ZC Plan-Meat & Water only

(Jodi) #1

I’m starting a meat and water only plan for at least a month…I’m really wanting it for longer but at this point I’m only going to commit for a month. Im starting today and will continue until May 1.

To clarify what I term as “meat”…any cut of beef, pork, fowl or fish and eggs. No processed meats except bacon and ham. We have our hams done locally and I know what’s in them. I plan to do a variety, whatever I’m hungry for really, preferably as fatty cuts as I can find. I’m not going to track calories or nutrients either. I’m just going to write down what I’ve eaten for the day. I’ll try to measure amounts, but not going to be stressing over being precise. The only exceptions will be for homemade avocado mayo, salt & pepper, butter/lard and ACV.

I’m giving coffee the boot too.:grimacing: I’ll probably have an occasional can of bubbly water such as LaCriox, but otherwise just plain water for a beverage. I will use small amounts of caffeine pills over the next few days to wean off the coffee. I’ve quit coffee before so I know what I’m in for. A few days of NoDoze at about a pill or so a day and I will be fine. Without it it would be tough for me to keep the patience I must have to get through my day.

Dairy is also out, except butter. I will most likely end up making ghee, but I haven’t gotten ambitious enough to premake any.:grin:

One reason I’m doing this to try to get ahold of my cravings. I can trigger them myself it seems with over doing the HWC and other dairy, alternate sweeteners, or even overdoing veggies. I’m not one at this point who can handle fat bombs even.

I’ve done ZC before and I know it helps. I’m also hoping it will help with the slight pallor of depression still hanging over my head. I have some general feelings of not feeling as good physically as I should, and there are no underlying health issues other than I’m 46 and not as young as I used to be. :joy: I still have roughly 20-30lbs I’d like to lose, but I just want to feel good. I’ve currently been Keto/LCHF for over half a year now, with previous years also. I have quite a bit of stress I’m trying to get a handle on, sleep isn’t ideal but I’m always working on it (it’s not me, just circumstances out of my control). I do have some awesome support people, however none of them eat this way…they don’t try to tell me how to eat though either. Some of them are also working on health so we encourage each other as much as possible.

If anyone wants to join me, feel free.:slight_smile: I’ll try to update daily.

#2

Good luck. Sounds like a great plan. Why not use it as a way to test foods at the end of the month too? Great opportunity to use it as an exclusion/elimination diet. I meant to do this ages ago but only made it for a couple of weeks. That was long enough to test dairy though which was the main suspect. Useful exercise.

(Jodi) #3

Thanks! It’s a good suggestion about the elimination diet, I might do that.
I honestly do know most dairy is an issue, I just keep letting it creep back in. I’m not sure about the hard cheeses, which I should test eventually.

#4

Yes. I discovered that lactose is an issue but I can eat zero carb dairy - mercifully! It is surprising how much is out there when you look at all the labels. I can get a few blues, cheddar (most), parmesan (pretty well always although sometimes grated is not), comté (some), camembert (some), goat’s (I have found one or two). I miss cream and would go there on the odd occasion I think and just suffer a bit the next few days. I stupidly assumed butter was zero so am on a ghee making exercise this weekend to correct that problem!

(Jacquie) #5

Good plan! :slight_smile: I’m going dairy free (butter and a small amount of hard cheese is okay) for April and stopped AS in Feb.- indefinitely (forever sounds like a long time). Fat bombs or anything sweet and creamy just doesn’t work for me, so I understand what you’re saying. I do think AS’s can trigger cravings and an increase in insulin in some folks. I’ll be following your journey and will be interested in what you learn.

(Genevieve Biggs) #6

Sounds like a perfect plan. :smiley:

(Jaidann) #7

I’ll be watching! This sounds interesting!

(Jodi) #8

Thanks everyone! :slight_smile:
Day 1 was a little rough starting, it was one of the worse mornings I could’ve picked to give up cofffee, but I made it through. Lots of early morning stress (pets/kid), up a lot during the night and HELLO, shark week showed up in full force. In the end, it just showed me I could do no coffee and survive :joy:.

The rest of the day went pretty well, and my mood really improved by afternoon. Energy fluctuated, that could have been partly related to my period. Overall, felt pretty good.

I normally try not to eat after 5pm because it messes with my sleep, however I ate my chicken at 7:30pm and slept fine.

I drank plain water to thirst, 1 (200mg) ibuprofen, 1caffeine pill total (200 mg)
Food/other drink for the day-
3eggs, 1lb ribeye, 4 whole chicken wings, 3-4Tbsp fats (bacon grease, lard, butter), 1 can grapefruit LaCriox

(Jodi) #9

I think I used to be able to tolerate AS. When I used to do low carb a few years ago (for several years), I never had the struggle I do now. I’m not sure if it’s the change in hormones relating to my age, or the couple years back on SAD or stress or maybe all of them.

I wish I could just not have to deal with them, but my son eats LCHF and I have to cook for him. So he gets the occasional cookie treat. I also FINALLY convinced my parents to go sugar free/low carb, so I’ve been trying to help my mom remake a few of their favorite things for special occasions. She has zero clue about grainfree-sugar free alternatives (but wants to learn).
Just no taste testing for me! :joy:

(Jodi) #10

Day 2 was a busy day. My hubs and I are putting in a dog run which is about 200 linear feet of 5’ chainlink. He did all of the post pounding (at least 25, almost 3ft into the ground). I did a lot of assisting, and running back and forth to check on/take care of the household while we worked. We have about 30 ft left to do, and install the gates. :slight_smile:

I felt pretty good for the most part. Pretty tired at the end of the day, which isn’t at all surprising to me.

Food/water (all weights are the raw weight)
6.2 oz ribeye, 7.7 oz bone in pork loin chop, 2/3 lb lean hamburger, 2 Tbsp mayo, 2Tbsp lard/bacon grease, 2 grapefruit LaCroix, 1 caffeine pill, 2oz ACV, plain water to thirst.

(Genevieve Biggs) #11

If I could advise one thing-- if you start to get tired, don’t be afraid to eat more meat. ZC veterans advise to eat 3-4 lbs if necessary, especially in the beginning. :slight_smile:

(Jodi) #12

Thanks. :blush: I think this is something I should’ve remembered since I’ve done ZC before, but I didn’t even think of it.

I noticed I was starving this morning and did eat more…I even went for butter with salt on it after I burnt the first pan of bacon.:flushed::persevere:

I also learned to have some stuff thawed in advance when I ran out of more bacon (because I burned it!:cry:) and didn’t have anything else ready except eggs and I just didn’t want them.

The cravings haven’t been bad so far, but I have kept really busy. The hunger is noticeable and sometimes quick to show up. I’d forgotten that about myself too. I’m really enjoying it so far, even with the few hiccups.

(Genevieve Biggs) #13

Yup! I’m having to get beef out of the freezer sooner than I expect to. Once you go ZC you being to realize how much veggies were occupying your appetite, and how much more you can eat without them. :wink:

(Jodi) #14

Day 3
I felt pretty darn good for all the activity I’d done the day before. I was very hungry first thing in the morning. I usually get a wave of tiredness around 2pm (my days start 4-5am), and that is really when I feel like I “need” the caffeine. I took 1/2 a caffeine tab and was fine, but I need to find a better solution. I’m not sure if the answer is eat more earlier or just eat more overall. I don’t like to eat a big meal to late in the day generally. Sometimes I’m able to take a nap which is a wonderful thing.:slight_smile:

My mood has been great. I don’t feel like I’m missing out an anything food-wise at this point. Most of my food cravings have been brief & not overly strong, set off by expected triggers. The first day eggs sounded great, but since then I have no appetite for them except in mayo.

Food/water:
6 thick slices bacon
5 whole chicken wings
1lb 2oz ribeye steak
1Tbsp butter, 1 grapefruit LaCriox, 1 caffeine pill
Water to thirst

(Genevieve Biggs) #15

Psst: The ZC answer is almost always to eat more. :wink: I’ve been getting crap sleep lately due to scheduling, and I’m not a stranger to stress as a grad student. Eating 3+ pounds of meat per day has done wonders for my energy and fatigue–and I saw the difference in just a few days. I’m still sleepy tired today because I was kept up last night, but my overall energy is better after two days of eating 3+ pounds. I was amazed at how quickly I saw a turn around, and I’m not even eating whole cuts. Mostly ground beef with a dash of salt.

And eating earlier helps too. I try to eat at least a half pound within an hour of waking; a whole pound if I can depending on time and schedule.

(Jodi) #16

Day 4
It was a really good day. I even managed a 2 1/2 hr nap, which rarely happens. It was pretty glorious, not gonna lie!:grin:

I had quite a bit of energy after that nap. I was really hungry in the morning. Added in some more meat, was a little later in the day than I like, but sleep wasn’t disrupted as much as I’d feared. It helped, I was not starving this morning (day5). I also skipped my afternoon 1/2 caffeine pill, that nap hit the spot way more! :slight_smile: A few cravings, which went away quickly.

Food/drink
6 slices thick bacon
15oz ribeye
4 whole chicken wings
1/2 lb lean hamburger
4Tbsp mayo, 1 Tbsp lard, I can bubbly water
1/2 caffeine pill
Plain water to thirst

(Jodi) #17

Day 5

Woke up not hungry, with a headache & stuffed sinuses. I took some ibuprofen and felt better after a little while. There has been sickness in my house, so not sure if it’s related to that or not. The fact that it went away makes me feel like it’s just my body trying to clean house maybe?
I have been eating 3 times a day right now, usually to “not hungry”, not “stuffed”.
I had a tougher day with cravings. I just drank some water. I know the difference for me between hungry and cravings at least, so that’s in my favor. I also felt a bit of lethargy creep in, but it went away.

Overall, I felt good all day, and had decent energy with a good mood. Took 1/2 caffeine pill, drank lots of water.

Food
1/2 lb lean hamburger, 1lb 6oz fatty ribeye, 2 lg chicken thighs with skin on, approx 1 Tbsp each: butter, bacon grease, mayo.

#18

Following with a great deal of interest, ZC intrigues me as I would like to cut my dairy during the week and fatty cuts of meat could be the answer. I’ve substantially reduced my coffee during the day by having a glass of hot water with either a slice of lemon or lime in it, surprisingly good.

Looking forward to your up-dates :+1:

(Jodi) #19

Day 6

This morning (day7), as I sat down to post this update I realized that this was the first morning in a long time I didn’t still feel really tired the first hr I was awake! And I was even up an hour early, so that’s even better.:slight_smile:

Ok, so Day 6 was busy. I didn’t really feel hungry much during the day. I had several moments where I realized that I’m committed to this for quite awhile yet, as I was having cravings for snacks. I suppose technically I could have pork rinds, but my plan is to stop snacking altogether so, nope.

I have a standing Wednesday coffee date with my parents & sister every week, which I still went to and it was fine. I brought some bubbly water and no biggie. Lots of jokes, but they are all supportive of my choices.

My energy was fine throughout the day, and I was even wishing I would’ve gone on a quick walk before bedtime. There were a couple moments of where I felt lightheaded, so I’m going to mix up a little keto-aid just to be sure it’s not low electrolytes. I do use a decent amount of salt, but haven’t been supplementing anything else.

I drank plain water most of the day, sometimes I do heat a mug up, but mostly ice cold. 1 can of bubbly, and 1/2 caffeine pill.

Food:
8 slices thick cut bacon, 1 large chicken thigh, several large pieces of beef arm roast (no idea how much, but I did go back for seconds lol). 2 Tbsp butter

#20

Thanks for posting your experience. I’m on day 2 of ZC.