Bringing Up Bates alum Erin Bates is sharing her secret to dropping 30 pounds after welcoming seven children — and it’s not a GLP-1.
“For years, I’ve eaten healthy,” Bates, 35, began the Saturday, October 17, episode of her “Chad and Erin” vlog. “It was almost like I was stuck at gaining weight or stuck at the same spot on the scale.”
She revealed that “nothing worked” for her after trying different diets, but she knew she “wanted to change something.”
“The game changer for me was really two things paired together,” Bates shared. “For me, it was a mix of carnivore diet and fasting. Those things paired together were really the game changer.”
Bates, who welcomed her seventh baby in September 2025, made it clear, “I did not do shots or any GLP-1s. I chose not to do that route just because of the side effects that it also has.”
The former reality star noted that she turned to the carnivore diet for a “short term” solution, calling it “super great for your body” and a “reset” to get her weight-loss journey started.
Bates explained that the carnivore diet is “basically all meat, all dairy and eggs,” admitting that it is “pretty boring” but in time you can add back other foods.
She shared examples of her meals, saying that for breakfast she did “a lot of egg souffles, a lot of omelets, boiled eggs.” Her lunches and dinners were more centered on “hamburgers, burgers, cheese, cottage cheese.”
“I would eat a lot of grilled steak, fish, chicken. Really anything,” Bates continued. “I did try to stay away from pork, because I feel like for me pork doesn’t sit well with my stomach.”
She revealed, “When I switched to carnivore, my body started using fat for fuel. … I felt full. I felt satisfied.”
Bates — who was hospitalized in September 2025 for septic shock after giving birth to her youngest child — pointed out that she was “very strict” on the carnivore plan and she “didn’t cheat at all” when she started.
“No fruits, no veggies, no sugar. As far as drinks, I did to all teas,” she added, sharing that although she doesn’t like a warm cup of Joe, black coffee is allowed on the program.
When Bates paired the carnivore regiment with intermittent fasting, she said that’s when everything clicked.
“I would eat within an eight-hour window,” she said. “I eliminated all snacking. Just two to three meals a day. I did not count calories. I ate until I was about 80 percent full.”
In addition to the regular eight-hour eating window, Bates told her followers that she began doing a 24-hour fast once a week.
“That might’ve been like a dinner at 6 p.m. to dinner at 6 p.m. the next day,” she explained. “That was one of the key pieces in the puzzle.”
In time, she worked her way up to a 36-hour fast, which is when Bates said it was “almost like the weight was falling off.”
When it comes to supplements, Bates said she doesn’t take many, pointing to glutathione, vitamin C and magnesium as her go-tos.
She also shared “things to avoid,” saying that seed oils, sugar and white flour are no longer part of her diet.
Bates admitted that she “did not work out” when she began losing weight, but she did walk with her two youngest children daily.
“I started working out after I lost most of the weight,” she said, noting that after dropping approximately 25 pounds, she began doing arm, leg, stomach and posture exercises — doing three sets of 10 exercises every day.
Bates explained, “Every day I did girl push ups,” and then she’d add in 30 squats, 30 lunges, 30 wall sits, upping her weights once she needed a new challenge.
“It’s really helped every area in my life in such a big way,” Bates concluded. “It’s not just losing weight. … ‘It’s really about saying, I want to be the healthiest version of myself.’”
