Gaining weight on carnivore

(Shaun Chadwick) #1

Evening all,
I’ve been doing the carnivore diet for 13 months now, mainly to clear up my serious eczema condition ( which it generally has)
However, I’m having trouble gaining weight. I’m 6”2” and 12 st. I was 13 1/2 st before I started. I eat 16 1/4 pound burgers each day, that’s 3900 calories, 311g protein and 300g fat. I also eat some fruit for electrolytes. I’m also allergic to dairy, even goat dairy. Also eggs.
Has anyone else had similar problems on carnivore or keto.
Thanks
Shaun

#2

Simply not eating enough. If you were eating above maintenance, you’d be gaining. What’s you’re physical activity like? If you’re not gaining at 4k calories a day you have a pretty impressive metabolism. Be glad, it’s worse the other way around. If you’re not very active and burning through that much you ever had your thyroid checked? At your height, that weight at those calories that thing must be revved up pretty good.

(Shaun Chadwick) #3

Continuing the discussion from Gaining weight on carnivore:

Thanks,
Yes I’m quite active but have had a bad flair up recently and basically did nothing at all for a month over Christmas to try and heal but didn’t gain any weight, so definitely not burning 4000 calories a day.
Just got results from docs for a generic blood test but not sure if thyroid was covered.

#4

It’s not that simple. Some of us has a pretty big maintenance range. Eating more just quicken our metabolism. There is a limit but it may be too hard to reach especially without carbs.
My case is totally different from the OP as my energy need is pretty small and I am chubby but I always ate very much and never was able to gain with a noticeable speed. 2lbs/year was the result of massive overeating on HCHF every day. Eating way less did nothing as I still was in my maintenance range. I am a staller on every woe (as I can’t do high-carb for long anymore and I can’t eat little enough to lose fat). I have even read about people like me, it’s not even a rare thing.

OP, maybe you can slowly bulk up…? Maybe gaining fat is too hard for your body…? Just a thought.

(Shaun Chadwick) #5

Thanks,
Yes I can’t put fat on at all, I’d estimate I’m about 6/7% body fat. Once I’m over this current flair up I’m going to try and lift weights regularly and increase carbs slightly ( I seem to tolerate sweet potato)

#6

That’s true, but the burst in RMR from eating more is very short lived when you’re doing it constantly. I had to reverse diet for over a year to get my metabolism back into a good range after destroying it with fasting. I wish it was a quick thing.

I was in the same boat, but it’s because I thought I knew where those ranges were for me (I wasn’t tracking) and after having my RMR checked I and every calculator on the planet was WAY off! Like by over 1000 cals! I wasn’t gaining, but I wasn’t losing either. Just stuck, even in a pretty descent range of cals.

#7

I had it for decades, I didn’t track but I have memories, I clearly overate. When I started to eat way less, I lost nothing as I still overate… It wasn’t fun and still isn’t. I have a method but it’s not easy to follow it, it’s still so unusual to eat little and my body isn’t satisfied with that either.

Your case is very different, that was mild starving, not overeating, our metabolism doesn’t like that. And I knew about my own TDEE as I experienced it during my barely maintaining and fat losing times. It obviously changes from day to day but I have an educated guess and a stable enough activity level and if I eat accordingly, results follow.
I am aware calculators may be very off. I never followed them, fortunately as I just couldn’t eat as little as they guessed for my maintenance calories (I ate more and lost fat for a long while, those were nice times, I felt quite good too, satiated all day as always. I never stay hungry on any woe).

Maybe I wasn’t clear? I can’t eat little enough to lose fat means I eat way too much. If I go below my maintenance calories, I start to lose, that part is fine. My metabolism is super safe as no way I could starve without outside forces. So my problem is eating too much on all woe way too easily. Not lacking results when I eat little.

#8

They are considered one of the tallest people in the world with average height of 6 ft 3 inches according to some reports. Males weight average

th%20(15)

For some reason other than medical or health issues, why do you truly feel you are not a normal human being wtih a normal body image for you in some fashion?

medical issues dragging you down I get it, cause real medical issues are tough in life…but why does one ‘need more’ other than what a ‘male picture should be’ in this life and on media?

If 0 med issues then YOU are YOU and you are normal life truly :slight_smile: NOW in this day and age is a massively warped fashion of what a ‘person should be’ truly so…

this is just a chat it out :slight_smile: and what life should be in full truths of who we are and what we are supposed to be in life kinda chat.

believe me,. being a gal who wanted XYZ thru it all as I strived to ‘fit’ in the end, hell no ya know HAHA

Carnivore is no fruit point blank. Eat more meat, fat and seafood fish and fowl and your HEALTH inside the body improves and if the ‘body image you are striving for’ does not come in your mind to suit you, then eat up the carby crap to gain fat on the body but you then lose life healing and vibrancy.

weight is eat the carbs :slight_smile: Carnivore eating will put you where you should be as who you are as a human, your make up of being and more but it keeps the body healthy also and in balance, but once we ‘get we ain’t right’ or ‘want change’ to some level that ain’t gonna happen…then…it all will fall as it falls for each of us.

ok this is a nice chat as I am trying to say, I think ya might be just damn great as you are and who you are meant to be :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

#9

double post somehow

(Judy Thompson) #10

Fangs, I totally love this. We’re each who we are, and the sum of so many parts. I used to hear “your weight is none of your business” in the nazi 12 step program and damn if it isn’t true. You live your life right and then you will be right through and through.
Shaun, you’ve been eating 300g protein and 4000 calories - that in itself should tell you that you aren’t meant to be 24% fat!

(Shaun Chadwick) #11

Thanks for the answers guys, very philosophical. I do agree that humans are probably meant to be built like me, as is evident in the majority of hunter gatherer tribes throughout the world.
I was just seeking advice from anyone who had similar issues gaining weight and how they overcame this.

(Sama Hoole) #12

It’s quite likely you have an adaptive metabolism that goes up when you increase calories. So it’s worth shooting a little higher. But at the same time, I’d recommend avoiding water during meals, separate into more meals if possible, and consider supplementing with Betaine HCL. That should help you digest your food better and prevent lost calories.

(Kirk Wolak) #13

Remember, when you cook hamburgers, you lose a lot of the fat.
Especially patties.

I slice butter and eat it with mine. Typically an entire stick with the set of 12 patties (3lbs).
It adds ~800 cals of fat, and is far more satiating.

Now, there is a good chance you lost fat, and gained lean muscle. That’s a win. How are your measurements (Waist, etc)

#14

That’s lightweight food you have to eat more

/thread.

(Shaun Chadwick) #15

Yes, very true. I wish I. could have butter.
So I’m about 31” waist and 40” chest.
I do carry some muscle and would say the 20lbs I’ve lost are water and fat.
Given the opportunity I would chug down loads of cream but I’m very limited to what I can eat due to allergies.

(Betsy) #16

Can you eat pork? Beef has very little thiamine in it. Thiamine is very important.

(Shaun Chadwick) #17

I absolutely adore pork belly but it brings me out in huge spots on my legs for some strange reason.

(Betsy) #18

Oh no, that’s too bad. And that’s a very strange reaction, even the part about it happening on your legs. It sounds like mast cell reaction.

I understand the difficulties of reacting to food and have been on a very limited diet for many years. I

I am glad you can eat beef.

Are you in UK? There is a young man there who helps people using purely nutrition. He knows about the Keto diet, too. There may be a way to get out of the overreaction to foods.

His name is Elliot Overton, if you want to look him up.

(Edith) #19

You may want to research histamine intolerance.

Dr. Georgia Ede’s site is a good place to start.

(B Creighton) #20

I was thinking of starting a new thread, but when I searched histamine on the site, I found some posts from 2017, and you were one. Thank you for your 2 links here. We are pretty sure that my wife has histamine intolerance. She has been allergic to milk her whole life, and reacts with hives. However, if you ask me, she has become more sensitive in the last year or two. She has gone into menopause during this time, so it seems like that should make histamine intolerance better since it is supposedly connected to estrogen levels.

She has had recent bouts of getting hives - from supplements, after eating sauerkraut, etc. Upon googling, she found out about histamine intolerance, and it seems to fit her to a T. She also has gluten intolerance, and trouble getting B12. She has decided to try the GAPS diet to try to heal her gut, because she now believes she has gotten more histamine intolerant due to leaky gut.

Virginia or anyone… what have you found to help histamine intolerance besides simply avoiding higher histamine foods? She has tried DAO, and didn’t sound like she noticed much difference. Maybe eating lamb kidney or similar would help? I am going to have more time to maybe help her more by making her dinner, and doing whatever may help. She typically doesn’t eat my dinners, although I have to say, I eat pretty low histamine myself, except I make and eat yogurt from raw goat milk, and sometimes eat sauerkraut now. I now avoid almost all canned meats, and eat fresh as possible. I read in one of the posts that MCTs might make people more histamine sensitive - has anyone found that to be true? Any help is appreciated.