The TRUTH About My Weight Gain No One Saw Coming

Today is a little bit different. It's the first time I'm not doing a recipe video on a Saturday, but this one is even more important. It's probably the most important video I've ever done. I need to be real with all of you guys that watch my channel today. Some of you have probably noticed that as of late, I have not really looked or acted quite the same. And I know through comments and messages and different things that are going on in the chats, some of you guys think I fell off the carnivore wagon. Some of you think I've been cheating. I've been eating stuff off camera that is not part of my recipes, not part of my carnivore diet. You're right about something. There is something I haven't told you. And today, I'm going to tell you about it. [Music] [Music] You see guys, here's the truth. What you think has been going on is probably not what's actually going on. And the reality is, I didn't stop carnivore. I have not been eating junk food. I'm not cheating behind the scenes. And I'm definitely not a fraud because carnivore is a real thing for me. And I've seen the comments that are coming in from different people. I bet he's sneaking carbs off camera. See, I told you that carnivore diet doesn't work. He looks tired. There's no way he's eating a carnivore diet. He still has so much weight to lose. You know, he's cheating. I've heard it all from a bunch of people that think they know what's going on. And the truth is, my diet never changed. But my whole world did. The last 8 months or so, I've been dealing with something really difficult to go through. I'm really glad to say that I finally received the diagnosis of all of the work and the evaluations that I've been doing. It turns out I'm autistic. I also have ADHD and I have OCD and I am bipolar and I have personality disorder and I have CPTTSD from 30 plus years of being undiagnosed neurode divergent and the trauma that trying to figure out how to fit into the neurotypical world has caused. These are all battles that I have been silently fighting my entire life and nobody would know that that's all been going on behind the scenes for me. To be perfectly honest, for a long time I didn't even understand what was really going on behind the scenes. What I do know is that carnivore has done more than just help me lose weight. It has completely changed my life because carnivore is the reason that I am proud to say that I am managing all of these mental health struggles and I am completely unmedicated and I am able to function at mostly a normal level more so than I probably ever have in my life. So when I gained some weight and everybody saw it online, it wasn't because I cheated. It wasn't because I'm eating junk food off camera. It wasn't because I'm a fraud who's not really doing carnivore. It definitely wasn't because carnivore is a failing diet or a fad or something that doesn't work. It's because for the first time in my life, I found stability for my brain. And it has a lot of healing to do. My brain has finally found regulation, which is a really big deal for someone with autism. And only now from this place of being much more regulated and understanding my brain a lot better am I able to finally do the tweaks and take on the challenges necessary to continue improving my health in terms of weight loss but also in terms of a lot of other things going on in my body. Now I'm curious. Some of you may be sitting there thinking Chris is autistic. Well, yeah, of course he is. That makes total sense. And if that's the case, I wish y'all would have told me so I would have known a lot sooner. And some of you may be going, "Chris doesn't seem autistic. There's no way you're autistic. That's not true." Or you're shocked. I would love to know. Put it in the comments down below. Which one are you? Are you one of those people that is shocked to find out that I'm autistic? Or are you one of those people who thinks you kind of knew that all along about me? So, let me tell you just very briefly kind of how we got here and how I ended up getting this diagnosis. because you or someone you know may actually be in a situation where you relate to a lot of what I'm going to start talking about and you might want to find out is it possible that you should have this diagnosis as well. For decades I thought something was just broken in me. I didn't fit in. I didn't relate to other people. I tried really hard to be what everybody else thinks you're supposed to be, says you're supposed to be. act the way you're told to behave the way you're supposed to think the things and do the things and work and organize and everything the way that everybody says you're supposed to. And it just never clicked. It was so crazy because I could hyperfocus on something one day like a machine and I could do all of these things like come up with the idea for carnivore mashed potatoes and then I crash the very next day and I'm in burnout and I can't figure out why I don't have the self-discipline and the just stamina to get through the things that need to be done or why I could be so good at one thing and then turn around and go to do something that seems so simple for everybody else and why I would struggle so bad and I felt really alone. And truthfully, my whole life I've felt this way. I have felt like I don't fit in and I don't connect and I don't understand other people and no matter how hard I try, I just can't be the same as everybody else. I would have these emotional swings and I would feel nothing at all about one circumstance and then I would feel all of the emotion about something else and I would have these internal conflicts and internal meltdowns that no one on the outside would see. But my adrenaline would be through the roof. My cortisol is out of control. My heart would be beating. And I would be struggling trying to figure out how everybody else is holding this all together, thinking that I'm broken. I'm the failure. Something is wrong with me. And honestly, it's no surprise as a result of all of this that I ended up being 400 lb. Because when you are struggling that much emotionally and you are feeling that disconnected from the world, you seek dopamine. And it is very well documented that people with autism and ADHD and OCD and any of these other neurode divergent conditions are very typically highly addictive personalities and they get addicted to things like food and drugs and alcohol and nicotine and all of these other horrible habits in their life that ruin their health both mentally and physically. And I was so struggling with that. I relate to that so much to be so addicted to the dopamine hit of the food. So, it's really not surprising to me now to see how I got myself in the position of being 400 lb because I was medicating against things I didn't even know I was struggling with. So Ash actually came to me one day after having coffee with a friend of ours who is a person that was diagnosed with autism and they were talking and she was telling her about this whole experience of what it's like to be autistic. And as Ash was listening, she thought, "This is my husband. This is what he is struggling with. He says these things almost verbatim, almost word for word. everything that I have told Ash for years, this friend of ours was saying the exact same things about what it's like to be autistic. And so Ash did some research and she came home and she sat down with me and she said, "Hey, I want to talk with you about something." She was very nervous that I was going to be really upset by this and she said, "Have you ever considered that you might be autistic?" And it was the weirdest thing because I stopped and I looked at her and I said, "Yeah, I've actually wondered that for a long time, but I thought it was just me. Why do you say that? And after a big sigh of relief to realize that I wasn't angry or offended or something by what she was saying, we had a really good long talk and I started doing self assessments at home. Every assessment I took, I scored really high on the assessment and the advice that I was given was you should probably go get an actual official professional diagnosis with a psychologist so that you can see if this is in fact a real thing. And based on the scores that I got on those self- assessments, we were pretty much convinced at the beginning that I was autistic. But I also knew that if I was going to talk publicly about this, I needed to make sure I had an actual diagnosis. This is a doctor sitting down with you and evaluating you and studying you, telling you, yes, you are in fact autistic. I'm really glad that we did that. Part of the thing that comes along with this is there are so many other conditions that co-occur including ADHD, OCD. I also found out the bipolar and the personality disorder and the CPTTSD because of the trauma that is induced by going through life thinking you don't fit in. It's it's a very complex formula of things that all tend to go together. And I knew that if I was going to come online and talk about this so that you guys could understand me a little better and that maybe I can put out information that would help other people as well, especially as it relates to the keto and carnivore way of life, which we're going to talk about. I needed to have an actual diagnosis. So this isn't just me saying this. This is a licensed professional saying, "Yes, these are the things you are dealing with." So we went through this process and it was very frustrating. It is expensive. It is difficult to get done. It requires a lot of executive function, phone calls, emails, keeping track of dates and times. And people that are neurode divergent like me, we can really struggle with that stuff. So, thank God for my wife who was so sweet as to walk by my side through this whole process and help me with things like phone calls, emails, scheduling appointments. She is the rock that keeps this all together for me. And there's so many things that I would never be able to do without her. So, it was a long and arduous process. I went through a lot of testing, hours of work and evaluation and all of these things. It was very expensive, but we thought it was worth the investment of money because not only would it be validating for me, but if I have an official diagnosis, I can then go online and talk about this. It needs to be something I can back up with actual data and an actual diagnosis. And that is why I knew I needed to get an actual formal diagnosis. And it turns out that was a really good idea because I didn't even think about things like OCD or bipolar or any of these other things because again I'm managing it without medication at this point so well on carnivore that I didn't even think that that stuff might be also part of this whole mix and the psychologist was able to help us figure that all out. So that much clearer and broader picture of what I'm dealing with has made this a much more successful endeavor to figure out how are we going to handle this. So suddenly I get this diagnosis after a long process of testing and all of the pieces click together and everything finally makes sense for me. This explains the struggles, the routines, the patterns that I see, why I can think about food the way that I do to come up with the crazy recipes that I do. the internal meltdowns I'm going through that I didn't realize other people don't go through this and no one on the outside is seeing this because when it comes to my autistic meltdowns, they mostly happen internally. It is very rare that anything actually comes out as a meltdown for me. But my brain goes through that meltdown process. It just does it mostly internally where no one ever sees it. And part of that is because I have spent my whole life not knowing this about myself, but knowing that I couldn't let that stuff out and have that be socially acceptable. So, I tried to bury it. I've learned to mask that. I always felt like I was walking uphill with a backpack full of bricks trying to do things that seemed so simple for everyone else. And now I finally understand why. having autism and ADHD and OCD and all of these things and doing what I do. This is the part most people don't get. When you are living with ADHD, AUDHD, that's autism and ADHD together, plus OCD plus bipolar, all of these things. Your brain runs hot. It is constantly running at high speed, high temperature. the stress hormones that are related to your brain running hot. Things like cortisol, those all stay at a constantly elevated state. Trauma, sensory overload, internal meltdown, all of these things are going on inside my brain on a daily basis, and my stress hormones have been through the roof. and the anxiety and the depression symptoms and all of the stuff that comes with that has been so uncontrolled for 30 plus years has been high high high levels of stress and cortisol and a lot of it most people didn't even see from the outside because as the psychologist put it I have an extremely high IQ apparently because of that I am able to make up for any of the inconsistencies or any of the shortcomings of these conditions And he essentially said, "Your brain can work so fast. You can make it look like you're normal when you're struggling on the inside. And that's why all of your life, no one has ever picked up on what you're dealing with. My body is basically stuck in survival mode when I'm going through that." And every day is fight or flight response. And do you know what happens when your cortisol stays high and you're going through trauma and you're dealing with stress and you're not healing from all of these things that you're dealing with? Your body holds on to body fat. You gain some weight even if you don't change anything about your diet. Your sleep is screwed up. So, you can't heal properly. You can't recover. You can't regulate. You cannot keep it all together and your body becomes inflamed and it holds on to extra food as fat and it starts creating more and more of that. So, if you've seen me gain a little bit of weight and you've seen me look swollen and you've seen me look like I'm struggling, this is why when my body is doing that and it's gaining weight, I'm not failing. I am struggling for survival. And for a long time, I didn't know why. healing your nervous system when you've been through three decades of this. It comes with a cost and it takes some time and your body has to do some readjustment and unfortunately some weight gain and some inflammation has been part of that. But the good news is my brain has stabilized. I am finally regulated. Now I'm able to tackle the problem. Now that I know what I'm working with, I am actually working to shred back down to my ideal body weight for the first time in years and years and years. And I'm able to finally do that because my brain is in a place where I can actually handle this because now I know what I've been struggling with my entire life. And once I know what I'm dealing with and I get that under control, it makes doing something about it a lot easier. I guess what I'm trying to say is I've sort of realized I didn't fail. Rather, I have leveled up and I now understand what it takes for me to get healthy. And most of that is because of the brain. I faced one of the hardest truths I've had to look at in my life in a very long time. It's been a really big adjustment to understand everything about my life through the lens of what my brain is going through and why I've been struggling and why things didn't make sense to me. Because of that, I am here stronger and cleaner and more determined and resolved than I have ever been. I am the best Chris Cooking Nashville I have ever been up here. And this will turn into the best Chris Cooking Nashville I've ever been. Now that I have the ability to regulate and I can bring my cortisol down and I'm sleeping properly and I'm able to truly heal, I'm not ashamed of any of this. I don't feel that there should be any stigma around these mental health issues. I think there are a lot of things that we should be able to talk about openly because this is where my health really needs to start. And yes, carnivore worked for me for a very long time because it was such a drastic change to what had been going on in my body. But there was so much else happening in my mind, in my brain that I could not regulate. And as things would get out of control, eating the exact same food, I would end up putting on extra weight and inflammation. And I know I'm not the only one. There are millions of you out there who are struggling and fighting some silent battle. You are fighting silently. And I am here to tell you that I see you. I hear you. And I am here for you. Because I know what it is like to feel alone and lost and like you are struggling and like you are not good enough. But let me tell you something. You are good enough. You are valuable enough. And I am so sorry that you are fighting a battle silently. But please don't fight it silently anymore. Let me try to share my story to hopefully inspire you to figure out what the next stage is of yours as well. And if telling this part of my story can do that for you, I will share all of this shamelessly and unapologetically because we are not perfect. We are human beings. You're going to deal with things like weight and health issues and things that the world wants to make you feel embarrassed about. And you know what? You don't need to be embarrassed and you don't need to feel shame. It is okay to struggle. Just reach out and let me help you. Let anyone here in the community help you. Find people around you locally, in your family, in your community, wherever you need to go. Find the help because you are valuable enough to be worth the help. And you do not need to be ashamed about the things you struggle with. I didn't know that for a long time. And I really struggled for a long time, very clearly. And I still have days that I struggle. And that's okay. That's why I'm talking to you guys and that's why I'm doing this. Now, to the people who have told me that I'm cheating and I'm a fat carnivore and go carnivore harder and I need to do this and I need to do that and I'm not doing everything the right way and clearly I'm lying and I'm a fraud and I'm cheating and I'm all this other stuff. You think you know me because of a thumbnail picture or a scale number or a video that you've watched on YouTube, but the reality is you don't. You never did. And unless you get over that arrogant, judgmental attitude, you never will. But those of you who do know me, who do understand, and who do follow along on this journey with me, you know, I have never given up at this. And I have never backed down from doing what I know is best for me. And here's the reality for the people that think I'm not eating carnivore and I'm just pretending. I literally don't have the option because who I was before carnivore is not who I am today. And even though I wasn't regulated, carnivore has made such a difference in my brain. It is the thing that has kept me from going down the path of jumping off a bridge because my life was so out of control and I was so disregulated that I didn't have anything left. You know, people on the internet like to take other people like me or other people who silently struggle and they love to judge and they love to act like something is wrong with you and you're not good enough and they like to isolate you so that they can bully you and beat you up and tell you what you're doing wrong and call you names and call you fat and tell you you're a fraud and all of this stuff. But it's a bunch of hot air from a bunch of arrogant people who don't know anything about what you are actually going through on a daily basis. What your life is like, what your silent struggle is. Now, this is not about a pity party for me. This is about a call to action for those of you out there who are not like those people who know the struggle I've been through or know someone who's going through a struggle very similar. Reach out to those people and help them because you do not know what people are fighting against. And there is such an epidemic around the world of people dealing with mental health issues and physical issues. Their bodies and their brains need healing and they need care and they need support. So, do you want to help people or do you just want to be a jerk and kick them while they're down? For those of you that I know don't want to be that jerk that kicks people while they're down, reach out to people that need help because you might be the reason that they stick around one more day and they try one more time. you might be the reason that they're still here in a month. It's really important that we reach out and we help people who are going through things and that are struggling and we offer support. That is why my channel exists and that is why I do what I do and why I do it so passionately. And now that you guys know that I'm autistic, it's also why I do it so bluntly. I'm very black and white. I'm very justice focused and I have a lot of empathy for people who are struggling because for so many years it has been me and no one ever knew. You might be struggling, but you are not broken. You are not weak. And most importantly, as long as I have the ability to have my channel, you are not alone. That's what I'm doing. That's why I'm here. And that's why I'm telling you my story. The truth is carnivore did not just change my body. It has changed my brain much for the better. Mind you, when Ash tells people that I am not the same person that I was even four or five years ago, this is what she's talking about. out. And when I talk about carnivore reversed my anxiety and my depression and all of this, a lot of that is because it fixed a big portion of my dysregulation. And it didn't fix all of it. Clearly, I was still struggling with things. It's why I started gaining weight again. But it fixed a lot of the major issues that allowed me to start on a journey towards fixing my health permanently. I'm going to be adding on my channel here a weekly shred update. And I'm going to tell you guys about my carnivore shred protocol that I am using on a weekly basis to work to get back down to my ideal body weight, which I haven't seen in I don't even know how long. And so far, it is working. 13 lbs of inflammation in the first week of being on that. That tells you that my brain is firing the right way and things are working again. So you guys watch the channel for that. So now that the truth is out there, this is just the beginning. This is a new chapter in Chris Cooking Nashville and I want you guys to buckle up because the ride is going to get better and better. I'm going to get the rest of my health under control and I'm going to encourage and inspire as many of you as I possibly can to do the same in whatever that looks like for you. And as always, I'm going to encourage you guys to eat your meat, love your life, and now to live it loud. Whatever that looks like for you, live it loud just the way you are, just like I'm going to. Now, if this part of my story is Chris Cooking Nashville has connected with you in some way, I want to tell you about something really cool. If you would like to see more than just what I cook, you want to see my life, you want to see me pursuing joy and the happiness and the good health and the success and all of the things that I'm trying to do with my life, not just food. All of my life, everything that I am doing, I have a channel that I have started, a brand new channel called that Chris. I'm going to link it in the description box down below and I'll put it up here on the screen for you as well. You can go to that channel and you can subscribe if you like this kind of stuff because I'm going to be sharing with you what it is like to pursue joy, success, all of these things in my life, taking care of my health holistically, not just about food and keto carnivore stuff as a neurode divergent guy with autism and ADHD and OCD and bipolar and all of this. This is where I'm going to be sharing a bunch of behind the scenes of my life. just random daily tasks. My daily vlogs. What do we do when we go out and try to have passion for living life? What do I do when I take the dog out for a walk and Ash and I go someplace for fun? What is it like to be a musician? Any of these different things that go into my life as Chris. Not Chris Cooking Nashville specifically related to keto and carnivore, but just that Chris. That's what that channel is going to be about. And I'm really excited to share it with you guys because truthfully, this is me being as authentically me as I could ever be. And it's going to be interesting because this channel is one of the first places I get to publicly really show you guys who I am, the things I'm passionate about, the things I love beyond just keto and carnivore. And I love keto and carnivore. And I love cooking. And I'm still going to be doing all that here on Chris Cooking Nashville. But I want to share a little bit about the rest of my life with you guys as well. I'll be dropping videos on that channel very very soon. This and a whole series of the autism and ADHD and all this kind of stuff informational videos will be here on Chris Cooking Nashville, but I'm also going to put them over there so that I can start reaching out and encouraging people in the neurode divergent community to consider things like low carb, keto, carnivore, how to regulate, how to do these things because I'm going through it. I want to share it with other people who may be struggling trying to do the exact same thing. So, I'm going to do a series of these types of videos on this channel talking about autism and ADHD and all of this as it relates mental health-wise to a proper human diet. Also going to put those videos over there. And then I'm going to be starting to do a bunch of lifestyle videos and vlogs and behind the scenes and everything on the That Chris channel. So, go subscribe to That Chris because over at that Chris, we're going to live it loud just like I told you guys to. I'm autistic. I have ADHD. I have OCD. I have bipolar. I have CPTTSD. I have personality disorder. I have all the letters. I have the whole alphabet of neurode divergence and all of the weird, wild, and interesting things that come along with that. One of the most amazing moments was when I actually talked to Dr. Barry and a little live studio audience we had about this because I thanked him for the work that he does because without his help I probably wouldn't be here because it was the first piece in my brain that clicked into place and it was all because of the work that Dr. Barry does. And I got really choked up and teared up because if it weren't for him I don't think I would be here and I would not be the man that my wife loves. I would not be the person you guys all know as Chris Cooking Nashville through my recipes and my videos. This is who I've always wanted to be, but it was a struggle to try to figure out how to get there. He has helped so many millions of people and I'm just trying to do a little bit in that same way, trying to share my story so that it can help people who are silently struggling and feel alone and feel disconnected and feel like I did where you don't have anybody and you don't know how to tell people why you're struggling. There's some really lonely days and there's some really hard times for me and there's been a lot of my life where I don't really feel like I fit in and this is the first opportunity I've ever had to feel like I really fit in and I appreciate you guys a lot for that. I finally have a place to fit in. So, no, I'm not cheating on carnivore and I'm not cheating on my diet and doing things off camera where I'm a fraud and any of this other stuff. I'm I'm just trying to get my brain under control. That's why I wanted to tell you guys about my story and that's why I wanted you to know what's been going on behind the scenes because it's um not easy, but it's important and we're going to keep doing it. So, if you want to see what that looks like, go over to the channel Vat Chris. I'd love to see you over there and you'll get to see the fun and crazy and exciting side and maybe sometimes the the difficult and the struggle side. I'm just going to be really open and honest over there and share things and there's a lot of people that need help and we're going to do everything we can to help as many of them as possible. So, I'm sorry there was no recipe video this week, but I feel like this is a lot more important than any recipe I could ever create because somewhere out there as someone who is on the edge and struggling, and me sharing this part of my story might be the thing that helps them take one step back in the right direction and find a place to fit in just like I did. I really appreciate you guys watching. Eat your meat, love your life, and deal with all of that. I'll see you guys soon for a bunch of interesting updates, I'm sure.

I gained some weight and many viewers thought I quit my carnivore diet or was lying all along. But the truth of my health struggle is much deeper. It's autism, ADHD, OCD, Bipolar, and more! Turns out I've been fighting my own brain — and carnivore saved my life without meds. In this video I reveal my neurodivergent diagnosis, explain why weight gain happened despite not eating carbs, and share how carnivore helps me fight for mental health, healing, and strength. And I share what's next now that I know what I'm dealing with. Watch till the end to see how deep this really goes. This is the most personal video I’ve ever made, and I hope it inspires you to keep going. 👉 Want to go beyond food and see how I chase joy, success, and healing as a neurodivergent guy? Subscribe to my new channel That Chris here: @ThatChris1988 https://www.youtube.com/@ThatChris1988 Need support and a community to have your back during your silent battles? Join The Band here: https://chris-cooking-nashville-band-members.mn.co/share/AaxOGQlS_8fEzant?utm_source=manual Eat your meat, love your life! And LIVE IT LOUD!!! I love all of you... Chris 😊🥩🧈🥓🍳 Chris Cooking Nashville Website: https://www.chriscookingnashville.com/ Chris Cooking Nashville Recipe Cards: https://www.chriscookingnashville.com/recipe-cards Chris Cooking Nashville Studios Channel: www.youtube.com/@CCNStudio Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ChrisCookingNashville Chris Cooking Nashville Shop: https://chriscookingnashville.myspreadshop.com/ Chris Cooking Nashville Amazon Shop: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chriscookingnashville?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_aipsfshop_aipsfchriscookingnashville_35180EYYJYA4QS740CGF ❗️Important Note: I get a commission every time you purchase a product through my Amazon affiliate link. This does not change the price for you. Keto Chow Link: https://www.ketochow.xyz/ref/chriscookingnashville Discount - 10% Off Knife Saga Knives https://knifesaga.com/?ref=ChrisCookingNashville 10% Discount Code: CHRISCOOKINGNASHVILLE 00:00 Intro 02:08 The Truth Comes Out 04:48 How Did I Get Here? 12:32 The Struggle I Face 15:47 Facing The Truth 22:28 The Future Starts Here 23:27 A New Opportunity For You 26:16 The Final Thoughts 27:32 Raw Emotion And Tears