For years, Izabelle was the type of mum who hid vegetables in her fussy child’s food in order to provide all the vitamins and nutrients she believed he needed every day.

“He would only eat sweet potatoes and corn,” the Sunshine Coast mum tells Kidspot of her eldest son, Noah, 3.

Back then, she never would have imagined that one day, not only would she give up hiding vegetables in her children’s food, but completely remove them from their diets altogether.

“I haven’t bought any vegetables in a year – my family doesn’t eat them,” the 30-year-old mum-of-two says.

Before giving birth to her youngest, Taj, Izabelle was practising a low carbohydrate paleo/keto lifestyle with meats, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, plant based milks and very occasionally eating grains.

From her pregnancy with Taj, she gained 25 kilograms, and after little more than a kilogram dropped after two months postpartum, Izabelle began looking for ways to shed the weight in a healthy way while also reducing her symptoms of gas and bloating.

When she came across a friend on social media who was following a carnivore way of eating – which is consuming only meat, fish, and animal products – she dismissed it as unhealthy.

“I thought that was crazy and I began to do lots of research to prove what he was doing was wrong,” she says.

“But then as I learnt more about it and saw how much it was helping the carnivore community online with their health issues, I thought, ‘I have to try this’.”

One of Izabelle’s children eating an ice block containing desiccated organs. Picture: Supplied

Family has meat “95 per cent” of the time

Izabelle’s priority in the beginning was her milk supply in breastfeeding now one-year-old Taj, so she gradually transitioned to carnivore using the “ancestral” approach, and included fruit and dairy with her all animal protein meals.

Now she follows a strict carnivore regime “95 per cent” of the time, eating either red and white meat, chicken or fish at every single meal.

“On a typical day I’ll have coffee with milk or cream and bacon for breakfast,” she explains.

“Lunch could be rib fillet with butter and salt and for dinner slow cooked lamb shanks in bone broth. I eat how much I feel like I want to – I don’t portion control or count calories. Some days I eat more, other days less.”

A typical lunch for Izabelle’s children.

Mum lost 20 kilos on carnivore diet

After just five months of carnivore eating, Izabelle said her gut issues vanished and she lost an incredible 20 kilograms with only very light exercise.

“I wasn’t expecting it because I’d tried everything before – including being vegan – so I just had the attitude of seeing how it went,” she says.

“Since stopping eating plants, my digestion is just so much better. Before, I had issues with emotional eating and sugar cravings, whereas now it’s intuitive eating. You just eat when you’re actually hungry. I thought I would miss vegetables more – and I would eat them if I really craved some – but I rarely ever do. Now I crave meat a lot more than I expected to and not any of the grains and plants I used to.”

In the beginning, Izabelle was the only carnivore in her home, but now her partner, Jon, has willingly jumped on board and both have agreed that their two boys should follow the same diet the majority of the time but keeping fruit, dairy and the occasional treat or serve of rice.

“They have always eaten what we eat as we follow baby-led weaning,” she says.

“Noah can be a picky eater, so I slowly phased out things like bread that I didn’t want him to eat anymore, and added more and more meat. I make things like pizza and nuggets carnivore style and Noah loves those. In their smoothies, I’ll add berries and desiccated organs and collagen powder and they love it.”

Izabelle’s son Noah tucks into lunch. Picture: Supplied

“I have completely stopped buying vegetables”

The biggest change to the children’s diets – which Izabelle understands is controversial among mainstream beliefs – is the absence of any vegetables whatsoever.

“I have completely stopped buying vegetables,” the mum, who works as a clinical nutritionist, says.

“I haven’t bought any in a year. Occasionally, I will buy potatoes to add to a meat dish for Noah as those are his favourite and I will fry those in beef tallow, but no other vegetables or plant foods are brought into the house. I focus on nutrient-dense foods, which are animal products.”

When the family leaves the home, however, Izabelle is more flexible in what her two boys are able to consume.

“If we go out to eat and there are vegetables on the plate next to the steak we order for example, they can eat whatever they want,” she says.

“If Noah goes to a birthday party, he can eat whatever they serve there. I’m not strict with him. If you get too strict when they’re little, it can have the opposite effect. But I notice that he always crashes after he has those sugars and grains he’s not used to.”

Izabelle also eats a mainly meat-based diet. Picture: Supplied

“I used to spend hours cooking, but this is so much simpler”

While she was once a fan of plant-based milks and eating multiple serves of vegetables a day, Izabelle now sees them as toxic to the immune system.

“They are filled with seed oils and are highly processed,” she says.

“Nuts also contain anti-nutrients, because that’s how plants protect themselves. It causes things like leaky gut which causes problems for a lot of people and interferes with the absorption of other nutrients. We don’t digest plant fibre – we excrete it so my understanding is that we don’t need it.”

The busy mum says the carnivore lifestyle is much easier to juggle in the kitchen, too.

“I used to spend hours prepping and cooking food and this way is so much simpler,” she insists.

“I wouldn’t even spend an hour in the kitchen all day.”

A meal for one of Izabelle’s toddlers. Picture: Supplied

“Many meats are actually cheaper than vegetables”

While Jon was initially worried about the cost of eating so much meat, Izabelle even says she doesn’t spend anymore on her grocery budget compared to eating as omnivores.

“We don’t do take away anymore and we buy bulk meat from local butchers, not the supermarkets and put it in our chest freezer,” she says.

“Many meats like chuck, mince and legs of lamb are actually cheaper than vegetables.”

Not surprisingly, Izabelle has received criticism for her unconventional beliefs, but she is 100 percent confident in its benefits.

“Friends and family might not necessarily agree with everything but they don’t say much,” she says.

“On social media I do have people saying that we need vegetables but I expect that it will take time for people to understand it all.”

“A lot of doctors online support this way of life – it’s not just random influencers talking about it. We have always eaten meat as humans through evolution so I’m not worried that it’s something our bodies shouldn’t consume a lot of. We need fat and cholesterol in particular to build hormones and cell membranes, and our brains are largely made from fat. Our liver also makes approximately 85 percent of the cholesterol in our body, so why would we make and rely on something that our bodies need?”

Izabelle’s fridge contains a lot of meat, fruit, and other proteins. Picture: Supplied

“If either of the kids every ask for veggies, I’ll buy them”

And yes, Izabelle – who practises under The Meat Based Nutritionist – also tried being vegan prior to having children – and found it was hindering her health.

“I didn’t last long,” she laughs.

“I got tonsillitis three times in those six months and my eczema was so much worse around my eyes and mouth. When I learnt how much we need animal products to thrive, I completely changed my attitude and my body improved immediately.”

As for her two boys, whether they grow up to be vegans, carnivores or somewhere in between will be entirely up to them.

“One day if either of the kids ask for vegetables I will buy it for them,” she says.