Over the past four years of eating primarily a carnivore diet, I’ve learned that while diet can fix MOST of our issues, it doesn’t necessarily fix everything. I’ve learned that the hard way over the past year. When I attended Ketocon in 2023 I learned all about the diet aspect. When Ketocon was rebranded to Hack Your Health for 2024, I was a little hesitant. And then my own health journey took a turn. My diet healed a lot, but it didn’t get me all the way. What is missing? That’s where Hack Your Health comes in!

Hack Your Health, a bio-hacking health conference, was held in Austin, TX from May 31st to June 2nd. I flew in on Thursday, May 30th to prepare for the long weekend. I had some people reach out about the best BBQ restaurants in Austin. Franklins was top of the list! My husband had even watched a masterclass about Franklin’s BBQ so I knew I had to indulge. They sell out of their BBQ daily so I place an order the Sunday prior for 7 pounds of meat.

My mother has been eating a carnivore diet since September 2023 and has lost over 40 pounds, has almost cured her arthritis, and has gotten off all medications but one. I’m so proud of her and want her to continue on this healing journey so I decided to invite her to Hack Your Health with me.

The 7 pounds of brisket, pulled pork, and sausages that I ordered were to provide us lunches for the entire weekend. Last year I stayed at a hotel and didn’t eat enough. There weren’t any lunch options in the conference center so I wanted to make sure I was prepared this year. I chose an Airbnb near the Palmer Events Center. I also got a rental car. By opting out of a hotel near the center and instead getting an air b and b 15 minutes away AND a rental car through Turo, I saved almost $500 on this trip! The Airbnb had a full kitchen which meant I could set myself up for success for all of my meals. For breakfast, we each cooked a pound of bacon and placed it in baggies that we could eat throughout the mornings at the conference.

Each time slot for the conference has multiple speakers. There is a Hack Your Health app that allows you to view who is speaking where. You can select which talk you want to attend, and you’ll be alerted when they are about to start.

Friday morning kicked off the conference. I got there early to scope out the vendors. First up was Greg and his gorgeous fifth wheel. He is a full-time RV’er and carnivore. Since I have a travel trailer, we got to connect over traveling and meat.

The first session I attended was a discussion by Maggie and Brad Jones on “Cancer/Evolution: The Metabolism Of Cancer And Emerging Therapies”. This talk asked: What if diet and lifestyle played a role in cancer and becoming cancer-free?

Next was Judy Cohen – “Opening Drainage Pathways To Support Healthy Detox And Optimize Performance” Judy discussed the use of oils to help our bodies detox.

At 11:00 Courtney Luna did a cooking demo with a recipe from her new cookbook that will be released in October. She made a carnivore version of biscuits and gravy for the crowd to enjoy. It was so freakin’ good that I made it the weekend I got home, and my husband couldn’t get over how delicious it was despite not having any carbs!

I was thrilled to see some carnivore panels/speakers this year on the schedule! After a carnivore cooking demo came the carnivore panel: Panel: Triumphs And Troubleshooting The Carnivore Diet – Judy Cho, Dr. Shawn Baker, Dani Conway, Dr. Lisa Wiedeman, Dr. Philip Ovadia, Lauren Knight Hughes. The audience was able to ask the panel any and all questions regarding carnivore and health.

Judy Cho was supposed to do a book signing for her new book but instead, it turned into a wonderful carnivore discussion!

A life-changing topic was up next: Fireside Chat: Ann & Weldon Warren, Dr. Ben Edwards: “Good, Better, Best: A Fireside Chat Around Holistic Health & Food’s Role In Medicine” Dr. Ben Edwards had a great awakening to Western medicine just like I did. He now treats his patients root cause of their problems instead of just pushing pills. I had an amazing talk with Dr. Edwards after where I asked him about how you can release the anger from having to unlearn everything that you’ve been taught about healthcare. He had spoken in depth about inner peace and that it’s one of the four pillars of health. The other three are movement, hydration, and nutrition. He gave me some tools on how to find peace which I definitely plan on putting into place.

My mom and I left the conference at 4:30pm and decided to take a long walk around Lady Bird Lake. We managed to get in almost three miles in the sunshine!

Friday night was the VIP dinner. The buffet consisted of ribeye roast, bacon and sausage, cheese board, salmon, brisket, and salads. There was an amazing live band playing throughout the evening. I attended the dinner alone but thankfully two couples decided to join me at my table. This is one of my favorite parts of these conferences: the connections you can make.

Day 2 of Hack Your Health started off with a Dexascan! I did one last year so I decided to get another this year to see if there were any changes. So much has gone on with my journey, not in a positive way, but I wound up being surprised with some progress on my scan!

Session one that I attended was Max Lugavere : “Genius Foods – Foods For Your Brain!” He discussed red meat and brain health, how vegetable oils are made, and how much protein we should be eating.

The second session was very eye-opening about how the nervous system is affected: Dr.Sean Drake: “Understanding Your Nervous System” We learned techniques for calming our nervous system naturally with breathing, sauna, cold exposure, red light, and PEMF.

Dr. Ben Azadi is a speaker I don’t miss. His talk covers SO many topics! What really causes heart disease (it’s not cholesterol), reversing type 2 diabetes, what high insulin levels cause, plastics and toxins you’re ingesting and what is vitamin G. I highly recommend looking up his podcast especially one of his recent discussions with my favorite cardiologist, Dr. Philip Ovadia.

Lunch was at my FAVORITE BBQ restaurant- Terry Blacks. It’s within walking distance to the convention center. Their brisket is like none you’ve ever had before. So moist and dissolves in your mouth. You can order any meat by the pound!

After lunch, I decided to walk around to see and talk to some of the vendors. I have been using tallow lotion and have been making my own for the past 3 years. I haven’t perfected the consistency of my homemade lotion yet. However, there were multiple lotion companies at the conference! I love nothing more than supporting small businesses, so I decided to splurge at each.

Mother Fo Care is owned by Jennifer and an 18-year-old! Jennifer said, “Mother Fo Care started with me being interested in what my family and I were putting into and on our bodies. I read labels on the products in our house and on the shelves at the store. I quickly realized that a HUGE majority of the products we use on a daily basis are toxic. So, my natural reaction was to find healthier alternatives at the store.” I bought a deodorant, sunscreen, lotion, lip balm and a shirt!

Our Signature Touch is a veteran-owned, non-toxic company that spent over 15 years in the chemical manufacturing space and decided to start a nontoxic brand! I bought their deodorant, soaps and got samples of their lotion. They also have a fun line of shirts!

The last company I bought from for skincare was Farrow. Their lotion is made with pig fat, lard, instead of tallow! The lard comes from regenerative farms. I bought their lotion and can’t wait to see if there are any differences between the tallow and lard!

I finally made my way back to the speakers around 2pm. JJ Virgin: “Built to Last – The Top 3 Strategies to Age Powerfully”. JJ is the epitome of “aging gracefully” in my opinion. Everything about her glowed and radiated health. Her top 3 strategies for aging powerfully are: eat protein first, lift heavy things, and sleep throughout the night.

I walked upstairs to the next session: Panel: Food Addiction – Mary Roberts, Robert Sikes, Meghan Hemple, Judy Cho, Joan Ifland. This was a question-and-answer session. They discussed triggers, addictions, and how to handle them.

Dinner that night was a “meat up” hosted by Dr. Lisa Wiedeman at The Ironworks Barbecue. I had brisket and mastodon beef ribs. There was a great turnout of about 40 people or so! I got to hug so many people I “knew” from online!

Day 3 started off very emotionally. I attended Nurse Doza: “Life With No Gallbladder: The Role Of Food, Supplementation And Movement”. I had my gallbladder out at age 12 due to poor lifestyle choices. I’ve suffered from digestion issues ever since! Nurse Doza gave some wonderful advice as far as supplements go. Here are the main reasons for most gallbladder surgeries: Corn, Rice, Alcohol, and Processed foods. The Standard American Diet = CRAP.

I spoke to Nurse Doza afterward and then walked around the vendors so I missed the next session.

At 11:00 I went upstairs to Mollie Eastman: “Sleep Alchemy: Optimizing Your Circadian Biology To Revolutionize Your Health”. I’ve struggled with sleep for the past four years so this was very informative. She discussed getting outside for 30 minutes to an hour in the morning to get proper melatonin for sleep and 30 minutes at sunset.

I recognized a name from my Weston A Price convention last year- Sophia Eng. She was doing a cooking demo from her new cookbook! She made the most delicious meatballs! Her new cookbook is The Nourishing Asian Kitchen: Nutrient-Dense Recipes for Health and Healing.

After Sophia’s delicious presentation, I listened to a carnivore panel. I loved hearing about how meat has cured/helped something different for each speaker. Some use this way of eating to lose weight, adjust hormones, reverse heart damage, cure cancer etc.

For the next session, I went upstairs to hear from Adam and Kerry about their carnivore documentary- Healing Humanity. Kerry has traveled all over the US documenting people’s journeys while eating a carnivore diet.

The last session of Hack Your Health ended with Dr. Shawn Baker who discussed the evidence of a meat-based diet.

Dinner that evening was a big splurge for me! I decided to support the Healing Humanity documentary. They hosted a dinner at a local Brazilian steakhouse. I enjoyed amazing conversations with people I had met throughout the weekend. I also got to meet some new people!

Hack Your Health was absolutely amazing this year. I’m so thankful I prioritized attending this conference! I loved how the conference wasn’t just focused on nutrition but on all aspects of health. Sleep, hormones, circadian rhythm, and diet. My favorite part was the people I met. Everyone I met is in search of their optimal health! These people are searching for holistic ways to achieve feeling their best and living their best life. My kind of people! Every year I’m blessed with meeting lifelong friends.

Next year’s (2025) Hack Your Health will be in Tampa, FL from November 14th to 16th. Please join me to learn about all of the things you can do naturally to improve your health! If you plan to attend, please take advantage of the discount code below to save $100 off your ticket! I’ll see YOU in Tampa!

Use code “denormalize” to save $100 off your ticket.