‘Carnivore Granny’: Glennwilde woman leads viral diet charge online

Glennwilde resident Jenece Mordt these days has the energy to bike for miles and the flexibility to sit crisscross applesauce on tile floor with her granddaughter. But she remembers a time not long ago when those activities felt almost impossible.  

“It was a crippling pain. I was on the couch for two years having multiple back surgeries and procedures, and still could barely function,” she said. “There were days I couldn’t wash my hair, it was so painful.” 

Mordt spent the better part of two decades living with a combination of fibromyalgia and chronic shingles, which often left her bedridden on a cocktail of medications. But she said just days into a new diet two summers ago decades of pain disappeared.  

“It was amazing, years of that pain were gone,” she said.  

A year and a half later, she says the old her has returned and she’s ready to start a new journey on New Years’ Day — documenting her life on the carnivore diet on her upcoming vlogging channel, Carnivore Granny. 

This just a few weeks after Mordt appeared as the featured guest on a Nov. 7 episode of the Australian “No Carb Life” podcast, which has 83,000 subscribers. The episode is titled, “Why I Chose Carnivore to Heal.”

A meat-based diet, carnivore limits eaters to animal-only products, such as meat, dairy and eggs. It sounds familiar to low-carb diets, like Atkins or the recent ketogenic diet, but this one is more restrictive by eliminating all carbohydrates. 

“The basic rule of thumb is if it has a face, eat it,” Mordt said. 

This high-protein diet catapulted to fame thanks to social media. Media personalities like Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan have talked about their own journeys on the diet and it has a steady presence on Instagram and TikTok. 

To date, #carnivore is associated with 2.5 million Instagram posts and more than 225,000 videos on TikTok. Most posts document diet progress, tout long lists of self-described benefits and show off dieters eating their all-protein meals.  

In fact, it’s partly how Mordt first encountered the diet.  

During the pandemic, “healthy things started coming across my feeds and I came across some tweets about the history of what man would eat. That got me really interested,” she said. 

Eventually that translated into starting the diet with her husband mid-2022 and the pair never looked back. 

These days, her average meal looks like a burger patty, a “big ole pile of bacon,” steak and melted butter for dipping. Occasionally, she’ll throw in fish, pork or other protein.  

“It fluctuates, but I eat around 3,500 calories a day,” she said.

Mordt says she wants her videos to focus on topics such as nutrition education, interviewing local ranchers, butchers and others making their own progress in the carnivore diet. Currently, she plans to post two videos per month, but is hoping it can grow to more frequent uploads. 

“I just never thought I could feel so good, you know? It feels like I know a secret and just want to tell everybody,” she said. “I just want to be positive and hope it inspires others to get healthier.” 

Carnivore Granny will launch Jan. 1 on YouTube.