Doctors might warn you off the controversial carnivore diet but I’ve lost 80kg since swapping junk food for meat – and at 39 have a better libido and more energy than my 20s

After years of yo-yo dieting, Boue Marks decided to try one of the most controversial eating regimes around.

He set out to cut virtually everything except meat and eggs for a minimum of 100 days.

It was an extreme experiment, but the 39-year-old Brisbane local said adopting an almost entirely carnivore diet has transformed not only his weight, but also his mindset, libido and relationship with food.

At 6ft 3in (190cm) tall, Boue estimates he weighed more than 180kg (396 lb) at his heaviest, although he will never know the true figure because he admits his scales maxed out at 170kg (375 lbs).

More than five months later, he is hovering just below 100kg, which for the marketing professional is the lightest he’s been since his late teens.

‘I’m approaching the 99.9kg, which is the first major goal,’ Boue told Daily Mail.

His previous diet was dominated by takeaway, ice cream, chocolate, lollies and chips, while food had become so intertwined with his emotions that he would instinctively reach for something sweet whenever he felt stressed.

But in April, after years of losing weight only to pile it back on again, Boue decided enough was enough and committed to 100 days of carnivore while documenting every step of the experiment on social media.

Yet while his dramatic physical transformation is what initially catches the eye, Boue claims the restrictive regime has also quietened his constant thoughts about food, improved his focus and even produced one particularly unexpected benefit in the bedroom.

‘I’ve definitely noticed an increase in libido since carnivore,’ he said.

‘This diet really clears the mind so you can think clearly. I feel super focused, alert and mentally sharp throughout the day.’

Having struggled with his weight for almost his entire life, Boue revealed he hadn’t tipped the scales at under 100kg since before his 18th birthday.

‘I just had way too many calories for how little I was working out.’

He had successfully lost weight several times before, including getting down to 130kg five years ago, but eventually found himself slipping back into the same habits and binge eating.

‘I think that it’s very easy to maintain discipline for a short amount of time. Everyone can do a three-week diet, but it’s hard to stick to.’

Determined to make himself accountable this time, Boue began documenting his progress on Instagram, knowing it would be harder to give up if other people were following along.

He also chose carnivore because its strict rules removed what he calls the ‘monkey chatter’ in his head around food and ‘decision fatigue’ that had derailed previous diet attempts.

Instead of debating whether he should eat an apple, a pie, chicken, salad or steak, his choices became deliberately limited, plus, he just really likes meat.

Of everything he gave up, however, ice cream was by far the hardest.

‘You could tell that I was made of just ice cream before,’ he joked.

What he eats in a typical day

Despite describing his diet as carnivore, Boue is quick to acknowledge he isn’t a strict purist, estimating he follows it around ’98 per cent’ of the time.

He doesn’t eat fruit or vegetables, but does consume Greek yoghurt, a lower-sugar barbecue sauce and vitamin supplements, while also taking fibre tablets day-to-day.

Breakfast consists of four scrambled eggs with Mingle Better’s Tangy BBQ Sauce ($5.95), which contains just 0.6g of sugar per serve, while lunch is half a Nando’s barbecue chicken and dinner is two beef patties from a $13.99 four-pack of Coles Grill’d Signature Beef Burgers. 

He also enjoys one Pauls Plus Protein Yoghurt Pouch Lemon Cheesecake ($3.15) to satisfy his sweet cravings after dinner, even though it has no added sugar.

Rather than cooking everything at home, he walks to collect much of his food each day, helping him clock approximately 10,000 steps, while he also completes one personal training session a week.

‘I walk to the food shops so that I’m actually getting exercise.’

When he first started, Boue said the weight began falling quickly, with a couple of kilograms (4.4lbs) disappearing during the first week before eventually settling at roughly one kilogram (2.2lbs) a week.

However, changing his diet so dramatically also brought some unexpected effects.

He initially found it harder to fall asleep because he felt unusually alert, while constipation also became an issue as his digestion adjusted to the dramatic dietary change, prompting him to take fibre tablets daily. 

His sex drive, meanwhile, has noticeably increased, although Boue said he hasn’t experienced the bad breath often associated with very low-carbohydrate diets.

The challenge isn’t over

Perhaps the biggest shock came when he recently looked back at himself in footage and old photos.

For years, he had avoided being photographed or appearing on camera and hadn’t fully appreciated how dramatically his appearance had changed until revisiting his ‘day-one’ diet videos.

‘I had such a moon face, but I look so different now,’ he reminisced about his noticeably rounder face shape in April this year.

After completing his original 100-day challenge in July, Boue decided to continue to 200 days, but insists he doesn’t believe carnivore is the answer for everyone.

‘If GLP-1’s [weight loss injections] are the answer for you, maybe that’s the move. If going vegan is the answer for you, that’s the move. If carnivore is the answer, that’s the move,’ he said.

‘I don’t think that it’s about one size fits all.’

And for him, the bigger challenge will be proving that this transformation lasts. 

After years of successfully losing weight only to regain it, he eventually plans to move away from such restrictive eating and focus on maintaining his results without falling back into his old habits.

‘In six months I want to be able to make a video about the fact that I actually maintained this weight.’

What the experts say about the carnivore diet 

Despite Boue’s remarkable transformation, health experts have warned that the restrictive carnivore diet can pose significant health risks, particularly when followed long-term.

Australian dietitian Hayley Stathis strongly advises against eliminating entire food groups, warning that doing so can affect digestion and deprive the body of essential nutrients.

‘The carnivore diet is a ridiculous idea and an extremely dogmatic approach that I would never advise anyone to follow,’ she says.

‘Without vegetables and fruits, people aren’t getting enough fibre which causes issues with digestion and gut microbiome.’

Meanwhile, nutritionist and exercise scientist Amelia Phillips warns that the diet can dramatically increase LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in some people, potentially raising their risk of cardiovascular disease.

‘This can increase heart disease risk and considering heart disease is the number one killer of Australians, understanding where your risk levels sit is very important before embarking on carnivore diet,’ she says.

Given Boue has not undergone blood tests during his transformation, the impact on his cholesterol and other health markers remains unknown.

‘If something is too extreme and cuts out whole food groups like vegetables, then avoid it at all costs,’ Hayley warns.

Anyone considering significant dietary changes should consult their GP or an accredited practising dietitian beforehand.