Nowler's Story

[Nowler]

August '24 Update:

This past week has been batsh!t crazy!

Some of you may have seen my post a few days ago in the thread for what we ate.
What I didn't say in there (as here is probably more appropriate) was that day which I had the amazing BBQ food after meeting up with some friends I had not seen in a while.

As I said in that post, I gave my fries and bread to my buddies and I just stuck with the meat (and a little bit for coleslaw). A few days prior to this I had a little popcorn when I went to the movies (lol, I know, I know) and then had a Japanese noodle dish since my ketosis was already going to be interrupted.

I felt relatively fine, nothing major as I stuck to carnivore from that point right up to the day I went for the BBQ place.
That day I felt great and decided to have a few vodka and diet cola's with the food and while watching the football afterwards. I didnt drink much... maybe 4 drinks? Anyway, that evening when I went home I saw an ad for Popeyes food - which is something I didn't know we had here in the UK. And with the day that was in it I decided to give it a try because I know the foreseeable future I would be back on strict Carnivore.

I wanted to try a few things so I got the chicken burger (no fries), some breaded wings, breaded tenders, and a diet cola. I ate it and it was very tasty, and then that was it. Until the middle of the night!!!

I don't know what exactly did it!
Maybe it was the diet cola - which I heard Dr Rhonda Patrick say a few years back that 1 can of diet cola is enough to nuke your gut biome - or maybe it was the alcohol, the bread bun, or the breaded chicken. A blend of it all perhaps?
But my stomach was NOT OK!

I had diarrhoea in the middle of the night, which sure, it was uncomfortable, but it was gone the next morning. however, I was not prepared for the next day or every day since!

I've had cramps in my stomach and radiating pain in the surrounding area since Sunday last week!
It's only subsiding the past 24hrs or so since I've been double dosing myself with probiotic supplement (tabs).

Perhaps it's just a coincidence that it's starting to improve? Or maybe it's mainly because of the double dosing of probiotic? YIKES! Anyone have experience with this?

I also believe that I have become more carbohydrate intolerant since going Carnivore in April.
That's a reasonable assumption, right?

[Nowler]

Oh, regarding my stats.
I have pretty much just maintained weight since my last update (currently 368lbs - down from 410lbs in April).

I've had some minor constipation in the last month or more so I decided to eat more fat - which I believe has led to a stalling of fat loss. Sometimes I let my hydration slip too, which is also not helping things.

I am actively adjusting this now.

Edited August 17 by Nowler

[Scott F.]

Congrats on the progress. 

Scott

[Geezy]

Well grasshopper, you have learned a valuable lesson. You had a pig out day and paid the price.
Yes, I believe that as we progress as carnivores we do become more sensitive to not just carbohydrates but the toxins they contain. Most especially your gut biome. It went to all the trouble to change from digesting carbs all day to digesting just protein and fats and suddenly you switch gears in the middle of the race. Oh yeah, it’s gonna rebel.
I’ve done some small experiments to see if I could allow some foods back into my diet but the results have shown that some are out of my life forever.
Now it’s time forget the mistake but always remember the lesson.
You don’t eat carnivore, you are carnivore.


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[Nowler]

It's a crazy reaction though, eh! A week of cramps! I know some people who have IBS and have had other chronic gut issues. I have a new appreciation for their blight!

It just blew my mind that something which would be a normal day for me not too long ago would turn my life upside down so long after the food had left my system  

It's been a great reminder to stay away from crappy food though!

On a far more positive note, I start my new job tomorrow. After a number of interviews I managed to find a job that's paying me 50% more than my previous job and has a better path of progression. I had to pinch myself a few times haha.

I have also been out of the house a lot more too and have noticed a huge improvement in the distances I can walk and the difficulty of it.

A lot more work to do but things are definitely looking up!

Edited August 18 by Nowler

[Nowler]

I am very curious though...

I wonder what the main culprit is for my gut issue this week. I am leaning towards the suspect being the diet colas nuking my gut microbiome.

The scientist in me want to test the theory

[Miranda]

1 hour ago, Nowler said:

I am very curious though...

I wonder what the main culprit is for my gut issue this week. I am leaning towards the suspect being the diet colas nuking my gut microbiome.

The scientist in me want to test the theory

Seed oils most likely. 

[Nowler]

4 minutes ago, Miranda said:

Seed oils most likely. 

Must be from the oil the Popeyes food was cooked in if that's the case.
Unless the BBQ food had some incorporated somehow, which I would tend to believe is less likely.

I'll be meeting up with friends to watch football in the next week or 2, so I could try having just the same few vodka mixed with diet colas (4) to see if that was it.

Then again, I might not lol.
This pain/discomfort SUCKS!
Been going on 7 days now - granted it's not as bad as the first few days

[Scott F.]

Thus far I am the 'all positives guy'. The closest I have ventured into the non-carnivore ways is eating at a Mexican restaurant. The cooked onions were hidden under the meat platter, and I am sure (even though I asked) all of it was cooked in the same oils. In June I was just getting out of the early diarrhea phases.

Just the cooking in seed or vegetable oils was like a gut grenade. 

I'm no scientist but I have proofed the oils for me. The last month or so I had worked into solid stools and a more regular BM. Slowly easing into/progressing into lifestyle from diet.

My buddy had a string of bad luck. I put a belt tensioner on his son's car outside in the high 90's. We moved from that and moved his washer out to put a water pump on it. From there his freezer had died and we moved it to the outside. My mom had a bed and furniture to toss out. Maybe 12 hours of non-stop movement and most of it in the sun. Maybe for the third time since May I came home and was actually hungry. Like, I truly wanted to eat and needed to eat. (red meat is amazing, LOL)

My son and the gang had fried chicken wings for one of the first pre-season football gangs (to kick off our Football Sundays at the cabin). He made me a plate of plain wings and they were awesome.

The kicker was they were cooked in peanut oil. 

It was not exactly a double blind study with absolute control samples. But for me, it was a gut grenade.

Gut grenades should be avoided.

Scott

[Nowler]

Congrats on how things are going for you buddy! Minus, the couple mishaps of course 

You know... it's only now that you mention hunger that I think about it, but I don't recall ever actually being properly hungry since this new found focus on being carnivore! Hmmm

Which probably plays a significant role in my weight-loss stalling out at 42lbs since April.

Regarding BM's:
Having consistently good BM's is massively underrated!
I've scaled back my coffee a bit so I can better maintain my hydration, and it definitely shows!

[Geezy]

Nowler, the only way to know for sure what it was that set your gut off would be to eliminate everything but fat, meat, water and salt for anywhere from two weeks to a month to purge your system. Then eat one of those items and see what happens. Just eat it for one meal and then give it three days to react on your body. If no reaction then move on to the next item and check for the same thing. You keep doing this until you find the culprit.
I experimented with chili. I was miserable for three days. That particular food is forever gone from my diet. I experimented with jalapeños and I have no adverse reaction from them so bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers are occasionally in my diet now but only occasionally. I still have no use for vegetables or fruits but poppers are a wonderful treat to have once in a while.


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[Nowler]

Yep.
I've been eating a clean carnivore diet since that day.
So if I do meet up next weekend to watch the footie with some friends then I will test having a few vodka mixed with diet colas.

I really hope that is not the culprit!
I don't drink often but I certainly like to when I like to 

If nothing, then I will go to that BBQ place again perhaps - just in case its something on the meat - I'd be surprised if it was though.

If it's not that then I will have a wait for a while longer to try the chicken burger/breaded wings/breaded tenders because I don't want to be having a carby meal within 2-3 months of the last one. 

I'll update this thread when I locate the culprit

Edited August 18 by Nowler

[Nowler]

Scratch that!
I'm actually down to 364lbs now.
So down 47lbs since the beginning of April.

I believe I checked a few days ago and I was still at the same weight I was a few weeks ago...
Maybe there was food working through me or something, haha!

[Geezy]

I have found that alcohol doesn’t affect me any and I’ve read some articles that actually promote a little alcohol use as being beneficial.
In my journey to be healthy though I’ve found that I just don’t have the desire as much. If I’ve been working outside all day in the heat and I’m beat down and sore I can appreciate a good Irish whiskey or a Scotch. It’ll generally be only two fingers and always neat. I never use mixer’s anymore. I don’t drink cokes of any kind. I don’t want anything sweet.


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[Bob]

On 8/17/2024 at 5:21 PM, Nowler said:

A few days prior to this I had a little popcorn when I went to the movies (lol, I know, I know) and then had a Japanese noodle dish since my ketosis was already going to be interrupted.

Careful. This kind of logic is a slippery slope. When you deviate from the plan, let it be for just that moment, or just that one meal. The "I'll start again tomorrow" or "I'll get back on the diet after the weekend" type mentality only ever gave me excuses to justify my binges. I was always going to "get back on track" soon, and next thing I know I had gained all my weight back. 

So you had popcorn. Okay, you'll live. But at least that's a "single ingredient whole food" that a human might find and graze on in nature. There's no noodles in nature, lol. 

On 8/17/2024 at 5:21 PM, Nowler said:

I felt relatively fine, nothing major as I stuck to carnivore from that point right up to the day I went for the BBQ place.

Did you have sugary BBQ sauce? This may have been the trigger that made the Popeyes food seem so alluring later on?

BTW, G. Hughes and Ray's makes excellent zero sugar, keto friendly BBQ sauce substitutes to go on that pulled pork, should you crave it again.

On 8/17/2024 at 5:21 PM, Nowler said:

That day I felt great and decided to have a few vodka and diet cola's with the food and while watching the football afterwards. I didnt drink much... maybe 4 drinks?

For the record, I have a diet coke and kentucky bourbon once in a while, and it doesn't affect me at all.

On 8/17/2024 at 5:21 PM, Nowler said:

I wanted to try a few things so I got the chicken burger (no fries), some breaded wings, breaded tenders, and a diet cola. I ate it and it was very tasty, and then that was it. Until the middle of the night!!!

I don't know what exactly did it!

Hard to say. It could be the combination of things, the seed oils that the wings and tenders were fried in, or the breading and the bun. Did you have the wings with any sauce? It could also just have been some bad meat.

Through trial and error you can narrow this down though. But, I would stay away from the Popeyes food. Nothing on that list is kosher and worth having again, imo.

 

 

[Nowler]

2 hours ago, Bob said:

Careful. This kind of logic is a slippery slope. When you deviate from the plan, let it be for just that moment, or just that one meal. The "I'll start again tomorrow" or "I'll get back on the diet after the weekend" type mentality only ever gave me excuses to justify my binges. I was always going to "get back on track" soon, and next thing I know I had gained all my weight back. 

So you had popcorn. Okay, you'll live. But at least that's a "single ingredient whole food" that a human might find and graze on in nature. There's no noodles in nature, lol. 

Did you have sugary BBQ sauce? This may have been the trigger that made the Popeyes food seem so alluring later on?

BTW, G. Hughes and Ray's makes excellent zero sugar, keto friendly BBQ sauce substitutes to go on that pulled pork, should you crave it again.

For the record, I have a diet coke and kentucky bourbon once in a while, and it doesn't affect me at all.

Hard to say. It could be the combination of things, the seed oils that the wings and tenders were fried in, or the breading and the bun. Did you have the wings with any sauce? It could also just have been some bad meat.

Through trial and error you can narrow this down though. But, I would stay away from the Popeyes food. Nothing on that list is kosher and worth having again, imo.

 

 

 

You're right. That is a slippery slope!
And I certainly don't want to gain weight back again!
I've been quite fortunate this time around in regards to not eating crappy food.
99.9% of the time I dont even want it... I dont desire it... which makes sticking to the carnivore diet so much easier.

Even when I said that I am curious about what caused a week of cramps... I probably wont even try the carby meal I had. If I dont get it again from the alcohol and sugar-free mixer, or from the BBQ place, then I'll know it's highly likely it was from the Popeyes I ate - no need to eat it. Nor do I want to eat it.

To answer your questions, nope, I didnt add any sauce to the BBQ food.
It's just whatever rubs were on the meat. Nothing was breaded either.
It's probably was a combo of the breaded chicken/bun.

 

[Nowler]

3 hours ago, Geezy said:

I have found that alcohol doesn’t affect me any and I’ve read some articles that actually promote a little alcohol use as being beneficial.
In my journey to be healthy though I’ve found that I just don’t have the desire as much. If I’ve been working outside all day in the heat and I’m beat down and sore I can appreciate a good Irish whiskey or a Scotch. It’ll generally be only two fingers and always neat. I never use mixer’s anymore. I don’t drink cokes of any kind. I don’t want anything sweet.


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Unfortunately I don't enjoy Whiskey/Vodka neat.
I can try it again though... maybe I'll develop a taste for it.
Or perhaps I can find a better mixer.... soda water and lime or something.

As I said, I dont drink often, but when I'm out watching football it's nice to have a few.

[Nowler]

So quick update:

I weighed myself the other day and I was now down to 358lbs (down 52lbs since April), which surprised me a bit, but it's a good surprise to have.
Probably in part due to the minor surgery and lack of food at the hospital 

I have however already noticed that the lowest point of my belly is already showing signs of loose skin!
And I still have a lot of weight to lose yet, so I think I might have a crazy amount of lose skin.

Hopefully it tightens up a bit as I have been lose fat at a decent rate...
I know I am going to have lose skin issues, but if I can limit it then I'd feel better.

Anyone got tips on reducing chances of lose skin?

Edited Wednesday at 08:49 PM by Nowler

[Meathead]

On 9/11/2024 at 3:46 PM, Nowler said:

Anyone got tips on reducing chances of lose skin

Atophogy will happen.

The thing is you can't stray from carnivore (cheating or anything), drink electrolytes religiously and stay as active as you can. 

I was 300lbs dropped to 265, I'm 6ft 1 in.

Lost my man cans,2 inches of belly with no exercise but I'm constantly on my feet every day. 

[Geezy]

At my age the skin doesn’t snap back like it used to. I’ve been stable at 165lbs and 6 feet tall now for a couple of months after losing 60 pounds. There is a lot of loose skin all over. The skin on my arm will wrinkle up if I hold my are in the right position. I’m lifting weights to see if that will help and I’m hoping atophagy will kick in but I don’t know if it works that well in people my age. Doesn’t matter though. It’s not going to change how I eat one way or the other.


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