Jessalyn Transcript
Summary
Jess initially started a carnivore diet to lose weight but stuck with it because of the other benefits. She was struggling with chronic constipation, acne, and irregular weight before the carnivore diet. Her mental health also improved significantly on the diet. Jess also spent some time traveling and learning about regenerative farming in the US. She believes that Wagyu beef is overhyped and prefers regular ribeye. She was never plant-based due to her lack of moral qualms with eating meat, Jess discusses her previous struggles with digestive issues, skin problems, and weight gain and how switching to a meat-based diet has resolved these issues. She also talks about how she deals with comments and criticism from those who don't believe in carnivore.
Transcription
U1
0:00
Hi
U2
0:01
there and welcome to another amazing interview. And I've got such a fabulous guest today, Jess, who has got a fantastic Instagram, uh, a really good sense of humour. And I had her on about a year ago. But if you missed it, we're going to do a little recap about Jesse's history, and then we'll get into some other questions. So hey, Jess, how are you?
U1
0:20
Hi. Good. How are you? Thanks for having me back.
U2
0:23
Oh, well, you were such a good guest and so many people loved you in the comments. Um, just for those that don't know your history, could you just give us a little reason why you're sort of eating carnivore?
U1
0:35
Yes. So I initially started carnivore to lose weight, and then I stuck with it because of all the other benefits. But I found it through my husband who watched the Joe Rogan Sean Baker podcast, the the infamous Joe Rogan for a bigger one, the first one, and he said, hey, I think you should watch this and listen to what he's saying. It kind of sounds like it could help you. And if you want to do it, I'll do it with you. So me and my husband both started or tried carnivore for World Carnivore Month, January 2020, and we both loved it and I stuck with it. My husband is in as strict as me, but I absolutely fell in love and some of the issues that I was struggling with that it helped with was chronic constipation. I had chronic constipation for about 20 years of my life. I had really bad acne since sixth grade until the carnivore diet. It started healing. Um, so for again, about 20 years of my life and I always struggled with my weight, I would lose weight, gain weight, lose weight, gain weight, and um, the mental health aspect of it was also super. 1s Uh, awesome. I don't know what else, what other word I used, but it was amazing. Astounding. Mind blowing how much of an impact changing my diet had on my mental health, and I wasn't even expecting that. So a lot of times I say I initially started can't afford to lose weight, but I stuck with it because of the mental health benefits. Yeah, and that's a brilliant summary, actually, and very similar to me. Um, I'm five years carnivore and I did a 30 day challenge. I was keto before that and low carb, so I think I was really into understanding. Getting the carbs out was quite good for me. Um, you really had constipation for 20 years. That that's amazing. I mean, what I tried to have
U2
2:44
to resolve, that was it. Lots of fiber, by any chance?
U1
2:48
Oh. 2s I yeah, I so I grew up I was born in 91 and just back in those days, way back in the 1900s, um. 3s People didn't talk about poop. It's way more, uh, okay to talk about it now. But back in those days, I didn't talk about it with my family. Doctors never really asked me about it, and I do not ever remember having a normal bowel movement basically my entire life. Um, I was just all. I was always constipated when I went to the bathroom. I was constipated, and I always joke that God was just preparing me to have twins, even though it's not exactly the same. But, um, it was, like, always super painful. Like bleeding all that, like, just not fun. There would be times where I would, when I remember being younger and just crying and my mom coming in and, like, folding my hand, and I was just crying, not understanding what was happening. And I think at that point she, uh, took me to the doctor. Um, she didn't know. I didn't communicate with her, though, that that's how what happened every single time. Um, so she just thought it was, like a one off thing. Um, and. I went to the doctor and they. I don't remember talking to them about my bowel movements or them asking or anything. It was just because I was sick all of the time, because my immune system was so awful, because I hadn't got issues and things like that, and they just recommended fiber and would put me on antibiotics if I ever got sick. So my childhood was just basically doctors telling me to eat more fiber, eat more fiber, eat more fiber. And I would go in with a sore throat or runny nose or some a cough, and they would just put me on a Z pack. Um, I had one doctor I remember, uh, who I didn't even have to basically tell him or have a conversation with him. He knew me and every time I come came in, he'd be like, oh, you're you're sick again. Okay, Z pack. And it was like a three minute doctor visit. He would just prescribe me as a pack and send me on my way. Um, and I was really young at that point where my mom was with me. But of course, we didn't have any idea how bad, uh, antibiotics were at that point. You just trusted your doctor, you know? But, yeah, fiber never helped. You never resolved the situation. And it was really bad, too, to the point where I. I know the expression, like, I tried everything. Like, you can you literally can try everything. But I felt like I tried everything to resolve my constipation issues. Even the like enemas or whatever you call it like that didn't help. Like even like the strong things that usually give people like instant diarrhea never had an impact on me. Literally only carnivore ever helped that issue. So like, removing fiber completely was the only thing that ever helped my constipation.
U2
6:00
That's I mean, um, you're right about talking about issues. I mean, I've never said this publicly, but my constipation got so bad. This is before carnivore, obviously, that I had to put something up there, uh, at the reverse end, which is one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life. And I was eating tons of roughage and fiber and, um, you know, I was having bran flakes and everything, and it was just, uh, even if I went out and, you know, at a muffin, it would be a bran muffin. And it never helped. And as soon as I removed fiber, my lower left quadrant pain completely went. I had a colonoscopy and all that sort of stuff. So, yeah, you're right, we can talk about it. And I can't believe how many people still fall for the fiber myth when there's all these real people like you and me, uh, who have had these real issues and resolved it with no fiber. So, um. And antibiotics. That's another thing. I have not had a visit to the doctor in over ten years, so that was even my low carb journey started to get me healthy. Um, yeah. That was the
U1
7:12
last time I haven't been. Yeah, I haven't been sick in, uh, basically. So I've been carnivore a little over four years, but I haven't been sick in like five years. Um, probably longer than that now, actually, because I haven't been sick, like, since my husband and I have been married and we were going on, like eight years, I think. So, um, it's been longer than when I was carnivore because, um, I also like, I, like I do essential oils and I kind of attribute, um, it to the essential oils because, I mean, I started eating gluten free, and that helped a lot with my, um, gut issues and health issues and stuff like that. I still would get constipated, but it was not as bad as when I was eating, um, gluten and tons of fiber and stuff like that. But, um, so going gluten free helped a lot. And then I did start using essential oils, and there's this one called On Guard that, um, I think is really beneficial to me. I really like it. Um, and then I kind of stopped getting sick. And then when I started carnivore, it was like my immune system went on like super turbo mode, and I, like, haven't gotten the sniffles. I haven't even gotten I never got the Covid. Um, and people tell me, oh, you got it. You were just asymptomatic and like, okay, well, if you want to, that's fine with me. Like, I didn't experience any sort of symptoms or anything if I did have it. But yeah, I've never gotten like the sniffles, the cold, the flu, anything, any sore throats, anything like that. Since carnivore, it was like I've been super charged. And my husband, he, um, still gets sick sometimes and, like, I'm still like, we still, like, touch and, um, sleep in the same bed and, like, I'll kiss him and things like that. So. And I still haven't gotten sick, so. Yeah, definitely. My immune system is definitely boosted. Yeah,
U2
9:15
definitely sounds great, actually. Um, you know, there would be some people who say, yeah, you're only healthy because you've got a husband because it happened when you got your husband. But, uh, he's still getting sick. So, yeah, getting back on the strict carnivore. I think that's that would be my answer. So you, um, you spend some time sort of traveling, I believe, in the last year and doing a bit of research. Where do you live right now?
U1
9:40
So I am back in Okinawa, Japan, but I went to back to my hometown in Southern California for six months because my husband got deployed to Thailand and I didn't want to stay in Okinawa by myself. So I went back home for six months while he was gone. And, um, got to do a lot of fun things while I was in California. And I miss it now. I miss the United States again.
U2
10:07
What did you miss?
U1
10:09
Uh, so while I was in the US, I got to meet with a bunch of different, like, local farmers and ranchers and do some interviews. Uh, I have the interviews up on my YouTube channel. If people want to go watch it. It's just my name, Joslyn Randall. But, um, it was really fun. I got to kind of travel around the US. Um, not towards the East coast. I stayed more towards the West coast in the middle, but I got to travel around and meet people and see how, like build a relationship with farmers and ranchers and, and try really delicious meat and learn more about regenerative agriculture and how farmers actually love and treat their animals and respect their animals and kind of just break some of the myths, uh, bust some of the myths about it. But yeah. So I just, uh, the main things I miss about the US is the convenience of everything. You don't you don't realize how spoiled you are in the US until you leave for the US. Um, especially moving to such a remote place like Okinawa. It's so small and you don't really have access to as much stuff as you do in the US. And, um, especially with like meat people, people are always like, oh, but you have the best meat in the world over there. It's like. 1s Uh, I kind of think I have a kind of a controversial opinion about Wagyu. I think it's a little overhyped, so I don't think that I'm as spoiled here as in the US. I, I still think American beef, when it's, like, raised right, is like the absolute top of the line beef that you can get. But I'm going on a super tangent. But yes, I miss the convenience of the US. Um, I miss just the aspect of like freedom. Like it just feels different. The culture is different, the people are different. Um, and yeah, I do like a lot of things about here though, but I definitely miss the US.
U2
12:06
Well, if that's okay. I mean, um, I think you always think the grass is going to be greener, don't you? You get. And then the things you didn't think you'd maybe miss. Uh, in saying that I live in the UK, I would not miss the rain. I know that for a fact. So you're in a blue zone, by the way, for the people that are got their ears, um, glued to the to the audio. Um, so if you're in a blue zone, you don't eat any meat. Really? Because that's that's what they tell you. Um, I'm more interested in the farming. You said you learn quite a bit. What have you got a main takeaway about the regenerative farming system there that you found particularly interesting?
U1
12:46
I think that it's really cool how you can have so many different things happening at one time, because I think a lot of people's perception of ranching and farming is kind of like the motto agriculture, where it's like you do one thing and one thing only, but with regenerative agriculture, these places are teeming with life. Uh, there's this one place that I went to called Wrap Provisions, or it's double P ranch, but they provide meat for Reaper vintage Bradbury visions. Um, and their ranch. What? They had cattle, and I think they had sheep. They definitely had goats. They had pigs. Um, I don't know if they had other animals, I forget, but I saw a goat and pigs and cattle. And then there was tons of different, like agriculture around and bushes and trees and, um, things for the cows to eat, so many different types of things. And then we were walking through and he was, uh, talking to me, and we saw like a turtle, um, which I think is funny because a lot of times people say, uh, there's not turtles and fields. There is. There absolutely is. We saw a little box turtle, I think it was. No, I don't I don't want to say what kind of turtle it was, but it was like a little turtle. It was so cute. And then we would hear, like mice, like scurrying around in the field. And I think it's lovely that they embrace the nature. They don't try to kill it. They embrace it and work with it and work with the environment. And so it can be the best that it can be instead of trying to kill it. And it was really interesting to see the juxtaposition between his place and the place right next to his. They do, um, kind of the standard, uh, raising of cattle. And the grass was super short. You could see like the wind damage on the grass. And he didn't have any cattle on his property because he didn't have enough grass there to feed them. So he had to, like, send them to get processed early. Whereas the, the Eric, the guy that I was with at the double P ranch, he still had his cattle grazing and his grass was like as tall as me. And it was just really, really interesting to see that difference between like standard and regenerative agriculture.
U2
15:22
Yeah, I think you summed it up there. They're not trying to kill it, you know. And that's the thing I'm. I grew veg in my 40s before I did the, um, the proper way of eating and my little patch of veg was like Fort Knox. I was killing everything, you know, my ass. In fact, you know, I was, you know, obese. Everything. Just trying to stop them eating all the veg. So I think, um, people do need to get into this type of thing. When I first hooked up with Sean Baker and I was at Meat Coach in there, I remember thinking, oh, Sean talks about this farm in too much. You know, it's too political, but it is really, really important for the planet. And, um, you know, the food supply Wagyu, by the way, why do you think that's overrated them.
U1
16:06
So every time I have it. I'm not saying it's not delicious, but it is a lot more expensive. It's even expensive here. It's a lot more expensive, and I just don't think the taste is that much better for what you're paying. And interestingly enough, even though it kind of has more fat in it, um, it does doesn't keep me full. After I eat Wagyu, I'm hungry a couple hours later versus just like a standard ribeye that I could get at the US commissary. That keeps me full for hours. Um, I could eat one and like, not be hungry again until dinner. But wagyu is interesting. I'm like hungry again. So it's just for some reason it's just not as satisfying to me. I don't think the taste is so much better that I'm gonna pay that extra amount to get it. Um, so yeah, I just, I personally think it's overhyped. If someone ever gave me, like, free wagyu, I'm not going to turn it away, but I'm not gonna, like, go seek it out or say, like I only eat Wagyu.
U2
17:10
Yeah. And I think Wagyu translates as Japanese cow as well. It's not particularly fancy. And I agree with you. I if I have a fatty piece of lamb it does fill me up more than what I get. It does definitely. And it costs about a quarter of the price. So you know, it's it's a win win. I do find it very interesting that you got into the farming and that sort of aspect and the environmental side of things. I mean, were you plant based at any point in your, your life?
U1
17:40
No. Thankfully, I never fell for that scam because the biggest pull I thought for the going plant based was the moral part of it. And I never had any moral qualms with eating meat my whole entire life. I always just was like, this is what humans do. We eat meat. And I always thought it was weird that vegans had an issue with eating me. And I never like the circle. I watched The Lion King, I learned about the circle of life and I never questioned it again. So, um, I was never morally pulled to remove meat from my diet. Um, but I did fall through the scam that vegetables were the healthiest thing that you could eat. So I did eat healthy vegetables. Um, not a lot of fruit because I was always kind of picky with fruit. I did eat fruit, though, but I've always been kind of picky with my fruit, so it was like heavy vegetables. And then the only meat that I would eat would be lean meat only. So I ate a ton of white meat, chicken and, uh, fish, but I wasn't. I was never really a huge fan of fish, so it was mostly just white meat chicken. So I was eating a lot of dry chicken breast and a lot of vegetables
U2
18:56
were easy. You're very good. Um, uh, example of a good experiment because people could say, well, you didn't eat enough veg, you didn't even have enough fruit. That's why you had all these issues. But you did. You did eat those things, and you had those issues, and you took them out of your diet, and now you don't have those issues. So I know that's an n equals one, but I think I've got over a thousand stories now. So those that's data or isn't it. That is, that is that you. Certainly there's two of us here and we both had the same thing constipation fiber stuff down our throats because that's the remedy didn't work. Stop the fiber. That was better. Uh, I used to have fruit and veg and I didn't have red meat. I didn't have saturated fat, and I was a state, you know, I really was a state, and I was a person trainer. Quite an advanced one as well, training people in the Olympics. And, uh, you know, I thought, yeah, I thought it was just I was just getting fatter and sicker, pre-diabetic. So, um, the reason I'm saying that is because we spoke just before we came on about comments from you get the odd comment that people just don't believe all this stuff. And I was really pleased because for the first time ever, I was called a shield for the meat industry. And I, you know, 1s you just think people just don't want to believe this stuff. And, um, obviously you've got a huge following on Instagram, and I know you're very good with humor about the comments, but what do you think of people that comment like that? What do you think?
U1
20:25
Oh, I appreciate it because every comment is a comment and it goes towards boosting myself and the algorithm. So I appreciate the trolls just as much as the supporters because they're secret supporters, uh, whether they know it or not. Um, some sometimes comments will will bug me, but most of the time I'm pretty good at, uh, just thinking logically and just knowing that they don't know what they're talking about. So if the if the comment isn't true, why would it bug me? Uh, I know it's not true. So I move on, or I usually respond with something that I think is funny. Um, and the the funny, the good thing about trolls too, or people who are really adamant about a red meat being bad and vegetables being good is that they have to be right. So I could comment anything and they're going to respond. So sometimes I'll pick out certain comments. Uh, and you kind of learn the psychology of these people and um, you know who to look for. And I'll respond and then they'll respond and, um, I'll say something else like, just nothing to really do. I'm not arguing with them or like doing the studies back and forth thing. I'm literally making the dumbest comments, but they will always respond. So then I end up getting like ten extra comments on my content. So usually I think that's how I deal with them, is I kind of manipulate them and use them to boost my content or. Yeah, and I think that's one of the things I've I've got cute too, as well. And I've said, thank you very much for increasing my engagement. Uh, and then you say something that, you know, is going to get a response. So,
U2
22:12
um, yeah. Anyway, I'm just going off the subject there. Really? Um, so where can people find you?
U1
22:20
So I am on Instagram. Like you said, it's just my name, Jocelyn Randall. And then I put all of the interviews that I was telling you about that I did in the US on a YouTube channel. And that's just, again, my name, Jocelyn Randall. Um, and I'm on TikTok too. I don't really engage a lot there, so Instagram is the place that I am the most engaged, and if anyone messages me, I'm really good at responding to messages and keeping on top of that. So, um, yeah, Instagram is is my main platform. Yeah.
U2
22:54
Main place. Yeah. So at the moment then what what is your regime? Are you doing? One Miller day, two Miller day. Are you fasting? What are you doing?
U1
23:02
So right now, I actually started eating a little more because, um, I am pregnant, so I don't know if you saw that, but, um, I just announced today on my Instagram that I. Uh, were expecting this summer. The due date is in August. Um, so I've been getting a lot hungrier lately. Um, so for the first, like three, almost four years, I'm doing carnivore. Uh, I stuck with two meals a day, and that always satisfied me. And then when I got pregnant, it it was crazy of just how much hungrier I was all of a sudden. So I started eating more, and I've. I've done, like, three meals a day pretty consistently now. Um, so yeah, that that's what I'm doing basically is about three meals a day with snacks. I found that snacking or just like. 1s Grazing. I guess, um, has helped me a lot. I haven't gotten sick or anything. No morning sickness or anything like that. I felt great, so I found that there's like kind of constantly keeping food in my stomach has helped a lot.
U2
24:14
What, uh, what do you graze with? What are you snacking on?
U1
24:18
Oh, um, just normal carnivore things like meat jerky. Well, we get I love making homemade jerky, like extra bacon. Hard boiled eggs are always a good snack. Um, things like that. Just quick, easy carnivore. Things that you can, you can make better. The standard snacks. Cheese, milk. I will drink milk, yogurt, things like that.
U2
24:43
Yeah. Do you have raw milk or do you have pasteurized?
U1
24:46
When I was in California, um, when I had access to the raw milk and the, like, really good quality dairy and stuff. Uh, like good culture cottage cheese too. Oh, that was so good. The double cream. Um, I, I was doing the raw and things like that, but here, um, it's not raw, but I'm. I'm still drinking it. I'm still gonna do it. I want, I want milk, and, um, the yogurt is is not as good as you could get in the United States, but, um, I'm still gonna eat the yogurt, too.
U2
25:19
Yeah. Do you have you had a huge sort of ramp up in wanting dairy then, since you've been pregnant?
U1
25:25
Um, kind of. Yeah. And I don't I it's interesting. I never really thought about it, but yeah, I did. I have been eating a lot more dairy, um, than I was before. Not, um, not at a lot of cheese. I will add cheese to, like, meals, but I've never been a huge cheese person, so I'm not like, snacking heavily on cheese. It's mostly like yogurt and, uh, milk and things like that.
U2
25:50
Oh that's great. Um, that is fabulous. Absolutely fabulous. And I didn't know that news. I hadn't spotted that I deliberately cared. Why. So? So it was a real conversation. So that was nice that that organically came out. So congratulations. Yes. Um, it was fabulous. And of course, you'll be able to annoy everyone in the future with, uh, bringing up your baby as a carnivore. Uh, certainly trigger a few people. Um, anyway, I really want to thank you for your time. I'm really glad you came back. And, um, just thanks. Thanks for coming on.
U1
26:23
Yeah. Thank you for having me again. This is so fun.