A month in on Carnivore here and all is going pretty well, but I’ve noticed that my appetite has diminished a bit. I’ve read from a couple of sources that talk about 2.5 pounds to 4 pounds of meat per day and when I started out I was certainly at that level. I’m eating until satiated now but rough calculations show I’m now below that.
For example, today I had two meals. Breakfast/Lunch was a 3 egg omelet with 2 oz of Goat Cheese and ground beef crumbles with 5 strips of bacon. Dinner was a 12 oz ribeye steak and an 8 oz sirloin steak. I’m not overly concerned as I know people are all different - just for comparison sake, I started carnivore at 224 pounds and I’m now around 212. Any advice or personal experiences would be appreciated!
I’m carnivore 1 1/2 years now. My normal day is maybe a couple pounds of meat. Rarely more. But it depends on your gender, height, weight, exercise, age, etc. etc etc……
I’m 5’7” and weight 144, female and 68 last time I checked, I was eating about 1300-1400 cals a day.
Lots of men eat twice that.
My experiences are about my on/off carnivore-ish style, not a proper carni long term but maybe it is relevant a bit…
It’s quite individual. I started with quite little meat and eventually went up beyond one pound I don’t need more and i already eat way too much protein (as I eat several eggs and dairy too).
Appetite and hunger and satiation, those can vary a lot, it’s normal. I had short undereating times and lately I had overeating times. Normally I ate in an okay range.
I know about others (and it’s almost obvious anyway) that they have these phases too, sometimes one needs a lot of food, other times not so much, now we desire this item more, then it changes…
Your food seems a substantial amount, not like I counted so maybe not but if even if it’s unusually low compared to how you normally eat but it’s temporal and you feel right, it should be okay.
Wait, more than 20oz meat and eggs and cheese? It’s not a little food, I see no problem with it.
The only carnivore I know who eats four pounds of meat a day is Dr. Shawn Baker, and as he said at Ketofest a few years ago, “I would never recommend that anyone else eat that much; I’m a freak.”
What you’ve read about how much people eat is not a recommendation for you to eat that much; it just shows how much things vary from individual to individual. Eat what you’re comfortable with. Don’t go hungry. If you started by eating around four pounds and your appetite has dropped, that is fine. Go with it, and don’t worry. If, at some point, you happen to find yourself wanting more than what you are currently eating, that is fine. Go with it.
Don’t try to imitate anyone else. You can try what they do, to see if it works for you, but take it as a suggestion, not as a rule.
I eat twice of that lately (not every day because sometimes I get upset and try to do a fat fast day and even if it doesn’t work, it’s more modest) and 1.5 pounds of meat at most Of course I have my eggs but even with few eggs and little dairy (it happens sometimes), it’s the same. The fattiness of meat matters a lot. Though even if I eat lean pork, I still can’t go over 1.5 pounds (that only worked with pork shoulder, actually as my body has its unique logic).
Something just stops me before that and I am sure my body knows what it needs.
We just need our nutrients. We don’t need to eat 2-4 pounds of meat… If we can get my needs with way less.
Oh I forgot to say that I did hear that it’s normal to eat a ton of meat in the beginning, it changes later. Not everyone does it but it’s not uncommon at all.
Thanks so much everyone - all good advice and a good reminder that I should just go wear the diet takes me. I’ve seen so much where two meals a day is recommended but the other day I got hungry in the middle of the day and I just said to myself “my body is telling me it needs some nutrients” so i just rustled up some ground beef sauteed with some goat cheese and it hit the spot! It’s just good sometimes to get reassurances from the “pros” here
I eat more than most…but I will limit it myself somewhat every once in a while. Last three days I ate 4000 calories and put a bit of weight on. I will eat under 3 today and lose some and then try for under 3500 ish afterwards to maintain. I do not always measure, but I am running an experiment on myself currently. In general however, I feel that anything between 3000-3500 is good for me as an semi-active but smaller (60 kg, maybe 61 today!) 52Y male.
It sounds like you are eating just fine for yourself, I would not suggest making any changes.
I have 1-5 meals on carnivore (probably more than 5 happened too but that’s more like grazing? Not typical but happens and why not as long as it doesn’t bother me? It usually do)… It’s almost never 2 though I like that number. But it doesn’t seem to happen normally. I need my proper amount of food and I stop when I got it (in good cases…), not when I reached some number of meals as it has nothing to do with my needs.
Some people (and I sometimes) can’t eat a proper sized meal at once, others need to spread there protein intake during the day etc.
There is no One Right Way.
The same with fasting (I mostly think about IF here). One person need it (and can’t not do it anyway) while it’s very bad for the other. And doesn’t matter for some
Hi @JOE2, great to hear all is going pretty well and congratulations on your weight loss. What other changes/improvements have you noticed?
I’ve been carnivore about 8 months now and most days I’m definitely eating less than I did when I first started. I’ve never had any figure in mind re how much I should eat tho, I have always let hunger guide me. I also eat whenever I’m hungry - I don’t follow an eating window or a set number of meals per day. Every now and then I’m wanting something to eat after being awake a few hours, and then I have days I don’t eat until early evening. In general, I eat anywhere between 1-2 pounds of meat a day (beef or pork), along with double cream in my many (sinful) coffees, some unsweetened greek yoghurt or colby cheese most days, and occasionally a few eggs.
One of my favorite benefits of Keto and Carni is becoming so attuned to our body’s signals. There are times when it’s well past my eating window and I realize my body NEEDS more. I will eat an entire additional meal and feel better… and weight never changes.
I don’t pay attention to macros/ratios. I don’t fast, but I don’t have an overwhelming appetite either. I eat when I’m hungry, and to satiety, be it two meals a day or four meals a day. My body now prefers fat to protein, in addition to fatty meats, cheese, I tend to go through a tub of cream of 300ml a day, sometimes it lasts me two days. So I imagine I am getting a lot of fat. The protein I eat tends to be a small amount comparatively and I always prefer it with a good portion of fat. But as to hunger and satiety, I believe it’s better to listen to our bodies then try to work out keto or carnivore like some complicated piece of science. To me it’s very simple. Eat when hungry whatever food you want that your body likes, drink to thirst, and don’t worry about the rest.
Key to carnivore. Eat when hungry. Don’t eat if not.
You are normal. My appetite as does most carnivores when we start and working thru adaption/transition and heal/repair times will definitely fluctuate. "that recommended 2 or more lbs’ per day meat which suits us is mostly ‘for longer term carnivores’ and where ‘we land’ with time on plan. Also that ‘2 lbs or so’ meat is what supplies us carnivores with all our nutrients we need in any given day, but again, that is ‘more about longer term’ eating on this plan. Key being…do you in the beginning.
The beginning of carnivore is important to eat all ya need. Listen to the body and it will direct ya and if not hungry don’t eat…but if you go longer without eating, sometimes it is best to fry up a small burger and test yourself, you might just inhale that thing which means your body needed it for repair and healing.
I ate like 3-4 lbs of meat easilu when I started then I dropped to like a lb. of meat a day and thought omgosh and then it ramped back up and then dropped again then I wanted leaner meat and seafood only and then I wanted only big ol’ fatty heavy dense red meats.
So thing is your body is directing you. Just listen and eat as you feel ya need. THIS IS what gets you to ‘be you’ later down the line and how one settles into their eating style later on.
So you are fine Keep on ZC truckin’!!
as a newer carnivore your journey will never be like anothers as we read how some eat etc. When ‘we read about how carnivores eat’ we need one key factor from that posting, HOW long have they been carnivore ya know this makes a difference in how to preceive their chat on that post. This is your time to work it thru. Your time for change…in the end, you will fit ‘what ya read out’ there mosty best of luck!
It’s not simple for everyone. I totally can have huge hunger and negative appetite or the opposite (and I didn’t talk about my “need for fuel” sign, it’s different from hunger too). My body gives me plenty of signals but they aren’t correlated much…
Sometimes I must stop when hungry and must eat when not too… As long as I figure out from my bodily signs what to do and I can do it, it’s okay
But if the body signs are good and clear and simple, yep. Eat when hungry, not when not EXCEPT if it causes undereating for a longer time, that’s never good - or maybe if you overeat and it bothers you for some reasons. Eating 150% of our probably energy need is business as usual in my life, it bothers me especially on carnivore where it’s not normal or wasn’t normal and take steps but it’s not like it hurts me physically. Until I run out of money to buy food And it easily may be normal for others in some situations. You can’t calculate your food needs, we aren’t robots, sometimes we need more. Maybe we don’t need the calories but we do need the nutrients… I had plenty of evenings where I already had big macros but my body decided 0.5 pounds of meat just couldn’t cut it and it wanted more… I try to eat a pound a day but it’s tricky sometimes as how will I eat my dozen eggs and plenty of cheese when I am in that mood? But around/just above a pound of meat is enough for me, never have problems there. This is surely very individual but no one works with very low as we need the nutrients from meat, even eggs aren’t perfect. Close but not quite
it is simple for those who are all in carnivore. If not doing the plan and not holding this lifestyle to say not simple means nothing in full truths of it all.
Now what I am saying is eat all ya need at all times on carnivore when we start. Key to moving forward. Then listen to the body as it changes.
Those on this lifestyle for years on end and who walked this walk get this. So? Key being, on carnivore we have to learn how to travel this path and dump the ol’ baggage dieting bullshi** aside and we do just that.
unless all in and eating only carnivore and holding this plan does the information recommended mean a ton of knowledge on moving forward.
No, it’s not simple as we don’t all have simple bodily signs. It’s not about a woe. I did do carnivore for shorter times and my body signs were great… And another time, they weren’t. well carnivore very often took away my hunger sign entirely…
No, I simply have more signs. I need to eat when I have the sign “need fuel”, not when I get hungry. It’s an individual thing and doesn’t change on a different woe. How the signs behave, they may but having all these signs not very much correlated, it’s my thing all the time.
Of course it’s not that simple, when were people simple? We are all different and no woe make us the same ever. Anyway, there are zillion different types of carnivore diets and that complicate things further. I have satiating and not satiating carnivore items, which I choose matters a lot.
But isn’t what one should do all their life on every woe…?
(Not like it’s easy to decide what we NEED, of course… I may feel what I desire but what I need, how could I know that exactly? I use my knowledge if I don’t feel it, it helps somewhat but I still am lost sometimes.)
Simple is let carnivore change oneself with time on plan. Don’t give it that one never can understand and that is simple truly if one does not go into the 4th month or 6th mo or longer time frame and that comes thru commitment to face the change as it has to happen. We can’t say ‘6 wks carnivore, nope.’ means nothing LOL Do the plan, ya learn. Again simple but without commitment the chat on not being carnivore included in the chat means basically nothing about what it is to hold plan thru months into years of it. Just common sense on it.
eat all ya need at all times on carnivore when we start
But isn’t what one should do all their life on every woe…?
(Not like it’s easy to decide what we NEED, of course… I may feel what I desire but what I need, how could I know that exactly? I use my knowledge if I don’t feel it, it helps somewhat but I still am lost sometimes.)----------------YOU ARE lost cause of not making that solid commitment to something but I know you use your hedisom factor to boot to not hold a plan as I have read from ya thru the posts???
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No. should one eat all the donuts they want in life? nope LOL
should one eat all the sweet baked dessets one wants. nope.
should one ‘eat it all’ for basic best health, well we all know those answers if they choose big sugar and crap manufactured products for us.
but key is we are chatting ‘all in carnivore people and those who lived’ the lifestyle long term and our answers will definitely not be from those who have not walked this path with months in thru adaption and changes and healing/repair and commitment to this plan.
Alot of us never decided anything, we were forced thru nutriton and healing and needing repair into a ‘keto type meal plan’ or some
required into carnivore thru some form of true health that suits us.
we don’t just play russian routlette from the ‘get go’ on how to proceed. We find ourselves here and where we need to be but all in carinvores, when one chats carnivore and reads all those who have walked it understand basic similarities and communalities that work for us and then carnivore advice can be known. Will it work for all the basic 'normal get thru it, yes for most but some need more help and those are mostly those dealling with real medical issues and more on repair and healing.
sorry I screwed up the quotes to reply on ya but carnivore is carnivore and unless one commits longer term one can’t ever find what this lifestyle can give one so…
me too…lol too funny
I just turned 61 and last time I checked I was closer to 58 and probably 59 more near my hubby HAHA too wild! I say we all go backward on that darn age number
what is dat?
huh?
got alot of ? here HA
omgosh I just got nailed trying to do ‘some quote posts’ in another chat thread and believe me my ‘older stupid’ what the F how to chat back came into play in bad form but I can still hit an Emoji when needed I think my gosh it ain’t simple is it
I don’t need more and i already eat way too much protein (as I eat several eggs and dairy too).
Of course I have my eggs but even with few eggs and little dairy (it happens sometimes), it’s the same. The fattiness of meat matters a lot. Though even if I eat lean pork, I still can’t go over 1.5 pounds (that only worked with pork shoulder, actually as my body has its unique logic).
my gosh it ain’t simple is it