5,000 calories of meat, eggs, and butter daily: what 4 years on carnivore did to her body
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Rachel Ashby, a 41-year-old mother of four, decided years ago to make a radical change to her diet: almost completely eliminating plant-based foods and building her meals around animal products.
No fruit, no vegetables, no grains and no legumes.
Instead, her diet consists mainly of meat, eggs, butter and dairy products as part of an eating pattern known as the "carnivore diet."
And although the approach remains highly controversial, Rachel says it has completely changed her life.
About 5,000 calories a day – yet she says she lost weight
The headline may sound almost impossible: a woman eating around 5,000 calories a day while claiming that she managed to lose weight.
Rachel says that since adopting this lifestyle, she has lost around 25 kilograms.
According to her, she does not restrict herself to small portions and does not spend her days feeling hungry.
Quite the opposite.
She says she eats until she feels completely full, and one of the biggest changes for her is that she no longer feels like she has to constantly fight hunger.
See post on Instagram
So what does she actually eat in a typical day?
Rachel's diet is far removed from what most people would consider a typical eating pattern.
Her breakfast can include 10 eggs, along with a generous amount of butter and salt.
For lunch, she usually eats chicken wings.
In the evening, she may eat two or three large rib-eye steaks.
Her entire diet is based almost exclusively on animal products.
Rachel has also explained that she does not carefully measure how much fat she eats.
According to her, she eats fat as long as she enjoys the taste, and once it no longer appeals to her, she takes that as a sign that her body has had enough.
She tried other ways to lose weight in the past
Before switching to the carnivore diet, Rachel spent years trying to lose weight.
She tried various methods, but says she was unable to achieve the results she was looking for.
After learning about a diet based almost entirely on animal products, she decided to try it for herself.
Since then, she has become an enthusiastic advocate of the approach and regularly shares her lifestyle with tens of thousands of followers on social media.
See post on Instagram
"I no longer have to starve myself"
One of the main things Rachel emphasizes is the feeling of fullness.
According to her, on previous diets she felt that she had to ignore her hunger or restrict the amount of food she ate in order to lose weight.
With the carnivore diet, she says everything changed.
"I never have to be hungry or feel like I need to starve myself," she said.
Instead, she eats when she is hungry and stops when she feels full.
Rachel also claims that she has managed to build more muscle mass than she did during periods when she followed other dietary approaches.
Three of her four children have also tried the diet
Rachel is not the only person in her family to have experimented with this lifestyle.
She says that three of her four children occasionally switch to a carnivore diet, although they do not follow it consistently.
According to her, they sometimes decide on their own to eat this way for a period of time before returning to a different diet.
Rachel herself, however, has remained committed to the approach for years, making it a central part of both her life and her online presence.
But the diet also raises plenty of concerns
Despite Rachel's enthusiasm and that of a small but active online carnivore community, this is an extremely restrictive diet.
When fruit, vegetables, legumes and grains are completely removed from the menu, major sources of dietary fiber are eliminated as well.
A review published in 2025 that examined the carnivore diet found reports of weight loss and increased satiety, but also raised the possibility of nutritional deficiencies. Among the nutrients mentioned were vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium and iodine.
And what about all that saturated fat?
Another concern surrounding the diet is its saturated fat content.
Some dairy products and cuts of meat can contain significant amounts of saturated fat.
The American Heart Association notes that a high intake of saturated fat can raise LDL cholesterol levels and generally recommends choosing sources of unsaturated fat instead.
Long-term consumption of large amounts of red meat also raises health concerns, which is why Rachel's diet continues to spark debate whenever she shares it online.
And the internet certainly has plenty to say
With tens of thousands of followers, Rachel receives plenty of comments from people interested in the way she eats.
Some say she inspires them.
Others find it difficult to understand how someone can maintain such an extreme diet over the long term.
Under one of her posts, one commenter joked about the idea of eating butter without bread, while another focused on the cost of the diet, essentially asking who can afford to regularly eat several rib-eye steaks for dinner.
See post on Instagram
For Rachel, she does not feel like she is giving anything up
While many people would struggle to imagine life without vegetables, fruit, bread, pasta or rice, Rachel says she no longer feels restricted.
For her, a diet centered around meat, eggs and butter has addressed some of the problems she previously experienced with hunger and repeated attempts to lose weight.
She claims she has lost around 25 kilograms, no longer walks around hungry and has managed to build more muscle than before.
At the same time, her diet continues to generate significant debate because of its heavy reliance on animal products and the almost complete absence of plant-based foods.
But after years of eating this way, Rachel herself shows no sign that she plans to return to a conventional diet anytime soon.
Around 5,000 calories a day, 10 eggs for breakfast, chicken wings for lunch and steaks for dinner – it may not be a diet that works for everyone, but Rachel Ashby says it has completely changed the way she eats, feels and looks.
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