30-Day Carnivore Diet: Tips and Expectations For 1-Month Carnivore Diet Results

You’ve heard all about the 1-month carnivore diet results, be it from a friend or Joe Rogan. You want to see what the hype is all about and try your own 30-day carnivore diet transformation. We’re here to help set your expectations and share advice for success, from meal plan ideas to tips on navigating the adjustment phase and any potential carnivore diet side effects. 

The BEST thing you can do to ease the transition is to make sure you have the right carnivore diet snacks on hand for when cravings strike - because believe us, they will come! Our meat chips belong on any 30-day carnivore diet meal plan. They’re crafted from just two ingredients: regeneratively raised meat and salt. Order your first bag today! 

Do This BEFORE You Embark on a 30-Day Carnivore Diet 

How will you assess your 1-month carnivore diet results if you don’t have a good grasp of your baseline going into the journey? Here’s what you need to do:

• Get your “before” photos: Front, back, and side photos. You’re going to take your after photos from the same angles in the same lighting. 
• Record measurements: Weight, waist, and sizes. Use a scale of 1-10 to record things like sleep quality, energy levels, mental clarity, physical discomfort, digestion, and mood. All of these things can change when you stick with the carnivore diet for 30 days. 
• Clear your kitchen: This does NOT mean binge eat all the junk food in your pantry. Donate all the stuff you’re getting rid of. Chips, bread, pasta, cookies, even fruits and vegetables. Enjoy one last meal and get this stuff out of sight, out of mind.
• Do your bloodwork: Optional, but highly recommended. This is what lets you put real data behind your 1-month carnivore diet results. We encourage you to get a basic metabolic panel, lipids, fasting glucose, and inflammatory markers like CRP.

Other than that, it’s time to head to the grocery store with your carnivore diet food list so you can stock up on all the essentials. 

30-Day Carnivore Diet Meal Plan and Tips

Here’s what to expect during each week of this four-week transformation and some insights on conquering each phase. 

Days 1-7: The Adjustment Period 

The first week is the hardest by far, so prepare to have your willpower tested. Cravings for carbs, sluggish energy, and irritability are all common. This is literally your body withdrawing from glucose and sugar. 

Our advice is to keep your salt intake high and avoid starving yourself. You’re just trying to weather the storm here and make it through the first week. Give yourself grace. Sleep as much as you need to, and make sure you stock up on enough food.

Shopping List For Week 1

Days 8-14: The Adaptation Phase 

You should be past the worst of the carnivore flu at this point. Your body has adapted and begun burning fat for fuel instead of glucose. Energy might still feel a bit off, but you’ll start noticing little pockets of mental clarity and focus. Digestion may feel smoother. Cravings are fading.

You can start building good habits at this point in time. Meal prep on Sunday now that you have a better idea of how hungry you are on a day-to-day basis. Eat your meals around the same time each day. Take what you learned from week 1 and improve your cooking in week 2. Be sure to incorporate variety so you don’t get bored. 

Shopping List For Week 2

Days 15-21: Real Change is Happening 

This is where some of the first signs of measurable progress happen. You notice that afternoon crash you used to deal with every day doesn’t roll around anymore. You sleep better and feel less bloated. You can find a mental flow state without caffeine.

The 30-day carnivore diet results are beginning to show up, and it’s exciting. Now it’s just a matter of fine-tuning. What cuts of meat make you feel the best? That journal you started with on day 1 with your baseline measurements should be getting updated at this point with how you feel.

Shopping List For Week 3

Days 22-30+: Why Stop Now? 

Home stretch, but it really doesn’t feel like you’re “pushing through to the finish line.” You’ve fully adapted and your digestive system is running efficiently on fat by now. You feel good. 

We’ll get into this in a moment, but now is the time to assess your progress and figure out next steps. You can even start introducing foods you cut out to see how your body responds. You should have your follow-up bloodwork scheduled by now if you don’t already. 

Shopping List For Week 4

What NOT to Do on the Carnivore Diet 30 Days  

We’ve seen so many people make the same mistakes that hold them back from really maximizing their 1-month carnivore diet results. You can avoid these in advance if you know what to look out for. 

• Don’t eat too lean: Fat is your friend, contrary to what American doctors have preached for decades. It’s the type of fat that matters. Healthy animal-based fats are going to be your body’s main source of energy, and they’re absolutely essential for digestion.
• Don’t restrict calories: The beauty of carnivore is that you can eat as much as you want as long as you stay within the confines of the diet. Eat when you’re hungry until you’re full.
• Don’t stress about daily or weekly changes: We know you’re excited to see 1-month carnivore diet results. But starting at the mirror or scale every morning is only going to discourage you and leave you wondering why you even wasted your time. It’s totally normal to see zero changes through the first 2-3 weeks. Then ALL the changes really start rolling in.
• Don’t complicate it: Part of what makes the 30-day carnivore diet so appealing is how simple it is. You can literally eat the same meals in weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4. Just keep rotating. 
• Don’t compare yourself to others: Joe Rogan saw amazing 1-month carnivore diet results. He’s also a unique specimen. So don’t compare yourself to him or anyone else, for that matter. 

Assessing Your 1-Month Carnivore Diet Results

So you made it 30 days - congratulations! Now it’s time to pull up those day 1 progress photos, those baseline measurements, and your bloodwork. 

Have your second bloodwork panel scheduled in advance so you’re ready to go in right after the 30th day and get an updated assessment of your inflammation markers, triglycerides, and fasting glucose. You can upload the before and after results into AI and have it tell you what improved and what didn’t.

Then you can use your own judgment to record your new baselines on a scale of 1-10. How much more mentally clear do you feel? Has your energy improved? Are you sleeping better? Does your body feel better? 

You can take your new photos and compare them side by side. Do you look leaner? Less bloated? We’d venture to guess the answer is yes, and yes. 

But here’s the thing - the carnivore diet simply doesn’t work for everyone! Be ruthlessly honest with yourself about how you feel. And if you didn’t notice an improvement, that’s still good data. At least you tried and found out. 

Now What? 

You’re at a crossroads. You’ve completed your 30-day carnivore diet meal plan. Do you keep going for the long haul, or call it good now and go back to your old ways? Your 1-month carnivore diet results will help answer this to some extent. If you saw impressive changes, why would you stop?

But, this is also an opportunity to reintroduce foods you cut out - one at a time. And obviously you’re not going to reintroduce sugar junk food again. That stuff is gone for good. But maybe you miss fruits. Or perhaps its nuts and seeds you feel is missing from your diet.

The whole point of carnivore is to remove sources of inflammation and digestive discomfort. This gets you to a brand new baseline. Then, you can add those foods back in. Do you still feel good after a few days? If the answer is yes, they were never the problem! 

Set Yourself Up For Success With Carnivore Snax 

Carnivore Snax makes the best snacks for a high-fat carnivore diet, carefully crafted from meat and salt. Not just any meat and salt, either. Meat sourced from the most elite, ethical regenerative farms in the nation, seasoned with Redmond’s Real Salt. 

They’re called meat pastries by our customers because they start out light and crispy before melting in your mouth, giving way to tantalizing flavors. There are so many amazing varieties to choose from, too, so you’ll never get bored during your 30-day carnivore diet meal plan. Chicken, pork loin, New York strip, brisket, lamb, wagyu - the list goes on and on.

No carnivore meal plan is complete without our carnivore chips. Get yours today and see what a difference they can make as you strive towards your 1-month carnivore diet results!

Frequently asked questions

What’s the toughest part of doing the carnivore diet for 30 days? 

The first week. Your body is going to scream for glucose when you take carbs out of the picture. 

What to expect after 30 days on a carnivore diet?

Weight loss, less bloating, less irritability, less discomfort, smoother energy, better mental clarity, and clearer skin. 

How much weight can you lose on a carnivore diet in 30 days?

5-15 lbs is normal for your 1-month carnivore diet results. Depends on how much excess body fat you have going into the 30-day carnivore diet challenge, though.

What should I eat on a 30-day carnivore diet meal plan?

Steak, ground beef, chicken, lamb, fish, wild game, eggs, and even dairy (if you tolerate it).

Should I add supplements to boost my 1-month carnivore diet results?

Not a bad idea. We have a full guide on the approved carnivore diet supplements. 

Sources

1. Bostock ECS, et al. "Consumer Reports of 'Keto Flu' Associated With the Ketogenic Diet." Frontiers in Nutrition, 2020;7:20. PMC
2. Volek JS, Phinney SD, et al. "Alternative Dietary Patterns for Americans: Low-Carbohydrate Diets." Nutrients, 2021;13(10):3299. PMC
3. Chinna-Meyyappan A, et al. "Effects of the ketogenic diet on cognition: a systematic review." Nutritional Neuroscience, 2023;26(12):1258-1278. PubMed
4. Moon J, Koh G. "Clinical Evidence and Mechanisms of High-Protein Diet-Induced Weight Loss." Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome, 2020;29(3):166-173. PMC