Simply Steady September - 30 day Carnivore Way of Eating - 2023

(KM) #101

Maybe this should be a thread of its own, but how do you manage having such a reduced diet, socially. I’m fine with my few “boring” foods, but honestly it’s just about impossible to eat anywhere but my own house, and I’m about bored to death with that. I realize that my standards are my problem, I don’t want to eat battery cage eggs or cafo steak or meatballs that are mystery meat and probably half carb filler. Yes, it’s technically possible to eat out … if I don’t look at the ingredients in the “cheese” on my hamburger, or question what this grilled chicken was actually slathered with before it went into a pan.

Food used to be such a big part of my entertainment. I was the person who’d try, and probably enjoy, anything, and I was the easiest to feed because I’d just say thanks. These days I’m convinced nearly everything I’m being offered with the best of intentions is probably something I wouldn’t intentionally go near, and I don’t really know how to … how to Be in the world without the social lubricant and life raft of food.

#102

COOL! believe me you will go thru periods of this lifestyle is not great, draw back into carb land but IF ONE holds simple truth, when any of your approach changes and you hit a badland, always, always, always eat tons of what ya love, be it bacon, or seafood, or decadent filet migno and more and you will hold this thru the years to come and long term literally changes happen for us.

I went thru tons of ups and down. Being on board zc easily til it changed in a flash and I had to fight like a damn dog to hold carnivore, but in the end, eat ALL the darn best of the best when hard times come and you walk forward easily :slight_smile: wishing you the best longer term!!

#103

@kib1:
If you can choose the restaurant, it’s easier. If you want to eat at the random place your friend invited you or where there is some meeting, that easily may be impossible. I saw some restaurants in my life where there were no options if you didn’t eat “normal” and almost anything.
I had huge problems with eating out as a vegetarian (and how very normal, barely restrictive is that? there are all the edible plants, fungi and even eggs and dairy as I did the least restrictive one… well my personal taste restricted it somewhat and it clashed with the simpler restaurants, I just hated the typical vegetarian dishes. I think many did, they were very unimaginative. but the worst places only offered a handful of grilled vegs! yeah, vegetarians doesn’t need protein or calories just some vegs for a price of a proper meal), it just wasn’t possible at most places but I already moved out at that time so I had no reason to avoid meat all the time. So I only ate meat in restaurants, it wasn’t often.
We know that keto isn’t so hard but no plant at all, that must be tough. In some parts of the world more than at some other places.

I can relate. I wasn’t very choosy either. Now I am. Not nearly as much as a carnivore but still quite much. I am willing to eat quite a few things at least occasionally but it’s still a very tiny fragment of things considered edible and our world isn’t big on simple when it comes to food. I like my meat simple but I can accept a tiny onion and some spices. Just no sugar, it ruins my meat but it’s not so hard to avoid that here. I can’t afford fancy meat so I am not very choosy about that to begin with - but if I eat out, it’s a good place anyway where I tentatively trust the source. And it’s rare anyway, eating out often wasn’t something I ever desired, not even when I was way less choosy.

Well, good luck. Hopefully you live in a place where are some options and you have some decent control about where to go…?

(Geoffrey) #104

So far for me, just eating out hasn’t been too difficult because I’ve been able to find meat on the menu and ask for it a la carte. It strange how often I have to explain what that means to the server. My biggest challenge so far will be, as I stated earlier, my neighbor inviting us over for gumbo. There’s just no getting around the fact that I just can’t eat it. As graciously as I can I will let her know that my dietary lifestyle will not allow me to eat that type of food. It may make her feel bad and while I certainly don’t want that, my health is more important than her feelings.
The next big challenge will be next month when I travel to New Orleans. It’s liable to be difficult, at times, to find something suitable to eat but when those circumstances occur I’ll just have water and fast.

(KM) #105

I feel like, at least in the US, restaurant food even in an expensive place is commercially manipulated garbage. Maybe I’m just getting a little strange. :crazy_face: I just spent a week at my mother’s retirement community, and even though they are quite concerned about both nutritious and good tasting food, it was highly processed commercial stuff mixed in with fresh food. Salad of fresh vegetables which yes, I will eat on occasion, but premixed with a dressing that’s 50% soybean oil and 50% corn syrup. Yes, I can have the pork chop and not the applesauce and mashed potatoes, but that pork chop is injected with some kind of saline something or other and then basted in barbecue sauce. So yeah, I get it, it’s my own standards that get in my way, but I just don’t know how to go on being sociable when it seems like every event revolves around food and I’m not partaking.

I’m expected to go to a wedding, away from home and staying with relatives next weekend. I’m considering not going, just because the lack of control over my diet will be a continual struggle. I don’t want to be “extra”, this isn’t my day, my party, but I have to eat something and no one is going to let me just go my own way and eat my own food.

(Karen) #106

@kib1 I, thankfully don’t find anything boring with this lifestyle … I have always been able to eat the same thing over and over again. My suggestion to you is to change up what steaks you eat… change up the actual animal like pork, gammonn, chicken, lamb etc…
Add butter or left over fat from yesterdays cooking cook omelettes with cheese or bacon of seafood or chicken and just check out the different meals the folks on here are eating. When you are planning to eat out google the menu of the restaurant you fancy so you know there are options for you.

Me and Sian are now in the Cotswolds with Ben and we are staying in a beautiful dorma bungalow just like last year. Beautiful and clean and modern. We ate at a cafe when we got near to our destination but it wasn’t your bog standard cafe , quite posh actually and food was not cheap but very tasty and plenty of it.

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After checking in at our airbnb, unpacking and unwinding from journey we went to a local pub/restaurant that Soan had pre-booked and had a huge meal… not sure how I got through it all but i did. Small eump steak very tasty, medium rare i would say, pork chop, gammon, lamb chop, 2 saisages, 2 fried eggs amd a portion of buffalo chick wings which were rather bigger than i expected. Pork and gammon too well done for me but i made it through half of them… only cos I don’t like to waste food! Prefer easy over eggs aswell like those i had at the cafe earlier. Should see me through to a late lunch tomorrow!
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#107

I came across an online place that sells, among things we don’t want, a lot of goat and lamb offal. https://www.basilgrocery.com/online-store/Fresh-Meat-c29586064. It’s all halal - but that is just a humane way of slaughter, so not a negative.

And if you eat cheese - this is like brie with blue flavors and marbeling - to die for cheese at a very good price: Belgioioso Creamygorg Gorgonzola Dolce Soft Pleasant Blue Veined Wisconsin Cheese ~4Lbs (basilgrocery.com)

#108

I would dare them to keep me from feeding myself… :smiley:
I never demand special food, I bring my own. If it’s a short time thing, I can just fast, not like I trust me to do that when I am not in my top determined mood and there is plenty of various food - except if it’s really incompatible with me. Your examples? I wouldn’t go near such things. And I really eat off sometimes. But I have my limits and I just updated my hard blacklist. The one I don’t just break because I am on my wildest “I don’t really care” off day. I do care about my body. It can handle a lot, it doesn’t mean it should. And there are no reasons to eat food I don’t even LIKE. And I abhor sugary meat and sugary salads. Ew. Sweets are too sweet too. Sweet drinks are horrible. Too carby things are somewhat pointless… I can thank carnivore I changed enough that even if I don’t try or care, I just don’t want food that is too far from my normal one. With some exceptions, I do need more time to reach my final, really proper form.

And I thought that a little balsamic vinegar as a salad dressing was unacceptable for me on low-carb… :smiley: (That thing is insanely sugary. Just like some wine vinegars, I had no idea they put a TON of sugar into some, how crazy is that? Vinegar should have vinegar, water, maybe tarragon, I like that… So people use sugary non balsamic vinegar, one always learn things. But it had a VERY high percentage of sugar.)

This world is just incompatible with me in various ways. And I am not even a carnivore. Just a sympathizer. And I do try sometimes. And I almost always try to stay real close as that is actually enough for me and realistic too. I go for a carnivore November again, it is a good month for it. I do what I can until then but November has actual chances for a longer term carnivore even if one is me. I never was successful but I had my longest carnivore period in November. And I barely had any meat back then… I was super determined. I am changed and more experienced and I will get some good supplies too.
It is so close, I really need to practice until then! I get looser on summer, it’s probably inevitable.

I stopped tracking, I was in a very bad state today and it’s good to get rid of one small stressor, it’s not like it’s particularly useful right now. I do track meat and dairy, that’s easy.
Eggs too if it’s easy. Like I had 2 eggs and 7 sponge cakes today, simple.
Way over a pound of meat (320g cooked, by the way), I overdid protein yesterday and today as well but it happens. But the proper amount of meat made late eating impossible, I am very well satiated and satisfied.

It turned out my roasted pork is VERY nice and easy to eat. So it’s only the not fatty enough fried pork I don’t like now. Good.

No photo as we need to charge the camera. But I have plenty of roast left. It looks little but it will be enough for 2 more days.

I want a really good day tomorrow. I was super stressed in the last days but it’s better now.

I had coffee today and it tasted bad (cream surely could help but I won’t open my very last tiny box for coffee). I think it won’t be hard to go without it in the next days… Good riddance.

@Karen18: Wow, that’s a serious amount of food…

#109

I’m paying too much for putting social above careful. Maybe that should read as, I’m paying too much for relinquishing control of my food. Outsourcing the ingredients choice and meal preparation to fit in with the societal norm. Paying physically and mentally. I’ve been thrown back into stressful work in the city. In that mix are lunch meetings with those processed food questions, or dressings on things that are recognisable whole foods. Then after work are family dinners with people who are into kindness-based nutrition sabotage. For years they have not agreed with high fat, let alone no fruit nor starchy vegetables.

When on plan I feel mentally serene. Problems are easy to organise and clear to solve.

Serenity is like blood in the water. And this attracts work sharks. If a manager sees you relaxed and cruising through the work days/weeks, they don’t identify that with the doing of work, let alone hard work. The sharks bring more things to do.

They trap you on a coffee break in a doorway when you have just finished an hour lecture standing and walking around under a large projected screen, like you see in a TED talk, dancing like a 1930s circus bear, cracking jokes, engaging with thought provocation, releasing carefully lain surprises to propel messages into memory, in front of a room of 40 people. Very soon, within 5 minutes, about to go back for an hour of Q&A while the students’ thoughts are still aflame, and then lead a practical workshop for an hour after that.

The manager doesn’t see that. They just see you heading toward a quiet space and a comfy chair holding a coffee. They seem to think that is all and what I do. So, they interrogate, and then ask for things, and ask for things to be done, thinking that delegation is work they are doing. It is work they should be doing. But they control employee assessments. So, telling them to do their work themselves can be injurious to ongoing employment. Then the break time consumed, there is only enough time to quickly wolf down the coffee on the rushed walk back to the venue room. That’s what kicks off the cravings, sweet carb cravings. Mismanagement.

I know the danger. But it is hard to stay on plan. Stress feeds hunger. Then if I eat wrong, I sleep bad. If I sleep bad, I wake up tired. If I am tired day after day fatigues set in. Fatigue is a fog. Clear thinking problem solving dissipates. The work manager smiles as they think the worker must be working hard when they look worn out. It’s just hard work. On top of it physical aches and pains flare, muscle soreness from inactivity and hobble causing joint pain from the toxic food.

So, I run away. Home to bacon and eggs. No doorway manager ambushes. Work from home. Ignore emails. Cook for myself and the Labrador. And recover. Until next week. Vigilant for sharks.

#110

That sounds like a horrible job. Are you locked into it somehow? There are jobs with better managers.

#111

I love my job as a university lecturer. I’ve locked myself in with the joy of teaching and watching students learn. Learn from me, after 13 years I still can’t fully believe I do this for a job. 4 years here in a new state. Started the job as the pandemic hit. It’s been topsy-turvy since. Riding it out.

I need to get better at handling the constantly changing and churning bureaucrats that see education as a profit making industry and me as a manageable KPI.

I am now making bacon and eggs Cooke with butter.

(Geoffrey) #112

Dang @FrankoBear, stress is one of our worst enemies. It can do more to wreck our health that anything. I’m sorry to hear that you’re having to deal with it but we’re here for you to vent anytime you need to.
Find a happy place and chill brother, you got this.

#113

I only now do steakhouses that I can control easily. I am done with other restaurants and trying to ‘fit’ my lifestyle into icky food choices, did that alot of years, so over it LOL

today is simple. Big ol’ country pork ribs, super fatty ones I buy, OH SO good and second meal will be 2 big chicken breasts just sautee’d in butter. Was gonna eat a steak but I defrosted more chicken then needed probably for hubby so will just eat those up today and be done with them…my nice ribeyes will be defrosted for tomorrow.

I am in great zc zone! Loving the lifestyle as usual.

Rock on guys

#114

I can’t even easily imagine that situation… shudder
Well that would be a recipe to endless arguing (until I run away, it’s a great way to solve problems quite many times…) as I am extremely protective of my health and feeling right and low-fat is my room 101. I expect people who love me not to try (it’s sooo futile) into pressuring me into suffering and worse health. It’s super rude.
How could I not eat much fat? I can minimize it but I need to avoid plant carbs for that to a great extent. The more carbs, the more fat, to mitigate the problems, it’s very automatic for me, I am unable to resist the pull (not like I would be willing to resist)… I never met low-fat people (at least I didn’t know that but what weird existence…) so IDK what they would think about it…
Low-fat is already impossible but it would bring super high-carb to avoid starving and it sounds the worst possible combo for me. I accept it’s great for others, not for me or any in my family ever.

How stupid! I often was the only programmer but even when not, I had my separate task, often pretty demanding when the deadline was tight and the designer was late by 2 weeks (sometimes I had to do some design all by myself as they delivered the stuff at or after the deadline. I had no option not to keep the deadline but designers were different for some reason) - and if I did it, it was fine to play hours a day with the others (it was so nice and refreshing) and never working anything before noon as I am not a morning person. When there was a deadline, I started to work seriously after 5pm when everyone else went home. I did way more in 1-2 hours than the whole day before. So I delivered results and it was the main thing. This is how a proper workplace should work. I was pretty choosy about the peacefulness of my work environment, as soon as it got chaotic, I quit. I can’t do things I don’t enjoy or feel comfortable, most of the time. Even the occasional tight crazy deadlines were invigorating and challenging and I liked that.
The best was working at home though. I don’t like to work with others too much to begin with as it usually lowers productivity and results in email writing and I don’t like that. I communicate with myself the best, not surprisingly. One person or just one programmer projects can be pretty fun anyway, they suit me. I loved making games and other fun things the best. Once we had a bigger project (but I was the only programmer, sweet), we made a comic maker site. SOOO fun. By the way, playing various multiplayer games was part of my job when we had a gaming site :smiley: I liked that. Well the job must have been nice as my salary was super low, I barely could rent a room and pay for some cheap food. Beginner programmers had a hard time back then, I was happy I got a job. But it was enjoyable enough and I have learned a lot… WAY better than what I too often read about others but it may be just my “odd” priorities.

I got carried away again…

It’s hot again. Yesterday was so wonderfully cool and the evening was even not humid, finally I took a tiny but lovely walk and some refreshing garden work.
Today it’s thorny garden work. My desire to cut off almost all the blackberries is strong now. But I did a lot until I got a fatal (for the continuation of the work) injury and it was from a nearly invisible rosehip in some more innocent bush. It’s very much hidden so I can’t cut it out completely, only parts. Did I say my garden is FULL with various thorny things, fruits and decorative plants alike? (I know I did several times but maybe someone didn’t reat it yet and anyway, I need venting sometimes.) And the “Australian Bush” that has no fruit and is ugly but very, very stubborn, hardy and its thorns are out of this world. Hence its nickname. Europe shouldn’t have this monster but here we are.
One day we will cut it all. This projects goes very slowly, painfully, with much effort and the thing being halfway in the neighbour’s property (he visits maybe once in 5 years?) doesn’t help. But one day we will win :wink: And we will be proud.

I totally love the garden, it just brings a tad bigger challenge than ideal.

My body wants very pure carni today and it doesn’t even like milk now or IDK what is its problem (I put a tiny bit into my coffee… but I am finished with coffee for a while now…) so I will have that I suppose :slight_smile: That was the plan anyway.

Oh my meat yesterday. If anyone (me, me) thinks my normal photos made with an old, that time half-professional camera are on the uglier side, this was made with a tablet. I rarely do that, for reasons. My phone may be even worse. But there is a big depth of field.

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I will eat a similar amount today, probably. My pork chuck is tiny so more lean pork today. Unless I will want all the chuck (~92g cooked? it’s tiny) and don’t leave any for tomorrow. I always can use other fatty items but this green ham isn’t dry at all and have some nice visible fat anyway. A bit extra fat is still welcomed.

#115

feel ya FB! I had years of stress thru my social situations on eating and more but only one thing happens in the end, I choose me. Simple as that. It has to be that way or one can’t ever get off the hamster wheel.
CHOOSE YOU at all times. Inconvenient and annoying and a pain sometimes but with a tad of effort, we truly can control ourselves if we want it that way. Hard row to sow as we all know but life ain’t out of our control totally ever. We know alot of nature and more is out of our control truly and we feel like we must struggle, but with the wisest and sometimes daring and scary choices we change gives us back our freedoms too.

like I won’t now bow on eating…at wedding they came with bacon wrapped scallops, yea ZC girl jump on those. Slammed on down into my mouth and hit instant sweet sugar bbq glaze on it and instantly grabbed napkin and spit it out. My cousins and nephew and brother were like, what the hell, but my hubby knew…lol…they said they were delish and I said they sucked with sugar on them and everyone of course was laughing at me. Got yellow and white cheddar cubes from cocktail table, just a few, tried a nibble and spit it out. omg tasted more plastic then the good cheddar I buy and again, got the laugh from them plus the ‘hmmm big eyes’ of what the hell is wrong wtih her HA then I got pork from the big cut of meat and spit it out instantly…they top glazed it with maple and brown sugar, ruined that meat for me fast and then I got some dry ass turkey off a big breast they had on the cocktail table and it was fine. Fine but dry and you know, turkey for carnivore, hell no but I sure ate it, I was desperate at that point HA So I had to wiggle thru tons of crap at the wedding but I got a short rib for dinner and asked waitress no sauces or anything and darn if my plate didn’t come out just short ribs cooked to perfection, got away lucky there LOL but ya know, now I won’t allow anything any more against what I want in my meals ya know. Just me now, I locked in damn near a decade now on carnivore and at this point, I am saying hell no to everything that won’t suit me to the best. Just me now, what I need for forward movement. I am so done trying to conform, or wiggle thru, or be less than what I want from my eating plan…again, just me not giving in anymore. What I need.

you hold strong! I know you are in that ‘flux’ zone right now. Pick always the best for YOU, Mrs. Bear and Billie for the healthiest path forward and ya got it made in the shade :slight_smile: always wishing you the best!

#116

What’s the wrong the them and everyone who put SUGAR into meat… :cry::scream::sob:
WHY oh WHY??? Meat doesn’t need sugar, it ruins it, even!
I never met glazed meat but people here don’t put sugar into it. Probably bbq meat is worse as I looked at bbq sauces and they were massively sugary. I only saw sugary meat in Chinese restaurants…

Turkey is fine as a side meat… I couldn’t make a meal of it myself, some people could… But it shouldn’t be dry :frowning:
Poor you, I felt the disappointment and horror second-hand too. Meat with sugar is painful to me. It makes NO sense. Some people may do that to themselves, sure but multiple meat options for many people and most of it has sugar…?

In my case, when it comes to sugary meat, it doesn’t even matter what my woe is or what I can handle. It tastes FOUL. Wrong.
I can’t even eat sweet sour cream except in desserts, I dislike sweetness in food that shouldn’t be sweet. I can imagine some rare special meaty dish where a little sweetness works, I ate such ones but they are very rare and the sweetness is tiny. There is a story about Hungarians who got fried chicken covered with plum jam and scraped the jam off… We just don’t glaze things but how can a sane person do it anyway…? Yeah, different culture but don’t modern humans overeat sugar like crazy in sweets and drinks, why to put sugar even into otherwise proper meat dishes?

Finally a properly active day, I couldn’t fix my bike but it worked for a trip, the supermarket run out of the duck on a big sale but I could buy 2 packets of fresh ham… It will be fine but I will need some fattier meat soon.
Alvaro doesn’t know what to cook in the weekend, he has no vegs now. So I told him to make something for me too, finally, some stew, maybe, we have even beef now, not much though.
We bought 1-1 pair of wonderful, super smooth bamboo socks for us too :slight_smile: Tiny joys of life. A lovely texture means a lot to me. And his socks from there have patterns!!! His mostly black(ish), too similar socks annoyed me since ages and now I only allow buying patterned ones :slight_smile: Mine always were fun, easy to put the pairs together after washing, even in not perfect lighting conditions.

I had a nice amount of roasted pork, sponge cake buns with cream cheese and butter and a mug of coffee with egg milk for lunch. Not enough for the day so it will be TMAD. Good, easy meal, even simple in my world! The meat wasn’t ideally fatty but almost. My belly is pleased and my mood is hopeful after hellish stressful days. I always had this skill, I can’t be down for too long, I tend to bounce back. And I did it very successfully now, I was even brave to try to fix my bike (and it’s something I very much avoid normally), not like I was successful but I haven’t found an important tool.
I just have a loose chain but it is a big thing for me to fix. Not impossible though. If Alvaro will find me the tool.

It was so, so nice to get some exercise again. I was too inactive lately. It cheered me up even more and I seem to have more stamina than normal. Yay.

(Bean) #117

I was diagnosed with Celiac 16 years ago. I long ago mastered the art of being social while not-acutally-eating. At the time I was diagnosed, I was both a working and teaching chef, so not being able to eat anything and everything was actually a career-ending problem.

For me, I find my level of “good enough”. I cannot eat anything that might be cross contaminated with gluten. Full stop. I’m also allergic to celery (which is not labeled in the US). So I’ve had lots of meals with friends with a club soda, coffee, or charbroiled burger or chicken in front of me. It’s fine. I always have been able to cook better at home for myself and family for much less money. I consider it entertainment.

#118

Today was very smooth and simple. I just ate when hungry until I got satiated, whatever I had and liked, there was zero appetite problem or anything… And things just feel into place.

Low-cal day but it’s just right after two higher-cal ones (I didn’t track everything but I know this much. significantly but not excessively more protein and fat than before) :wink:

438g meat (249g cooked), 134g protein, 97g fat, guesstimation says (I totally eyeballed all the ~20g lard and butter I ate today, my accuracy isn’t affected as I already eat pork so the fat content is anyone’s guess and I don’t want to track anyway, just meat and dairy, the rest depends on simplicity, it was simple enough today)…

Weekend came but I have zero mood to eat whatever Alvaro cooks, I would like another (almost) carnivore day (I did skip my lil extras and that’s a big thing now - it was very easy, actually but still a change, summer is just looser for me - but accidental tiny wild fruit eating happened, it’s one of my biggest favs at the end of its season and I pretty much skipped it this far, i was so glad I forgot I wanted a pure day, it happens when it’s not an established attitude yet, just plan for a single day) and I like my roast and have just enough for a meaty day. Why to break what works this well? :smiley:
I definitely changed for the better but I am too tired to explain my thought and it’s not so important to do that.
I am still very hopeful. This week was pretty good considering the time of the year, my stress (even if it has little to do with my eating, I lose my ability to really try, good thing I don’t need much of that, I have my best food and best interests on carni) and my previous many weeks (not like I remember how I ate 2 weeks ago but not this good).
And it will just get better as I get back my winter mindset. With my much more carni taste, more experience and wider blacklist than last time.

I still have a long way to go. Or a shorter one, I have no idea what will be my final form, actually. But I am looking forward to the next months.

(Geoffrey) #119

Scrambled eggs and six rashers of homemade bacon.

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(Judy Thompson) #120

@beannoise I’m like you, my mantra is “I have food at home.” Waiters never flinch when I say “I’m animal based, just the meat, no bread or sauces.” I’d be happy with just coffee under those circumstances knowing I could go home and eat my own food.
Today we’re visiting relatives in Crystal Lake, Illinois and went to lunch with them. All I saw on the menu was a hamburger patty with Bleu cheese and bacon. Good except I took the mustard aioli on the side and it was sweet, made me nauseous.
Lastnight they fixed lamb chops, overcooked but good enough. People will always accept my position if I’m just matter of fact about it.
Tomorrow is their Oktoberfest with a pre-party to include brats. I’ll have those.