Scott F.

Keep going. In the first month you are still adjusting. Increasing the proteins in your diet and removing the carbs probably moved you into ketosis.
Mine made a jump in the early months but fell back to normal. Then recently it pushed just outside the normal limit but I have been eating a lot of protein as of late.
I don't do organ meats and I make sure I hydrate throughout the day. When I eat normal amounts of protein and hydrate my number drops back.
Not sure if this helps but I have seen my uric number inch up and down over the last 18-19 months.
Scott

Keep going. In the first month you are still adjusting. Increasing the proteins in your diet and removing the carbs probably moved you into ketosis.
Mine made a jump in the early months but fell back to normal. Then recently it pushed just outside the normal limit but I have been eating a lot of protein as of late.
I don't do organ meats and I make sure I hydrate throughout the day. When I eat normal amounts of protein and hydrate my number drops back.
Not sure if this helps but I have seen my uric number inch up and down over the last 18-19 months.
Scott

I held on to my flip phone with nothing but text and calls, and didn't so texting for the longest.
Once I get past email and youtube my tech skills fade fast.
Good luck.
Scott

I read some passages a few weeks ago.
I enjoy his videos. Straight to the point.
Scott

Hopefully I can be off on a Monday night soon and stop by. Been over a month now. Hope all is well. I will more than likely rewatch Tuesday morning.
Scott

Let's start off with saying in August of 2018 I was simply fat, dumb and happy. I was in the 320's, never really had blood sugar nor blood pressure issues but the cholesterol had been ever increasing thru my upper forties. Around the time I turned 49 the doctor convinced me to give the statins a try, I forget which one, but I picked up the prescription. About the third day I started to feel funny, and by the fourth to the fifth day I had every side effect listed. When I googled the medicine it listed the five more common side effects and I had all five by day five. I stopped taking them that day but the symptoms continued, and some even worsened.
I fought the symptoms for a month or more. The doctor offered another version of the statin, maybe another name brand, but I declined. By mid-September I had cramps behind my eyes and pains in my neck and spine that would drive me to my knees.
On Monday morning, Labor Day 2018, I woke up as blind as a bat. Zero sight. Everything was as the same color as a computer screen when turned off. I freaked out. The pain in my neck/spine was crippling. On the way to the emergency room some of sight returned in my left eye almost like a curtain was being peeled back. By noon I could see again but the pain was even more intense.
Over the next three months it was CAT scan after CAT scan, blood draw after blood draw, multiple MRI's, a couple EMG's, a lumbar puncture (spinal tap), some visual evoke type tests, some cognizance exams, probably in stroke protocol 10-15 times when the left side showed weakness or no mobility.
In late December I was diagnosed with Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder. During the explanations of the disease the neurologist said something triggered the autoimmune response and your body reacted. By then I was well onto my Google Medical degree and was near graduating from the Youtube College of Medicine and based on my newfound medical expertise (LOL) my trigger was the statins. I have no medical background to say that was the case and it could have been a complete coincidence; I simply could not prove it one way or the other. But in my brain (and in my heart) it was the statins.
From that point til now, I doubt statins will ever be an option.
Scott

Congrats.
Sometimes the 'eating Holidays' can be a challenge (Thanksgiving and Christmas).
Sounds like you nailed this one. Congrats.
Happy Holidays.
Scott

Smart man.
Scott

Let's start off with saying in August of 2018 I was simply fat, dumb and happy. I was in the 320's, never really had blood sugar nor blood pressure issues but the cholesterol had been ever increasing thru my upper forties. Around the time I turned 49 the doctor convinced me to give the statins a try, I forget which one, but I picked up the prescription. About the third day I started to feel funny, and by the fourth to the fifth day I had every side effect listed. When I googled the medicine it listed the five more common side effects and I had all five by day five. I stopped taking them that day but the symptoms continued, and some even worsened.
I fought the symptoms for a month or more. The doctor offered another version of the statin, maybe another name brand, but I declined. By mid-September I had cramps behind my eyes and pains in my neck and spine that would drive me to my knees.
On Monday morning, Labor Day 2018, I woke up as blind as a bat. Zero sight. Everything was as the same color as a computer screen when turned off. I freaked out. The pain in my neck/spine was crippling. On the way to the emergency room some of sight returned in my left eye almost like a curtain was being peeled back. By noon I could see again but the pain was even more intense.
Over the next three months it was CAT scan after CAT scan, blood draw after blood draw, multiple MRI's, a couple EMG's, a lumbar puncture (spinal tap), some visual evoke type tests, some cognizance exams, probably in stroke protocol 10-15 times when the left side showed weakness or no mobility.
In late December I was diagnosed with Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder. During the explanations of the disease the neurologist said something triggered the autoimmune response and your body reacted. By then I was well onto my Google Medical degree and was near graduating from the Youtube College of Medicine and based on my newfound medical expertise (LOL) my trigger was the statins. I have no medical background to say that was the case and it could have been a complete coincidence; I simply could not prove it one way or the other. But in my brain (and in my heart) it was the statins.
From that point til now, I doubt statins will ever be an option.
Scott

Ours has changed as well. My grandma had five children and all their children and grandchildren managed to pack into a 12-1300 square foot house. She cooked half the night and half the day. Everyone brought dishes, the women folk hit the kitchen to pitch in and the men folk sat around 'sneak drinking' waiting for football.
My wife's family much the same. Her mother and her older sister were from way back, right off the farm. My wife was the first kid in their family to go off to college. If you picked your tea glass up and the ice 'almost rattled' they would be there to top off your glass. I remember teasing my wife about that and how college had ruined her. I rattled my glass to let her know it was empty, and she said if I were waiting on her for the re-fill I would eventually perish to death.
Now our son is married with his first child, and everyone is doing things with branches of the families but neither family altogether like days gone by.
I'm 56, not 86 or 96, but things sure have changed.
My wife's banana pudding is world class. My mom's sweet potato pie is top notch. My great aunt's country ham with red eye gravy is superb. My grandma's fresh hams were awesome (and this is when their cousins were still oinking in the bottom).
It is not hard to see how I topped out in the 320's. LOL
Scott

Agreed.
Since going to carnivore I have made some huge strides health wise but all those strides were built upon small victories, the day to day stuff.
I am a fan of the 'continual improvement' approach. I think we are all trying to dial it in at some point.
Scott

The last six months I have tried to eat to hit a protein target. Still strict carnivore (18-19 months) but eating pretty much more than I want each day to have enough protein for muscle growth. The proteins went up, and I didn't hit the fat targets, so I had some stiff and hard stools. I increased the fat to catch up to the proteins and help with the stools as well. In turn, so my diet has not been 'eat when hungry-eat til full' for the last six months or so.
After six to 12 months on carnivore my cholesterol dropped a few points but took a significant bounce up at the 18-month mark. I was expecting an increase with the sheer amount of food I was eating but I didn't expect the numbers to jump this much.
May thru November 2024 May 2025 November 2025
Total Cholesterol 239 212 274
LDL 185 150 164
HDL 37 39 55
Tri-G 49 43 41

My total weight loss of carnivore has been 95-96lbs and in the last couple months I gained 12-15 pounds bouncing around the 215-mark for the most part. The weight gain I expected as the lifting has become more and more a part of my day to day. I am stronger now than I can even remember (never was much on lifting) and the energy levels are still that constant/ability to keep going since early on with carnivore. I feel just as good now as I did six months ago. I had a great visit with my neurologist yesterday. (He is moving back home to Alabama so I quipped that carnivore was going to run him out of business. He replied, "I hope so".) He told me of all his NMO patients I have made the biggest turnaround and went from ho-hum numbers 18 months ago til now. All my markers are within limit is with the exception of one. I started carnivore 18 months ago, so I let people draw their own conclusions. (LOL, preaching to the choir in a forum such as this). My blood sugar crept up a little. My day-to-day over the last six months moved from the low 80's to touching the low 90's every now and then. Yesterday it was 94. Blood pressure was 100/58 before the infusion and 98/54 afterwards (laying in a recliner for five hours).
Even with the cholesterol making a jump this is how I judge my health. When I first started the infusions I was 310+lbs and was on a dumpster diet. After each infusion I would be wiped completely out. The 45-minute ride home felt like hours. I hit the recliner for a stretch then to bed really early. restless sleep all night and pretty much flat the next day. Fast forward from 18 months ago, yesterday I saw the Neurologist at 8AM, started the infusion at 9AM (use to be six hours at 310 pounds but now 5 hours at 220) and I was home by 3PM. The ride home was a simple ride home and I ate bacon, sausage and eggs mid-afternoon. I went outside and busted/split just about a Toyota truck full of red oak from two trees we had taken down last week. Fed all the animals as it got dark and back in the house. I went to bed at 9 and now I am up at my normal 3AM time frame. I checked out the forum and now off to the gym to be one of those 4AM weirdos (LOL).
I'm going to call that progress, maybe with a chunk more of fat running free in my bloodstream, but over the last 18 months, progress the same.
I don't think we make progress over months/years without stacking up a bunch of day-to-day wins.
Hope all is well with you and yours.
Scott

Congrats.
Scott

In sort of the same boat. First month in '24 I lost pretty much a pound a day for a month. Took me a few weeks to figure out milk created a stall but steadily lost weight until most people thought I was sick again like 2018 and just not telling.
If I just ate when I was hungry it would be every 30 hours or so (even longer at times) but I have tried to hit my protein per pound requirements for building muscle, and it is very hard. After carnivore I have not had the appetite to hit those protein targets consistently. I have had considerable strength gains int he gym for a 56-year-old, but the size gains are noticeable but not what i would expect.
I could stand to lose a few more pounds, and if I just ate when I was hungry, I am sure they would fall right off. I am hanging around 90-95 pounds lost since May '24. I am not complaining about my appetite as much as I am impressed by the amounts I hear others are able to eat. 2lbs of red meat for me is over two days of food and people are eating that in a sitting. Impressed and a bit jealous as well. LOL
All in all, I'm in a good place.
Scott

I will check it out later.
I was a boring eater prior to carnivore so I could eat the same thing every day and not have issues/complaints.
The only time I got away from 'boring meat' was when we made the carnivore pizza. It turned out really nice and I enjoyed it a lot.
As said before, I have become a big fan of fasting. I had some struggles coming off my first dry fast. I went 48 hours dry fasting and followed it up with 48 hours of water fasting. I felt pretty good toward the end but not near as good as when I do a regular water fast. I ate on Friday and on Saturday I was absolutely flat, flat all day.
babbling, but off the top of my head th egg drop soup sounds like something that would help me ease out of the fast.
Gonna check it out.
Scott

Another season is here and just the other day at the shop we were talking hunting stories. One of my buddy's passed a couple three years ago and he always told the best hunting story (and this one is actually true) (and I may have shared it last year)
His dad was in his 80's and had been an avid deer hunter his entire life. he and his brothers paid for his dad to go out west and trophy hunt one last time. The deer were just about trained to show at certain feeders at certain times during the day. It was not much hunting but it was goign to serve the purpose for Mr. Roberts to give it one more whirl.
On cue, the massive buck walked right up to the blind. He raised his shotgun and squeezed one off. The deer dropped dead in its tracks and my buddy said they heard scream for miles. He shot him right in the face/head. Antlers/rack was shattered. His sons were pissed. The owners of the deer camp were pissed. As they grew this trophy buck for just such an occasion.
In soft southern drawl, Mr. Roberts said, "You can boil'em, bake'em, or fry'em and you still can't eat the horns".
Every year this is the first story I think of when hunting season rolls around.
Scott

I'm that guy that walks up when the last good deal was just sold. LOL
A buddy of mine just bought a chuck roll and instead of cutting up for the individual steaks, "Denver" and "Ribeye", he just sliced the chuck roll as it lay. He said he was happy with the way the steaks turned out.
I'm thinking of giving that a run in the next month or so.
This weekend was our first frost and the group killed hogs. I will stop by a get my 60-70lbs of sausage tomorrow.
I never do the math on the sausage because I am almost sure I am losing money, LOL But it falls into the "it tastes amazing and I know where it came from" category.
Enjoy babbling. LOL
Scott

Great topic.
I watched a video today that says creatine and HMB is a great combination to help with the same.
The reviews are mixed and it pretty much lands that it is not as effective for experienced/advance type lifters, regardless of age. The flip side being it shows great improvements in strength by older people who don't lift regularly or who are just starting resistance type training.
As always, I will dig a little deeper with this video.
Scott

And you are spot on. I do the same.
On the weeks/months when I am lifting more weight/more volume I do 6+ just about every day.
When I am on my normal schedule it is 3 or so. About to do three in just a minute.
My fast got broken up by a surprise dinner at work so I will regroup on that front, but that leads me to the egg carton this morning.
Scott

Another season is here and just the other day at the shop we were talking hunting stories. One of my buddy's passed a couple three years ago and he always told the best hunting story (and this one is actually true) (and I may have shared it last year)
His dad was in his 80's and had been an avid deer hunter his entire life. he and his brothers paid for his dad to go out west and trophy hunt one last time. The deer were just about trained to show at certain feeders at certain times during the day. It was not much hunting but it was goign to serve the purpose for Mr. Roberts to give it one more whirl.
On cue, the massive buck walked right up to the blind. He raised his shotgun and squeezed one off. The deer dropped dead in its tracks and my buddy said they heard scream for miles. He shot him right in the face/head. Antlers/rack was shattered. His sons were pissed. The owners of the deer camp were pissed. As they grew this trophy buck for just such an occasion.
In soft southern drawl, Mr. Roberts said, "You can boil'em, bake'em, or fry'em and you still can't eat the horns".
Every year this is the first story I think of when hunting season rolls around.
Scott

Without the nicotine and caffeine your six hours may increase, maybe not a full 1.5 to 2 hours you are looking for, but I would guess it would be an increase.
Our sleep is nearly identical. I am a lifelong shift worker. I always have slept from around 9 to around 3AM when sleeping at night. If I am sleeping the daytime (which I sleep better during the day) I sleep from 9AM til about 4PM.
The difference for on carnivore is that when I wake, I am up. There is no rolling over and going back to sleep. Even my days off start about 4AM. I am one of those "weirdos" in the gym at 4:30AM.
My sleep is solid and I awake feeling well rested. I am probably in that 6-hour range as well.
As far as the pizza and the nine hours, that is well beyond me. Other than the stomach yelling at the brain saying, "I'm going to be here awhile with this extra stuff-keep him down for a couple extra hours".
I too drink milk. I don't drink a gallon a day and don't drink it every day but three to four times per week. When I was losing weight (95lbs over 12-13 months or so) anytime I drank milk it was like an automatic stall. One glass of milk seemed to stop my weight loss in its tracks. Once I started hovering around 95lbs lost I picked back up on the milk.
Good luck. Hopefully you can find those other two hours of sleep.
Scott

Without the nicotine and caffeine your six hours may increase, maybe not a full 1.5 to 2 hours you are looking for, but I would guess it would be an increase.
Our sleep is nearly identical. I am a lifelong shift worker. I always have slept from around 9 to around 3AM when sleeping at night. If I am sleeping the daytime (which I sleep better during the day) I sleep from 9AM til about 4PM.
The difference for on carnivore is that when I wake, I am up. There is no rolling over and going back to sleep. Even my days off start about 4AM. I am one of those "weirdos" in the gym at 4:30AM.
My sleep is solid and I awake feeling well rested. I am probably in that 6-hour range as well.
As far as the pizza and the nine hours, that is well beyond me. Other than the stomach yelling at the brain saying, "I'm going to be here awhile with this extra stuff-keep him down for a couple extra hours".
I too drink milk. I don't drink a gallon a day and don't drink it every day but three to four times per week. When I was losing weight (95lbs over 12-13 months or so) anytime I drank milk it was like an automatic stall. One glass of milk seemed to stop my weight loss in its tracks. Once I started hovering around 95lbs lost I picked back up on the milk.
Good luck. Hopefully you can find those other two hours of sleep.
Scott

I'm the guiltiest but carnivore is automatically associated with weight loss and tons of people (like me) see it as another weight loss hack.
If the lead off was the health benefits that come from carnivore and not just health benefits from just losing weight, but carnivore itself, it would move even faster into the mainstream.
I still find myself leading off with "I'm on carnivore and lost........" when I should be talking about "I'm on carnivore and I have not taken medicine for NMO/SD for pain and inflammation since June of 24. My blood sugar is around 80 every day and my energy levels are constant throughout the day even as the work load increases, the ability to continue remains".
But, it is the weight loss that rings the loudest.
Scott

I just completed a 96 hour fast. I did a dry fast from Monday night to Wednesday night, drank some water with some salt, then continued to Friday night with 48 more hours of a water fast.
Energy levels stayed way up throughout the week. This is the first time fasting while working day shift. On Wednesday I did feel a little muscle fatigue/muscular endurance issues as I had to go from the first floor to the fourth floor and roof four or five time in an hour. I am sure being a little dehydrated played a part in that, having 56 birthdays probably contributed as well. I sat down to fill out some work orders and after that energy was solid the rest of the day.
Once I started rehydrating on Wednesday the Thursday and Friday energy levels were really high. The days were hectic and fast paced at work but the energy levels remained, maybe somewhere between really high and the steady energy I have gained from carnivore.
I am a little loose in the caboose after breaking the fast, again. But all in all, it went well.
My bloodwork is coming up in a couple of weeks and I am coupling that with the way I feel and have felt the last year with no NMO/SD day symptoms/issues. I am leaning toward no longer taking the infusions every six months. That is six to eight hours I can find something else to do and $3500-$3900 I can buy more meats. LOL
I credit my new found health to the carnivore lifestyle (I called it a carnivore diet for well over a year but I think now at 18-19 months it is a lifestyle now), fasting and working out. Just like anyone else, I might kick over graveyard dead at any time as nothing is promised, but these three things have me felling better than I have in 30+ years and in better health to boot.
For me it is a really good combination.
Scott

I just completed a 96 hour fast. I did a dry fast from Monday night to Wednesday night, drank some water with some salt, then continued to Friday night with 48 more hours of a water fast.
Energy levels stayed way up throughout the week. This is the first time fasting while working day shift. On Wednesday I did feel a little muscle fatigue/muscular endurance issues as I had to go from the first floor to the fourth floor and roof four or five time in an hour. I am sure being a little dehydrated played a part in that, having 56 birthdays probably contributed as well. I sat down to fill out some work orders and after that energy was solid the rest of the day.
Once I started rehydrating on Wednesday the Thursday and Friday energy levels were really high. The days were hectic and fast paced at work but the energy levels remained, maybe somewhere between really high and the steady energy I have gained from carnivore.
I am a little loose in the caboose after breaking the fast, again. But all in all, it went well.
My bloodwork is coming up in a couple of weeks and I am coupling that with the way I feel and have felt the last year with no NMO/SD day symptoms/issues. I am leaning toward no longer taking the infusions every six months. That is six to eight hours I can find something else to do and $3500-$3900 I can buy more meats. LOL
I credit my new found health to the carnivore lifestyle (I called it a carnivore diet for well over a year but I think now at 18-19 months it is a lifestyle now), fasting and working out. Just like anyone else, I might kick over graveyard dead at any time as nothing is promised, but these three things have me felling better than I have in 30+ years and in better health to boot.
For me it is a really good combination.
Scott