July-A-Ganza


#1

Come one, come all zero carb’ers to the July-A-Ganza.

Plenty of meat on the bbq for all of us :slight_smile: :sunny:

What do we want out of July for ourselves? Let’s hold strict zc and get results we want!!

I am hoping for a few lbs down the scale.
Body composition to keep getting more leaner/toned which I love.
Eat bigger beef which works for me best and I thrive on that, and stop the bit of grazing I am finding myself doing.
Another month under my belt saying I am cementing in zero carb for a lifestyle and commit full on as I have and not waiver, which again, is not hard for me to do but this accountability is always good with great support from friends here and other’s wanting the same!

Not much to work on LOL but these little things are important to me.

Come one, come all…July will be fun in zc land :wink:


(Elizabeth ) #2

The one thing I plan on doing this month that I haven’t ever done is having my hormones tested, I do get thyroid every six months but my doctor never did them eight years ago because she said at my age I wouldn’t have any anyway haha but I’m wondering if it’s affecting my overall well-being and weight. I used bioidentical progesterone cream briefly for a few months during menopause in my early fifties. I don’t remember it ever making much difference but I had purchased the product :slight_smile:


#3

My half-slab of New York Strip is nicely thawed, so I am planning big beef along with you Fangs. Goals for this month are to blow through the rest of the 170s and beyond so I can fit into some of the amazing summer clothing I recently unearthed from long-forgotten storage boxes. I also want to get back into yoga and basic body weight markers like pull ups and pushups, squats, planks as I have heavy construction work to do lifting plywood sheets, bags of concrete, etc. and at 56 I want to be careful not to injure myself since I feel so darn healthy and strong with this WOE.

Mentally I am really feeling the “Vulcan brain” thing happening I read about with carnivore eating—brain fog clearing, better focus, abstract thinking sharper, more objective emotionally, etc. so I signed up for a free month of The Great Courses Plus and have been listening to lectures on Greek History, Beethoven, etc. while I am working outside or driving.

I guess the overall plan is putting my life in order after years of lethargy and feeling sick and tired all the time. I really let everything go—not just my body. I am so grateful to finally feel good enough again to re-enter my life and get to work.

My big lesson thus far? Health should never be taken for granted. It is a foundation stone critical to a happy and meaningful life :slight_smile:


(Daisy) #4

I am back to beef for the month of July. Yesterday was a little dirty with some cheese and pepperoni as a late snack, but today was all beef. I want to go 30 days of beef.


#5

E, that is so cool to get tested and see where you are at. Real info. on our bodies is always a great indicator and we know where we do stand. I like this! Good July goal.

Wow Hawkeye, loving your post :sunny:
You are wanting vitality and energy and getting more clarity. Out from under the thumb press of crap carbs we do thrive!
With this new found vitality we start to want to work on our lives in all order, I so understand that, cause we are clear to think about where we want to improve and we can physically now do what we have in mind to achieve. Mind and body…so important like you said, and the soul of course :wink: Great July goals.

Very good July goal KD. I have to say beef is it for me! I function at top capacity on beef…but darn I need a little seafood thrown in there for me HAHA I can’t wait to hear how you do on a full 30. I bet you do very well and get some changes going down. Will be interesting to hear your report on your 30! Go for it!!

-------------------------------WOW so far the ZC are on it and in it to win :wink: Cool.

I have to say big beef is key for me. I function so different on big beef and it is truly noticeable. Not one doubt about it for me.

Yesterday around 1:00 I had a 1.5 lb. ribeye steak. I tackled that thing! I could only eat 1 lb. or so…put few big hunks in fridge to nosh on later, which I did…around 7 at night.

When I do a 1 lb. steak as my first meal…my day changes. Like I am fully nourished, happy as a clam and feeling so light on my feet, but full with contentment. I think I am finding my real niche in all this…keep starting my day with big beef, after that the ‘need’ for any food after that big meal just is not a focus, not a must have ya know. I just get a tad hungry and have a tiny bit more and I am good for the day.

For me this simplicity is key truly. How I wanna roll in my life when it comes to my food intake.

Today…I got a 1 lb. ribeye raring to go when hungry later.
I can’t guarantee all of July will be beef only like KD, but in my final thoughts for it all, I am going big beef and see where it takes me.

AND to boot, ribeyes on sale. 15.99/lb…on sale at 7.99 for the holiday and I got 9 in the freezer already and am hitting the store this morning for however many more I can get :slight_smile:

July-A-Ganza is underway!!


#6

holy cow on a cracker, well, errr, bed of shrimp

that ribeye I cooked in some nice grassfed butter

came thru me like lightening this morn.

WOW haven’t had that in years truly.

I have been living on beef tenderloin, very lean, little butter to cook blue rare and when I hit that big azz fatty ribeye and used some butter and drank the butter after off the plate and ate all my good fat…I felt fab.

then I never saw this coming this morning til later in the morn…surprise to say the least of it HA…omg!

well I am cleaned out needless to say LOL and kinda surprised it took this darn long? huh? whatever tho….:slight_smile:

I will be very careful on big fat today is all I am gonna say HAHA


(Daisy) #7

Haha I had one of those days too. I feel very cleaned out from the junky days I had. Here’s some meal pics of late.


#8

Where’s the beef? Well, KD has it all LOL wonderful pics of good meat!

--------so I am fine. All has balanced and all gut issues with my over fat eating day has passed.

I did get worried on eating a ribeye yesterday. I will tackle it today.
I wasn’t hungry yesterday, kinda had that icky feeling thru the day.

ended up eating 2 chicken breasts and 6 slices salami. ugh LOL, but it is all I wanted.

today I got me a 1 lb. ribeye and probably do shrimp with it. that was my standard meal not long ago, gonna go back to it and hold it for a bit.


#9

I love this challenge! Here are my July goals:

– I just went from carnivorish to full carnivore (with the exception of tea) about a week ago, and am loving it. I want to continue it throughout the month of July and see where it takes me.

–My weight was up to about 140 in Feb, before I went carnivorish - a lifetime high for me. I am now down to 132 and hope to break the 130 barrier this month (end goal is 125).

–I’ve started a modest weight-lifting program and want to do it at least twice a week all through July.

– And now my favorite goal: One of my favorite summer activities is swimming, especially in hot and humid VA. Unfortunately, due to covid the government seems to have shut down almost all access to swimming (pools and lakes) in my geographical area. So my goal is to seek out every out-of-the-way swimming hole I can find within driving distance, and have a fun time swimming in unrestricted waters!


#10

Ohhh I am loving this goal…I am a water baby also! I know when it is nice and hot outside there is nothing like water to relax, enjoy, cool off and just splash around and have fun. Best of luck seeking out your new favorite private spots!!!

Sounds like you got a good grip on going into carnivore. Just hold strong, eat super well and let the plan work for ya.

Don’t worry about your bit of tea…it is allowed. Tea for me was weird. I relied on it so much as my ‘hot drink to sip’ or cold unsweet tea as my go to for ordering out. But then my mouth got this weirdo numby like thick strange feeling when I drank tea? I don’t know…my body didn’t want it anymore…so I just dropped it. Never like coffee and it was sad I lost my tea kinda, but you know, after giving it up it is like it never existed to me, don’t miss it one bit now. Enjoy your tea while ya can, cause as our bodies heal and change somethings we just don’t like anymore…lol

hold strong for July-A-Ganza


#11

1 lb ribeye. omg so good. no troubles on it. but I did not suck down all the fat juice etc. Oh boy I wanted to but decided not to do that :slight_smile: I feel great, guts are in line and back to normal. That 1lb.er held me for a long time. Toward evening all I wanted was a bit of sausage to nosh on and a small chunk of cheese.

Loving zc and rocking my big old ribeyes again. Life is good!!

Where is Moo? I hope all is well and will check in soon!


(Daisy) #12

Yesterday and today so far. We’re working on the garage, so out in the heat all day both days, then campfires. That raw burger was cooked ever so slightly over the campfire but still mostly raw lol. It was pitch black though so no picture


#13

Hi guys! I am so not there yet but I am looking forward to go back to carnivorish, it’s NOT nice to be too far, I must say. My poor body. And I didn’t eat carbs galore, not even much fruits but as time passes, my body refuses to handle even a little off…

But I was in the city (visited Alvaro’s Mom after almost 4 months!!! she made soft, nice chicken, way softer than our rooster but we got tips how to make it softer, better!!! the skin wasn’t crunchy but nice and super thin… our roosters have/had very thick skins but I am hopeful we can deal with it next time) and managed to buy some pork, not a small amount :slight_smile: Still bad meat:plastic ratio but not as bad as for the smaller pieces. The “family size” stuff probably was worse quality, not from a local farm but 1.2kg meat isn’t that bad. I still have a biggish rooster anyway and I have plans with fish.
We will make roasted pork chuck again but not in whole, I adored the fattier, roasted outside so I want slices this time! So 1-2 days and I try to squeeze multiple carnivore-ish days in.
My goals for July? Lots of carni days (tricky as I still have fruits), getting a bigger amount of red meat from the “beef farm”, the last beef was ages ago, I can eat some again but I am still hoping for half a sheep… And no matter how I eat on any day, eating only when hungry. I am very curious what happens when I try that, I liked it when I managed to do it last week. I am rarely hungry lately but it doesn’t mean I eat accordingly, I don’t even understand this, I don’t always make sense. More meat helped in the past, even in the mental part, it’s quite amazing. I had a time when it seemed I basically just need somewhat low carbs (like <20g net so barely any plants, I don’t know how people eat vegetables with this limit, I never was able to do it except my insignificant amounts) and maybe it has truth in it but I don’t have the control for it if I make it too relaxed. So I dropped that idea. I probably won’t worry about some extra items finding their way into my diet occasionally but my actual PLAN will be carnivore-ish at least. So basically my default is probably stricter than I need but accidents happen in my life. I see things like this right now.

And in everything goes well, August will be quite different and better. We will see.


(Not a cow) #14

I’m still kicking Fangs, just ended up the junebillie with some keto foods, salads and chili and then got back into too much cheese, then it led to sour cream, cream cheese, whipping cream, olive oil, apple cider vinegar so I’m back into keto- carnivore, maybe for the month or the next couple of months.
Funny I do notice some bloating, with the salads, as that’s about the only thing I have been having for the last couple of days with my meat

I’m just going to play it by ear for the rest of the summer, maybe mostly carnivore, but add a salad here and there. I can take it or leave it, the salads u know, depends on how it makes me feel going forward.

I gave up on the site with it being down so often, but I see it’s been good for the week. For July I will stay away from bread, fruit, pasta and other starches, but alcohol and salads will be in. Maybe the odd WC buttered coffee, they r kind of nice.

Power and WiFi down for the evening so using my phone for this

Have a good summer carnies, and wish all of you the best. Now when they say the crazy days of summer, it has a whole other meaning
Stay safe


#15

Moo, salad and alcohol huh HAHA what a strange thing to let back! A salad…LOL…hey the alcohol is cool, that salad, blah :wink: Yea do your thing and see how you come thru on how you want to roll. I jumped between extreme low carb and zero carb for darn near 2 years. I did everything I could to keep carbs in my life literally but in the end it never worked out for me. Carbs were my downfall. Pop in when ya can and let us know how you are doing!! A salad doesn’t mean we don’t wanna hear from you :sunny:

Shinita, very happy you got to visit his Mom and ya’ll had a great time!!
I really hope you can get your hands on some big beef. It truly is a great meat to balance us out and make us feel wonderful. Even a 1/2 a sheep would be a massive score with a good amt of meat to hold you guys.

KD those are some fab steak pics and that big old pat of butter melting on it :), heaven. Sounds like big work going down on that garage for you…in this heat. Take it easy, you might cook yourself out there in that sun more than ya cook your burgers HAHA

----------------all going great. had another great ribeye. later I wanted ‘something’ so I went with some leftover taco meat that was made for the family. Did ok on the spice of it. Nothing weirdo got me from this cup of meat…then I ate a tin of sardines.

My big 1 lb. ribeye steak around 1-3 range is what just sets me up so well. I get full and satisfied and later my hunger is definitely controlled.

So far July is great. Only 5 days in, we got alot more time!


#16

So I ate some COVID-disaster stew two nights ago. It was lamb from the farm next door slow cooked for 24 hours. First the meat was browned in olive oil. But there were some vegetables in it. I had cooked it in March and have been eating my way through the freezer the past week of all the frozen meat-based meals.

But 6 hours after the stew I woke with horrible heartburn. I had to have an antacid. That is a rare thing.

So it wasn’t carnivore eating that set it off. I actually did not experience heart burn with the months I have done carnivore challenges.

The next day I consumed a podcast with Dr. Cate Shanahan. She explained that a main cause for heartburn is refined seed oils. But I made the stew and the oil was olive oil. I reckon it was a reaction to a vegetable or two. When I went back just to eating steak and eggs cooked in butter or tallow, no heart burn.

The main stream can sometimes suggest that heartburn is due to a heavy red meat diet.

What are your anecdotes?


#17

omg you had me cracking up on this…I got disaster steaks in the freezer by the boatload LOL

yea even olive oil. Unless you know the brand and if it is a truly ‘real olive oil’ from a super reputable company, I hate to say it, most brands of olive oil are junk and don’t even pass inspection. They put ALL kinds of crap in olive oil and if you google the info on it, it is crazy the amt of companies that do just that…so your olive oil you think is a ‘fresh real one’ could be one of the imposters. Anything to make a buck and gyp the consumer. A few companies got fined etc. for this practice but it still is happening. So yea it could easily be that olive oil for sure.

or you are having a bit too much, too soon, upsetting the tummy with unbalance from veg, oils or whatever. We think the ‘little this and that’ aren’t bad at the moment but they are internally working against ya til you have one more bite of whatever and boom, we run for the TUMS! So it could be a few things working against you on that.

Heartburn. It just doesn’t exist on zero carb. When one gets thru adapt and stays on plan, you rarely if ever hear of anyone doing heartburn from this plan…and if they do it is usually eating off a tad, or there are med situations or time on plan isn’t just long enough to get the body healed more level and in balance etc. Only time is when we go into spices or herbs or dairy even, eat a bit of whatever off plan, and then we go for the TUMS…remember I had to do TUMS a while back cause I got nailed. Not one time on carnivore do I get heartburn, I lick some spoons, a tad of cocktail sauce on shrimp and I am running for TUMS…Cocktail sauce is forever off my list, not one doubt about that HAHA…yes this is an advert for TUMS and I DO get endorsement money from them…HAHA

anecdotes—YIKES? I can’t handle big words this morning! Too early, but I will give ya my thoughts—heehee


#18

We planned to fry some of the pork along with vegetables but well, we so didn’t need that work (I don’t know how I survived trying to get satiated with vegetable dishes, well I loved my vegetables and ate enough eggs to get satiated and I felt well… but vegetables are too much work and eating them is like eating nothing to me minus the joy they provided back then, of course) and I definitely didn’t need the carbs. So we roasted it all. 1145g, it’s a cute amount.
We used lard of course and some garlic and bbq spice but well, those are spice and perfectly fine for me. I felt it had to be garlic for this dish. <10g for two persons but it doesn’t matter anyway.

This, then egg stew (we boiled 30 eggs again), my leftover fish and it’s weekend again and Alvaro cooks rooster stew! It’s still him who makes the bigger and more time consuming meaty dishes, sometimes on open fire :). But he cooks some vegetable dish for himself too, I don’t really do that except some legumes because 1. it takes almost no time 2. I can do something with my smoked pork bones that way and get back some well-cooked pork hocks, they are tough raw. But cooked? All the interesting, softened tendon and remained fatty part is mine (the hopeless parts go to the cats but it’s negligible) and of course, some of the leaner ham part too. It’s nice. And very salty but much of that get soaked up with the legumes… Nowadays we rarely eat the same food but sometimes it happens. I have very simple recipes, it’s way more simple than in the vegetable dishes times and vegetables don’t fill up the fridge.
I think Alvaro eats less raw vegetable since I do it in insignificant amounts… It will be interesting to see how he changes. His woe always changes to some extent when mine change as he isn’t very choosy just sticks to high-carb. Vegetable dishes for every meal? Fine. Almost never when I am the cook (the new norm)? That’s no big deal either. He has this with meat too. He doesn’t want to eat it every day (at this point, at least) but almost never and almost every day was fine for him. His woe has some effect on mine, not a huge one but part of my circumstances and I don’t want to overcomplicate my life even when I cook for both of us. It works fine this far.


#19

ehhh, I would eat all that meat easily…looks delish S!!!
great pic

Just let Alvaro do his thing as he must and you do yours and at some point easily as it goes down you 2 will meet up in the middle :slight_smile: Me and my husband had to do just that. As much as I wanna say stop eating that junk to him and he got angry at me for doing so, I shut up and I said to him, you irked cause I EAT this way tough HAHA, so we just let each of us do our own thing as we like and need, so life is good from that aspect of it now


#20

So I have one of those positive carnivore side effects that you read about but doubt unless it happens to you.

My hair is no longer going grey but has turned mostly back to its dark blonde color. I’m kinda shocked honestly. My husband touches up the roots every 6-8 weeks or so, and with being at home, we haven’t bothered to do it lately. I noticed in the mirror yesterday the new growth was no longer coming in grey but dark blonde. There may still be s little grey but it is less than 10% instead of 70%.

Husband confirmed it yesterday as he know my roots very well as he’s done my coloring for 25 years and more. He is even more shocked than me, and his enthusiasm for joining me on carnivore just took a huge leap forward.

So the stories seem to be true, and feeling good and losing weight really are just part of the story of what this WOE can do. . .