May the Meat Force be with you! - 31 day Zero Carb Carnivore Cruise

[Karen18]

So where did all these posts come from today lol. When I got home from work yesterday i think there were only 5 posts to read and today… a zillion lol

Had a very long day so sorry I can’t read all of them right through. I tend to manage the shorter ones but not the longer ones.
Was in bed at 7pm last night and probably dropped off about 7.50pm into a deep sleep and then woke suddenly and it was only 8 15pm! Because I was concerned I would end up not being able to drift back off 8 took a couple of herbal sleep tabs. Then I was off again till about 11 something and then up about 3.15 then the alarm went of a little later than usual at 5.15 as I decided I wouldn’t stair run before work today. Got into work at 6am and cra key on with listening to phone calls and we had a few interruptions which were starting to get to me then over to the training building for some in-house training. It was quite interesting tbh but I had to deal with OHP’s and boisterous staff, I do love them but they were a bit too noisy for me today. Got home at 4.30pm and straight into pj’s yesss lol

Had brunch at 11am ish, same as yesterday sliced cooked chicken reheated in butter and a hard boiled egg (lesson learnt from getting too hungry yesterday)

Dinner same as yesterday, a rump steak followed by 7 home spiced chicken wings. OMG the difference doing my own big ones at home and buying ready spiced little baby ones at double the price is tremendous. Yum Yum Yum

Those Chicken wings came in at about 50p for that portion! Not something to sniff at lol though they smelt gorgeous hahaha

[Shinita]

It’s very easy for me to overeat fat. I don’t even try it on carnivore so maybe not there especially long term but I have mad skills regarding overeating and it’s always overeating fat, what else? I can’t eat zillion grams of carbs, never could. My super high-cal days always meant excessively consumed fat.
But of course I don’t know what will happen on longer term carnivore when I take out the brakes. It won’t happen in the near future but maybe one day…? I know carnivore helps a lot but if I choose the wrong items, it’s not effective, overeating is too easy without trying for one day - and no idea what then as I always stop myself.
I just know I need to be careful with fat. But in the beginning it can be magical. Still need to be careful.

Before I wrote a lot (I am determined not to), I just write about my day.

I got hungry and the idea of anything fatty was very off-putting. So I postponed my experiments, not even fried yolks seemed a good idea.
I ate every kind of nice lean stuff - and sour cream as that’s special. Almost no meat but I opened a can of tuna.
100g protein, 890 kcal, said guesstimation. Oh well, it couldn’t be helped.

2 hours later I was hungry and my fat problem magically disappeared (fat aversion is like egg aversion, never lasts long). I focused on fat this time as my protein was already okay. But I can’t eat just fat so had eggs. And while it wasn’t my plan, desperate times, desperate measures, had a lot of cheese as well. I started to eat my pork and after some waiting (still hungry) I managed to eat it all.

Almost no joy from my food and hunger for way longer I prefer but I am satiated now and I needn’t to use force. Guesstimation says 2200 kcal, 70% fat.
I can’t compare my days when I change multiple factors but this was just a balancing out day for yesterday.
About 343g meat if I calculated correctly. That’s fine. I expected less, honestly, I only could eat it in the later part of my (way too big, 5 hour long) eating window.

It’s fine as long as I will be okay tomorrow and can go back to my enjoyable, not too high-cal OMAD. I still can’t seem to eat twice. It was 3-4 meals for today. I consider it 3 but I had a break in the first one.

So… I will be careful with eating fat first (especially when I don’t desire it that is basically always* but how could I try it then?). It may cause problems for me.

*Though pork jowl is awesome. Alvaro still doesn’t think so but never would try it. Mostly fat tissue, it must be the worst thing ever for him. He hates the visible fat on pork too.

My pork thigh is defrosting. I expect nice times, good macros and almost no problems. And eating more than a pound of pork a day again.

[Azi]

I have no issue eating fat on a steak or roast I always go for it first its hot soft and often crunchy on out side melts in the mouth and totally deliciousness. After a certain amount though ill get a queasy stomach feeling like another bite I’d probably be sick thats me done with fat . At that point I’ll only eat the meat yes it has fat in it but it’s not just fat and it doesn’t make me feel sick .

cant compare eating fat with meat to eating fat with carbs though …Fats and sugar yes you’ll gain weight like crazy and its addictive like that, and no real off switch its why i wont do too many sweetned fats ,even if fake sugar its way to easy to over eat sweet fat…, Fat and meat no. as you discovered after a few bites of fat you didnt enjoy it thats the signal your looking for. You had all your body required
at That point and your body is signaling you to stop it has what it needs for its energy and nutrients for hormones…
It gave you the signal I dont want any more… then you can eat the protein you need its not about going low protein or low calorie its about listening and feeding the body what it needs…

[Septimius]

I took my blood glucose 2 days last week after almost 24 hours fasted (and not having high fat/fat first omads) and my glucose was 111 and 97. Again, both times being almost 24 hours fasted!!! That should not be at all! Come Saturday, I returned to high fat/fat first. The last 3 mornings at 24 hours fasted, my numbers were 85, 87, and 81. So much better!

This is super interesting; I appreciate you sharing this.

[Septimius]

I do no outside reading/research about this topic.

I was listening to a podcast with Kelly Hogan (love Kelly) earlier today, and your post reminded me of it straight away - because she basically said she wasn’t on the podcast to go deeply into the science, but just to share what had worked for her on her journey.

And those parts of carnivore are just as important as having someone explaining about protein utilisation on the third waning moon of the year, or whatever - just hearing someone being enthusiastic about what worked for them, especially with a relatable journey, is really helpful.

I think that’s what’s really great about us having a community - some people are deep into the research, some people are deep into other communities, some people are further along on their journey etc - so we all have different ideas about what might be the best step forward.

I think you’re right in that most of us can’t go too far wrong if we listen to our bodies.

I also think the best thing is that we have a place to come and check in if we’re listening to our bodies and something doesn’t seem right - because other people might have experienced it themselves, or might know a bit more about why something does/doesn’t work.

[robintemplin]

Very well said and appreciated. I feel the same way about the community support here.

[Midnightmoon]

@Karen18. Thanks for the welcome. I spend a lot of time over with the crowd in the fasting threads. I see a few familiar faces from over there as I read through this thread.

I was actually referring to my occasional temptation by a few nuts and some olives here and there. I’ve been really getting close to full blown carnivore lately with those items every once in a while. With that said, looking at what I was eating a year ago compared to now, I’ve come a long way.

[Azi]

Day 1 of strict beef salt and water started with 2 flanken ribs dinner was one flanken rib and a portion of cowboy steak both fat and fat +meat

There were times I thought about snacking on pork rinds proving to myself that this strictness was def needed if anything enters my mouth it will be water salt or beef period.

[Shinita]

Fats and sugar yes you’ll gain weight like crazy

Fortunately not in my case. I gained 1kg a year on an overeating HCHF (until 80kg, I couldn’t eat enough to gain more). Maintenance is the easiest thing ever since I left high-carb (whatever little I gained sometimes, that happened with way more carbs than usual and not caring about my fat intake either), I just have problem with losing, keto didn’t help with that. Or anything I tried, actually except when I had 2 carni weeks with almost no meat (early times when I refused to buy meat in the shops except chicken liver so used super salty smoked farm pork) therefore lowish calories long ago. But then came my stress gain and it’s with me since. And my body learned to eat more on carnivore but it’s all over the place, really. My lowest was 1200 kcal (or less but early confusion doesn’t matter), my highest 4100. May is… Vaguely… 1800, 1800, 1200, 2200. It’s very normal in my world. The 4100 was highly extreme, that was normal on an off high-carb day in my low-carb years but those type of days are in the past.

Alvaro is the type who gains quickly if his activity drops while he still eats 3 times a day (he has some super instinct to eat about the same amount of food every day unless he skips a meal, even a low-carb meal is the same size as a high-carb one, his satiation is extremely closely related to calories unlike mine). He loses quickly on HCHF if he stops eating dinner. I am the forever 75kg one (since the accident, it was around 70 before).
I felt my already very comfy home pants loose and weighed myself. But of course it was 75kg. Hopefully not for long. Of course the inches matter to me but as I hardly gain much muscles even in a year and my retained water basically never changes, weight is a good indicator (and I can’t measure inches, I just can feel what my pants do. but this comfy one isn’t so informative, I just didn’t notice until this morning that it is too loose so maybe something happened. but I didn’t eat well enough to expect any noticeable changes yet).

even if fake sugar its way to easy to over eat sweet fat

That definitely helps to eat, yes. That’s why I had those “sweet desserts every day” times not so long ago. I couldn’t stomach savory food but could eat sweet pancakes. I always go for protein rich stuff, more fatty things are for rare times when I need many more calories without more satiation. I don’t need sweetness then, I know some lovely fat I can eat almost any time when hungry (pork jowl. I am a fan again).

as you discovered after a few bites of fat you didnt enjoy it thats the signal your looking for.

No, nothing changed there. I needed protein and fat like crazy at that point, exactly like before and during eating the fat. My very fatty bites did nothing to my fat desire, it was non-existent at any point, I wanted fat but only with plenty of protein especially in the beginning of a meal. And probably at the end too, it feels wrong to end with almost pure fat.
I just was so curious already, you folks talk about fat first so much… No regrets but I need to be careful.

And I can overeat fatty meat just fine as I proved that multiple times. Just not in one sitting, at least I have this (and not every day. but I can do it once, probably twice too. not like I ever tried to do longer term overeating on carnivore, I suppose it wouldn’t be natural but doable for me. no desire to try that, I don’t want to waste food. maybe if I will have some very active times and want a calorie surplus to gain muscles. that’s not bad overeating but well, surplus, fits my normal definition). Some people can do that too, overeating certain fatty meats in one sitting.
I need to be very careful with fat, unlimited fatty meat wouldn’t be a good idea. Maybe with the right cuts. Not too fatty, not too lean… That’s why pork chuck is the best. I overeat protein if I jump pork thigh without restraints and stay hungry or get hungry again, I suppose. Not enough fat. But maybe I will try that today I still don’t really want eggs. Can eat a few but that’s it. But I have 2200g pork thigh, Alvaro probably will eat some but not much.

its not about going low protein or low calorie its about listening and feeding the body what it needs…

Of course. If I wanted to do low-protein, I still couldn’t do it but I dislike when my protein is below, like, 1.8g/kg anyway…
Well, fat first is definitely not listening to my body and forcing fat on it first thing instead the protein it clearly wants… But I do it subtly… It should be okay.
I need to experiment, try out things. If I just followed my body, I never would have left high-carb. It had NO IDEA what low-carb is, it was used to carbs so it wanted my normal food it was used to. Since I showed it what lower and lower carb is, it got hooked.
And as my body wants to stay fat and I won’t let it, I need tricks too.
Even OMAD doesn’t come fully naturally, I need a tiny push first (waiting for hunger. it’s not trivial to me normally) and then things go well for a while, usually.
Sometimes some training is needed.
But if you mean we shouldn’t ignore the clear signs there, sure, I am all for that. (I rarely can get away with that anyway, my body is very clear about what it wants and what it isn’t… While having me as a host and being a very resilient one so it’s never some serious punishment but still, I dislike feeling even slightly off. And I usually respect my body and try to give it good stuff. Our relationship is pretty good. Not perfect harmony, I don’t want to stay fat but maybe my body either, it just wants food too often or too much because I still don’t do everything right… I am very confident in my carni May though. It should be good. But I need finetuning. And the right amount of meat or else I would get bored of something and that would be tough. I can’t even go off now as I am super determined. And I have huge variety, it’s a very relaxed carnivore, what else would I want?)

[Fangs]

wow the posts, playing catchup on reading!! we sure can chat up a storm, love it!

busy again today
just got hit with alot to do and no time to do it as alot of us get nailed this way in our day

zc is going perfect

yesterday I was gonna do a steak first but got a hankering for shrimp.

ate a lb. of big shrimp in homemade alfredo sauce. yum, hit the spot
that satisfied me a long long time but later I ate that steak for second meal and it was a very tender delish on again. I am batting 1000 on buying such good ones in this last haul lucky me
Had a tin of sardines after steak to finish off the day.

Still got that thinner empty loving it feeling. I noticed also I am ‘ever very very very’ without thought just shaking on less salt. 5 yrs ZC and finally, finally finally finally I am reducing salt on its own. WOW. I am a super salter so even my smaller reduction is a good thing. But I am not focusing on it…I am just letting it happen on its own and just keep seeing where it goes I doubt in life I will ever be a no salt person, I truly do like it, but darn if I can cut it down more and more, yea sounds good to me.

Just ZC and me and going great!

[FrankoBear]

Ate a rib eye steak. Did a 32 hour fast with no hunger. Ate two beef (short) ribs. Feel good.

Is Nutritional Ketosis helpful if you have a cold?

Let’s start with some antiquated health advice in the form of an idiom and then move on to an anecdote. Starve a cold and feed a fever has also been written as Feed a cold a starve a fever. That gives a pretty wide open treatment window. Here is a science snack. I’ve been feeling pretty cruddy for a few days. Sore throat, tired, some sniffles, general aches and pains, and not wanting to get out of bed in the morning. I know, sounds like a man-cold. This is serious. I use the word c…

[Fangs]

Did a 32 hour fast with no hunge

on purpose? or? just cause it fell that way?
curious

[FrankoBear]

on purpose? or? just cause it fell that way?
curious

I had planned to eat a big rib eye and then wait until I felt hungry, or until the baked beef ribs came out of the oven. So, the plan was OMAD. I just didn’t feel hungry, so went with it, and the time ticked away. I did feel unwell (potential man-cold, as described). But the sudden improvement while easily fasting was the exciting part. It correlated with a jump in my blood ketones. Hence the question.

[Fangs]

oh ok I get that.

you think about ‘what went down’ where I am one to say ‘who gives a sh**’ and just thinks of the next day when I hit hunger and what I wanna eat and what do I want…HAHA

cool beans on that FB

[Karen18]

A normal wakeful night but I had gone up very early last night to ensure I had a good window of opportunity to get my quota in. In the end my fitbit tells me I had 9hr27min! Hmmm a bit suspect but I will go with that one for today.

100 stair runs done and then because I had got up early I raced to lidl where new plants were in today picked up a load and then my friend phoned to say he didn’t feel well today and he had a shopping list for me so I ended up running back and forth across the store. So I am saying to him, while standing at the chilled section do you need any milk, YES ok, 2 milks 8n the trolley, do you need anything else from the chilled section, YES MIXED VEG, yes but do you want anything else from he chilled before I move on, YES MIXED VEG THEYRE IN THE CHILLED SECTION, do you mean frozen mixed veg, YES, they’re in the frozen section Raymond, hmmm so then I’m over the other side for bread and he then asks for aspirins, I’m passing the newspapers, do you want a newspaper, YES 8M GETTING TO THAT, well I am already here at the newspapers and so it went on oh and he asked for a slow cooker too and just by flippin luck lidl had one in their centre aisle!. My quick visit was becoming a much longer one and time was moving in closer to my CrossFit session! Then in the checkout I got in a muddle with my phone and accidently called my daughter, which I dismissed and she called me back in case i needed her urgently and I have the cashier telling me to answer it, people in the queue and I was getting in a right 2 & 8 lol. Of course I then had to go home first to put Raymond veg in my freezer then finally I got to CrossFit, in time thankfully. What was supposed to be a nice dilly dally mooch around the plants at lidl ended up a frantic run around!

XFit was very good this morning.

Got home and had 2 scrambly duck eggs

After brunch I dashed over to Raymond’s with his shopping and he was pretty bad so I stayed and made him a brew and sat for a while. Then came home via the garden centre and filled my baby car up with 5 bags of compost, humping about nearly 200ltrs of soil is a workout in itself!

Dinner same as yesterday only a small sirloin with streaky bacon rather than big rump followed by chilli spiced chicken wings, hooked on chicken wings now I do them my way.

My other rhododendron is starting to bloom

And i

put together a little metal garden owl that I picked up at the food fayre last Sunday when we took my Ben out.
He flaps his wings when the wind sways him back n forth

[Azi]

Day 2 of beef salt and water 2 meals of flanken ribs today( 3 smaller ones each meal) with salt…and water…

I had no snacking cravings today its great how fast… strict carnivore eliminates all the background noise…
No more thoughts today popping in to derail me.i don’t need keto treats, I don’t need sweetened yogurt or cream cheese or any other item that had been starting to slip back in. It’s great feeling knowing this is a choice I choose to make.
ive even cut coffee out for now because I prefer cream in it and it’s not on the meat salt and
water llists its just plain water and plain carbonated water

[Ketodaisy]

That’s awesome @Azi!!

Today was bone broth jello (not pictured), a small rare New York strip, a perfectly runny bacon omelette (both cooked in camel fat), raw beef suet and raw beef liver. I’m working to balance my hormones that have been very out of balance for many, many years. I’ve been taking ashwaganda for months, dhea for a couple weeks, and now I’m adding in progesterone cream. I know that what I should do is get with one of these amazing carnivore doctors or nutritionists and get blood work and professional advice, but unfortunately I’m just far too cheap and stubborn to do so. So I will figure it out on my own or die trying. Last night did not go well with the progesterone, I was awake all night. So if anyone has any good experience or tips to share, I’m all ears! Some background, I had a hysterectomy 10 years ago.

[JJFiddle]

Wow. So much reading here. May is definitely a force to be reckoned with!
So much going on here, this morning feels like yesterday. We have a couple gigs coming up that require clothing we haven’t worn in years, hubby needs his tux pants taken out so I’ll move the hooks and button. For me it’s the opposite, and I was able to find a skirt I loved years ago that only needed a top to go with it, for my mother’s day strolling solo. And shoes. Then that formal gig, I found some black palazzo pants and do have black tops. So a day of driving and teaching, shopping, and walking the puppy between each activity - I rarely get 10,000 steps but today is one day I did!

After teaching the Irish fiddle lesson I got home about noon and got a handful of the farmer’s grassfed beef, raw- the ultimate satisfying fast food!
After shopping on post, I had 4 pepperoni wrapped cheese sticks on the way home, about 4 pm.
After shopping at the mall, we stopped for dinner, which was a bunless bacon cheeseburger. Way too pricey for what it was while hubby ate his, plus our 2 orders of fries and the whole bread basket! Sheesh. He likes to say “I’m eating for two now” lol
After walking the puppy I fixed 4 eggs with a couple slices of sharp cheddar. NOW I am “comfortably stuffed!”

[Azi]

Idk but I’m right there with you except my hysterectomy was almost 30 yrs ago I can get down 5-8 lbs of this regain which then jumps right back on again and it all seems to be sitting right around my middle uggh…

I’ve been thinking I should have an online appointment with somone who deals with hormones instead of struggling yeah I go to Dr C but hormones is not ever been on the discussion list. Lol

[Fangs]

@Azi
back to bare basics is very smart. gets ya back to that baseline, good move.

@Karen18, sorry Raymond isn’t doing well!
but that is one funky metal owl ya got there, I like it

@Ketodaisy, yea I have 0 info on hyster stuff. Just never researched it and don’t know anything on creams and more. But I think ya need both estrogen and testosterone replacements? sorry, I don’t know but I know you are sure gonna find out!! Great discussion on a full on carnivore site because I am sure it has been handled by some so you could get good real experience feedback.

@JJFiddle, your hubby’s tux is too small and your ‘new closet’ clothes are fitting well…yes he might be eating for 2 now HAHA
So feel ya on paying those prices for stuff we can make at home so much cheaper and tastier to boot most times!

-------------------so yesterday went well.
zc chill and calm and feeling good.

was gonna do my steak but eating flipped

not that hungry so I waited til a bit later and ate 3 nice sized pork chops.

OMAD day basically, which is rare for me but nothing was calling my name.

I did have a few teaspoons of taco meat. Made for family but I know now I can’t have much of it…tummy on fire from spices…so I ‘tasted’ it and did fine…I did not have to run for a Tums

today will be that steak I have defrosted and I think shrimp…as I type I want surf and turf so that sounds like an easy peasy eating for the day.

second meal if needed is I have chicken in fridge as family food and can be some backup for me if needed.

so all zc good! May on strong all!