My story so far
My name is Nick. As a Greek, I'm lucky: the terms of medicine, biochemistry and the related sciences have ancient Greek roots, so I can follow and understand the lectures of the community's leading creators with ease — even though I have no medical training.
My personal story began after 2020. During covid I gained 22 kilos (about 48 pounds), and then came the struggle to lose them. I followed all the usual advice — CICO, “exercise more, eat less,” more plant-based — and had very little success. At the same time I was dealing with hair loss and joint pain; to be able to work, I was spending a serious amount every month on massage to relieve my neck and lower back.
Searching for information on YouTube, I was lucky to find Sten Ekberg and Dr. Robert Lustig first. Then came Dr. Ken Berry, Dr. Anthony Chaffee, Dr. Paul Mason, Dr. Ben Bikman, Dr. Nick Norwitz. A special mention to Professor Bart Kay: with his solid, robust scientific training and experience, he comments on and critiques information in his caustic way, and presents the scientific facts as they are — not as the well-known, baseless “theologies” would have them. He is the person who helped me overcome deep fears around food and health; the indoctrination of the era about what we should and shouldn't eat was firmly rooted in me, having grown up in the 80s and 90s.
The knowledge these creators gave me first pushed me toward a ketogenic diet. The first results came quickly: I lost weight, felt better, my physical pain eased — though it didn't disappear, as it would later. But when you have a thirst for knowledge, you keep going. Watching a video by the excellent Dr. Ken Berry, who urged us to start a 90-day challenge, I began seriously considering the carnivore diet. Dr. Anthony Chaffee had already set me thinking with his point about the ancestral diet, and Dr. Ken Berry's proper human diet completed the puzzle.
The next morning, looking into my fridge, I saw I didn't even have the 20 grams of carbs I was keeping to on keto. All I had was (!) meat, eggs and bacon. That was the moment it clicked: I have everything I need for carnivore — let's start.
The thirty days passed quickly. I had no issues with cravings or sugar addiction — keto had already eased and solved all that. And I will never forget, as long as I live, the experience of the thirtieth day. I woke up in a state of shock: rested, zero joint pain, zero pain in my lower back and neck, and with an unfamiliar calm. My brain was broadcasting a “we're okay — you can smile.” Shock. A genuinely unfamiliar feeling. Yes, I knew it would happen — from the thousands of hours of podcasts and videos I'd watched over the previous years. But it was the days that followed, when I noticed this mental calm more deeply, and the appetite to go outside and do things.
For years I had suffered from varying degrees of depression, ruminating thoughts, panic attacks, wrong decisions on crucial matters, very little composure. Now I'm more optimistic and confident; daily life isn't a burden, and I stay functional without feeling tired for 16-18 hours.
By now we're in 2025, when — following a pure carnivore diet — I had these first outstanding results. Then came new clothes, some muscle appearing on my arms without much effort, cycling and swimming as routine. The first 90 days passed easily — Dr. Ken Berry would be proud of me for completing the challenge. That was 14 months ago. Along with those months passed the initial resentment and anger over the wrong information I'd been given for decades, and my urge to go out and shout it on every corner: it isn't age that makes you sick — it's the diet.
Reaching today, that thirtieth day feels like a mere prelude to what I experience now. I've moved past the matter of body weight, and the mental calm — combined with mental clarity and incredible levels of energy — has become everyday life, no longer a surprise or a passing phase. I'm 58, and I work six months every summer as a night manager: a nightly shift in a five-star hotel by the sea. The shield that carnivore gives me against the humidity and the wrong rhythms — I sleep by day, work by night — I can't describe more briefly than this: I have the body I had at 20 and the energy of my 30s.
Alongside the night shift, I run my own studio, Noustelos Studio — this bot and this site were created there. And one important detail: every day on my shift, while I check spreadsheets and the main courante, I listen to 2-3 interviews / testimonials from Dave Mac's channel. It's the healthiest addiction I've ever had. Dave Mac's contribution to the community is enormous — we all owe him a big thank you for his work. His interviews have given me a lot of courage, and knowledge in fields I didn't expect. So, if Dave Mac asked me, my answer would be: there is no chance I'll ever change this lifestyle, for any reason.