Body Composition

[Beefbelly]

So, in the pictures I shared, I currently weigh 203.2 pounds and I'm five foot nine. Since starting my carnivore journey, I’ve lost 12 pounds over the past four weeks. What I’m trying to understand is what I’m seeing in the mirror. Is that visceral fat, the shape of my belly, or is it more subcutaneous fat? I think I’m ready to take the next steps if necessary. But should I start watching my calorie intake? I can still tend to overeat at times. I’m just curious if anyone has been in my shoes before. Also, my goal weight is probably around 170 to 175. Is it true that the closer you get to your goal weight, the slower the fat comes off? These are all questions I’m trying to work through. If anyone has been in my position or experienced something similar about four weeks into the diet with a similar body composition, any advice would be much appreciated.

[ketomonster]

Hi Robert,  I don't know what type of fat that is, but I don't think you can target a certain type of fat anyways. If you stick to beef it is difficult to impossible to "over eat". If you are still experiencing that rate of weight lose keep doing what you're doing.  Don't weigh yourself everyday, there is to much daily fluctuation to be useful, maybe twice a month or so. While the scale doesn't lie, it doesn't tell the whole truth either.  Take pictures  every month and use those for positive reinforcement. Most importantly IMO develop sustainable exercise habits you can live with the rest of your life, like walking, rucking  and lifting etc.  Don't count on your current rate of weight lose to continue, but you can continue to loose weight.  Have fun learning about your body, nutrition and exercise!

[Skeptic]

Your body shape is pretty similar to mine, so I will say from my point of view that I see some of both kinds of fat.  Subcutaneous fat is between your stomach muscles and skin of course.  If you can tighten those muscles and still feel some "squish" thats the subcutaneous, in my experience.  Both kinds of fat will go away in time, with a proper diet and exercise, but I always stress the diet BEFORE the exercise.  

A lesson I am currently in the midst of learning is one of patience, while listening to my body.  This is one of the hardest things to do, believe me, and never what anyone wants to hear, to be honest.  When I began carnivore, I felt like I finally had the golden ticket after years of searching and wasting my time and money on gimmick supplements and diets.  The truth is, we DO have the golden ticket, but there may be a lot of damage to undo, especially if coming from a typical western diet of processed foods.  Calorie counting is not necessary on carnivore, but fats to protein counting is VERY helpful.  Bob just put out a great video on this, that I just watched this morning.  Check it out if you havent already.

If you have not done so up till now, I would recommend that you do a few more weeks of getting comfortable with a measured and proper 80/20 fats/protein diet, and make sure you are in ketosis.  Get a cheap fingerstick meter ($35-40) and see what your numbers are morning/evening.  I just got a meter, and am having good luck with the KetoBM brand, for what its worth.  The test strips are about $1 per, but worth it to know what does what in terms of foods you eat.  

Mix your own electrolyte water and stay hydrated, especially with nice weather coming.  Really makes a difference.  Im happy to share my recipe, and there is a thread on here somewhere about this topic.
 

 

[Scott F.]

First, welcome to the group.

Your results will be mostly individual. Your results may not be my results even though we do pretty much the same thing.

I really like this board because I read others actual experience and learn from people that have walked the walk.

I think the weight will continue to fall. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower. And yes it will "stall" here and there. Going by pictures (nothing personal) I was much larger than you at 306 @6'3". This morning I am 216 in just under 11 months. I have the love handles and some belly. Our love handles are similar and my belly might be slightly smaller (thirty-five years since I said anything close to that)

Although I weigh almost daily, it is better if one does not. Cinching your belt or feeling the difference in your clothing is more revealing (and mor valuable). Sometimes you will cinch your belt a notch, yet the scale will not move at all. The scale can sometimes let you down even though you made a positive stride.

I have been around 85-90lbs for well over a month. With that said, I switched up the amounts I am eating. I am trying to hit a protein target of 1gram per pound of body weight. I am guessing that is somewhere around 200 and it has been a struggle to eat that much per day. After a few weeks of Carnivore I gradually fell into eating just once per day. I went by the rule of thumb, " I eat when I am hungry and I eat til I am full". Then repeat. The weight fell off tremendously during that time. I never measured anything or kept up with calories or grams or macros or fats. I probably ate more fat than most do but i did that before carnivore as well. It simply tastes good.

Again, welcome. This is a great place to bounce your ideas off the group as well as share your experiences as well. Even at the first month or so your expereinces will offer insight to someone. 

Scott

[Geezy]

I became a carnivore on May 9th 2023. In a year’s time I went from 227 pounds down to 170 pounds and lost 36 inches. 
In another six months I went down to 160 pounds and total inches lost 45.5. 
I never counted anything. I lost both visceral and subcutaneous fat. I eat when I’m hungry and prioritize eating plenty of fat and a moderate amount of proteins, heavily salt my food and only drink water. I stalked out several times but did nothing to change things. 
This is not a weight loss diet. It’s a lifestyle of eating designed to heal our metabolism. As we heal our bodies will naturally drop weight until we reach our optimal weight. 
I never tried to lose weight or try to trick my body into losing weight. I just ate as much as I was hungry for. 
I’m in this for the long haul so it I never saw it as a race. I just let my body do whatever it wanted to do. 
Im not saying all of this because I think it’s the only way or my way is better it’s just my way. Some people are more comfortable being analytical and that’s fine I just think it’s too easy to overthink things and become disappointed when they aren’t seeing the results they want in the time they want. 
Try to be patient and just let the process work. 
If you are struggling then evaluate how much fat you are eating. Most carnivores fail to eat enough fat. 
 

[Beefbelly]

2 minutes ago, Geezy said:

I became a carnivore on May 9th 2023. In a year’s time I went from 227 pounds down to 170 pounds and lost 36 inches. 
In another six months I went down to 160 pounds and total inches lost 45.5. 
I never counted anything. I lost both visceral and subcutaneous fat. I eat when I’m hungry and prioritize eating plenty of fat and a moderate amount of proteins, heavily salt my food and only drink water. I stalked out several times but did nothing to change things. 
This is not a weight loss diet. It’s a lifestyle of eating designed to heal our metabolism. As we heal our bodies will naturally drop weight until we reach our optimal weight. 
I never tried to lose weight or try to trick my body into losing weight. I just ate as much as I was hungry for. 
I’m in this for the long haul so it I never saw it as a race. I just let my body do whatever it wanted to do. 
Im not saying all of this because I think it’s the only way or my way is better it’s just my way. Some people are more comfortable being analytical and that’s fine I just think it’s too easy to overthink things and become disappointed when they aren’t seeing the results they want in the time they want. 
Try to be patient and just let the process work. 
If you are struggling then evaluate how much fat you are eating. Most carnivores fail to eat enough fat. 
 

That's great advice for where I'm at currently. Thanks much appreciated 

3 hours ago, Skeptic said:

Your body shape is pretty similar to mine, so I will say from my point of view that I see some of both kinds of fat.  Subcutaneous fat is between your stomach muscles and skin of course.  If you can tighten those muscles and still feel some "squish" thats the subcutaneous, in my experience.  Both kinds of fat will go away in time, with a proper diet and exercise, but I always stress the diet BEFORE the exercise.  

A lesson I am currently in the midst of learning is one of patience, while listening to my body.  This is one of the hardest things to do, believe me, and never what anyone wants to hear, to be honest.  When I began carnivore, I felt like I finally had the golden ticket after years of searching and wasting my time and money on gimmick supplements and diets.  The truth is, we DO have the golden ticket, but there may be a lot of damage to undo, especially if coming from a typical western diet of processed foods.  Calorie counting is not necessary on carnivore, but fats to protein counting is VERY helpful.  Bob just put out a great video on this, that I just watched this morning.  Check it out if you havent already.

If you have not done so up till now, I would recommend that you do a few more weeks of getting comfortable with a measured and proper 80/20 fats/protein diet, and make sure you are in ketosis.  Get a cheap fingerstick meter ($35-40) and see what your numbers are morning/evening.  I just got a meter, and am having good luck with the KetoBM brand, for what its worth.  The test strips are about $1 per, but worth it to know what does what in terms of foods you eat.  

Mix your own electrolyte water and stay hydrated, especially with nice weather coming.  Really makes a difference.  Im happy to share my recipe, and there is a thread on here somewhere about this topic.
 

 

 

[Scott F.]

@geezy. Spot on. Although I have not the year mark yet I have varied the approach a couple different times. My best results came after i read some things and learned some things. I started off strictly as a weight loss DIET. I had no idea there would be any other benefits than weight loss. I started off and I just ate fatty meats. I didn't know about salt and minerals. For me, it was meats and water. I had some energy issues and some stool issues and after reading a few things I adjusted and increased my fat content and added salt. From there, the weight started to drop and within 4-6 weeks I was off medicine I had been on since 2018. By then it was basically one meal a day. One meal a day, eating when I was hungry til I was full, lost the most weight. 

I like milk and I drink a glass or so once a week or maybe twice a week. For me, if the weight is falling I can get into an almost immediate stall with a glass, maybe two. 

For the last month or so, maybe 2, I have been trying to eat enough protein for 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight. I'm around 216 this week (between 216 and 222 for over a month). At 216 I am guessing my ideal weight is between 190-200 but eating that many grams of protein is hard, at least for me it is hard. This is the only time I have counted anything. 

Like Geezy said, and I agree, I don't see the point in counting when eating when hungry/eating til full. 

For no better way to explain it, the math is built in.

Scott