Isn’t it funny how we can manage to power through the really big health problems, but a simple cold can bring us to our knees?
Oxtober Fest! - ZC Carnivore 31 day challenge October 2024
Steak and eggs and sunshine and fresh air, it’s all good stuff.
Work bureaucracy won’t let me go interstate on a flight for a conference next week because they think I have a heart problem. I try to explain it is atrial fibrillation, which is an electrical problem, or electrolytes problem. They rushed out onto the runway and set up as many hurdles as possible to stop me going. I said fine.
What I will do is take the conference week and eat well, get outside in the sunshine, get away from the phone and emails, swim and surf in the ocean, hang out with Mrs. Bear, go on wildflower adventures, write and draw some ideas, take Billie the Labrador for her swalks (swim walks) in the crystal clear waters of the bay on the other side of the cape. It’s good the water is so clear as you can see the sharks from quite a distance and they might want to sniff my toes. I’ll probably end up with a suspicious tan when I go into work a week later. This is all work of course… what’s it called these days? Self-help days. Not sure what the soft millenials have come up with, but I am down with it at the end of a busy semester of teaching. Then a fortnight of marking. Then I am taking actual holidays from November to March (pretty much all of summer).
We had a nice hike yesterday in perfect weather. My injured, almost-healed leg complained a bit but I could do it and it didn’t ache afterwards at all. I went to bed 5-6 hours earlier as usual… And woke up before 3am. Sigh. But I could sleep more later and I avoided my zombie day. It seems my body is getting used to being awake a bit during the night, I don’t often get zombieness in that case anymore! Still not good. I want to wake up at a sane hour and stay awake. I need all the sunshine I can get!
Today isn’t as sunny as yesterday but the sun still breaks through the clouds, more or less and I am very pleased with it.
I pretty much got bored of my usual meat so I plan stews after stews. Maybe I mentioned it already, IDK, it’s my plan since some time. Alvaro keeps making mushroom stews as it’s that season, we saw ZILLION mushrooms, mostly bracket fungi, my favs (they were stunning, colorful, in huge numbers and everywhere :D) but we managed to get a decent amount of edible ones too. Good for him though I had some too in the end. The first 1kg champignon I could ignore but eventually I got worn down and I love stews, almost no matter the base ingredient (I still don’t want to know how tripe stew tastes like. I am not fully unwilling to try if someone cooks it for me but I don’t have high hopes and I am not really curious, really…). But a little taste is enough for me. And I mixed some of my boring lean pork into it anyway as it was too flavorful and not substantial enough. And I need to eat the boring pork in some ways (maybe I will “stewify” the rest, no matter if they are already fried. and there is peasant’s breakfast too).
But seeing and (in moderation) identifying fungi is still fun! We saw many micro ones, like 1mm hot pink tinies. But the white ones with 2mm white caps were cute too. Oh and we saw coral fungi too, it’s somewhat rare here though I saw it a few times already - so it’s always a bit special. And so many… let’s see… Sulphur tufts or clustered woodlovers Googling the English names is part of the whole mushroom joy, some names are very humorous. Ours are pretty normal, we have super fun plant names sometimes but the mushroom names are mostly normal, descriptive. This last one has yellow, sulfur and flower in its name. I saw its red sibling too and that’s more special.
So… The higher parts of this mountain range is richer in fungi too. Oh well, I saw so many species here too in the last decade but much time can pass between 2 sightings. Except in autumn, it’s a good time for it after proper rain (but not the first one after the long drought, apparently).
The foliage finally started to get really colorful, I saw some golden trees. Hornbeam Many trees are still more or less green. The smoke trees got red, there are many of them around.
And we bought 90 eggs so I happily use them now. I am not into my meat anyway while I have an egg phase again so all is well there.
But I mostly just wanted to write about our perfect weather hike as I don’t exactly do carnivore right now. IDK why I don’t like my meat lately, I got all the “bad” slabs? I often like even my leaner pork much more but this week, even the pork chuck wasn’t so good Maybe I should take out the beef, the pork ribs, the chicken heart and the meatballs… And some stews will be nice. It doesn’t even matter that I pretty much gave up on carnivore for October, I still need to eat mostly carnivore as what else is there for me? Some days I can go further (still not many options for extras, I have changed much) but it’s occasional and next day it’s back to carni or almost. I must find a way to eat much meat. Much for me, at least as with my lowish energy needs, fat-loss plans and love towards egg and dairy (to the point that I really can’t avoid them) I can’t afford eating much meat. But I don’t want even that much sometimes when I push for leaner meat and usually just fry/roast the stuff… But if I want a carnivore dish, I don’t see many more options for me. And if I like the meat, just frying it should be perfect… But not all meat is that great and I have choosier days. Stews are still not carnivore here even if it’s still great for me… So I don’t want them on November (when I give carnivore a go again). But it’s October so stews, I come!
@JJFiddle thank you! I use the word fiddly too, quilting can be very fiddly. It’s basically what I work on any time I’m not helping mom all day long. Hope your cold clears up quickly.
@FrankoBear your “conference” plans sound good to me!
It was 70°F and sunny yesterday and I had caregiver coverage for a few hours so before we went grocery shopping Dell & I walked around Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau’s famous muse.
Kind of nuts to go to there mid-October as it was very busy but mostly we had no trouble walking the mile and a half circumference, tramping the narrow trail & squeezing around stopped or slower folks. It’s been over a decade since we last visited, not sure why we stayed away so long. Just didn’t think of it I guess. Saw at least 3 people reading Thoreau out loud to their companions. Apparently that’s a thing.
I’m pretty much at my 30 days eggs and dairy since I had a restart. I think I’m going to keep going until the end of November.
Camping has been nice. We’re just a few minutes from youngest daughter. Since she’s engineering/ physics so she studies all.the.time. She took a hike with us last night as it was getting dark, and I rode along to the grocery today and bought her food for the week. We might get her and her boyfriend to kayak with us tonight.
We’re close enough to the adult kiddos that we usually get one or both sets of grandkids, and that’s always fun.
It’s been a nice quiet trip. We just sat outside and did a puzzle yesterday. Lots of hiking and biking, too. It’s our first go in our second-hand (smaller) camper. Just the right kitchen set up. We’re ready to take it farther from home.
Yesterday I didn’t want to wait until really serious hunger so I ate early, together with my Alvaro, after we cooked various things. He was at the fire for 4 hours… Ouch. Just to make a not satiating veggie dish (but he eats it with bread, he said… it still would make me hungry but he isn’t me. and he surely gets some protein from somewhere eventually…? I just don’t want to work on that, extra I mean as he is always welcome to some of my leaner meat. not today though as I have little. whatever, he can have eggs, we have plenty) and boiling some potatoes… And burning a lot of wood, that’s important too, we have way too much. And of course, it’s quite nice there when the weather is okay and it was. Still, too much, I always lose interest early. No boiled eggs this time as he really couldn’t do more. I had little meat during lunch and dinner as I only had my lean pork and wasn’t into it and could get away with it for a while… I ended up needing a meaty final meal at night. My boring leaner pork was wonderful then… The taste was the same but when I need the meat, it’s still easy and satisfying to eat. Anyway, my appetite tends to be exceptionally high at night as long as I am not perfectly satiated. IDK WHY. It’s not my natural eating time, it usually cause problems (I mean overeating. it is good for sleep and I feel nice when well-fed) but it’s so enjoyable to eat then. More than normal, more than hungry after not eating for 20-26 hours. Actually, the 25 hour fast on Friday/Saturday already turned off my interest in food, I just felt I am a bit hungry so probably should eat…? (I actually wondered about just forgetting about eating for the day.) Weird thing. But not without logic. I skip a meal and my body goes into fasting mode and eating start to become an abstract concept. For ME
Today I finish the pork, it’s not very much but not very little and I plan to eat several eggs. And finish my quark as well. I will make quark quiche, that’s lovely. I would like a fat fast day on Tuesday, we will see… And then something not very ordinary, I had enough of this leaner pork for a little while. I have several options, I have even beef…! Maybe that one. And then pork ribs, I have high hopes.
Nice sunny day again! And Monday so I get stricter again. This rhythm comes naturally to me, I am most relaxed on weekends. Especially with my timing, it’s trivial not to eat until 3pm on workdays but on weekends? But the “wildness” happens with food too. Shopping (okay that is the least impact, I go for carni things, I LOVE my dairy and my few processed meats so it’s enough), relative visits, Alvaro’s cooking (it usually isn’t interesting but there are exceptions)… There are specific food seasons with a mild temptation. I am getting better but there is still pretty much room for improvement. But I feel pretty comfortably now, I don’t go all compulsive then somewhat shocked like in the past anymore. Hopefully. We will see what December brings, that is usually the worst. It’s much better than before but that’s not good enough. I should have some great carni times until then and it would be good if that could change me a lot for the better. (I still will bake cookies, probably. That’s art and gift and tradition. I have thought maybe I can swap to rock painting but I did both in the last years. I painted black and gold dragons on grey rocks as it is the year of the dragon now. oh yes, it was supposed to be my year, I need to do something about it as it definitely wasn’t).
Hi @Shinita your posts are sweet and full of little interesting details. I enjoy them. But I hope in the future you can leave out or blur mentions of foods that are not carnivore? I’m struggling with an eating disorder and this carnivore chat should be a comfortable space for me and other folks like me to hang out Thank you!!
Okay! I never know what can possibly trigger people, I usually don’t even mention such items specifically or blur them but I get more lax sometimes, the fasting topic started not to care about it aty some point too, I think I do avoid specific food items there. I usually don’t blur when I don’t consider the thing tempting but of course it’s individual. I wish I couldn’t even write it in any way but it’s tricky with my life, I am always surrounded with various food and it is actually relevant to me that what is my relationship with them.
The best would be for me not to come at all I know but I am not that strong.
I go back and blur now.
Back home. Shifted back to OMAD. Chicken thighs for dinner tonight.
Took a vacation day tomorrow. We still have some pet hair in the house, so I might wash all the curtains and pull stuff out of the bedroom so we can remove the carpet.
Got through another weekend. Great reading posts! Hope you’re enjoying your week off @FrankoBear. Sounds therapeutic. Beautiful in Concord @LizinLowell! Good luck with your OMAD @beannoise!
@Shinita, getting cold there, lots of fire
Cold is dissipating, starting to feel better.
@Karen18 where are you? I miss hearing from you.
I tried a half a serving of collagen today when I was having distracting cravings. It helped. Mine was the Orgain brand. Maybe helpful?
Had pork ribs in the last days, finally some meat I enjoy and can eat much of… The name of the cut hints at its relationship to pork belly though but it had ribs so I call it so… Whatever. Fatty stuff but not too much (after it released some fat in the oven and air fryer), nice. I will bring a photo or two later.
And I finally fried the beef, it was part of our lunch today, it wasn’t much. Alvaro liked his thin slice (6 minutes in the pan), mine was tasty too and thicker (8 minutes) but quite chewy as it’s beef… I couldn’t eat ruminant meat all the time, I don’t have the teeth and patience for that! Pork is tender (and takes 2 hours to make though only 40 in the pan). I think I like beef in soups and stews most where it can get hours of cooking so it gets as tender as it can be. It is so flavorful it has plenty to give to some liquid anyway. And I do love stews and soups… Mom only made soups from beef but it was some boring boiled beef, too lean, maybe too thin? IDK but it wasn’t so good.
I eat more eggs and on my less meaty days, more cheese. My diet is not carnivore but close enough, less close when I dislike my meat, it can’t be helped (but I have almost no option to go really far from carnivore even then, there aren’t many satiating food options except carni food, for me)… I will focus on having multiple options, I really can get bored of leaner cuts and even my fav isn’t fully reliable. Ruminant meat is much more reliable and I never can have anything to say about the flavor itself. Except it tastes like cow smells (a clean one so it’s the animal and the milk, not something dirtier), it’s a bit distracting, dairy from the farmer’s market has this flavor too… I am used to more neutral items but it’s not bad, per se…
Tomorrow is green ham day again, fried. It was days ago I ate some and it’s not so much, only for one day so maybe I won’t get bored of it Sausage will be the emergency option and of course I will eat eggs and probably some cheese too. My meals got simpler. When I had my ribs, it was just ribs and some sponge cakes for lunch. And I had some smoked cod liver again, it is so great, super soft, not too fatty, not too lean, mild taste, it helped me out when I was still hungry but ate all I had. Alvaro liked it too but only wanted 1/4 of the tin. I would happily eat a tin or two every day for a while but it’s expensive and probably too nutritious as well.
So things are fine now eating wise. I don’t lose any weight but what’s new? I can’t bring myself to track, I do take notes and weigh my food so I have a bunch of papers next to me… I am actually curious about my OMAD days… And I may eat a bit less on some days as I get hungry earlier sometimes. Especially after a workout!
The weather isn’t rainy but not much sunshine in the last days. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice. The house gets colder (it’s so bad it get almost no sunshine except my room) but heating season isn’t here yet. We don’t get cold as easily as some people and it’s a well insulated house. Cooking helps a bit too… It’s usually above 19 Celsius in the house and that’s nice.
Oh I wish anything would help me!! Thanks for the kind suggestion. I take 2 tbs Great Lakes collagen in my coffee every morning so I’m guessing that won’t be the trick that helps me. But I’m forever on the lookout for anything that will keep me from feeling like I have an evil gremlin in my brain who takes over way too often. I take lots of supplements that are supposed to help regulate dopamine and such. I search for anything that is supposed to help with addiction & poor impulse control.
I guess it would be at least a delay tactic? I would say my scoop is at least two tablespoons, so that would be what I’ve been doing. I guess casein is what causes some of the dairy cravings, so it makes sense that amino acids might tap it down in that moment.
The pic I promised before… Nice fatty pork and sunshine, it was a nice day food and weather wise.
Today I managed to burn my pork (I almost never do it since I use induction cookers but the new one is stronger than the previous ones, we can’t cook anything that needs lower heat on it - and I get too absent-minded sometimes) but it’s not like pancakes, it’s still edible. Cut off tiny bits and all was fine. Pork, egg, cheese, coffee, little else, just the usual.
Self care.
Loving eggs for breakfast cooked in butter. Have some biltong to finish from a supply picked up 3 days ago. Eating steaks and adding mackerel for surf ‘n’ turf dinners.
Spring is doing that thing where it is sunny then rainy. Rainy now, so can type a quick note. Heart has been steady since returning home to the forest and beaches from the city.
Love this. When I go in the forest there is nobody. And that’s the idea. Take a break from one’s self. Be a nobody. No body. Dissolve into it all.
I wrote this (below) as a letter to a local community newspaper. They tend to publish things from the crazy bear in the woods. I mix the local indigenous Australian Aboriginal language with Japanese. Kambarang is the season of birth and wildflowers in the local calendar that has 6 seasons.
Colours of fire in the forest. If you are out in the woodland drinking in, getting down with, and grounding amongst, the wildflowers during the local season of Kambarang, move quietly and at ease. Dabakarn koorliny mixes with Shinrin-yoku. Progress slowly in the forest bath. If you were kaarla, fire, the flames, this is how you should progress. The snakes will languidly slither away and the spiders will dance with the late orchids in the dappled light. Move as ‘good smoke’ bringing health. Languages of places far and near create the poetry of the experience. If good luck is your habit the forest will claim you, take you away from your self for moments of renewal. You feel as part of the deep time and place. Emerging thankful with thoughts and stories refreshed. Custodian renewed. A healthy forest is good for us all.
The wildflowers are a pea flower from the Genus Kennedia and it is called Coral Vine. It flowers profusely for the Spring time or two in areas that were disturbed by bushfire. The bird is a forest red-tailed black cockatoo. The females have their tail feathers coloured and patterned like a bush fire. Kambarang is their breeding season.
Being out within Nature creates a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment that shifts aside the cravings of human existence.
@FrankoBear: Beautiful!
We have nice but cool days with really cold mornings now. The house is too cold, we will start to heat for an hour or two per day now… But sunshine and no rain, good weather for long walks and collecting the leaves. Some can rot and nurture the soil but we have trees absolutely everywhere and that’s just too much for the grass and it doesn’t look nice after a rain either. And we would slip too…
I have just roasted a 1.6kg pork shoulder slab (cut into 4 pieces or else it would take 3 hours or something), it will get a short air fryer session before I will eat it. I wonder what will happen. I am not so hungry or food obsessed lately but I still need my fuel… And I have no idea if pork shoulder is still triggering for me (see my 2 carni days in the past with 1kg pork shoulder and a lot of other food… I tend to eat way more if my meat is fatty and it doesn’t satiate me any better. it’s one reason I try to focus on the leaner meat I don’t like that much. not like I like pork shoulder much more, it’s merely triggering), we will see.