Taking the leap...how long does it take>

food
#1

So.

I’m pretty much committed to about experiment with ZC/carnivore, after being on keto for well over a year.

Starting August, for an indefinite period. Maybe forever.

Just wondering, carni folks, how long would I expect to become adapted/reap the benefits?

I realise that everyone’s experience will be different btw.
Just your own exerperiences would be helpful i.e. particularly health benefits, but also financial issues, social, practical/pragmitism, shopping even.

Come on, spill the metaphorical kidney beans!

All tips welcome.

(Marianne) #2

I didn’t have any difficulty making the transition to ZC/carnivore and didn’t have any detrimental effects in how I felt in the beginning. For a long while, however, I seemed to require more food and needing to eat more often, which is pretty common with carnivores.

Besides feeling great, the biggest benefit I’ve seen is in my blood work. My HDL (good cholesterol is very high (85), and my triglyceride to HDL ratio is just a hair over 1.0. I am very proud of that and it is the true marker of clean eating and having reached optimal metabolic health (I believe, anyway). It makes me insane when my doctors focus on my high LDL and total cholesterol and ignore the other two values.

Financially, I think we are eating way more economically than we ever have. We purchase all of our meat in bulk from the discount clubs here (BJs, Sam’s, Costco), break it down into double portion sizes when we get home and freeze it. We consume pork the most and the majority of those cuts are very inexpensive. 73/27% hamburger is also economical and delicious. Beef can be high, depending on the cut you get, however, we stick to the cheap stuff and don’t overcook it.

Keto doesn’t hinder me socially when we go out to eat with friends. I just stick with a steak or cheeseburger without the bun. In those cases, I will have a side salad or eat a veggie because the portion size of the meat is usually smaller than I’d normally consume at home. If I meet my friends at a fast food place where there are no choices of things I can eat, I just don’t eat. I’ll have a diet pop and sit and chat and eat when I get home. Doesn’t bother me in the slightest, although many of my friends give me push-back about it. I’m not going to eat things I don’t want to just because they have an issue with it.

#3

Great advice- thanks!

#4

Completly up to you, there is no real adaption from keto, your carbs are already minimal, and ZC is a misnomer, you’re still going to eat some carbs, zero is impossible. There could very well be no added benefit, if you’re not eating things your body doesn’t agree with, I wouldn’t expect to see anything change. For me, all it did was cost me more money and make me start craving salads like a madman.

For people that were eating foods their body didn’t like unknowingly, there can be huge benefits. But the bigger benefit is actually figuring out what your body likes and doesn’t. Food sensitivity tests can tell you that, and they’re not that expensive, food allergy tests IMO aren’t really needed, since if you were actually allergic to something, you’d most likely know it already.

What’s your end goal you’re hoping to accomplish with going Carni over Keto?

(Robin) #5

I didn’t make a decision really. I just kept eliminating foods once keto allowed me to identify what was giving me problems. So I gave up veggies (diverticulitis), nuts (ditto), cheese in any significant amount (inflammation, lethargy, achy joints/arthritis). Not even sure what that leaves. Eggs, I guess… which I have occasionally just not a huge fan.
Almost total loss of appetite. I eat when I should, not because I’m hungry. Which I would have thought sounded depressing, until I experienced it. It’s freeing.

Been Carnivore for a year now and I can’t think of ANY physical complaints. I even sleep better.

I am due for lab work soon. Will be anxious to see how it compares to keto bloodwork. Not that I care anymore. :vulcan_salute:t2:

#6

Mainly an experiment. I eat mainly meat anyway.

I’ve heard so much about the benefits (which I know, can be biased!), but I just want to check it out.

Maybe, part of me, even though I’m part of the system so to speak…I don’t like being told what to eat. I like meat, red peppers and mushrooms.

Seems to me, going carni will send a message as well as (possibly, I don’t know yet)) being good for me. Not that anyone is listenting lol.

:man_shrugging:

(Robin) #7

I never saw being carnivore as a goal or an accomplishment. If you can eat red peppers and mushrooms and you love them and see no I’ll effects from them, call it good. But if you have lingering ailments to work on, it’s worth a try.

Every so often I will have a small helping of roasted veggies because I love them so. They are pretty quickly rejected and ejected and I spend a night regretting that little experiment.

#8

I have an inventory of what I might need.

i haven’t seen what I need yet.

Dodgy eyesight at times.

#9

My longest time on carnivore is still 2 weeks but I tell my tiny experience. If you met it in the carni thread before, sorry.

I had exactly zero problem beyond some nausea (had to drop fattiness, solved but it didn’t last long anyway) and undereating (just 2-3 days at a time and it was rare and went away). And well, getting bored of meat was problematic too but a big enough variety solved it, I just didn’t always have that, got too optimistic sometimes… But I came from vegetarian keto and while I wasn’t a proper vegetarian (just like I wasn’t a proper ketoer, I did it on/off), I only could eat meat a few times per year as I felt it too much. Compared to that, it was a tiny miracle I could eat meat every day even if it was little. So I had to get used to meat but I done it and now it’s even better.
But otherwise I was fine. But I did and do on/off carnivore so that’s different. But I still obviously handle things better than many people as my body is pretty tolerant if it’s about what I eat. I add anything and I am fine. I eat only eggs and meat and physically I am fine. I drink a liter of milk (I don’t consider it proper carnivore but it’s animal product) and I am fine. Many people are more sensitive and they have different experiences even short term. I obviously can’t say much about long term, only about my on/off carni long term. While most benefits came right away, in a few days at most, some took much more time and required me, my preferences, desires, even taste change and those things doesn’t go very quick. It was still surprisingly quick. Carnivore changed me way more and way more quickly than keto with its remaining carbs.

My keto carbs weren’t minimal. I didn’t do <20g keto and my total was easily 80-100g.
And indeed, carnivore easily have 20g net carbs or more (okay, most people keep it lower) but it feels VERY different for many of us, maybe most of us, I surely heard it from others and I always experienced that egg and meat carbs are nothing like plant carbs. 20g and 3g carnivore feels the same when I don’t even have any lactose. I am not sure about lactose, I don’t have enough experience and I do feel something when I eat much animal sugar. I am fine but it’s still not the same feeling.

#10

That is some journey, which I totally respect.

#11

The amazing sleep parts, overnight or on the second night. I didn’t catch on to the mental clarity/better memory bit for a couple of weeks but it may have been that fast too. Eating eggs, meat, fowl, salt, butter and a very rare piece of cheese. Never over 5 g of carbs (from eggs and dairy.)

Otherwise, no diff from 20 total (not net!!) carbs.

#12

Yes, thanks.

I’m,going to watch Tove again now…‘Moomins’.