Hit the wall.....

[Mesa_John]

So last week, the wife and I just hit the wall, fed up with our life, health and nutrition.  Me... I am a sugar addict and love carbs and protein.  OH... I can also drink a half gallon of Whisky a week and have done so for several years.  The wife.... well, she can do without sugar and most carbs, but LOVES chips....  She is also an alcoholic, easily drinking 10-15 bottles of wine a week.

Our health has just deteriorated and I have shown signs of Diabetes, not to mention high blood pressure and 3-4 other things with my body that are upsetting, like my joints hurting and probably being about 75lbs over-weight.  The wife... well, she is in a stressful job and her blood pressure has been on the rise the past year and she has gained about 25lbs.

So... we are done.  After reading for about a week and watching YouTubes about the Carnivore Diet, we dropped everything, cold Turkey and started Thursday morning.  This is Saturday evening and we have successfully done zero carb, 100% meat for three days now.  Thankfully, no headaches, but we are dealing with low energy, some muscle cramps on occasion and waking up at 3:30-4am every morning very hungry.

But WOW.... we feel so dang good already.  Of course it helps to not wake up with a hangover.  If I can find the right place on this forum, I might start an accountability thread where I tell our story over time.  But we are 100% committed and it is nice to have a spouse doing the exact same thing, with the same goals.

Hello from Western Colorado.

John

[Geezy]

Welcome to Carnivore Talk John. 
Those that are the most desperate to change have the most motivation to succeed. 
It’s good that you are immersing yourselves into the community by watching videos from carnivores to help you stay motivated. 
You might want to read some books as well such as The Carnivore Diet by Shawn Baker. 
If you find yourself getting weak then try to remember how good you feel right now. After all nothing tastes as good as how I feel. 
Let us know how we can help you. We’ll give you all the support we can. 
Good luck and good health. 

[ketomonster]

Hi John & wife,   keep some meat in bite size pieces for quick snacks when needed.  I'm happy to hear about you decision to change.  We're all doing the same thing here.

[Orweller]

Welcome. 

I am sorry to hear about your situation, though a not surprising effect of alcohol consumption. I have a lot of respect for the fact you decided to share this with us. Not only have you been blessed with that aha moment, you've decided to research and act, and then share it with other. That by itself is a huge step right there. 

Alcohol is of course you first and foremost concern as it is highly toxic, far more than sugar. A superfood for cancer, diabetes, and hormone disruption. All detrimental to longevity and quality of live. But that said, I am sure you did not come here for a lecture. Nor should you feel lectured, not my intent. 

9 hours ago, Geezy said:

Those that are the most desperate to change have the most motivation to succeed. 

 This is absolutely true. Ask yourself, why you made the switch and the dire consequences of NOT having made that switch. 

3 hours ago, ketomonster said:

keep some meat in bite size pieces for quick snacks when needed.

This is a tip worth its weight in gold. Still hungry? Have little meat snacks around, also, increase fat intake. Eat that porkchop with a bit of butter. 

10 hours ago, Mesa_John said:

The wife.... well, she can do without sugar and most carbs, but LOVES chips...

Here's the kicker, chips is sugar. I used to fool myself like that. 

My own advice, if you do fall off the wagon, the most important step is to get back on again. I know this sounds obvious, but it is truly consistency over perfection. You're taking on a double addiction here, and mistakes will be made. See those mistakes as part of your road to success. 

Good luck, and ask away. A lot of knowledgeable people around. Your adaptation period may last up to two months. It's not a sprint, but a marathon, as is life. 

[Mesa_John]

3 hours ago, ketomonster said:

Hi John & wife,   keep some meat in bite size pieces for quick snacks when needed.  I'm happy to hear about you decision to change.  We're all doing the same thing here.

Yep, part of my plan.  I'm skilled in the art of smoked meats.   I flippin love jerky and I am soon to have a big ole baggie of snacks.  Always the tough time for me is about 7pm till I go to sleep.  I have built a habit of snacking before in bed and while in bed before I go to sleep.

I have two beef roasts that have thawed the last 24 hours and today I am going to carve them up today, brine in only salt water, give a light smoke over Mesquite and then into the dehydrator for 4 hours.  

yummmm  good, pure carnivore snacks.

[Mesa_John]

12 minutes ago, Orweller said:

Welcome. 

Alcohol is of course you first and foremost concern as it is highly toxic, far more than sugar.

Right now, the burning goal I have is to complete 90 days on Carnivore.  My goals are not weight loss or better health.... I am fixated on crossing the finish line at 90 days.  I don't plan for pure, strict Carnivore to be my long term nutrition plan.  After 90 days the wife and I plan to adjust to a Keto Diet, where we have 25 grams of carbs to enjoy a day.  

Some might ask... if you get through 3 months of Carnivore, why in the heck would you slide off?

Well, the #1 reason is my garden.  Eventually, I want to eat my home grown vegetables and the wife probably loves a great salad as much as anything, right after a prime grade Rib-eye.  Reason #2 is my raising....  I was born and raised on the Mexican Border and there are no circumstances where I will permanently give up Enchiladas and Chili Rellenos.  #3 will be controversial to many of you, but we will return to a very nice glass of wine once or twice a week.  (I am forever done with liquor.)

In the long term, I know that many stay with Carnivore and just do a "cheat day" once a week or on occasion.  Joe Rogan was clear that he cheats one day a week and he liberally enjoys Bourbon and Pasta.  (Although he admits it makes him sick.)

At the end of the day, I suppose everyone has to find their path.

[Orweller]

56 minutes ago, Mesa_John said:

where we have 25 grams of carbs to enjoy a day.  

In my book, still a carnivore diet. If 80% is meat or animal product, it is still considered hyper carnivore. It's a word game the purists came up with. I use herbs and spices, an occasional avocado, sometimes a carrot. I consider myself a carnivore, regardless. Your path is more important than words we put on ways we may eat food. Good luck. 

[Scott F.]

Congrats on your start and welcome to the forum. itis a great place to check in and bounce ideas off the walls. I have learned a ton here.

I am nine months in and when it came to starting carnivore I was as dumb as a stump. I did not research, no fact finding, no How to's, I just dove right in purely as a weight loss tool. I accidentally found out that I no longer need medication for pain and inflammation due to an auto-immune disease. 

The energy part will come along as you adjust your diet, your fat intake and salt/electrolytes. Once you become fat adaptive your body will use that for energy, and you will more than likely need to adjust it up or down once adaptive. I adjust based on my stools. Instead of buying a drink mixer for electrolytes I made my own solution and use it for 'table salt', add it to water on occasion or simply eat a pinch or two to start the day. (Last week I found out at 55 I can't bust wood with a maul like I did 40 years ago as a kid). I was making sure I had X amount of salt in me based on my workday and my workouts. When I added six plus hours of wood busting, I found both my water intake and salt intake was not adequate and I had cramps in my legs all night. Lesson learned.

Good luck and try to look at obstacles as just adjustments. And I applaud the 'damn the torpedoes' approach to 90 days. 

As far as the garden goes, I would not let that be a concern. I would think the carnivore approach with a few home-grown vegetables is still going to be better than the diet you left behind. And although that might push you out of what is thought of as "pure Carnivore" the big picture is your/your wife's health. Plus, the Carnivore Police is just a made-up organization anyway. LOL. You will not be arrested or prosecuted (or even ostracized) for eating a green bean or a tomato.

Welcome, and best of luck.

Scott

[Geezy]

2 hours ago, Mesa_John said:

.. I am fixated on crossing the finish line at 90 days.

Good strategy. My goal was 30 days. I saw so much improvement that I wanted to do another 30 days. After 60 days things were really getting good so another 30 days was in order. After 90 days I had seen such a great transformation that I knew I would do this for life. 
 

 

2 hours ago, Mesa_John said:

I'm skilled in the art of smoked meats.

A man after my own heart. This Texas boy loves smoking my meats or cooking over an open field and being from south Texas mesquite is my favorite wood to use. 
 

 

2 hours ago, Mesa_John said:

Well, the #1 reason is my garden.

I used to have a pretty nice garden myself but after a became a carnivore and came to understand that vegetables provide no nutritional benefits that can’t be better derived from meat then I gave it up. When my son introduced me to carnivore and told me how toxic plants were I said but there are some vegetables that I like from my garden. I said I like a good salad or some zucchini that I grew. He said are you sure? Is it the vegetable that you like or what you put on the vegetables to make them palatable. I had to admit. It wasn’t the lettuce I liked.  I liked the crunch, the salad dressing full of sugar and seed oils, the cheese, the meats, the croutons and whatever I loaded it down with but I had no desire to just eat the lettuce plain. Same with all of the other vegetables. Well except for tomatoes. I could eat my tomatoes with just some salt and pepper but after being pure carnivore for 6 months I found that I had become sensitive to the inflammatory properties of tomatoes so I don’t eat those either. 

 

2 hours ago, Mesa_John said:

I was born and raised on the Mexican Border and there are no circumstances where I will permanently give up Enchiladas and Chili Rellenos.

Being from San Antonio I grew up eating Mexican and Tex-Mex and I do miss it but I’ll never eat it again. I loved it but it’s just about the worst food you can eat as it’s all nothing but carbs. I will admit that I miss it but not enough to bring back my poor health. 

 

2 hours ago, Mesa_John said:

In the long term, I know that many stay with Carnivore and just do a "cheat day" once a week or on occasion.

That wouldn’t be a terrible thing to do. I have been a carnivore now for 649 days and have not cheated but that’s because I know myself and that could easily bring back the carb addiction and I don’t want to go through that again. 
If you have the discipline to handle it then you should do alright. You may even get to the point of deciding that you no longer want any carbs in your life. Once you kick the addiction the desire leaves you and carbs appear as nothing more than manure to you. 

 

2 hours ago, Mesa_John said:

At the end of the day, I suppose everyone has to find their path.

And in the end that is exactly what it boils down to. 
Good Luck and Good Health. 

[Mesa_John]

Geoff, lot of good thoughts there and honestly, I can say what I will do in three months, but until I get there, I am not sure.

[Bob]

Welcome aboard, both of you. 

90 days of carnivore as an elimination diet is a great plan. Then afterwards, you can slowly add in one thing at a time to test how your body will react to it. For me personally, I've made a vow to never eat anything I couldn't eat in nature right off the vine and not get sick. So that rules out almost all grains (which need milled), most legumes (which need cooked), and most nuts (which need roasted/boiled), etc. Basically, what could I, as an ancient hunter-gatherer, consume without fire, lol. 

I was super strict for a solid year. Now I am strict most of the time, but there are a couple times a month now where I am in a situation where I will "cheat" with something natural - while still sticking to my vows.

And then when the wife and I celebrate our anniversary, I do have some wine and a bite or two of the free desert were usually served.