Experiences with ZC/Carnivore

(Magnus Jensen) #1

Just wanted to hear from people who have been ZC/Carnivore for some time.

  • Adaption
    Did you eat a lot? More than you thought you could? I ate 3-4.000 kcal of Ribeye every day in the start, but now I have “naturally” reduced that amount to below half. Still meat only with water every day. Nothing else. Planning to stick with it for 30 days and make up my mind after that. I seem to have gotten my face “back” in terms of not looking sick (too skinny in the face, and possibly undereating for some time)

  • Maintenance
    Do you get bored eating only meat?

  • Exrecise
    Do get even more energy than you used to have doing carbs and if Keto before, is this different? More muscle gains on Carnivore?

  • Do you worry about protein intake? I assume, if low on energy you eat more fatty meat, but if wanting to cut/get more ripped you eat a bit more lean? Anyone tried “eating less” as in some kind of restriction eating after being adapted to get those six-packs appearing?

  • Coffee, someone had positive effects of cutting caffeine? I red that it actually might make you feel more sluggish (opposite effect of intentional).

  • Would IF/EF and/or OMAD have the same effect being Carnivore adapted? Anyone with experience on this?

Other experiences you want to share from going Carnivore and also being there for some time?

#2

  1. I still hover around 2000 calories on average, some days more some days fewer. But I don’t eat just muscle meat. I eat nutrient-dense food like organ meat (or supplement with cod liver oil) and eggs, which is more filling.

  2. Not really, there are enough animal products to keep it interesting. And I’ll occasionally have a Carb Day if I want.

  3. It’s winter here and I’m a complete POS when it comes to exercising at this time of the year. I can last longer in cardio tho due to fat adaptation. Weight lifting is much the same.

  4. I don’t worry about protein numbers, or getting ripped.

  5. I imagine it would be better if I cut off coffee (and diet soda) but I need some joy in my life.

  6. I can’t do OMAD on Carnivore yet, and I’ve tried. 2MAD is my norm.

(Chris) #3

Up to 7000kcal - now my maintenance is more like 3000

Food is not entertainment, it’s fuel.

Gonna be different for everyone. I have tons of energy and am building a shitload of muscle, I’m also training harder and more consistently than most people. Genetics always play a part in muscularity.

If you’re trying to lean out as a goal, then I think you should track everything. Many will say “just eat to satiety and you’ll level out with abs”. I found that to be bullshit for me, personally. I get anywhere from 150g to 400g protein depending on the day, and I’m currently cutting now so fat can be anywhere from 50g to 100g. Were it reversed I’d probably have more fat.

Coffee makes me shit more on carnivore than ever before.

Just eat when you’re hungry. IF will happen naturally. There’s no need to force EF. You’ll still get fat burning and autophagy from eating carnivore.

Cured my chronic constipation, eczema, and skin tags.

(charlie3) #4

12 days in to carnivore, I’m way more hungry, eating a lot more calories. My giant keto dinner salad was filling. Meat, eggs, and fish are not taking it’s place as far as hunger, so far. On the other hand I might be feeling a bit better but it’s too soon to be sure about that.

I do a lot of exercise, lifting and cardio. May be my body is not getting something that was in the big salads and wants me to keep eating until that is satisfied. Or may be it’s just an anxiety reaction not tied to any real need. Could it be that the absolute calorie measurement of the increased protein does not account for the thermic effect of digesting that greater amount? May be I’m not eating as much net calories as I think. It has only been just short of two weeks.

(Magnus Jensen) #5

Great answers @Dread1840.
Thanks!
With regards to cutting I am considering it (or I might even be doing it already naturally). I eat about 1,4 kg og Grass-fed Ribeye per day and my numbers are then 2300 kcal, 137 gr fat, 0 gr carbs and 266 gr protein. When I work out I might go for 1,8 kg of Ribeye and some days I dont eat much at all. I have started to listen to my body, not eat because it “dinner time”. I observe that I become more ripped and muscles are more visible and so are my blood veins. Stomach is more flat. So if I want to cut “hardcore” maybe include some even leaner meat or trim of some of the fat (as Kevin Stock suggests in his guide to getting ripped on Carnivore). I also assume you use fat intake as a “level” to regulate energy? As in if you feel sort on energy you might add more animal fat to your daily intake?

(Magnus Jensen) #6

This has crossed my mind as well. Protein takes a lot of energy to digest as I understand, and I have increased the ratio of protein to fat significantly (reduced fat a lot as well). To test this I would try to eat less food more frequently and see if that leads to less sluggishness and more energy. I experienced a burst in energy eating high protein before work outs (about 2-3 hours before). I used to work out fasted but now I prefer to have some meat in my body before hitting my work outs.

(charlie3) #7

I don’t remeber what I wrote previously, too lazy to go back and look. I’m now moving in on the end of 3 weeks of zero carbs and it’s been a biit of a bumpy ride which is odd since I only needed to get rid of a big dinner salad with supposedly 30-50 g net carbs. I’m ravenously hungry and eating way too much. Animal foods are so compact my frig looks empty. May be I’m missing the sheer bulk of all those veggies. To try and compensate for the excess eating I increased cardio exercise time. That was a mistake that didn’t last long. May be my body is missing some nutrient so keeps me hungry. May be it’s wrong and just being conservative. Zero carb food is fine, may be even better wiithout the big salad but the over eating has to stop. On keto I always exercised fiirst then had a meal. With zero carb it’s becomee the reverse. I have to change it back. Zero carb has also interrupted my restricted eating times. I want that back too.

(Magnus Jensen) #8

@charlie3 what you describe is exactly how I experience this as well.

  • More difficult to fast on ZC. Workouts are actually better if I have eaten before in the day (I usually work out at 06 PM having my OMAD at 07:30 PM ish). But now I have been more adpated (going on 20 days ZC) and my energy in the gym is gradually coming back.

  • Eating more: I used to be around 2000 kcal on Keto and restricting with IF/EF/OMAD to 1500 kcal for cutting/deffing/shredding. And it worked but I was allways hungry and it was not sustainable long term. That was why I wanted to swith to ZC. Now my calories are 3.000-4.000 and I have gained weight and my face is more puffy. I feel I eat way to much, but I feel great. I really want to try to ride this out and keep eating what my body actually needs and hopefully the weight will come off and face look thinner if I give it some time. But it is so hard to see all my efforts in getting real shredded go away. On the other hand the mood and energy is far better. To me this actually is more important than being super low Body-fat with abs. And I have red that “eventually” the body will release fat gained when it trusts that there is no starvation going on. More of a hormonal question rather than CICO.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #9

I’m only a month in and still weathering a few symptoms so I’ll try to remember this thread in June or something.

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #10

Im considering Carnivore
And I’m seeing people talk about Carnivore Adaption, and being Hungry

I’m fat adapted, so I don’t feel hungry, basically since June 2018
Is there a different type of adaption with carnivore that I am missing?

#11

I don’t have the insatiable hunger problem some other Carnies seem to. An average meal for me might look like: three eggs, three pieces of bacon or two pieces of sausage, and a cup of milk for breakfast; dinner will be a half-pound of ground beef or half-pound of steak, with maybe a piece of sugar-free chocolate for dessert. That keeps me full.

I went through a mild “Carnivore Flu” but same deal as with the Keto Flu, it was just about keeping up electrolytes and adapting, went away in a couple days.

(charlie3) #12

The primary problem for me is over eating and a perception that my body is not processing the energy as effectively as when I was eating less protein and more bulk via the salad. Animal foods are compact in the frig and probably the same in my body, which is persistantly worried it’s not getting enough food.

I’m not doing ZC because I believe it’s superior or equal to low carb. I have found no research to fortify that position. I’m doing it to have the experience and see if it might be better. It’s not going to work in the long run if I can’t keep my weight down. I love been lean, I’m not going back to average pudge ball. I’m in for at least a month, probably longer, to let things sort themselves out.

(Magnus Jensen) #13

I am reading about Carnivore adaption and wonder if more expreinced Carnivores could share some hints on when you are “Carnivore-adapted”. For me going into Keto, I just felt it i.e. being able to go for 2 days without eating and being able to work out hard during that period, only relaying on body-fat for fuel. But is there a similar “marker” or “markers” going full blown Carnivore/ZC? Of course I will make up my status after 30 days (Kevin Stock guide to Carnivore), but that is just a nuber of days, and I would like to have some other points to look for to conclude if adapted or not.

(Chris) #14

The crazy hunger usually evens out, gotta give it time.

Salads are bulky, but that’s it. They lack any meaningful nutrition and you don’t digest fiber.

After some real time has gone by it’s actually really easy to get back into IF and drop to 1200-1500 calories a day. I’ve done it. I’ve also done 7000. Gained a little doing that but not very much.

Example of 12-1500 a day- I managed to drop 20 pounds in a 6 weeks on ZC without losing any significant muscle mass, in fact probably still gaining because my workouts weren’t negatively impacted.

A lot of the problems you guys are describing are beginner issues and they don’t remain after extended time on the diet. Adaptation aside from fat adaptation is your gut biome adapting to a different food supply - one that it can actually use far more effectively than fiber.

Year and a half under my belt and I regret it far less every day. Best decision I ever made for my health.

(Magnus Jensen) #15

Ok, so I just have to trust the process and not restrict or IF if I do not find it naturally (my body signals). I have gained some fat in this adaption phase (both on my abs and in the face), but I just need to stick with it to get fully adapted and in the end it will all be better (I really find it demotivating to gain fat during this phase and have an urge to start restricting again, but I red it would mess the adaption up and actually make me gain even more weight). As you understand I need some motivation to stick with it at this time :wink:

(Chris) #16

Yeah that’s the way to do it. Avoid dairy though as it will usually cause excess weight gain. No heavy cream!

(Magnus Jensen) #17

Yeah!
I only eat 100% grass-fed ground beef and 100% grass-fed Ribeye.
Considering cutting coffee. I feel it makes me more hungry…

Thanks @Dread1840

(Chris) #18

I had that issue with coffee as well. Cut it out last week except for a 6oz cup on weekends - and I do use a caffeinated preworkout but I’m less concerned with hunger after my workout lol.

(Magnus Jensen) #19

I see! Totally agree.

#20

I personally have no issues with dairy, have even added whole milk back to my diet, and see no reason to avoid it if you can handle it.