Scott F.

Welcome. I like the name as well. I was always taught 90% of what is wrong with a carburetor is timing. I have never been into the bikes as a rider or owner, but they are really cool to look at. Scott

Honesty, no doubts. I just didn't know how to start off the conversation. LOL Scott

I'm sort of in the same boat. My family doctor has been genuinely supportive of the diet. I think if I had told him about my plans from Day 1 he would not have been as supportive. I let him in on the diet after I had dropped a bunch of weight and told him I had been off my medicine for several months. He gave me a non-statin sample as he was concerned with my LDL number in the 180's. He gave me the 'separate your eggs' instruction and eat meats that are leaner/less fatty. I chose to not use the medicine and continue with meats, salt and water. Maybe one of the funnies, is afterwards I shifted into eating to gain muscle so the egg content per day went way up. 3 months later my LDL dropped from the 180's to the 150's, about 35 points. I will admit, I had become accepting of the fact my eating habits might drive my numbers up some, and mostly I was worried they would skyrocket with the additional fatty meats and eggs. When the LDL dropped, I was pleasantly surprised, but equal to that was my confusion. My lifting has increased and are higher in intensity, weight and over-all volume compared to just five or six months ago. I just started doing actual splits based on muscle groups. I couple that with eating a boat load of food trying to hit my 'needed protein' for muscle growth, especially eggs, averaging 8 or so a day. I have an appointment in a few weeks. I'm debating on my approach. Do I lead off with I didn't use the medicine and through diet and more intense exercise my LDL improved? and see where he lands on my approach. Or, do I go thru the motions allowing him to think the prescription is improving some of my numbers? Decisions. Decisions. I will have another series of blood tests in a couple months. I'm hoping to see continued improvements in my immunoglobulins numbers as well. I'm a 'knock on wood' type when things are going well, so I am knocking on wood and don't want to jinx the progress, but I do feel like for now I am winning. Pretty good feeling. Scott

Looks good. Sort of an off-topic question. Did you go without the seasonings as you went Carnivore or have you used them all along? The reason I ask is because I went straight meat, salt and water (other than finishing off some Mountain Dew and Ice Cream the very first week) for the last 8 months. Recently I tried a couple different sauces and now they are not what they use to be and even one that I liked forever, simply didn't taste good at all. Still learning. Just wondering. Scott

I was thinking the same but just wondering as it was my first colonoscopy and in turn, the carnivore adds a different spin. I woke up this afternoon and for the first time in 7 days I felt like I might need to go. And I did. Note to self: Load up on the fat and water next time as I 'fill back up". Things would have worked out a bit easier. Thanks. Scott

I had a colonoscopy last Monday. I did the clean out on Sunday. I have not had a bowel movement since. Some gas and a lot of breaking wind that day and some the day after. I do not feel bloated or constipated and my meals have not changed. Meats, salt and water. Unchartered waters for me. Any experiences will be appreciated. Scott

I don't pay much attention to the weather. I sort of open the front door and start planning from there. I never complain about the weather here in NC as we can have all four seasons in a span of two days. This week the guys at work tell me it will be 19-20 at night and 57-58 during the day. Some call it pneumonia weather. We get down into the teens and on occasion single digits but the majority of the time well above freezing by lunch. I think we all just figure things out. Scott

Yep. The jist of the story was the dogs from hundreds of years ago were posting times faster (and another story indicated the dogs lived a longer working life-still pulling in what is now considered their later years) and recovered quicker than dogs on today's carb loaded commercial dog foods. (foods that were specifically designed for performance (and convenience) by humans. Hundreds of years ago the pulling/sledding dog's diets were primarily whale fat and whatever leftover meats. Fast forward a couple hundred years and turns out the sledders back then didn't know as much but fed better. Add in some really smart people and the dogs took a step backwards in appearance, performance and working life. Now look at the food pyramid that we were all taught for ever how many years. Now compare that to the carnivore approach when we were originally designed to walk for distance, throw a spear/chunk a rock, run down an animal and eat it til we were fat, dumb and happy. Then repeat when no longer fat, dumb and happy. Then infuse some really smart people. They skipped right over the walk-throw-run-eat meat part and got us all over to fat, dumb and happy. But these two fat, dumb and happies are nowhere close to the same. Scott

Not totally from left field....but close. rendering the sense of fats - Mushing

Agreed. I can go even one step further. I can eat said 2000 "calories" of chicken or pork and then 2000 "said calories of red meat" and see/feel a difference. I think what throws people off is that all calories are the same as calorie is just a term for a chemical energy conversion. For the masses, and probably us too for the majority of our lives, measured all foods 'equally' in calories. Thus, cutting calories has been the fallacy for a really long time. I could change the numbers in your example and feel the difference/see the difference in 2000 steak 'calories' vs. 500 'calories' of doughnuts. My 'caloric intake' would be dropped but one vs. the other is polar opposites. Scott

It is crazy as I was thinking the same thing. One of my all-time favorite movies. Scott

Yep, the almighty bottom line. Spot on response. Scott

If I'm home, I hope it snows knee-deep to a giraffe's hind end. When I am working/commuting, not so much. The guys came in for dayshift yesterday morning told me about the highway in front of the plant (my 40 miles route) was clear as a bell. They were half right. The south bound lane coming to town was riding on dry asphalt. However, I needed the north bound lane, and my best guess is the state workers had made the first half of their circle. The truck wanted to follow every ice rut on the road. In our part of NC we are not equipped like other parts of the country. A few inches along US1/I85 is like a foot or more in other parts of the country. (even other parts of NC out toward the mountains) Scott

I have found that it only takes a little bit, especially something cooked in seed oils. There is a Mexican restaurant here that my wife knows the owner (her and my son/daughter-in-law eat out more than me). On one trip I asked for the grill to be scraped, and my meats cooked in butter. He put in the order, and everything worked out just fine. On another trip he was not there, and I asked both the hostess and the waiter. They agreed and that is how my order was made. Either the cook didn't get the message or simply chose not to go that route. I am not sure. I didn't get the taste of butter on the first bite, and like Geezy mentioned, it was only a little bit/just that one tie while out. If going along the interstate you can pull off the road as far as you can and then give the truck a slight turn back toward the highway. Open both doors on the passenger side and you have created private facilities. For me, seed oils have become a gut grenade. It is odd how I ate them by the tons before and now the slightest bit sends me running. Scott

I have some variety amongst the meats. Mostly because my wife has not been on Carnivore. I eat a pretty good mix of chicken, pork and fish. With that sad, I have found I do and feel much better on red meat. If I manage to eat red meat for four-five-six days in a row I can tell the different in satiety when I eat another meat. I think my energy level is a bit off, but it is minor, and it could be another variable as well such as life, work, sleep. I'm sort of boring when it comes to food anyway. I could the same thing for days on end without any complaints. I think that sort of helped me get going with Carnivore in the beginning. It seems everyone on Carnivore is 'of age'. I have wondered how well it would work for a child, especially since they would not have 15-20-25+ years of eating a 'trash' diet. I would have no input but would be interested in another's experience. Scott

I have lost a lot of weight with Carnivore. I can remember the plates I ate in the past. I never measured calories, neither the morphed definition nor the scientific definition. However, the plate was full and like some restaurants, I could measure it by the pound. I look at my plate now and the poundage is far less. I could go as far as to say I was eating by the pound back then and now I eat by the ounces. On the poundage plan I moved from the 200's to as much as 319-320. On the ounces plan I have moved the needle from 306 to 220. One plan is not very efficient as it took 15+ years to move up due to the inefficiency of carbohydrates as energy, both used and stored. Fats being very efficient when comparing the 9 calories per gram vs. the 4 grams for both carbs and proteins. I moved the same needle in the opposite direction for the same distance in 8 months. That would be a deficit in intake. It is also known that if you have as much as 5% bodyfat you have hundreds of thousands of "calories" to use (fat adaptive/ketosis/ketones) for energy, so technically unless you are near true starvation, very few people are remotely close to being "in deficit" even if there is deficit in intake compared to a different span. One is just a hop, skip and jump to the other. Scott

Yep. Thinking the same. Three or four months in ketones in the urinalysis showed NEG. I was thinking based on the food intake, the weight loss and the working I would have seen a response for ketones. This was part of the reason I looked into checking for myself on a more regular basis. Then on this one, 8 months after the switch, I get a TRACE. I was thinking it would have shown a tad earlier. It ends up being a note in the journey. Sort of like the 35 point drop in LDL. I was not expecting that at all. I guess another note. Scott

Welcome and good luck as you move forward. And most of congrats on the new baby and him thriving. Nothing really tops that. I will take a stab at a few of your questions all the way down to the breast feeding. That screeching sound you hear in the background is me hitting the brakes and trying to stay over in my lane. LOL Could it be the non carnivore foods that I ate affecting me still? Yes. Carnivore is an elimination diet. It can be as much about what you are not eating that what you do eat. If you have re-introduced something it may be your body saying 'this is one of the original culprits' Fortunately you can, and unfortunately you will have to experiment on yourself with what works for you. If that makes any sense at all? -Could I be eating too much fat, even though I haven't increased my intake? For me my stool swings from really loose to constipation. Most of the time it centers around my fat intake. If I eat a lot of fat, cooking the eggs in a lot of butter, or using the beef fat to cook, my stool gets really loose. If I add a glass of milk here and there with a heavier fat intake it gets pretty bad. I can skip the milk for a few days and not quite as much butter and things sort of normalize. -Could drinking too much water cause the diarrhea? I would guess not and I would be careful with water intake. Diarrhea is one of the faster ways to dehydrate. It is important to ensure electrolytes are consumed and not 'just water'. -Should I try ketogenic or ketovore instead? Again, this will be based on your experiment. Using food to heal you is more important than fitting your diet based on another's criteria. If ketogenic, ketovore or versions of carnivore works for you, then that works for you. -Is it normal to have these periods of setbacks and I just have to push through? I am only 8 months in so I shy away from giving advice. I don't think I know enough. If it were me, I would make some adjustments and push through fully understanding more adjustments will be needed to dial me into a good place. Hopefully there is a member with experience on that last question. Best of luck. Scott

That was part of my issue with getting one. I felt like with the meat, salt and water diet I shouldn't worry too much about going in and out of ketosis. I read some about ketones in the urine and like most everything, too much is not a good thing. I have never had high glucose readings so the ketoacidosis is no real concern. Actually, my glucose went over 100 only after 3-4 months on carnivore. Prior to eating this way I would wake up in the morning in the upper 80's low 90's. I was reading one article that led to another from an increase in glucose on carnivore to being fat adaptive to ketosis and ketones, and like most medical posts we go straight to the grim reaper, diabetic ketoacidosis. Reading it was like being on a downhill train with no brakes. I get bloodwork and a urinalysis somewhat regularly. The other day was the first time I showed a TRACE amount of ketones in the urine sample. The only real switch as of late is the increase in protein consumption and increase in the lifting. Other than that, everything else the same. I'd be interested in how your results trend out and what you think dictated the trending. Scott

I thought about buying one of the ketone tests but never pulled the trigger. I had carbs for the first time a week or so ago. (I think it was 10) and have been on meat salt and water since May. I read somewhere early on the ketogenic type of diet can draw you in and out of ketosis and sometimes it takes some time to move that needle. I thought about keeping up with it early on but it sort of lost priority. Do you find it helpful? Scott

Sort of in the same boat. I'm 55 and went on the carnivore diet back in May. Thus far I have lost 86lbs over 8 months. I feel like the majority of the weight lost was fat, and I am sure there was some muscle loss as well. I started walking and working out June about a month in and the weight was coming off on what average out to a pound a day for the first 30-40 days. The last couple months I have increased the lifting in intensity, weight and volume. I have did a mix and match on the approach. Some days I lift heavier with less sets/less reps and go to failure. On other days I don't lift as heavy and add in both sets and reps. I do splits on most days but at the end of the week I try to do at least one total body workout. After leaving the gym I walk anywhere from 3-4 miles. In the beginning I ate once per day. I was simply not hungry thus I was in a deficit most every day. As of late I am trying to off set some of the weight loss by eating more as well as hit protein targets to build muscle. I eat a big egg/meat breakfast in the morning, sometimes a meat lunch and then a big meat dinner. My weight loss has tapered off for the most part. I have been right around 85lbs lost for a month or more. I'd like to think the muscle is building under the fat that is remaining. I'm not sure. I am getting stronger as getting to failure is taking more weight, more sets and reps as the days go by. My best guess will be this will be individualistic. A lot is based on work, home and family so what is working for me might not be the best plan for others. I would say get your workout set and then adjust food intake up and down and see if your needle moves as you wish. Then adjust. One thing for me, it is now really hard to eat enough to hit the protein targets. The breakfast meal is not so bad. The evening meal I'm seldom hungry so I am eating just to be eating. Constantly adjusting. Scott

It is on our way to the North Carolina area. Scott

Great comment. There is the difference between weight loss and fat loss. For me, in the beginning of Carnivore the overwhelming majority of weight I lost was fat. At some point I am sure there was some muscle loss as well. I'm lifting now trying to gain muscle, off-set the loss of muscle due to age, off-set some of the muscle atrophy issues with the medical issue I have and off-set the muscle that is being lost with the fat. Maybe I need to count some calories. Not sure. I have, however, counted grams of protein on occasion to see if I am eating enough protein for muscle growth. Even at 220lbs it is a hard go to eat that much protein. Great post. Appreciate the information. Scott

Agree with the carbs/sugars got me fat (maybe us, but I will only speak for me). I have never counted calories, before carnivore nor since. Two end results. One, I went from 205 in 1993 to 306 in 2024 going on proteins, carbs/sugars and fat. Then in 2024 I went from 306 and now down to 220 over the last 8 months. One path I am sure I was in a calories surplus, maybe even all of them. Since carnivore and a large chunk of that has been OMAD, I am sure I have been in a calorie deficit. For me, the real difference is the quality and the need for which calorie, more so, that the quantity. We had a weight loss contest once at work. It was for 60 days. I started around the 50 day mark and lost 32 to pounds for the win. I ate a bowl of Grape Nuts in the morning with 2% milk and another bowl in the evening for about 40 days. No added sugars other than the milk and no animal protein or fat. I walked about 2-3 miles per day. I celebrated the victory by stopping at the store on the way home for a 20oz. Mountain Dew, a Little Debbie cake and side of the road pork chop biscuit. (not the sharpest knife in the drawer). A year later we had the same contest. This time I dropped 29lbs by eating Grape Nuts in the morning and a normal meal at night (one of the 'balanced' meals we were all taught to eat based on the food pyramid). I walked about the same amounts and won again. And, just as before I celebrated with the same foods that blew me up from the start. Different calories carry different qualities and serve the body differently. But when you commented about weight-loss comes from the kitchen, no truer words have been spoken. Scott