challenge "World Carnivore Month" January Challenge!

[Bob]

Today is the first day of January and is also the first day of World Carnivore Month. To that end, let's challenge ourselves to eat a carnivore diet for the entire month of January. The type of carnivore diet and the level of strictness you choose to do is entirely up to you. Examples of carnivore diets include the following...

1) The Lion Diet. A person eating the Lion Diet only consumes the flesh of ruminant animals, water, and salt.

2) The BBBE Diet. BBBE is an acronym for Beef, Butter, Bacon, and Eggs. 

3) The Carnivore Diet. This allows for the consumption of any and all animals and animal by-products, including dairy. 

In any of the above examples, the object of course is to not consume any plants as part of your diet. Of course, we're not going to micromanage hoe you prepare your food, so your use of seasonings is entirely your own personal choice.

IF your circumstances don't allow you to go full on carnivore in January, then you can participate in this topic by challenge yourself to do better, above and beyond what you have been doing. For example, if you have still been eating grains, seed oils, refined sugar, or drinking alcohol, challenge yourself to avoid these items and just eat a clean, single ingredient whole foods diet such as clean keto, ketovore, or animal based. 

We encourage you to check in daily, and share what you have eaten, perhaps a weigh-in if you're willing, and enjoy in some small talk.  Participants in this topic will be entered into a drawing for a prize at the end of the month.

[Nemo]

oh damn gotta get a green card in order to win the price? fine... imma find a wife real quick.

[Bob]

 

1 hour ago, Nemo said:

oh damn gotta get a green card in order to win the price? fine... imma find a wife real quick.

Lol! You gotta tie the knot by the end of the month

I'm still trying to work something out prize-wise, but I haven't gotten any email responses today. Probably because it's New Year's Day, so hopefully tomorrow.

Each post/reply in THIS TOPIC (the one you are currently viewing entitled "World Carnivore Month - January Challenge" will be an entry into the drawing. Back to back posts in this topic will be merged into one to avoid spamming/manipulation of the system. 

[Geezy]

I’m all in. 
cutting out all dairy and seasonings except for salt. 
Today I ate a half pound venison burger while deer hunting. Ironic? 
when I got home I ate a one inch slice of smoked rib roast and three ribs. One from the roast and two were pork ribs. Nothing else but salt and water today. 

[Bob]

On 1/1/2025 at 8:37 PM, Bob said:

I'm still trying to work something out prize-wise, but I haven't gotten any email responses today. Probably because it's New Year's Day, so hopefully tomorrow.

Okay, I got a response. 

And so the prize is going to be a $75 Gift Card for CARNIVORE CRISPS. Carnivore Crisps ships to the USA and Canada only.

If you do not live in the USA or Canada, we will substitute an AMAZON Gift Card in the that is the nearest equivalent of $75 U.S. Dollars in your currency. Alternate Amazon currencies include those accepted on Amazon.ca, Amazon.cn, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon.in, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.es, or Amazon.com.au. If those Amazon properties do not ship to your address, you are not eligible to win. 

All Gift Cards will be sent via email. Drawing will be held in early February.

Each REPLY made in this WORLD CARNIVORE MONTH topic constitutes an entry. There is no limit to the number of entries. However, all back-to-back Replies will be merged and counted as a single reply to prevent abusing/spamming the system. You can also gain an additional entry for attending the Monday Night Zoom Meeting as a viewer. Participants may be rewarded with bonus entries.

Let's forge friendships by encouraging and supporting one another to eat right, lose weight, and feel great!

[Orweller]

On 1/1/2025 at 7:04 PM, Nemo said:

oh damn gotta get a green card in order to win the price? fine... imma find a wife real quick.

That worked for me sir lol

[Bob]

So here's my daily progress so far....

Jan 1 - 174.1 lbs
Jan 2 - 174.4 lbs
Jan 3 - 173.2 lbs
Jan 4 - 172.6 lbs

Typical eggs and breakfast meats for meal #1 each day. On January 1, I tried Beef Bacon for the first time. It was good, but not as good as traditional pork bacon.

I had a chicken and cream cheese dish on January 1, and overate plus it was late, thus the bump up in weight the next day. January 2 was filet mignon plus some pork rinds and chip dip that needed finished. January 3 was just seasoned ground beef.

Plus I have these awesome beef jerky's from Duma's Meats that I occasionally nibble on.

[Orweller]

2 hours ago, Bob said:

So here's my daily progress so far....

Jan 1 - 174.1 lbs
Jan 2 - 174.4 lbs
Jan 3 - 173.2 lbs
Jan 4 - 172.6 lbs

Typical eggs and breakfast meats for meal #1 each day. On January 1, I tried Beef Bacon for the first time. It was good, but not as good as traditional pork bacon.

I had a chicken and cream cheese dish on January 1, and overate plus it was late, thus the bump up in weight the next day. January 2 was filet mignon plus some pork rinds and chip dip that needed finished. January 3 was just seasoned ground beef.

Plus I have these awesome beef jerky's from Duma's Meats that I occasionally nibble on.

I am back at 135 after the holidays and my journey from the wagon to the ground. But this weight feels perfect. 

[Geezy]

My progress as of today. 
 

Jan Weight

168.4  168.2  167.8  168.8

As I’m typing I’m eating a couple of eggs and about 14 oz of rib roast. I will probably have to eat two meals today because I just don’t have time right now to eat a big meal but I’m standing strong on not eating any dairy. I made yogurt yesterday and as temping as it was to test taste the final product I resisted. 

[Joanna]

How do I join?

[Orweller]

2 hours ago, Joanna said:

How do I join?

I think you just did! 

[Scott F.]

I was 227 on January 1st and this morning I was 221. I'm on a semi-stall around 85 pounds lost.

I just ate grilled chicken with just salt and last night was New York strips with just salt. 

I ventured off the reservation a bit a few weeks ago and paid for it to an extent.

I'm not sure I need much more motivation than that. LOL

I will check in as close to daily as I can.

Scott

[Ronnie]

Hi - just found this forum today, but its day 5 for me -> Planning on 60 days.

Weight is not a focus for me, but instead keen on the health benefits around inflammation (I have a chronic sinus condition involving inflammation and polyps). Also interested to learn the impact of neuroinflammation to see if memory and general brain health could be improved.

Day 5 is a rough one - woke this morning with a headache and dehydration despite drinking a lot of water yesterday and a pint in the night.

 

Currently eating:

Breakfast - 3 or 4 eggs + slices of pastrami cooked in (Pastrami runs out in 2 day and not getting more) around 10:30

Lunch - Large Steak (ribeye usually) and afterwards I have a small cup of beef broth around 1pm

Dinner - Smaller steak around 5:30pm

 

Have noticed:

Serious cravings first 3 days (less now)

Sleeping later (8am instead of 6:30) and then back to bed shattered by 9pm

Night 4 (last night) - it felt like my tendons and joints were extra tight - some uncertainty on whether it is part of a beneficial detox/body change OR if I am missing something crucial and need to add in a supplement or change something up

Mood stabilization - noticing less strong emotional surges -> ie irritation or frustration is less with people, as is thrill or excitement

Also - biggest immediate concern is low occurrence of bowel movement - keen to sort that asap.

 

Quite the journey at the moment, appreciate any insight based on what I have shared!

[Bob]

17 hours ago, Joanna said:

How do I join?

By posting in this topic. That post counts as an entry. Each subsequent reply in this particular topic will also count as an entry. Joining on on Monday night's video call will also count as an entry

But the overall goal here is to make friends, lose weight, and/or feel great. In that respect we can all be a winner

 

[Orweller]

12 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Hi - just found this forum today, but its day 5 for me -> Planning on 60 days.

Weight is not a focus for me, but instead keen on the health benefits around inflammation (I have a chronic sinus condition involving inflammation and polyps). Also interested to learn the impact of neuroinflammation to see if memory and general brain health could be improved.

Day 5 is a rough one - woke this morning with a headache and dehydration despite drinking a lot of water yesterday and a pint in the night.

 

Currently eating:

Breakfast - 3 or 4 eggs + slices of pastrami cooked in (Pastrami runs out in 2 day and not getting more) around 10:30

Lunch - Large Steak (ribeye usually) and afterwards I have a small cup of beef broth around 1pm

Dinner - Smaller steak around 5:30pm

 

Have noticed:

Serious cravings first 3 days (less now)

Sleeping later (8am instead of 6:30) and then back to bed shattered by 9pm

Night 4 (last night) - it felt like my tendons and joints were extra tight - some uncertainty on whether it is part of a beneficial detox/body change OR if I am missing something crucial and need to add in a supplement or change something up

Mood stabilization - noticing less strong emotional surges -> ie irritation or frustration is less with people, as is thrill or excitement

Also - biggest immediate concern is low occurrence of bowel movement - keen to sort that asap.

 

Quite the journey at the moment, appreciate any insight based on what I have shared!

You may have to take magnesium and potassium as a supplement with regards to tendons and joints feeling tight, crampy. 
You may also have to add a bit of butter with those steaks, to reduce cravings and pangs. 

Low occurrence of bowl movement seems to be the norm in the beginning. Especially when jumping in. It could take up to 90 days for your body to figure this out. That said, I do not believe there's any danger. When we eat carbs, we eat a lot of stuff our bodies do not process - a lot more waste on a high carb diet, especially with fruits and vegetables. Also consider the lack of fiber. If you really need the fiber, an ounce of dark chocolate may give you some relief. 

As for hydration, as you lose more water weight, you hold on to much less water, and hydration is more of a challenge. It's something you'll get use to and also sorts itself out. 

That is just my opinion, based on a year of this stuff. Good luck to you. You're listening to your body, and that is an excellent start. 

To add: I've reduced my inflammation close to zero after a year. That was my main goal as well, not so much the weight. 
 

Edited yesterday at 01:52 PM by Orweller

[Bob]

12 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Hi - just found this forum today, but its day 5 for me -> Planning on 60 days.

Awesome! Welcome aboard!

12 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Weight is not a focus for me, but instead keen on the health benefits around inflammation (I have a chronic sinus condition involving inflammation and polyps). Also interested to learn the impact of neuroinflammation to see if memory and general brain health could be improved.

I look forward to hearing about your results. I would think you should see improvements in both. Inflammation should go down. And for me and many others, our brain fog lifted and we can continue to think pretty clearly unless we deviate from the diet.

12 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Also - biggest immediate concern is low occurrence of bowel movement - keen to sort that asap.

Welcome to the new normal. Seriously, don't get to concerned about this. On carnivore, you will poop less. Almost every part of the animal products you consume are digested and used by the body. The vitamins, minerals, fat, and the protein. There is very little waste. I go on average of 2 or 3 times a week now.

During the transition phase, it's definitely alarming because you are probably used to going at least once, maybe even more, each day. For my first 3-4 weeks, my bowels were unpredictable. It would either be solid gravel, or liquid explosion. But I even went 9 full days without having to go. I would even have these phantom urges to go sit down and then nothing would happen. 

This is common, especially if you didn't slowly wean yourself into the diet but switched rather abruptly. Everything will still work, and things will return to your "new normal" before long.

[Joanna]

I hope I’m posting in the right place…yesterday was my first day of no dairy and I have more energy today. Yay! I do not sleep well eating this way though! Maybe five hours a night - not enough! I don’t sleep enough when I fast either. I’m taking a “great” magnesium supplement especially for sleep, but it doesn’t seem to help.

[Orweller]

8 minutes ago, Joanna said:

I hope I’m posting in the right place…yesterday was my first day of no dairy and I have more energy today. Yay! I do not sleep well eating this way though! Maybe five hours a night - not enough! I don’t sleep enough when I fast either. I’m taking a “great” magnesium supplement especially for sleep, but it doesn’t seem to help.

You may be sleeping faster? 

Serious guess, you may have to increase fat? Again I do not have these sleep issues, but I've seen this solution to help for some people. 

[Geezy]

19 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Hi - just found this forum today, but its day 5 for me -> Planning on 60 days.

Welcome Ronnie. 
 

 

19 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Day 5 is a rough one - woke this morning with a headache and dehydration despite drinking a lot of water yesterday and a pint in the night.

 

Typical to get easily dehydrated in the beginning. You are no longer eating carbs or fiber so there is less in your body holding onto water so you are flushing more out of your this is also why many experience leg cramps because in flushing our water we are also flushing out electrolytes. You may need to start taking a supplement such as LMNT or KetoChow. After a time as I did you may find that simply upping your salt intake may be enough. 

 

20 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Breakfast - 3 or 4 eggs + slices of pastrami cooked in (Pastrami runs out in 2 day and not getting more) around 10:30

Lunch - Large Steak (ribeye usually) and afterwards I have a small cup of beef broth around 1pm

Dinner - Smaller steak around 5:30pm

Looks good but make sure you are getting plenty of fat. A good starting point is to get 70% or your calories from fat and 30% from protein. 
 

 

20 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Night 4 (last night) - it felt like my tendons and joints were extra tight - some uncertainty on whether it is part of a beneficial detox/body change OR if I am missing something crucial and need to add in a supplement or change something up

This goes back to my statement about electrolytes. 

 

20 hours ago, Ronnie said:

biggest immediate concern is low occurrence of bowel movement - keen to sort that asap

Not to worry, this is normal. You are used to eating things, vegetables, fiber and highly processed foods that don’t digest in your body so your body is constantly excreting them through your bowels. We you eat fat and meat, the most nutritious food you can eat, the majority of it is being used and absorbed by your body so naturally there won’t be much left to expel. Many people experience diarrhea for two to four weeks in the beginning as their gut biome adjusts to just digesting meats and fats, I know I did but after that break in period i becomes more normal. I just because you don’t have the urge to “go” doesn’t necessarily mean you’re constipated. True constipation is when you you have the strong urge to go but it’s stuck and won’t come out. Not having an urge just means there’s nothing there. 
If you do encounter constipation which I did for quite some time you can take a magnesium citrate supplement or use an herbal laxative tea but in time that should straighten itself out as well. I took me a year for my body to fully adjust to eating carnivore but the health benefits were definitely worth waiting it out. I’ll add that I don’t have a gall bladder so that may be why I struggled so much in the beginning. I’m normal now and for me as a carnivore that means having a bowel movement about once a week, sometimes twice and I’ve been known to go ten days. 
The general rule of thumb is pay attention to your fat intake. Harder stools, eat more fat. Looser stools eat less fat. 
 

[Geezy]

40 minutes ago, Joanna said:

I hope I’m posting in the right place…yesterday was my first day of no dairy and I have more energy today. Yay! I do not sleep well eating this way though! Maybe five hours a night - not enough! I don’t sleep enough when I fast either. I’m taking a “great” magnesium supplement especially for sleep, but it doesn’t seem to help.

Give your body time to adjust.
Many people claim that they get better, longer sleep after becoming carnivore.                 This hasn’t been my experience but most people my age don’t sleep long anyways. I sleep 4 to 5 hours and to be honest I have no issues with having enough energy to get through the day. 
I don’t know what’s right or wrong when it comes to how much sleep we need. I think it’s all just individual. If we are feeling ok then we are probably getting enough. If not then you may need to supplement but I would give your body more time to adjust before trying a supplement. Our bodies are not quick to adapt to changes.