves like live music, travel, & exploring because of it tho. I’ve taught myself to be a selective extrovert.

If I wanna go do something – I do it. 

Here’s been the game changer for me: I belong to ME

I spend a lot of time belonging to myself &, frankly, that makes a portion of other people feel uncomfortable🤷‍♀️ 

Even when I feel alone or “don’t fit in” I know I belong to ME. For the first time in my life at 41, I feel fully embodied in the unique, sparkly, sweet & spicy essence of MY “being.”

You see the opposite of belonging 👉is fitting in. Belonging doesn’t ask for us to change ourselves it asks us to BE ourselves. 

The more you love yourself & give yourself what you need, the less you’ll demand & need from others. 

♡ I challenge you to ask yourself the question, “Who am I?” 

How would you answer that?

To give you examples, today, as the 41 year old model, I’d describe myself as follows…

∞ Storyteller & Experience collector

∞ Life & people lover

∞ Creator & entrepreneur

∞ Messenger & mentor

∞ Psychic Intuitive & Healer

∞ Forever student & athlete of life

∞ Your safe space & biggest adventure

I don’t like to be “defined” by labels, nor do my values reside there. I value freedom/time/health/& energy more than anything.

 I used to live for labels like being defined by things like being a CrossFit athlete, a former Marine wife, an X-ray tech, yada yada, etc

I am an athlete of LIFE!

And guess what?
So are for you!

Enjoy flexibility & the ability to shed & create whatever shade/character you want every day. 

As a travel RT & clinician, I’ve learned to make HOME in MYSELF. That’s how I’ve found happiness, joy, & peace embracing this lifestyle. 

 I belong everywhere I go as long as I don’t betray myself. 

If I’m worried about:

  • if other people like or accept me
  • or the need create for likes or follows instead of what my heart wants
  • & I feel the need to change for those reasons…

THAT is the moment I’ve betrayed myself. 

“Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.” -Brené Brown

Oxox

Coach K

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My name is Katie Kelly. I’m a multi-modal travel clinician 🩺💀, nutritionist, high performance coach & biz consultant specializing in human connection & process optimization with over 20 years experience. On social I’m better known as Coach K & I’m just like you!

More importantly, I want you to believe in yourself, your health, your business, your voice, & your ability to live your best life! I believe in vibrational living in life, fitness, health, relationships, & business. Intuition is one of our greatest gifts! I’m here to help you discover & follow yours to a more abundant, joyful life!

I’m known as the sweary, Indiana farmer’s daughter who went from a sick (Crohn’s Disease & bulimia), overweight (lost 60lbs via the carnivore diet, CrossFit & Orange Theory), broke bish (was 50k+ in debt) to a thriving, self loving human here to inspire, educate, & mentor!

Welcome to my digital diary & wellness blogs full of life lessons learned the hard way🫶

I post content about life/biz/self improvement anywhere from fat loss, therapy, disordered eating, Crohn’s, self love, entrepreneurship, healthcare, food, fitness, finance, & everything in between to a social media audience of 47K+!

Thank you for allowing me to add value to your lives! Grateful to have you part of my digital family ❤️

You can simply book a call via email: katieokelly2@gmail.com

Time for a Life Edit. 5 Simple Steps to Stop Drinking & Eating Too Much.

people drinking at a bar

When I was in my 20’s & early 30’s, I used to drink a lot on the weekends.

Every Friday and Saturday night, my friends and I would head to a local bar. We’d start with a few beers or cocktails, have dinner, and then head out for the second half of the night, often drinking until 3 a.m. Finally, after 12 hours of overindulging, I’d pass out in my bed until noon the next day. I’d wake up to the bad decisions still lingering from the night before.


I’m embarrassed to say this behavior went on for years. I was, by some definitions, an alcoholic. And eventually my binge drinking ended me in the hospital, on a vent with a blood alcohol level of .346. I’m lucky I survived.

I had terrible side effects: I hated my unfulfilling life, had anxiety attacks, binge eating, gut symptoms, my Crohn’s disease was out of control, relationships in the shitter, & over 50k in debt.


I share this story as a cautionary tale, but I’m not here to say that you should never drink alcohol. I still drink occasionally, but I use it now with respect to enhance and savor an experience. I no longer drink to get drunk. I rarely have more than two drinks and rarely more than once every couple weeks.


If you’ve recognized that you drink too much &/or binge eat, then it’s time to implement a life edit & the system that worked for me when I was cutting back.

Love this blog! Wonderful tips on how to do a life edit!


This system uses five simple steps that anyone can follow, and over time, builds habits that dramatically reduce your dependency on alcohol and junk food.


Step 1: Spend Time with the Right People (Your environment is everything!)
This lesson comes straight from entrepreneur, author, and speaker Jim Rohn. Here’s the gist: You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. If you spend your time with people who are getting drunk all the time & eating shit food, then guess what you’re going to do?


Think about it—do you really think you’re going to have superhuman willpower and be able to stop at one drink or eat healthy when all of your friends are grabbing a second, third, and fourth and smashing pizza and nachos all night?


On the other hand, if you spend your time with people that drink less, they eat well & exercise often—then you’ll soon have control over your poor habits.
Pick your friends wisely.


Step 2: Slow Down
It’s easy to say you’re going to stick to just one drink or eat a healthy, protein based meal when meeting a friend after work in the right atmosphere. But when the bar is buzzing and you’re starting to loosen, slowing down just isn’t going to happen. The next thing you know, you’ve downed that first beer or cocktail in record time and you’re ready for a second & a huge plate of loaded fries because you’ve numbed you’re decision thinking.


Here’s how you get over the “suck it down vs savor” urge: Order a drink that doesn’t go down so easily. Mine is vodka water. Even better, order a shot and a water then mix your own. That way you are in charge of the alcohol content you consume.


Once upon a time, I used to love drinking margaritas, malibu & coke, & anything sweet! The trouble was, they were sweet and I have a strong sweet-tooth & poor relationship with carbs and sugar. They’re triggers to binge eating (& bulimia), over indulging, gut issues, & me feeling like crap. It’s no surprise that those drinks went down fast and easy.

These days, I order bourbon, a glass of vodka & water on the rocks or maybe tequila & water on the rocks. If I want flavor, I add electrolytes (Ultima Replenisher or LMNT) to my water. The flavor is powerful—and remarkably un-sweet—so I sip it instead of down it. As a result, I don’t drink more than I should.


Success requires removing obstacles, leading yourself out of temptation, and getting accountability to stick to your goals. With these in place, you’ll soon kick the booze & junk food to the curb and start enjoying more nourishing, higher performance days—moving you closer to your big goals and dreams.


Step 3: One Drink of Alcohol + One Glass of Water. Stick to Protein at Meals.
This one seems obvious, but so many people forget to drink water while they’re enjoying alcohol. It’s critical to keep yourself hydrated—not only to prevent hangovers the next morning, but also for slowing down your intake. Every time you finish a cocktail, beer, or glass of wine, make sure to take a pause from the booze and down a glass of water.

Keep your meals to a lean protein source like chicken breast, lean beef, pork, or seafood. You’ll be more satiated & less likely to overindulge. Grilled chicken is my go to.


Step 4: Ask Yourself These 2 Questions Before Eating
2 things changed my relationship with food. They allowed me to beat binge eating & lose 60 pounds while healing my gut👇

1️⃣Before I ate, I asked myself, “How does this food make me feel?”
⁃ Does it help or hinder?
⁃ Do I feel energized & satisfied? Bloated & tired?
⁃ Am I still enjoying my meal? No? Time to stop eating. Yes? Ok, I’ll eat a little more.
⁃ Does it make my gut feel happy & healthy? Or inflamed & painful?
⁃ Does it support me physiologically, aesthetically, & mentally?

2️⃣I asked myself, “As fuel, what am I using this food for?”
⁃ To fuel a workout? A meeting? Playing with your kids? A walk?
⁃ Am I truly physiologically hungry or am I bored & this just a craving?
⁃ Am I numbing a difficult emotion with this food?

The food, environment, habits, & information you consume each day are the soil from which your future thoughts, body, & reality are grown! Many of the best things in life grow along the way by simply having better awareness, understanding, & then once you know better, you CHOOSE BETTER!

  • Start hanging out with high value people & success & love grows along the way.
  • Start exercising & eating well & motivation + results grow along the way.
  • Start writing, therapy, spending time alone & aligned inspiration grows along the way.

Start now & watch the feelings & results follow!


Step 5: Schedule Something for the Next Morning
Let’s say you’re planning on heading to the bars on Friday night. Set up a workout, an appointment or meeting for Saturday morning. Knowing that you have that appointment—and that you have to be ready for it—will keep you from going overboard at the bars. (I often recommend setting up a physical activity. Your body will hate you if you try to do it while nursing a hangover, so you’ll quickly learn not to overindulge.)

These five steps can help you cut back on alcohol & binge eating and regain control so that you can focus on the more important things in life.


For example, cutting back on my drinking allowed me to tackle my gut issues, have better sleep, higher energy, more mental clarity, more money, and more freedom to focus on my life’s work – serving ya’ll!


Success requires removing obstacles, leading yourself out of temptation, and getting accountability to stick to your goals. With these in place, you’ll soon kick less optimal habits to the curb and moving you closer to your big goals and dreams.

When you’re ready to move from distractions like alcohol to the tools and routines that build your dream body and life, I urge you to check out resources that helped me + a Blog Guide I created just for you documenting how I lost 60lbs, healed my gut, & beat binge eating:

Atomic Habits by James Clear
Perfect Day Formula by Craig Ballantyne
My Story & Weight Loss Journey Transitioning to a Meat-Based, Carnivore Diet & Losing 60lbs!

Thousands have used the insights from these sources—all gathered over decades of experience. Take your life to the next level!

If you want to improve your relationship with food, reach your fitness goals, increase your income, stress less, love yourself more & become the person you’ve always wanted to be…Katie Kelly is the coach who will help you do it! With more than 20-years of experience as a multimodality travel clinician 🩺💀, nutritionist, & high performance coach, she specializes in helping struggling women & men get out of the mud and build the life & body of their dreams. To see if you qualify for Katie’s Coaching Program, fill out an inquiry form here.

Like blogs like this one? Sign up for her weekly Email Newsletter Community here 🤗

Shockingly Embarrassing Acknowledgments about Life and Love That Changed Everything For Me

I had a patient tell me I had really BIG blingy earrings in the ER one day💎✨😂… 

I find in general people are afraid to step outside the norm.

Y’all, the more we embrace the concept of being colorful & XTRA, the more we will normalize people feeling comfortable in their own skin.

When my patient commented on my appearance in the ER, I was so freaking proud of myself in that moment because instead of being triggered, I thought f*ck yeah, I’m doing my life right.

I feel amazing, regal, beautiful, luxurious, abundant & I’m not afraid to show up. I no longer live life trying to shrink myself. (Note most of my jewelry is affordable & from Amazon. These particular earrings were Kate Spade AB crystals. LOVE. OBSESSED.)

There are threads that connect our past, present & future selves together. 🧵🪡🧶They’re unique to us. No thread is identical.

Btw… my patient smiled, I looked at her with loving eyes, & I said, “Hell yeah, I love my big earrings 👉just like life. Little person, big personality. That’s how my mom describes me.”

I experience JOY crafting & creating my character of the day. That’s me creating my heaven + my reality. You can create yours too! That’s the magic of thoughts become things. 🪄🦄 

💫I manifest the feeling of my reality via my writing, my words, my wardrobe, my accessories, the way I take care of myself, the way I present myself. 👉It all comes from me. We co-create life. Utilize your resources & inner beauty.

I truly do enjoy the “ #travelnurse “ life. (I’m a travel Xray tech & clinician for newbies here) The decision to partake in this unique lifestyle didn’t come lightly, however. I did it scared shitless & had self doubt, too. 

What if I suck?

What if I’m homesick?

What if people don’t like me?

What if I hate my assignment?

What will people think of me?

What if, what if, what if…

I’m elated embarking on this journey. It’s exciting, enlightening, challenging, adventurous, fulfilling, pleasurable & painful af too.

You become a more resilient, able, adaptable, loving, insightful, resourceful, badass & bombdiggitty human in my opinion. 

Dudes, we rock 🤘🫶💀💕🚑🏥 Travel healthcare workers UNITE!

I realized in a rock-bottom point in my life years ago that I was stuck in a stagnant, hyper vigilant state. I was addicted to the complacent, “busy life” instead of one of inner peace & fulfillment.

GSD (get shit done) is a dopamine hit with pros & cons on both ends of the spectrum.

On one hand, it made/makes me super successful, productive, & proud, but on the other hand, also burned out, tired, cranky, oftentimes sick. It can feel on occasion I’m stuck in a phase called “chasing the next best thing,” missing out on the sweetness of life. I forget to be present.

I’m clearly aware of it.
Back then I simply didn’t know how to change it or how to evolve into a better version of me. Some things that helped me understand myself & other people to get what I wanted 👇

I’ve lost 60lbs in my life’s time and kept it off. I documented my healing, weight loss, & carnivore journey HERE just for you in case you’re struggling like I did.

My complacency with life was a protective mechanism. I armed myself with “safe” decisions & stagnancy because of past trauma:

being a people pleaser

always feeling like I had to achieve to receive love

feeling I had to look a certain way or weigh a certain weight to be seen as beautiful & worthy of love

wanting to change myself to be accepted & validated…I could go on & on here. 

Ego got me into debt because I would buy shit just to look the part instead of because it made me feel amazing or enabled me to express my creative authenticity.

It’s taken over 40 years for me to acknowledge & accept the following things that are seen as weird & non-traditional to society. 

I’m exuberatingly proud to say that I am OK living an extremely satisfied, loving life being self partnered & non traditional.

Self partnered to me is living life on my own terms to feel, look, & be my best…AND THAT MEANS designing a life optimized to help me live my most peaceful, happy, easy, joyous, abundant, loved filled, & purpose driven life possible.

I don’t give a shit that my light shines differently. And you have permission to shine bright yourself, as bright as you want, however you want! ✨🪩✨

Huge observational revelations I scripted one morning trying to make sense of myself & life. They’re a tad bit triggering but honest af. Maybe you’ll relate to them too!

🧠I sleep in cycles & when I’m tired, I don’t pay attention to the time or whether it’s deemed morning or night. Chock that up to probably working weird 3rd and first shift cycles. I am always responsible/respectful of my work schedule. I feel my best when I honor my natural sleep/wake cycles. I sleep really well 😆 in the back of my Ford Ecosport (named Ruby btw 🚗) where I’ve made a little bed. I had to take naps on my lunch breaks to conserve energy on many travel assignments and road trips. I travel often & this has been a Godsend in keeping my energy/health as a priority.

🧠 I am a biohacker 🤷‍♀️ To answer y’all’s questions about my anti-aging & biohacking routine, I wrote a blog HERE for you.

🧠Music is my life force just like food. So is my wardrobe, colors, & the vibe of my environment. They immensely influence my mood & energy. I’ve learned how to change & utilize these to my benefit. I have playlists & colors that I’ll wear & listen to to reflect the mood I’m in or vibe/state I need to be in. Playlists I enjoy are my Denim & Rhinestones list, coffee house jazz, classical pop, nature sounds, country, red dirt music, caffeine & kilos playlist, etc. morgan wallen, post Malone, & Warren zeiders always 🙂  A HUGE VARIETY! 🎶 Spotify playlist HERE

🧠I feel my best when I’m caffeinated. Haha! I do enjoy coffee & occasional alcohol in moderation. I don’t drink alcohol much tho. If I’m going to partake in alcohol or a cocktail, it’s to enhance an experience like a special occasion or my favorite venue. I don’t drink to get drunk anymore. Not worth it, dims my light & numbs my abilities. I’d rather go to bed early & get up early. If I’m going to partake in alcohol, it’s usually early in the day, socially.

🧠I eat when I’m hungry & eat what I’m hungry for. I do whatever form of exercise/workouts feel good to me in that moment. Here lately it’s Orange Theory, zone 2 cardio, walking, occasional CrossFit & strength training. I look & feel my best when I honor my body without force. I do better digestively & energy wise eating one large low carb, MEATY meal early in the day & sipping on my daily chocolate nutritional shake from @acheiveequilife or @nuethix_formulations Medipure DS during daylight hours. (LINK to discounts & products IN IG BIO & HIGHLIGHTS btw)

OR one larger meal in the morning post workout & a small snack around 1pm-ish.

Meat bars and my airfryer are my jam. You can find recipes and videos in this blog HERE.

I have a whole recipe book full of low carb deliciousness! 👇👇

https://checkout.square.site/buy/5GIJEY2IYYNH3FSEBYWF5BGH

cook with coach K carnivore recipe book


I prefer eating alone or intimately with few people vs eating out. My energy is best with liquid meals (I am more satiated with real food however, that’s why I keep one large meal in the morning) I do fab fasting longer hours overnight (like 20 hrs) That’s when my digestion is the best.

🧠I prefer being a lone wolf. I am social, but do it in doses on my own terms.

I have very few people I am comfortable sharing my space with (traveling, sleeping over, adventuring, etc): my parents, + my 2 besties @lisamitchellindy & @just___jess___

They are my persons & make my life FULL❤️ no matter how little or how much we talk, or are/aren’t physically around one another, I know they are always there & we pick up where we left off. People that feel like Freedom & Home. Thank you for being my biggest adventures + safe spaces.

🧠I define & base my relationships on how they make me feel. Traditional relationships, the married then kids then picket fence things, feel like masks & facades people put on to appease society. They simply don’t feel aligned. It’s not that I haven’t tried being the bride with the white picket fence in the past, &/or I’m not open to love, I’m just open to love & relationships on my own terms that serve me best. And why is it that the majority still feels they HAVE to have kids?

I understand this is “weird” for most people. Let me explain what is aligned to me…

💕I typically don’t stay over at peoples houses. I feel more comfortable in my own home around my own energy.

💕I enjoy driving myself, Uber, & travel solo.

💕I enjoy & sleep better alone.

💕I like going to bed early + getting up early. My mornings are everything to me & set the tone for my entire day.

💕I am energetic in the morning & more productive. I don’t lay around in bed when I first wake & I’m not one to lay & cuddle for hours. (I like cuddling & I love physical affection, but I don’t want it first thing in the morning I have things to do 😂 Same with Sex…I LOVE passionate sex, but would rather have it spontaneously throughout the day or in the middle of the night. I don’t like it first thing in the morning because ya girl dedicated to her routine)

💕I love people & being in an aligned relationship. I’ve realized I am frankly super happy & satisfied doing my own thing on my own time and I would hope that other person would feel the same. Then when the time is right, we come together later when our energies & attention are aligned to be a freakin POWER COUPLE.

🧠I love being by myself🤷‍♀️ Took me decades to get here. One thing I’m SUPER proud of myself for cultivating. It’s effortless. I am my own best friend, in my own energy. I openly love myself a ridiculous amount👉 I’m not afraid to admit that. It’s taken me over 40 years to love the essence of my being & my body & being able to just BE me. 

🧠I don’t feel the need to be a wife. I look forward to a life partner that agrees with my lifestyle, my ambition, my goals, my personal boundaries, & similar beliefs. I prefer someone that compliments me in their own unique way. I prefer diversity, someone not exactly like me. I like the wisdoms that comes with challenge & variety. I like someone that wants to build something together, I like someone that is OK with me striving to always be my best. 

🧠I desire someone that doesn’t want to change me. I am able to evolve & compromise but the moment you tell me what to do when I don’t want to do it & it doesn’t feel aligned, you’re trying to change me. The relationship will not work. I say this with love because I want you to be your best too. (I’m speaking to whomever my life partner is here.)

➡️➡️I call this kind of writing/journaling scripting. Simply get your thoughts out. I suggest trying it to everyone out there! Visualize/journal your thoughts & what you desire! That’s why I write all of these down in the morning on my notes page in my phone. It has helped me make sense of my life, myself, make better business decisions, relationship decisions, health, & body decisions, money decisions, etc.

🧠I am an impulse shopper. I’m an emotional being & I buy shit on a whim. 😂 I’m aware of this. I don’t shame myself for it. It just is what it is. If I buy something when I’m being emotional & I don’t love it, I require myself to take it back. It’s a self love boundary. Because money is freedom and I want to utilize it in the best way possible. I’ve made investing & saving a game that is SEXY & FUN TO ME! That’s how I’ve been able to create wealth, including getting myself out of 50k+ in debt! If finances & wanting to be a high performance achiever are things you struggle & want to improve, book a consult call with me. I’ll coach you how to do this specifically for your situation. I’m not just a “ nutrition coach “ 😉. Email me, katieokelly2@gmail.com

Sign up for our email newsletter community! I drop all the tips, guides, inspiration, specials & more every week!

🧠I love to save time & make my life effortless. I love Amazon➡️easy returns, effortless shipping. I love Instacart. They save me time going to the store & having to be around other people when my energy is low.

🧠I don’t shop in stores often because I buy shit I don’t need 😆another reason I like Amazon. I tend to only get what I’m inspired to buy. I love goodwill and thrift stores. Sometimes I just want to dress in a different style or a different color for a day or a week. I don’t need to buy designer I just buy what I feel good in. It can be a dollar or it can be $500

🧠I invest in what I feel is worthy of my well earned and deserved money. I tell myself I’m gifting the universe when I invest in other peoples crafts and skills or wardrobe. I don’t care my hair extensions and lash extensions are expensive 💁🏼‍♀️they make me feel amazing! The same with my lip injections. I love the way I look & I don’t care that other people criticize me for investing in this form of self-care.

🧠I love an effortless, energy giving life. I like auto brew on my coffee maker, I organize my space in a way that makes sense to me. I purge and clean old energy & stuff constantly. I update my wardrobe all the time with the seasons, with my seasons. If something frustrates me, I get rid of it, I change it, I cut it out of my life, I optimize it, or I delegate it in someway. I am here to love every bit of my life and I have the power to change whatever I want.

🧠I know I don’t have to do everything myself. I can utilize my resources. I am worthy and deserving just being me, I deserve being paid for just being me, in whatever form that means, I don’t have to perform or achieve or look a certain way to be incredible.

I record these reclamations/thoughts/acknowledgments simply for observation & self nourishment reasons with so much self-love, not ego.

And now I can go out & serve everyone to my best ability because I know my blueprint.

Oxox Coach K

Love you. Mean it. 

Who’s Coach K? Wrote this for you, my fellow warriors working to be the best versions of yourselves!

bio carnivore lilbitoffit katie kelly indiana fishers

Catch me daily via the Gram! @lil_bit_of_fit

You can simply book a call via email: katieokelly2@gmail.com

A Simple Guide to Fat Loss Via Fat & Carb Cycling

Before we dive into fat & carb cycling for fat loss on any diet (especially a carnivore/keto/low carb approach) lets reiterate WHY your story & food/dieting/health history matter when it comes to experiences & results.

There’s no shame in the main reason most people choose the Carnivore Diet & a low carb approach because they want fat loss. That’s fine, we all wanna look good nekkid. The difference lies in our starting point: calorically, metabolically, hormonally, physiologically, mentally, emotionally – HOLISTICALLY. This stands for any diet.

We should approach any diet from a health & healing perspective, first, aesthetic perspective, second.


Your Story & Starting Point Matter Significantly When It Comes To Results.

You’ll hear me say it time and time again, we are all coming from 50 shades of our own dieting f*cked upness. LOL!

Some of us come from eating the SAD (Standard American Diet), some have been dieting basically our entire lives & still think 1200 calories is the magic number for weight loss.

Some fear fat, some fear carbs, some are binge eating &/or suffering from disordered eating & still in denial.

Some come from Keto (High Fat Diet), some have been struggling with gut issues/autoimmune stuff for decades & really have no idea what they can eat.

All of these different stories & starting points impact the transition & adaptation to a diet. Some will lose fat immediately, some will gain.

I gained 15lbs when I started the carnivore diet! I needed to heal, I needed more calories, & the weight gained was most likely weight restoration to repair & recharge.

Was it uncomfortable? Absolutely.

Was it necessary for fat loss & progress? Absolutely. Have patience. Put in the time & work.

Things I need as a coach to help you figure out appropriate macros/diet/fitness approaches: Click for Coaching FAQ’s

  • Age, Current Weight, Height⁣⁣
  • Training modalities⁣⁣ (how you prefer to workout. CrossFit vs running vs yoga vs Orange Theory vs walking vs Barre vs Bodybuilding vs power lifting etc)⁣⁣
  • Daily Activity ⁣⁣(steps, job, kids, schedules etc)⁣⁣
  • Training Frequency, Volume, Intensity ⁣⁣
  • Previous Dieting History⁣⁣ (disordered eating, low carb, high carb, low fat, have you been chronically dieting, eating surplus, etc)⁣⁣
  • Medical History⁣⁣ (allergies, IBD, IBS, gut issues, hormonal issues, cancer, thyroid, etc)⁣⁣
  • Your goals, preferences, special needs)⁣⁣
  • Mindset & mental health⁣⁣
  • Lifestyle⁣⁣ & Stress (kids, stressful job, shitty sleep, relationship problems, etc)

That’s a LOT of stuff, right? It’s not as simple as simply picking a set of macros numbers, or calories, or a magic diet camp. You are not a template or calculator, you’re a human.

Usually I see two different stories, & thus experiences, when working with clients. We’ll call them Peter & Patty:

1. Peter

Peter is male, used to over consuming the typical SAD, dad bod (aka looks like he might lick something deemed “healthy” & work out occasionally but really loves tacos & would much rather smash a 6 pack vs have a 6 pack). Simply eating meat & cutting out all the other crap significantly reduces his caloric intake & the fat just falls off.

2. Patty

Patty is female, lets say 30-40yrs old, habitual yo-yo dieter, excessive exerciser, wants to lose fat & build muscle but doesn’t wanna be “bulky” (sigh smdh), scared to eat more than 1200-1500 calories & gaining weight is one of her biggest fears.

She’s tried every diet in the book. Had some success with “Keto” (doesn’t really know what keto means but she’s eating less carbs right?!) but always falls off the wagon, stressful home life/ job, struggled with bloating & gut issues for years. Her neighbor, Peter, looks great since carnivore, so she decides it’s gonna be the magic quick fix to all her issues.

Sooo Patty stops tracking food (because she was told it didn’t matter on the carnivore diet) & starts smashin all the bacon, ribeyes, cheese, ribs, & chicken wings. Her gut issues get better, the first week she dropped 3lbs, but now shes about 6 weeks in & hungry, tired, & the scale is going up! So she decided to start fasting more, & ups her steps to 20k/d. (Further stressing her body out more btw).

She gives it another month with more weight gain. She wants to quit after a couple months despite her gut issues resolving. It doesn’t work she says, “I didn’t lose weight.”

Reasons You May Be Gaining Weight or Bingeing on Carnivore/Low Carb Approach

  • You’re eating in a surplus. As with ANY diet you choose if you are eating in a surplus chances are you will put on body fat. It’s part of it. This is when you should be focusing on muscle gain & strength.
  • You’ve been eating in a chronic deficit & your body is finally getting the nutrients it needs to function & grow muscle. You WANT muscle growth. More muscle=more food=more badass. You can’t have the athletic body without building the muscle underneath FIRST. This weight gain is actually weight restoration.
  • You’re snacking too much on things like pork rinds, fat bombs, or fake keto sugar free junk like Atkins bars. They’re easy to overeat & nutrient deficient. Even no cal artificial sweeteners can trigger hunger, water retention, & over eating for many. Go back to the basics for a while & experiment. Simplify. Meat, eggs, water, coffee, electrolytes, minimal sweeteners. Get rid of the extra butter, creams, & oils on food & in coffee.
  • You’re choosing highly palatable meats & foods like ribeyes, bacon, cheese, butter, processed meats, brisket, etc. They are delicious, YES, but can trigger over eating when you’re not really hungry. It’s like when you’re not hungry but then they bring out dessert. Most of us will want that extra piece of cake. Choose foods that are satisfying & get the job done. My choice (FOR ME) is ground beef & ground chicken cooked in the air fryer. Delicious & satiating, but not so much I’m triggered to eat more for pleasure & not true hunger.
  • You’re overly fasting, overly training, not sleeping, still eating foods you don’t digest well, over caffeinating, &/or consuming excess alcohol. All these things are stressors which increases our blood glucose & cortisol level. Chronically high cortisol & hormone imbalances affect your weight, recovery, energy, & fat loss. Reduce your workout intensity & volume, SLEEP, reduce caffeine/alcohol, cut out foods & habits that hinder your digestion, shorten your fasting window or STOP fasting. Get a @nutrisenseio continuous glucose monitor to track blood sugar levels. It’s a wealth of information & will help you more accurately make adjustments! Code: lilbitoffitCGM10
This is what biofeedback means
  • You’re eating too much protein, throwing hormones & your biofeedback off. Try increasing your fats & start with protein around 1g per lb of body weight or goal weight if you have more to lose. Everyone’s ratio preferences/needs will be different. Remember our optimal energy sources come from fats & carbs, so if you’re experiencing low energy, play around with different kinds of meats & macro ratios. There’s no one-size-fits-all. If in doubt, invest in a coach or practitioner to help! Coaching FAQ’s are HERE
Left I gained 15lbs and got up to 125lbs, Right is more my aesthetic now, sitting around 105lbs at 5’1. 20lb weight loss, which didn’t start till around month 8 after starting a meat based diet. Have patience & learn as much as you can!

My story was similar to Patty’s.

I gained 15lbs when I started carnivore, gut issues completely went away, energy was all over the place the first 3-6 months, I didn’t track initially until about month 5 & was eating hyper-palatable meats & foods like chuck roasts, ribeyes, ribs, pork, bacon, & pork rinds. But I kept going and experimenting.

I started tracking. I noticed I was eating WAY MORE than I thought. I also noticed I was swelling & not digesting pork well so I eliminated it. I noticed I digested ground beef & chicken best & it was easier to track. I also noticed my fat threshold was lower, so I stopped adding butter & bacon grease to my already high fat meats, I stopped consuming cheese & only eat pork rinds on occasion.

Slowly my performance in the gym started getting better, about month 8 my weight started dropping, I was able to fast longer & was able to really feel & understand what true carnivore satiety felt like, I knew what meats worked best for me, I figured out what calories & macro ratios worked for me, & I discovered the airfryer was my best friend & meat bars were born! I have now lost 20lbs & feel better than I ever have 2 years carnivore!

SO HAVE PATIENCE! Adapt, gain confidence, & self awareness first before trying to mess around with fat loss cuts. Now, I experiment with fat cycling with fabulous results! It comes naturally & I listen to what my body is craving & how I’m feeling.

Fat & Carb Cycling

Before we get started, though, let’s get one thing out of the way, no diet dogma here, we’re neither pro-fat/carb cycling nor anti-fat/carb cycling.

We’re pro-sustainable & realistic results. 

This is also my experience, I am not a physician & learning right along side of you! We’ll learn about:

  • What fat/carb cycling is
  • How cycling works
  • Who should try cycling
  • What is a common cycling strategy
  • Protein & Fat Cheat Sheets to help

What is Fat & Carb Cycling?

Fat & carb cycling is when you fluctuate days between eating lower fat meats & animal products & higher fat meats & animal products. For carbs, you simply eat more carbs one day & fewer other days. People who fat/carb cycle usually end up calorie cycling, too. This simply means they eat fewer calories on their “low fat or carb days” and more calories on their “high fat or carb days.”

For example, a typical fat cycling schedule might look like this:

  • Non-workout days: low fat, lower calorie
  • Workout days: high fat, higher calorie
Examples of how you can calorie cycle via changing your fat macros per day.

So you ask, “Why don’t we just eat low fat or lower our protein?” Well, to be frank, some “not so great” stuff can happen when you don’t get enough protein or fat.

For example, if your fat intake stays too low (& too low calorie), you may lose your menstrual cycle & your sex drive. And if your protein intake stays too low, you can lose muscle, be less satiated at meals, hungrier, & experience mood swings.

What Does Calorie Cycling Do? A Couple of the Big Rocks

  1. Fat & carb cycling may help keep your metabolism functioning more optimally during fat loss. When you eat less, your body responds in a variety of ways. For example:
  • Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) drops
  • You expend less energy when you exercise
  • Your daily activity outside of workouts tends to decrease because you have less energy. You’ll find you move around less.

So as you lose weight, you have to continue reducing how much you eat in order to keep seeing results. You can only reduce calories so much.

Example: Let’s say you start a 2,000 calorie a day diet & lose weight steadily for a while. Over time, you might find that stops working. So you cut back to 1,800 calories to kickstart weight loss again, then you plateau, then you have to reduce to 1,600 & so on…

This is called metabolic adaptation. So all you chronic dieters out there that can’t lose weight & gain anytime you eat above 1200-1500 calories, this is what has happened. You must reverse diet to fix this.

2. Calorie cycling may help regulate hormones affected by fat loss.

Intense dieting messes with your hormones. Specifically: Leptin, Thyroid hormones, & Reproductive hormones (testosterone & estrogen)

If you’re trying to lose fat, leptin’s a particular concern. Leptin is released by fat tissue, & plays a key role in hunger & metabolic adaptation.

The more body fat you have, the more leptin in your blood. Your brain uses leptin levels to make decisions about hunger, calorie intake, nutrient absorption, & energy use. When you reduce calorie intake, even just for a few days, leptin levels drop. This tells your brain you need to eat to prevent starvation.

The kicker: Leptin is one of the reasons you feel so hungry & binge when you consistently eat less. It is also considered the “master controller” of other hormones, meaning that when leptin drops, so do thyroid & reproductive hormones.

So by periodically eating more calories from fats (known as a “refeed”), our leptin levels will temporarily rise, telling your brain that you’re safe & well-fed, causing a temporary decrease in hunger & appetite. The extra calories & energy will also help with performance.

This higher calorie break, might also make it feel easier to adhere to a lower calorie intake. As with any diet, consistency & adherence are key!

Optimizing hormone & metabolic health is essential for any body goal. Learn to work WITH your body not against it!

Who Should Try Fat Cycling Specifically?

Fat cycling isn’t right for everyone, nor is it necessary of any kind of diet. But it can work for specific types of people.

Try it if:

  • You have your big rock habits nailed down & have ADAPTED FULLY to the carnivore /keto/low carb lifestyle

You eat nourishing meats & animal products, you’re eating at your maintenance calories, your gut health is good, sleep is great, exercise habits are routine, your relationship with food is great, you eat mindfully, no disordered eating or bingeing, etc.

  • You want to get leaner & have plateaued

As you diet & get leaner, your body will start to fight every last bit of fat loss. Cycling calorie & fat intake could help minimize the metabolic adaptation that often occurs with a chronic, ongoing calorie deficit. Plus, refeed days & cycling more food can make dieting suck less & easier to adhere to. Carb cycling can do the same thing for those of you who consume carbs & a more “balanced” plate approach.

Common Fat Cycling Strategies & What Has Worked For Me

There is no one size fits all here, again, you can choose any number of days to reduce your fat & calories depending on your needs.

There are many of us in the carnivore & low carb community experimenting with fat cycling. Which, as explained above, simply means cycling periods of days during the week that are leaner (eating lower fat proteins) with days of higher fats (more around your grams for maintenance calories). This naturally will lower your calories when you do this.

I feel its beneficial as a whole to cycle any kind of diet/fitness regimen. Our bodies are smart, they adapt to the same foods, workouts, & stressors.

I’ve found fat cycling to be helpful if you’ve plateaued on your fat loss journey or not seen any progress (again, your definition of progress will be different depending on your goal & needs) for several weeks.

This is very similar to carb cycling for those of you who follow a traditional diet which includes carbohydrates.

Red light therapy significantly helped my energy, sleep, digestion, & skin! It’s one of my favorite biohacking routines. Read all about it here!

Discount Code to EMR TEK lights and products: lilbitoffit20

I use an EMR TEK FIREWAVE red light. Discount code at checkout: lilbitoffit20

**As always, I am not a physician, always consult with your doctors before changing any kind of protocol, this is simply my experience.

  • My physique is leaner than it has ever been, weight has only fluctuated a couple lbs here & there but I find I wake around 100-105 lbs the majority of the time. I’m 41 yrs old, 5’1, 15k steps/d, active job in radiology, workout 5d/week doing a mix of Orange Theory, lifting, & occasional CrossFit. Protein stays ~130- 175gish (for ME), low fat day ~85-90g, high fat day ~135-150g. Calories range from ~1,550-2100+/d. Surplus/Refeed ~2,200. I always listen to my body and eat what I’m craving. I eat when I’m hungry and fast when I’m not.
  • For supplement support I Take GDA-Max, Utilyze, & Cort-Eaze from @nuethix_formulations to help with stressors for hormone balance. Discount Code: lilbitoffit
  • My Biohacking guides are here!
  • I’m happy with my physique where it is, so I know I need to make sure to cycle in more higher fat days (which means higher calories) if I find I’m too lean or losing too much weight/strength. Naturally I typically cycle 3-4 lower fat days, 2-3 maintenance days, & if I feel like I need more, I’ll throw in 1 surplus (refeed) day. It varies. I don’t have a set program & live vibrationally honoring my energy.
  • Favorite lower fat foods: 90% ground beef, Perdue ground chicken, shrimp, cod, & swai. My crispy airfryer meat bars are life & easy to track. Track. Your. Food. It will help with adjustments. I use MyfitnessPal.

Happy cycling y’all!! I hope this helped! You can always slide into my DM’s on Instagram!

oxox Coach K

bio carnivore lilbitoffit katie kelly indiana fishers

Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of healthcare, fitness, & personal development.

You can find her personal weight loss & healing story here.

She’s been involved in travel nursing & radiography for 20 years! She’s a writer, connection maker, nutritionist, & entrepreneur who loves helping others & squeezing every drop out of life!

Katie grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture & healthcare were her first loves.

She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation with weight loss & Crohn’s disease.

She competed as a competitive CrossFit athlete in her early 30’s. After decades of struggling with her own health issues from Crohn’s, obesity, disordered eating, infertility, & hormonal imbalances, she is passionate about helping others find self-love, achieve their health & business goals, & create sustainable success habits for an EXTRAordinary life!

You can catch her via Instagram @lil_bit_of_fit : http://www.instagram.com/lil_bit_of_fit

My story & weight loss journey transitioning to a meat-based, “carnivore” diet & losing 60 lbs!

Katie kelly fishers indiana lilbitoffit carnivore fat loss journey

You asked the questions, here are your answers! Documenting my story & weight loss journey on the carnivore diet!

Chronic bloating, constipation, weight gain, feeling like your body is fighting against you – all the feels, right?!

That is what I lived for 3 decades. Hopefully my story can help shed light for you!

Without further adieu, let’s dive into your questions!

1.) Introduce Yourself

Anyone else get anxiety when asked this question? Like where do I start? 🙂 Here are some shocking, vulnerable facts a picture doesn’t tell you. I get deep.

bio carnivore lilbitoffit katie kelly indiana fishers

Hoosier farm girl & Purdue University grad, I like to say that I’m a multifaceted girlboss! I have many loves & hats. I’m a nutritionist, travel “nurse”/radiologic technologist, coach, motivational speaker/writer, & brand growth consultant working with individuals, businesses, organizations, & executives with 20 years experience.

As far as nutrition, I specialize in gut health, sports & performance, disordered eating, low carb/carnivore approaches to healing & how to optimize life by creating a success routine!

I welcome all preferences & skill levels with a no diet dogma or one size-size-fits-all approach to health, wellness, fitness, & nutrition.

After decades of struggling with my own health issues from Crohn’s, obesity, disordered eating, infertility, hormonal imbalances, & fueling appropriately as a CrossFit athlete, I am passionate about helping others find self love, achieve their goals, & create sustainable success habits for an EXTRAordinary life!

You can catch me via Instagram @lil_bit_of_fit

pictures aren't worth 1000 words
I appreciate everyone who allows me to add value to your lives!

2.) How Did You Eat Before Carnivore?

I grew up as an overweight kid. I was told to lose weight & tried to diet before I was 10 years old. My self-esteem & body image issues started at 8. Standard American Diet, being a “farm kid” we ate the home cooked stuff. I had no portion control whatsoever.

Kids were mean, & I couldn’t tell you how many times I was told, “If you’d just lose weight you’d be pretty like the other girls.” This translated into, “You won’t be successful, loved or worthy unless you’re thin & look the part.”

Following came the years of disordered eating & orthorexia — binging and purging with intermittent phases of anorexia. I would gorge & then hide Reese’s wrappers, tubs of ice cream, bags of chips, crackers, cookies – anything I had denied myself.

Then the guilt-restrict cycle would kick in as I layed there with puffy cheeks & bloodshot eyes from throwing up food. I had a food addiction and carbs were not only a big autoimmune & gut trigger, but they were like giving an alcoholic a drink.

I found CrossFit in 2013, was a competitive athlete & then beat my body down into a hole of metabolic adaptation, exacerbated gut issues, & hormonal imbalances due to over exercising & under eating.

It took 4 years for me to reverse diet up to my true maintenance calories so know this is a long journey. Have patience.

I was misdiagnosed with IBS, as many are. Went through tons of testing & doctors.

Honestly, I feel the only diet I haven’t done is a vegetarian diet. I’ve done’em all.

As a CrossFit athlete fueling for my sport, I leaned more towards a high carb diet. (Knowing I had a poor relationship with them.)

3.) Why Did You Try Carnivore to Begin With?

carnivore gut healing katie kelly indiana lilbitoffit
All the deets here!!

My last Crohn’s flare was about 4+ years ago, which was when I started the Carnivore diet approach. I knew I needed a reset. I was stressed out, eating out more, sleep was terrible, and I felt horrible. I had put on 10lbs of inflammation & felt I was insulin resistant. So I thought, this is my time. I’m gonna commit, cut the carbs & clean my shxt up.

As for my relationship with carbs, I am an abstainer. I am not a moderator when it comes to food. You need to determine which one you are too, an abstainer or a moderator? I do better with food rules and an all or none approach. I cannot have just 1 cookie, that leads to wanting the whole pan!

My own personal experimentation, data keeping via tracking food, journaling symptoms & triggers were my best “doctors.” Figuring out my trigger foods took YEARS. Years of getting to know myself, my needs, and how my body responded to food and stressors.

As far as my specific needs, I don’t digest veggies, fruits, fiber, gluten, dairy, lectins, high oxalate, or high fodmap foods well. ⁣That’s a lot, right?!

trigger food gut lilbitoffit katie kelly indiana carnivore

I noticed when I finally got my gallbladder out, I could eat meat just fine. My digestive symptoms went away.

I suggest for anyone else out there struggling with chronic bloating, constipation, diarrhea, reflux, heartburn, feeling like your food just sits there and you’re bloated and look 6 months pregnant every night, etc — these are warning sings. They are not normal and sign of an imbalance. An elimination diet like the carnivore diet is a great first step. Seek help from a qualified coach, dietitian, or practitioner. Coaching options & services are available here.

trigger food gut lilbitoffit katie kelly indiana carnivore
Tap photo for full post

Often we don’t realize the ‘healthy’ food we’re eating are the culprits because we cannot properly digest and absorb them. Often the plants, pre-packaged frozen meals, diet bars and shakes are the culprits. That’s what happened to me. The fiber, fruit, and veggies were causing me more harm because of my compromised digestive system. I’m grateful for these experiences because now I’m able to help clients pinpoint their trigger foods too and start the healing process.

Repeat after me, “We are what we DIGEST and ABSORB.”

My safe foods when having a gut flare were always soft meats like fish, ground meat, rice Chex cereal, eggs, plain rice cakes, & white rice. Basically a low residue diet & absolutely no fruits or vegetables. I could not break them down, they caused bloating & agony.⁣

⁣Nutrition is not a one size fits all. Reason we need to track, experiment, & realize templates or cookie cutter meal plans rarely work long term.

I created a whole Biohacking guide with my favorite products and supplements HERE. Fitness over 40, I look and feel better than I ever did at 20.

before and after weight loss

4.) How Do You Personally Approach the Carnivore Diet?

People are more familiar with the term “Carnivore Diet.” I prefer to reference it as a meat-based diet. That’s because there are 50+ shades of the Carnivore Diet. I feel you have free will and choice to eat the meats & foods that make you feel your best. You don’t have to be strict carnivore (beef & water). We all have different trigger foods, preferences, and individualized needs. I like to use the flexible & functional meat based approach to nutrition.

I call my myself a “Liberal Carnivore.” I believe in flexibility. The majority of my meals are ground meats such as ground beef & ground turkey/chicken, pork, eggs, steak, ribs, ground lamb & veal. I personally don’t like organ meat after experimentation.

Tap for two of my favorite recipes here!

If I feel I need a refeed day of higher carbs, I would choose white rice or plain rice cakes around workouts. They don’t typically bother my digestion in moderation. Rarely do I go over 50g of carbs, my average is around 20g daily. I don’t deny myself or feel guilty if I need to consume them for my health, gym performance, & recovery. All carefully portioned, of course. Now I find I don’t need or crave them any more.

Another common question I get is, “Do you drink?” Yes, socially. I set boundaries for myself & do best limiting myself to no more than 1-2 beverages. Usual choices are bourbon & vodka.

**Disclaimer: This is what works for ME. I am not a medical doctor giving advice, simply sharing my experiences.

As far as macros and ratios, again, we are all different. I prefer a higher protein approach for my needs. As far as my activity & physical stats for comparison, I’m currently 41 years old, 5’1, 100 lbs , cross train via Orange Theory, lifting, & occasional CrossFit 5 days a week, average 13-15k steps/day.

Just to clarify what a macro is if you’re a beginner.

My “sweet spot” for maintenance seems to be around 1850-2100 calories per day, ratios around 65% Fat, 30% Protein, 5% Carbs. I eat when I’m hungry, fast when I’m not. Fasting window is around 16-20hrs. I prefer to work out fasted at 5am most mornings during the week. Largest meal post workout with another meal around 1-3pm. I don’t force fasting and I don’t do extended fasts. Average 2-2.5 lbs of meat daily, 1 lb on avg per meal.

I do track food & macros via My Fitness Pal. I track weight, sleep, steps, & menstrual cycle via my Fit Bit Sense. I’ve also teamed up with NutriSense utilizing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). What gets tracked gets managed. Not necessary, but I’m a data girl 😉 It helps me make more educated decisions and adjustments.

My current fitness routine is outlined here👇

Here’s an older guide to help you as well👆

5.) What Benefits Have You Seen Since Starting the Carnivore Diet?

A TON! The biggest benefits have been no gut issues or flares, increased, steady energy (once adapted, it took me about 8 months), no carb cravings or binge eating urges, no more constipation, normal appetite and satiety, no more inflammation, and eventually, fat loss.

I didn’t go into the Carnivore Diet chasing fat loss or weight loss, I went into it chasing better health. I preach this to my clients, chase health and healing first, everything else will fall into line. The problem with yo-yo dieting is chasing unrealistic goals and expectations with an unsustainable diet &/or training approach.

I outlined all my food, macros, weight transitions and experiences here in this IG post. Tap photo!

6.) What Negatives Have You Found With the Carnivore Diet?

I’m gonna be real, I gained 15lbs total when I started the Carnivore Diet. After 1 year, I lost that 20lbs, however. I wanted to quit many times and felt like shxt early on trying to adapt. I listened to the veterans and my own intuition, kept going.

Your appetite does correct and level out. Performance in the gym does suffer, initially. Depends on what modality of training you prefer. Take it easy. I significantly reduced my workout volume and intensity with no HIIT for about 6 months. Did a lot of walking and lifting simple weights, keeping my heart rate in a lower range.

About month 8/9, I noticed I was able to hit it harder in the gym and everything else was falling into line. That’s about when my weight started dropping as well.

Meal timing is important, especially when timing appropriately for your workouts. If you eat larger meals, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to digest them. Meat and fat are naturally “heavy” and the body has to work hard to break them down for digestion, affecting your energy levels. Again, everyone is different.

7.) Do You Exercise on the Carnivore Diet? What Do You Do?

Yes, absolutely! The gym is my sanctuary. I found CrossFit in 2013, drank the Kool-aid. My love affair has been ever since the first sound of a barbell dropping. My weights, intensity, and volume have changed with my seasons. I no longer train like a competitive CrossFit athlete. Yes, its hard to beat the competitiveness out of me, but is absolutely necessary for longevity.

I modify weights and movements to my needs. I listen to my body and rest when needed. Workout 5 days a week, rest 2. I get in about 13-15k steps a day. Also enjoy body building and orange theory!

I feel the term “CrossFit” gets an unfair bad rap. It’s simply a term and just another modality of exercise. I love it because it combines strength and conditioning made up of functional movements performed at a your desired intensity level. The intensity and approach are up to you. Anyone can do it and you determine the pace and modifications of your workouts. Invest in a quality gym with quality coaches. Three Kings Athletics in Noblesville, IN is my second home and family! Owned by Bryn Jafri.

8.) What Piece of Advice Would You Give Someone Who Is Interested in Trying This Diet, But Hasn’t Taken the Leap Yet?

Thinking about carnivore in terms of 3 phases is helpful starting:⁣

1.) Just get adapted – eat meat, find the low carb sources you love, cut the junk, find what eating windows work for your schedule, track to make sure you’re eating enough food.⁣

2.) Focus on healing any G.I. issues & give it time. Be patient & consistent. You don’t feel good all the time, as with any diet it takes time to find your groove. Most hit a slump around 2 weeks. You didn’t develop gut issues overnight and you didn’t put on 30lbs overnight.⁣

3.) Thrive & THEN play around with fat loss or muscle gain goals. You’ll be more self aware & educated once your reach this point.⁣

⁣Highly recommend getting the book Carnivore Cure by Judy Cho!

I ordered both the Kindle version and book!

Not until someone is adapted & healed do I recommend any kind of playing around with fat loss cuts.⁣ For some it may take 3-6 months or it can take years depending on what kind of healing (gut, hormonal, metabolic etc) you have to do.⁣ Honor your biofeedback. Biofeedback means my quality of sleep, energy level, recovery, performance, mental clarity, menstrual cycle, sex drive, hunger & satiety cues, etc.⁣

Tips for tracking more accurately:

  • Pick meats that are easier to track. Ex: ground meats like beef/turkey/lamb/pork. The protein & fat grams are not as variable as say a ribeye or chuck roast.
  • Weigh your meat raw before you cook. Meat shrinks down something like 20-30% when you cook it. It can account for a big difference in protein/fat grams & calories if you’re logging the oz or grams of cooked meat vs the actual raw weight. Fat will differ as well, especially if you’re draining or dabbing the fat off your meat after cooking. Here’s a good resource explaining what happens.
  • Measure out your fats (butter, bacon fat, tallow, etc) Don’t guess. Weigh it out on a scale for most accuracy. Most of us use teaspoons or tablespoons but I don’t recommend eyeballing until you master accurately weighing food.

Reasons you may be gaining weight on low carb:

  • You’re eating in a surplus. As with ANY diet you choose if you are eating in a surplus chances are you will put on body fat. It’s part of it. This is when you should be focusing on muscle gain & strength.
  • You’ve been eating in a chronic deficit & your body is finally getting the nutrients it needs to function & grow muscle. You WANT muscle growth. More muscle=more food=more badass.
  • You’re snacking too much on things like pork rinds, fat bombs, or fake keto junk like Atkins bars. Guilty 🖐🏻 They’re easy to overeat & nutrient deficient. Go back to the basics. Simplify. Meat, water, coffee, no sweeteners, no supplements.
  • You’re choosing highly palatable low carb foods like ribeyes, bacon, & cheese & eating when you’re not really hungry. It’s like when you’re not hungry but then they bring out dessert. Most of us will have that extra piece of cake. Choose foods that are satisfying & get the job done. I find ground beef to be most satisfying.
  • You’re overly fasting &/or overly training. Chronically high cortisol & hormone imbalances affect your weight, recovery, energy, & fat loss. Reduce your intensity & workout volume. Walking & simply just moving does wonders. Don’t over complicate your workouts. SLEEP. Shorten your fasting window or STOP fasting.
  • You’re eating too much protein, throwing hormones & your biofeedback off. Try increasing your fats & start with protein around 1g per lb of lean body mass, your goal weight, or 20-30% of your daily calories. Our energy sources come from fats & carbs. Take away your carbs & what do you have left? Fat. Don’t fear it. Play around with it you’ll find your threshold.

A Guide On How I Fixed My Fat Loss Levers: Leptin Resistance, Insulin Resistance, & Cortisol Balance Hacks

How I Fixed My Fat Loss Levers: Leptin Resistance, Insulin Resistance, & Cortisol Balance Hacks

9.) Do You Think the Carnivore Diet Will Ever Be Accepted Mainstream?

Never say never, but I doubt it. Carnivore is just like being a vegetarian only we prefer meat. No one bats an eye when you say you’re a vegetarian, but you say you only eat meat? They look at you like 4 eyes. The awareness, research, and education is spreading, however, so that is promising!

Is any diet really mainstream?

There’s hundreds of ways to eat. All that matters is you pick the one that suits YOU.

10.) Where Can People Follow You?

Everyone is welcome to become part of my digital family here, lilbitoffit.com and Instagram, @lil_bit_of_fit If you’d like to be added to our email list, click here!

Thank you all for reading and allowing me to add value to your lives! I hope my experiences on this journey can allow you to find your authenticate puzzle pieces to life!

oxox Coach K