A year and a half of semi carnivore (not to strict) and gaining weight again

[Famal]

Hi!

To start off, i have had the best experience on a lets call it a semi carnivore diet as i allow for milk, cheese, dairy product and trace amount of veggies if i eat a beef stew or something. Anyway its been a blast and i have gone from 99kg to 79kg in a year or so. The past 3 months though i have gained weight and am approaching 84kg and i am worried!

So full disclosure:

I tend to eat alot of cheese during the weeks and weekends i enjoy whisky.

 

Anyone have any experience with this that they can share and possibly provide me some tips? i want to get close to 80kg again and am worried,

[Meathead]

Welcome aboard @Famal.

What's your WHY for carnivore lifestyle?

Myself I decided I quit all carbs, strict carnivore for health reasons and if I lose weight it's a bonus.  I feel it's safe to say most of us carnivores don't even drink anymore. 

Alcohol turns to sugar and sugar is poison.  It's not a nutrient and we don't need it to live  so cutting all carbs, sugar and drinking is pretty much what I practice. 

I've stalled but have yet to gain what I lost. 

Good luck and hope this helps. 

[Geezy]

Welcome Famal, we are glad you could join us. 
Three things that are hampering your weight loss and causing you to gain weight. 
Cheese and dairy. When most people stall out on their weight loss journey it’s usually because of dairy. Dairy has a sugar in it called lactose. It can be addictive and easily over eaten. I had to stop dairy for a time because I was eating too much of it myself. Now that I’m maintaining my weight I can eat some dairy but I still have to be careful of it. 
Alcohol.  Alcohol can and will kick you out of ketosis so if you are serious about being metabolically heathy and lose weight you may want to abstain. If you find it difficult to abstain then choose your drink carefully. Beer  is the worst thing you can drink and wine comes in a close second. If you must drink then straight sprits are your best bet. No mixed drinks. 
Vegetables. While vegetables are not the devil per se on carnivore we just don’t see any reason to eat them when they provide no nutritional benefits for us. If you are going to eat them you need to keep the carb count down to 20 grams or less a day. No sauces or seed oils in the cooking. Make sure they are leafy greens and not starchy root vegetables. Best not to eat them at all in my opinion. 
Anytime you stall out or start gaining then evaluate your diet and often you’ll find the culprit there. 
Hood luck and good health. 

[Famal]

Thanks for you reply both og you! 
 

thats what i was suspecting and secretly hoping was not the case but then i have to go more strict on the diet.

 

 

[Scott F.]

Welcome.

Ditto on the above posts.

Especially the part about the dairy. When my weight was falling pretty fast, I was straight/strict carnivore. Just meat, salt and water. The WHY CARNIVORE? varies. For me, my son tried it for a month or so, and he lost 14-16lbs. The idea of "only meats" sounded doable so I gave it a whirl. The weight fell incredibly fast and after I got started (maybe three or so weeks in did I actually read about Carnivore. I learned some early lessons the hard way.

I, for no better words, 'stumbled upon' the health benefits other than the weight loss. I had no idea. Three-four weeks in the pain/inflammation medicine I "needed" (taken for actual pain/not every day) I all of a sudden didn't need them. Again, no idea.

Fast forward at about 4-5 months in I reintroduced milk. The steady fall in weight sort of stopped with milk and it didn't take a lot of milk. I have bounced around 70-75lbs lost for the last month to 6 weeks. This is maybe 3-4 glasses of 2% milk per week. 

I have not had a drink since the early 2000's so I can't speak to the effects of alcohol other than what I have read. I have not re-introduced veggies since I started so I can't really speak to which veggies or how much, again, only what I have read. 

I can speak to milk, and it will put the brakes on the weight loss (at least it did for me). I have not to start back on the medicine for pain/inflammation so I'm good with a glass here and there. I eat cheese every so often and when I do I make it a point to skip that next glass of milk. I'm not sure how well that is in approach, but it gives me the warm fuzzies. LOL

Best of luck. The only advice I could give is the Carnivore diet/lifestyle is much more about what you eliminated than what you eat. Pick one of the three you mention, eliminate it, try that for a few weeks and see where you land. Then maybe the second one, go from there. You may find a successful version and it may be a tad bit different than mine. 

Scott

[Geezy]

2 hours ago, Scott F. said:

This is maybe 3-4 glasses of 2% milk per week. 

You bring up a good point here. 2% milk is mostly sugar. Skim or fat free milk is all sugar. 
If you are going to drink milk then it’s best to drink whole milk so you are at least getting the benefit of the fat. 

[Orweller]

Remember when using dairy, use those low in lactose (goat cheese), lactose being a sugar. We respond differently per individual to dairy for numerous reasons (genetics, sensitivities, etc). 

Alcohol turns into sugar, as is well stated in this thread, as well as common knowledge for most. But alcohol does so much more to our bodies. 

First and foremost, alcohol disrupts protein synthesis. While this would depend on the amounts of alcohol you consume, this may differ per person. Muscle atrophy may be the result. Muscle is responsible for maintaining your glucose levels as well as partaking in the metabolic rate. If that makes sense. Muscle mass is crucial for general health, maintaining homeostasis. Alcohol can disrupt your ability to maintain or gain muscle mass. This is why we do not focus on weight loss, ever. We focus on FAT loss. 

This is why I so strongly advocate strength training over anything. At any age. 

Now let's consider the effects of alcohol on your hormones. It leads to hormone imbalance and hormone production. This is bad news, and yet another reason why alcohol is so toxic. Additionally, the intake of calcium specifically is disrupted by alcohol as well. 

While dairy can be of limited detriment to your progress, we do know that alcohol is an absolute toxin.

Now that this lecture is over lol, I do admit, I have a nice bottle of Chivas Regal that I cherish once a month with two dedicated and joyful consumptions. You CAN reduce alcohol intake and still enjoy the vice for what it is. 

Good luck with your journey. 

[Scott F.]

9 hours ago, Geezy said:

You bring up a good point here. 2% milk is mostly sugar. Skim or fat free milk is all sugar. 
If you are going to drink milk then it’s best to drink whole milk so you are at least getting the benefit of the fat. 

After years on the 2% I am just about sure I would have to chew the whole milk. LOL

Scott

[Famal]

A massive thanks to you all!

After cutting out milk and cheese just this week i am alteady seeing the results!

[Scott F.]

Nice work.

Scott

[Miranda]

On 11/14/2024 at 6:35 PM, Scott F. said:

After years on the 2% I am just about sure I would have to chew the whole milk. LOL

Scott

Hah! My husband feels the same way. I can  remember, back in the day, when my mom brought home that nasty blue skim milk. We were all kinda pissed about it, actually, but we got used to it I guess. I drink whole milk occasionally with dinner, but only in a small juice cup.

[Geezy]

Good job Famal.