Scott F.

around in my head......

Some days I feel like I have a pretty good GRASP and then somedays it is like all this information is bouncing around un my heads, with a ton or useless information as well, and within that mental demolition derby I think I lose that GRASP. I'm a fan of the book, no doubt. As I read, it was like I was saying, "Yep, yep to that, knew that, yep" and then the topic of 'eating protein to get stronger/bigger'. The 8-9lns is not the end of the world. I feel like a slight adjustment here and there and I would be back down but I'm getting to the point where the weight is just a number. We should think that way and the cale should not be the real measure of success or improvement, but it like "calories" for some, it is a part of the brainwashing that holds on at times. LOL Nice video on the other post. I watched a bit of it and then the chickens were coming off the grill. I had to have priorities. LOL We did chicken, pork belly and sausages on the grill. My son is working on timing as some cook is coming up in a month or so. I'm like that old broke down dog sitting at the end of the table hoping someone drops something. LOL (but at the same time it is my cabin, my cook porch and my wood, so I 'partake' as he practices). Scott

The book arrived yesterday and while the pork belly was cooking, I read maybe 1/2 to 3/4. It is an easy read, and I really like the formatting. Each page or so has a subject matter at the top and that area is discussed/expounded upon by the author. It is almost like reading from a forum where the thoughts, ideas or discussions can carry all over the place yet remain under a 'big umbrella'. (if that makes any sense at all). Maybe it is just me, but sometimes I learn something I already thought I knew. I tried carnivore, I like it, and it has worked for me, then I morphed away from carnivore it in its intended form in pursuit of something I thought was bettering myself I went down the wrong path. I ate high fat and moderate proteins to start. And experienced all kinds of successes with minimal to no setbacks. As of late I have increased my protein grams per day to hit as close to 200 grams per day as I can. It has been hard as I can no longer easily eat the amounts of food it takes to get to 200 grams of protein. (Huge benefit from carnivore). I am getting stronger just by counting plates at the gym and I can see and feel some growth in my arms (biceps/triceps) and the man-boobs are almost gone and I can feel muscle in the lower to mid pectorals. (I'm happy with that) The kicker is that I have gained maybe 8-9 pounds over the last month or so. This an example of gluconeogenesis at its finest. In order to get to 200 grams on some days I eat an extra couple chicken breasts and on some days, I use a protein shake. On my read meats and the pork belly this week I am probably at a slightly higher fat to protein ratio than I need, which is good, but by the time I factor in the lean cuts of chicken breasts and the protein shake I am heavy on the protein and fall short on the fats. I didn't think I was missing by a ton but as I look at it, I'm off by quite a bit. All that extra protein that is not being used to build and recover muscle is turned to sugar and not much different metabolically than eating another snack cake. Then couple that with the fact I'm working out in the morning, walking and then coming home and eating a 'post work out loading of protein' meal. I'm already in the 'dawn effect' with daily glucose numbers doing a spike and making even more glucose available to the body, which I am sure is going 'whoo-hoo" with the sugar rush. I would like to think the 8-9lbs was actual lean muscle mass but that is not realistic, plus, I had to let my belt out one notch at work, so I know my belly muscles didn't grow that much. Babbling on, but this very article/thought was in the book, and I was thinking, "this guy is talking directly to me". It is like I had all those facts running around in my brain but the actual learning from application was just outside my grasps. I have been doing the wrong thing for the right reasons so now I have to find the sweet spot somewhere in the middle. Babbling, like I said, but it is a really good book, a great read and shipped to your door for $5. Can't beat it. Scott

Congratulations on the 90 days. Best wishes on the next 90......... Scott

4 eggs with leftover pork belly from last night. Scott

Picture didn't take. Leftover chicken 1/2 from last night with 4 eggs this morning. Scott

Where does the line for autographs start? Scott

The thighs are the perfect example. The view is not worth the climb. LOL Scott

My son is knocking it out of the park on his briskets. He is starting his 'competition career'. His first competition he won best "butt/pulled pork", which was an incredible accomplishment first time out. His chicken thighs were l15 out of 60, which is good on the first trip. His first brisket ever was my favorite but I quickly learned competition cooking is so much different than me being the backyard hack as well. He spent an hour removing the skin, trimming, re-wrapping thighs before they hit the grill. I am more of out of the pack and onto the grill kind of guy. His very first brisket he picked it up and let it bend over the backside of a knife. His fell completely in half. it was the most tender brisket I had ever had, it was fatty (I was a fatty meat guy before Carnivore as well) and the fat had rendered perfectly. I was stoked and he was disappointed. I told him his approach was competition and I sort of get that but I told him when we fire up the grill it is all about "pushing turds and making friends". Enjoy the company and enjoy as the food nourishes the body. His approach is really similar to yours. He trims like he is Michaelangelo with a blank canvas. Scott

Welcome. Digging the hat. Thank you for your service. I can't speak much to the heart health issues but I'm currently gaining some weight. I started last May and dropped 92lbs in 10 months or so. My neck and face were so thin some said I looked sickly. At times I could catch that same look when looking in the mirror. I'm back in the gym and lifting consistently and with some purpose. I'm eating to build muscle. I'm at 218 this morning which is 5-6lbs heavier over the last month. It swings up and down but around 218 is my current number. I'm guessing my ideal bodyweight is around 200, give or take. I'm trying to eat 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal bodyweight. Eating that much is really hard. I'm full and good to go on pretty much one meal. I push the other two down just to hit a target. I have put on some muscle but I can't imagine it has been 8-9lbs in the last month or so. Mid month I had to let my belt out one notch so I did regain some of the girth I had lost. For me, the big difference between my previous dumpster diet and now on carnivore is that one is really hard to lose weight and the other is really hard to gain weight. Most of us can figure out which is which, LOL Best of luck to you and yours. Good luck with the lifestyle change and again, thank you for your service. Scott

Very informative. Great break down. I'm sometimes guilt of eating the fat that rendered in the pan. It can be an addictive form of gravy. Nice work. Scott

Nice. Scott

Our math is the same. LOL Scott

Congrats on the 16 days. Just chiming in with my personal experiences. Most of my bathroom issues have been caused and corrected by fat intake. If my fat intake drops, not really intentionally, but if I eat less fatty cuts of meat like pork and chicken my trips to the bathroom slow down and have had some constipation at times. When I increase the fat intake per meal I sometimes overcompensate. From there the trips get more frequent and sometimes feel downright violent. Like, I feel like I can go for distance. My biggest issue is that I eat a lot of fat as a norm, and I get adjusted to that, so a couple days fall off and things slow down. In the beginning there was no real pattern as I was adjusting to carnivore, Hydration and electrolytes were nowhere near correct so my frequency to the bathroom was all over the place, and a couple times I literally mean, "all over the place". As far as the science and adjusting proteins to fats most of that will be based on you as an individual. With carnivore, the principles for me and you are pretty much the same, but after the principles there is not much that is 'cookie cutter' between individuals. If I eat X amount of fat to X amount of meat and do fine, that same ration may send you to the bathroom either hoping for a movement, or even hoping you get there in time for the movement. It is probably not that exaggerated but things will be different for each of us with actual amounts. As far as learning, I am still in the process of learning after ten months, but I feel like I'm studying for my Carnivore Degree from the University of Google and the You Tube School of Medicine. There are tons of information out there. And like anything you will have to weed thru the good and the bad. As of late I have been reading and watching videos from Dr. Tony Hampton. Dr. Chaffee and Dr. Shaun Baker are great resources. I am currently reading Dr. Baker's book as well. Dr. Berg and Dr. Ken Berry as well. ( I still watch but at times Dr. Berry is starting feel 'commercial'. But I can't fault anyone for finding a few $$$ that are floating out there) After ten months I have yet to dial in on where my "diet" will change to a "lifestyle". I lost 92lbs in about 10 months. I went from 306 to 214 and the last month has been bouncing between 215 and 222. I'm off the prednisone and Neurontin for NMO/SD (autoimmune disease). I feel better than I have in years. I started off with the basic "eat when I am hungry and eat til I am full" approach and that morphed into eating once per day. Then I started trying to build muscle, so I am cramming in the protein to hit a target. As far as moving weights in the gym I am stronger now at 55 than I was at 25-35. I have coupled the mass eating with long fasting. I have done two 72 hour fasts and one 96-hour stretch. All three were great but how I felt from 72 hours to 96 hours was more than amazing. Babbling on, but your journey will be your journey. Mine has been all over the place as I continue to dial in trying to get to the carnivore lifestyle and no longer consider myself on a carnivore diet. Best of luck. Congrats on the 16 days. You will figure out the bathroom stuff in time. This is a great place to bounce ideas around and see what is working and not working for others. (Maybe the only place where POOP can be a large part of a conversation). LOL Scott

I was like that is not tabilitas those are beef short ribs. I'm guessing it is a 'geographical terminology'. LOL Scott

We are doing some fried pork tonight with ground pork rinds as a batter of such. First time down this road so it will be something new. My wife is insisting I need some variety in the way the meats are prepared. She seems happy with the experiments, so I roll with it. After working a 12–13-hour shift, coming home to feed the animals the last thing I am going to do is complain about what is cooked for dinner. LOL (many levels to that as well, LOL) She is talking about variety and I ate the same thing on Friday night as I did on Thursday night. Mostly, because it was incredibly good but also extremely easy/quick to prepare. She mentioned variety and I am thinking I could go burger/cheese/bacon/fried egg/cheese/bacon/fried egg stack again for the third night. Scott

These were so good on Thursday night I did them again on Friday night. Scott

Funny how the brain works. I sleep well and restful but usually up between 3 and 4AM. Curse of life 35-38 years of varying forms of rotating shift work/nightshift. This more what I think than what I know or read. Once you go carnivore, and even with minimal carbs, your fat intake will contribute to blood glucose. The body will 'find' the amount of glucose it needs. One for bodily functions and two for energy if needed. If the fat intake is too low on carnivore and there are now sugars or carbs coming in it will use fat for energy. At some point protein will be used to make glucose (gluconeogenesis). My thinking would be increasing the fat intake on carnivore, ss well as no carbs, (minimal carbs maybe) the body will use fat for energy (ketosis/ketones. etc.) and protein for recovery/rebuilding. If the fat intake goes down and more of the proteins are used to make glucose, I would expect glucose numbers to increase. Carnivore is mostly defined as a meat only diet/way of eating. But what I have found for me meat is down around third or fourth on the level of importance and impact while living a carnivore lifestyle. First, for me, it is more about elimination. Meats and fats can fix a lot of health issues once the carbs and sugars are removed but it can't do much while packing in a bunch of carbs and sugars. For me, fat is the second most important part of the equation. I have used fat as a lever to adjust energy, stools, glucose and ketone levels. I think I can miss on protein and not have the same-day/next-day consequences I do when I miss on fat. Then meat comes strong at number three. I think instead of saying, "I am living a carnivore lifestyle. I only eat meat, salt and water. I should be saying I eat fat, meat, salt and water'. Just my way of thinking. I could be way off the mark. Scott

I have watched a bunch of his videos. There is much debate about the amount of protein needed for muscle hypertrophy. On average the numbers tend to land on 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight. Some say it is actually lower, down around .7 or so per pound. There are others that say it can be as much as 2 grams per pound. I'm around 215 and I am guessing my ideal weight is down around 190-200 (I change my mind almost daily). I struggle to eat that much protein everyday. On the days I do get to the 180-200g of protein my glucose gets over 100, usually in the low to mid 100's. I don't think I tracked enough to see at what point the glucose started to rise in relation to protein intake. Scott

My numbers are similar in movements. I don't have any medical issues with glucose/Type I or II or even pre-diabetes. I never had a reading above 100 until I started carnivore. Probably a little low sometimes early in the morning, I did the same buying a glucose meter for personal data points. I think everyone can experience the dawn effect where morning glucose 'spikes' up and then falls as the day moves along. I kept check on mine during a 96 hour fast and averaged upper 70's low 80's across most of the fast. My morning numbers were in the high 80's to the low-mid 90's. This morning I was at 98. As of late I am in the upper 90's and see some low 100's here and there. I'm going to call my rises and higher numbers as a result of gluconeogenesis. I'm strict carnivore, meat, salt and water, without any cheat days which has driven my daily average down some but sometimes the spikes take me up a few notches. As of late I am eating a ton more than I should or actually want. I am trying to hit a protein target for ideal body weight and it takes a lot of food to hit that number. I simply don't want that much. I'm eating to build muscle. On the days I get really close to the desired target for protein there is some correlation to my blood glucose inching up and past 100. It ramps a little after working out but I work out early in the morning, coupled with the dawn effect and my numbers jump a bit. I don't consider my numbers all that alarming but I do keep track. Scott

Hamburger patties covered with cheese, then bacon and then a fried egg. All fried in bacon grease. Simple but really good. Scott

Just bits and pieces here and there. Still kicking tho. Scott

@geezy. Spot on. Although I have not the year mark yet I have varied the approach a couple different times. My best results came after i read some things and learned some things. I started off strictly as a weight loss DIET. I had no idea there would be any other benefits than weight loss. I started off and I just ate fatty meats. I didn't know about salt and minerals. For me, it was meats and water. I had some energy issues and some stool issues and after reading a few things I adjusted and increased my fat content and added salt. From there, the weight started to drop and within 4-6 weeks I was off medicine I had been on since 2018. By then it was basically one meal a day. One meal a day, eating when I was hungry til I was full, lost the most weight. I like milk and I drink a glass or so once a week or maybe twice a week. For me, if the weight is falling I can get into an almost immediate stall with a glass, maybe two. For the last month or so, maybe 2, I have been trying to eat enough protein for 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight. I'm around 216 this week (between 216 and 222 for over a month). At 216 I am guessing my ideal weight is between 190-200 but eating that many grams of protein is hard, at least for me it is hard. This is the only time I have counted anything. Like Geezy said, and I agree, I don't see the point in counting when eating when hungry/eating til full. For no better way to explain it, the math is built in. Scott