Carnivore diet and hunger

#1

Hello everybody!

I have a question about the carnivore diet. But probably some short background info might be useful.

I have been doing clean keto for more than 3 months now. During this time I have also been doing IF and OMAD. I am doing HIIT and body weight exercises every other day. Sometimes when I feel tired to do whatever I just go hiking or just a long jogging in the forest, or skating…anything not so heavy.

I have always had so much energy on keto. Fasting - no prob, OMAD - no prob, Exercises - no prob. Although I have quite a high carb tolerance I always keep the carbs under 20 gr net, I eat various kinds of veggies (but to be honest I do not even bother to calculate the carbs in them), I eat any kind of meat and I am trying to have a different kind every day: fish, eggs, diary, nuts… anything. Checking the ketone levels everyday and they are ok. However…

…I decided to try carnivore 8 days ago and it seems to me that everything changed. I have read a lot about this diet and I was surprised how many pros people are sharing. Most people say they have energy all the time, they do not feel hunger and they can easily fast. Well…I do not know why but these 8 days seem quite a big challenge to me. I do not have the energy to work our. The last two days I was so hungry by the end of my 24 hrs fast that I was looking forward to get back home ASAP and to eat something.

I do not know if I am doing something wrong. I am eating a variety of fish and meat (nose to tail/ offal/ steaks) and eggs and butter (no diary though). I am trying to keep omega 3 and 6 ratio in balance and I am taking enough sodium.

Can you please advise me what I might be doing wrong. I do not know. Just…I have never been so hungry on keto as I was during the last days. I have not been doing a really intense workout since I started carnivore…

Basically I was not planning to do pure carnivore forever since I love the variety of food on keto, but I was hoping to test the effects of the carnivore on me for about 2 weeks and… I am already planning to give up and to back to keto tomorrow :slight_smile:

I will be happy if anyone had such an experience or can give me some ideas about what I can do and what I am not doing right.

Thank you in advance!

(Erin Macfarland ) #2

I have a similar experience when I eat carnivore. Despite having been fat adapted eating LCHF for many years, getting plenty of salt, electrolytes, eating fatty cuts of meat. I get hungry by mid morning sometimes when I normally can eat OMAD around 4 or 5. If you don’t have any severe health issues you’re trying to address, I find eating a “carnivore keto” type template is a good approach. So making the basis of your diet fatty meat, eggs, some dairy if you tolerate it, bone broth etc and adding vegetables or low sugar fruits (spaghetti squash, cucumbers, possibly berries, avocado…) when you want them can work great. This is what I’ve settled on for now and generally feel good. I was afraid of overdoing protein for a long time when I first started keto over 5 years ago but found my satiety is much better when I eat as much fatty meat as I need to feel full.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #3

For this, especially, be sure to eat enough. How much protein are you eating, and how much do you weigh? Are you eating to a calorie count? Don’t.

Instead, eat to satisfy your hunger. Forget macros and calories and listen to your body. You may have to jigger the proportions of fat and protein in order to find your sweet spot, since some people are a bit more satisfied by protein, while others find fat more satisfying. Start with equal weights of both (31% protein and 69% fat by calories), and adjust from there.

While it may be that carnivore isn’t actually for you, there is an adaptation phase that you simply have to ride out, as I understand it. Give up the strenuous exercise or a bit. After a few more months, you can see whether ZC/carnivore is working for you. Your reasons for moving to this way of eating are important, too: If you have food-intolerances, you might have to stick with it, no matter what; if it’s just for some other possible benefit, it may not be worth it. Only you can decide.

@amber, did I get this right? Do you have anything to add?

#4

Thank you a lot for the prompt reply.

In fact, I used to keep track of my protein and fat intake at the very beginning. After that I got used to the diet and I stopped. But I always tried to keep the protein between 1- 1,5 gr/ kg body weight, so between 58- 85 gr. But I am ok even with 2 gr/ kg. The fats are ca. 120-150 gr per day. I do not have any food intolerance. I can eat anything :slight_smile: Actually, I have never had any problems even when I used to eat tons of carbs. Just I wanted to experiment with myself and I found out that I like this lifestyle. How to say it…keto made me feel almost like a superhuman and I was expecting carnivore to be even more exiting. But since I do not feel exactly like this I thought that probably I do not get how to do it right. But the problem might be in my unrealistic expectations… :slight_smile:

(Edith) #5

When I did my carnivore trial, I was advised to give it at least a month. Two weeks is not really enough time to see what kind of results you will get. Just like changing from SAD to keto, your body needs to adjust from keto to carnivore.

Also, if you are hungry, eat more meat. Finally, you may need fattier cuts of meat. I found carnivore very satiating, but I couldn’t get my bowels normal. I found I need a small amount of veggies to keep things from being too loose.

(Tovan Nhsh) #6

I switched to carnivore after close to three years straight of keto. I did not eat an exorbitant amount of veggies to begin with, still I had an adaptation period that lasted the better part of three weeks. Seems to me dropping the last few carbs triggers some adaptation/change that you just have to deal with.

Carnivore may/may not be for you, but I’m glad I stuck with it.