95% or 100% canivore?

(Jim) #1

Hey,

After doing a 10-day fast, I decided to try out the carnivore diet, and it has been a blast. I have been following it “clean” for about 30 days now and I’m loving it, much better than when I did keto, which was also amazing. Now, I have a question about my 95% carnivore diet and whether it would be better to go the full 100%.

Every day, I’m eating only grass-fed beef and fresh salmon. I add a little mustard without any additives or carbs to my beef for taste. I always bake my salmon in the oven with some fresh-pressed olive oil from Crete, and I also eat some seaweed jelly I make from real seaweed. Outside of that, I’m very strict and honestly loving it.

I don’t have any autoimmune diseases (that I know of) and I’m just doing this to feel healthy and heal my gut. I don’t drink alcohol, consume caffeine, or use anything else that’s harmful.

What’s your take on this way of eating? Am I missing something because I add a few other things?

(Joey) #2

Take this take from an opinionated stranger on the internet…

Nope. You’re not missing anything. It’s working for you - which is clearly what matters. :vulcan_salute:

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #3

Yep, thats what Dr Berry would say, if it’s not causing a problem leave it in your diet.
Many consider themselves 100% even when including things like coffee etc. Personally my problem is opening myself up to temptaion … one notch of chocolate leads to a whole sherry triffle lol

#4

Do whatever works for you, that is the important thing. If you are very curious and it’s not a pain, you can try 100% carnivore, no one knows what would happen there but if you are quite fine with your woe anyway, I don’t think you should change.

As @Pjam says, if a little something is a trigger, that’s one thing. But if you are fine with your really super innocent looking extras (in my eyes but I always have a toe out of carnivore and often go off keto so you shouldn’t listen to me I suppose)…

I never wanted badges, I consulted with my own body and tried to listen to it :upside_down_face: Now I have a very good idea about what works for me.

(Alec) #5

I’ve been nearly 100% carni for 2.5 years now, and my conclusion is that it is much more important to stay “nearly 100% carni” and be there for life than to strain for an absolute 100% carni diet, and risk falling off.

My recommendation is to be as close to 100% as you can that you can comfortably stay on for the long term… meaning small compromises are just fine as long as they are not causing health issues as far as you can tell.

(Jim) #6

@Alecmcq @Shinita @Pjam @SomeGuy

Thank you all for the great replies :wink: I’ll stay the way I’m eating now and will experiment in the future with some small changes to see if it works better. It’s good to hear that it doesn’t really matter that much and that I can experiment.

(Alec) #7

You most certainly can. However, my advice is that if you have lots of weight to lose, you should try to be as close to 100% carni as you can for a decent amount of time (6 months?). My experience is that lazy keto did not work for me for weight loss and long term maintenance. I needed a good period of being close to 100% carni to get my body used to what I was now asking it to do.

But once it learnt, adding in some small non-carni stuff did not seem to bother me at all. BUT, we must always be vigilant not to let the small compromises turn into large ones. Carbs/plants are not good for you. Any that you take in compromises your health in some way.

#8

I like experiments :slight_smile: I am curious and there are always new things to learn about myself but sometimes I can go stricter when it’s just a short experiment (even if I feel some loss, the thrill of the experiment balances it out so my hedonist self is fine) and that may change me in good direction and show me that I don’t need something so much, after all.

That’s not true for everyone though. Some people even try out carnivore for a long time and go back to normal keto as that works loads better. There is no diet good for everyone.
I know my body is happy with only animal cabs but it doesn’t mean it couldn’t handle some plant ones - I just need to be careful with amounts and frequency, maybe type and shouldn’t add it willy-nilly. As it clearly doesn’t make anything better except my enjoyment level. For me. Others may need some, physically.

(Jim) #9

I’m a 6 pack fitness guy. Don’t need to lose weight, just maintaining and gaining muscle. That’s the fun thing about Canivore, no more pumps. Every muscle that I have is actually mine haha

(Kinnessa ) #10

It sounds like you’re doing great with your carnivore diet! The small additions like mustard, olive oil, and seaweed jelly are fine if they make you feel good. Going 100% isn’t necessary if you’re already thriving and enjoying it. Also consider to check some useful info here. Good luck!

(Geoffrey) #11

Well I I think what you’re doing is absolutely horrible and the carnivore gods will struck you down. You should be beaten with a wet noodle until you repent of your sins. :rage::stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
Like everyone else says, you do you man.
It’s all about what you need and what your body can tolerate. There is no set standard or rule book we have to follow. All we have are guidelines in which we start with a fundamental foundation. Then we build our journey upon that foundation into what’s best for each of us as individuals.
In my journey I was about 98-99% carnivore most of the time. I never cheated nor strayed. Now that I have lost all of the weight I intend to lose and my body has been healed of nearly everything that was wrong with it I feel like I can stray a little with things that don’t affect me. I’m still probably 95% carnivore but I love jalapeño’s and hot peppers and my body tolerates them well. So the other day I decided I wanted a treat so I smoked up a bunch of jalapeño poppers stuffed with crawfish, two kinds of cheese m, a little clean Cajun seasoning and wrapped wrapped in bacon. I won’t eat those on any kind of regular basis but it’s nice to indulge occasionally.

(Robin) #12

I got a little rush just reading bout those stuffed jalapeños!