Scott F.

I watched a segment on the news where a school district removed a soft drink machine from a high school, and it was an all-out revolt. Parents included. As I watched I thought how crazy to argue this point and then my first stop was the convenience store to get a Mountain Dew and a Little Debbie cake (probably two). Luckily for me, my son has never been a sweets nor soda kid. He didn't have his first soft drink til he was 15 and really didn't like it. My mother-in-law was his day care and she didn't have soft drinks in her house. She had barely sweet tea only on Sundays. It was water for everyone any other time. From being on water as a kid he didn't develop that 'sweet tooth'. He is 28 now and hardly, if ever, drinks soft drinks or eats a dessert. Me on the other hand, I did his share and mine for a lot of years. Great scripture. Scott

Welcome. This has been a great place for me to read and learn and even bounce some of my experiences to the forum. Best of luck moving forward. I'm 5+ months in and I'm on the 'only positives' side of carnivore. Again, welcome. Scott

Great job on the 66. It's funny to me that weight always seems to be the lead-in with the Carnivore conversation. I'm the guiltiest. For me, I should lead off with my autoimmune disease NMO/SD (basically it is like Multiple Sclerosis but attacks the optic nerve impairing vision). I was diagnosed in late 2018/early 2019. I have been prescribed gabapentin(Neurontin) and prednisone ever since. I would take them at flare-ups or when the scar tissue from the lesions along my neck and spine. The gabapentin made me a zombie and I hated it but it kept me going. I had a video pop up about carnivore and MS and it caught my eye. After watching it I didn't really buy in but as I thought about it I had went a couple three weeks without going to the medicine cabinet. I was like, "What a coincidence?". Then another couple weeks and it sort of sank in there was something more to the carnivore approach than just weight loss. I have been medicine free since late May/early June. I don't totally count the first week because I finished off the Dews and the Ice Cream but from week two to about week four or five the inflammation and pain didn't flare up and has not since. That is simple craziness. I get some of the medical issues are made better by the weight loss and the effects of being overweight. But for me, I had lost weight before and didn't relieve any of the inflammation and used medicine as necessary. When I tell people that they look at me just like I thought when I watched the first video on the positive affects of carnivore with autoimmune disease. Again, simple craziness at the changes it has done for me. Scott

Don't be surprised. I dropped 30lbs in the first 31/32 days and the first week I didn't toss out the Mountain Dew and ice Cream I bought the day before I started. Although I did move to carnivore on May 8th of this year I did eat some crap the first 4 or 5 days. (I guess I sort of eased into Carnivore) I started walking about a mile and half three to four times per week. In June I started going to the gym. I hit some stalls along the way as my meals staggered along with shift work. As of this week I am down 74lbs in less than 6 months. I'm not exactly killing it in the gym and my walks are about 4 miles three to four times per week. Scott

Hope all returns to your normal. Best of luck. Scott

Very interesting. I had the lipid panel in August about 90 days in on carnivore. I will have another done in November prior to my infusion and then again in December as a follow up. (Mostly the blood work is for immunoglobulin numbers but I the last couple I have asked for complete work-ups. More so for curiosity for 'where I am with carnivore' than anything. I will admit I was expecting and hoping for better numbers but had to realize it was only 90 days of correction after 35 years of pounding. If my numbers jumped in that 'opposite' direction it would have been more than alarming. (for me) Great subject matter. Scott

And here we are. It is a little after 4AM and I laid around for a bit hoping to fall back asleep. Seldom does that happen. When I wake up, I wake up. Maybe on the clarity. I don't feel anymore focused or alert than before. I am sleeping basically the same number of hours for a bunch of years but after a month or so with carnivore it feels like a higher quality sleep. Much higher. My sleep patterns are work induced and that covers my days off as well. Every so often, especially if I do 5 or 6 12 hour days shifts, I will sleep 8 to 9 hours which sort of throws my cycle off. Almost like a catching up on sleep. Since carnivore my energy levels are maintained higher even with my crazy sleep patterns. When my eyes open my feet hits the floor. I may lay around a bit as to not wake up my wife but that ship sailed years ago. Great topic. Great conversation. Scott

I'm the same but maybe not so much carnivore. I am a lifelong shift worker. I'm 55 and never had a dayshift/first shift job. When working nights, I am usually asleep by 9:30 or so and sleep like a rock til 3:30/4PM. Unfortunately, it is the same when I work dayshift. I get home, feed up, and get in the bed by 9PM/9:30. At 3:30AM or so I am awake. I have not had any of the 'mental clarity' people speak of with carnivore. But....when I wake up at 3, whether it be day or night, I am immediately awake and ready to go. Since carnivore I don't wake up sluggish or drag myself out of bed. Eyes open-ready to go. I credit carnivore for the ready to go feeling but I am not sure if that leans toward the mental clarity. Scott

My triglycerides are 75, my LDL is 187 and my HDL is 37. My total cholesterol is 219. @Geezy. Understanding everyone is different and results are individualistic. If I can ask, how long did it take you to from "needing medicine" til your numbers (you) felt like you no longer needed the medicine? If that is none of my business, hit me with a NUNYA. My doctor recommended a non-statin type medicine. I won't risk the statin again as I have been basically healthy since 2019 and I still feel like the statin was the trigger for the onset of the auto-immune issues. I may be medically wrong, but it is just the way I see it (felt it, lived it). I feel like I am on good path and I sort of hate to rock the boat. Scott

What is the CAC? I had the exact same conversation today with my primary doctor. Mine is 187. He is thrilled with the results from the carnivore approach but gave me the 'fatty meats' spiel and encouraged me to go the same route nut lower the fats and make the proteins leaner like chicken and fish (ditching the skin on the chicken which sort of defeats the purpose of eating chicken in the first place) Overall, he was supportive of the approach but suggested a mild shift. I tried statins in 2018 and had a number of issues. I hit just about all the advertised side effects and when I came off after a week the issues remained and even worsened. I spiraled downward and after two to three months of testing I was diagnosed with NMO/SD. The discussion then and now was whether the statins was the trigger for the underlying issue or the underlying (NMO/SD) manifested to all the outwardly symptoms at once. A few years later he recommended medicine for the cholesterol, but I could not gamble on it being a trigger. Same boat today. Reading all I can tonight. LOL Scott

Went cheap and easy. Rotisserie chicken from Food Lion. Scott

I could easily drink 6-8-10 20oz. Dews in a day, especially on night shift. Since May I am assuming Pepsi stock dropped. I have cut them out completely and have not had any cravings or yearnings since the first week. I worked with a nutrition scientist for a stretch in the early 90's. He had invented and was researching a chemical/enzyme to make bread stay fresh longer. They actually use it in Europe and Asia, but it never faired well with our FDA. We preserved a lot of enzymes with large quantities of salt and sugar which came in 50lb bags. We were at break once and I had my Dew. He read the label, broke out his calculator and did the "Engineering/Chemistry conversion type math" and his calculations were absolutely wild. Every other month I was eating a 50lb bag of granulated sugar via the mass amount of Mountain Dews. Math is crazy. Scott

I always lead off with I am 'brand new' at five months, but I think there is the carnivore lifestyle and there is my carnivore lifestyle. I like milk, not the biggest fan of raw milk, but a glass here and there is not the end of the world to me. It has its sugars and was never really meant for an adult, and with that said, I like drinking a glass of milk here and there. I hit a stall around 245 or so which I hung around the 60lb mark, a few pounds up and down for a month or so. Prior to that stall I had not drank milk at all. I tried to connect the milk to the stall but can't really swear there was a connection. I planned to stop the milk and do a self-experiment, but I mixed in a 72 hour fast and the 'fall' started again down to bouncing around the 70lb mark now. Did I jump start the fall with no milk or the fasting? I am going to lean toward the fasting (maybe because I really like milk, LOL) As I ease toward carnivore being a lifestyle vs. a diet I'm leaning toward "if I wake up today and feel as good as yesterday (and a lot of days even better) then yesterday's plan was pretty good". . I am more than happy with the changes since May. I'm a 'meat, salt and water guy (with an occasional drink mixer) and the closest 'cheat' I have had is the occasional glass of milk. I don't consider myself a "t-totaller" by any means, but I think I can see that light down at the end of the tunnel. Maybe I need to log on to one of the "carnivore police' sites and see? Great topic. Nice discussion by all. Scott

Yep. Very inspirational and really makes one think. Thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. Scott

Welcome. Both are great responses. I hit the energy wall early on and for me I upped the fat content of my meals and made a homemade electrolyte solution. Once I fixed those two things the energy level returned. As I became fat adaptive the weight fell and the energy picked up, actually, much better than prior to carnivore. I'd say a little patience, check your fat content and get your electrolytes. Scott

Welcome. I'm five months deep this week and have only had the positives thus far. Best of luck as you make another run on the carnivore. Scott

I just cooked some burger I ground a week or so ago. I mixed it up with some cheese. I wish I had left it in patty form. I lost a lot of the fat (60/40 grind). I could have kept more fat content in a patty. But a pound of hamburger mixed with a handful of cheddar cheese is not exactly top of the line but it will get me thru night shift. Scott

I will check it out tonight. Personally, I like the shorter videos. I find myself skipping videos sometimes when I look down and they are really long. My tri's dropped but my co-worker's went up. I'm going to forward it to him shortly. Scott

I don't disagree. I use a mixer mostly every third or so bottle and maybe sometimes every other bottle when on shift. I have not had a soft drink since May (I am sure Pepsi Co. stock dropped when I stopped the Mountain Dew). Last night was the first time I "tasted" something with sugar...really sweet since May. I can see where going back in that direction is really possible. Luckily after last night I'm not craving another one. It did hit the spot but afterwards it was water thru the night. I probably thought my first indulgence or slip would be something "better" than a drink mixer. LOL Scott

Getting to OMAD just sort of happened for me as well. I just progressed to eating when I was hungry and like Geezy said, sometimes it stretched past OMAD into the next. I work rotating shift work, and my wife is not going carnivore. These life variables will play a part in your eating 'habits', even when you are learning not to eat from habit....as crazy as that sounds. When I am on dayshift, I eat a small lunch and then again when I get home, maybe 8 or so. If I am on nights I eat soon after the shift starts, usually around 8PM. On nights I eat the next two or three shifts at the same time which is the OMAD. When I am off it is OMAD but on occasion I may dog a big egg breakfast after the gym. I'm seldom, if ever actually hungry, so the majority of my mills are dictated by shift schedule, then lining up to eat with my wife when she eats. The third part would be on my days off mid-week when my wife is working, I could go 24-36 hours and not realize I hadn't stopped to eat. Again, craziness. I have done a couple 48 hour fasts (intentionally) and just recently completed a 72 hour fast. Both were both much easier than I ever expected. I did get hungry at the very end and I also hit an energy wall, but overall, pretty easy. Babbling but not being hungry makes it easier to have a varied schedule with the best being eating when hungry, but at the same time life factors. Scott

Welcome. I too enjoy and learn from other people's experiences. Best of luck. Scott

In the past it was a Federal and State law that required me to start every day with a Mountain Dew and Little Debbie snack cake. Either a law or a Cardinal sin to skip them. Not sure. I'm not the biggest water drinker. As I started, I used the drink mixers to get the water in. I found the Food Lion brand pink lemonade and lemonade shows zero carbs/zero sugars. (knowing there are some hidden sugars in the details). As of late I have been doing every other, maybe every third bottle with a mixer and the rest water. Tonight, at work I ran out of the Food Lion brand and had some Crytal Light mixers. I went with grape. I can taste/feel the sugar addictions with the first sip. Craziness. I'm not exactly hiking up my pants legs offering intimate favors for the next sugar fix but i can see that light way at the end of the tunnel. Not making light of other addictions. Just making a point. Scott

Welcome. I'm at five months. I'm an all-positives guy thus far with carnivore. Although I never had BP issues even tho I was 6'3" 306 (as much as 321) my BP was slightly lower after 90 days as well as drop in cholesterol/triglycerides. I'm pain and inflammation "pill free" due to carnivore. The first thing that pops up after carnivore is 'weight loss'. I think the needle needs to be pushed a little more toward the other benefits as well. Welcome and best of luck. Scott

Welcome. I'm about five months in and had nothing but positive results. Again, welcome. Scott

I have Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder/NMO/SD, Devic's, which is mostly the same as MS but attacks the optic nerve. I'm five months on carnivore. I took prednisone and gabapentin(neurotin) for pain and inflammation. After abut a month on carnivore I no longer felt the need for the medicine and stopped. I have been both pain free, and medicine free since May. I only take Vitamin D. I take 6000ieu's daily but I was Vitamin D deficient for a number of years prior. Since the carnivore diet the Vitamin D numbers have improved although they never did on the same amount prior. Not sure. Scott