Courtney Luna had tried every diet in the book but found herself constantly slipping up and struggled to keep the pounds from piling on – until she tried the ‘lion diet’
A mum who was stuck yo-yo dieting for 25 years says she lost three stone by eating a “lion diet” of meat and butter – and says it is the “best thing to happen” to her.
Courtney Luna, 39, had tried every diet in the book but found herself constantly slipping up and struggled to keep the pounds from piling on.
The-mum-of-two decided to give a ‘lion diet’ a go – only eating meat and animal products – when her husband, Jeff, 41, saw someone doing it on TikTok.
She started by also eating fruit but quickly gave this up when she found herself over-indulging on berries.
Courtney has a pound of meat a day – typically beef – and snacks on pork rinds, meat sticks, boiled eggs and butter.
At her biggest Courtney was 13st 7lbs and a US size large but her carnivore diet has seen her drop to a 10st 3lbs and a US size eight.
She credits the diet to clearing up her acne prone skin and says it is the “best thing” to happen to her.
Courtney, a stay-at-home-mum and content creator, from Orange County, California, said: “I have a long history of yo-yo dieting. Nothing worked for me.
“I tried this as I felt so awful, it’s been the best thing to happen to me.
“My mental health has completely changed. My acne has cleared. I’m never gassy.
“I have the food freedom feeling. I’m not obsessively thinking about food anymore.
“Everyone said it’s a fad diet but for me this is my lifestyle. This is what works for me.”
Courtney started her animal-based diet in May 2022 – but was still eating fruit – after 25 years of yo-yo dieting.
But after five weeks she was still struggling to refrain herself from reaching for sugary fruit despite being “full and satisfied”.
Courtney said: “I found out I was an abstainer not a moderator.”
She decided to just stick to meat and animal products and claims she’s seen an amazing difference since.
She said: “People expect my farts to be rancid, but I don’t have any.
“It’s the longest I’ve gone without cheating.
“We can focus on being fit and strong for the kids.”
Courtney now eats a pound to a pound a half a day of meat and typically has two meals a day.
She said: “I have a lot of burger patties and steaks.
“Sometimes I make a carnivore pizza – made from pork rinds.”
She snacks on pork rinds, sour cream, meat sticks, jerky, cooked bacon, boiled eggs and sometimes fancies a bite of butter.
Courtney said: “Sometimes I take a bite of butter. I have a lot of butter in my diet.”
Courtney and her husband Jeff don’t have any carbohydrates or sugar in their diet and say their children – three and five – are “animal based”.
She creates recipes such as carnivore caramel candies by melting a 227g pack of butter before pouring it into moulds and letting them set in the fridge.