Hello.

I'm not sure if this topic (have not seen it) is out there, but I feel like telling my story (a common story I think...).

First my genetic history. I'm 6'1", been in North America since 1735. Always, been hard workers from the land. Meat and fat, some veggies for many generations.

Me... I became a vegetarian for a few years, and became very very skinny, with no muscle mass.

Then, became a "mixed" vegetarian and meat, but few meat. Started to eat grain products, and became fat.

I became BiG and TAll; but mostly fat.

Then, I did Atkin diet. Lost some weight, but was 'less big, less fat, but nothing special.

I lost fat, but I did not have any muscles, underneath the fat. So... While I lost fat, I did not have a very strong body. Less weight, but not soooo proud.

After more time, I became so skinny, it was not even funny anymore.!

I remember, thinking "OMG; I look like a bag of bones"! ZERO muscles.

So.. I started to eat more bread, pasta, potatoes, and a got fat again.

Then I was big again. Shit, that was better than a dying stick. Or was it???

Many, many, many years later, I found Paléo diet!

Meat and saturated fat! lol

I decided to mix; Atkins with Paleo.

So what happened to me? Well...

I lost fat, but gained muscle mass.

In fact, fat is going away, but my weight is not going down very fast. The reason?... Well, my poor body has almost zero muscle mass. So because of my new paleo (meat) diet, I started to gain muscle mass.

Yes! I eat sh*t loads of protein, and WOW! I feel like my body is now 'healing' from the years of vegetarian abuse. I'm gaining muscle mass. It's not even funny anymore..

I think, my genetic makeup, is to "have muscle", but my diet was all wrong (even if I became skinny).

So, now what? Well, now I still have "fat" to lose, not losing weight as fast as I wanted, but SHHHEEESHHH I'm becoming a BEEF MAN !!!

WOW! I'm 6'1"; 240 pounds, with a fully charged muscle mass (and fat on top of it). I don'T look like a weight lifter, but I can say that I have gone from a fatty to a beef. (sort of speaking).

In the end; I think eating meat and more protein is great! I'm not losing weight as fast as I could on this low_carb _ paleo diet, but sheeesh,, once I lose the extra fat, I will be a manly man; not a skinny stick!

Anyone else here eating meat have healed from muscle atrophy?

I am in the process. A calorie-restricted diet combined with chronic cardio caused me to go from "slightly chubby", to "concentration-camp skinny". A paleo-atkins mix, combined with some weight-lifting (though I had never read about either philosophy when I first started) has me gaining muscle, albeit slower than I would like. Still a tad too low body fat, but that doesn't bother me as much.

You've aged well!

Your story is inspiring!