19 Pounds in 2 Months! Bad?!

I haven't been tracking my weight. I've been basing my progress off of visual change so let's see if my 19 lbs difference is bad or good. Also, my exercise influence recently (which may have influenced my 19 pound change!). Next on the schedule is a Being Carnivore topic, emotional eating. How do we stop doing it? Read on to find out how to regain control of your mind and your food consumption. Enjoy.

Welcome back to The Carnivore Human Blog. I had a slightly catastrophic week so I think I would like to tell you about that. It really consists of some good news turning into bad news. I will probably categorize this as a Being Carnivore article because that's the topic on the mind today. Let's dive in.

What Happened This Week?

19 Pounds Lost? or Gained?
Workout Program

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

I usually don't weigh myself because I feel like the fluctuation of my muscle mass and my body fat might give me a less than motivating effect. If you step on the scale at the end of the month after losing 6 pounds of body fat but also adding 4 pounds of muscle then you will only see -2 pounds on the scale. You really shed 6 pounds of bad weight and added 4 pounds of good weight. That's more of a 10 point positive change in my opinion but the scale won't show it that way. Also, one could put on 6 pounds of muscle and drop 4 pounds of fat showing a negative result of +2 pounds on the scale. That's still a 10 point positive change but it will seem negative in terms of weight loss.

Inversely, one could drop 3 pounds of fat and also lose 3 pounds of muscle showing a total of 6 pounds lost on a scale. This might seem like a positive thing and motivate a low calorie dieter to further their efforts by eating even less food. We can certainly regain that muscle but it is worrying if your body is so malnourished that it cannot maintain the what it has already got.

I'm not saying do not weigh yourself I am just saying to take it with a grain of salt. This isn't the definitive number that decides your health or your success on a diet. Being 60 pounds lighter whether it is fat or muscle is going to make a positive change. Fortunately the Carnivore Diet is popular for helping individuals lose body fat and gain muscle at the same time.

I do not have the technology to track my muscle mass and body fat mass so I cannot tell you for certain what this means for me but: in January I peaked around 233 pounds and just this week I weighed in at 214. Almost 20 pounds in about 2 months. I saw it and audibly said "Yikes!" I've been taking progress pictures (which I highly recommend).

February: My empty stomach really leaves the spare tire around my waist sticking out. Much different from the January picture where it seems like my entire midsection from chest to waist is stuck out... Yes I know my feet are very large.

Not tooting my own horn but there is a distinct difference. It doesn't actually look like a lot of fat went away around my stomach but maybe more in my face, around my rib cage, and maybe a bit around my arms. It also looks like I took the January picture after a meal and my stomach is protruding outward because of it. A photo from in February really dramatizes that.

As we can see, I've added some muscle specifically on my upper arm. In January my Triceps were quite a bit smaller than they are now. Despite this, the scale shows I lost 19 pounds. Obviously this is not a bad thing, but that's actually what got to my head.

I saw this progress and said oh wow, I am adding muscle and losing fat! I lose my composure and stop being so disciplined. On Thursday I ordered Chinese food and had a Cheeseburger later that day. The next day I ended up eating 6 slices of pizza. Complete failure. Instead of digging in and sticking with what I have going on I reverted to my old ways. I shot right back up to 225 pounds. I am not super worried about it because I know that it is repairable and most of the weight is water being held by the bread and rice I ate. In the end I just need to get better about seeing my success as motivation to get more success.

We don't know how much fat is gone and we don't know how much muscle I put on but overall the visual change is positive and I feel great, when I'm not having a cheat day (boohoo). I highly recommend progress picture over tracking weight on a scale. You can purchase a scale that tracks body fat percentage and muscle mass if you like, I just haven't gotten one yet. Just don't get caught up on a number that could mean a bunch of different things. It might lead to unnecessary worrying or you might end up like me and celebrate too much.

Pavel and the Kettlebell

If my progress in the last section made you curious about what I am doing, exercise wise, then this is where I will tell you. I spoke in a recent article about a man name Pavel Tsastouline. He is a Russian who has brought a method of "Easy Strength" into the light. As a follower of Tim Ferris and his "4-Hour" lifestyle, Pavel's teachings fall right into my way of thinking. By that I mean using the minimum amount of effort for the highest reward. If going Carnivore was the only thing you had to do to lose weight, gain muscle, gain strength, gain stamina, gain mental clarity, and find happiness wouldn't you do it? (ha ha!)

Pavel has 2 books I would recommend to anyone looking to get big and strong. And I mean real strength you can use and apply to the world, not just visuals or aesthetics. The to books are Power to the People and Enter the Kettlebell. I read both of them in the matter of 5 days, they are short and to the point. I enjoyed them thoroughly and they gave me a plan to follow. There is also Easy Strength, a collaboration between Dan John and Pavel, which gives you the tools to design your own workouts. That was a bit more complicated so I am going to stick with Power to the People and Enter the Kettlebell.

I will not spill all of the secrets here because that would just be unfair to Pavel who put in the work to bring all of this knowledge to the United States. However, if you recieve a workout plan from me or read an article on here about fitness then know that it is influenced by his teachings. I am certainly no expert but as usual I will speak from my own experiences and you can draw your own conclusion.

I have joined the USA Powerlifting organization and will be training for an event in August. This way we will have a definitive way to judge if I am getting stronger from the Pavel Tsatsouline inspired training.

I am sure you want at least a little taste of what the programs are like so I will give you this small point. After learning the core lessons of Pavel's books, these are my top 5 recommended exercises for anyone to do:

Kettlebell Swing
Kettlebell Get-Up
Deadlift
Bench Press
Squat

The Kettlebell is my new favorite piece of equipment. I will try not to fanboy over it too much in the future.

The Meat

Food is an emotional thing for many of us, I know it is for me. My parents were so good about keeping food on the table during my childhood and I had an awesome childhood. So as things do, memorable aspects of life when I was a kid are comforting. Movies, games, and food are my big ones. My mom is Filipino and she is a phenomenal cook so what that really translates to is: My mom cooks outrageous amounts of food that I love to eat.

I was a shy and quiet kid growing up so anytime I was upset it was more likely that I would eat than talk to someone about how I was doing. As we grow up this really becomes a disadvantage because there are so much more stress factors the farther along we get in life. The worse things get the worse I just want to eat a whole bucket of fried chicken. Right? It's very sad and that's why I feel so strongly about putting you onto the Carnivore Diet because it has helped me out of my dependency on food.

I have always eaten just too much food. Plates and plates of food at every meal if possible. It was like my life's passion for a while, the only thing I could think about. As an adult this just went badly for me because my "metabolism wasn't fast enough to burn off all of the food" or I just had to "eat less and workout more." I just couldn't believe that. Why would my body want me to eat so much if it meant me getting so fat and unhealthy. Of course there are nutritional considerations but for this article I will focus on the emotional side of it.

Going back to food every time I was uncomfortable meant going back to food dozens of times a day. Like I said, I was a shy kid and a nerd in school so just being there was something that made me want to eat. Talking to girls, answering questions in class, giving presentations. These are all pretty common things people get nervous to do and it was the same for me, I just ate a bunch of food after any of them happened. On top of all of this, I'm fat so I was self conscious and worried about all of that when I talked to girls. It was terrible and I apologize for throwing a pity part but I know there are people out there that experience the same thing every day.

So if that is you reading this then first of all, I thank you for being here and I believe you are on the right path by starting this journey.

Your emotions are your enemy but that doesn't make food your friend

If you've read blog 2 then you know my explanation for carb addiction. When you are an emotional eater the feeling of the first bite into your favorite deep fried food or dessert is one you are very fond of. It feels awesome, your mood is lifted, and nothing could worry you more than getting the next bite in your mouth. All is well until the high has worn off. Now there is an empty feeling and all your worries can flush back in and fill the space. "When is the next meal?"

Meat is always going to fill you up. You're body will know when it's had enough meat to run effectively. It doesn't take much honestly. For an emotional eater eating a pound or two of ground beef is a cake walk when it is mixed with marinara sauce and noodles. But if you eat that pound of ground beef alone it will start speaking to you, "You have had enough, you don't want anymore." Carbs never tell us this, we have to wait until our stomach hurts so bad it forces us to stop eating to save from barfing. So we can't trust them to be our friends. Meat is also a stoic so it will be there for our nutrition but it hardly ever sustains the emotional boost that sugar will.

Don't get me wrong, a great steak right of the grill is awesome and it inspires a great amount of happiness in my soul but when I've had enough, it loses it's pizzazz. But that's the benefit of Meat, it's there to help then it goes with no strings attached.

Meat will always treat you fairly it just won't treat you special, Carbs will always treat you special but won't always be fair.

When we eat meat to satiety (sensation of satisfaction/nutritional needs fulfilled) it will come quickly and feel odd or unexpected. I used to be able to eat pounds and pounds of food because sugar never helped me reach satiation. When I started eating only meat my max was about 3 pounds. I was so dependent on food and mainly carbs to be happy that I was eating myself into obesity.

You DO NOT NEED CARBS

I grew up with my family telling me to eat more and more, telling me that I need grains, and fruit, and fiber, and vegetables. All of these things just made it harder for me to get healthy and happy. As you must know, there are thousands of people living without plants in their diet. You can too but you must let go of the attachment you have to your favorite food. The addiction will pass and you will come out on the other side independent and happy for it.

The terrible part of it all is that you know sugar is bad and you know it makes you unhealthy, you just can't kick it. I know I was the same all of my life. Any time someone told me or hinted to me to lose weight I just brushed it off and said, "I could never stop eating rice..." For the last 2 years I've been eating rice every 2 or 3 months. I used to love it but experiencing life without rice on Paleo diets, Keto diets, and now Carnivore, showed me that my dependence on food was an issue of my mind not just my body.

I convinced myself I was not going to live and be happy without rice. This was so strong in me for over 18 years. But it was completely false. I omitted every one of my favorite foods to lose 60 pounds for the Navy and I would be lying if I said it was the worst time of my life, that I was miserable because I couldn't eat the food I wanted to. That would be the opposite of what I experienced. Independence from my food made my free in my mind and my body. With that freedom I found health and reached body composition goals I'd had my entire life. It's a bit embarrassing how much pride I took in seeing my abs finally reveal themselves from under the layer of body fat that had burdened me my whole life. I was extremely happy. Now they're gone again and I could blame carbs for it but it was really my dependence on food for happiness.

I made a lot of excuses and easily rose back up from 185 to 230 in about 3 months. It was mostly fat because I looked just like I had before training for the Navy. I had awoken a chronic eating disorder that I worked so hard to put to sleep. So how can you avoid doing the same thing as me. If you do Carnivore then have a relapse will you fail as terribly as I did?

No (How to Disconnect)

Every time I have tried and failed to do Carnivore I have gotten closer to doing it in a more sustainable and rational fashion. Starting down this path, The Carnivore Human path does not mean trying the diet, having a hard time with it, going back to carbs, and failing. It's about understanding what is right for your body. Meat is right for your body. If all this page does for you is make you increase you meat intake by 50% then that is good enough for me. No matter what Meat is the #1 food to eat. So eat more of it and keep eating more of it until you can't eat any more plants.

It will happen. It's happening to me right now. I have been forcing myself to have cheat days; because I know I want them in some ways and because it keeps things in perspective. I eat meat and eggs 6 days of the week (ideally) and on my Sunday I do something that I shouldn't do. I went to a buffet a few weeks ago. Last month I made breakfast burritos at home. It doesn't matter what it is I just know on Sunday I will be eating some stuff that gets me "Food High." The next day I will feel sick and tired and reminisce about how the burritos or Chinese food doesn't taste like it used to. General Tso's Chicken used to be my favorite food to get at a Chinese place but this time it just tasted like chemicals and soggy chicken.

This is what meat does for you.

Step #1: Eat More Meat.

Eating more meat while also eating cake and cookies is obviously not going to do much so a go to diet for carb lovers is The Vertical Diet by Stan Efferding. It includes rice, sweet potatoes, spinach, peppers, orange juice, and more. You can buy the program directly from Stan or you can look up videos on the internet about how to do it for cheap or with alternative foods. The complete program would be good for anyone who likes more flexibility (which isn't always good). However, there are plenty of videos of people and their experiences with the diet that you can draw from.

If you read last week's article then you will recognize this plan to work meat out of your diet.

Week 1: Carbs-Meat-Carbs-Meat-Carbs-Meat-Carbs

Week 2: Meat-Meat-Carbs-Meat-Meat-Carbs-Carbs(prep for first 3-day Meat cycle)

Week 3: Meat-Meat-Meat-Carb-Meat-Meat-Meat

Week 4: Carb-Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Carb-Carb

Week 5: Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Carb-Carb

Week 6: Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Carb (One day a week!)

Instead of Carbs just load in a Vertical Diet Day. Stan's Vertical Diet is heavily based on meat, specifically steak so I'm all for it. Here's what it would look like:

Week 1: Vertical-Meat-Vertical-Meat-Vertical-Meat-Vertical

Week 2: Meat-Meat-Vertical-Meat-Meat-Vertical-Vertical(prep for first 3-day Meat cycle)

Week 3: Meat-Meat-Meat-Vertical-Meat-Meat-Meat

Week 4: Vertical-Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Vertical-Vertical

Week 5: Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Vertical-Vertical

Week 6: Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Meat-Vertical(One day a week!)

I believe some people might be completely happy on the Vertical Diet alone, the only reason I dedicate myself to The Carnivore Diet is a case like Mikhaila Peterson's, who eliminated small amounts of plant life until she was down to literally meat and lettuce. A leaf of lettuce is all that stood between her and health. When she eliminated that and went full Carnivore all her symptoms went away (I highly suggest you research her story). Being strict on this plan for 2 months to train your mind to become independent of food.

Now you might be wondering, "What's the catch? Do I have to weigh out my food? Or?" I would be suspicious too so it's okay.

Step #2: Do not measure your food intake. The Vertical Diet and the Carnivore Diet are great tools for managing metabolism so following the plan above is just going to help you find health, while also, keeping you disciplined and away from the addictive foods long enough to show you what you are truly capable of.

If you were on a calorie restrictive plan then these diets will be useful in bringing your metabolism back up.

Now you might be asking, "Why with all of this planning and systems? This isn't about emotions at all!" You are right, but that is because we are training to become independent of our emotions. They are the very thing that got us so dependent on food in the first place. Follow the plan and don't worry.

Step #3: Stop worrying about food and weight loss. I only include weight loss because it is a popular reason to take on this diet. If you think too much about the diet it will weigh on you heavily. Trust the plan and follow it for 8 weeks then make a judgement. Compared to our whole lives, 8 weeks is not that long to test something out.

Cycle in the meat more and more to see how it helps you disconnect your emotions from your food. Full Disclosure: This means eating will not be as fun and interesting as it has been before. I am not saying that a perfectly cooked steak won't be exciting because it is, but when I've had enough it's obvious to me. This is the goal! The day that you can decide to eat a meal and stop when you feel full is a glorious day in the journey to eating effectively. I sometimes eat just because I feel like it's been too long since my last meal. That's an objective decision, a non-emotional decision. I am not eating just because I'm bored, an emotional decision.

Step #4: Expect Freedom from Food. Invest in new entertainment. This is a nicer way of saying food might become boring but, that also means you will be free to think about and do different things. Now that food isn't your main source of entertainment, you can learn a skill or take a class on something you've always wanted to. Eliminating my food addiction is what allowed exercise to become a passion of mine. I hated running but by the time I left for boot camp, my favorite training day was the 10-mile run day. Don't allow yourself to sit and sulk about not being able to eat donuts. Write a book, carve wood, learn how to weld, go scuba diving/spear fishing for dinner, go camping, sew a quilt, start a business, something.

My food dependence consumed my whole life and probably kept me from doing something productive with my life more than I could have imagined. When the addiction was gone I started doing amazing things (amazing to me at least, that's all that matters, as long as the things you do are amazing to you).

Step #5: Keep Meatballs (or something) with you at all times. While you're out in the world doing amazing things you will get cravings and hot sweats when you see your former favorite foods so keep meat on hand. You could freeze a big batch of like 100 homemade meatballs and just carry 10 of them with you to work or to school. If every time you get a little hunger pain, you just answer it with a meatball or something then your body will learn that a hunger pain gets a meatball. You don't have to be happy about it but it will make the cravings go away which makes me pretty happy anyway.

If you have to go to social events then do your best. 2 months strict to the plan is my biggest suggestion to your success. If it's a pot luck then make 10 pounds of pulled pork and eat 5 pounds of it! Just kidding, but surely your weak coworkers won't be able to slam pounds of salted pork like you can so you can just get your fill on meat then go take a nap at your desk. You will do fine.

Step #1: Eat More Meat.
Step #2: Do not measure your food intake.
Step #3: Stop worrying about food and weight loss.
Step #4: Expect Freedom from Food. Invest in new entertainment.
Step #5: Keep Meatballs (or something) with you at all times.

Fight your emotional eating

Unhealthy food and unhealthy living are dead weight. They just make being happy harder than it needs to be. Meat, Water, and Sleep are our base needs. Get as close to that as you can then build back up from there. Meat, Water, Sleep, Exercise maybe. Or Meat, Water, Sleep, Piano Lessons. Whatever makes a good life for you.

A good life is the good goal of this page, so if you made it here I sincerely hope this helps you in finding your good life. If you have any questions you can still email me and ask them free of charge. I just want to help! Thanks for reading.

Adam

The Carnivore Human