Top 10 Reasons You’re Gaining Weight On the Carnivore Diet
Are you on a carnivore diet and still wondering why you are gaining weight instead of losing? This article helps you to answer such questions.
The carnivore diet is a zero-carb diet; though it is one of the best diets, sometimes you may face challenges to meet your weight loss goals. It might be due to various mistakes you are making in your diet pattern. So let’s unravel the reasons behind your weight gain in the carnivore diet.
Top 10 Reasons You Are Gaining Weight On The Carnivore Diet
Everyone has a different body metabolism. Some people gain weight on a low carb diet despite reducing their food intake, while others eat more foods and still would be able to lose weight in just 2 weeks. Let’s discuss the factors influencing weight gain in the carnivore diet;
1. Electrolyte Imbalance
When you are on a meat diet or an animal diet, you tend to lose a lot of water weight. Electrolytes are essential minerals for many vital functions of your body. The five main electrolytes needed for the normal functioning of our body are sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and chloride.
They are essential for:
- Nerve and muscle functions
- For fluid movement within the body
- Maintaining fluid balance
- Rebuilding damaged tissue
When you are on a low-carb diet, be it a keto diet or carnivore, your body needs lots of electrolytes. While following a low-carb diet, your body’s insulin levels decrease, and the kidneys are forced to excrete more sodium. It leads to the disruption of other electrolytes.
As a result of this whole process, in the beginning, you experience quick weight loss, which is just water weight. But then you may gain that weight back when you consume any carbohydrate-containing food. Instead of focussing on instant weight loss or weight gain, pay attention to your heightened energy levels and other benefits.
During the initial stage of your carnivore diet, you will experience carnivore flu or keto flu. It might be due to electrolyte imbalance. Hence, make sure you include lots of electrolytes that can reduce the symptoms.
2. Hormonal Changes
It’s essential to know that a low-carb diet can affect hormones such as cortisol, insulin, and estrogen. These hormones can affect the fat storage within your body. After starting your carnivore diet, it’s essential to check your insulin levels and blood glucose with your healthcare provider or doctor.
Studies have shown that a low carb diet affects the hormonal levels in women, and cortisol levels were increased in a low carb diet when compared with moderate carb diets. In some people, it was observed that increased cortisol levels are linked to weight gain.
3. You are Expecting Immediate Results
The carnivore diet does not assure you quick results as your body needs some time to get adjusted. If you are coming from a plant diet, you will take more time, and if you are coming from a keto diet or any other low-carb diet, you might experience faster results.
It’s important to remember that in any case, you will get the results as soon as your body adapts to your new eating habit. Many experts and nutritionists suggest that your body may take 2 to 3 months to adjust to any new diet pattern.
Keep yourself motivated, and observe your body changes. Also, focus on health benefits like increased energy levels, mental clarity, and wellness. Involving yourself in some physical activity also helps.
4. Your Body is Healing
When you are on a vegan diet, your body tends to deplete your stored energy. Most of the plant diets are easily digestible; hence energy is being utilized from the reserved stores. In a carnivore diet, animal proteins and fat help replenish your body, increase your muscle mass, and make you feel healthier than ever.
Although the Carnivore diet helps you adapt to healthy, nutritious foods that allow you to kick-start your weight loss process, certain processed meats may impede your progress as they are just empty calories. Foods with more preservatives may have harmful effects on your body.
You need to be smart, choose your meat products from organic farms, and avoid frequent consumption of processed meat products. The carnivore diet provides you with all the essential vitamins and minerals that are important for body metabolism and functioning. Your body needs time to understand the new diet pattern, adapt to this dramatic change, and heal itself.
5. You are not Eating Nutritious Food
Most of you might not include organ meat in your diet. Offal was a staple food in ancient times; but, it’s been eliminated in the modern diet. Organ meats are rich in vitamins, minerals and can help you meet your nutritional requirements. Organ meat has many health benefits. It is easy to cook; if you have not tried organ meat, then start with the liver; it’s easy to cook and tastes great.
Include a variety of meat in your diet; don’t just stick to chicken as the only option. Let your lunch plate be a platter of red meat, white meat, and seafood. Try to avoid conventional chicken or conventional meat as they might carry unwanted chemicals and antibiotics. Check out for the best quality of meats and organ meats while shopping for meat.
To know why you should consider eating organ meat, read – Benefits Of Eating Organ Meats In The Carnivore Diet.
6. Feeling Demotivated
When you have unrealistic expectations, and if it does not come true, you lose interest in the diet. Weight gain and weight loss are not quick processes; you need to understand the reasons behind weight gain. Do not try counting calories or combining a carnivore diet with intermittent fasting for immediate results. Instead, give yourself some time to analyze the reasons for your weight gain.
Many experts suggest that it is recommended to listen to your body; if you feel hungry often, have some healthy snacks like an egg or a soup. Give time to your body to heal and rebuild. You can feel stronger than ever with a carnivore diet with a gradual approach.
7. You Are Stressed Out
Your emotional and mental status can affect your weight too. When you are stressed out, your body releases cortisol hormones to cope up with your stress. This hormonal imbalance can affect your insulin levels, sleep cycle and makes you feel more anxious and depressed.
Increased levels of cortisol hormones increase fat deposition in your abdominal area. Studies suggest that this factor is highly influenced by your genetics too as genes play a role in sensitivity and response to steroids.
8. Reduced Physical Activity
Exercise is essential to improve your overall fitness level, and it also aids in weight loss. You should always start with minimal exercise and then increase your workout time.
In current trends, most people want immediate weight loss; hence, they choose cardio workouts. But if you are new to the carnivore diet, you may feel tired quickly and feel more hungry, resulting in eating more.
Hence, it’s essential to discuss with your physical trainer and speak about your diet. Many studies suggest that walking, running, and jogging are the best physical activities.
9. Underlying Medical Condition
Some serious health conditions have been linked with weight gain, such as PCOS, Cushing’s syndrome, hypothyroid, and depression.
If you have a family history of any of these diseases, you should be cautious and check whether the carnivore diet can be followed or not. Have a regular health checkup and keep track of your health status. If you experience any uncomfortable symptoms, discuss them with your doctor.
10. You Might not be Liking the Journey
The carnivore diet is a lifestyle; one should not consider it a quick fix for weight loss. A carnivore diet helps rebuild your body, improves your health, and allows healing of your body.
Following a pure carnivore diet can be challenging. It needs a lot of effort and dedication. Do not expect immediate results; it may take a minimum of 3 weeks to observe some changes. Try to enjoy your journey; once your body starts healing, you would never turn back.
Go for a walk, meditate, and work out and keep your mind happy. Do not read too much about the diet patterns or do not integrate other diets initially. Always keep your mind happy and focused.
Final Words
Weight gain might be due to various reasons; it’s essential to understand the reason behind it. Initially, there might be a slight amount of weight gain with the carnivore diet, but you would observe the actual results once your body is adapted.
If you have any concerns, discuss them with your doctor and have a health check-up regularly to understand your hormone levels. In the end, we can say with consistent effort; you will get the results you are looking for with the carnivore diet.