One of the most common questions I hear men ask when they start the carnivore diet is how much meat they should eat?
The second one is what happens if I eat too much meat?
Key TakeAways:
- How much meat to eat per meal and per day on the carnivore diet
- Why undereating—not overeating—is the main reason people fail carnivore
- What “comfortably full” actually means in real life
- A simple starting point for breakfast, lunch, and dinner portions
- How to adjust portions based on hunger and activity
- Why fat intake matters as much as protein during the first 30 days
If you have found yourself asking these same questions, that’s a good sign. It shows me you really care about getting this correct and you want it to work.
Based on what I’ve seen, most men don’t fail carnivore because they eat too much. They fail because they don’t eat enough.
Undereating is where the real problems start.
Overeating vs. Undereating
During the first 30 days, your goal is simple: eat when you are hungry and make sure you eat enough food.
At first, we shy away from this because it goes against everything we were taught growing up. For years, we heard:
- Eat less
- Move more
- Control portions
- Embrace hunger
Look at all the people around you everyday.
Clearly, this approach hasn’t worked.
Carnivore breaks this mindset. Whether you recognize it or not, you’ve been trained your whole life to eat like you’re always on a diet.
The first 30 days of carnivore are so important because they break that habit!
When you do this correctly, it’s very difficult to overeat on carnivore, especially after the first two weeks. Your body will naturally regulate what you eat once it gets real nutrition from real food.
The Rule: Eat Until You Are Comfortably Full
The rule on carnivore is simple. When you sit down to eat a meal don’t stop until you are comfortably full. Then stop.
No portions. No calorie control. No weighing your food.
This does not mean stuffed like Thanksgiving dinner.
It means you are satisfied enough so you’re not thinking about food 30 minutes later.
If you finish eating and shortly afterward you’re already thinking about what to eat next, you didn’t eat enough at that meal.
Feeling full is not a problem. Being constantly hungry is.
A Practical Starting Point for Meat Intake
For most people during the first 30 days, these amounts work well as a starting point. This is not a hard rule. STOP eating when YOU are FULL.
Typical Daily Meat Intake
Breakfast
Eat about 1/2 pound or less of meat
Lunch
Eat about 3/4 to 1 pound of meat
Dinner
Eat about 3/4 to 1 pound of meat
On some days you will eat more meat than this. There will be some days where you eat less than this. Both are fine. You are learning to eat when you are hungry and not eat from habit.
You will discover that how much you eat each day depends on:
- How active you were
- How much you moved
- How much you exercised
- How hungry you are
KEY POINT: These numbers are guidelines. They are not absolutes. Your hunger is yoru guide.
How I Structure My Meals
When I first started the carnivore diet, here’s how I set up my meals for the first 30 days. This is just the meat. I also ate eggs, bacon, butter, and put salt on everything.
Breakfast
- 6 – 8 ounces of ground beef
- 6 – 8 ounces of steak
- 8 – 10 slices of bacon
Lunch
- 1 to 1½ pounds of steak
- 3-4 8 ounce burgers
Dinner
- 1/2 – 3/4 pound of steak
- 2-3 8 ounce burgers
That’s was my baseline. It is a good baseline for you to follow also.
From there, I based what I actually ate on my hunger levels.
If I finished a meal and I was still hungry, I eat more. If I got full halfway through, I would stop. You can do the same.
The goal is not to eat a certain amount of meat. It’s to eat when you are hungry and not eat when you are not hungry.
Adjusting Portions Based on Hunger
For me, and you might find this also, dinner is where my appetite changes the most. Some days I am super hungry and some days I still feel full from lunch.
There are nights I plan to eat three 8 ounce burgers and after two of them, I’m full.
Other nights I eat all three burgers and I still want more. When that happens, I eat more:
- More meat
- More eggs
- More bacon
Do NOT fight your appetite on carnivore. Your appetite is the informaiton you need to make decisions.
Signs You’re Not Eating Enough
If you’re experiencing constant hunger, irritability, low energy, fatigue, or trouble sticking to the plan, they are not signs carnivore isn’t working.
They are signs you aren’t eat enough food at your meals.
Most men don’t quit carnivore. They starve themselves off of it.
Meat Choice Matters (Especially Early)
Your first 30 days of eating this way need special attention. There are several things going on while you are adapting to a high fat, zero carb diet. During this time beef needs to be your foundation to get the best results.
Beef provides your body with:
- Adequate protein
- Sufficient fat
- Better satiety
Meats to avoid during the first 30 days:
- chicken breast
- lean pork
- fish
- very lean cuts
I’m going to add this because I know soem of you will insist. If you eat chicken, choose thighs or fattier cuts.
Lean protein without enough fat will leave you hungry.
Don’t Be Afraid of Animal Fat
This is a very important point when you are eating a carnivore diet. Fat is not your enemy. You need to eat fat, since you will be getting most of your calories from eating fat.
Fat:
- increases satiety
- reduces hunger
- helps you stick to the diet
This is why I STRONGLY RECOMMEND beef only for the first 30 days. After that you can rotate through chicken, pork, fish, etc.
If you eat a meal with steak, eggs, and bacon and you’re still hungry, add more fat with butter or egg yolks. Change to fattier cuts of beef. Choose chuck steak instead of sirlion.
Animal fat will not make you fat, but a lack of fat will make it harder for you to stick to this eating style and you will quit early.
Meal Frequency (Quick Reminder)
I believe meal frequency is as important as what you are eating at your meal. There are many opinions on how many meals you should eat each day.
The bottom line is when you a following a carnivore diet, you need to let hunger dictate when you eat. Simply meaning, if you get hungry two times a day then eat twice. If you get hungry four times a day then eat four meals.
It is very easy for men to be confused about this. And there is a valid reason behind this. The processed food we have been eating all of our lives has messed up our hormones. Our bodies need time to remember how they are supposed to function.
I remember when I first started and would feel hungry all the time. Then as time passed my hunger settled down, became manageble, and then went away.
It will take you a couple of weeks of feeling topsy turvy before everything settles down.
Here is what I want you to do for the first 30 days. You need to start by eating three meals per day: breakfast, lunch, dinner. This is your baseline frequency.
This is where you start. After each meal pay attention to how you feel and how long it takes for hunge to come return.
If you get hungry a couple of hours after eating it is a sign you did not eat enough. Eat another meal right then. Not a snack. It doesn’t have to be a big meal, but eat protein and fat like a ground beef and eggs or steak and eggs.
For your next meal increase your portion size and make it a larger meal. Your goal is to be able to eat breakfast and not get hungry again until lunch. Same with lunch and dinner.
The rule is simple.
- At each meal eat until you are full.
- If you clean your plate and still feel hungry, eat more.
- If you get full before you finish your plate, stop eating.
- If you get hungry shortly after eating, you did not eat enough.
Easy Peasy.
The biggest mistake you can make on the carnivore diet is undereating.
Eating enough food will help your body adapt, regulate appetite, and stabilize energy.
Most men I know gravitate toward eating two meals a day. This is how I eat, but I did not start this way. I tend to get hungry around 12:00 and 6-7:00. But, if I am hungry in the morning, I go ahead and eat breakfast.
TL;DR
- Eat beef, bacon, butter, and eggs
- Don’t eat chicken or fish
- Start by eating three meals a day
- Eat until you are full
- Learn to eat only when hungry
You got this. Stay Strong!
