A Simple Guide to Fat Loss Via Fat & Carb Cycling

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Was it uncomfortable? Absolutely.

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

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

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

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

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

1. Peter

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

2. Patty

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

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

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

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

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

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

My story was similar to Patty’s.

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

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

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

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

Fat & Carb Cycling

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

We’re pro-sustainable & realistic results. 

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

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

What is Fat & Carb Cycling?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who Should Try Fat Cycling Specifically?

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

Try it if:

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

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

  • You want to get leaner & have plateaued

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

Common Fat Cycling Strategies & What Has Worked For Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discount Code to EMR TEK lights and products: lilbitoffit20

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

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

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

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

oxox Coach K

bio carnivore lilbitoffit katie kelly indiana fishers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spend less time worrying about these things to lose more body fat

Do you get anxiety when you look at old pictures or how many calories you burned or how rigid you need to be on your diet?

I’ve talked to a lot of you about this today.

Its ok if your diet is different now than it was then. You have control over your choices. And just because you have 1 or 2 days of consuming more than you normally do doesn’t mean you’ve failed.

You need to focus & track the important things. See below & make sure to save, share, & tag this post on IG!

You need to have self-awareness over chronic self sabotaging habits. 

If you are constantly worried about the number on the scale or how many calories you burned or how rigid you are with your diet because you fear other people will judge you, or how long or how much you need to be fasting & these things lead to binging & physical &/or emotional harm, we have some self healing work to do.

This exact conversation comes up in coaching consults on the reg. Whether my clients are in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s or beyond. Disordered eating & body image issues do not discriminate.

This concept was hard for me to accept, too. We change, it’s what we do. If you are taking care of yourself, feel good, & nourishing your body with food, so be it if you’re doing things a little differently than others.

If I have a rough body image day & miss a smaller or leaner or stronger version of myself, I quickly remember how miserable I was at certain times in my life. Then I’m grateful. 

I thought about food constantly, had intense anxiety around food in social situations, was a slave to my exercise. I worried more about what other people thought of me than what I thought about myself.

You give up your power. Your hobby then becomes chasing a smaller version of yourself. And I’ll tell you right now it doesn’t help you lose more body fat more times than it does.

Engage in movement you love & eat food that supports your physical & mental health. 

Food is a part of life, not your whole life.

Focus on the important shit that truly will move the needle forward. 

Oxox Coach K

Full body workout routine plus the top tips that helped me lose the most weight

Q: I only have 2-3 days to work out a week? Any tips on workouts I can do? And what changes helped you lose the most weight? ➡️Swipe, save, tag & share!⁣

Here’s a very basic but solid full body program example if you’re planning on resistance training & working out 2-3 d/wk.⁣

You don’t need to make training overly complicated nor do you have to excessively do cardio & HIIT. Stick to walking & basic movements focusing on getting stronger with each of them.⁣

Most of us want to save time & get in & out of the gym as quick as possible without sacrificing workout efficacy.⁣

I put 2 exercises back to back to make 3 simple super sets. Aim to do each super set for 4 sets of 8-12 reps – slowly with good form. ⁣
Form always 1st before adding more weight to prevent injury.⁣

Take 1-2 minute rest between sets in order to ensure adequate recovery.⁣
I know this is the hardest part for some of you, including myself. It’s hard to beat the crossfitter out of you when you’re focusing on bodybuilding. 😂 🏋🏼‍♀️⁣

Gradually increase weights each week. If you’re consistent, you can switch up your workout after 4-6 weeks. ⁣
No one says you have to switch up your workout if this is working for you either. Go your own way as with everything in Food, Fitness, & Life. ⁣



If you’re looking for a step by step plan to lose weight, actually keep it off, & improve gut issues &/or emotional issues with food, apply for a consultation in the link in my IG bio. ⁣

Can’t afford coaching?⁣
I created a 354 page guide that will teach you anything you need to know about meat, macros, & getting the body you deserve❤️ Also in the link in my bio👩🏼‍💻📲⁣ link here

Oxox Coach K

Body recomposition & losing body fat on higher protein carnivore

Body recomposition goes hand-in-hand with making sure your body feels safe enough to lose body fat which means you’re eating adequate calories for optimal body function, aka: you’re in good hormonal & metabolic health.

When I started my fitness journey my goal was to lose as much weight as possible on the scale. I had no idea what body recomposition meant. 

I got down to 105 lbs, by basically starving myself & doing cardio all the time. My current body looks completely different now, same weight. 

Know that the body you desire may take years to build & develop, mine has taken nearly a decade.

I was shocked at a check up for insurance at work 10+ years ago when they told me my body fat was 25% at 105lbs. Huge wake up call! I was #skinnyfat

I went carnivore 2 years ago, took a higher fat approach at first, gained weight (15lbs) my body fat was higher at almost ~26%. I switched to a higher protein/moderate fat approach & that is truly when my body changed to the lean physique you see today.

I’m not saying this is right for everyone but I just wanna explain you don’t have to fear food &/or higher protein even when you go low carb. 

You can make your diet cyclical too. You don’t have to follow a higher protein approach forever just make sure however you’re eating it aligns with whatever your body goal is.

People freak out & they think just because they’re not in high levels of ketosis they’re not gonna be able to lose body fat. 

I was never in a high level of ketosis & I still managed to lose 20lbs. Finally took an inbody scan & my body fat is now around 14-16% which I realize is pretty low for a female. I’m being transparent about my journey & experiences. This is the lowest my body fat has ever been & the best I’ve felt.

No matter what diet camp you belong to, if you’re gonna crush 2 habits a day please make them be SLEEP & eating enough protein 😴 🥩 🦾⁣! 

Swipe for tips that helped me!

Simply sharing my personal experiences & years working with clients as a nutrition coach. I hope these help you however you need!

I also have a 354 page guide I brained dumped everything learned throughout my years as a nutrition coach & on a carnivore diet.

Tap for Link!

Link in IG bio to get yours! I created a special discount price for you guys today! 😉 

Tips that helped me

You don’t have to cram all your protein down your pie hole in 1 meal/d or fast. Split up up your meals for optimal digestion, satiety, energy, & adherence.

It’s not only hard on your digestive system to break down protein but large meals make it even that harder. ⁣

If you’re experiencing that crash post meal, take a look at your meal size. You may do better with more frequent/smaller sizes. ⁣

Protein helps us build muscle, aka we look better naked. It also keeps us satiated & full. Trust me, if you’re eating enough protein in your meal you’re not gonna want all that other bullshxt.⁣⁣

I’ve 2 ends of the spectrum, those eating barely enough to keep a bird alive, & the opposite with my meat based peeps, smashing 200-300g of protein because they fear fat. We gotta balance them out y’all. ⁣

Protein is even more important when we are in fat loss deficits & as we age. We want to maintain as much lean muscle mass as possible so often we need to increase our protein needs.⁣

My general recommendation is 1g/lb of body weight if you’re in a normal healthy range, or goal weight if you have more weight to lose. ⁣

Super lean, active individuals typically require higher protein levels. Some up to 1.2-1.7g/lb. (I fit that profile, active + lift, 5’1, 105lbs, ~16%bf. I consume ~160-180ish g/d. Doesn’t mean you need to eat like this but an illustration that everyone’s needs are different.)⁣

General Client Examples:⁣

🤍 105-110lbs, 5’0-5’2 females ~110-130g⁣

🤍 115-130lbs, 5’1-5’3 females ~120-140g⁣

🤍 135-150lbs, 5’4-5’6 females ~140-160g⁣

🤍 155-175lbs, 5’5-5’8 females ~155-180g⁣

🤍 175-200lbs, 5’8-6’0 females ~175-200g⁣

Save, tag, share w/yo frans🎉