new member looking for help

[Nas547]

hi I am a  new member big carnivore believer lost 34 pounds in 2 months and now I have 2 problems 1st is whenever I reach a certain weight I succumb to cravings and gain 3 to 4 pounds wich sets me back and it has been like this for several months. 

 

as for fruits and honey as I need my ldl to be low mandatory medical for work and ldl flags every time I though about adding some carb in form of fruits or honey especially honey since I read that it could help with both lipids in the blood and the adipose cells. 

 

now the questions that arises are

 

will it help me health wise cause I felt great on  pure carnivore meat salt and water but I can't seem to sustain it generally coffee and cyclical cravings .

 

will I be able to maintain moderation with fruits and honey and get the results I am looking for lower cholesterol and maintain my fat loss with carnivore cause I still have 30 pounds to lose .

 

 

 

thanks for the help looking forward to hear your opinions 

[Scott F.]

I'm still new, just shy of six months. 

Every so often I drink a couple glasses of milk, here and there. I have stalled a couple times and usually it is just after I hit the milk two or three times in a week. I'm not so sure milk is the stall 'culprit', possibly coincidence. 

I'm on meats, salt and water just about all the time and the only thing outside of that is the milk. 

I guess giving into cravings can be an issue but I guess it would be more about how much you eat on the cravings. The carnivore diet is about eliminating foods. Dr. Berry has a video on going carnivore and then re-introducing eliminated items to identify what works for the individual.

I would celebrate the 34 and identify the plan that got you to 34. Although I haven't strayed outside of carnivore per se, I have changed the ways I eat, what I eat and when I eat to 'come off a stall' or offset a weight swing a couple-three pounds up or down. I have been on the 70lb mark for maybe a month or so, bouncing up and down a couple three pounds on each side of 70. 

I mostly do OMAD but have found I drop a couple pounds by eating just after I work out (a couple-three eggs) and then a normal OMAD on the non-workout days. 

Good luck. I'm not sure I answered your questions but I have hit similar points in the past 5 plus months. 

Scott

[Nas547]

thanks for the help and the  perspective 

[Geezy]

Welcome Nassim. We are glad you could join us. 
As to your first problem. You are having cravings because you have not gotten over your carb addiction yet. It can take time and even after you get over the physical cravings you can still have physiological cravings. On the physical side you aren’t eating enough fatty meat. Any time you get the urge to eat something you shouldn’t eat then eat some fatty meat. I always have hard boiled eggs handy or cooked bacon. There’s always some meat cooked in the fridge that I can grab as a snack if I need to. Generally if you eat enough at your regular meal you should be satiated until it’s time to eat again. That’s why so many of us end up eating OMAD. It’s all about getting your mind right. You’ve got to be committed to eating this way for life and you got to be determined not to fail. 
Now your second problem. 
You said “ I need my ldl tobe low mandatory medical for work”.
I’m not too sure what you’re talking about there. Are you saying that it’s a condition of employment that your LDL be low? I’ve never heard of anything so draconian in my life. It’s nobody’s business but yours what your number are if that’s what your saying. Those numbers are totally arbitrary anyways and mean nothing. 
If that is the case then you are in trouble because as a carnivore your cholesterol is going to go up. It has to because as you are fueling your body with fat in the form of ketones there will naturally be more cholesterol running around your veins. It inevitable. 
In my opinion you cannot maintain a carnivore lifestyle and eat fruit and it’s definitely not going to allow you to get over your addiction to carbs and the cravings. 
Now you can go Keto and that allows you to eat fruit as long as you keep the carbs under 20 grams but I personally don’t believe the fructose is good for you. You would be better off eating leafy greens rather than fruit in my opinion. 
Yes you can maintain moderation but if you struggle now with it on carnivore do you think you can do it on Keto? 
I the end you just have to experiment. We are all different and you need to eat in a way that works for you. I think that if this is too difficult for you or you you feel the need to reintroduce something to your diet then I think you should try it and see what happens just be prepared to go back to eliminating that food if it doesn’t work out. 
Goid luck. 
 

[Scott F.]

As I re-read the post I was leading up to weight and body composition. 

In the big picture the weight is just a number. I have hung around 70 for a month or so, like said, but I have also cinched the belt up one and may need another cinch soon. Yet, my weight (my number) is sort of hanging around at 70 but moving up and down a couple pounds each way. (I'm the guy that tells other people not to check their weight everyday but then I step on the scale most every day, so I should leave a disclaimer).

Good post by Geezy. I took his advice in the beginning and there is always a boiled egg or bacon or last nights meat in the refrigerator. I was lucky enough to not have any real cravings (maybe milk, but that starts skirting some of the ideals as it is a sugar source). I'm hardly ever hungry so being hungry and then craving/snacking things that are wrong for me has not been an issue. (lucky me, I guess). 

Prior to carnivore my primary snacking time was sitting around waiting for night shift. I'd eat a boat load of any and everything from 2-5PM and then be starving by midnight. When I started carnivore I left eggs and leftovers in the refrigerator for snack time but soon found I didn't really need nor want them.

@geezy @Nassim I'm not sure if your LDL is an employment condition or maybe I misunderstood. But......A few years ago United Healthcare offered "free testing" as they were concerned with our health. If you do these ten things and get these five things tested you get $XXX off your medical insurance. Tons of people jumped on that and saved money. However, what we did was provided them with baseline test numbers. In the following years if improvements were not shown the discounts were no longer available. And in time I am sure there will be at risk groups which in turn draws a higher premium. At our meeting I immediately asked was if HIPPA was a thing then how can my insurance company make business decisions on my health information? I have yet to be invited back to the annual roll-outs.

 

Scott

[Meathead]

Great advice from Scott and Geezy.

We're addicts and we cannot moderate our carb addiction.  

This is not so much a diet as it is a lifestyle.  Think of your body as a car. It runs on gasoline but you decide hey I want to put the E85 in because it's cheaper.  It will run but how long and how much damage to the engine will it cause? Can it be repaired?

Welcome aboard. 

[Orweller]

  On 10/23/2024 at 10:11 PM, Geezy said:

I’m not too sure what you’re talking about there. Are you saying that it’s a condition of employment that your LDL be low? I’ve never heard of anything so draconian in my life.

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I'd say look for another job or quit carnivore. LDL is likely to rise when you're in ketosis and losing fat. 

[Orweller]

  On 10/24/2024 at 2:58 PM, Meathead said:

Great advice from Scott and Geezy.

We're addicts and we cannot moderate our carb addiction.  

This is not so much a diet as it is a lifestyle.  Think of your body as a car. It runs on gasoline but you decide hey I want to put the E85 in because it's cheaper.  It will run but how long and how much damage to the engine will it cause? Can it be repaired?

Welcome aboard. 

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We're running on diesel now friend. lol

[Nas547]

  On 10/25/2024 at 11:51 AM, Orweller said:

I'd say look for another job or quit carnivore. LDL is likely to rise when you're in ketosis and losing fat. 

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how is advising me to quit carnivore helpful  thanks anyhow.

[Nas547]

thank you for your contributions every one and goodbye 

[Meathead]

  On 10/23/2024 at 5:55 PM, Nas547 said:

but I can't seem to sustain it generally coffee and cyclical cravings .

Expand  

It's basically a PRIORITY matter. 

Cravings or health?

What is YOUR WHY for starting carnivore?

As for LdL being lowered doing this carnivore lifestyle you may as well wish in 1 hand. 

Good luck on where your journey takes you. 

[Bob]

  On 10/23/2024 at 5:55 PM, Nas547 said:

hi I am a  new member big carnivore believer lost 34 pounds in 2 months and now I have 2 problems 1st is whenever I reach a certain weight I succumb to cravings and gain 3 to 4 pounds wich sets me back and it has been like this for several months.

Expand  

You answered this one yourself. The issue is succumbing to cravings. You're going to have to be stronger than this and not give in. Keep repeating what you did when you lost the first 34 pounds, and be patient. If you start to lack patience, then add in some intermittent or extended fasting, or increase your exercise routine.

  On 10/23/2024 at 5:55 PM, Nas547 said:

as for fruits and honey as I need my ldl to be low mandatory medical for work and ldl flags every time I though about adding some carb in form of fruits or honey especially honey since I read that it could help with both lipids in the blood and the adipose cells.

will I be able to maintain moderation with fruits and honey and get the results I am looking for lower cholesterol and maintain my fat loss with carnivore cause I still have 30 pounds to lose .

Expand  

This is a tough one.

Technically, you can lose weight on any diet, including an "animal-based" diet with fruit and honey. But by incorporating fruit and honey into your diet, you WILL find yourself hungry more, craving more, and wanting to eat more.

Also remember, that while you are actively losing weight, your LDL will go up because some LDL is stored in the adipose tissue, and gets released into the bloodstream as you lose weight. It can take up to 6 months after achieving weight stability (no more weight loss) for your LDL to return to "normal" or "baseline".

It's a tricky road to navigate.

Nick Norwitz lowered his LDL with oreos. But carnivore doctor Shawn Baker tried to do the same with fruit but didn't have the same result. Lille Kane quit carnivore and her bloodwork actually got worse. Carnivore Ray added fruit and honey to his diet and just didn't feel as good, so now he is back to carnivore most the time and goes on a fruit bender once in a while.

How often does your employer get your LDL tested? WHY is it a requirement?