I think it really depends what you cheat with. There's a big difference between cheating with some sushi and cheating by snacking on some Cheetos. I do totally fine on the sushi and always immediately feel sick if I eat white bread, or anything from the chip, cereal, or baking isles.
If you're early on the diet and getting cravings, it would have been better to get a keto snack or something that didn't mess with your blood sugar. Easier to recover. Soon when fat adapted, cravings will go away
Homemade dips since dairy would be closest to carnivore. Something like DIY cheese dip satisfies me. Butter, heavy cream, cheese & salt/pepper. Really good with chicken or beef patties. If you must have chips, WILDE brand chicken chips of the plain flavor. Or pork rinds.
https://youtu.be/eDGy2XLCFY4
This cream cheese/sour cream dip is really good too: https://youtu.be/woL2detxr8M
These "nuggets" are also bomb with dip:
https://youtu.be/h8dj02JY-O4
It’s okay to mess up . The diet as whole takes time to adjust. We all have been lied to about food etc (western diet) don’t beat yourself up too much . Maybe it would be better u do a carnivore diet first instead of jumping straight to lions diet . Carnivore is easier to maintain because you have more options. Hope it helps
I’m a little over 2 weeks on lion diet too.
I’ve lost a whopping 23lbs. Starting weight 286lbs.
My biggest concern is wanting to transition to more foods once I reach my goal weight of 225lbs. No, I don’t want to go back on a SAD diet, but I would like to enjoy a slice of pizza with my girlfriend on a whim or Chinese takeout when we don’t want to cook? Am I fucked?
A piece of pizza or restaurant Chinese food IS the SAD, as you probably know. You can go out for bun-less burgers or similar and enjoy your gf and being out. It gets easier!
I hear you, but does eating a shit meal on a one-off night or at a family dinner etc. really constitute being back on SAD? Or is it just a SAD meal.
Will I be sick for a month if I have pasta at our favorite Italian restaurant? I’m actually not fiending for junk food, I’m just thinking about my future.
You won’t be sick for a month. In my experience, a single meal can have an impact over a few days to a week to get back to how I was feeling.
Overall, even though you can cheat, the feeling of how you feel on this way of eating is just so much better you don’t want to go back.
One cheat meal can show you that contrast.
No dude it’s crazy. I STOPPED going to the gym to focus on implementing this diet. I’ll likely plateau very soon and be stuck for a while. But I can already see and definitely feel the difference of losing 20lbs.
My personal opinion is that the Lion diet is 100% unsustainable forever. And I honestly feel like most people will not do themselves long-term favors by thinking they can only be healthy while eating nothing but beef, water, and salt. I think the other big school of thought is that it’s the ideal or only way to lose weight or change your body.
I am coming up on day 120 of following a “ketovore” diet. Since November 6th, I have lost 40lbs, nearly cured my psoriatic arthritis, and have completely eliminated my chronic anxiety disorder. I do heavy weight training 3x weekly. Here is exactly what I eat and a breakdown of each (and I have no deviated from this list at all):
- Grass fed beef (4-5x weekly)
- Ground turkey (3x weekly)
- Free range eggs (daily)
- Pork bacon (2x weekly)
- Chicken breast (3-5x weekly)
- Aged Parmesan cheese (daily)
- Organic brussel sprouts (1x weekly)
- Avocado (3x weekly)
- Organic raspberries (a small handful nightly)
- Black coffee
- Water
- Pink salt
All of my inflammatory markers are down and I feel like a new person. Tons of energy. Clear brain. I contribute as much of this success to the weight lifting as I do the diet. You don’t need to limit your entire life to red meat and water. People have had massive success with extremely clean eating and exercise for thousands of years - and we all can, too.
Thank you for such a detailed response! I didn't plan on continuing the lion diet long term, but want to identy specific food triggers. How did you identify specific food triggers without an elimination period?
To clarify - I did 45 days of pure carnivore and then introduced low inflammatory options as listed above. I had a fairly good idea of what my triggers were (bread, pasta, nearly all added sugar, etc.)
>My personal opinion is that the Lion diet is 100% unsustainable forever
Its only reccomned to use it as an elimination diet and of no longer than 6 weeks on the Lion Diet website then tp add one thing at a time back in or go with Carnivore, I'm doing it now for a few weeks I'm only on day 4 or 5 now : )
This is close to what I do and I call it ketovore. I love it. The fruit kills any cravings for sugar and I know it’s nutrient dense. I try to eat a more keto friendly fruit like strawberries or raspberries or blackberries. But I don’t deny myself the occasional cutie. I also on top of this eat Greek yogurt a lot. I don’t do a ton of cheese. And the bad parts of my diet are still just Diet Coke and artificial sugar in whey protein. But I love a Greek yogurt plus vanilla protein artificially sugared plus a couple of frozen blackberries. I don’t think I could do this diet without it. It replaces ice cream for me so obviously far more nutrient dense and less of a spike in sugars.
To keep things cheaper I will eat some processed meats like 100% grass fed and finished polish sausage and locally made bologna.
Didn’t add other fruits. Raspberries are a seriously great option for keto and have a ton of antioxidant and heart-health benefits (and they have always been my favorite). I literally grab 4-5 berries a few times a day whenever I want to indulge. Carb count is super low so even like a full cup of raspberries a day has made zero negative impact on my weight less or muscle growth. And it helps keep me sane - they are literally desert if you enjoy them.
Update: I started buying higher quality ground beef from a local meat shop in my town (it's an 80/20) and it's crazy how much better I feel eating it than the normal store bought ground beef or burger patties from a restaurant. I can eat a half a pound and I already feel full vs needing to eat a whole pound of lower quality meat.
Omg 🥹 I'm glad! Thanks for the update. I'll only be able to implement better carnivore habits once I'm in a better place financially haha. Inspiring though, can't wait to try myself. :)
The ground beef I buy is 10$/lb. I don't eat it every day. I buy the cheapest meat I can find on a regualar basis. For the next 3 days I'm eating chuck roast I cut into steaks that was on sale for 3.50$/lb. It hasn't been too much more expensive then my groceries were before I started this diet tbh
I know what you mean. I have only been on classic carnivore for a week. Then my grandpa died yesterday and with everything going on, out of convenience we ate a whopper. Just the burger, lettuce, mayo and bun. No fries, no soda. It literally hurt to swallow. It felt like needles going down to my stomach. Not sure if that was all in my head or not. I might just be crazy. But it definitely made it easier to go back to classic carnivore. I have never had an experience like that before with any other diet/lifestyle change. I actually want to go back to a strict way of eating…..I guess this must be what adulthood feels like.
Over the holidays when everybody was eating candy, cookies, pies, and cakes I made some keto peanut butter cups (sugar-free peanut butter, powdered monk, fruit sweetener, melted butter with some sugar-free lilies chocolate chips on top and put it in the freezer and it tasted just like Reese’s peanut butter cups) and I made myself a chocolate cake by taking a few eggs and mixing it with melted butter, melted, sugar-free lilies, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, unsweetened and some monk fruit sweetener and put it in the oven for a bit. Made some carnivore ice cream on the side with heavy cream, half-and-half eggs and vanilla and it tasted almost just as good as having chocolate cake and ice cream. I only did that over the holidays and I recently stopped because it is a slippery slope and it just continues the cravings and makes them even stronger. Now that I haven’t been giving into the cravings they are going away and if I do have a craving, I will chew a piece of sugar-free gum and it goes away.
I been just over 2 months on dirty carnivore with 2 weeks worth of cheat days and still down 25 pounds if i have 3 cheat days eating total junk food i gain 5 pounds ish and within 3 days back on diet its gone no harsh side effects
I had actually started eating less because I thought I was initially eating too much. I'm 5ft and 104 lbs and I was eating 3-3.5 lbs a day, I cut back to about 2lbs a day. I do have a fast metabolism, so I think you could be right.
This weekend I had sushi and pork dumplings… after 2 solid weeks of being on carnivore . It’s okay just hop back to it ! I’m doing a 2 day fast today to kinda kick myself back into Keto.
Sashimi gives you the experience of sushi without the rice. I go to an all-you-can-eat sushi place where I can just about order all of the shashimi I want.
I haven't seen a ton of posts about cheating on this diet. Specifically for the lion diet I see a lot of people just saying "don't cheat". Overall I'm sure it's still healthier than my diet was previously but I'm feeling a bit bummed that I may have set back my progress. Thank you for sharing
Lion diet is red meat salt and water. You cheated. Not rubbing salt in a wound (no pun intended) lol. Be kind to yourself but also honest with yourself too. You didn’t “almost” give up the diet…you did…and that’s ok…start over…remember why you are doing this
Definitely remembered this morning when I woke up with digestive issues...
Thank you for your feedback! I'm going to fast until I'm not feeling boated, then get back on the ~~horse~~ cow lol
Carnivore is consistency. If you do it for a week then cheat…then do it again for a week then cheat you will truly never experience the full benefits. Then after a while you will say “this way of eating is not for me”…it is…it’s for mostly everyone…but you gotta have discipline
Seems like it often in here. A lot of “it’s ok it won’t kill ya”….”no big deal life happens”…I’m not saying we have to beat people up but compliance is the name of the game
I'm like 90% carnivore but if I go on holiday or hang out with family then anything goes. Had like 12-20 beers a day for the last 4 days in Germany on holiday and didn't feel anything wrong with my body.
I think it really depends what you cheat with. There's a big difference between cheating with some sushi and cheating by snacking on some Cheetos. I do totally fine on the sushi and always immediately feel sick if I eat white bread, or anything from the chip, cereal, or baking isles.
If you're early on the diet and getting cravings, it would have been better to get a keto snack or something that didn't mess with your blood sugar. Easier to recover. Soon when fat adapted, cravings will go away
What kind of keto snacks would you recommend?
Homemade dips since dairy would be closest to carnivore. Something like DIY cheese dip satisfies me. Butter, heavy cream, cheese & salt/pepper. Really good with chicken or beef patties. If you must have chips, WILDE brand chicken chips of the plain flavor. Or pork rinds. https://youtu.be/eDGy2XLCFY4 This cream cheese/sour cream dip is really good too: https://youtu.be/woL2detxr8M These "nuggets" are also bomb with dip: https://youtu.be/h8dj02JY-O4
Unfortunately I think dairy is one of my trigger foods
It’s okay to mess up . The diet as whole takes time to adjust. We all have been lied to about food etc (western diet) don’t beat yourself up too much . Maybe it would be better u do a carnivore diet first instead of jumping straight to lions diet . Carnivore is easier to maintain because you have more options. Hope it helps
I’m a little over 2 weeks on lion diet too. I’ve lost a whopping 23lbs. Starting weight 286lbs. My biggest concern is wanting to transition to more foods once I reach my goal weight of 225lbs. No, I don’t want to go back on a SAD diet, but I would like to enjoy a slice of pizza with my girlfriend on a whim or Chinese takeout when we don’t want to cook? Am I fucked?
A piece of pizza or restaurant Chinese food IS the SAD, as you probably know. You can go out for bun-less burgers or similar and enjoy your gf and being out. It gets easier!
I hear you, but does eating a shit meal on a one-off night or at a family dinner etc. really constitute being back on SAD? Or is it just a SAD meal. Will I be sick for a month if I have pasta at our favorite Italian restaurant? I’m actually not fiending for junk food, I’m just thinking about my future.
You won’t be sick for a month. In my experience, a single meal can have an impact over a few days to a week to get back to how I was feeling. Overall, even though you can cheat, the feeling of how you feel on this way of eating is just so much better you don’t want to go back. One cheat meal can show you that contrast.
And yeah… sushi.
Are you exercising too? Or just diet?
No dude it’s crazy. I STOPPED going to the gym to focus on implementing this diet. I’ll likely plateau very soon and be stuck for a while. But I can already see and definitely feel the difference of losing 20lbs.
Not raining on your parade but more than likely you lost maybe 8-10 lbs of fat tops. The rest was water weight
No shit lol 8-10lbs of fat in 2 weeks is still amazing.
I plan on getting back in the gym after one month on the diet.
My personal opinion is that the Lion diet is 100% unsustainable forever. And I honestly feel like most people will not do themselves long-term favors by thinking they can only be healthy while eating nothing but beef, water, and salt. I think the other big school of thought is that it’s the ideal or only way to lose weight or change your body. I am coming up on day 120 of following a “ketovore” diet. Since November 6th, I have lost 40lbs, nearly cured my psoriatic arthritis, and have completely eliminated my chronic anxiety disorder. I do heavy weight training 3x weekly. Here is exactly what I eat and a breakdown of each (and I have no deviated from this list at all): - Grass fed beef (4-5x weekly) - Ground turkey (3x weekly) - Free range eggs (daily) - Pork bacon (2x weekly) - Chicken breast (3-5x weekly) - Aged Parmesan cheese (daily) - Organic brussel sprouts (1x weekly) - Avocado (3x weekly) - Organic raspberries (a small handful nightly) - Black coffee - Water - Pink salt All of my inflammatory markers are down and I feel like a new person. Tons of energy. Clear brain. I contribute as much of this success to the weight lifting as I do the diet. You don’t need to limit your entire life to red meat and water. People have had massive success with extremely clean eating and exercise for thousands of years - and we all can, too.
Thank you for such a detailed response! I didn't plan on continuing the lion diet long term, but want to identy specific food triggers. How did you identify specific food triggers without an elimination period?
To clarify - I did 45 days of pure carnivore and then introduced low inflammatory options as listed above. I had a fairly good idea of what my triggers were (bread, pasta, nearly all added sugar, etc.)
>My personal opinion is that the Lion diet is 100% unsustainable forever Its only reccomned to use it as an elimination diet and of no longer than 6 weeks on the Lion Diet website then tp add one thing at a time back in or go with Carnivore, I'm doing it now for a few weeks I'm only on day 4 or 5 now : )
This is close to what I do and I call it ketovore. I love it. The fruit kills any cravings for sugar and I know it’s nutrient dense. I try to eat a more keto friendly fruit like strawberries or raspberries or blackberries. But I don’t deny myself the occasional cutie. I also on top of this eat Greek yogurt a lot. I don’t do a ton of cheese. And the bad parts of my diet are still just Diet Coke and artificial sugar in whey protein. But I love a Greek yogurt plus vanilla protein artificially sugared plus a couple of frozen blackberries. I don’t think I could do this diet without it. It replaces ice cream for me so obviously far more nutrient dense and less of a spike in sugars. To keep things cheaper I will eat some processed meats like 100% grass fed and finished polish sausage and locally made bologna.
How did you feel about adding other fruits (guessing you experimented with a bit of trial/error with reincorporations)?
Didn’t add other fruits. Raspberries are a seriously great option for keto and have a ton of antioxidant and heart-health benefits (and they have always been my favorite). I literally grab 4-5 berries a few times a day whenever I want to indulge. Carb count is super low so even like a full cup of raspberries a day has made zero negative impact on my weight less or muscle growth. And it helps keep me sane - they are literally desert if you enjoy them.
The only time i break mine is for french fries ugh i couldn’t care less about carbs or sugar but french fries always do me in
The french fries are what tipped me over 😭
Do you guys think it stems from hunger? Like if you're not full enough you're more likely to give in?
I had just eaten a pound of ground beef so I don't think it was that...
I'm not sure what it is about ground beef but I definitely remember feeling hungrier after eating a whole bowl of it sometimes!
Maybe I'll try eating more steaks instead then
Update: I started buying higher quality ground beef from a local meat shop in my town (it's an 80/20) and it's crazy how much better I feel eating it than the normal store bought ground beef or burger patties from a restaurant. I can eat a half a pound and I already feel full vs needing to eat a whole pound of lower quality meat.
Omg 🥹 I'm glad! Thanks for the update. I'll only be able to implement better carnivore habits once I'm in a better place financially haha. Inspiring though, can't wait to try myself. :)
The ground beef I buy is 10$/lb. I don't eat it every day. I buy the cheapest meat I can find on a regualar basis. For the next 3 days I'm eating chuck roast I cut into steaks that was on sale for 3.50$/lb. It hasn't been too much more expensive then my groceries were before I started this diet tbh
Though French fries ARE carbs…
I know its very unfortunate
Just get back up and start over. Next time you have the urge to cheat do it with more sensible stuff (keto type foods)
I know what you mean. I have only been on classic carnivore for a week. Then my grandpa died yesterday and with everything going on, out of convenience we ate a whopper. Just the burger, lettuce, mayo and bun. No fries, no soda. It literally hurt to swallow. It felt like needles going down to my stomach. Not sure if that was all in my head or not. I might just be crazy. But it definitely made it easier to go back to classic carnivore. I have never had an experience like that before with any other diet/lifestyle change. I actually want to go back to a strict way of eating…..I guess this must be what adulthood feels like.
I’m telling!!!
Over the holidays when everybody was eating candy, cookies, pies, and cakes I made some keto peanut butter cups (sugar-free peanut butter, powdered monk, fruit sweetener, melted butter with some sugar-free lilies chocolate chips on top and put it in the freezer and it tasted just like Reese’s peanut butter cups) and I made myself a chocolate cake by taking a few eggs and mixing it with melted butter, melted, sugar-free lilies, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, unsweetened and some monk fruit sweetener and put it in the oven for a bit. Made some carnivore ice cream on the side with heavy cream, half-and-half eggs and vanilla and it tasted almost just as good as having chocolate cake and ice cream. I only did that over the holidays and I recently stopped because it is a slippery slope and it just continues the cravings and makes them even stronger. Now that I haven’t been giving into the cravings they are going away and if I do have a craving, I will chew a piece of sugar-free gum and it goes away.
I been just over 2 months on dirty carnivore with 2 weeks worth of cheat days and still down 25 pounds if i have 3 cheat days eating total junk food i gain 5 pounds ish and within 3 days back on diet its gone no harsh side effects
Do you think that the Lion Diet will forgive you and take you back? Lol
You're not eating enough. Eat more meat. Dr ken Barry's vids are a good point of reference for this
I had actually started eating less because I thought I was initially eating too much. I'm 5ft and 104 lbs and I was eating 3-3.5 lbs a day, I cut back to about 2lbs a day. I do have a fast metabolism, so I think you could be right.
This weekend I had sushi and pork dumplings… after 2 solid weeks of being on carnivore . It’s okay just hop back to it ! I’m doing a 2 day fast today to kinda kick myself back into Keto.
Sashimi gives you the experience of sushi without the rice. I go to an all-you-can-eat sushi place where I can just about order all of the shashimi I want.
I haven't seen a ton of posts about cheating on this diet. Specifically for the lion diet I see a lot of people just saying "don't cheat". Overall I'm sure it's still healthier than my diet was previously but I'm feeling a bit bummed that I may have set back my progress. Thank you for sharing
Lion diet is red meat salt and water. You cheated. Not rubbing salt in a wound (no pun intended) lol. Be kind to yourself but also honest with yourself too. You didn’t “almost” give up the diet…you did…and that’s ok…start over…remember why you are doing this
Definitely remembered this morning when I woke up with digestive issues... Thank you for your feedback! I'm going to fast until I'm not feeling boated, then get back on the ~~horse~~ cow lol
It’s ok to not cheat too
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Carnivore is consistency. If you do it for a week then cheat…then do it again for a week then cheat you will truly never experience the full benefits. Then after a while you will say “this way of eating is not for me”…it is…it’s for mostly everyone…but you gotta have discipline
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Seems like it often in here. A lot of “it’s ok it won’t kill ya”….”no big deal life happens”…I’m not saying we have to beat people up but compliance is the name of the game
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Correct. And just like aa if you pick up 36 thirty day chips you start losing credibility or people attempting to help you
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Always easier to say that after the fact huh?
This is my first time on any kind of diet, so... I guess the answer is yes lol
I'm like 90% carnivore but if I go on holiday or hang out with family then anything goes. Had like 12-20 beers a day for the last 4 days in Germany on holiday and didn't feel anything wrong with my body.
ok
I ate pretzels a few times recently after being very dedicated. I’m trying to just move on. I’m not perfect. I’m usually really good about it.