Moving to Arizona & Going Carnivore

BREAKING: I've exchanged the evergreen trees and vegans of the Northwest for the cacti and botox of the Southwest.

The official Running On Butter headquarters is now in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona.

I relocated two weeks ago and already have dozens of friends. Just kidding. I desperately need friends. I'm starving for relationships, and my new neighbors who love EDM don't seem like that would satiate my gregarious nature.

I'm looking for friends who spend their Tuesday nights making tacos or playing Settlers of Catan — not listening to EDM until 1 a.m. (If you meet that criteria, pls email!)

Other than being friendless, life is great!

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In all seriousness, I've never been better.

I started a very exciting new job, and the warm sunshine is truly life-giving. I've found a few seemingly solid churches, live a half mile from a great CrossFit community (shout-out to the 5 a.m. class @ Fortified Fitness!), and, as the article title indicates, I'm doing a variation of the carnivore diet.

What is the Carnivore Diet?

The carnivore diet is a diet that emphasizes animal-based foods such as meat, organs, and raw dairy products. Some versions of the diet include fruit, honey, and squash, but all adaptations of the carnivore diet exclude most veggies and all grains, tubers, legumes, nuts, and seeds.

I chose to hop on the carnivore bandwagon out of curiosity. I've followed the carnivore hype for years and want to see how it affects my sleep, level of soreness, physical training, and mental agility.

There have been countless stories of the carnivore diet changing peoples' lives, such as attenuating chronic disease or shedding excess, obstinate fat.

Could it make my life better?

I've been on the train for two weeks, and so far I like it. I've eaten plenty of meat, eggs, berries, oranges, apples, avocados, yogurt, honey, squash, and butter. Check it out.

What's been on my carnivore plate:

• Pasture-raised meat

• Eggs

• Fruit

• Raw dairy products

• Squash

• Avocados

• Cucumbers

• Olives

• Honey

• Herbal spices

• Salt

Has the Carnivore diet been life-changing? Not quite. I seem to feel a bit sharper physically and mentally, but I was already eating, sleeping, and moving well before carnivore 2024.

I appreciate the regimen because it prioritizes nutrient density rather than viewing foods as mere calories, fat, protein, and carbs.

I don't appreciate the diet's adversarial lens of historic, nutrient-dense foods like veggies, tubers, ancient grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. But this lens can make scientific sense if you're aiming to shed weight or disease. Reversing disease requires a nutritional intervention and metabolic reset. The carnivore approach achieves this very well.

But I don't believe it to be the most optimal lifestyle. I won't be riding the carnivore train for life, and I don't think it's necessary to join if you're otherwise healthy and fit. For those looking to lose weight, gain health, and/or cast aside a metabolic disease or autoimmune condition, I'd definitely recommend going carnivore.

For those aiming to keep your health and enhance your fitness, keep being creative with flavors and prioritize quality, delicious ingredients like butter.