Ketovore - What is it?

So I'd been hearing a good bit about a variation of Keto, commonly referred to as Ketovore. As you may guess, this is a combination of the Keto and Carnivore diets. Since I tend towards more meat, and fewer veggies, this is a natural fit for me. Dr. Berry discusses this on his YouTube channel quite a bit, and his wife follows this diet. I believe Dr. Berry is basically Carnivore.

So, what are the benefits of a Ketovore diet? Well it's very low carb, and you will naturally be in ketosis while following this diet. With meat and animal products as your main consumption, your carbs will easily stay below 20g a day, and generally mine are below 10g in a day.

Is it easy to stay on this diet? It depends on your likes and dislikes. If you're not a fan of meat, animal fat, and dairy, then you may not like this variation of Keto. But if you are, then give it a try. If on any given day you want more veggies for some reason, no problem, enjoy them. 

What do you eat while following a Ketovore diet? Eggs, bacon, and beef are pretty much my staple foods. I'll have a salad with dinner sometimes, and oftentimes add mushrooms to my omelet or on top of a burger, best cooked with butter of course. I do eat dairy, particularly heavy whipping cream in my coffee and an ounce or two of cheese here and there. And yes, I do drink coffee, not an animal product, but a delicious exception that I take.

I also follow the OMAD "One Meal a Day" way of eating, and with Ketovore, it's been easy to do. After you are in Ketosis, your hunger seems to decrease, I know mine has, thankfully. For me, it's easiest to eat around 1 to 2:00 in the afternoon. I'm seldom hungry before noon, and waiting until 2:00 has not been that difficult. It also gives you time to completely digest your food before bedtime, and you keep quite full until then, no big desire to snack at night. But others may not be able to do that for a variety of reasons, work, family, etc.

Should you track your macros? If you want to get into and stay in Ketosis, then you should. You may naturally line up with the macros, just by mostly eating animal products, but at first, it's a good idea to track them. For me, I try to stay below 5% for carbs, generally I'm around 1 - 2%, so that's not a problem. Then I try to get between 75 - 80% fat, and the rest in protein. If I'm below 70% on fat, I'll feel less satiated, so getting above 70% fat is best for me. 

If you're eating a lot of meat, you'll need to add fat to it, to get to the 75% level. Using butter, tallow, or other fat to cook your meat is a good way to do that. If you're eating a salad, an easy fat bomb, so to speak, is a delicious vinaigrette. I'll use 2 Tbsp of Olive OIl with 1 Tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar, along with some seasonings, and whisk them together until it's the consistency of a vinaigrette. Makes the salad delicious and gets you the needed fat.

Some say not to watch your calories, but I still do. I use My Fitness Pal for that as well. It works out great. Each night, I create my meal plan for the next day, and generally I stick pretty close to that. Over time, and when you've met your weight loss goals, calorie counting may not be needed, but for me, for now, I'm still counting. It hasn't been a problem, I've been able to stay full even at the lower calorie level.

A sample Ketovore day of eating. Again, I'm on OMAD, so this is a Ketovore OMAD sample day of eating. Well today I had 3 scrambled eggs with 1.5 ounces of stilton cheese on top, I like pungent cheeses, lol. Then I had 8 oz. of grilled jalapeno smoked sausage, nice and spicy. Along with a large cup of coffee with 2 Tbsp of heavy whipping cream, I was completely satisfied with my food for the day. This was a fairly low calorie day, and a little bit of hunger later in the day was satisfied with a cup of sugar free jello.

I'll give one more example day of eating. Yesterday I had more of a lunch/dinner OMAD meal, rather than the breakfast version I had today. I had a 6oz. burger topped with a little onion and more mushrooms, sautéed in butter. I spread a Tbsp of mayo (olive oil mayo) on top of the burger, then topped it all with a fried egg. I also had a small salad that included lettuce, celery, and a few carrots, some cubed cheese, with my homemade vinaigrette dressing. I still had a large cup of coffee, before dinner, with the 2 Tbsp of heavy whipping cream as always. 

By the way, for coffee, I do add a sweetener to it. I've been using a liquid monk fruit sweetener for a while now, and it tastes great. I've seen some YouTube videos on folks who have tested sweeteners, to see if it raises their blood sugar or lowers their ketones. Monk fruit is one that doesn't do either of those things. I haven't tested it myself, and if you are worried about a sweetener, than you should probably test that for yourself.

If you're having trouble losing weight on a Keto diet, but not wanting to go full carnivore, then this mix of the two might be for you. Give the Ketovore diet a try, in that case.