Bob

I don't know anything about the Liver King nor about Bear Grylls outside of this article. James Blunt claims to have gotten scurvy after 2 months on the carnivore diet, but since there are those of us who have gone months, years, and decades and still haven't got scurvy then something else must be going on there, whether he's lying or came down with something and his doctor spooked him by calling it scurvy.

‘You feel better than you’ve ever felt’: the rise of the carnivore diet The controversial diet has a growing following thanks to ‘meatfluencers’, who claim it has left them thinner, healthier and happier Claudia Rowan22 June 2023 • 8:00am ‘The secret to my heart is bacon,’ wrote Jennifer Geissert beneath a recent Instagram video of sizzling rose-shaped bacon bites. This is no exaggeration: for Geissert, a full-time meat-eater, part-time physical therapist and ‘carnivore coach’, meat is everything. Animal products form the entirety of her diet; a typical day might feature a breakfast of ground beef, ‘crispy fat’ and eggs, a lunch of rib-eye steak, and two cold burger patties for dinner. To drink, it’s water or homemade bone broth. And when she’s not eating meat, Geissert is proselytizing via @delightedtomeatyou, through which she’s built up a sizeable following of fledgling carnivores – and sceptics, too, who question the diet’s proclaimed health benefits (more on which later). Though Geissert’s regime is extreme, eschewing all the fiber and carbs found in plants and grains, she says it has transformed her life. Speaking from her home in Kansas, the 39-year-old – who joined the carnivore club in February 2022, after first trying it as an elimination diet on the advice of a nutritionist, and having previously experimented with vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free diets – can’t sing its praises enough. ‘It’s truly the best change I’ve ever made for myself,’ she says, listing the differences offal living has made. Her psoriasis, which she’d struggled with since childhood, and vasculitis have disappeared; she no longer binge eats; her libido has increased; her mood is better; recurrent bouts of strep throat are a thing of the past. 'You feel better than you've ever felt,' says Jennifer Geissert CREDIT: Jennifer Geissert She credits these changes to the ‘nutrient density’ of her diet, and has even placed her dog, Lucy, on a raw carnivore programme. The Doberman is ‘loving her life’, Geissert said in a recent social-media post. She is determined to have an equally carnivorous family, too: her future children will be brought up ‘as meat-based as possible’, she says. ‘Eating this way almost makes me want to have a family more… I feel so good about it that I’m like, I want to have a baby so I can raise them like this, because I sure wish I had been.’ Geissert says the only major side effects she’s had were some initial digestive issues. ‘I had crazy diarrhea for like three weeks… and you just have terrible, terrible cravings, especially if you’re a former binge-eater like me. But after about a month that’s all over and you feel better than you’ve ever felt. The only issue that I have now, a year and a half in, is the constant need to floss because of all the meat.’ Socializing as a radical carnivore can be tricky, though. When on holiday, Geissert will sip sparkling water – alcohol is a no-go – and pick out the meat from all-inclusive buffets. At the risk of raised eyebrows from restaurant staff, by now used to accommodating plant-based guests, when out to eat with friends she chooses carefully from the menu (think a burger and chips – minus the burger bun and chips). What about dating? ‘I usually warn them ahead of time so that they have an idea, and that helps. I’ve probably been on dates with 10 different guys since I’ve been a carnivore and they’ve all been really accepting of it – or they’re on their very best behavior.’ Geissert’s restrictive lifestyle is not as anomalous as one might assume. Though the extreme diet can be traced back to the late 19th century, it was popularised as a more mainstream fad around 2018, with psychologist Jordan Peterson and his daughter Mikhaila leading the charge. Mikhaila Peterson named her eating plan 'The Lion Diet' CREDIT: Piaras Madheach The fringe carnivore movement has grown in recent years, attracting huge audiences on TikTok, where the hashtag #carnivorediet has over 980 million views and advocates share tips and daily meal plans. Some are more radical in their approach than others: one ex-vegan turned ‘high-fat carnivore’ going by the username @steakandbuttergal films herself snacking on lumps of butter and chewing raw steak, while Bali-based American Pauly Long rose to online fame consuming raw organ meat – testicles are his ‘favourite bedtime snack’. Raw-meat consumers form the most extreme, often hyper-masculine subset of the wider movement (and, needless to say, health experts strongly advise against consuming such produce raw). Some, like the self-professed Liver King – 46-year-old Brian Johnson – have built social-media empires upon their love of meat and the ‘ancestral lifestyle’. Meanwhile, for other so-called ‘meatfluencers’, the way of life is ideologically motivated: some see themselves and their carnivorism as a necessary antidote to veganism. In the opposing vegan camp, many express visceral disgust at the meat-based lifestyle. The self-professed Liver King, 46-year-old Brian Johnson, has built a social-media empire around his love of meat CREDIT: MEGA/GC Images The broader carnivore arena encompasses various subcultures and approaches (some people follow the purist meat-and-salt Lion Diet, for example, while others are less strict, sticking with a more relaxed animal-product-based version or incorporating fish as well as meat). But the underlying health beliefs that underpin the extreme carnivore regime remain relatively consistent. In May, the adventurer Bear Grylls announced that he was ‘embarrassed’ by his previous endorsement of veganism and that he had made a U-turn in favour of an ‘ancestral’ diet; though based on grass-fed red meat, it also includes fruit, honey, dairy and ‘a little potato or white rice’. ‘For a long time, I’d been eating so many vegetables thinking it was doing me good, but just never felt like it had given me any good nutrients compared to the nutrient density I get from basically blood or bone marrow – red meat,’ he said. ‘I’ve tried to listen to my body more, tried to listen to nature, and I don’t miss vegetables at all. I don’t go near them and I’ve never felt stronger, my skin’s never been better, and my gut’s never been better.’ Grylls added that red meat and organs had been the ‘biggest game-changer’ for his health. ‘I’ve found a counterculture way of living, of embracing red meat and organs – natural food just like our millennia of ancestors would have eaten for hundreds of thousands of years.’ Bear Grylls has turned his back on veganism in favour of an ‘ancestral’ diet starring grass-fed red meat CREDIT: Paul Grover Medical meatfluencers such as American orthopaedic surgeon Dr Shawn Baker, author of the 2019 manual The Carnivore Diet, claim it can treat conditions ranging from arthritis to diabetes. It has also been anecdotally linked to weight loss, although there has been limited clinical research into the long-term impact. Recent research has indeed suggested that meat is important for our health: in response to an article published earlier this year in the journal Animal Frontiers, one scientist warned that ‘removing fresh meat and dairy from diets would harm human health’. The article noted that meat delivers vitamin B12, retinol, minerals such as iron and zinc, and key compounds for metabolism. A 2021 Harvard survey, which looked at a group of adults self-reporting the results of their own carnivore diet, found that many reported improvements in chronic health conditions and energy levels. Nevertheless, the restrictive carnivore diet flies in the face of much of the evidence, built over decades, that suggests the benefits of a varied diet that includes vegetables and seeds. Unlike the low-carb ketogenic and Atkins diets, the strictest form of the carnivore diet eliminates all plant foods, with some followers claiming that plants are toxic. The carnivore diet lacks fibre and often sufficient vitamin C, and while the NHS advises that red meat is a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals, it warns that eating too much red and processed meat – more than 90g per day – can raise the risk of bowel cancer. The restrictive carnivore diet flies in the face of evidence that suggests the benefits of a varied diet that includes vegetables and seeds Nutritionist Jo Foster says she would never recommend the diet to her clients because it is ‘missing many of the key foods that we need for a healthy microbiome’. Foster is concerned that it encourages disordered eating and creates unnecessary fear around foods we need ‘to provide antioxidants, reduce inflammation, and feed our gut bacteria’. Medical doctor Aishah Iqbal is equally concerned. ‘Diets that call for the removal of large food groups run the risk of losing beneficial nutrients and are ultimately unsustainable and unhealthy in the long term,’ she says. ‘There is also no research to back up many of the claims that are made about the diet.’ Iqbal is not convinced that a meat-based diet itself is a quick fix for our bodily ills: ‘By default, the carnivore diet removes a lot of the ultra-processed, low-nutritional and high-calorific foods that have a negative impact on health in their own right – so I would question whether the reported transformations are from the carnivore diet, or simply the removal of other unhealthy foods. ‘There are nutritional elements we receive from plant-based foods that we simply cannot get from meat or animal-based products,’ she adds. ‘Each nutritional element has a part to play in our bodies and removing them completely can be harmful – that harm may not be seen in the short term, which can often lead people to feel the choice they are making today is the right one.’ Doesn’t it seem counterintuitive, I ask Geissert, to relinquish the parts of our diet we’ve been raised to prioritise? ‘Of course it seems so strange at the beginning, and because I work in healthcare – I have a biology degree and a doctorate degree in physical therapy,’ she says. Geissert says the only major side effects she’s had were some initial digestive issues, but socialising as a carnivore can be tricky CREDIT: Jennifer Geissert ‘So everything I learned was all the mainstream, “Eat your fibre, eat your fruits and veggies, get a little bit of meat, but make sure it’s lean”… But that’s what I was doing and it wasn’t helping me. So when I was presented with an alternate option, while it seemed crazy, it seemed like, hey, this is something I haven’t tried yet, and so I dove right in.’ Some intrepid carnivores have reported more serious concerns about the diet. The singer James Blunt said on a podcast in 2020 that he tried an all-meat diet for about two months while at university – only to develop symptoms of scurvy, resulting from a lack of vitamin C. There are also the obvious environmental issues, with a quarter of global greenhouse-gas emissions from food production said to result from beef alone. For Geissert, this isn’t a concern. ‘I don’t worry about the environmental implications because I believe that regenerative farming is actually the way to preserve our climate,’ she says. Loyal members of the carnivore club remain keen to discuss the myriad ways in which they say it has transformed their lives. Michael Mason, 59, has been a practising carnivore for more than 20 years, having previously experimented with other diets, including veganism, which he tried in the 1980s. It was only when he landed upon carnivorism that Mason felt he’d cracked the dietary code: ‘I just knew that I felt better… I had so much more energy.’ Nowadays, Mason describes his diet as ‘90 to 95 per cent meat-based’. It is less strict than Geissert’s – he seasons his food with herbs, breaking the plant-free clause, and will occasionally make a side salad to add ‘texture’ – but he is teetotal and only eats twice a day, most often meat or eggs. Sometimes it’ll be deer testicles, of which he’s a fan. When I meet him over Zoom, he is planning his meals for the day: ‘Some venison loin, which I’ll have for lunch, and this evening I’ll either have more of that or some eggs.’ He says he enjoys sourcing his meat from local farmers. ‘I walk past the cows, I know where it’s come from.’ Mason looks half his age, muscular with taut, glowing skin. Perhaps he knows it. ‘Without sounding up my arse, I’m 59… I don’t understand anything about age and what you’re meant to feel like, but all I know is that I feel really good physically and mentally,’ he says. He adds that he sometimes looks at other people his age – ‘they’re all on statins, they’ve all got diabetes, they’re all overweight’ – and feels like he’s from ‘a different universe’. Meat-eater Michael Mason, 59, has been a practising carnivore for more than 20 years CREDIT: Michael Mason This he credits to his diet. ‘I don’t mean this in any big sense, but you can only go on your own evidence,’ he says. Like Geissert, Mason has built up a career as a carnivore coach, advising clients on the meat-based lifestyle as well as strength training and breathwork. A former ski instructor, since 2021 he has run a ‘carnivore retreat’ in Scotland where guests follow a ‘high-animal protein/low-carb’ diet, learn meat-cooking techniques, go on hikes and practise resistance training. The next one, in October, is sold out, with guests paying £2,750 each for a meat-centric week. It is the only one of its kind in the UK, though others have taken place in Spain and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Costa Rica plays host to an annual ‘animal-based gathering’. Mason has been pleasantly surprised by the eclectic mix of guests who sign up. Expecting 20-year-old rugby players, he has instead found himself teaching attendees including a 70-year-old American woman, a Californian lawyer and a British tech investor. And, from his own experience, he believes the carnivore diet is on the rise. ‘Especially among people who are getting into their 40s and 50s… they’re starting to think, “I’ve done all these diets, and none of it is working,” and I think people want to do something that seems sort of radical,’ he reflects. One such example is Rachel*, 41, a Hampshire-based office worker. After a heart scare last year, Rachel decided she needed ‘to do something extreme’ to improve her health. Having experimented with the keto diet in the past, she began looking into the carnivore diet. ‘I’ve done hundreds of hours of research, listening to podcasts, reading articles and books… and I started the carnivore [diet] at the end of January.’ In the months since she began the diet – which for her involves solely eating animal products, once a day – she says her health has improved ‘massively’, and she has lost two and a half stone. She believes eating carbohydrates affected her mental health, whereas now her mind is ‘completely clear’; recent heart tests showed no problems, and inflammation in her hands has gone. Still, she says, ‘If you’re planning to do it, do your research, listen to proper medical doctors, read the books… what I do is not for everyone.’ None of Rachel’s colleagues know about her diet, as she’s a ‘private person, so I wouldn’t disclose that’ – hence the anonymity here. Does a meat-based diet not become repetitive, though? Rachel says not: ‘I get so excited about mince and steak, it’s silly.’ Geissert agrees. ‘Every time I have a rib-eye, it’s my favourite thing, so I don’t get bored of it at all.’ ARTICLE SOURCE: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/diet/weight-loss/the-rise-of-the-carnivore-diet/

Ultra-processed foods ‘hijacking children’s tastebuds’ Chefs and campaigners say youngsters are being ‘robbed of the experience’ of good meals by diets high in sugar, salt and additives. Kat Lay, Health Editor Children’s health is being damaged by a poor diet from a young age, campaigners say Ultra-processed foods are hijacking children’s taste buds and leaving them “robbed” of the experience of learning to eat, according to campaigners and TV chefs. Celebrity cooks and authors including Thomasina Miers, Bee Wilson, Yotam Ottolenghi, Kimberley Wilson and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have written to Rishi Sunak to say that exposure to ultra-processed foods is “blindfolding” children to flavour and texture, posing long-term risks to their health. Ultra-processed foods, which include breakfast cereals, mass-produced bread, potato-based snacks such as Pringles and many types of cakes and biscuits. They are often high in salt and sugar, contain additives, emulsifiers and preservatives, and are typically high in calories but lacking in fiber and nutrients. Rob Percival, head of food policy at the Soil Association, said: “Ultra-processed foods are hijacking children’s taste buds. These products are often soft and sweet, and children growing up on an ultra-processed diet are left blindfolded to the joys and complexity of real food … Too few know the taste of bitter greens or the nutty flavour of beans and lentils, or have felt the crunch of a tomato bursting on their tongue.” In a campaign with the food charity, the chefs are urging the prime minister to ensure a million extra children in education get five portions of fruit and vegetables a day , using a “whole school approach” to good food with sensory education and better school meals. They say: “Learning to eat should be an adventure — joyful and challenging — but our children are increasingly being robbed of the experience. Many are growing up not knowing the tastes, textures, and smells of real food. Many will rarely feel fresh produce between their fingers. Many will enter adulthood only knowing the simplified and sweet flavours of ultra-processed products, leading to unhealthy choices and poorer health outcomes later in life.” In an accompanying report the charity calls on the government to revive previous commitments to ensure school pupils cook and grow food, visit farms and eat freshly prepared meals, as envisaged in Henry Dimbleby’s national food strategy. He resigned as government food tsar this year in protest at a lack of action to tackle rising obesity, particularly among children. Henry Dimbleby, the co-founder of the Leon chain of restaurants, has resigned as the government’s food tsar TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL Independent evaluation suggests that if all schools in England followed this approach, a million more children would be eating their five-a-day. The report also calls for procurement standards for school caterers that require them to use more organic and seasonal produce. It adds that the government should introduce a target to reduce ultra-processed food in children’s diets by boosting consumption of minimally processed fruits, vegetables and pulses. Dr Chris van Tulleken, one of the letter’s signatories, is author of Ultra Processed People, a book released earlier this year. He said: “Growing up on an ultra-processed diet is a bit like growing up blindfolded — cut off from the colours and complexity of real food. It’s fantastic to see that pioneering schools are beginning to address this disconnect, employing practical food education and serving freshly prepared meals. Political action is now needed to ensure all schools can do so.” A recent report from First Steps Nutrition Trust said that high levels of ultra-processed food consumption in infancy “undermines taste development”. The standard diet of very young children normalized snacking, sweet tastes and soft textures, it said, and was at risk of displacing other less processed options necessary for growth, health and development. ADD A government spokesperson said: “We are taking strong action to tackle childhood obesity by cutting the salt and sugar content in foods and encouraging healthier food choices. We’ve already delivered dramatic sugar reductions in children’s foods like breakfast cereals, yogurts and fromage frais, whilst our calorie labelling legislation empowers informed food choices. “Food is already a compulsory topic within the national curriculum for 5–14-year-olds in state-maintained schools, with children receiving high quality teaching on the importance of healthy eating and nutrition. “We are also committed to ensuring children leave school knowing how to cook at least six healthy meals through using curriculum materials that the Oak National Academy are developing. Oak has appointed a subject expert and will start their work on producing these materials in the coming months.” ADD ENDS Article Source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ultra-processed-foods-hijacking-childrens-tastebuds-jv7wf32g7

Welcome aboard @Kellie Sounds good. I've never heard of "mushroom chips" and am always on the hunt for a keto-friendly crunch, lol. If I recall, there are only about 100 toxic mushrooms, but the majority of them are safe. We're keto-friendly here, and not die-hard carnivore zealots, so go ahead and dig in, lol I really want to invest in a dehydrator or air-fryer capable of dehydrating. I want to make my own jerky and other animal-based snacks.

Well said! If I could turn back time, and had the nutrition and food knowledge that I have acquired in the last year back in the 90's and early 2000's, I would have done then what I am doing today. Back then, it seemed like I was young and invincible, and yet all the while I was doing damage that wouldn't manifest itself until my mid-30's and later.

I would agree to give it at least 90 days. Some people experience benefits within the first week. For others, it does take a couple months.

Hello Andre, I posted an answer over here in the first thread you started on this subject... https://carnivoretalk.com/topic/264-fat-loss-on-a-strict-carnivore-diet/?do=findComment&comment=1779

It can be. A proper human diet is a low carbohydrate, meat-based diet that generally ranges from zero to 100 carbs per day. It does not necessarily have to be 100% carnivore. If you cut out processed food and stick to natural meats, dairy, fruit, and vegetables and avoid processed food, you will likely thrive. However, staying on the carnivore or ketogenic end of this spectrum (less than 20 carbs daily) is recommended if you are not a healthy person. Cutting out the carbs and the plant toxins can help lose weight, reduce blood pressure, reverse diabetes, and eliminate certain auto-immune and chronic conditions. But if you don't suffer from any of those things then you don't necessarily have to be so strict. You can remain animal-based, and still have some variety. As a general rule, to lose weight you will want to not eat foods that spike insulin and you will want to be in ketosis often, which is achieved by eating a moderate protein high fat diet. The last 10 pounds or so are notoriously stubborn. You say you hit the gym a few times a week. Are you lifting weights? Could you be gaining muscle? It sounds like you are saying you lost 17 pounds right away but now have gained a couple back. Is that correct?

Yes I did. It's related to my stage 4 CKD.... https://carnivoretalk.com/topic/59-triglycerides-so-high-i-should-probably-be-dead/?do=findComment&comment=622

And then the flip side of this coin is that the muscle cramps will return. For the record, this is the magnesium complex I take... https://www.amazon.com/Zentastic-Triple-Magnesium-Relaxation-Absorption/dp/B0BC84FL5C/ref=sr_1_1_sspa? I did my research and hunted for what I thought were the best types, and all 4 types of magnesium in that formular are NOT the kind the loosen your stools. I take one pill (80mg) with breakfast, and one with dinner, and then at bedtime, usually just after midnight, I take 3 pills. So altogether I am taking 5 pills (400mg) spread throughout the day.

I should have taken a picture today. I made wagyu beef burgers with melted cheese and some greek Tzatziki sauce on top. Tzatziki is basically yogurt with diced cucumbers and some seasonings. It was reminiscient of a gyro although some actual gyro meat would have been divine!

It's my own forgetfulness, which then leads to passiveness, lol. I agree that logging is great. I usually have more success losing weight when I am tracking everything religiously.

Welcome Dan. That might have been me. I told my doctor I would lose 50 pounds in 6 months and he kinda chuckled me off, and said "the only way you are going to pull that off is if you cut out every single carbohydrate" - so I did, lol. But as that 6 month checkup was getting close, I was stalled at 40 pounds down. So I started backing off the butter, trimming the fat from my steaks, and removed dairy altogether. I broke my stall but quickly stalled again, and I was having diarrhea. Then when I did my labs I had ridiculously high triglycerides and the doctor wanted me to be a vegetarians instead. One of my theories regarding my trig problem was my macros. I was basically eating a no carb, low fat, high protein diet and I thought maybe it was gluconeogenesis at work. I was wrong and did figure out the issue. But, to fix my macros and make it ketogenic again, I had to up the fat. I returned to using liberal amounts of butter, started eating the fat on my steak, added back cheese, and my stool returned to normal. The diarrea went away. Since then, I've heard two things. 1) That cheese is a natural constipater. And 2) in the book Strong Medicine that I uploaded, there is an account about how Stefansson went on a diet of lean meat, and had diarrhea and digestive discomfort, but when he started eating the fat his issues went away. When I read this it reminded me of my own experience. That sounds like my diet. Chicken and certain cuts of pork (consumed less often on my part) can be lean but it's not the end of the world, you can always add fat to those meals through other means. So we know things were working as expected. I've heard that the heart beats better when running on ketones, and this stonger beat worries some people. You just have to get used to it. Tis the season for viruses here in the U.S. Could you have caught a bug? It just stands to reason that something changed at the 10 week mark. That is common advice, and I hear it from Dr. Anthony Chaffee a lot. The thinking being that if you eat too much fat you won't have enough bile in your gall bladder to break it down, so it will result in loose stools, and you should dial back the fat a bit. But if you didn't increase your fat at the 10 week mark and things were fine prior to that, then I wouldn't suspect this is the case. I will say that during my first 2 months of strict carnivore, I would oscillate back and forth between stool that was hard as rocks, to utter liquid, and I could never predict which was next. This lasted for 6-8 weeks before things returned to my new normal. What kind of magnesium and what is the dosage? Certain types of magnesium will cause loose stools. I eventually developed severe cramping as well, which was from an electrolyte deficiency. I now take a magnesium complex every day, but I've made certain to find a product that contains forms of magnesium not notorious for causing people to explode on the toilet.

This translates to 1lb of meat, 7-8 eggs, 6' tall, and 20% body fat for us American folks There could be a couple things going on. What kind of meat are you eating? Is it fatty, or is it lean? For example, a 1 lb ribeye might have 1200 calories. Add in your 560 calories in the 8 eggs and you are sitting at 1760. Add a tablespoon of butter to cook those eggs in and you are at 1860. But if you are eating lean meat such as chicken or fish then you are coming in way under this. It's true you don't have to count calories to lose weight, but it is a useful metric to determine if you are over or under eating. Your body's will adjust to your eating habits. For example, if you cut your calories even more, you're body will learn to run on that reduced load. So what some people will do is gradually add calories to their daily intake, 1800 calories for a fews days, then 1850 for a few days, then 1900 for a few days, 1950, 2000, 2050, 2100, 2150, 2200, 2250, 2300, etc, over the course of a month. The body gets used to running with the higher amount, and then you suddenly drop back to 1800 again. You will lose weight again until your body adjusts to what you are doing, and then you repeat the process. Another idea is how far apart are those 2 meals a day? If you have breakfast at 8am and dinner at 6pm, that is a 14/10 fasting schedule (14 hours fasting, 10 hours feasting). Try adjusting your intermittent fasting window to 16/8 or 18/6 or even 20/4. For example, if you postponed breakfast until noon and had dinner at 6pm, that would be a 18/6 intermittent fasting pattern, where you consume all the food you are going to eat within an 6 hour window. This video will give you some other ideas of what can help...

Interesting article. Based on your list of symptoms compared to the article, you may very well be onto something. I haven't studied oxylates much because I haven't had any dumping issues. But what is interesting is after reading that article, I may have had oxylate toxicity that contributed to my kidney problems. You read down the list of foods that are high in oxylates, and I had been chowing down on almost all those things for years and years.

This is a neat idea. Thanks for sharing. I usually butter and season to taste, but I would have never thought of creating pre-seasoned butter like this.

So I am also 5'8" and 175 lbs. I do not intentionally exercise but my day job can be laborious sometimes. I have sat idle since mid-November, eating 2 or 3 times a day, and probably closer to 2500 calories on the average. If I dropped it down to 1800 and lifted everyday, I am sure that I would lose weight too. This is, in fact, what I plan to do coming soon.

It's a very useful app. I don't use it all the time. I get bored of logging after a while, and since I am a creature of habit and eat the same basic things I don't see the need. I did not track anything for almost all of my carnivore journey until I had that triglyceride scare in October. Then I used it to make sure I was getting the right amount of fat-to-protein, since this was one of my theories as to what might have been going on (which I ended up disproving). I will probably start logging again in March. That's when the weather starts to improve, and is when I plan to really buckle down to get my last few stubborn pounds off.

How many meals a day? Do you know your average daily calorie and macros? Are you intermittent fasting or eating 3 meals a day? Even though this is a weight optimization diet, in general, you can eat more to stop losing weight. If you want to gain muscle weight, lift heavy things. If you want to gain some body fat, add in some carbs. You'll find healthy carbs in milk and fruit and vegetables. The only caveat with vegetables is the plant defense chemicals that you may or may not react to. Basically, follow Paul Saladino's advice that if it's fruitage it's probably more benign, whereas leaves, stems, roots, and seeds will contain more toxins. If you didn't have auto-immune or chronic health issues prior to starting carnivore, then your personal proper human diet can include these other things as well. Dr. Berry says the proper human diet is a spectrum from zero carb carnivore up to 100g a day "low carb", and what is right for you depends on your DNA and personal physiology. We just want to stay away from ultra-processed foods, vegetable seed oils, sugars (refined/hidden), and grains for the most part.

I doubt it but I don't know. It might be worth testing. I have a pan by Ninja that is non-stick (sorta, more like easy to clean). I have no idea what it is made of. When you say iron, do you mean cast iron? I've heard that cast iron pans are actually the best.

Congrats. Ours was in December but we were down with the Covid and felt like death, so we had to postpone it.

Can you explain what you mean by picky system, picky gut? Are you talking about a stomachache, or the follow up bathroom experience? If the latter remember that bacon is super high fat. If you're gall bladder doesn't have enough bile to break down all the fat you consume in a meal, the excess fat is going to go right through you. When you are just starting out, your gall bladder might not be storing a whole lot. As your body learns that you are now eating more fat on a regular basis, it will ramp up bile production and storage.

For all of the last 5 months? Or more recent? All the time? Some of the time? Most of the time? I don't have anything to add here. Black stool may be from dark foods and drinks (beets and dark beer), supplements like iron, or a sign of bleeding in the upper GI tract from a peptic ulcer, gastritis, inflammation, colon polyps, etc. Your carnivore diet is going to be rich in iron. You have to consider these questions and decide if you think this is just due to the change in your diet, or if you want to see a GI doctor to rule out any other possible issue.

It's made from grapes so I assume it has naturally occurring sugars in it (but not refined sugar, like cane sugar).

I drink, on average, once every month or two. It will usually be a shot or two of Kentucky bourbon. I avoid beer and wine at all costs for the reasons that @Geezy listed. Beer is grain, wine is sugar. But all your hard liqueurs have zero carbs, such as pure and neat Scotch, Bourbon, Vodka, and Rum. You'll be kicked out of ketosis until you metabolize the alcohol, and then you will return to that state. The body will burn alcohol before carbs, and carbs before fat. Now I did have wine last night because we celebrated our anniversary. But that was an exception for a special occasion and I'm not the type of person who will backslide from my general dietary lifestyle just because I treated myself last night. If you have the same willpower and resolve, then you could probably drink whatever you want knowing it will be forever and a day till you do it again.