Just A Routine Reminder

It is never a bad idea to take a minute and evaluate your routines. Make sure that how, when, and what you are eating is really truthful to your goals. I am doing this on purpose, because it is worth it. This statement is sort of the polar opposite of the regret felt by overeating something you know is bad for you.

So early on a Sunday morning, I am holding myself to account. And preparing for a few busy days. At the same time as making coffee and unloading the dishwasher, I made a container of grass-fed beef burgers (3). And I filled out the dates in my tracker book for the rest of July. No excuses for not following routines.

I continue to remind myself that success can be made simple. The Carnivore Diet is proof of that.

Artisan Bread

I was minding my own business in the grocery store a couple days ago and I thought about getting a loaf of sourdough bread. There was a special display in the bakery section of what I would call smallish loafs of bread for $8.99. I get it, inflation blah blah blah... but there is no way I’m spending $9 for bread. Especially since I can’t even remember the last time I bought bread.

I recently read an article about sourdough bread being somewhat less bad for you than regular bread. I don’t have sourdough starter, nor any handy Amish friends (or wherever bread starter comes from) so I opted to try a simpler approach. Only two ingredients: 4 cups of self-rising full-protein flour and 2 cups of plain Kefir. I mixed the 2 ingredients together, put Saran Wrap on the bowl and let it rest in the fridge for 5 hours.

Later in the day I preheated the oven to 450 with the covered Dutch oven pot in the oven. After working and folding the dough for a few minutes as the oven warmed up, I plopped the dough onto parchment paper and baked it for 30 minutes covered, and 15 minutes uncovered.

The results: crispy on the outside, fairly dense on the inside. Tasty.

Ironically, I spent almost exactly $9 on flour and Kefir. However, I think I could make 2 more loaves. So $3 each. I win.

Next time, I will let the dough rest for a few more hours, just to see if I can let the Kefir enzymes and yeast make more air gaps. Pretty easy to make. Here is the link to the recipe.

I haven’t given up on Carnivore - but did feel like have some bread with dinner.

June Update

June has been an interesting month, primarily due to getting close enough to my weight loss goals that my plans changed, just a little. I don’t really have a plan to try and lose more weight. Now I am paying attention to what adjustments or alterations I can make to how I take in nutrients. And maintain a steady goal weight.

For the last 4-5 years I have recorded my weight on the 1st and 15th of the month in a Google Sheet. I have always considered this to be a fair way to keep score and a good habit. I am keeping this habit. I also continue to track my diet, exercise, vitamins and hydration daily.

Without really trying, I’ve stayed within a one pound of my low weight (146) but it is really easy to in the Summer to ebb and flow many pounds just from exercise and hydration - especially on a really humid day. The twice a month weigh-in sort of evens the fluctuations out of the mix.

So on my day off, I gathered a fresh carnivore supply of beef and portioned it out via vacuum seal bags. Round streak has become a bit of a staple for me. It is relatively inexpensive, easy to prepare quickly, and pairs well with eggs. My pattern is to alternate between a fish (mahi or salmon) and beef with eggs before any work shift. I then take a baggie of carrots and hydrate well at work, and never really get hungry.

I grabbed the largest pack at Costco this morning - 6.5 pounds, which gets 7 meals. $35 for seven high protein meals…math math math -$5 each. Hmm, is that OK?

Now 1/3rd Off!

Yes, I have done the math. What math am I talking about? Subtraction.

Beginning in February of 2018, I realized that my overall health was not where it should be. A steady increase in body weight from my 20’s to my 50’s had plumped me up to a weight that in and of itself didn’t seem to panic anyone, including myself and any physician I saw. Combine this with a job at a desk for 50 hours a week and the linear progression of heft was combined with declining aerobic fitness and metabolic health.

Looking back, there were many variables that I could assign blame to, but the only correct blame pointing is accomplished by looking in the mirror. Fortunately, that is also where the solution lies. Within yourself is the capability to change. Around yourself are tools that are mostly free and (now) easy to find. All types of change can be hard and finding a combination of the correct change is not something I nailed on the first attempt, second attempt or even the third. In order:

1. Dieting but not really changing

2. Extreme Fitness! (P90X), but not really fixing nutrition

3. Fixing nutrition (food intake) with metabolic specialist, but too many gaps

4. Actual success: Carnivore, enough fitness, no alcohol, no medications.

I’ve tracked my goals and progress in a spreadsheet regularly with twice a month weigh-ins since June of 2018. There was progress and some regression and then more progress. A picture is worth 1000 words:

September 1, 2023 - a reset of goals paired with better results.

The top line number of 1/3 off refers to the drop of 75 pounds - from 223 to 148.

More importantly, the collection of other data now has the correct framing. For instance, BMI at 23, fat percentage below 20, waist measurement at belly button at 34, blood pressure and resting pulse as low as I ever recall. And semi-annual blood labs all in a good place.

A thought crossed my mind - how should I celebrate? I’m not sure. I’m curious about how to stay at a specific weight and how to keep and create muscle mass in my 60’s. So that will be my new focus. I guess I’ll need a new spreadsheet.

Let's Get Cooking!

There are a handful of Carnivore “influencer’s” who regularly mention and show the daily ribeye steak they are preparing and eating. Unless I am missing something, eating a ribeye everyday, while certainly delicious, is likely beyond the budget of most people.

I generally try to buy most of my beef at Costco and feel like I am accomplishing all of my protein goals without having to spend $18 - $23 per pound for super fancy cuts. As a lone wolf, purchasing directly from a rancher (a 1/4 cow?) doesn’t make sense. The packaging and freezing space required for that is beyond what I have. Seems like freezer burn would be inevitable as well.

Meet Chuck.

Today this meat bomb dropped into my cart. Wasn’t even planned. Once home, I began to search for “how to cook chuck roast”. I found two ideas, so I did both.

First, I cut the roast in half, and the side with the most fat went into the Instant Pot. 55 minutes, later, I had seasoned shredded beef. Next, for the second half, I cut it into 2 steak sized pieces and tenderized & then dry-brined it for 4 hours*. Then, into the oven until the internal temperature was about 115 degrees. Then, using the same cast iron pan, I reverse-seared each side at high heat with butter for a few minutes. Pretty simple way to turn the roast into 4-5 meals without taking too much time. After taste-testing one of the steaks, I declare victory (on a budget).
* the recipe called for 12 hours of dry brining in the fridge, which I’ll try next time

Kitchen work completed, including sampling my work.

Continuing Success With Little Adjustments

Another morning of carnivoring my way through some cooking of meal number 1. In this case, preparing some beef patties for future meals while also cooking some steak & eggs. Pretty close to the BBBE formula that complete carnivores avow. My latest little adjustments has primarily been related to my work schedule, since I start a bit earlier, I try to eat a complete (and largest) meal of the day before work, then not so much but a couple snack-like add-ons later in the day. Getting this meal right has been the key to satiety throughout the rest of my day. Hydration at work cures most of the hunger pangs.

As I was doing this, I noticed all of the claims and certifications on the egg packaging. It seems like a lot. I pay attention to these: 3 eggs…200 cal and about 20g of protein. Untold micro-nutrients. Each egg has all the things of a whole chicken! Sort of.

Of less importance:

• Cage free

• Certified organic feed

• No hormones or antibiotics

• Vegetarian fed with no animal byproducts

• Organic

• USDA Organic

• USDA AA Grade

• 100% Recycled Plastic (the package, not the eggs)

• American Humane Certified

• Certified Cage Free J-956 (very trust-worthy number, eh?)

Most of my experience buying eggs has been to grab the basic cardboard dozen eggs and just eat them. This may be the first time I squinted in and read all the labeling. My assumption has generally been that eggs are good for you. This many claims on a label almost makes me want to second guess that.

Locating a Really Smart Conversation

I think most people know that listening to the Huberman podcast is information dense, but adding Casey Means to the conversation gains the Carnivore listener a super-relatable and knowledgeable information source. Makes me wonder why more doctors (who see patients) aren’t tuned in to this messaging. I suggest listening to this twice. Take some notes. Specifically the parts about ordering blood tests and how important getting outdoors to walk and move throughout the day is.

Daily Journal Update

Keeping a daily journal of my healthy activities has, in my opinion, been one of the keys to success. It has little to do with what I’m eating but more to do with being accountable for my behavior. Maintaining healthy behaviors has a lot to do with forming habits. By having a detailed enough diary of activities, I can make little adjustments based on results.

A couple examples: I can pinpoint time-frames from transitioning from just low carb to a more strict carnivore. I have also made adjustments to vitamins and supplements. I make adjustments based on learning new techniques but also due to results of bi-annual blood tests (and the accompanying physician advice).

My last journal notebook contains September 2023 - April 2024, so I can squeeze quite a bit of activity into a single 48 page book. And it is easy to see at a glance that for that 8 month period, I lost 35+ pounds at a very steady pace, added fish oil, potassium and magnesium supplements, and switched my D3 to a D3+K2 formulation. I’m sure I’ll make further adjustments this Summer at my next checkup interval. Until then, I’ll keep checking the little boxes in my fancy new Field Notes National Parks series notebooks.

Just Reading The Label Is Not Enough

In my spare time as a nutrition scientist…I try to read the labels of most everything I purchase. I also attempt to understand my gaps in knowledge. To combat or control a human with insulin resistance, the primary area to pay attention to is sugar, by any name.

My current mode of operation is to not trust anything man-made and marketed as “healthy” without first viewing it with my special skepticism glasses. Especially artificial sugars. I fell into this rabbit hole initially when trying to formulate a healthy protein shake, which I wanted to use regularly as a meal replacement. The core ingredients: protein powder, whether whey or plant based, real ingredients like banana, blueberries or blackberries, nut butter or peanut butter, and flavorings like cinnamon, cacao and peanut butter powder - all of these have natural or fake sugar. The insulin spike is real. The powdered products produced for the healthy person have such long ingredient labels that it just feels better to not rely on them.

I have reduced my protein shakes down to 1 or 2 a week. I have replaced them with Greek yogurt and I’ll add some fruit myself. Less time spent reading labels!

Commanding Metabolic Health

As I continue to refine my understanding of a proper human diet, it is nice to see a growing group of advocates sharing information about the dangers present in our food industries. Most, if not many, of the easiest choices people make when choosing food lean towards convenience. “I was in a hurry” is not really a good enough excuse.

That bias towards convenience leads many people to a drug-based solution as well - specifically GLP-1 agonists medicines. Finding out what exactly is happening in the body to make that work and trying to figure out what all the long-term side effects requires a heavy lift. Would you spend over $1000 per month to become a lab rat? Who is willing to pay that much when as soon as you stop taking the drug, the lost weight will return?

A Better Approach

Slow, steady, and simple wins the race. I am more convinced of this every day. Remove all sugars and lower carbs to <35g/day. Focus on protein and unprocessed foods. Be active and outdoorsy. Get 8 hours of sleep daily. 

If you can set aside the annoying presentation style of this guy, his information is pretty deep. A deep dive into sugar.