Scott F.

It is normal but everyone probably needs a different amount. What I need probably moves up and down based on my activity level or work schedule. I don't salt everything when I eat. I tried it in water, and it does not taste good to me and makes water harder to drink. Maybe the most consistent thing I do is to eat a pinch of salt or two in the mornings. I happen to like salt on eggs so I get another dose then. Most days I get enough and I am sure on some days I get too much. For me there is not any difference between just enough and too much. However, if I don't get enough the energy flattens a bit and I have some cramping issues at night. My best guess would be for you to try ti dial it up and down to suit you. I am not sure there is an X amount per person. Scott

He did make changes some time back. I think it mostly proofs the point we have to do what is right for us as individuals, first and foremost. If that plan works for him then so be it. If it needs to have another name created, then again, so be it. Maybe even a bigger hope is that the process created people who are thinking for themselves. I read a lot of his work and watched a number of his videos. I am sure there are a handful of people who will move off carnivore and 'adopt' his new way of eating just because 'he said so'. All the benefits from eating real foods are great but learning to think for yourself and not follow the norm just because it is the norm, that's much better. On a similar note, I met a guy who is 63 and was on the carnivore approach for four plus years. He is jacked and puts in 'young man' work in the gym, even at 63 years old. He progresses thru his workout heavier and heavier each week with a couple of rest days in between. His peak day is Friday morning and he puts in a lot of work on that day. He morphed his carnivore outside the envelope as he now eats two baked sweet potatoes smothered in butter on Thursday night. He says this plan works for him. Carnivore six days a week, a carnivore based high fat/moderate protein and then add the two potatoes once per week. I am not sure what he has named his approach but just by appearance, it is working for him. Again, I doubt there is anything that can be considered cookie cutter when eating this way. Scott

Welcome. And I am skeptic at heart myself. This is a great place to bounce ideas off the wall and read others' experiences. Scott

I agree with John on the 'common sense' thought process to the lean meat/less fat approach to "carnivore" and I actually tried it. It makes sense in theory but metabolically for me it didn't. I can't say whether it will work for anyone else but this my personal experience as I went down the same train of thought. Even prior to carnivore my blood sugar has always been relatively low. Upper 80's to low 90's and before carnivore the 'dawn phenomenon' might get me into the upper 90's but I never broke 100 until a couple months into carnivore. Even the first couple months into carnivore when I was eating the higher fat content the blood sugar remained relatively low. I made an adjustment to lessen my fat intake and use more lean meats. A couple three things happened. Weight loss: It basically stalled in comparison to the rate at which I was losing overall. The first month I lost 31 pounds in 30-31 days. The second month I lost 22lbs in a month. The first number probably carried some initial water weight, but the second month is still quite the accomplishment. The kicker is about 18-19 pounds was in the first three weeks of the month about the same time I made the switch to a lesser fat/leaner meat approach. From around 256 pounds til 246 took more than a month. It was a steady bounce around a certain weight for three-four-five days drop a couple then up and down over that 1–2-pound lesser number all over again. I was accustomed to the mongo numbers and was becoming somewhat disappointed with my progress, even though it was still good progress. Blood sugar: Soon after switching to lesser fat/leaner meat my blood sugar made a shift. I broke 100 to 105 for the first time in my life. Around that same time my morning number was 110 or more and my daily was around 100. Big picture? Not the end of the world but a shift up the same. On my mom's side of the family, I am about the only non-diabetic (mom, sister, grandmother, aunts and uncles and several cousins) so I have always tracked my blood glucose, so it does not sneak up on me, even when I ate the diet I did in the past. Any movement up is a concern for me. Energy: I didn't totally flatten out or crash. There was a difference but along the same time I started to walk more and increase the load at the gym. Those were topped off by it being the busy time at work and my 12-hour shifts were often 13 and picking up extra shifts became the norm. There were some other factors in play, but my energy level was not the same. Stools: I found I had no consistency on the low fat/leaner meat approach. I would go 5-6-7 days without going, followed by a somewhat difficult bout with constipation and that would be followed by several days of "looseness". Stools can be comical at times and my looseness force me to find several spots on my commute to work that I could whip over to the side of the road and prevent a bad situation. Followed by 5+ days without, then repeat the looseness. Nothing consistent. So, for me, here is what I concluded. My body is looking for an energy source and what I eat becomes the primary energy source. On the high fat kickoff to carnivore my body was ditching the glycogen/sugars and afterwards the first thing available was the fats I was eating. As I became fat adaptive it was the fat I was eating, and the next best thing was the fat I had been storing. The weight was peeling off. The proteins left over were used for muscle recovery/repair. I am sure at times the protein is used for energy, but the high fat eating led to fat being my primary energy source. Higher fat to protein also kept my blood sugar down, at least to the same lower numbers I had always experienced. My blood sugar shift came after ditching the fat and using leaner meats. The first thing in was lean protein and that became the 'new' source of energy. The protein source of energy sort of stalled the fat loss and thru the gluconeogenesis there was "excess" sugar in my system, maybe not excess but more than I had had in the past. The body looks for energy sources and will take the easiest and first available. Although the sugar has always been a concern I didn't make any changes. What forced me to increase the fat content back was the stools and their unpredictability. I stayed the course until I didn't make it to the bathroom in Sam's. Another day it was before I could get to the side of the road and the last time was in the parking lot at work. (Again comical, I thought I am the only person in the world that had to use the patch of decorative trees and bushes just inside the plant property. But, to my surprise as I was really loose there was a log on the ground, I would have been really happy to claim vs. my current situation). I re-added the fat content and sort of went back to the way I originally started. Higher fat content-moderate to high proteins with no carbs/no sugars. In took a week or so and my stool was more consistent. I didn't pay much attention but soon I realized the energy levels were up and then gym load and the workload were still relatively high. I attributed it to the fat content. Soon after that the weight started another fall again. Since then, I am a high fat (maybe higher fat than most) with moderate protein. As of late I have upped the protein intake to hit a muscle gaining levels in grams per pound, but I think my liking fat and the higher fat content may put me closer to what is considered desirable. Not real sure there. Good luck. Sorry for the length. But I had the exact same thought process as you and for me, it didn't pan out. I'm interested to see how it works for you. Wishing you the best in your search. Scott

4 eggs that were laid yesterday. Country style pork ribs from the country store down the road and hog jowls from just down the road. Fat content is a bit high today but it was pretty awesome. My son is cooking wings in the cabin tonight and as his grease got hot I dropped the rest of the jowls in and just had them for a late evening snack. Scott

Decreased appetite is somewhat normal. The biggest part is that the foods on carnivore are much more satiating. It is really easy to get full on a much lesser amount. Looking back I find it hard to believe the amounts I ate once upon a time. As of late, I have been trying to hit a protein amount for muscle growth and that amount of protein is more food that I really feel like eating. I have to force myself to finish at times. Scott

The 'boring' part and eating out is the reason my son has tried the diet a couple three different times. My wife the same. Long before carnivore I was a very boring eater. My Pops would say, "eat your supper because we have work to do tomorrow", or 'eat your breakfast that house is not going to build itself". From early on I associated food as the fuel to do work. I never seen it as an 'enjoyable' experience or "Let's go try the new restaurant". That part of eating never clicked in my brain. When we cook pigs, or shoulders or briskets over fire I enjoy the cooking more than the eating. I guess food has been more sustenance to me than enjoyment or part of having a good time. I could eat a bologna sandwich 6 days a week, and if I could swing a peanut butter and jell sandwich on Sunday, I thought I was golden. As I see my son and my wife make the attempts I can see how 'boring' can be a drawback. Scott

Yep. 91 pounds since last May. 91 pounds over the last 72 hours would a bigger whopper than any of my fishing or hunting stories. LOL I do root cause analysis a lot at work. I then try to apply some of that thought process into things at home. Yes. The 91 pound is a result of the carnivore WOE. To get deeper, first off, the decision to go carnivore was knee-jerk and maybe even haphazard. Zero research or prep, just dove right in. Maybe not the best way to make a decision. But at some point, I decided this is working for me, then no longer needing medicine, then the weight continued to fall, the energy levels are better than they have been in many years, and I decided I need to maintain the course. With some reflection, I decided long ago to be fat and basically unhealthy based on my choices. As of late I "think" I am making better decisions. I'd also like to the board/forum and the posters. Reading others' experiences as well as sharing my own have helped me a ton along the way. Thanks. Scott

I'm just 9 months in so I still don't refer to it as my lifestyle. Maybe I get there, maybe I don't. Time will tell. I'm sort of the odd man out as I did only come to carnivore as a weight loss approach. I did look at it as the next fad diet coming down the pipe. I also felt like it would be like any other diet that drops the weight, the life choices change and the weight comes right back, usually with a few extra of his friends (pounds). I had zero expectations for any other benefits than to drop a few pounds. If someone had told me before I started that eating meat, salt and water would take me off medicine I had been on/depended on for more than 6 years I would have reacted the same as most of the people we talk to about carnivore. "Yeah, right". People are most interested in the weight loss because that is what they can see and I re-enforced that with the 90+ pound weight loss over the last 9 months. But when I explain that it has taken me off medicine that was going to be lifelong, I sort of lose them. That gets me back to your original point. I tell them my story and what they do with that is up to them. Scott

I never have myself. I can't even do sushi so I doubt meat would ever be a possibility for me. Scott

I made the 72 hour fast without issue. I didn't hit the wall like I did on the first attempt. It was actually fairly easy. My blood sugar tracked up and then down. The entire time I did not feel hungry and my energy level remained relatively high. This morning I had a really good workout after a 13 hour night shift, and being about 64 hours into a water fast. I think the biggest difference between the two attempts is that I ensured I got plenty of salt. The last time I don't think I was as smart with hydration and electrolytes. Tonight, I ate some fatty country style pork ribs to break the fast. I didn't eat but a couple as I am not sure how the first meal will be on the empty stomach. My weight fluctuated a bit and ended up a couple three pounds lighter than when I started. Tonight at the end of the fast I hit 215 (from 306). I have not been at 215 since just after Navy Dive School in 1991. (soon after I started a long term relationship with Mr. Jim Beam. He was my drinking buddy for a bunch of years. The weight began to add up) I'm starting to read more and more about the effectiveness of fasting for longer periods of time. Mostly what I have read is that on the Carnivore diet the thoughts are split on how effective fasting is when the carbs are already gone. Tons to learn I suppose. Scott blood fasting.pdf

Yes, I do. When I buy the fat like that the butcher usually leaves a few strands of red meat. It makes some really nice snacks once fried and "most" of the fat is rendered. Tastes amazing. Scott

The object is to find the plan that works for you and sometimes that plan does not fit under the same umbrella as everyone/anyone else. We have some things in common. I was big (306) old (55) fat dude who only tried carnivore because my son did it for a couple three weeks and lost 12-14 pounds or so. I can eat red meat by the bucket full so when I heard 'eat til you are full', I was sold. I repeat a lot of things for context because I am not sure who has read what. I started off what I thought was eating strict carnivore but the first week I did finish off a 12-pack of Mountain Dew and a tub of ice cream. I then went strict on the food, meats, salt and water, but I did use drink mixers to help me learn to like water. A couple months of those and since just plain water. We had several weight loss contests at work, and I won them all. Once I ate only Grape Nuts cereal twice per day and walked around 3 miles per my days off (3-4 times per week). I lost 32 pounds in 50 days (60-day challenge but I started late). The next contest was more of balanced meals and walking. Both times I ditched the Mountain Dews and snack cakes to get the day started. Both times I didn't eat after 6PM and then again at 6AM the next morning. It averaged around eating at 6AM and 1PM-2PM based on work. The next time I lost 30+ pounds in 60 days to win again. Both times I celebrated the victory with two bacon, egg and cheese on buns with a Mountain Dew and a snack cake. Each time I gained the weight back plus a few extras. For me, losing weight is not hard and keeping it off is not all that hard. The difference between easy and hard is my decision making. Poor decisions put me right back on the heavy/heavier train. I like fats, especially beef fat and pork fat. I could just eat a plate of that and be perfectly content. When people toss out the numbers of X amount of protein and X amount of fat I am easily ahead on the fat chart. If I choose between a rib eye and a chuck roast, I choose the one with the most fats. (Plus, it is cheaper and I'm both fat and cheap) I am about 64 hours deep into a 72 hour fast. Nothing but water since Tuesday night around 8-9PM. The last time I attempted to do a 72 hour fast I crashed at 71 hours. Fell flat. No energy and felt like I was starving. 7 more hours to see if that wall still exists. I think your plan will work for you, especially if you make it work for you. I would go with the fattier cuts of red meat and let chicken and some cuts of pork be leaner choices. Personally, I look for fat, so I buy the cheaper cuts of pork, and I also think skinless chicken is an abomination. The first thing one could do to ruin a good chicken is to peel the skin off. This is a lifelong struggle I have yet to figure out. Right up there with 10 hotdogs in a pack but only 8 buns to a pack. Babbling..... Good luck with your plan. Keep us posted. I enjoy reading other people's experiences more so than studies or youtube videos trying to sell me something. This morning, I hit 216, down 90 pounds from May 8, 2024. Maybe 9 1/2 months. I just did a 13 hour night shift, went meat shopping and then hit the gym. Math will not be my strong suit til much later in the day. Scott

Absolutely nothing. I'm pushing the 60-hour mark on the 72 hours fast. So far so good. No cravings. No hunger. Energy level still good. 72 might turn into ~84 because I am trying not to eat and then crashing. The 72 hours would be up around 8:80-9PM on Friday night. What's 10-12 more hours? Scott

Yep. I'm a lifelong shift worker and a rotating shift worker at that. As I read it was like the author was speaking to me personally. LOL Maybe the worst thing about working 12-hour shifts is that either day or night you find yourself eating and then going to bed. I have went stretches where I would bring two meals to work but I seem to always gravitate back to eating before laying down. Convenience I guess. Since carnivore, and mostly after winding up eating about once a day, I don't eat then sleep nearly as often. On dayshift I eat around lunch time and then I am good til the next day. On night shift I eat somewhere in the first couple three hours of the shift, work 8-9 more hours and then go home to lay down. OMAD suits me better. When I was trying to hit protein targets, I reverted back to eating prior to sleeping. A 12 hour shift that most of the time ends up being 13+, followed by a 45-minute drive home, a half hour to an hour of taking care of animals, and that next 12 hours is staring me right in the face. I have been gainfully employed like this for 30+ years. I guess it keeps the lights on. LOL Scott

Congrats. Scott

I'm making a chart and I will post it tomorrow night at the end of the fast. 72 hours will be around 8PM Friday night and I am not a big fan of eating that late. If I hit the wall like I did on my first 72 hour fast I will eat but odds are I will stretch it out til the following mid-morning. Time will tell. I wish I had been able to check my blood sugar before the last meal and within an hour or so afterwards but that didn't work out. My first reading was 113 and I think the 'dawn phenomenon' played a role in that number. (I have never been over 100 prior to going on carnivore). The blood sugar has dropped each 12 hours since. 113-92-82-75. Learning as I go. I have always had 'lower blood sugar'. There are a lot of mornings (pre-carnivore) and had an anxious feeling, sometimes a little dizzy and sort of a use the wall to get down the hall approach to get my morning going. Usually that meant my blood sugar was around the 90 mark, give or take. I got my morning Mountain Dew and snack cake, and the sugar jumped into the mid to upper 90's and I felt fine. This morning as I showed the 82 reading it caught me off guard so I took it again. Same thing. The difference? No carb and no sugars for months and my blood sugar is much more easily regulated. I am guessing I am somewhat deep into ketosis ( I am going to buy a meter just so I will know). Between ketosis, ketones, and probably being solidly fat adaptive I feel OK/good even though the blood sugar number is much lower that what has affected me in the past. I think maybe I am just getting healthier. Details to follow. Scott

This is true. But bacteria and bugs and such are in everything. Go to the store and buy the finest meat or chicken you can find. Bring it home, freeze it as is or wash it, re-package and freeze. When it is frozen solid, for even weeks on end, pull the plug on the freezer but do not open the lid for two weeks. When you open the lid can anyone explain where the maggots come from? I guess I sort of roll the dice. LOL Scott

I fix burgers and put them in a sandwich bag for trips and outings. Burgers seem to work best for me. Last year we went to West Virginia to ride side by sides. The night before I cooked a weekends worth of country style pork ribs and chuck steaks. Cuts of meat that can be eaten without forks and knives. I got quite the laughs when I am standing on the side of the path with a hunk of steak or pork or burger for a snack. Scott

It didn't load on the above post. We oil him down throughout the cook to keep the skins moist. Once we flip him and the chopping is done, it is all about the skins. Scott

Find an old broke down BBQ joint (and it may be a geographical challenge). We have several here and they sell bags straight from the grill/fryer. From skins cooked down to cracklings. After you get past the tongue, then the fatty stomach meat, and on somedays the tenderloin, the skins can be the best part of the pig.

You have to keep plugging away. Look for the positives and build upon those. Try to correct some of the negatives. I doubt you can win the war until you start winning the battles. Sometimes it does boil down to the whys. Why? did you try carnivore? Why? are the benefits not outweighing my addictions? From there, work on what you can. I was on the bottle for a long period of time, so much so, that it dictated/played a role in most every part of my life. During that stretch it was more important to me than most everything else. I would say things were important to me, but my actions would speak otherwise. I said my son was the most important thing in the world to me until I was too drunk to be there when he needed me. I'm not one to preach, or stand up on the pedestal and talk down, but sometimes things are as simple as your personal decision making. Keep plugging away. This is a good place to unload, ask questions, learn from another's experience and maybe get better. Scott

This a conversation I have had with my buddy several times. As a kid we ate every Sunday at my grandma's house. Mostly everything was fried. I can remember the leftovers (chicken, pork chops, burgers, etc.) sitting on the stove for the rest of the day. And a lot of times they were breakfast the next day. His grandma did not refrigerate her mayonnaise. She kept it in the cupboard, even after opened. They had a part of the house that was called the back porch (but was actually closed in) and they hung meat from the ceiling. When we bring eggs in from the pen they are on the counter for a couple three days (usually eaten by then). I will say your process is less wasteful. We never let food sit on our counter and go bad. We put it in a container, stick it in the refrigerator and wait for it to go bad there. LOL Like most things, it is an individual approach. If it works for you, then it works for you. The world survived for a while before the refrigerator was a thing. At one point we hunted for food daily, it lasted a couple three days and we hunted some more. You are 'hunting' the same but at the grocery store. Scott

Circadian misalignments such as eating late, eating at night, daytime sleep and nighttime wake due to shift work or voluntary behaviors can increase risks of weight gain, obesity, diabetes, liver diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, digestive diseases, sleep disorders, inflammation and depression. (This is me to a "T". There are numerous studies that show the ill-effects of shift work, and rotating shift work makes a deeper dive.) Irregular eating patterns affect sleep quality, digestion, and hormone releases as well as put stress on the body. Eating meals irregularly has been found to associate with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic risk factors, including BMI and blood pressure (Yep. Spot on for me as well. Although I could have eaten better over the years, and could have made better decisions, I did allow my work schedule to dictate a large percentage of my life-health issues included. There are a lot of people who work rotating shifts and live healthy but it is due to better decision making. In my younger years I would work all night, not sleep very much during the day, work the next night and buy a double-deuce (22oz) Budweiser for the ride home in the morning. Maybe a stop at a fast food joint and then sleep during the day. On the last night of the rotation the Mountain Dews and snack cakes kept me going. Again, all poor decisons on my part) Great article. Appreciate the post. Scott

Will check it out later tonight. We are in the midst of a big snow storm. We have about 8" and steadily snowing with some reports showing it will continue to snow til tomorrow morning. We are in rural NC and although our state workers and the private contractors do great work with our roads, we are simply not prepared for winter weather. We get this type of snow once every 5-10 years. I'm at work and the plant is shutdown. I should be able to watch the last three or four videos left on youtube. After last night I think I have seen all the rest. LOL Scott