I’ve just spent the last five months eating a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet after doing three and a half years on a carnivore diet. Today I’m sharing three things I’ve learned while eating this way that I think are really important.
When I switched to this diet, I was very strict—keeping fat under 30 grams per day and eating an average of 200 grams of carbohydrates from fruits (fresh, dried, and canned), rice, and occasionally potatoes, sweet potato, and pumpkin, along with about 120-140 grams of protein. I was eating three meals a day, each with carbs, protein, and a small amount of fat, and I was tracking everything!
And this little experiment provided some really valuable information.
Lesson 1: How Protein Affects My Hunger
The first—and probably the most important—was a major lightbulb for me: when I don’t eat enough protein, I start grazing and snacking!
Like a lot of people who come to Carnivore, I thought I was a carbohydrate addict. I’ve had disordered eating patterns since childhood—sneaky eating, gorging myself, eating in private, and constant grazing. I was always in the fridge or pantry looking for something to eat, and I thought that was just who I was.
I spent many years eating vegetarian or vegan diets—very plant-focused, often low in protein. Even as a child, my Scottish family didn’t eat much meat compared to my Kiwi friends. My dad didn’t like meat. He was moving toward vegetarianism when I was young, and money was tight, so we relied heavily on cheap, starchy foods like bread and potatoes, and lots of rice pudding and custard made with milk, sugar and Edmonds custard powder (so not even any eggs in our custard…). As a child, I always felt like I wanted more food.
But then I went on the carnivore diet, and everything changed! I didn’t need to graze. I felt genuinely satiated. I thought there was something “magical” about that way of eating that stopped me from being constantly hungry, and I actually assumed it was the fat that was keeping me satisfied.
But it wasn’t the fat…
On this high-carb, low-fat diet, I noticed something interesting. For the first three months, I was very structured—tracking everything, eating balanced meals with protein included and very low fat. I felt very satiated and had no desire to snack.
But over the last six weeks, I got a bit more relaxed, and some days I’d skip protein at lunch and just eat carbs.
On those days, I found myself back in the pantry and fridge, grazing.
I wasn’t breaking my plan or eating junk food—I was still eating whole foods like fruit, rice, and dried fruit—but I kept going back for more. A handful of dried fruit, then something else, then a bit more. That old grazing behaviour returned.
At first, I didn’t understand why. I wondered if it was the carbs. But I had been fine for three months, and most days I had no desire to snack! Then I realised there was a pattern: it only happened when I didn’t eat enough protein.
Once I saw that, everything clicked. My body wasn’t asking for more carbs—it was asking for protein.
This explains SO much about my past!
