Carnivore Week 4 & 5

Hi everyone! I took a week off from my updates because I was basking in the sun at the Outer Banks. But yes! I am still ingesting only beef, salt, water and black coffee. I decided to move my updates from Facebook to a blog because I’d like to talk about my health journey in more detail as I have found other’s blogs to be tremendously helpful.

The past two weeks have been a little rough due to abstaining from participating in lots of celebratory food! A couple days ago it was my birthday. I had the most delicious prime rib; it was enormous, fatty and satisfying, however, I did not have chocolate cake or any other treats, nor did anyone else and that changed the spirit as well. It’s not just you that only has the fun, but everyone enjoys the mood of slicing a happy iced birthday cake! It’s just special and makes you feel warm.

Last week it was my mom’s birthday and I made what she said was a really yummy lemon blueberry cheesecake. Truthfully it looked amazing. I did not have a slice. And finally there was the 4th of July incredible spread of hamburger fixin’s, fresh fruit, homemade potato salad, casseroles and typical 4th fare at Critzer Family Farm. I selected the beef patties from the tin tray. Wah, wah.

But I’m proud of myself for sticking with it. It’s definitely not fun at times, because celebrations are special in part because of the foods associated with them, the birthday cake, the glass of wine, the slice of pizza. But I want to get well and every mouthful of beef is worth it to the exclusion of everything else. It’s also teaching me how to create or participate in a festive mood without relying on food.

These past two weeks I haven’t noticed any changes to be encouraged or discouraged. It’s hard to have an accurate gauge of progress when all I did was move from the bed to the beach chair, to the waves, to the beach chair to the porch chair. I have increased my electrolytes and find that I really need to stay on top of that. I relied heavily on these prior all beef and it seems I am needing an extra dose a day. I did have one crash at the beach, and that’s no fun, but after taking a dose I revived. My stomach bloat came back a bit and my weight shifted up a couple pounds but all that’s normal with a smack from the monthly cycle.

I tried several new cuts of beef this week from the local farmers and most were unsuccessful, due I’m sure to the way I prepared them. Stew meat and short ribs were so tough and chewy that eating was a chore. I was happy when the meal was accomplished. I think the slow cooker is going to become my new best friend. However, my ribeyes were freaking delicious and I’m getting better at those.

I do love though the small amount of cooking and cleaning time involved in this way of eating. That is something I can celebrate. And I never feel bad after eating. Today I’m going into week 6, the amount of time I originally said that I would do this experiment before reintroducing foods. This week I’m going to be resuming daily activities so hopefully I will see some clues as to what healing is taking place and have something interesting to report next week!

Till then, best wishes on the things big and small that you are setting out to accomplish. Hang in there and move forward! “Life’s not perfect. Life’s not easy. Life is good.”