Scott F.

I'm a huge fan of the weight vest. This is one of those things in life where a few extra dollars can mean a lot. Two, I went sort of big with the plan of starting light and working the weight up as I progressed. I poked the pooch on both. I saved a few dollars on a 40lb. vest. I pulled the first weight bag out and tried to put it back in. It is like they wrapped it in place, did the sewing and the material then shrank over the weight. It took 20 minutes of stretching and prying with a screwdriver to get the one weight back in its pouch. I should have not went cheap. Since I went cheap and could not remove the weights I started off really high at 40lbs. It is quite the load to walk 3.5 miles in a 40lb vest. (Then I was dumb enough to drop on the side of the road for my normal pushups. Not so normal and quite the challenge. LOL) Scott

The NMO/SD is really similar to MS and I agree, no truer words have been spoken, it is a long slow process in either direction. On Rituxin/Rituxamab with a couple weekly doses of Neurontin and Prednisone I have been 'flare up' free. Some basic pain and inflammation. That also was a combination of the weight, the work, the birthdays and having an autoimmune disease. The carnivore diet pretty much removed the pain and inflammation, mostly as the weight came off, but before the biggest part came off. For me, I feel like the Rituxin has been working but I also think I have changed the playing field with carnivore. Almost like Rituxin provided me with the health to play at par and carnivore and the gym got me some better than par. I'm wondering if coming off Rituxin moves the needle back to par, or does the needle move at all. That is my thinking right now. Scott

Maybe I progressed a bit fast, just not sure. But I read something similar and now I wonder if I am in the ravenous stage and the sugar is like a "150 shot of nitrous' on a drag car. Sometimes it is hard to define one item when there are combinations in play. The last month or so I have seen some solid games in the gym. A little muscle growth here and there but the strength gains are rather noticeable. I also wonder if the stress I'm adding is causing my body to call for more nutrients/food. Based on blood glucose I think I'm insulin sensitive now so I would imagine the least little bit of sugar (and it has been so long without) the body is reacting. Again, learning and experimenting and don't really have a lot of answers. Maybe the only answer is that I feel pretty good every day, the energy levels are better than they were a year ago, I am much stronger (if that matters) and I sleep better/wake up better. I think being carnivore is the primary catalyst, but I also think other things factor in as well. As with everything else, time will tell. Scott

I agree. I don't think I am venturing too far off the reservation with a weekly dosing of carbs and sugars. I am also well aware I don't know what triggered my issues and I also am really weary of re-introducing plants/carbs and sugars. With my luck I will manage to re-introduce the very one that sent me down the auto immune path in the first place. Another reason is I am now in conversations with the Neurologist about coming off six-month infusions. I was in a bad place and the infusions got me to a much better place. With carnivore I am in an even better place. Is the better place from Carnivore? the infusions still? the gym? or a combination of the three. I really do not know the answer, but I do know I am so much better now on the combination. I am not much on rocking the boat. My bloodwork suggests I am no longer in immune despair. I am no longer on medicine for pain and inflammation. I'm more energetic than I have been in a lot of years. I'm looking forward to our next conversation. Scott

I have made note of carnivore, fasting and trying to hit protein targets. I have altered the fat content and found pretty much where I need to be. I have also noted I am amazed by the amounts of food other people can eat in one setting. Once I get past a 3/4"-1" rib eye, I'm full and sometimes can manage to eat the other half of my wife's steak, but that can be a stretch. I have tried to hit protein targets as I am getting more and more into lifting at the gym. The past few weeks I have been on a stretch of overtime. I am averaging just a tad over 66 hours per week. I have been using some of the time on nights to pursue my Google degree in Carnivore and my YouTube College of Medicine Certificate with a lot of the metabolic things that come along with the carnivore diet, fasting and lifting weights (with an autoimmune disease tossed in as well). I'm not close to graduating from either Google nor Youtube, but I am working on those degrees. I read a ton on the sugar diet (not that I am interested but more so to read about the effects of sugar). I have read a ton on glucose, glycogen, the liver and the pancreas as well as insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity. Instead of watching other people give their (mostly biased) opinions on studies and medical papers I decided to read theirs and then conduct my own experiments on myself. (Maybe inspired by Nick Norwitz, ??) My first conclusion is that after going without sugar for 13-14 months the least little bit of sugar triggers hunger signals like I have not had in forever. As noted, I am trying to hit protein targets, and I simply can't eat that amount of meat to get to 200 grams of protein. For weight loss and using fat for energy this is a good thing. For weight/muscle gain I don't think I am fueling up as well as I need. I had some ideas and tried to kill two birds with one stone. I bought some of the pre-mixed protein drinks. I tried one, and then waited a week to try another, and then another after the third week. This container has 2.5 servings per bottle and I drank half of it and then 12 hours later the other half. Rockin' Protein - Shamrock Farms It has 20grams of carbohydrates and 11 grams of sugar so I'm getting them at 10 and 6 per serving. Within an hour of each serving I am as hungry as all get out. It does not feel like an old sugar craving as I didn't really have any of those going to carnivore. But I can remember always feeling a little bit hungry. 5-6-7 20oz Mountain Dews and multiple snack cakes thru the day was providing me with the sugar to make my brain say, "I'm hungry again". I am guessing (hypothesizing if this were truly scientific) that by being off sugar/carbs for so long it only takes a very small amount to take me back to "hungry" all over again. (I have found a similar issues with seed oils. I ate them by the buckets before Carnivore and now the least little bit sends me running to the bathroom). The sugar and the carbs have been a tradeoff for appetite and getting in extra protein. My weight fluctuates/swings normally and that has continued. Maybe up a pound or two more but swings back down to where I am averaging around 215. (still 90lbs off my start point on carnivore). I could stand to lose some more weight, maybe 15-20lbs or so, but I am not as concerned with weight loss as of late. Super happy with the 90-95lbs in 14 months. Carnivore is still my way of eating, and as far as food is concerned it is still strict carnivore. Once a week or so I am indulging in a few carbs and a few sugars which triggers some hunger. I get the benefit of the extra protein from the drink but at the same time I can get in one more rib eye due to the hunger it provides. Probably not the best method to trigger hunger, but since I never had cravings, I don't see it being my 'gate-way' drug back to Mountain Dews and Little Debbie Snack cakes. LOL The return? In the past month I can see a difference in my biceps and triceps. And although the aesthetics is not the goal, it is pretty cool to gain a little muscle at 55. The end goal is to gain muscle to offset the natural muscle loss from aging as well as the effects of the auto-immune disease I am trying to reverse with carnivore. The most impressive part so far is the plates I am adding in the gym. I am a lot stronger at 55 than 35. I am not 25 and just out of the service healthy but I am a lot closer to that than I was 14 months ago. And there has been some strides in the last month with "sugar dosing". If I were struggling with weight still, I might not see this as a grand idea but since I am good with my weight right now, I don't see the harm of the occasional sugar spike. (This is similar to a four-year carnivore friend at the gym who eats sweet potatoes on Thursday nights before a big lift on Friday. Really similar concepts). Again, not one of those double-blind studies with a thousand humans as control subjects, just me, and my approach to my own health. Maybe not the best plan, but it is my plan, and for now it is working rather well. babbling on again. Scott

No doubts. I am extremely thankful myself. I think for the human race as a whole we have shown we can survive on just about anything. We can survive on just about every diet, every eating habit, every food choice out there. Most of us have shown whatever path we took it did get us to the point we made the change. Up until that point, especially looking back, I was eating to survive. Once I changed approaches I think now, I am eating to thrive. Two totally different concepts. Scott

I watched that one last night at work. Maybe ignorance is bliss? Or, maybe ignorance is worth billions upon billions of dollars for the major players. I'm leaning toward the latter. Scott

I read an article last night about our ancestors eating patterns and I normally delete my searches form the work computer. Now I can't find it. I will continue to look as it was quite interesting. I will summarize and paraphrase and I feel like I will get the intent right, but I may butcher the delivery. LOL We were never meant to have variety in our diet. The proper human diet was based on food that was hunted and killed. The electrolytes (salt) we depend on stemmed more from man learning to preserve meat vs. salt being a seasoning. No cave man sat out early in the morning to kill a chicken, a duck, a pig, a deer all in the same day so there would be variety in that weeks' meals. The reason so many people seem to do better on red meat is that was the hunting objective and not because it was better, or taste better, but it was simply bigger. Walking for distance, setting up, stalking, hunting for several hours for a chicken is not the most efficient way to feed the family/village. The bigger animals happen to be bearers of red meat. And the bigger animal fed more people for longer periods of time. Now along the way the variety came when the big animal hunt fails or the little animal steps out and becomes an opportunity. Hunters will attest that a deer is not killed on every trip to the woods. If on the big animal hunt a little animal steps out, at least that is a meal for that day. Variety in the meals were not by design but by opportunity. Fruits and vegetables (and in time bread) were seasonal. The apple tree only bears fruit but so many weeks during the year. And food/diet patterns started to shift based on geographic location. Eskimos were making do with whale blubber while Floridians had oranges for ever so many weeks per year. Alaskan vegetables had a very small window. People adjust. That was the gist of the article of how a lot of our dietary issues can be linked to our ancestors and where they called home. Similar to Geezy speaking to lactose intolerance amongst different backgrounds last Monday night. This kinda sort of leans toward and speaks toward the Lion Diet being successful and when people who go from keto to keto-vore to a stricter carnivore approach see more than positive results. Not exactly from the article but in reading this piece it makes me thing we were sort of pre-dispositioned to eat a certain way. When we find that way the positives are amazing. Scott

Neuromyelitis Optics-Spectrum Disorder (called Devic's) a somewhat rare autoimmune disease with basically the same symptoms as Multiple Sclerosis. Lesions which break the myelin exposing the nerve. Whatever nerve that is exposed is intense pain and any of a multitude of issues from bowel movements to loss of mobility, numbness in the extremities, etc, etc. The big difference is NMO most often attacks the optic nerve leaving vision loss/vision impairment. The initial symptoms are similar, the diagnosis pattern is similar and the treatments differ. I went from being on prednisone and Gabapentin/Neurontin for six years to not being on any daily medication in 4-5-6 weeks. The only change was I went strict carnivore to lose weight. I had no idea there would be other benefits and actually stumbled upon the reduction in inflammation/pain. Just about lottery like for me. Scott

I'm at 14 months or so. I have been strict carnivore since the start. I have found I do better/feel better on long stretches of red meat. I do have some variety when we cook for the two of us so it is some occasional chicken or pork or fish. If I was cooking/buying for one it would be red meat all the time. The last few months I have done some deep dives into the things that affect me most (NMO/SD and inflammation) and most of that centered around fasting. Still tons to learn but I guess I'm getting there. Scott

All the better. Welcome. Scott

Welcome. I'm at 14 months. Interested to hear your experiences and insights. Scott

Sort of a coincidence as today I watched several Norton videos followed by Horwitz (sp?) videos on this very subject. Although I do know what is working for me, I don't have the background nor the education to challenge either of their opinions. But I do find it comical that there is enough information supporting both their thought processes with their thought processes being polar opposites. I never gave seed oils much thought and fried most everything in one seed oil/processed oil or another. I went 8-9 months without using any seed oils. We were cooking and my wife just flipped my steak in the pan her chicken had come from and I thought it would mean nothing. It didn't take long and after a couple trips to the bathroom I found me and seed oils could no longer be friends. On one trip to my wife's favorite Mexican restaurant I asked the grill be scraped, cleaned and my steak/chicken cooked in butter. The did and I had no issues. On our next trip there I asked the same but they didn't. Again, me and seed oils do not see eye to eye. They won both times. Nice article. It was my very subject of interest this morning at work. Scott

I can relate as we have similar stories. Maybe the age differences stand out but coming out of the service and then eating our ways to unhealthiness. Maybe another difference is I made a weight loss choice and the 'side effect' (LOL) has been a path toward more optimal health. We got to similar places with similar choices and changed courses with better decisions. Nice read. Scott

His information coupled with Mike Mentzer's bodybuilding philosophy was way ahead of its time. It is an age-old battle between load and volume. Interesting subject as there are strong proponents n both sides. This guy is credited with the use of/invention of nautilus type equipment. One of the interesting things is in one of his videos he talks about the leg muscles being the key to life longevity. The squat is by far the most important exercise everyone should do, most every day. If using weights or resistance there can be rest days in between but air squats should be done every day. He called it the 'key to long life'. He was putting this out there in the 60's and 70's. Way ahead of his time. Scott

Yes. Most any mystery in life can be solved when the money is followed. LOL Scott

Nice job on the fasting. It is a 'who-da ever thunk it? sort of revelation. I will eat the once or twice a day this weekend and then fast Tuesday thru Friday, maybe Saturday, depending on work and how I feel. Post the results (not prying) How you feel? during/afterwards? Interested in how others break their longer fasts. I have tried all different ways and I still get loose after the eating for the first time in 4-5 days. I don't have that part down just yet. Scott

It feeds Big Food, Big Pharma and Big Tech all at the same time. All governments feed the machine in one way or another. Scott

I have had a ton of the condescending looks. LOL I don't let it bother me at all because there was a time when if carnivore was explained, especially the healing effects, I would be an 'eye-roller' too. There are times when I think my results from carnivore are too good to be true, but I have had the benefit of the personal experience. I see that same 'questioning' in a lot of people. Now if they are doubters, but open minded and want to hear more, that is as natural as anything. There is nothing wrong with doubt. It is having the closed mind but all the answers it what helps me walk away. Scott

The same. As of late I have been on a predominantly red meat diet. Food Lio and the local butcher shop has had rib eyes for $8.99 a pound, and even 'gotta get rid of it' sale at $7.99/lb. I have been sort of stocking up. It also works out as I have been on an over time tear at work as of late. I can lay a frozen rib eye out in the morning and cook it in the cast iron skillet that afternoon as I get ready for work. I was a really boring eater prior to carnivore so with a rib eye and a skillet I am perfectly happy. Plus, it's work, so nothing elaborate needed. I haven't really eaten heavy seafood, maybe a large serving of shrimp, but nothing I would consider heavy. I have eaten a lot of chicken several days in a row and my weight does go up a tad more. My heavy and my 'a lot' seems to be different than some. I am in awe of the amounts of food people can eat in a given meal. In times past I could eat twice the amounts but since carnivore I simply don't have the appetite to finish the 2-3 pounds others eat in a given meal. Tonight, I had two rib eyes that were 1.7lbs total. I'm down to the last three pieces and it has been (almost) a struggle to eat 1.7lbs. Grams of protein per pound wise I wish I could eat more. The lack of appetite has helped with the weight loss and probably played a role in fasting being sort of easy. With all that babbling it seems insulin is one of the primary keys, if not the key) to good health. Moving the needle from resistance to sensitivity is one of the best things that has happened to me. In case you guys didn't already know there might be something to this carnivore thing. LOL Scott

This is my newest reading topic. I had read months ago that gluconeogenesis could lead to sugar being made and would be stored. I was watching a Bart Kay video the other day and he was pretty adamant (I guess he is about every topic) and that the body would only make the sugar it needed via gluconeogenesis. I have had a couple stints where I ate a higher protein/lesser fat approach and gained weight. I attributed it to the conversion of protein to sugar and already being fat adapted. Now I am reading that is not the case, or at least a few of the leaders in the field say so. I don't have the background to argue the point either way. I was lifting consistently and somewhat heavy and one article referenced weight gain in this scenario is muscle. I don't think I gained 4-5-6 pounds of muscle over a couple three weeks. One thing I have noticed is that when I am on a higher fat/moderate protein approach my daily weight swings are not more then a couple pounds here and there. When I first started and had yet to dial in my eating habits my weight could swing as much as five pounds over the course of a day or so. And all of this seems to land at insulin sensitivity/insulin resistance. My glucose number is in the 70's when I eat once per day and when I eat twice per day it can land int he 80's and even into the low 90's. Still have lots to learn. Scott

Yep. I had some of those same experiences. I don't mind sharing my thoughts and my story when people are willing to listen or thinking about giving carnivore a try. When they balk, or start giving me medical/nutritional advice that it is obvious they are not adhering to themselves it becomes a quick disconnect. From there, I just move on. I have a guy that works with me that is a Type II diabetic with glucose numbers that are high enough for hospitalization at times. The food he bring is crazy in both type and amounts. He is eating three or four times in a 12 hour shift because his doctor has told him that smaller more frequent meals would be his best practice. I explained I understand this is youtube, but check out these videos and when they reference medical studies follow up with research of your own. He said his glucose had been as high as 300 the week before and then asked about mine. I told him mostly it is in the 70's but every now and then it gets into the 80's, especially coming off a fast. His words nor his sentences called me a liar, but his grunt, rolling of the eyes and the , "yeah, right" all but did. Great conversational topic. I think all of us have experienced this is some shape, form or fashion. It is like a brick is falling out of the sky and I say, stand over here with me under this shelter, and they say, "Nope, my doctor says standing in the sunshine is better for me". I guess sometimes people can't see the forest for all the trees in the way. LOL. Scott

As long as you do your due diligence it is his job to listen to your spiel as much as it is yours to listen to him. Just take his inputs under advisement, make your own decisions and move forward with whatever benefits you best. Scott

Enjoyed the conversation last night. I forgot the cord for the laptop, and it dropped from 30% to zero unexpectedly. Apologies for the abrupt exit. I thought about 'carnivores lying' for a stretch last night afterwards. Did they mean carnivores are lying in general about the positives of carnivore? Did they mean the individual carnivores are lying about their personal health? Good conversation on the topic. Like said from the beginning, going into carnivore I had no idea of the health benefits other than from the weight loss. On the day I started carnivore was nothing more than another weight loss hack, the latest in the yo-yo dieting approach. I was going to drop 15-20 pounds (if it actually worked) and then go back to eating like normal people. I had already lost 10-12 pounds before I watched my first video or read my first article about carnivore. The weight came off so fast (averaged about a pound per day the first thirty days) when I was asked if I thought it was healthy to just eat meat and drink water I pretty much said, " I don't know, but the weight is falling off so I'm going to roll with it for now". I started reading and watching videos and one of the first videos that popped up was by Cabana Chronicles and her using carnivore for her MS. My autoimmune disease is really similar and that triggered me to watch a ton of videos that evening. Over the next few days I was in constant research mode. I never used the term lying but I was skeptical, even a nay-sayer, about the results people were sharing. As soon as I would start seeing the light (LOL) they would ask me to subscribe, or hit the LIKE button, or buy this product, and that became the catch/the automatic disconnect. I was on gabapentin/Neurontin and prednisone for pain and inflammation and there is no way those can be replaced with a rib eye. As Mrs. Cabana Chronicles talked about not taking medicine I was waiting for the hook, "what is for sale today?". Then it sort of dawned on me that I had come off my long stretch of nights (six 12-13 hours shifts) and I didn't take the medicine for pain and inflammation. I immediately tagged it as a coincidence. The following week I pulled my four shifts and then two more slots of overtime and no medicine during or after the six shifts. Then there was third week and (I'm sort of slow) it started to resonate that there may actually be a connection to carnivore and inflammation. I think my first true lesson in carnivore was that it is not the rib eye nearly as much as it is the elimination of the carbs and sugars. Withing 5-6 weeks of eating strict carnivore (other than the drink mixers to help with drinking water) I was off medicine I had been on for six years. From there I was 'curious' maybe even 'intrigued' by the effects of the elimination diet. I scheduled blood work, both my regular blood work for NMO/SD and my HAZMAT physicals for work. I staggered them to get bloodwork every 3 months or so to check my immunoglobulin numbers. Within three months on carnivore the lower numbers were inching up and the higher numbers were inching down. After 12 months as a strict carnivore my immunoglobulin numbers have returned to what is considered normal. I have one number that is just a few points high but nothing like the previous six years. When the post was made about lying I wonder if it is suggesting I am one of the people lying about my individual successes. I am no longer taking medicine for pain nor inflammation. I have lost between 90-95 pounds. My energy levels are not super human but they have returned to levels that I had as a much younger man but coupled with regular fasting (longer fasting 72 to 96 hours) the energy levels are super crazy high. Do people think I only lost 75 pounds and exaggerated my claims so it sounds better? Do I secretly take medicine and just claim I do not? I get it. I was that guy too. I was skeptical/didn't believe from the very beginning. Carnivore was just another weight loss hack, nothing more/nothing less. It was the same as any other hack that used large weight loss as click bait to get me to buy something. I would never use the term 'lying' but I can see where I came from that same sentiment for a stretch. If you look at each of our stories, how far we have come, I won't say we have all experienced miracles, but I will say for me, I've headed down that path. Sometimes, stories like these are hard to believe. babbling, waiting for the gym to open. Great conversation last night. Enjoyed it. Scott

No truer picture has been posted. Scott