Health Coach | Speaker | Writer | Welcome to my digital diary! I'm here to help you blend life & fitness to find your health & happy! Thank you for being part of my family & allowing me to add value to your journey!
Might be one of the most impactful things you read this year.
Self reflection and confession time.
You may relate to this if you’ve been frustrated with food, your body, & let’s be honest here, — adulting so hard.
Thank you for reading vulnerable pages of my storybook❤️
Swipe thru some chapters. Read more about my weight loss journey here.
The root of the word ‘Inspire’ is ‘in spirit.’ I reflect on my own journey—from thinking money and material things would bring happiness to realizing that true joy comes from using your gifts to serve others.
Be Unique. The opposite of bravery is to conform.
Be a Leader. A “true leader knows when to follow” means that a good leader understands the importance of not always being in charge, but also recognizing when to listen to and learn from others on their team, leveraging their expertise in specific situations instead of insisting on making every decision themselves.
Be Love. The more you truly love the more you get back.
Be Truth. Honor your truth more often.
Be Kind. One of the rarest things in the world right now. It changes lives. It is free.
Be Beautiful. Celebrate your beauty. Humble confidence, flexibility, adaptability, positivity, reliability, and being someone who strives to always be useful are some of the sexiest and most beautiful things a person can be.
Be Movement. Movement is health. Emotions are physical too. Movement is medicine and life. Stagnation builds resistance.
Be Growing. You’re either growing or dying. You choose.
Be Playful. Approach life as play! It’s a constant evolvement of experimentation and experiences. That’s it.
Be Forgiving. It will set you free. It’s either medicine or poison. It’s the poison that poisons you.
Be Courageous. The most courageous people experience the greatest emotions, and therefore, the greatest life experience. Courage is taking action in the presence of fear.
A current reflection…
As I sit here listening to this podcast and reflecting about my recent experiences with food and my body… (tip: journal your thoughts and realizations. They are pages, secrets, and solutions to your best life.)
💭🤔Katie: Why I can eat carbs and still stay lean & not gain fat per se (maybe a little water weight gain, brain fog, & inflammation from eating shit I know I shouldn’t for a few days…Like cookies lately 😆 🍪 freaking love cookies. Confession.)
💭💡🎙️🧠💪🏼While listening to podcast episode: It’s because I’m metabolically flexible. I gave myself time to heal via strict carnivore for years. I healed my relationship with myself. It’s because I walk after I eat. If I do consume carbohydrates or a larger amount of calories, no matter what food I’m consuming, my body uses them efficiently now. My cells are happy. My hormones are happy. Because I sleep, eat, get sun, & love the shit out of myself 99% of the time. My daily routine supports this.
✅I have realized my body absorbs and utilizes carbohydrates more efficiently and shuttles them into my muscles and as repair versus fat storage more now at 42 than it ever did in my 20s and 30s. This is the power of simple movement and functional fitness. My entire day is my workout. My job is active and challenging af moving patients all day as a radiologic technologist. My workouts are play vs punishment now. Or something I “have to do” to stay lean.
✅I never realized how powerful fidgeting and being an active person was on maintaining a healthy body fat level and weight. I thought my workouts were the only things that mattered, which they do and have helped me build the body that I have today, but the most impactful factor was the food I put in my mouth, my
Mindset & inner narrative, and how active I was throughout the day.
🚶♀️🏃🏼♀️🏋🏼♀️Get up and move throughout the day! Workout snacks and wonder walks are everything! I am rarely sedentary. I am always up moving and doing things.
📈I find I do feel better cycling carbohydrates or days of larger amounts of calories about every three days. This is just a Recent observation. I will admit I feel better following strictly an animal-based diet. The carbs that I feel best consuming are plain rice cakes, plain white rice, and gluten-free, Whole, natural food options. Confession: I am able to consume sugary treats every once in a while, but I do realize these affect me like drugs, it’s hard to stop, and I always want more. But rarely do I ever gain weight anymore from eating these, which does bring me a sense of safety and comfort, but I do realize how out of control And high my blood sugar gets after consuming them.
🥩🍚So considering my recent experimentation and observations, I stick to meat, eggs, healthy animal fats, and occasional dairy 99% of the time. I INTUITIVELY sprinkle in occasional refeeds of higher calorie &/or carbs via low fiber, gluten free, rice based options.
🏆As long as I get in ample movement, lift more and utilize my muscles shuttling those nutrients and calories efficiently, + get adequate sleep 👉 I function like a mf champ.
❤️I love the way my body looks and feels. I’m proud of myself for learning to separate emotions from science and what my body is doing. I take everything as data and I don’t take it personally.
👩🏼🏫I learned macros, tracked food, coached hundreds of athletes and people, tracked my steps, wore a continuous glucose monitor, experimented with all different kinds of fitness and was a competitive athlete, and have done everything in between including tracking ketones and blood sugar. I fucked up and continue to mess up more times than I can probably recall. It’s all ok! So are you! 🫶
👏 I no longer need to track these things for validation because they’ve become part of who I am. I don’t “have to” because I know exactly what my body is doing.
‼️I recently quit wearing my fit tracker and tracking anything because I realized all of these things were taking energy away from myself and my day that I could be focusing on purpose and service and wealth building and other things that mean more to me. I don’t need these things to be my healthiest anymore because I’ve done the due diligence to learn all of them. So a reminder, you don’t have to do this shit forever, but learn it so that you don’t need them anymore!
❤️🩹If I eat too many carbs one day and I feel like shit, I own that, I give myself grace, and take actions appropriately the next day to feel my best.
🥳Don’t be afraid to experiment. Don’t be afraid to mess up. That’s how we learn. That’s how we learn about our bodies and what we need to do to look and feel our best. You don’t have to fear carbs or any food for that matter. View them a tool and a learning experience.
🙌You will never know if you don’t try new things. I used to fear carbs, getting fat, basically I feared eating altogether. I would throw up my food to “undo” what I had done. I abused my food. I abused exercise. I abused myself.
💊🙏Forgiveness, gratitude, and love are the true medicines. Be a leader and a forever student. Learn, grow, evolve. Once you know better, do your best and DO BETTER. That doesn’t mean perfect. We’re never perfect. We fuck up all the time. That’s just how it is. Your character is revealed by how you respond next.
**Steps off soap 🧼 box 📦.
***Pats myself on back. 👋 😆😎🤗😉🙃
Oxox Coach K
A letter to myself and hopefully inspiration for you.
Katie Kelly is a nutritionist, writer, travel registered radiologic technologist, Indiana farmer’s daughter, Crohn’s warrior, experience collector, and athlete of life. Former hot mess down 60lbs + financially free with nothin’ but an airfryer & a prayer. Location: Aging gracefully somewhere between scrubs & steak.
On social, she’s better known as Coach K, but most of all wants you to know she’s struggled just like you. More importantly, she wants you to believe in yourself, your health, your voice, & your ability to live your best life!
Looking for more from Katie? Join her newsletter here❤️
I find the topic of minimalism absolutely fascinating, mainly because I always feel like I’m on a quest to remove clutter to live a wealthier, more free & peaceful life.
I will tell you, I was born a maximalist. My immersion into the world of minimalism did not come easy or natural. It was a skill I had to learn.
So if the thought of living with less gives you anxiety, y’all, I feel you. Like how can I live without a dozen cute coffee mugs, 20 pairs of leggings & 30 pairs of shoes?! 😱
The connection between clutter & weight gain
Clutter is defined as “a collection of things lying about in an untidy mass.” But lately, with all the talk on minimalism & doing away with excess stuff, we’ve come to realize that clutter is more than just the physical & tangible things.
There is a deep connection between our stuff & our weight. The more clutter & crap we hoard can be directly correlated to the quality of health we enjoy.
The connection between clutter & weight gain is that body fat & clutter both act as protective layers to help people to feel less emotionally vulnerable. However, the stagnant energy that accumulates around both causes a feeling of stuckness that can be very frustrating & restrictive.
Many of my clients have told me over the years how much easier it is to focus on dieting their home instead of dieting their body. And the great thing is that when they start looking after their environment more, they naturally feel more inclined to look after themselves better too. As one woman put it, “After you have cleared the junk out of your home, it doesn’t feel quite right to keep putting junk food in your body.”
A recent study has found that “stressful & chaotic food environments” influence people to reach for high-calorie snacks. In effort to determine the impact of mindset & environment on eating, researchers from Cornell University invited around 100 women to write about a time they felt out of control, neutral, or organized, then eat snacks in kitchens that were either cluttered or orderly. They discovered that participants who were in a more chaotic mindset in the messy kitchen consumed more cookies than those in the tidy space.
My personal experience on declutterring
I noticed as I started decluttering, not only did I feel more peace & clarity, I also felt lighter — physically, energetically, & emotionally. My finances got better. I felt I could truly focus on what was most important & fulfilling to me in life (most being affordable & free).
I used to be Velcro to clutter. I loved to shop, I loved to fill my life with things & a busy schedule & a go, go, go mentality. And then after a while, it kind of just hit me.
As I started traveling more & more as a travel radiologic technologist, I’d get anxiety with each move because of all the sh*t I had. I had to move it all. Every. Time. It took time & energy.
Do I really need all this? Does it really make me happier? Hotter? Healthier? More worthy? More successful? More loved?
From a young age, I would have something called FOMO, fear of missing out. If I wasn’t invited to something, or if I didn’t have the biggest piece of cake & my brothers had bigger pieces than I had that FOMO.
And probably in my late 30s, I realized that more was not always more, & that I could actually have more meaning & more beauty in life if I could focus on finding the more in the less. I mastered this way of living into my 40s.
And so clutter, most of us think of it as tangible. It is all the things. AND it’s not just all the tangible things.
We carry a lot of mental & emotional clutter as well. And the mental clutter, those are really inauthentic thoughts that we & life should be different. And when we have those thoughts, we experience resistance or we experience such heaviness that that’s another form of clutter.
And so clutter to me is anything that gets between you & showing up the way you really want to or you & the best version of your life, you & the life you want to live.
As human beings, we get really distracted. And we are drawn to the idea of complication. The more complicated, the better. (WRONG.)
Minimalism is about removing all of the clutter so that you can focus on the things that matter most, getting rid of those distractions so that you can hone in on the most beautiful & powerful aspects of your life.
It will take some intentionality. It will really take sitting down & being honest with yourself.
Sometimes that could be relationships. I would imagine you know different circles that you might be floating around in that may not be the healthiest or the most supportive or the most positive.
So sometimes it’s removing people & relationships from your life. It can be removing an ideal of “relationships” you’ve had yourself boxed into.
I had this discussion with my bestie today on this very topic. As a happy, successful, self-loving, confident, self-partnered woman, I don’t feel the white picket fence “traditional relationship” works for me anymore.
I enjoy being in my own company & energy so much, the thought of cohabitating full time with another almost makes me cringe. I’ll admit it.
I love relationships & deep connection & companionship, but I don’t feel seeking “A relationship” or “The relationship” or “The One” applies to my needs today like it did for my fairytale loving 20 & 30 something self.
I’m open & excited for relationships & connection divinely meant for me. But now, I know I attract these people & opportunities.
I have so much peace & space in my life for amazing projects, creativity, collaboration, adventures, experiences, jobs, & new skills not constantly SEEKING a relationship.
Do you realize we can get most of the feelings we desire of being heard, seen, understood, fulfilled & loved from anyone?! Friends, partners, coworkers, strangers, clients, family, as well as yourself. These feelings don’t always have to come from someone you’re romantically involved.
The weight & food connection…
When I was in middle school I had a teacher tell me I was “too big to be a cheerleader.” That I needed to lose weight & do something else. Harsh af, but she was actually was right. I was overweight at 160 on a 5ft frame.
You can read about my carnivore weight loss story here in this blog.
A magical question, just two words.
What if?
What if I address my diet? What if I do things differently?
And of course I had the thought, I don’t eat that bad. And I thought, what if I could eat better? So no judgment.
What if I could eat smarter? What if I could be better to my hormones? What if I could love myself more? What if I could eat & move more lovingly & intentionally?
And so I changed my lifestyle.
I have Crohn’s disease. After a couple weeks of changing my diet to a more carnivore based approach all of my autoimmune conditions & gut flares had subsided.
And I thought, gosh, if I can feel this good, how good could it get? I’m gonna keep going with this food, this new food approach. I’m gonna focus on health & heal.
I realized a lot of the foods that I was eating, like rice & gluten & breads & high fiber stuff — those foods were just cluttering up my body & cluttering up my potential.
As a functional nutritionist & weight loss coach, I’ve heard many clients say, “Oh I cheated. One cheat day turned into a cheat weekend.”
And I remind them that word comes with so much baggage — mental baggage & emotional baggage.
So instead, we like to use the term experimented. That’s what we’re doing, really. We experimented, got some more data on how we felt after eating or making certain choices, & that helps us sometimes see the blessing in a setback.
It creates more lightness, because prior to that experience, you might not have known. And now, you know.
Just like dating 😂
Food clutter
Instead of saying “Eat this way” or “that way” I prefer to help somebody become the expert of their own body & the symptoms that they’re feeling. This includes what foods fill them with energy & what foods fill them with shame & frustration.
Because it’s those foods that are yummy in the moment, but then fill us with the heavy negative feelings & physical symptoms to release. Those are the clutter.
We focus on 3 different areas: clutter in the mind, clutter in the body, & then clutter in the home.
When we’re stuck in our thoughts or we’re stuck in our feelings, or we’re literally physically stuck in a lot of clutter, it does prevent us from really taking the next steps needed to go in the direction that we really want and desire to go in.
FOMO to JOMO
Something beautiful happened…
My FOMO over just a matter of months slipped to something called JOMO — the joy of missing out.
So for me, that joy was, oh, I like the way my body feels. I like the way my clean space feels. I like having mental real estate to think about what I want to think about that’s meaningful.
I like waking up with energy. I like that I don’t have to take medication to control gut flares. I like the feeling of not being bloated and inflamed.
And so do I miss eating cake & sugar & French fries & bagels full of gluten? No, I don’t. Because I like the JOMO on the negative side effects better.
So let’s all join the no clutter club!
Its not about not enjoying life or luxuries, its about investing in what means the most to you. It’s all about releasing the clutter: the mental, the emotional, the physical clutter in life so that we can show up light & happy & healthy!
As Marie Kondo would ask, “Does this bring you joy?”
If it makes you feel light, then it’s right. 😉
Oxox Coach K
Like blogs like these? Come adventure & get FIT with me!
Katie Kelly is a nutritionist, writer, travel registered radiologic technologist, Indiana farmer’s daughter, Crohn’s warrior, experience collector, and athlete of life. Former hot mess down 60lbs + financially free with nothin’ but an airfryer & a prayer. Location: Aging gracefully somewhere between scrubs & steak.
On social, she’s better known as Coach K, but most of all wants you to know she’s struggled just like you. More importantly, she wants you to believe in yourself, your health, your voice, & your ability to live your best life!
Looking for more from Katie? Join her newsletter here❤️
I got to a point in my fitness & health journey where whatever I did, even if I bought expensive appetite suppressants, I couldn’t stop eating.
With Crohn’s, hell there were days I didn’t know what to eat because everything seemed to irritate my gut & I was still gaining weight, despite fasting all the time.
The inflammation & weight gain made me want to eat less & workout more, further exacerbating my terrible relationship with food & exercise. I empathize with y’all struggling.
When I was younger, I was following a low-fat, high-carb diet. Fat was the devil. I also observed this undesirable situation happening to friends, family, coworkers, & fellow athletes.
The reasons we couldn’t shed the body fat were ultimately malfunctioning or unbalanced hormonal issues. More explicitly 👉 leptin resistance, insulin resistance, & imbalanced cortisol.
Symptoms of leptin resistance, for example, might include:
The inability to lose weight even with calorie restriction & extreme exercise
Extreme cravings for food even if you’ve recently eaten
Persistent weight gain despite attempts at weight loss
Lower than normal body temperature & resting heart rate
Presence of other hormone imbalances (including hypothyroidism, estrogen dominance, low progesterone, low testosterone, or high cortisol)
In this story, my story, & maybe it rings true for your story, I explain why leptin resistance, blood sugar control & cortisol balance matter for fat loss & metabolic health.
Here’s how I fixed mine & created a healthy lifestyle I love!
Keep in mind, some people with underlying health conditions might need medical intervention & support. Therefore, just adjusting our lifestyle might not work for some of us. This is not medical advice or a prescription, simply things I’ve learned & how I improved my health!
Here’s How I Fixed My Leptin Resistance & Helped Balance Blood Sugar & Cortisol
What is leptin, and why does leptin resistance matter?
Like other hormones, leptin is also highly complex. However, I feel we don’t need to know the details unless we work as medical specialists in a field. Lets keep this as simple as possible but still have a solid understanding of the what, why, & how behind it. It is easy for us to manage & optimize with healthy lifestyle changes. Its implications can be invaluable for appetite management & preventing undesirable fat gain leading to metabolic disorders.
Leptin is a hormone that signals the brain we consume enough food. In addition to being a signaling hormone, leptin also regulates energy balance & counteracts the hunger hormone called ghrelin.
Unfortunately, if leptin does not function correctly, we will continue eating & consuming excess calories, which turns into visceral fat. Consequently, this condition can imbalance other hormones & lead to metabolic disorders.
Excess calories might be from carbs, fats, or proteins. However, the ones from carbs can much more quickly turn into fat molecules, & they accumulate, leading to obesity.
When leptin signals work properly, we stop eating naturally as the brain triggers feelings of satiety. Having a leptin-sensitive body prevents us from overeating.
However, leptin resistance is an agonizing health condition if it persists. It prevents the brain from receiving satiety signals causing emotional food consumption of more than what we need.
A leptin-resistant body might lead to binge eating due to the constantly activated hunger hormone ghrelin.
When the body is leptin resistant, the ghrelin hormone creates hunger feelings so strong that we might feel like starving even though the body has adequate stored energy.
This awful & paradoxical feeling encourages us to eat emotionally even if we physically have more energy than needed to survive.
Overeating, unfortunately, causes weight gain, might lead to obesity, & cause metabolic disorders such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, & even some cancers.
Based on my past experiences of struggling with weight gain, Crohn’s disease, gut & inflammatory issues, here are shifts that helped me improve leptin sensitivity, lose body fat, & gain my health back!
**My points are not prescriptive, as they might not apply to everyone. However, I emphasize the critical principles here so y’all can learn & can customize these protocols based on your needs.**
Optimized blood sugar via a meat based “carnivore” diet approach
My first step was to optimize blood sugar & prevent frequent & prolonged insulin spikes. When my blood sugar suddenly dropped, I faced an extreme sense of hunger & craved unhealthy foods like processed foods. I want y’all to understand this process, so dietary changes make sense.
Our bloodstream needs glucose to cater to the energy requirements of cells, tissues, & organs. If the amount passes the threshold, the body perceives the glucose as “toxic” & quickly acts to eliminate it. The pancreas releases insulin hormone & causes the glucose to be quickly removed from the bloodstream.
The first preference is muscles, as they are critical for survival. If muscles don’t need glucose, the body sends the excess glucose to fat cells by converting glucose to fat molecules.
Consequently, our fat cells grow by accumulating visceral fat, especially in the abdominal area. Muffin top ring a bell?
Optimized blood sugar & prevented insulin spikes by reducing carbs
When muscles and other organ cells stop responding to insulin signals to utilize glucose, a condition called “insulin resistance” occurs. The pancreas creates more insulin to manage elevated glucose. One of the causes of insulin resistance is hyperinsulinemia.
The culprit to raise blood glucose & cause sudden insulin spikes is the overconsumption of refined carbs. Too much protein can also cause more insulin spikes but not as much as refined carbs.
So my dietary solution to optimize my blood glucose & reverse insulin resistance was to cut all refined carbs, particularly bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, candy, & any sugary beverages.
This step primed my body to optimize glucose & make it more insulin sensitive. However, the 2nd step sustainably contributed to making it more leptin sensitive after having an insulin-sensitive body.
Increased healthy fats and bioavailable proteins via a meat based “carnivore” diet
When doing my research, I learned that there were 2 critical factors determining the relationships between dietary fats & leptin.
The 1st factor is leptin is made up of fat molecules. The 2nd is that leptin informs satiety in the brain when we consume food containing fat in each meal. It keeps us fuller, faster. Leptin also relates to the overall body fat percentage.
Those with higher fat should have more leptin, however, we need to understand the issue of leptin resistance in obese people. Leptin resistance means that the body & brain become unable to respond to this critical hormone so we keep eating more than we need.
One of the root causes of leptin resistance is not consuming enough healthy fats, optimal protein, & too many carbs. Therefore, when I started eating more healthy fats & more bioavailable proteins, my satiety increased, cravings & inflammation decreased, & hormones started balancing out. I no longer binged or craved carbs.
This solution stopped my hunger pangs. I felt great satiety after each meal. I understood more fully my poor emotional relationship with carbs & sugar. I relate it to being an alcoholic. I can’t have one cookie or cake, I’m an addict. You don’t tell an alcoholic it’s ok, just have a drink. Understood?
Nowadays, even if I eat OMAD (one meal a day) for several days, I don’t feel any cravings & don’t consume food emotionally. I only eat when I physically feel hungry.
My diet consists of primarily red ruminant meats like beef & lamb, occasional chicken, turkey, & pork, seafood, eggs, occasional daily (butter/cheese/milk), organic coffee, water, electrolytes, & occasional social alcohol in the form of bourbon or vodka.
The next step focused on reducing oxidative stress & chronic inflammation. With Crohn’s disease these are CRITICAL!
Improved sleep quality, lowered stress, prioritized self care & “biohacking“
During my research of metabolic hormones causing weight gain, I discovered that the 3rd cause of leptin resistance was sleep deprivation & stress – basically a f*cked up sleep routine & not being able to chill out. They caused both increased cortisol & blood sugar. This was an eye-opener for me.
The solution to balance insulin & cortisol was restorative sleep, self care, & whatever the hell I had to do to chill out, detox, & slow down to lower oxidative stress & chronic inflammation. When I got restorative sleep, my chronic stress & inflammation all but disappeared. As a result, my hunger pangs & food cravings diminished & gradually ended too. Which is why I say NO to going out when I don’t have the energy. My health suffers.
I now incorporate infrared sauna, red light therapy, grounding (earthing) mats, blue blocking glasses, get outside in nature & the sunlight as much as possible, & reduce toxins in my beauty, food, & home products as much as possible too. Biohacking products all posted in my IG highlights & codes in link in IG bio!
Why Stress & Cortisol are Making You Fat
What is Cortisol & why does it matter?
Cortisol is a hormone, which as levels rise in response to stressors, not only affects our blood glucose, but influences our physical & psychological processes including fat loss.
Stressors can include things like:
Under eating
Over exercising
Relationship stress, kids
Job stress
Trigger foods, gut issues
Lack of quality sleep
Over caffeinating, Alcohol
Fasting too long
The direct effect cortisol has on insulin is a big contributing factor to weight & fat gain.
For example:
Elevated cortisol levels stimulate gluconeogenesis, the breakdown of non-carbohydrate sources like protein into glucose. This will increase our blood glucose even on low carb diets. If prolonged, this can lead to changes in appetite regulating hormones like leptin & ghrelin, causing us to eat more than we need.
How can we minimize stressors?
Eat enough food for optimal body function & activity. Typically called our true maintenance calories. You can use the TDEEcalculator.net to find yours.
No chronic dieting or yo-yo dieting. Periodize nutrition. Eat meat & healthy fats. Minimize processed food.
Get to sleep! 7-9 hrs of quality per night.
Limit caffeine intake to mornings only.
Cultivate a positive environment & monitor what you consume from social media, to food, people, tv, books, podcasts, etc. GRATITUDE.
Take time for self care. No excessive fasting, find an optimal fasting window for you. Most do well 12-16 hrs overnight.
Recover from workouts efficiently, take rest days, walk.
Here’s my daily routine. I created a guide for you!
The best pre-workout: sleep, proper hydration & electrolytes
The best fat burner: sleep, stress management, & a calorie deficit
The best workout & training plan: The one that you’ll do & stick with longer than 2 weeks.
The best diet: The one that you’ll do & stick with longer than 2 weeks. (Meat-based for people with gut issues, autoimmune needs, & emotional issues with food addiction & carbs imo.)
The best protein & multivitamins: meat, eggs, & healthy fats from animal sources.
Realize the body you want requires you to eat more & lift heavy stuff, not living in a constant state of restriction & extremes. Your weight & what you look like are the least most interesting things about you. You can look good nekkid at any weight, it’s about perception & confidence. Health looks good on everyone.
Why Your Blood Sugar May Be Affecting Your Fat Loss
Tools I’ve Used To Check Mine
Keto Mojo: checks both ketones & blood glucose. Has app, blue tooth, syncs with phone, got mine off Amazon.
Nutrisense Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM): my top pick. Painless application, has app, syncs with phone, no pricking your finger, continuous monitoring, access to their nutritionists. Discount Code: lilbitoffitCGM10
Times to Check Blood Glucose
Fasted 1st thing when you wake before any food or drink: to gain data & a biomarker of metabolic & hormonal health. This is when I weigh myself too.
2 hours after eating combo meals: to see how they interact with one another & affect your digestion & blood glucose. Quality & quantity matter. Ex: combos like carbs + protein +fat, high protein + low fat, high fat + lower protein, carbs + protein, carbs +fat, etc.
After eating singular foods: to see what spikes your blood sugar more than the other. Ex: like testing after eating carbs, diet pop, chewing gum, using sweetener, eating dairy, after a larger high protein meal, after a bolus of fat, etc.
After periods of stress: to see how your body handles stress. Ex: after a hard workout, a poor nights sleep, after a stressful life experience, etc.
FAQ’s & Tips To Help
What can I use to track? I’ve used a keto mojo & my top pick is a NutriSense CGM. You can get a simple glucometer from your local drugstore too. Discount Code: lilbitoffitCGM10
What range should my blood sugar be for optimal body fat loss? I like MINE in that 70-90/dL range fasting. Normal fasting ranges will vary but for most are in the 70-100 range. Mine tends to run higher, around 85-100 while others may be lower around 65-80. Lifestyle, genetics, & environmental factors all matter & can affect ranges.
How long should I wait after meals to check my glucose? I recommend checking prior to your meal then 1-2 hours after eating for your “peak” levels.
What diet works best for food/sugar addiction? Low carb & meat-based hands down in my opinion.
What are normal blood sugar levels?
They’re less than 100 mg/dL after not eating (fasting) for at least 8 hours. And they’re less than 140 mg/dL 2 hours after eating. During the day, levels tend to be at their lowest just before meals. For most people without diabetes, blood sugar levels before meals hover around 70 to 80 mg/dL. For some people, 60 is normal; for others, 90. Again, we’re all different.
Why does it matter if my blood sugar is high, like around 120-200ish sometimes?
It is very important to keep your blood sugar level under control. It affects everything really, mood, fat loss, weight gain, hunger, satiety, energy, performance, sleep, etc. When your blood sugar level is high, it can cause damage in your veins & arteries. This damage could lead to complications later such as heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease, neuropathies, vision problems, etc.
What foods spike my sugar most? What food has carbohydrates? Carbs typically spike blood sugar the most, then protein, then fat. Fruits, starchy veggies, milk, dairy, yogurt, rice, cereals, bread, grains, basically think anything sweet all have carbs. High glycemic foods affect glucose the most, ex: bread, cereal, candy, baked goods, fruit, honey, rice, crackers, cookies, rice cakes, sugar, pancakes, waffles, potatoes, corn, most processed foods.
If it is sugar free, I can eat as much as I want, right? SF foods can be part of your diet in moderation. Abstainers typically do better abstaining from any carbs, sugar, or SF substitutes. Many cause gut issues like bloating, constipation, & pain due to added fibers, fillers, gums, sugar alcohols & artificial sweeteners. Some of these foods still have carbs (in the form of other sweeteners such as sorbitol, isomalt, & mannitol) & may affect your glucose levels.
Things That Elevate Blood Sugar You May Be Overlooking
Coffee: Increases adrenaline, cortisol (stress hormones) & blood sugar which can cause a release from our liver glycogen even when fasting. This was one thing I tested, luckily black coffee only affected my blood sugar like 2-5 points. Best to drink with food 90 minutes after waking for more optimal hormone balance.
Fasting too long: Again, increases body stress which increases your cortisol level which will cause liver glycogen to be released & your blood sugar to rise. Are you waking up in the middle of the night? Is your fasting AM blood sugar high (>95)? Try eating more, shorten fasting windows
Dehydration: Less blood volume=higher concentrations of glucose in the blood. Shoot for 1/2 your body weight in Oz of water daily.
Over exercising, under eating, &/or eating trigger foods: All huge stressors on the body which increase cortisol & thus blood glucose.
Carbs: No they’re not the devil. Typically it’s our relationships with them & our habits that are. Carbs do keep us calm by serotonin & cortisol. Our tolerances vary bioindividually. Typically in a healthy individual the more active the more carbs we require & tolerate. Carbs do spike your insulin higher than protein or fats. Carbs obviously spiked my blood sugar higher than any other food even experimenting consuming 2lbs of a high-protein meal. 3 rice cakes spiked my insulin to 160. The 2lbs of beef #meatbars spiked my insulin to 130.
Artificial sweeteners & sweet beverages: If it tastes sweet typically it will cause a reaction in your body & spike your blood sugar to some degree. I’m all about moderation but don’t have the majority of your diet full of diet foods & Splenda just to save a few calories & carbs. They lack in micronutrients which your body needs to function properly. In my experience with the CGM, they did elevate my blood glucose slightly but not very much, maybe 5 to 10 points max.
Alcohol: I’m just leaving this one there, y’all this is common sense. The higher the calorie, the higher the sugar, the higher the carbs the more it is going to spike your blood glucose. The “worst” options are beer, wine, sugary cocktails like White Russians, margaritas, Mojito‘s, Long Island iced teas, etc. I know it’s heartbreaking right ?!
Sleep: Not only does this disrupt your satiety & hunger hormones like a leptin & Ghrelin which can cause you to crave carbs & feel like a bottomless pit, it also spikes your blood sugar, & your performance, fitness goals & recovery suffer. I found lack of sleep, not getting sunlight, & high intensity workouts especially fasting were the biggest culprits that spiked my blood sugar & made me feel like trash. Get outside at sunrise, take sun breaks midday. Use blue blocking glasses. Reduce caffeine. Utilize red light therapy. I have an @emrtekinc Firewave light. Discount Code: lilbitoffit20
Helpful Charts
Conclusions and Takeaways
In summary, I owe a healthier, leaner body to 3 simple lifestyle habits:
The 1st was to refrain from refined carbs & sugar.
The 2nd was to increase healthy fats & consume adequate bioavailable proteins via a meat “carnivore” based woe.
And the 3rd was to get restorative sleep, reduce stress, & increase self care via “biohacking.”
However, I also incorporated a 4th solution, which was time-restricted eating or intermittent fasting. It indirectly contributed to making my body more leptin sensitive because it made it insulin sensitive & fat-adapted, too. No excessive fasting, I am intentional & follow my body’s natural hunger cues. I fast 14-20 hrs overnight on avg. Just wanted to create awareness. It’s optional as it might not be feasible for everyone & might not be needed if the 3 mentioned steps are in place.
When we make the body insulin & leptin sensitive, keeping a healthy weight can be a breeze. Therefore, we might not need expensive supplements, fad diets, or excessive exercise.
Thank you for reading my perspectives & experiences! I wish y’all the healthiest, happiest, & most badass life ever!
Like this blog? Find it helpful? Interested in trying carnivore & fasting with me? Join our coaching community!
oxox Coach K
Katie Kelly is a nutritionist, writer, travel registered radiologic technologist, Indiana farmer’s daughter, Crohn’s warrior, experience collector, and athlete of life. Former hot mess down 60lbs + financially free with nothin’ but an airfryer & a prayer. Location: Aging gracefully somewhere between scrubs & steak 🙂
On social, she’s better known as Coach K, but most of all wants you to know she’s struggled just like you. More importantly, she wants you to believe in yourself, your health, your voice, & your ability to live your best life!
Looking for more from Katie? Join her newsletter here❤️
Ways I stay lean, have better energy, detox my liver & stay metabolically flexible & healthy!
I stick to a primarily meat based, carnivore diet 99% of the time. If I eat carbs, I feel best with gluten free rice based foods like white rice & plain rice cakes. These are what my autoimmune symptoms & Crohn’s disease tolerate.
My macro nutrient ratios vary. I listen to my body. If I crave higher fat, then I l eat higher fat meat. If I don’t, I stick to leaner meat. If I feel like I need carbs, I do not deny myself, but eat appropriate portions primarily post workout. To control blood sugar & carb digestion I use @nuethix_formulations Gda-max pre meal (code: gdalilbitoffit )
I fast overnight on avg 16-20 hrs. I eat early in the day. My cut off for food is typically 2-4ish PM. Sometimes I’m not hungry after noon. I have gastroparesis & do not digest solid food later in the day well. Reason I don’t eat “dinners”
I feel better working out fasted. Eating heavy meals zaps energy for digestion so I’m intentional about meal timing for efficient energy management.
When my gastroparesis flares I choose lower carb/higher protein smoothies. I use Medipure DS from @nuethix_formulations as detox support/protein powder. (Discount code: lilbitoffit)
I eat protein FIRST always, especially when consuming a carb source. It slows the blood sugar, spike & acts as a buffer. Breakfast is my favorite meal & largest meal of the day in the mornings post workout.
I walk post meal & get sunlight everyday. I use my infrared sauna blanket daily & stick to natural products as much as possible. Red light therapy via my @emrtekinc light daily (discount code: lilbitoffit20) while eating breakfast in the mornings.
I minimize alcohol & artificial anything as much as possible. I keep coffee & caffeine to the mornings preworkout & post meal. I walk 15k+ steps/day & lift 3-5 days per week. Exercise is joy!
BEAUTY SECRET👉RED LIGHT THERAPY Q: What is #redlighttherapy ? Is it worth it & something I can do at home? I’ve had my Firewave @emrtekinc red light for about 2 years! By far one of my favorite biohacking devices in my success routine! I use it once a day for 20 minutes, typically when I eat breakfast. I simply sit in front of it. I don’t use goggles. You can use it on bare skin, clothes, not clothed 😉 — whatever floats your boat!
I noticed changes in my skin, digestion, & energy in just 2 weeks. My face has never looked better imo. Less skin discoloration & a more youthful, rested appearance. I feel happier & more energetic when I use it in the morning vs not. These are just a few of the many benefits! Doctors have been using it for years especially with patients with skin issues & diabetics. Over the past 2 decades, thousands of published studies have shown that red light therapy can be used to treat pain, inflammation, scar tissue prevention, overall wellness, joint health, anti-aging & more! EMRTEK was kind enough to give y’all a discount link for 30% off to use during the holiday season Snag it while you can!
Don’t be afraid to try new things! You never know if things can work or not if you don’t give them a chance!
This guide has now passed thousands of views! Big thank you to everyone who continues to share (my posts & your story too) & be a big part of my life as my digital family!
You guys make my days so much brighter & I hope you know how much you mean to me!
I’ve lost 60 lbs thanks to carnivore & intermittent fasting! Follow me on Instagram (@lil_bit_of_fit) to see my day-to-day journey with living a meat-based life as a rockin travel xray tech & almost 42 year old athlete of life with Crohn’s Disease. (Birthday July 2nd 🎉)
I tried every diet in the book to lose weight & heal my gut issues. While I did see occasional results, I eventually couldn’t sustain it and then yo-yo’d. IF & carnivore have been the simplest and most manageable way I have found to improve my health & fitness (and stick with it).
This post is intended for my friends (and friends of friends) who have been following my health journey on Instagram, Facebook, or have asked how to get started. Because the interest has been in the thousands (so amazing!), I’ve wanted to share this information more publicly.
In the interest of time, I’ve created this super quick educational start guide with a couple troubleshooting videos!
Let’s dive into fasting & why you may not be seeing results.
I see this oftentimes with all y’all chronically under eating, trying to do protein sparing modified fasting (PSMF) or OMAD (one meal a day) with a disordered eating history.
Tap for a short video on why fasting may not be working for you!
Yes, I prefer to utilize intermittent fasting. It works best for my digestion. I eat when I’m hungry & fast when I’m not. Typical fasting window is around 14-20hrs, biggest meal I consume after my workout in the am. I also love to incorporate fat & carb cycling. It is not necessary for you to fast to achieve your health and body goals no matter what diet you prefer.
Remember: health & happy hormones first.
Here’s a previous video answering a client question talking about why fasting wasn’t working for her
Intermittent fasting, also known as intermittent energy restriction, is simply an umbrella term for various meal timing schedules that cycle between voluntary fasting or reduced calorie intake and eating over a given period of time.
It is just a tool to help you to manage meal times & calorie intake, it is not a dirty word nor is it a quick fix or magic pill. There are 100 different ways to “fast” & everyone has their own “definition” of what they consider fasting. Some drink coffee & water, some don’t. Some use no calorie sweeteners, some don’t. There are more optimal times, situations, & schedules that are more effective & efficient. Make sure it fits easily into your lifestyle & schedule. Pick whatever suits your needs. Remember adherence & consistency are always keys!
Most utilize the 16/8 or 14/10 or 12/10 windows. (Fast 16 hrs/eat 8) You can also periodically fast 24 hrs or longer. I personally do NOT do extended fasts.
16/8, 14/10, 12/12 Protocols – Ex: Fast 16hrs/8hr eating window
OMAD – One meal a day, fast the rest
TMAD – Two meals a day, fast the rest
PSMF – Protein Sparing Modified Fasts: highly restrictive diet that involves severely limiting the intake of calories, carbs, & fat & consuming only lean (zero-low fat) protein
5:2 – Eat normal 5 days, restrict calories to 500-600 for 2 days
Eat Stop Eat – Eat normal for 5 days then fast for 24hrs for 2 days
4:3 or Alternate Day Fasting – Fast every other day, eat normal on non-fasting days
Skip Meals Spontaneously – skip meals when you’re not hungry
Will fasting help me lose body fat?
Why your story & background matter when it comes to fasting efficacy
Before we dive into fasting deets I want to reiterate & touch on WHY your story & food/dieting/health history matter when it comes to the experiences & results you get (or lack of).
Lets be honest, the main reason most people choose the Carnivore Diet & utilizing fasting is because they want fat loss. That’s fine, we all wanna look good nekkid, HOWEVER, the difference lies in our starting point: calorically, metabolically, hormonally, physiologically, mentally, emotionally – the whole picture.
I feel we really should approach any nutrition protocol from a health/healing perspective, first, aesthetic perspective, second.
Some of us come from 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, 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 any diet. You do not have to fast at all if you don’t want to.
Usually I see two different stories, & thus experiences, when working with clients. We’ll call them Peter & Patty.
Are you Peter or Patty?
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.
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 she’s 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.”
Things that matter when choosing any diet, macros, calories, &/or fasting protocols
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)
That’s a LOT of stuff, right? It’s not as simple as just picking a set of macro numbers, or calories, or a magic diet camp or fasting protocol. You are not a template or calculator, you’re a human. This is why we set up coaching consultations to help you!
A BIG reminder, we should not be dieting any more than 1-2 times per year, no longer than 12-16 weeks. You should be chillin, eating at your maintenance calories, enjoying life and getting strong AF the majority of the year! Like this chart? Allllll the free content available on Instagram!
Why should I try fasting?
It’s simple, eating fewer times works better for your schedule, less thinking/measuring. Your lifestyle aligns w/your eating schedule. Helpful when in a calorie deficit to allot larger meals.
Metabolic flexibility. It will utilize the fuel from previous meals/glycogen first, then it will use your fat stores to fuel your day.
Hunger response. Are you bored or really hungry? You learn/feel the difference. A big reason I would utilize IF with clients. It helps connect with your body’s true hunger signals.
Benefits of fasting: hormone balance, reduced insulin resistance, risk of diabetes, inflammation, improved focus, gut health & digestion, fat loss in a calorie deficit.
Why it works for fat loss
While I will reiterate fasting is not a diet, it can help with fat loss goals by creating a calorie deficit in various ways:
Reduces the number of meals in a day
Helps create food rules to prevent over eating & snacking, especially for people who are abstainers
Helps reduce your weekly calorie average
Helps you feel & get back in tune with true hunger cues which helps prevent eating when you’re not truly hungry. Many of us eat out of learned habit like eating in front of the tv at night, eating desert just because it is available, or seeing/smelling/hearing food cook
When should I not fast?
You’re on the gain train. If you’re ok cramming 3-4000 calories down your pie hole in a short amount of time go for it. For most, IF protocols are utilized for eating less calories simply by decreasing feeding time.
It screws with your mind & feels restrictive. Can’t sustain it easily & comfortably w/your lifestyle. If it increases cortisol/blood sugar/affecting your sleep/mood/energy negatively.
If you can’t feel fullness cues & eat past satiety & all you do is think about eating during your fasting — STOP! Try eating more frequent meals during the day.
Who should NOT fast &/or fasting is not ideal
Pregnant Women
Women who are nursing
People who are reverse dieting
People training for high performance
People who have abused or overly fasted
People who have chronically under eaten for an extended period of time (aka you’ve made chasing a smaller body your hobby)
People who are trying to gain muscle
Women a week before their cycle
People healing &/or struggling with adrenal insufficiency & fatigue
People with eating disorders &/or disordered eating habits, poor relationships with food, exercise, &/or body image where restriction is a huge trigger
Getting Started
Chances are that you’ve already done many intermittent fasts in your life.
If you’ve ever eaten dinner, then slept late and not eaten until lunch the next day, then you’ve probably already fasted for 16+ hours.
Some people instinctively eat this way. They simply don’t feel hungry in the morning.
Many people consider the 16/8 method the simplest and most sustainable way of intermittent fasting — you might want to try this practice first.
If you find it easy and feel good during the fast, then have fun, experiment and maybe try moving on to more advanced fasts like 24-hour fasts 1–2 times per week (Eat-Stop-Eat) or only eating 500–600 calories 1–2 days per week (5:2 diet).
Another approach is to simply fast whenever it’s convenient — simply skip meals from time to time when you’re not hungry or don’t have time to cook.
There is no need to follow a structured intermittent fasting plan to derive at least some of the benefits.
Experiment with the different approaches and find something that you enjoy and fits your schedule.
At the end of the day, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to nutrition. The best diet for you is the one you can stick to in the long run.
I find for those who have a poor relationship with carbs & sugar, chronic gut or health issues, autoimmune needs, etc for example, a lower carb, animal or meat-based approach is extremely effective for health, healing, & fat loss.
👇older posts to reference for ideas & help👇
Here’s my routine & what has help me drop lbs & put my Crohn’s disease & bulimia in med-free remission.
Intermittent fasting is great for some people, not others. The only way to find out which group you belong to is to try it out.
If you feel good when fasting and find it to be a sustainable way of eating, it can be a very powerful tool to lose weight and improve your health.
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 ❤️
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!
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 resistancehere and specifically how to carb & fat cyclehere.
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).
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
Fabulous book on protein focused, anti-aging nutrition!
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!
I had a patient tell me I had really BIGblingy 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.
Post workout breakfast. 1.25 lbs of *0% ground beef #meatbars Airfry. 380. 12 minutes. Did not consume the fat in the bottom of the airfyer to make it leaner.
I have a whole recipe book full of low carb deliciousness! 👇👇
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
🧠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!
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? 🙂
Indiana farm girl & Purdue University grad, I like to say that I’m a multifaceted human!
I have many loves, interests, & hats.
So who is this awesome chick? 😃 My name is Katie Kelly. Professionally, I’m a multi-modal travel radiographer RT 🩺💀 with Aureus Medical & functional nutritionist with over 20 years experience.
I specialize in improving your health & fitness goals utilizing a flexible, non-dogmatic carnivore nutrition approach while providing high performance coaching.
On social I’m better known as Coach K & want you to know I have struggled just like you! I created this safe space over 10 years ago & welcome you to this amazing community!
More importantly, I want you to believe in yourself, your health, your voice, & your ability to live your best life!
I believe in vibrational living in life, fitness, money, health, & relationships. Intuition is one of our greatest gifts! I’m here to help you discover & follow yours to a more abundant, joyful life!
Vibrational living is being in alignment with your true self—choosing thoughts, behaviors, habits, & environments that nurture, expand & empower you. Living with an awareness of your energy vibration & understanding of yourself completely change your reality, creating your heaven every single day.
I mentor to help you find your power & solutions to create the body, career, finances, relationships, purpose & fulfillment you’re seeking.
I’m just a 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 blogs full of life lessons learned the hard way🫶
I post content about self improvement anywhere from fat loss, budget beauty, decorating, disordered eating, feng shui, Crohn’s, self love, entrepreneurship, healthcare, food, fitness, finance, laughs & everything in between to a social media audience of 48K+!
Thank you for allowing me to add value to your lives! Grateful to have you part of my digital family ❤️
As far as nutrition, I specialize in gut health, sports & performance, disordered eating, low carb/carnivore approaches to healing. I help you to optimize life by creating a success routine.
All preferences & skill levels are welcome with a no diet dogma or one size-size-fits-all approach to health, wellness, fitness, & nutrition.
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.)
Helpful guide post below why I do better on a meat based diet + supplement guide!
3.) Why Did You Try Carnivore to Begin With?
My last Crohn’s flare was over 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?!
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.
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 Bioharmonizing guide with my favorite products and supplements HERE. Fitness over 40, I look and feel better than I ever did at 20.
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 anymore.
Another common question I get is, “Do you drink?” Not much anymore. If I do choose to enjoy socially, I set boundaries to no more than 1-2 beverages. Usual choices are an occasional craft cocktail like an old fashioned or tequila.
**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 42 years old, 5’1, 100 lbs , I enjoy walking, functional resistance training, Orange Theory, & occasional CrossFit. I train 5-6 days a week, average 15k+ steps/day.
Here’s an updated blog post on my current training and daily routine HERE. This varies with travel assignment & my life season. It’ll give you a good sense of what a typical day is like.
Here’s a super helpful blog on workouts, supplements that will help, macros, fitness stuff and routines HERE too.
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 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 2lbs of meat daily.
I do track occasionally with food & macros via My Fitness Pal. I track weight, sleep, & steps via my Fit Bit Sense 2. 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.
Just to clarify what a macro is if you’re a beginner.
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.
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 5-6 days a week. I get in over 15k steps a day. Also enjoy FUNctional lifting 😉 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.
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.
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.
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 authentic puzzle pieces to life!
