It was a humiliating blow when Natalie West’s fitness trainer pinched the flesh on her waist during her weekly weigh-in and said: ‘We still have a lot of work to do. You need to reduce your diet by 500 calories.’
His words devastated Natalie. Aged 26 and preparing for her first bodybuilding competition, she believed she was in the best shape of her life thanks to her gruelling daily workout regimen and ultra-clean diet of fruit, vegetables and lean protein.
‘I ate zero fat, plenty of what I believed was healthy food, and was exercising all day, every day – I would even do two aerobics classes in a day, so I was absolutely gutted to hear that I needed to lose more body fat from my trainer. It sent me on a downward spiral,’ Natalie says.
At 173cm tall (5’8), and weighing just 51kg (112.4lbs), the mother of two, from Melbourne, Australia, thought she was the epitome of good health.
She controlled what she ate by weighing every morsel of food, snacking on ‘healthy’ treats like protein shakes and low-fat rice cakes with honey, and eating every three hours to curb her appetite.
‘I lived on a regimented, controlled diet with one cheat meal a week, yet, as most bodybuilders do, I binged that day, stuffing pizzas, chocolate and pastries into my mouth because it was the only day I was allowed to gorge,’ she explains.
‘My diet and lifestyle was all-consuming, and I was stuck in an unhealthy cycle of food prep. And if I put on a few grams of fat, guilt, shame and more restrictions followed.
‘I saw food and exercise as punishment, not nourishment.’
During her years as a super-lean bodybuilder, Melbourne mother-of-two Natalie West ate zero fat and exercised twice daily – then would binge eat and drink alcohol on her ‘cheat day’
Natalie’s sex drive plummeted, her periods stopped and she resorted to drinking to numb her feelings of low self-esteem and self-worth.
But alcohol came with a heavy price tag.
‘Alcohol meant calories and sugar, so I would go out and dance all night purely just to burn it all off. Then I would go home, sleep and spend hours the next day walking around Albert Park to burn off more calories,’ she admits.
‘It was absolutely draining. My diet and body absolutely consumed me.’
Natalie, who was working in a corporate sales role at the time, retired from bodybuilding at the age of 32 to become a competition judge, and said it was only then she realised how toxic the bodybuilding industry was.
‘Steroids are offered to most competitors – including me, but I refused – and it’s a controlling lifestyle, where competitors are on this unhealthy cycle of fasting, binging, loading up on calories and fasting again,’ she tells me.
‘Plus not to mention the guilt and obsessive thinking around food and exercise that comes with it.
Natalie says she was ‘hangry’ – or angry because of hunger – all the time, and in the bodybuilding world, being hangry is a badge of honour because it shows your dedication.
Natalie says she was ‘hangry’ – or angry because of hunger – all the time, and in the bodybuilding world, being hangry is a badge of honour because it shows your dedication
So she stepped away from that ‘toxic’ world and studied integrated psychotherapy, where she met her university mentor who uttered just seven words to her that changed her life: ‘You cannot talk to a starving brain.’
‘It was then I realised the power of food. It was a lightbulb moment. I had just been diagnosed with borderline type 2 diabetes, and my GP had said, “We will keep an eye on this,” and I thought, “No we won’t, I am taking action.” I realised I was starving my body and had been for decades.’
That was the turning point for Natalie, who after hours of research found a GP who believed in the carnivore diet – a high-protein diet in which just animal products, eggs and dairy are consumed.
While the diet lacks fibre and can lead to vitamin deficiencies, those who follow it say its benefits outweigh the downsides – in particular how it reduces inflammation and improves metabolic markers dramatically.
The diet, while not recommended by most doctors, is popular among alternative health communities, with advocates saying it changed their lives and even cured chronic illness.
There is limited rigorous, long-term research into the carnivore diet; however, a 2021 Harvard study of more than 2,000 people found participants self-reported weight loss, improved metabolic health and reduced autoimmune symptoms.
‘A thousand lightbulbs went off when I changed my diet to eat carnivore,’ Natalie says.
‘The first week was pretty tough, but after just two weeks, I had more energy, clarity, focus and felt at peace. After a month, my blood tests came back normal, my inflammation and borderline diabetes had disappeared.’
Her diet wouldn’t suit everyone, but it worked for her.
For breakfast she has seven eggs with ghee, followed by 500g of meat later that day.
She says she doesn’t feel the need for snacks, but instead of loading up on processed protein bars and rice cakes, she would eat more eggs and cheese.
In addition to improving her physical health, Natalie claims the diet has also boosted her mental health and propelled her sex drive into the stratosphere.
After discovering the carnivore diet, Natalie has put on healthy weight, has more energy, and says her sex drive is ‘100 per cent primal’
‘My sex drive has come back with a vengeance and my desire has returned. I feel 100 per cent primal,’ she reveals.
‘Not only do I feel fantastic, but I’ve put on weight. I’m a more healthy 60kg (132lbs). Instead of punishing myself at the gym for hours, I now go three times a week for abut 20 minutes just to do weights.
‘My body has now self-regulated, and I’ve swapped alcohol, which is pure poison, for sparkling water and meditation.’
Natalie has been carnivore for seven years. She doesn’t eat fruit, sugar or any vegetables at all, and hasn’t touched alcohol for five years.
‘I have total food freedom now. I only eat when I’m hungry and no longer weigh what I eat. I just don’t think about food anymore.
Natalie is 53 now and says she has never felt better
‘I’ve put on weight, I feel so much better, and have more muscle now than as a bodybuilder. If I had known about the carnivore diet when I was younger, it would have changed my life for the better.’
Natalie, now 53, has recently completed her certification in nutritional psychiatry, and helps hundreds of men and women worldwide as a mental and metabolic health integrated psychotherapist.
She knows the carnivore diet is controversial, yet believes society has been fed a lie for decades about nutrition.
‘With every study you hear about that promotes sugar, or says that saturated fat is deadly for us, pull back the curtains and see where these studies are coming from.
‘There is vitamin C in meat and organs, and as for those who say we need fibre, well, it is not a nutrient. New studies show saturated fat does not cause heart attacks, and we need cholesterol to survive.
‘The thrill I used to get from my unhealthy way of life as a bodybuilder, I now get helping other sick people transform their mental and physical health by feeding themselves the nutrients they need.’