Scott F.

I am a big fan of testimonials which triggers conversations. If someone had told me all the things that happened to me after starting carnivore in May of '24 I would have probably called BS. I thought it was just another weight loss hack. Six to 8 weeks in I had lost well over 30lbs. I was thrilled and completely satisfied with all things carnivore. Then I watched some videos about carnivore and autoimmune diseases. Again, I called BS as I am a 'gotta see it to believe it kind of guy'. Then it sort of dawned on me I hadn't taken any pain medicine associated with NMO/SD (prednisone and Neurontin). I have been medicine free since June on '24 with only 6-7 weeks on carnivore after taking it regularly since 2018. It was still hard to believe but I was living it so I couldn't deny my day to day. From there after 14-16-18 months my immune system bloodwork which had been off opposite ends of the charts was inching back to what is considered normal, within range. There are ton more stories on here, and a lot even more impressive than mine. The range in which foods cause us harm and in turn can lead to healing is beyond amazing. I try not to preach it, but it is highly recommended. Scott

Welcome. It is a good community to share your experiences with as well as learn from others. I'm not from the Houston area, but in general, the doctors who readily accept carnivore are few and far in between. My neurologist is really pleased with my health improvements since carnivore. he says he is not ready to prescribe it, nor recommend it to his other patients (autoimmune diseases-MS and NMO/SD) but he would be really happy if they would call me and see what it has done for me. Big picture? I take that as a win as far as the acceptance by most medical professionals. I did the same. My primary care doctor has tried to persuade me to go on statins for a number of years. I just turned 57, my cholesterol is identical to yours at 204 and .96. I lift three to four times per week, walk 3.5 miles 4-6 times per week (work schedule) and do 100-120 pushup along the 3.5 mile walk. Between my neurologist and work my bloodwork is staggered so I can go stretches getting bloodwork every three months. I altered my nutrition and work to see the impact and at times I guess I was 'studying' for the next test. Again, welcome. Scott

Welcome to the community. I started the carnivore diet with my only knowledge being 'only eat meat and only drink water'. The 'not knowing' and 'damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead' approach made it to where I learned a few things the hard way. I wish I had found this group first, prepped some things, learned some things and then said, 'damn the torpedoes.... It is a great place to read and learn and when you share, it is much appreciated. Good luck. Scott

I started carnivore as the latest weight loss hack. Turns out, its effects on health seem to be never ending. It seems so many illnesses and diseases stem from our garbage diet. I lost a bunch of weight on carnivore. I ate when I was hungry and ate til I was full. The weight peeled off. When I felt like I had lost too much I continued with carnivore (due to the incredible health improvements I was experiencing) but I upped my protein throughout the day and I gained weight. I went from well north of 300 to 211, looked sickly and felt weak, and back to 238 and now down to around 225. As said, Bob would be the resident expert on kidney related issues. I see foam every so often. I think mine comes from some dehydration, especially when I am not fasting. I don't always drink like I should. During those stretches I see darker urine that can be quite foamy. When I get back on track with my water the urine lightens some and the foaming goes away. Good luck. Scott

Thanks for the insight. I will do a bunch of reading over the next couple days. I didn't think too much of it but I guess I should. Scott

After 18-20 months on carnivore and primarily on red meat with some chicken, pork and fish, I showed low folate last December during bloodwork for an eye exam. I have not been really good about the folate medicine and it showed again in May. I just put my stuff together to start on Monday. I have not seen nor felt any of the negatives while working out. Actually, I have ramped up my workouts as of late without any issues. Maybe the only thing I have noticed is that I am not sleeping all that well for the last few months. I can go right to sleep at my normal bed time, sleep three or four and sometimes five hours and then wide awake, which is 1-2-3 in the morning depending on when I go to bed. I also have had some late in the day energy level drops that I hadn't experienced but haven't attributed it to anything other than the irregular sleep. Reading this I may need to take it more seriously. I really didn't expect a folate issue. Thanks for the information. Scott

I have done 7 and felt like I could have continued. I have been reading a lot about the advantages and disadvantages of going past the 96 hour mark. Sometimes the answer is in 'which one you believe the most' as it feels like it is a split amongst the 'experts'. Scott

I will have to check it out. For me it is not so much finding variety as I can eat the same thing everyday with zero issues. A taco meal like this will allow for my wife and I to eat 'together and eating the same thing' as she strives for variety and 'colors' on her plate. Nice work. Scott

I have done it a number of times now and I am still amazed. I mean, pretty much all of us were programmed from an early age we had to eat three times per day and the food fueled our bodies, etc. etc. 3-4 days in and I have a ton of energy and zero hunger. Still leaves going, HUH? at times. This last five I actually came off of it without getting really loose. I felt like I tried every combination but it was all the same. As of late I just sort of gave up on 'breaking the fast the right way'. I just ate some bacon and eggs, which I had tried before, but this time all went as normal. Maybe it took me ever how many to adapt, not sure. Congrats on the 86. Nice work. Scott

Nice work. I probably fast a bit too much, I'm guessing anyway. I usually land somewhere between 72 and 96 hours. I have read around 96 hours starts some points of diminishing returns. But then others say not so much. The autophagy and ketosis and human growth hormones and stem cells are all fine and good, and dropping a few pounds is good too, but mostly now I do it because of the way it makes me feel. From 24 hours on, (did one 7 day fast) I really feel good. I have energy, I am not hungry and everything about it feels positive. The 'feel good' is the biggest reason I do a couple a month. Good luck with yours. I need to check out the APP because I am just wining mine. LOL Scott

Three hamburger patties and two eggs for breakfast. Normally, I do not eat this early in the morning but was sort of hungry. On the way home this morning the neighbor up the road had cows in the highway and across the road. I woke them up and helped keep them on the right side of the road while trying to get the cars/trucks to slow down. Maybe it was being that close to really fresh red meat that triggered some hunger. Not sure. LOL Scott

Agreed. I feel like if I got better with a shift in diet I would like to think so could a lot of people. What I think would help, similar in thought to what you posted, is doctors being a bit more open minded. I get pills and potions can help correct a situation in a hurry and a lot of times that is the best practice. But I wish there was the next step to see what could be done for an alternate means of healing/staying healthy. Good luck on your continued progress. Scott

Best of luck with your upcoming tests. Yes, it is sad a large part of the medical community, and most in general, think pills and potions are the way to go. (And with that said, in 2018 without pills and potions I probably would not be here today, so I am all for the use of medicines to start the healing process. I'm just not a fan of lifelong prescriptions.) Good luck with your testing. Scott

Congrats. End of the day is your health and happiness. Probably a thousand routes to get there with getting there being the goal. Scott

Welcome. Bob is definitely the go-to guy for kidney related conversations here on the board. But speaking in general, and I mean way general, I would wait for actual testing to come up with a diagnosis. A lot of kidney issues can be corrected. As far as having doctors that work with us while on carnivore seem to be few and far between. My primary care provider pushes statins as he is an advocate for their use. I pass. And on the flip side my Neurologist is a big fan of my choices. He says he is not ready to prescribe carnivore but at the same time he wished his other patients would have a conversation with me, even making some of the same decisions I make. Good luck. And again, welcome. Scott

Congrats. Nice work. Keep it going. Scott

My weight fluctuates as well. I'm the first one to say a person should not look at the scale every day to see those fluctuations, but I am also the first one to look at the scale every day. Every third day or so I do a 'three day average' and consider that my weight. it sort of adjusts for the fluctuations. When I was dropping weight really fast I could see my weight go up a pound but at the same time I had to cinch my belt up a notch. And then it would settle in on my 'new three day average;. Good luck and congrats on your progresses. Scott

I will have to disagree but I'm OK with you keeping your membership card. Maybe a probationary period for the flaw but no reason we can't still be friends. LOL But we stumbled onto a guy right down the road who makes the best homemade sausage I have ever eaten. Just down the road and we never knew. Last year we probably bought 40lbs over three times he made it. I can eat it every day. Scott

That's a good starter and congrats for the doing the 40 hours. I am now reading on how many extended fasts I can do before I reach the 'diminishing returns' plateau. As of late I have been fasting when working nights. I do two nightshift rotations per month which is one 72-hour fast and one that is around 96 hours. I feel pretty good doing two and sort of been just 'rolling with two'. Scott

Even on carnivore it can have several factors. The elimination part is the biggest factor. A lot of the things you are no longer eating were a big part of your fuel source. When stopped those a switched to carnivore your primary fuel switched from sugars and carbs to fats. At any one given moment it stands to reason there will be more fat in your blood stream as fat is moving. Not really a medical term but moving fat is not as big as issue as stored fat. If you are eating a higher fat moderate protein approach to carnivore then again, the fat goes up and initially the cholesterol follows. At least that is how mine did. In the first 12-18 months I was on a cycle where I would get a HAZMAT/work physical every six months and bloodwork for my autoimmune issues every six months. Fortunately they staggered so I was getting a lipid panel every three months. The first three or four were sort of all over the place, up and down, and didn't seem to be following any pattern. Maybe around 12-15 months my triglycerides and LDL dropped and my HDL went up. (I also went thru a stretch trying to eat enough for 200 grams of protein in a day. The first part I went lean meat and sort of not the carnivore way as it was higher in protein than fat. My cholesterol followed the pattern of how I was eating. When I adjusted for the fat content my most recent test showed my HDL dropped a few points and my LDL and triglycerides made a slight increase. Also a couple times my lipid panel was the after fasting 72+ hours and that test had higher triglycerides that I normally see but once I was back eating they eased down. Like Geezy said, it is probably not the best idea to do lipid panels early on, unless if there is a medical condition that warrants it, because the first stages of carnivore will have numbers all over the place. Good luck. Scott

I ate 5 or 6 pork shops Friday night about 8PM and last night around 2AM I ate a handful of beef jerky. Technically, I broke it then but will not eat again until tomorrow night. The first 24 hours was a dry fast and then water fasting til tomorrow. It is totally weird, or maybe I am weird, but I get the fact I can lose a few pounds here and there when fasting. I also understand there is metabolic benefits to allowing the body, for no better words, to catch up and reset. But as of late the weight and the metabolic health are more like bonuses to fasting. I am fasting now for no more reason than how good I feel from 24 hours and beyond. I'm no spring chicken at 56, a hard 56 at that with most of those years eating a dumpster diet and working was the only working out I was doing. This past weekend I ate Friday night and I dumped 5500kgs of re-process material. That consists of tipping over a 50 kilo drum (a little over 100 pounds), lifting the back and dumping the powder into a process tank. The plant was well over 100 degrees til the early morning when it dropped to the mid-90's. I didn't eat for 24 hours and repeated another 5500 kilos on Saturday night and did the same last night soon after 48 hours of fasting. On Saturday morning I stopped by the gym a lifted for just about an hour, leg day on top of that. Here I am on Monday morning with a boat load of energy and don't feel like I am going to sleep much today. Sort of awake and ready to do stuff. Feels good but sort of sucks knowing I have to do 12 more hours tonight. Babbling til bedtime but carnivore, fasting and resistance training has been a life changer for me, and at times I would even say a life saver. That might be a stretch but at times I sort of feel that way. Scott

Congrats. There is nothing like hitting a target attaining a goal. Nice work. Scott

Lots of people eat outside the 'carnivore diet' when they first get started. It is more important to celebrate the fact you decided to eat this was again more so than focusing on the fact you ate outside the carnivore way of eating. That actually can be a plan of easing into the way of eating long term. As you recognize the rewards and the benefits hopefully that encourages you to make the 'carnivore' stretches last even longer. The benefits come not as much from eating carnivore as it does from eliminating the non-carnivore items from the diet. Scott

Check his videos out on youtube. Just about anything you want to know about eating carnivore can be found there. The first real impact I had was I didn't realize how much salt I was eating prior to the switch and when I switched, I didn't replace the salts I was no longer consuming. It took me a couple aha! aha! moments to figure it out. After a few weeks of eating this way I started doing some research and pretty much what I did was go to youtube and enter Carnivore+________________ (and you can fill in the blank about whatever subject you'd like and just about every time there is already a video out there. Look at the side of this page. Bob and Geezy do a Monday night round table discussion. This past Monday was about 'advice to people new to carnivore' not the exact title but similar. Good luck. Scott

I liked Dr. Baker's book. YouTube can be an excellent source as well. Dr. Chaffee. Dr. Berry. Dr. Hampton. Dr. Baker. All have great content and offer up advice on just about any carnivore scenario. Over time you can take all their advice, make some slight changes here and there and dial it to what works best for you. It is well worth the efforts. Scott