Three Years of Lessons in One Protocol

If I could start carnivore over today with everything I know now, I'd do it completely differently. Not because I did it wrong. I did it the way most people do: over-complicated, under-prepared, and with way too much internet noise in my head.

I wrote the beginner's blueprint a while back. That's still solid. But this is different. This is the compressed playbook, the stuff that took me months to figure out that you can implement on day one.

Week 1: Beef, Salt, Water. That's It.

I'd start with ground beef. Not ribeyes. Not exotic cuts. 80/20 ground beef, cooked in a skillet, salted heavily. Two to three pounds a day. That's the entire protocol for week one.

Why ground beef? It's cheap, it's easy to cook, and it has the right fat-to-protein ratio for someone who's adapting. Starting with lean cuts like chicken breast or sirloin is one of the biggest beginner mistakes. You need fat during adaptation because your body is learning to burn it. Too much protein and not enough fat means your body tries to convert excess protein to glucose, and you feel terrible.

I'd also add 2-3 teaspoons of salt per day. Not optional. Not "if you feel like it." Salt is non-negotiable. Your body dumps sodium when you cut carbs, and low sodium causes headaches, fatigue, and muscle cramps. Most of the "carnivore flu" people complain about is just low sodium.

Week 2-3: Add Variety Slowly

Once I had the basics locked in and felt stable, I'd start adding variety. Ribeye, chuck roast, eggs, butter. One new food every few days. Not because I'm allergic to everything, but because if something doesn't agree with me, I want to know exactly what it is.

Eggs are a common issue. Some people get acne or digestive problems from eggs. If you add eggs, bacon, cheese, and pork all in the same week and break out, you've got no idea which one caused it. Control the variables.

I'd skip dairy completely for the first month. Dairy is the single most controversial addition in the carnivore community, and for good reason. Many people don't tolerate it well, and it can stall weight loss and cause inflammation. Add it back after month one and see what happens.

The Three Mistakes I'd Skip

Mistake 1: Eating too lean. I spent my first month eating chicken breast and lean sirloin because I was still stuck in the "fat is bad" mindset. I felt awful. Weak, foggy, irritable. The fix was stupidly simple: eat fattier cuts. On carnivore, fat is your primary fuel source. Treat it that way.

Mistake 2: Not tracking anything. I'm not saying count calories. I'm saying take a photo of your food each day, weigh yourself weekly (same time, same conditions), and write down how you feel in one sentence. "Day 14: energy good, sleep still rough, no cravings." That's it. Three months later, you've got a log that shows you exactly what worked. Sarah's adaptation timeline gives you the roadmap. Your daily log is how you navigate it.

Mistake 3: Reading every opinion on the internet. The carnivore internet is full of conflicting advice. Eat only beef. No, eat organ meats. No, eat raw. No, eat cooked. You need supplements. You don't need supplements. It's overwhelming and most of it doesn't matter in the first month.

The first month is about one thing: adaptation. Get through it. Eat enough. Salt your food. Sleep as much as you can. Everything else is optimization for later.

Month 2: Dial In the Details

Once adaptation is mostly done, I'd focus on three things.

Meal timing. Figure out what works for you. Some people thrive on two meals a day. Some do better with OMAD. Some need three meals. There's no universal answer. But I'd experiment deliberately rather than defaulting to whatever happens.

Training fuel. If you're working out, eat your biggest meal 2-3 hours before training. Not right before. Not right after. The pre-workout window matters more than the post-workout window on carnivore. Your body needs time to digest protein and mobilize fat before you ask it to perform.

Blood work baseline. Get a full metabolic panel, lipid panel, and fasting insulin test at the end of month two. This gives you a baseline with the initial adaptation spike included. Compare this against your pre-carnivore numbers and your month six numbers. Chloe looked at what Reddit actually recommends for tracking, and bloodwork was the number one hack that actually held up.

Month 3+: Optimize or Maintain

By month three, you know if carnivore works for you. The data is in. Your energy, sleep, body composition, and mood have either improved or they haven't.

If they have, the question becomes: what's the version of this diet you can do for years? Not months. Years. That means finding the foods you genuinely enjoy eating every day. For me, that's ribeye, ground beef, eggs, and butter. Simple. Affordable enough. Never boring because I stopped expecting food to entertain me.

If results have stalled or something feels off, that's where troubleshooting begins. But troubleshooting from a solid three-month baseline is completely different from troubleshooting during week two of adaptation. You need the clean data first.

The One Thing I'd Tell Day-One Marcus

Stop overthinking it. Eat meat. Salt it. Drink water. Sleep. Repeat for 30 days. Then look at the results and make decisions based on what actually happened, not what someone on Reddit predicted would happen.

Every shortcut I tried in the first month was a waste of time. Every optimization I attempted before I was adapted was premature. The protocol is simple. Simple doesn't mean easy, but it does mean you don't need a spreadsheet to start.

Eat the steak. Trust the process. Measure what matters. Adjust based on data. That's the entire playbook.

I'm not a doctor. I've coached people and competed myself, so I know what works. But I'm not your doctor. If you have health issues or take meds, check with someone qualified. Everything here is based on what works in practice and what research supports. Your mileage may vary.