What happens when your brain just doesn’t feel right anymore?
At MeatStock a couple of weeks ago, I was standing in the hallway talking with people between sessions when a husband and wife came up and started telling me why they had started carnivore. Within a few minutes, I knew I wanted them on the podcast.
Their story hit on something I think a lot of people fear but rarely talk about out loud: what happens when your brain just doesn’t feel right anymore?
That topic matters to me deeply. The women in my family tend to live a very long time physically, but not always mentally. I’ve watched memory and clarity disappear for some people I love. So anytime someone starts talking about brain fog, confusion, inflammation, or cognitive decline, my ears perk up immediately.
Dean and Jodie’s story stayed with me long after we finished recording.
The Slow Drift Into Feeling Terrible
One thing I appreciated about this conversation was how normal it sounded.
Dean is a teacher. Jodie became a nurse practitioner and worked in cardiology. They weren’t reckless people. They weren’t sitting around intentionally wrecking their health. They were doing what millions of hardworking adults do: surviving on convenience, stress, exhaustion, and whatever food fit into the schedule.
That’s part of why these conversations matter to me so much. Most people don’t wake up one morning and suddenly become unhealthy. It happens slowly. A little more drive-thru food. Less sleep. More stress. More inflammation. More “I’m too tired to cook tonight.”
Then one day, feeling awful just becomes your normal baseline.
Jodie talked openly about the brain fog she was dealing with while working in cardiology offices. Pharmaceutical reps constantly brought in food—carb-heavy meals, desserts, snacks—and she noticed that after eating, her thinking got worse. She felt fuzzy all the time. Exhausted. Overwhelmed.
And then Dean shared the moment that stopped me in my tracks.
He walked into the kitchen one day and found Jodie crying because she couldn’t remember how to fold a dish towel. Not because she was distracted. Not because she was tired. She literally didn’t know what to do with it.
That’s terrifying.
“Maybe This Isn’t Just Aging”
One thing I respected about both of them is that they didn’t simply accept this as inevitable.
They started researching. Reading. Watching videos. Listening to people talk about inflammation, insulin resistance, metabolic health, circadian rhythm, environmental toxins, food sensitivities—all of it.
Now listen, I know some people hear conversations like this and immediately think, “Okay, these people have gone completely off the rails.” I get it. Some of this stuff can sound extreme when you first hear it.
But I think there’s also wisdom in paying attention to patterns. If your joints hurt regularly, or your brain feels foggy all the time, or you’re exhausted after you eat, or your cravings control you all the time… at some point, it makes sense to start asking why.
Dean and Jodie began removing things one by one. Sugar. Seed oils. Processed foods. Plastics. Fluoride. Late-night screen exposure. Eventually they landed in the carnivore space after watching story after story from people who were improving physically and mentally.
And no, the episode is not some “everything was instantly fixed overnight” conversation. I actually appreciated that about them. They were thoughtful and honest about the fact that they’re still learning.
The Cupcake Story Made Me Laugh — And Then Not Laugh
One of my favorite moments in the episode was Dean telling the story of buying Jodie a cupcake for their anniversary. He was trying to be sweet. Thirty-six years of marriage, and she mentioned wanting a cupcake, so he went out and bought one.
She took one bite and immediately felt terrible. Not emotionally guilty. Physically awful. She described feeling almost intoxicated from the sugar. Confused. Overwhelmed. Like her brain just short-circuited.
Now, if somebody had told me years ago that eating this way long enough could make processed sugar feel almost shocking to your system, I probably would’ve rolled my eyes. But I hear versions of this all the time now. People notice they think more clearly. Their cravings calm down. Their energy becomes steadier. Then months later, they eat something ultra-processed and suddenly realize just how differently they used to feel every single day.
And here’s the thing: many people were so accustomed to brain fog, bloating, inflammation, sleepiness, cravings, and mood swings that they assumed it was just adulthood. Sometimes it isn’t.
Healing Is Usually Less Glamorous Than Social Media Makes It Sound
I also appreciated how unpolished this conversation felt. Nobody was pretending they have life perfectly figured out. Nobody was selling a miracle. Dean and Jodie were simply describing what it looks like to keep paying attention and making adjustments.
At one point they talked about eliminating tomato sauce after learning more about nightshades and oxalates. Jodie joked that breaking up with tomato sauce was emotionally difficult because they loved making giant pots of chili.
That made me laugh because I think people imagine carnivore folks sitting around joyfully throwing food into the trash like, “Farewell forever, toxic tomatoes!”
No. Most of us are regular people who liked chili.
But when you start connecting foods with inflammation, pain, brain fog, digestive problems, or cravings, your relationship with those foods changes. Not because somebody on the internet yelled at you. Because your own body starts giving you feedback you can’t ignore anymore.
The Bigger Conversation Here
I don’t think this episode is really about “diet culture” or weight loss. To me, it’s about paying attention before your body forces you to.
It’s about recognizing that many of us normalized feeling terrible because everybody around us felt terrible too. It’s about understanding that food affects far more than the number on a scale. And it’s about realizing that mental clarity, emotional steadiness, inflammation, energy, and cravings are all connected more than we were taught.
I also think there’s something deeply hopeful about watching people refuse to surrender to the idea that decline is unavoidable.
Dean and Jodie aren’t passive participants in their health anymore. They’re engaged and curious–willing to experiment and change, and that’s important.
Let’s figure this out together.
I love coaching because conversations like Dean and Jodie’s happen constantly inside our groups. Not perfectly polished success stories—real people noticing real changes and trying to make sense of them together.
If you’ve been curious about coaching, we’d love to have you. No pressure. Just support, accountability, good conversations, and a group of people trying to live a little healthier and a little freer around food.
