Noburgerfest - ZC Carnivore Cruise November 2024

zero-carb-carnivore
#42

I tried to eat only meat for lunch :slight_smile: It wasn’t as perfect but very close, I ate freshly make pork roast and a chicken drumstick! With some extras. I got so satiated I only ate a tiny dinner (little egg, little dairy, mostly)!
And then I got a tad hungry at 10pm and tracked. I could eat lean, yay! 130g protein, 1300 kcal, no wonder I needed a bite! (It was a little pork belly, yum.) Usually I am way over 1800 kcal when I eat my minimum protein and I don’t always stop there… 130-180g protein is my normal and it’s me trying to minimize it.
I try to eat similarly tomorrow, we will see if I will get bored of my leanish pork :slight_smile: It’s not super lean but I didn’t have stuff in the oven pan, it was too liquid and anyway, mostly schmalz so I poured it into a cup as usual. And the soft meaty stuff went to the cats (the meat was half-frozen when I started to cook so I didn’t catch it earlier) and some into my simple mug soup (with some fish soup paste). So I just ate the more boring, leaner parts with my soup.
My last quark quiche version was a success. It turned out it doesn’t matter if the egg white totally overpowers the egg yolk… I don’t like to overuse cheese in baked goods either… So it is pretty lean, another option for me, great! Very nice, easy to eat.

Sunny day, finally, too bad I slept too little and was a freezing zombie all day. My house is heated just fine but before I ate enough for the day, I was cold. Except right after my back workout. Lifting always makes me warm very quickly.

(E P) #43

@beannoise, @VirginiaEdie, thank you. @FrankoBear, good reminder that carnivore/keto doesn’t automatically equal perfect health every day of your life - there are other factors besides diet, like stress.

(Megan) #44

Home from walking Lulu and Sophi. I only walk 3k but that’s about my limit right now, especially given about 1k of it is uphill. The downhill hurts my knees and I have to do it quite slowly, the uphill shows me how unfit I am lol.

Ruby got a puppy a week ago. It’s been just over a year since Milly’s passing from cancer and she’s ready for a new forever friend. Teddy is an english staffy mix, an orange-tan brindle on blue. Both mine are good with him one on one, but we’re not expecting any issues when we let all 3 interact without leashes once Teddy is a bit bigger and less “puppy-reactive/defensive”. He’s also got a real temper on him when he’s tired. It’s very tiring having a young pup in the house and I’m glad it’s not me doing the bulk of the work.

#45

Almost completely carnivore day. I did a fat fast, yay! :smiley: It always works so well with the right numbers (1000 kcal,~20g protein). I woke up late today, started to get a tad hungry at 5pm (my desire to consume tasty things was satisfied by creamy coffees until then, just a few) and ate at about 5:30. It was quick, I must say… So dense food! :smiley:
Pork yowl, a yolk, some sausage (dry and other kind) , pork belly (with lots of meat), a tiny piece of butter and a morsel of cream cheese. And plenty of cream, partially whipped. No photo, I had such plates before, nothing particularly interesting.

I nearly always get satiated (not necessarily very very well but so-so) by this much. Possibly always if I eat it for dinner, earlier it’s tricky. I only have these days after very good, meaty, protein rich ones. Yesterday I ate up 400g freshly fried green ham (I cut off the fattiest parts of the slab as usual…) so easily! It was very nice. So I think I can say I reached the peaks of lean eating possible for me. Maybe that’s why I reached a point today where I felt my food was a bit too fatty (88-90% fat is serious even for me). I still could eat some butter and whipped cream (after a few minute break) as they are awesome desserts… (Butter is everything. Appetizer, side dish, dessert, spread, flavoring in drinks if really needed though I prefer cream for that role…)

I am glad tomorrow will be more normal and protein rich, I plan to make meatballs! Cooked and very lean (as I use the leftover, leaner pork. I did leave a little fat on it but not particularly much. Last time the used meat had no visible fat and I felt it. Copious amount of sour cream helps somewhat but if meat is lean, nothing can mask that fact unless the fat is thoroughly mixed into it. Like in smooth pâté. Or tuna spread. That is nice. I plan to make some by myself as the one I buy has some problematic ingredients and I surely could do it better and cheaper, not like it matters much when I eat 100g of the stuff every few months… Still, as time passes, I tolerate my tiny problematic processed items less and less. I keep my good processed items forever (unless I lose interest but I don’t see that as a possibility, I just can’t extrapolate decades into the future, I surprised myself before), that’s another matter.

Weather is not very cold but not very sunny either here. Our tiny snow melted.

Egg prices shot up as the greengrocer said. I will keep my egg consumption low-ish as I already did as it’s better for me. Meat satiates me more and better for my fat-loss plans (eggs are one thing, already not helpful if there are many but they bring other, even less satiating items. cream cheese on sponge cake bun is good). I successfully avoid normal cheese now. Good.
Quitting coffee still goes poorly. Today I was indulgent as it helped with not eating and high fat percentage. Still didn’t consume much. But it was creamier than normal (whipped cream does that). Other days I just can’t resist. Keep trying.

#46

What is green ham?

#47

It’s called pork thigh here (translated from Hungarian) and when I looked it up, I have found green ham should be the closest…?
I often have problem with cut names as my country does it differently here and there. Pork thigh is one of the most common and cheapest cuts and it’s lean too but not super lean and I even like it enough so it’s my number one choice for fat-loss purposes (no results yet but it’s a great step, I just need to avoid adding too much fat to the days when it’s my main meat. but I do need to add a decent amount so it’s a situation where I think about Scylla and Charybdis).

I am nauseous now. I will experiment with lower fat days even when I do this mostly fat low-cal style. It was much better in the past but I managed to eat leaner lately, maybe that’s the problem? Whatever, I already wanted to tweak things a bit as I like to eat food with the fat content I really like, maybe a little push into some direction but that’s it. I know I must keep the protein low on those days but maybe a tad more would work…?

#48

Tremendous stuff Megan. Inspirational. I got down to the regular walking path the other day and it was nowt how I remembered it. But then I was distracted by something natural and beautiful, and the concerns about lack of fitness disappeared. Just getting out there and in It is what is needed, then enjoy the delayed-onset-muscle-soreness as a reward (and some extra salts). Dogs are fantastic personal trainers.

I leave Billie the Labrador with my 82-year old T2D mum when I go to work. Ostensibly for ‘puppy sitting’. Pragmatically, I don’t need to do it. But what happens is that Mum takes Billie to the dog beach. So, both of them get a walk, fresh air and sunshine, as well as each others’ company. Billie is so gentle with Mum, and quite boisterous with me. Top dog.

#49

Once in awhile Steve the Otter brings out some hard-hitting truth.

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We are 2 days away from the end of this 30-day carnivore challenge.
How have you all coped, or even thrived?

You northern hemisphere carnivores are heading into prime carnivore season with winter (a time when Nature takes a break from fruits and vegetables). We UpsyDownsy world carnivores are heading into the hot days of summer.

I am still on 2MAD, eating in an 8 hour feeding window between 11 am and 7pm. Chicken egg omelette breakfasts. At stress-times, I have been adding the comfort of Jarlsberg cheese to the mix. Then a nice meaty dinner of beef or lamb, occasionally with some oily fish. Summer-time is a high risk time for electrolyte loss, so a focus on a salty December will be my plan.

I had some recent doctors visits to set up a more healthy lifestyle for a few weeks of annual leave. There is a skin cancer in my lip to get removed. And I worked to the edge of a mental breakdown this year as our workplace squeezes harder on workers rather than managers. I am contemplating taking the promotions they threaten me with, just to get out of the pressure cooker for awhile. But I was interested to know what my blood tests would look like for when I worked myself to the edge of collapse. And they are ‘fine’. The doc can’t reconcile them against the mental health symptoms that I am expressing.

No signs of fatty liver despite some weight gain this year, especially these past two months. Good kidney function. Electrolytes all balanced. Slightly higher white blood cells, mainly due to increased neutrophils and lymphocytes - we were taught in clinical pathology at university that the response is called a ‘stress leucogram’ - body circulating immune cells ready to fight. But nowhere near blood cancer levels. The haematocrit is 46% (in a range 40 to 54), and I know that an Hct >50 means increased risk of a stroke and heart problems due to increased red blood cell viscosity (sluggish glugginess). Fabulous Iron metabolism numbers. Good thyroid function. Great Zinc levels. Lipid panel looked good to me with high HDL (1.4mmol/L) and low-ish triglycerides (1.2 mmol/L) that gives me a TG:HDL ration of 0.85 with always aiming to keep that ration <1.5 to show that I do have some insulin sensitivity. But my doctor sees my total cholesterol is 6.2 mmol/L and she reckons it should be under 5.5, so makes the mistake of offering me a statin :joy:. Good Vitamin D levels. But Fasting Insulin 16mU/L (> 20 used to be considered 'normal), I’d prefer it to be <10mU/L. @ctviggen Bob is an expert with insulin measures. Again a sign of elevated blood glucose periods of stress, not dietary. HbA1C was 6.0% - my doctor didn’t understand about elevated HbA1C in carnivore eaters due to extended red blood cell life - it’s a confounder that makes me appear more diabetic than I am. Diabetic diagnosis threshold is 6.5%. My body is saying that it is set and ready to become healthy with the holidays! That said, plenty of room for improvements starting right now.

Below, we’ve summarized comments from five Levels advisors—all suggest that fasting insulin should stay below 10 μU/mL.

  • Dr. Mark Hyman : Head of Strategy and Innovation at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, author of 14 best-selling books, focuses on the role of food as medicine. Suggested range: 2–5 μU/mL
  • Dom D’Agostino, PhD : Associate Professor at the University of South Florida, leading researcher in neuro implications of keto, runs Keto Nutrition. Suggested range: 2-6 μU/mL
  • Dr. David Perlmutter : leading expert in neurodegeneration and metabolic health, author of five best-selling books, including Grain Brain . Suggested range: Less than 8 μU/mL
  • Ben Bikman, PhD : Associate Professor at Brigham Young University, leading insulin researcher and author of Why We Get Sick . Suggested range: Less than 10 μU/mL
  • Dr. Rob Lustig : Professor emeritus of Pediatrics at UCSF, research and clinical focus on childhood obesity and diabetes, author of four books about the dangers of sugar and processed food. Suggested range: Less than 10 μU/mL

Source: The ultimate guide to understanding your cholesterol panel and metabolic blood tests

Finally, in this end of November catch-up, I’m liking the idea of a festive Charcuterie Chalet - Search it. But an all meat structure. It’s the carnivore feast bringer item to fend of the family Christmas lunch/dinner sugar architecture. I think the people in the USA also have to get through something called Thanksgiving as well? But maybe that’s a post on its own for the December Challenge thread… “Welcome to your 31-day stay at the Charcuterie Chalet.”

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December 31 day stay at the Charcuterie Chalet
#50

Oh they are so cute! I have found an almost carnivore one too… Oh, another. And a vegan one…
Maybe I can make something simple but I am too lazy for a full-blown chalet I think. Never made the corresponding carby house either…
And still no Halloween hand/foot for me as I still don’t have bacon. No problem, I celebrate Halloween all year long, I will do it whenever I will have all the ingredients including my mood!

I made meatballs today. Quite lean ones. 1kg meat is so little (and I used 450g last time!), maybe I will try 2kg next time and I won’t cut off and fry the fatty parts beforehand… I ate them with copious amount of sour cream.

I think I am good with food now. I feel no desire to eat a lot of it or making various stuff. Some tasty enough nutritious food to keep me from strong hunger and that’s about it. I am a tiny bit hungry now but it’s past midnight so maybe I just ignore it. I ate little today (and I had 3 meals in total. progressively smaller ones).

Tomorrow is fried super fatty pork loin day, yay! It will be amazing.
What if I could miraculously NOT drink coffee…?

(Megan) #51

Thanks @FrankoBear :heart::heart: The weight loss to date, a higher dose of venlafaxine, a bit of unusual-for-me boredom and a new, better walker/rollator seems to have hit the nail on the head as far as me getting out of the house more with the girls. I actually feel like going for a walk with them some days, which is pretty amazing for me. November for me has been a bit of a fail food-wise but I’m happy I have this on the success side of the equation.

(Megan) #52

On the whole it’s been a fail month as far as food choices go. I even put on some weight which really annoys me. Joyce Meyer talks about going round and round the same mountain as part of the change process and hopefully this month I’ve gone round the “it won’t hurt to add a bit of highly process artificially sweetened stuff to my greek yoghurt for flavour” mountain enough times to say “enough! it does hurt!” Not only has it caused a whole heap of inflammation and therefore pain, it’s also led to some night-time bingeing. Argh…

I’m on day 5 of clean carnivore and feel better already. A 3 km walk left me feeling so depleted I was almost shaking while I was adding this poison to my food. Despite the heat and mugginess my last 2 walks ended with the much more normal feeling of “phew, glad to be home”.

When I see my GP in a couple of months I’m going to ask for a full set of blood tests to see where I’m at. It’s been about 2 years since my last lot so it’ll be interesting to see the results. I wish he’d do a fasting insulin but unfortunately he refuses to because my blood glucose tests have never been high and, since going carni, my HbA1c is normal. I still have a few skin tags and my waist to height equation is nowhere near the healthy number. Also weight loss is very slow. Maybe this time I can convince him? I also want a full thyroid panel, which he also says no to because the usual test they do always comes back normal. Depression, fatigue and being over-weight are very common signs of a possible thyroid issue. I almost wish I didn’t have a fibromyalgia diagnosis because it’s a convenient bucket for doctors to toss all my symptoms into.

How was everyone else’s November?

#53

I know the feeling… Though I simply can’t eat enough carbs to feel much worse anymore :smiley: Or it is extremely rare and some homemade goods must be involved (not mine. I know what to bake and when and how to handle it).
But while it wasn’t the case, I felt so very spoiled… I could go totally crazy and get unwell - and came back and usually on the first but if not, on the 3rd I felt just fine again!

Now I don’t have this motivation and it’s up to me to come back. Well I do lose my ghost wipe if I add carbs and I kinda like it… :upside_down_face:
And carnivore has good food! If I can eat much meat, I tend to come back. I still have times when I just am not into meat. And that’s a problem as 1. I need enough meat on carnivore 2. it’s my only possibly lean item on carnivore, with less meat I just eat too much fatty stuff.

My November wasn’t good and it’s not about my food. I really had bigger concerns and I was pretty much a loser but a very stubborn, hopeful one and now I try to change things for the better! I already went and looked at my finances (I postponed that forever, why? IDK, it was simple enough, I just liked to hide below my comfy rock), yeah, they needed some care already but my money still worked against our high inflation… But it will do much better in the future.

And we go to see 33000 geese on a pond not too far away tomorrow! It’s an annual all day festival there. We go once in a few years.

(Megan) #54

Oh boy, I know that one @Shinita! I have a PhD in procrastination and comfy rock hiding :crazy_face: I’m pretty good at being stubborn too!

Speaking of finances, that’s my biggest hurdle when eating carnivore. I mostly live on ground beef and pork shoulder. Every now and then I buy chicken when it’s on special but I’m not a big fan of it. Bacon and scrambled eggs with melted cheese on top can give me a nice flavour break and I think I’ll enjoy it - which isn’t often. I have times where I get tired of what I eat but I either don’t like other carni foods or I can’t afford them.

Enjoy your trip to the pond, it sounds like a lovely day out. 33 thousand geese? Or was that a typo?

#55

Thanks, it was nice, more about it later!

I do that too. But I do like it’s softness, it’s so easy to eat (that’s a problem, I usually overeat protein on chicken days)… It’s nice now and then.

Nope :slight_smile: There were huge clouds of geese!
The pond is big for Hungary but it’s the smallest in the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat! It’s the name of the convention, apparently. We made some photos (not of the geese, they came when it was almost dark) but only with Alvaro’s phone, I should get them off from it tomorrow…
So it’s a moderately big thing, the geese on the pond. They aren’t there all year, they just happen to travel in those huge numbers around the place and the big pond is very tempting for them as a night resting place.
I got some nice stones, stickers (for free. lovely animals on them!) and fridge magnets (a drawn common redshank baby and a very new insect species! a Hungarian found it like 2 years ago, here in a very populated area in Europe :smiley: how could they hide so well, so many people are into insects, it’s not like some hidden place in the jungle or whatever! still, such things happen), learned about a few things (a bird occasionally lives in Hungary while it only was here in winter!)… I love animals (except parasites) and there are always new and exciting infos about them! Even the ones around us, apparently. Because deep sea animals, sure, they are still mystical, even after zillion videos…

We did a little shopping, got some special stuff I can’t get from the usual little supermarkets. I have 3 pork tongue and some pork heart now. And bought pork shoulder but that’s not special at all, it’s one of the few widely available cuts, very often on a good sale. It was cheaper than my usual lean pork and I am so good at focusing on meat at the moment that I easily can afford something fattier now! And I run out of lard… I cook tongue and roast pork shoulder tomorrow and I totally want to go back to proper carnivore on Monday, we will see. I try to focus on meat tomorrow too, I would feel not so great if I wouldn’t do that and I do like meat now. It would be nice if I didn’t get bored of it for a long time, I have some nice variety right now and next time we want some ruminant meat, then some lovely fish for Christmas (the gild-head bream last year was a big hit and there is another kind I never tried)…

I have a very nice variety, there are lots of pretty cheap carni food for me, my problems lay elsewhere. Sometimes I just can’t stomach meat in general (or just give up when it gets hard? but it shouldn’t get hard :frowning: ). That’s bad. Another problem is when we make something super tempting. And there is my desire towards all kinds of textures and whatnots and not all is possible on carnivore… But I can do carnivore weeks, theoretically (I proved it 1-2 times too), carnivore-ish works too (that’s much easier as I don’t feel I sacrifice things without getting anything extra) and that is good enough for me now. This year was way worse than eating the occasional higher carb :frowning: Even November. November is supposed to be easy enough :frowning: December is hopeless as a whole but I must go for plenty of carni days in the near future, I need it after this November.

(Bean) #56

I knew I wanted to add back eggs and dairy after a long elimination through most of October and November. I had a strong reaction to both, which really surprised me. I thought is was one or the other. I don’t have an IgE positive for either, so they won’t kill me, but yikes do I swell up like it might. The antihistamines and steroid (yep, needed a steroid to settle things down) mess with my hunger signals and it just is bad cycle to be in.

Carnivore is hard without eggs and dairy.

ETA. Outside of meat, my list of foods I don’t react to is tiny.

(Robin) #57

Embrace the meat. Seems to be your super power.:slightly_smiling_face:

(Bean) #58

Shall we?

#59

I never make a new thread especially not a carni one as I am not carnivore (but my diet is right now, yay, I am back!) but I will be glad if we will have a December thread… It would help. December has its dangers. It’s good I have in no mood for holiday yet, I am not even particularly interested in food, I just want to get satiated with some edible stuff…

Coffee is still a problem but I am working on it and I got somewhat better.

(Bean) #60

Okay… I guess it is my turn.

December 31 day stay at the charcuterie chalet

Moderators can we close this month’s thread? (Thanks!)

(Robin) closed #61