He Gained 20 Pounds in 24 Hours — Then Keto Ended His Binge Eating | Robert Sikes

In this episode, I sit down with Robert Sikes — also known as Keto Savage — a lifetime natural competitive bodybuilder, WNBF pro, the World's Leanest Man, formulator of the Keto Brick, and creator of the Savage System, a coaching program for competitors and everyday people that he runs alongside his wife Crystal. Robert came up on the traditional bro dieting playbook — six or seven meals a day, high carb, high protein — and it sent him into years of disordered eating. In 2014 he tore up the script and started experimenting with a strict, high-fat ketogenic approach to bodybuilding, building his own contest prep methodology from scratch. Here's what we cover in the episode: The bro dieting years — 115 pounds soaking wet in high school, refusing to wear a t-shirt for two years, then 6,000 calories a day of gas station food up to 230 pounds with no coach and no instruction The first competition, the crash prep he now says he did entirely wrong, and the post-show binge that became the catalyst for years of restricting, binging and purging How he found keto sideways — through John Kiefer's carb backloading, a protocol that all but sanctions binging at night — and the moment he realized he felt better during the half of the day with no carbohydrates in it Who really shows up for the Savage System: mostly not competitors, and how many people arrive at keto or carnivore by way of disordered eating without naming it as that Why, after more than 900 podcast episodes with top biohackers, doctors and researchers, he keeps landing on the least marketable answer there is — morning sun, real food, sleep, movement, and time with the people you love The protein ceiling nobody's talking about — what happens to his ketones, glucose, sleep and joints after 500 grams at a Brazilian steakhouse, and why he thinks protein has been given a halo The self-experiments: 18 cans of sardines a day for five days to debunk the viral sardine fast, what his bloodwork showed, and his answer to the sugar diet from the opposite metabolic direction More info about Dr. Kristina's upcoming carnivore wellness retreat: https://www.MeatandMovement.com Follow Beyond Binge Eating Instagram: / https://www.instagram.com/BeyondBingeEating/ Website: https://www.BeyondBingeEating.com Newsletter: https://beyondbingeeating.com/Newsletter/ Grab your FREE Eat-With-Awareness Bundle to slow down, stay present, and reclaim peace with food: https://beyondbingeeating.com/opt-in/ Keep in touch with Kristina: https://www.DrKristinaDobyns.com Connect with Robert here: Website: ketosavage.com Coaching: ketobodybuilding.com Instagram: @ketosavage YouTube: @ketosavage X: @ketosavage Podcast: Savage Perspective Podcast Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:24 The bro dieting years 03:42 Eating big, and the crash prep 04:15 20 pounds in 24 hours 04:52 Years in the binge-purge loop 05:57 Restriction vs. structure 06:38 Finding keto through carb backloading 07:57 Why guilt is the real trigger 08:52 What keto did to his bodybuilding 10:08 What are you optimizing for 11:47 The Savage System 12:13 How many clients have food issues 14:49 Coming to keto through disordered eating 15:36 Are there good and bad foods 16:14 The pillars he coaches 17:56 900 episodes, and the basics 19:20 Where to start with body composition 21:26 Testing ketones 21:55 Fat vs. protein 23:24 What Robert eats in a day 24:02 Chasing higher ketones 27:06 Keto and metabolic psychiatry 28:10 Testing the protein floor 29:03 Can you eat too much protein 30:09 His protein heuristic 31:25 Self-experimentation 32:24 Going to the extremes 33:07 The sardine fast experiment 35:14 The sugar diet experiment 37:35 Training splits 38:47 Deadlifts and homesteading 39:46 Why he talks about this openly 40:35 Where to find Robert Disclaimer: The information on this channel is for educational purposes and is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice or therapy. The views and opinions expressed by podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Kristina Dobyns or Beyond Binge Eating.