Disappointed after 13 months

#61

Isn’t it likely that a damaged metabolism does not easily switch between burning dietary fat and dietary glucose? (I’m not talking about burning stored fat --for simplicity here.) An undamaged metabolism should be able to switch easily. That is the only explanation I can think of for the utter exhaustion I was feeling while eating my variable 20-60 grams of carbs along with plenty of calories.

At < 5 g carbs daily and day 6, I also feel no uncontrollable urges to eat fruits and vegetables, but I’m also very bored with my choices. (Still, I am committed to this for 30 days!) This is all I’ve eaten up to now so looking for new ideas:
Eggs, butter, small amounts of cheese and sour cream, beef, small amount of fish, shrimp, Applegate frozen sausage, coffee with heavy cream, small amount of chicken.
My “cheats”: small amount of erythritol/Monkfruit sweetener in coffee, about 20 slices total of homemade pickles (thin cross-sections which are now finished so that is over), some olive oil that was used to fry a steak, two unsweetened grapefruit flavored seltzers, very tiny amount of tamari sauce used to season fish.

I wish I liked liver - I know how healthy it is, but I cannot tell you how much it nauseates me.

I hope I can figure out how to add more food options and would love to hear others’ ideas.

#62

There are sites with carnivore recipes, we in Fangs’ thread post photos too… The chicken pizza crust thread had a recipe with eggs, chicken and a tiny cheese… There are a lot of options! Variety is quite important for me and I can get creative if it’s about food but indeed, it’s always harder when we suddenly cut out a bit too many food items… It may take time to get the desired variety.
If I really can’t find a good option, I make eggs in purgatory, yeah, there are plant carbs but not too much for me (I only eat the little tomato sauce stuck to my eggs, my SO is happy with all the leftover sauce and some more eggs, of course) and it’s very good. Or I make some stew, those aren’t carnivore either but close enough. Deviled eggs aren’t like mere boiled eggs either and they can be done without plants except spices and mustard, I wouldn’t skip those. These little extras make a big difference. But as time passes, I find more and more pure carnivore recipes for me. I only go on/off carnivore since maybe 16 month? I have phases, I change my preferred processed meats, they are so useful even in tiny amounts!
And I could do very various things with eggs and nothing else… But that’s a bit limited, let me use salt and spices and flavorings and it’s already much better.

(Edith) #63

@Fangs or @Elizedge should probably weigh in here because they are our resident carnivore experts, but I will tell you that you are probably not eating enough meat. Just like with keto, you want fatty cuts of meat: chicken thighs, 80-20 ground beef, rib-eyes, pork shoulder. You get the idea. The carnivore experts say people should eat about 2 pounds of meat a day. I have a hard time getting in that much. I am more like 1.5 pounds a day. My body is happy with that quantity, although some days I have what I call my bottomless pit days and eat more. Don’t think small when you do eat. Have two chicken thighs or a whole 10 ounce New York strip. Have eggs as a side dish to your meat. We all frequently have meat side dishes with our meat. :grinning: That will give you energy to go for many hours.

Hunger signals are different on carnivore, especially when transitioning. I found that I would feel nauseous or just really low energy. It turned out I needed to eat. Now, after six months, my hunger signals are more normal. Although, sometimes I don’t feel hungry but I just can’t stop thinking about what I want to eat for lunch. :laughing: Then I know it’s time to eat.

Carnivores will also say that using seasoning is not a cheat, particularly when transitioning, so don’t feel guilty about seasoning, flavored seltzer, or using the small amount of Tamari sauce.

One last suggestion. I would skip the pickles since you are using this as an elimination diet. I understand the sweetener. Diet Coke took a long time for me to quit. I was definitely a Diet Coke addict.

Oh, one more thing: I wouldn’t worry about liver at this point since your trial is only a month. You certainly won’t have any deficiencies develop over such a short period of time and even then, the jury is out about its necessity where a lot of carnivores are concerned.

You may want to join us in the March of the Carnivore thread.

#64

I still think 1.5-2 pounds is excessive for some of us :slight_smile: Especially for someone who doesn’t really like meat (but I don’t think such people should force carnivore much. but a trial may be useful unless it’s too much suffering. like, any)
I eat much meat now, almost 1 pound per day at average (sometimes it’s much more, rarely much less)! It’s enough for me, it’s fatty and I have my other items as well. It would be boring using the same thing but we have options and I use them.

I understand the pickles way more than the sweetener (I am biased, pickles are lovely and never hurt me, I am aware it’s very different for others for reasons)… And I have a huge sweet tooth (not on carnivore just on any other woe). Too sweet flavors may mess with us. It’s individual, of course but I find this dangerous and anyway, it’s weird for me to do carnivore with sweeteners. That’s not even carnivore in my eyes, not like that is a problem. I tend not to want really sweet things on carnivore but there are circumstances and I tried this combo myself here and there and probably will make experiments but I only add sweeteners if I don’t feel I am able to skip them at the moment, it’s not what I consider right. So if it’s a temporal or very occasional crutch and causes no big problems, of course I understand it. (I am extremely undisciplined, I understand almost everything, I just don’t advise or find right certain things, at last not in general, our individual way is well, individual.)

#65

@VirginiaEdie I’m heading over to your March for Carnivore thread now! Thanks! I actually think I am getting enough protein according to my app (close to or over 100g and I weigh about 62 kg – already dropping :grinning: ) It’s animal fat that is hard for me, except cheese, which I am trying to limit. Fortunately, my energy continues to be very high.

@Shinita I would not be using any sweetener if it weren’t for the fact that I have grown to really look forward to my morning coffee, which is not nearly as good without the sweetener. I’m keeping it very low – like 1 teaspoon of Swerve. Anyway, it seems to not bother me right now so I’m not going to worry about it. And I just might consider the small quantity of home-made (just salt and cucumber) pickles I ate to have already passed the test for not being a problem (in small amounts!). Yay!

#66

yea I didn’t weigh in on this thread cause it is a Keto person asking for keto advice so I passed it by but if Wendy is going all in carnivore, then yea, Wendy should jump into our March thread. We can chat and give advice on carnivore for sure.

And VE—your response was so carnivore smart :slight_smile: you gave fab advice…your 6 months, you are whooping it up straight into being a very good zc advice person and thru your personal experiences, you truly have great advice to pass on to others. ZC rock star in the making :slight_smile:

(Laurie) #67

@Wendy198 You asked for suggestions to combat boredom. Starting with eggs and beef, which you’re already eating:

Eggs can be had many ways. Bacon and eggs, omelet, scrambled. poached, boiled, quiche … Check out the recipes for chaffles. There’s also tamagoyaki; omit the sugar and other non-keto ingredients such as carrots. Here’s a video showing how to make it in a round frying pan.

Many ways to enjoy beef: steaks, oven roast, pot roast, pulled beef (same idea as pulled pork; omit the sugar), meat loaf, meatballs, burger patties, taco meat.

There’s also pork chops, pork roast, bacon, pulled pork, salmon and other fish, shellfish, pork rinds with homemade yogurt dip … And many kinds of cheese, of various flavors and textures.

Chicken and turkey can be eaten various ways as well.

As others have mentioned, having two or three different things at each meal really helps.

#68

These are very helpful suggestions. Thanks and see you in the March thread!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #69

Although there is no point in overdoing fat consumption, getting enough fat is crucial. In the famous experiment on Stefansson and Anderson at Bellevue Hospital in 1928, the only time the two men got sick was when the researchers asked them to eat lean meat only.

“On the third day, nausea and diarrhea developed. When fat meat was added to the diet, and full recovery was made in two days.” (McClellan, W. & DuBois, E.: “Prolonged meat diets with a study of kidney function and ketosis,” Clinical calorimetry, XLV (1930).

#70

Well, I’m gonna let you inspire me and try carnivore again, see if I feel less weak on it and can match the kind of exercise regime I could before very low carb. My former attempt can be described in one word: misery! Perhaps second time is the charm, who knows?

I love liver, but it’s difficult to find it here.

#71

remember tho top recommendation is cut back exercise as one goes thru adaption time on carnivore. Until you got better time under your belt doing a clean eating carnivore plan, at least 30 days, don’t go all in with a big exercise routine. We cut back exercise while adaption and changes happen to our bodies when we enter zero carb cause our bodies are truly taking on alot of work to heal and adapt and many can’t handle big activity. Adaption can include alot of fatigue for some and more, but that depends on the individual etc. but in the end, you need bigger time on carnivore and thru adaption and get changes in your body under your belt, 30 days at least, more like 90 days for better results before we hit any hard exercise.

So take your time! Don’t rush too much, just start carnivore and see how you do on it!

(Robert) #72

I had a tough time too and got sick. I had very little idea if how to make it work. For me the key was (a lot more) salt, magnesium, D3 and cutting back on greens, avoiding fruits. Finally I added lots of butter to my foods. These tweaks I discovered over 6 months - they didn’t come straight away. It was only in month #6 that I became aware that my joint pain, gout (toe pain due uric acid buildup) allergies, dental decay and mouth ulcers, moodiness were all gone. For the record I started in 2016. The hell of the first 12 weeks was due to me jumping in without knowing any of these things at all (totally my fault), but I am so glad I stuck with it…

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #73

Welcome to the forums, and thanks for this encouraging post.

(Robin) #74

Yay for you! I think you can read and research the heck out of keto, but it’s still a puzzle to put together for our individual needs. Sounds like you got this!