MOOvember Carnivore


#21

I tracked, kind of. With a horrible accuracy but still.
My various numbers are super high (only my carbs are very low every day - and they don’t matter anyway - , I am not used to that even on carnivore but I never focused on meat this much). Hopefully it will change. It’s not fun. I especially dislike overeating protein this much. Hopefully it’s just the early times when my body adores meat (not like I particularly neglect meat even on my off times but it wasn’t this high for sure). I don’t think I ever ate this much protein for more than a single day.

640g meat+fat tissue+skin for today. Very vaguely. How I managed to eat almost a pound of chewy, too lean pork? :smiley: With various tricks, actually, they worked very well…

I got my night eating again but it was only a bit of meat and a boiled egg, not a bunch of calorie-dense stuff.

Oh well, I hope for a better day tomorrow! Carnivore magic should kick in already.


(Judy Thompson) #22

Beautiful food pics! @kare n18your food today and also the omelets you posted toward the end of Rocktober, amazing pics! @Shinita love that pork leg - to me it looks like a ham hock. Same thing?

We got home a couple hours ago. All I’d eaten was 2 boiled eggs I packed in the cooler when we left VA, didn’t want to chance another deli lunch. I went through the freezer and found a lb of grassfed hamburger and popped it in the microwave while unpacking the cooler, then snarfed about half of it raw. So I guess I’m done for the day. Nice I’m so easy to please.

It’s so good to be back in the country, nice and quiet and when it’s dark out it’s dark, no lights from streets and other people’s porches. We’re chillin’ out on the deck. Ahhh so good to be home.


This is what was left when I was done :slight_smile:


(Megan) #23

2 years is awesome @Septimius. What has changed over this time - mood, physical well being, body composition etc? What would you tell someone thinking about trying carnivore as a way of eating?

Grats at breaking through another anxiety barrier @Karen18. Are you planning to go to exercise there regularly? What are stair runs? Do you have stairs in your house or are you using a piece of exercise equipment?

Hey @Azi Linda, apart from better blood glucose and not feeling hungry, what other changes are happening eating lower protein/hit fat? Interested in your decision to pull back on fat during November. What is your reason for doing this?

Food is in the forefront of my thoughts at the moment too @FrankoBear, because I don’t have many meal sized portions prepped in my freezer atm to just grab, and I need to go out to buy some more rump steak to portion up and bag, so I’m lacking enough variety. What makes food in the forefront of your thoughts?

My week or so off carnivore focusing on righting possible nutrient deficiencies has given me a big why for wanting to be carnivore. I’m not a moderator, I need very firm boundaries when it comes to what I eat, and during that week I craved all sorts of stuff because I’d opened a door to food that is out of the question on carnivore. It really showed me how bad my food addiction is - both in types of food I want to eat and in amounts.

For me the slippery slope is real.

I don’t know if what I’m eating is the healthiest way for me to eat, I’m already feeling not quite as good as I was at the end of my week off, but compared to me eating without very firm boundaries it’s 100 times healthier. I’m looking at what is available in New Zealand and am going to buy the best multivitamin and mineral supplement I can find, to see if that helps.


(Linda ) #24

To be honest I was craving fat for a bit so i ate loads of fat then i just felt like I didn’t need as much as it is I’m often eating the third meal and I’m not really hungry but more thinking about food. And the amount of fat I was eating I was feeling stuffed not a great feeling… but I eat the third meal cos I do not want to under eat protein at our age we don’t absorb as much, then the amount we don’t absorb at all because of Boiavailatibility… so yeah I don’t want to over eat it protein is a poor energy source and I don’t want to undereat it lol…

I was watching DBright from Italy today with Kelly Hogan talking about fats and she said our needs will go up and down based on stress and anxiety and sleep…because the more we stress our hormones the more fat we will need to balance them…who ever told us we need fat for hormones lol nope fat was the evil…lol

I just took these. Numbers…


(Karen) #25

I have always had anxiety and I realise I have had it since school days. I struggle to walk into new places and even old ones I haven’t been to for a long time. I am okay if I have someone holding my hand lol.

So like the first time I went to this particular gym my daughter took me as she had been encouraging me to change from a much smaller spit n sawdust body building gym as there was so much more equipment. It is a big place and I felt very daunted by it however once through the door I was fine. Same as with CrossFit, my daughter took me on my first day haha. Silly od thing aren’t I?

Well I was using CF rather than the gym and both my daughter and I just used the gym for the spa facilities. We’re both life members.the place keeps expanding and changing and I don’t do well with change. But of course Tuesday i had to get through that first day in the weights room on my own after a good few years. I am doing a 12 week Body for Life programme. I did it in 2009 and 2012 and its a great programme which got me focused and its really good.

I started stair running in March 2020 and did 100 flights a day (100 up and 100 down) every day straight for 18 months climbing virtual mountains. It kept my fitness up throughout the lockdiwns. I have stairs at home but then I had my stroke last October and I have struggled on and off since then and trying to keep mojo then blew myself out, as I sometimes do, this July with another challenge. So the last 3 months have been difficult to get refocused hence I thought I would start the BfL programme again. I have a chesty cough at the mo which I’m at the tail end of and want to return to CrossFit when its completely shifted

I do like to feel fit, there no better feeling than being fit enough to enjoy everyday activities especially my dancing and walking.

I am really feeling that lower body workout, my glutes are sore lol … upper body today! :grinning:


#26

Yes it is :slight_smile:
And the meat is all Alvaro’s at this point… Oh well, I have a better one in the freezer except it’s not tenderized in the pressure cooker. But that can be helped.


It’s morning and I go for my long walk in a sleeveless top soon :smiley: In November :smiley: I always found such things hilarious… It’s really not cold now, lots of sunshine too!
But waiting a tad makes the temperature even higher so I made my sponge cakes early. And made ice cream as Alvaro left some whipped cream and his is sweetened. Ice cream can wait in the freezer so I keep my carnivore. I so love my freezer, we don’t need to eat everything when we don’t want the food and its “ready to eat” content help us out many times… It’s still quite full and it’s good as we spent our money ages ago and I actually with for a no buy November, of course it’s impossible but we try to keep it very, very low. We have plenty of eggs and I spare them now… I have plenty of meat (and can buy some fowl in Thursdays, I want that back+wings duck thing I saw last time but I already have a tiny hen for soup. 900g, so very small!)… We even have various cheeses, the best ones from the beef farm… Now that cheese prices went up like crazy, the already somewhat expensive (but it’s worth it even for us as long as we don’t eat it galore) farm cheese got way closer to normal cheeses. As their price just didn’t really go up, IDK how they do it… So it’s worth it to buy some even more and this super tasty parmesan like one is fabulous (judged after a morsel but I probably will enjoy it, just not normally, in slices, it’s too hard and dry for it, it’s a flavoring) so I hope I will meet them in other gatherings we are interested in (as they were in the mineral one where I got my new cactus too and saw birds). The farm isn’t so very near so we won’t spend a lot of gas just to go there to buy cheese. We will go when we want some beef, I wonder if they still have the same price as supermarkets and their beef is probably superior :wink: No idea about the quality of beef in supermarkets, the hypermarket allegedly has some farm meat too…

Oh. They had VEAL and its cheaper than supermarket beef let alone supermarket veal… And they had tongue and organs and everything. Okay, it wasn’t a good month for it now (it was just before the funeral and we barely had money for basic food items. it’s just our cash and bank card, we have much more but it’s a challenge not to touch that ;)) but I will be more alert in the future!

They had a pretty wide selection this time! I never had tail… What is it like?

Oh, it seems the one before October was in March… But they are busy in summer as they have summer camps for kids so they only offer smoked stuff and cheeses then, apparently. But now we will have winter…

I shouldn’t neglect the pig farm either but we happened to do that.

The radio talked about various things. Trendy vegan stuff (nothing perverted like the bacon emulations, just sugary fat bombs) are so very weird to me now when I really think about it… My mind is searching for the food in it and comes up empty. People are interesting, even their bodies behave so very differently.
Alvaro only eats normal, traditional plant-based food and even that starts to get weird when he eats two of them after each other… Though he usually includes some animal in the second one. And I ate the same, like, 5 years ago (without the high-carb part)? I already forgot how I ate exactly, I have some memories but it’s so unfamiliar to me now…


#27

I think I c an relate… But I can relate to people who eat a bit off without problems too. It varies in my case and it matters what I actually add. And how long I do it… I had wild off days even in my low-carb times but now I am better. But I do experience slippery slopes while other times I have my little fun and automatically behave afterwards…
Whatever, I NEED this November. It’s so easy to do carni when

  1. I am determined
  2. I need it, actually, I had more than enough carbs since June… That should have calmed down my inner rebel
  3. I LIKE my food. even the lean chewy pork, apparently, I just need to be a tad creative with that.

At this point I need this level of strictness. Sometimes I need my carnivore-ish (extremely close to my carnivore, most non-carni items are still completely off and the few exceptions are kept at the minimum). Sometimes I have no chance but to stray farther but things get tricky there. Being stricter is often better. I just can’t do it for very long yet.

If I add anything non-carnivore now (except what I already do as condiments when I consider it needed), it probably wouldn’t be crazy but it still wouldn’t end well. So I keep the momentum and last as long as I can. I craved this carni month since some time already, I just couldn’t start earlier, it’s a very unhedonistic thing with bad momentum and compulsions vs what I clearly desire and need.
November is for a nice break from any possibility of those things and I really hope it will be a good training so I never will go back to that, my off times will be better than before.

I am lucky as my fat/protein ratio is always pretty good, I mean, I feel right with it, sometimes it’s too high so I overeat as my protein MUST be high. I know how I should eat, I just need to do it! And while I don’t mess things up and now I don’t feel compulsion or desire to do that, it will be fine.

I just want my Carni Satiation to kick in… Not the super easy one where I have tiny meals but the one that gives me perfect satiation for a looooooooooong time after my 1-2 afternoon meals. I love that. Things are right there.

I want all of us finding our sweet spot where there may be experiments and tweaks but no serious, long term struggle.


#28

Maybe I should eat my ideal fat/protein ratio range from the beginning…?
I focus on protein now (well I just eat leaner protein too so it won’t happen that I only overeat to get my high protein) and while it should have give me wonderful days with 120-130g protein and less fat, it gives me zillion protein (with less fat)… I never was good at minimizing proterin, to put it lightly. Once I was totally naive and focused on fat (to raise fat and lower protein)… I ended up with… I don’t remember but maybe 250g fat and 200g protein? So I focus on protein now and that doesn’t work either.

No, I should stop thinking about things and put my faith into the carni magic that should come already… And not eating too early, I am horrible at that. Not eating when well-fasted is probably way easier than not eating at midnight when I am not perfectly satiated. It depends, though, if I get properly hungry, I must eat. But I am so easily triggered into eating without need :frowning:
So I try to evolve my self control (despite the huge reluctance of my inner personality. I don’t want self control at eating. I want perfect desires :D). Just a weeee bit. Then hopefully better habits will form.
It never worked before though. But I am determined now and every extra minute is something…?
Sometimes I experience what happens if I ignore hunger (the kind that allows ignorance, the cutest kind). Nothing bad.
I NEVER ignore need for fuel, that’s serious. But hunger (or desire to eat lunch because eating is nice, my food is tempting, Alvaro is at home etc.) is different, it doesn’t mean I need food. I still can’t easily resist.

I go now, sorry. My macros mildly upset me and I WANT to find the solution already. I changed a lot, I messed up things a lot in the last few things, I am serious now. November is my training, among other things and January-May is my big chance for longer term carnivore(-ish if that is needed).


#29

The stricter you are, the easier it is.
The stricter you are, the more benefits you’ll experience.

In my experience, eating strict carnivore makes it easy to stop eating non-carnivore foods because you lose the taste for them, stop craving them, and/or don’t like the way they make you feel. I did not get this experience on keto.

These days, I don’t even perceive non-carnivore foods as being edible.

But it’s a paradox: you can’t be strict carnivore until you give up the non-carnivore items, but you can’t easily give up the non-carnivore items until you’re strict carnivore.

My story is that I researched/lurked for months before going ahead. I decided to swap dairy for a couple of small non-carnivore items I just could not forsake.

Once I was eating carnivore, the impossible happened - I stopped wanting those non-carnivore items and dropped them altogether.

So, for me, strict carnivore is optimal and I advocate that people do it and stick to it, as the benefits increase over time.

But I will also always advocate that anyone carnivore curious should just start - even if it’s with a couple of small concessions - because I think being 90% carnivore will eventually lead you to strict carnivore, and I think 90% carnivore is better than not being carnivore at all.


#30

@Azi, absolutely are meat/fat intake changes as we progress and hold plan. been thru it. all years. I ‘need’ lean days and then I ABSOLUTELY must increase big meat fatty days and I just feel it in the ol’ body and it directs me. Worst is if I try to control too many lean days thru some experiment or if I want tons more fat thru some experiment LOL While I absolutely understand many have to ‘try’ xyz and see how it works for them on zc I found always that ‘just eat the day as directed’ as I need the best and most satisfying way forward in carnivore lifestyle.

I read so much of me earlier on in your posts for sure!!! but one fail safe if required and when in doubt…and I had tons of doubt thru the years is ‘just friggin’ eat what ya want’ on zc and how you want. that always brings me back to a natural and calm center for me on zc. Something I found important to me truly to the ultimate.

but again, we all walk our personal journey for sure!!! and we learn way more about how to eat our carni days that suit us best.

I love your posts and your path Azi, so interesting to read how it all pans out for you and always sending support to keep doing that and discovering tons more about what works for ya best!!

@Septimius
AMEN! WHAT A FAB POST!!!
you said it all in that post truly and it is one of THE hardest concepts to understand is that one has to go ‘all in’ and hang on by the skin of their chinny chin chin and sink those fingernails into the plan and hold on for a wild ride but that is literally the way this lifestyle ‘shows so much to us’ once we ‘get thru’ some adaption time and darn if it ain’t the commitment to it.

but some can walk into it as I did but I also, when I was extreme LC STILL HAD TO commit all in and not go back ever and hold on for that ride so…I think for alot of us most of us ‘know we need to be here’ in this lifestyle cause nothing worked for us ever but in the end, when our brains get this and we commit ALL IN, we truly learn so much about ourselves!

Always loving your posts @Septimius!

---------------got beef stew and all fixin’s in it for family.
got 2 big ol’ pork chops for me in a bit. 9:30 and getting that hunger hitting earlier so my chops are gonna go down soon!
later I got burger or shrimp/chicken too so second meal, whatever floats my boat but this 2 nice cheeseburgers will suit me. Bought me some salami, got a craving for it. Well, not craving but I find I do love a good salami slice every now and then and been a long time since I bought so I got 2 packs I got my eye on :slight_smile: Like that little bit of spicy taste diff it provides and I enjoy it and do well so salami me please HA

ZC strong all


#31

Sorry I couldn’t resist.

Determination helps there. There are some unfortunate times but I usually easily start carnivore just like I did it with keto. Staying on is another matter…
But it’s probably individual. Whenever I wake up, it’s a brand new day and my past days may have some little effect but until I start to eat carbs, I can’t get nearly as much tempted. It’s probably different for many, maybe most people.

Strictness is usually helpful indeed. Not to ANY extent especially if one is a beginner and can’t eat enough meat but there are other, mental things as well and we are all different. But yes, it was interesting to see that even in the very beginning carnivore was easier to me than my original keto. And I was bored of my food less when I took out the plants. Seemingly illogical things but carbs just messed up things for me.

My experience makes me agree with it. But it was more than 90% for me. IDK what 90% means here but 10% non-carnivore must be enough carbs to mess me up.
It’s probably quite individual but we have some limit where things change quite a lot, the tiny extras just make things nicer and easier (when we aren’t ready for pure carnivore) without messing with our physical and mental state.
But it doesn’t mean we should add extras willy-nilly, they are there to help us out when we can’t seem to handle it without them. Just like keto sweets for ketoers: it’s not some free thing, it’s to avoid eating the carby ones when we can’t resist.
Because if we can do it, closer to carnivore is better. If we are like that, not the ones who feel bad on carnivore and great with some extras. I NEVER feel physically better with some non-carni items, it’s ALL my mind (and it’s hard to resist when I feel no problem with just a tiny bit. vs being super annoyed saying no). My body would LOVE long term carnivore as far as I can tell without trying it. But I do will try.

And I don’t agree with so many people’s attitude of all or nothing. Just because they THINK carnivore is oh so restrictive and impossible for them, they shouldn’t just abandon the idea if they think it actually would do them good (if it wouldn’t be totally impossible).
They should try and if they can’t do it fully, they should cut out the (probably) most problematic non-carnivore items and limit the rest. And we can evolve a lot! I can’t stop being amazed how much I could change. I know I have a long way to go but I still improved A LOT. Mere keto did little but my little carnivore and near carnivore times brought a lot of good changes.
And I never ever thought I could cut out my once-beloved vegs.
So I don’t like seeing people predicting that carnivore has zero chance for them even if they feel some desire to try it - but no, it won’t work ever… The same with keto or cutting out sugar or bread. People are often afraid of trying out things too much and it’s sad. I am so, so very glad I was adventurous enough to try out things and show to my poor body that there are other options, not only what it already knew. I wish much more people would experience that. It could do so much good.


#32

No problem, I should explain!

By 90% carnivore, I mean that you’re almost strict but there’s one or two concessions.

For me, that was (mention of non-carnivore food behind spoiler):

  • 1 week of drinking 500ml diet soda, which I then quit completely
  • 9 months of drinking ~50ml of alcohol once a week
  • followed by 6 months of drinking ~50ml of alcohol once a month, and then I quit completely
  • an occasional two squares of 90% dark chocolate - about once/twice a month for 3-4 months, if that

I also drank coffee for the first 18 months, but I’ve since stopped that.

Not a lot of carbs in my list, as you can see. The concessions I made were also infrequent - they weren’t every meal or every day, and often not even weekly.

I was also extremely strict when it came to my food and was otherwise 100% carnivore for the entire two years.

Except for one other thing, which is a good illustration of what I’m talking about with changing tastes (mention of non-carnivore food behind spoiler):

During one of our lockdowns, I was sent a bag of fun size Haribo, which is 16g - so it’s really small. In my pre-carnivore life, I adored Haribo. The first bag was maybe 2 or 3 months into carnivore. I had it one night, really enjoyed it, and I would’ve really liked more if I could’ve had it. I remember being quite alarmed at how much I really wanted it - but I went right back onto carnivore.

The second bag was sent to me about 9 months ago (so 15 months into carnivore). It was the exact same style bag, and I decided I had been dedicated for a super long time, so when it was sent to me, I could cope with a teeny tiny 16g as a one off.

It was AWFUL. It just tasted like eating apple flavoured plastic and I hated every moment of it. I remember actually laughing out loud at how weird it was and how unlike my previous memory it was.

I was sent another 16g bag a few weeks ago, and I chucked it straight in the bin without a second thought and with zero regrets.

So get on plan, be as strict as you can, and give it time. Your tastes really do change.


#34

Wow! I changed a lot even just to be close to carnivore with frequent off times but I imagine it would be sped up like crazy if I did it right for longer… Even if my tastebuds are stubborn, even they started to change and if not, I just feel the taste in a clinical way, no joy or desire sometimes.
But so many carby things are still just as wonderful as always even if they never can be as good as pork or a creamy coffee. Good thing I usually still don’t want them.
Low-carb brought some changes already, keto did nothing and sometimes being close to carnivore did the most.
I am looking forward to my future changes!

Thanks, now you made me even more curious and it makes my dedication for my January-May period greater. And if a miracle would happen and I could do a lot of carnivore during those months, I am sure my summer wouldn’t be anything like the ones before. They get less and less carbier but I could do better. And I can’t just use willpower to resist temptation, I don’t function like that. I need to CHANGE so I just desire the right things. And carnivore does it to me, I do change but I need much more and the way is clearly more carnivore days and longer carnivore times. MONTHS of carnivore would do great things, at least according to my extrapolation from what I got this far…

I believe I really needed time but now I can eat my meat just fine, I can keep a steady supply, I feel ready for doing it way more proper.

And I just don’t wonder about my next summer. Future me will see what it should be. Current me just puts in efforts and focus on experiments and necessary tweaks.


#35

I’m happy to have inspired you!

I really did notice more and more positive changes and benefits the longer I stayed consistent.


#36

I report my day tomorrow…

But I made my teeny-tiny pork roast!

I tasted it, I already was quite FULL, it was the last bite I could squeeze into myself but I didn’t want to eat at midnight JUST BECAUSE I wanna try this.
It tasted normal, a bit unsalted, yeah, I forgot the salt the other side… Nice stuff, hungry me will enjoy it very much tomorrow.


(Karen) #37

My fitbit blatently lied to me this morning telling me I’d had about 7hr 20min sleep i knew it wasn’t correct as it didn’t specify the time awake etc just that t was awake 7 times and restless etc. I didn’t go to sleep till about quarter to 1 and was awake ready to get up just after 7am and that in itself was less than 7hrs and then take off the awake times throughout the night etc etc. Maybe 5.5hrs if that.

I got up and although it was only 9° , there was no wind so it felt mild so I went and had my brew and read out in the garden. Lovely! Then about mid morning went to the gym and did my upper body workout. Felt good. Went straight to take Raymond into the local town and we had some food in the cafe

After I dropped him off my daughter called and asked if I wanted to meet her at the Company Shop … dangerous lol but my freezer was quite empty as far as my freezer ever gets empty lol … picked up 4 packs of pork ribs, some packs of cooked chicken, some little individually packed cheddar bite sized chunks, 2 pack of frozen chick wings and 2 packs of frozen spiced chick wings and a pack of 4 chicken burgers…(freezer definitely full again) … and then we went to her old house to do some DIY stuff then to her new house for a brew and to pet Astrid.

At home I cooked up a steak. It looks well done but it was a very thick sirloin and was just seared on outside and raw inside.

Also had a bit more of the chicken breast and some cheddar. Still keeping busy!


#38

Pretty meat! I seared my lean chewy pork a bit and it got WAY lovelier, I didn’t even need to make Alfredo sauce yet but I will, I still didn’t properly taste that lovely cheese. But Alvaro eats it slowly too and it’s very aged, not in a big hurry to finish it.


(Megan) #39

Nah, not at all :slight_smile: Anxiety is very common. What’s awesome is you have found a way to break through it (having someone with you) and can go to new places. I love reading about how active you are. It always nudges me and I’m hoping I can push through my psychological barriers soon. I’m very limited in what I can do b/c of physical issues, but I can certainly do something more than I currently am!

Will definitely watch it, sounds very interesting. I’m enjoying reading your experiences as you share more and more of them.

Great read @Septimius. Do you include some dairy in your definition of strict carnivore?

I ordered some meat yesterday. Can’t wait for it to come, esp the beef! 4kg of rump steak, a couple of beef roasts, 2kg of strips of fatty pork and some pork mince for me, brisket with bone in for my dogs, and some beef bones for making bone broth for me and my dogs. Summer is starting to happen here, mid day sun getting more intense. Taking the grls out to the park this afternoon. One of my local parks has lots of smooth paths for my walker and the stony paths through the bush aren’t too hard for the walker. I keep looking for more places I can take them off lead but most aren’t walker friendly. I use my crutches when making the hike down to the local dog beach but it’s a real killer physically.


(Vic) #42

Welcome in the Carnivore tread.

If it doesn’t have a mother with 2 eyes its not really concidered to be food here.

So Alcohol, bread, diet soda and veggies please don’t put that toxic stuff in your body :wink:


(Vic) #43

I agree, a quick look at my behavier makes me a 99.7% carnivore.