A Powerlifter Cut Everything but Meat and Lost 191 Pounds in a Year — Without Setting Foot in a Gym

Hadi Doumit's health crisis came to a head on May 4, 2015, when he weighed 405 pounds and his blood sugar measured 530. Doctors diagnosed an inflamed liver, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, and he was dealing with extreme fatigue, constant thirst, needing to urinate four to five times an hour, and swollen, numb feet and ankles.

Doumit, a powerlifter, responded by stripping his diet down to animal products only, cutting out carbohydrates and processed food. His meals centered on chuck roast cooked overnight in a crockpot with bone broth, plus scrambled eggs and red meat, typically eaten as about two large meals a day with water and almost no vegetables.

He made no gym visits during the year that followed, isolating diet as the only variable behind whatever happened to his weight. "The easiest thing you can do is just eat red meat," he said of the approach. "That's the easiest way to begin the carnivore lifestyle."

Over that year he lost 191 pounds, dropping to roughly 214 pounds. His blood test results returned to normal, the constant urination and leg swelling went away, and his morning mobility and energy improved. He filled zero of the prescriptions his doctors had written, and his doctor was reportedly "blown away" by the transformation.