I'm hoping to start carnivore on my 77th birthday on the 21st, or the day after.

I'm trying to clear out most of the food from my pantry/kitchen beforehand.

Not sure whether I will start full on or ease into it.

I've been learning quite a lot lately and I'll continue that.

I'll be returning some of the unopened supplements, fiber, hemp hearts... that I won't be needing.

Glad I saw Dr. Berry's "10 supplements you don't need" list.

I've only read a few of the posts here so far.  Thanks to all for sharing and offering experience, strength, and hope.

Edited April 15Apr 15 by musicalgym

16 hours ago, musicalgym said:

I'm hoping to start carnivore on my 77th birthday on the 21st, or the day after.

The countdown begins 😄

16 hours ago, musicalgym said:

I'm trying to clear out most of the food from my pantry/kitchen beforehand.

I did the same thing. No sense in wasting anything. I either ate it or gave it to someone who would use it.

16 hours ago, musicalgym said:

Not sure whether I will start full on or ease into it.

This depends on your personality type. Some people like to go low carb, then keto, then ketovore, then carnivore - over the span of several weeks. Others like to jump right in and cut the carbs "cold turkey" as they say. It depends if you are an all or nothing kind of guy. If you are addicted to sugar and carbs, then the slow approach might be more difficult. On the other hand, if you can ease into it, the less transition/adaptation symptoms and sugar-withdrawal symptoms you will experience.

21 hours ago, musicalgym said:

I've only read a few of the posts here so far.  Thanks to all for sharing and offering experience, strength, and hope.

Welcome aboard 😄

Thanks for responses, Bob.

If I jump right into it, I won't have to learn how to do low carb, keto, or ketovore, although I  imagine I could learn about those fairly quickly.

Will see what the Spirit prompts.

I would like to get some healing for my intermittent neck/back inflammation, cure the obesity, and restore my heart back to "normal" if possible.

Since I live alone (widower) without too many obligations, I probably won't bother anyone if I get sick for awhile.

I've been experiencing some chronic diarrhea as of late.

Welcome and good luck.

Bob hit the points you mentioned, spot on.

Everyone is different and no one approach works for all. You may need to ease into it. Carnivore eating is much more about what you are not eating. You may be able to go 'cold turkey' on the carbs and sugars. If so, great, if not, any reduction in carbs and sugars will be better than no reduction at all. 

Don't worry about 'bothering' anyone here. This is a great place to learn and an even better place to offer up your personal experiences with carnivore. Everyone has a story to tell. At 77 and me being 55, I need to figure out how to get there too so your experiences are worth their weight in gold, at least to me anyway.

Good luck. I'm 11 months in and I can personally say it did wonders for my pain and inflammation. I think everyone should give it a try.

Scott

 

10 hours ago, musicalgym said:

I've been experiencing some chronic diarrhea as of late.

The bulk of the transition/adaptation symptoms revolve around a momentary dip in energy, and unpredictable stools. If you jump straight into carnivore, there will be 3-6 weeks of either diarrhea, OR nothing at all for days, maybe even a week. You will feel like you should have to go (out of habit) and yet nothing happens, and this gets mistaken for constipation. 

Eventually things return to normal. 

And then after a few days you might feel fatigued, tired, what they call the "keto flu". This is when your glucose/glycogen stores are all used up and your body is still wanting carbs for energy. It will soon switch to utilizing fat and then you will get your energy back.

Thanks for your responses and encouragement.  It helps.

When I mentioned bothering, I meant in my house, since I live alone.

I've been using Allulose in my coffee as sweetener, but it has 8g of carbs (0g sugar).
Is there a sweetener that is carnivore-friendly/approved?
I really like to use honey, but I think that is forbidden, right?

Edited April 16Apr 16 by musicalgym
added questions

Although a lot of people advise easing into the diet, I didn't and didn't experience any negatives.  My view is why deal with all the keto menu decisions, cravings and lack of progress if they end up being unnecessary after all. Seems to me starting carni by not being carni could start off with frustration and possible failure. The only thing I held onto was milk and sugar in coffee, I now use butter and as little monk sweetener as necessary.  If you could start feeling  better when would you want to start?  Next week? Eat beef today!  

2 minutes ago, ketomonster said:

Although a lot of people advise easing into the diet, I didn't and didn't experience any negatives.  My view is why deal with all the keto menu decisions, cravings and lack of progress if they end up being unnecessary after all. Seems to me starting carni by not being carni could start off with frustration and possible failure. The only thing I held onto was milk and sugar in coffee, I now use butter and as little monk sweetener as necessary.  If you could start feeling  better when would you want to start?  Next week? Eat beef today!  

I hear you.  I may do just that.
I haven't tried butter in coffee; I hope it's good.
Is monk sweetener the "best" for carni if one wants a sweetener?
Are a certain amount of carbs ok on carni?
Is the ideal 0 carbs and 0 sugar?

 

1 hour ago, musicalgym said:

I hear you.  I may do just that.
I haven't tried butter in coffee; I hope it's good.
Is monk sweetener the "best" for carni if one wants a sweetener?
Are a certain amount of carbs ok on carni?
Is the ideal 0 carbs and 0 sugar?

I don't think there are any long term studies on monk or allulose sweeteners.  I don't drink coffee everyday myself. I find if I drink water and go do something instead of sitting around I don't feel the need. Are a certain amount of carbs ok? I'd answer by asking is a certain amount of air pollution ok? Yes we all eat carbs once in awhile. My wife has fruit in the fridge and I have a couple of grapes once in a great while. Since you live alone you're golden. Stuff yourself with fatty meats and see for yourself how carb and sugar cravings largely if not entirely go away.  To clarify my first post. I would say easing into the diet is anticipating complications which may not even occur, while at the same time leaving obstacle after obstacle that impede progress.  But I just have my own experience to go by.

23 minutes ago, ketomonster said:

 

I don't think there are any long term studies on monk or allulose sweeteners.  I don't drink coffee everyday myself. I find if I drink water and go do something instead of sitting around I don't feel the need. Are a certain amount of carbs ok? I'd answer by asking is a certain amount of air pollution ok? Yes we all eat carbs once in awhile. My wife has fruit in the fridge and I have a couple of grapes once in a great while. Since you live alone you're golden. Stuff yourself with fatty meats and see for yourself how carb and sugar cravings largely if not entirely go away.  To clarify my first post. I would say easing into the diet is anticipating complications which may not even occur, while at the same time leaving obstacle after obstacle that impede progress.  But I just have my own experience to go by.

Thanks.  I gave up coffee for a long time (years?) after my cardiologist said I shouldn't drink it.  I became accustomed to not having it and it wasn't a big deal after awhile.  Then recently he told me that the research had changed and I could have a cup a day.  That made me happy since I do enjoy it and its effect.
I started using off-the-shelf almond milk (1g carbs/0g sugar) for coffee instead of Coffee mate powdered non-dairy creamer (1g carbs/0g sugar), but the first ingredient is corn syrup solids - I would think there would be carbs in that.
Doesn't a certain level of carb intake knock one out of ketosis?
I'd like to be able to use some honey, but I may overdo it to achieve the degree of sweetness I like.

Welcome to Carnivore Talk James. We are glad to have you here. 
I’m a jump right in kinda guy and even though I had a few bowel is in the beginning it was worth it to me. If I had tried to transition slowly I’d have never made it. It’s all or nothing for me. 
 

2 hours ago, musicalgym said:

I've been using Allulose in my coffee as sweetener, but it has 8g of carbs (0g sugar).
Is there a sweetener that is carnivore-friendly/approved?

I personally cut out all sweets. They just make your body want more because it senses that sugar hit coming and when it doesn’t happen it just keeps wanting more. 
It’s my understanding that Allulose is a real sugar but the molecules are so large that the body cannot absorb them so they don’t cause an insulin spike. 

Thank you, Geoff.
I think I'll go to Costco today and do my jump into it shopping.
Hope I don't forget anything.
Seems like I don't crave things like ice cream when they're not in the house.
I gave up alcohol 34 years ago, so I imagine I can do this.

3 hours ago, musicalgym said:

Thank you, Geoff.
I think I'll go to Costco today and do my jump into it shopping.
Hope I don't forget anything.
Seems like I don't crave things like ice cream when they're not in the house.
I gave up alcohol 34 years ago, so I imagine I can do this.

There is no doubt in my mind that you CAN do this as long as you are motivated to succeed. It’s more about the mindset than it is the diet. 

Thanks for vote of confidence.

 Don't view beginning carnivore as this huge life decision that will end in either failure or success.  You are learning what is the appropriate diet for a human. You are learning what you've been taught is not accurate.  You will learn that you need to learn more. Yes you will get frustrated. Yes friends and doctors may frown at you. But hopefully you will convince yourself of the truth and reap the rewards.

5 hours ago, ketomonster said:

 Don't view beginning carnivore as this huge life decision that will end in either failure or success.  You are learning what is the appropriate diet for a human. You are learning what you've been taught is not accurate.  You will learn that you need to learn more. Yes you will get frustrated. Yes friends and doctors may frown at you. But hopefully you will convince yourself of the truth and reap the rewards.

I'm not yet "officially" into the diet, but I've lost some weight already and am experiencing a more peaceful state.  I don't know whether that's related to "making" the decision to do it.
I haven't been worrying about getting frustrated. I guess I'll find out when/if that happens.
I'm looking forward to my body telling me its truth.

On 4/16/2025 at 1:28 PM, musicalgym said:

I've been using Allulose in my coffee as sweetener, but it has 8g of carbs (0g sugar).
Is there a sweetener that is carnivore-friendly/approved?
I really like to use honey, but I think that is forbidden, right?

A lot of people use allulose. It's tastes like real sugar, but the it's slightly molecularly different so the body doesn't recognize it or metabolize it. It just goes out the other end. For me, it goes out kinda violently, lol. Allulose gives me diarrhea but then other people aren't phased by it at all. If you can tolerate it, it's a good cheat-sweet, lol.

I personally use stevia in my morning tea and I have no problems with that. I still drink artificially sweetened beverages also, although ideally I should cut down on them because of the aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose. There's going to always be someone out there damning your sweetener of choice.

One potential cause for concern with artificial sweeteners is that in some people they will experience a cephalic phase insulin response - simply tasting something sweet without actually ingesting it and having it raise insulin levels. Not everyone has this either.

You most certainly will with honey though. It's a real sugar. Some carnivores are okay with honey, but I would hold off until you've acheived your goal weight, reverse whatever illnesses you were trying to reverse, improved whatever blood markers you were trying to improve, and know for certain you are no longer addicted and won't chug the whole bottle.

I had diarrhea probably 5 or more days straight.  I hope it's not the allulose.  It seems to be gone now, though.

I'm having butter in my coffee for the first time..yum. 

I may follow your advice about the honey.  I have some left in the house and was thinking I'd use it up.  Maybe I'll come back to it later as you suggest. 

I don't seem to have sugar cravings unless it's readily available in the house via ice cream, Reese's peanut butter cups, or hard caramel candy.

I was ruling out Truvia (stevia).  Good to know it might be an option if allulose is a problem.

Thanks very much for sharing helpful info. Very much appreciated.