Author: The Candid Carnivore

Sharing my mission for better health with carnivore. Healing autoimmune and eating disorders, recovering sugar and carb addict, and chronic dieter hoping to inspire others.
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Fat and Brain Health: Why we need fat to function

Why is it essential to eat animal fats? Commonly, we are told that the brain requires glucose to function. This, my friends, is a big, fat lie!

What disorders can be improved with higher fat diets?

Eating fat has been shown to improve cognitive function and mental clarity;  mood and mental health; as well as brain disorders like schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s. 

Expressly, noted improvements in brain-related disorders are:

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Brain fog
  • Memory
  • Brain injury
  • Stroke
  • ADHD
  • Autism
  • Epilepsy
  • Dementia (Type 3 Diabetes)
  • MS (multiple sclerosis)
  • Migraines

You can check out one study supporting this here. These are just some of the brain-related issues that can be improved or reversed – not to mention metabolic, autoimmune, and other health issues.

We have been sold on a low-fat diet for so long. And it shows. Incidents of ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression have increased dramatically along with so many other disorders and diseases. We have been told fat and cholesterol should be avoided at all costs. This has been a detrimental piece of horrible advice.

What about all those studies?

Any study that is done for research requires funding. Scientists need paychecks just like the rest of us. So where does this money come from? Usually, at least some portion of funding comes from a large corporation that would stand to benefit from the findings of such studies. So perhaps the study is conducted in a way that a bit of ‘good information’ may come out of it, but the large part of the outcome will be worded in such a way, or the process of the study has been done in such a way, that the funding source can tout the findings as proof that you need to purchase their product. There are no local ranchers out here funding studies, they simply don’t have the bank for that. All we can do is trust the history of our species and dissect the significant amount of data, ignoring the study’s conclusion. Check the sources, and check the processes.

A simple example would be Ancel Key’s 7 nations study. It’s said that the study actually included 22 countries, but only 7 fit the narrative, so the rest were excluded. Another example is well known – the Harvard scientists who were bought by the sugar companies to outright lie and say that fat causes heart disease when the study clearly shows that sugar was the cause. This was proven many years ago, but the false information is so widely circulated that most people, including doctors, still believe it to be true. If this were the case, the last few decades at the height of the low-fat and high-fiber diets, and the increased popularity of veganism should have effectively reduced the rate of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s, ADHD, autism, and the vast array of other modern, and way too common, diseases. But the opposite has happened. The rate of these and other diseases has steadily increased!

What does food have to do with the brain?

Now, to get a bit science-y… brain health begins in the gut – the gut-brain connection. This is where our neurotransmitters are made. A key chemical for brain health is serotonin. But did you know that serotonin is actually made in your gut? So our brain health begins with what we are putting into our bodies. Fiber creates small perforations in the digestive tract. This causes ‘leaky gut’, which is exactly as it sounds. In addition, the toxins in the plants we are convinced we need can contribute to depression. Toxins and various fluids are leaking into your body and bloodstream. This has a direct effect on your brain and contributes to the mental and physical health of your brain. What do you consume via your eyes, your ears, and your mouth? It all matters a great deal. It’s imperative to your overall health. Filling the body with grains and sugar is causing the brain to be malnourished. The brain is not getting the nutrition it needs to operate efficiently or optimally. Add to that the man-made non-food ingredients in processed products, and we don’t really stand a chance at a long, healthy, and happy life.

Book recommendation:

This book has been on my list for a few years:

Video recommendation:

Here is a link to a great YouTube video discussing this topic as well: Anthony Chaffee, the Plant-Free MD with guest, Natalie E. West – a clinical psychotherapist with over 20 years of experience in mental health.

Questions?

This could be a very long post if I were to go into each category and explain how carnivore, specifically higher fat carnivore, can positively impact each issue. Let me know in the comments if there is any specific brain-related issue you would like more information on! 

If you’re ready to start eliminating foods that are harming your health and begin really living your life, email me or contact me on social media here:

You can book a coaching session with me and we will work together to find the right strategy for your particular health mission! Just click the image below, then come with me – we have healing to do!

I am a Revero certified Carnivore & Fasting Coach
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Nutrition & Hormones

Fertility, menopause, and everything in between.

Over the weekend I was asked if carnivore, zero carb, or low carb can help with fertility and hormone issues.

First, the disclaimer: I can’t guarantee anything or make any promises. I’d bet my life savings, but I can’t promise.

Short answer: YES!

Keeping your carb intake as low as possible will keep your insulin low. Many issues with fertility and hormone imbalance at any age can be traced to a constant flood of insulin. Metformin can help to lower insulin, but this presents two problems from my understanding. 1. It goes back to my analogy concerning diabetics – rather than change your diet, the doctor prescribes another medication. Where if you just reduce the foods that are causing the issue, you wouldn’t need the medication. 2. It simply masks the issue and many women trying to become pregnant do not want additional medications in their system, and therefore the baby’s.

Long answer: YES!

When you consume sugar and carbs, they become glucose in your body. Insulin is released to level things out. If you are having sugar and carbs throughout the day, the insulin and your pancreas never has a break. Insulin is a storage hormone – storing glucose, fat, salt, and water. This is a stressor on your body, also keeping cortisol levels high. Cortisol is a stress hormone.

This is the perfect storm to create insulin resistance. This means your hormones are not receiving the proper signals. It’s like a break in the communication system in your cells. You stop ovulating, or ovulate infrequently. Your cycle may be irregular, you may develop PCOS. All of these things will go against what your body was made to do. With those hormones now being out of whack and receiving no communication, pregnancy loss is also a higher risk.

SO, consuming very low carb foods like berries, spinach, some nuts, etc., will go a long way to reducing your insulin and keeping glucose levels nice and steady. Though carbs are NOT essential even during pregnancy.

Protein’s Role

Consuming more protein will help with muscle support and building another human! Eggs, burgers, bacon, steak, chicken, wings – any beef, pork, chicken, or fish. As we get older, prioritizing protein is even more important. Keeping carbs at a minimum, steady glucose levels, and low insulin, are important to reduce inflammation. Protein keeps muscles strong to protect bones. Low insulin lowers cardiovascular risk.

Fat’s Role

Fat is also essential in healing and supporting hormones in all humans. I’m talking about animal fat – eat the fat on the meat, have some cheese, cook in tallow, lard, butter, or ghee. Healing your hormones and eating to support them is a big deal! Hormones require fat. Every cell in your body requires fat to function properly.

Check out YouTube videos from Kelly Hogan, Neisha Berry, and others who had hormonal imbalances, PCOS, Hashimoto’s, and once they were able to heal, they were able to successfully conceive and have healthy, full-term pregnancies.

This is also helpful information for women who are going through menopause!

If you want to know more, contact me here!

Ready to book a coaching session, click here!

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Change is Self Love???

Something I recently saw on TikTok really got me thinking. A creator with followers in the millions said something that I felt was really irresponsible. It was disappointing to me. I’ve seen a few creators and influencers post content to this effect recently. A new movement, maybe? I think it’s dangerous.

I guess I get where they are coming from. We should never hate ourselves or hate our bodies. But changing yourself and loving yourself are not mutually exclusive. Sometimes changing IS self-love. In fact it should always be about loving yourself, especially when it comes to mental and physical health. Change should never be to fit someone else’s ideal. It shouldn’t be about punishing yourself, trying to look like someone else or fitting into a certain size.

Words Have Consequences

This creator advised people to ‘just eat the chocolate bunny’, and ‘it’s just food’. She alluded to her own struggles in the past and her relationship to food. Knowing that made what she said even more confusing for me for a few reasons. Maybe she doesn’t know what I know, and definitely doesn’t know me and my struggles. Obviously she isn’t creating content solely for me, and that advice may work for some people. I’m not so self-absorbed to think that my opinion of her post matters to her in the slightest. Actually, I hope it doesn’t because that would be devastating and detrimental to her brilliant creativity. I love most of her content, she’s truly gifted. But I can’t help the way I feel about this specific topic because it is so close to me.

I’m happy for her that she can look at food that way. But so many of us cannot. Not ever. If I were to follow that advice, it would be the start of a downward spiral and the loss of all I have accomplished over the last 15 months. Not realizing that there are a lot of us who have sugar addiction, carb addiction, food addiction, isn’t her fault. But I am here to completely oppose that advice. DROP THE BUNNY AND STEP AWAY. Don’t do it! It is not worth it. Don’t derail your progress in your healing mission. Now if you can eat the bunny and jump right back on track – BRAVO!! I envy and admire you! It does not undo or negate everything you have done so far. Not in the least! But if it’s going to cause you to spiral, or if there is the slightest chance you’ll feel like garbage physically or awaken that addiction… Just. Don’t. Do. It. It doesn’t mean you don’t love yourself. It’s the opposite! Not putting garbage into your body is not deprivation or loathing. It is honor and love.

When Food Isn’t Just Food

The other problem I have with her statement is that idea that ‘it’s just food’. It’s not. It’s a drug. But even more importantly, it’s not actual food! If there are ingredients you can’t easily identify, then it is not food and not fuel. Why would you do that to yourself? Because it tastes good for a few moments? In the throws of addiction, we don’t think about that. Once you wake up and address your addiction it’s a totally different mindset.

Living in Healthy Healing Harmony

While I’m not where I want to be physically, I don’t hate where I am now. I am proud of my progress and finally living in healthy healing harmony with my body. This is not about changing because I hate myself. Really it’s because I love my life and want to enjoy every minute of it, not being consumed with addiction and ailments. I’m not punishing my body for not being what I want it to be. I’m listening to my body and honoring it as it is. I have a vision and goals, yes. However, I’m confident where I am and that took a LOT of healing. Being confident in your skin at any size is wonderful. Complacency, however, if you are unhealthy is not safe.

Triggered by a TikTok Star

I understand the sentiment, but the words chosen to express that idea were irresponsible in my opinion. If you are not an alcoholic, but have decided to just cut back on drinking and tell others to just go ahead and have the beer, take the shot, indulge and don’t feel guilty, just as a general statement of self love and acceptance completely jeopardizes the wellbeing of those who see that message and are alcoholics. If you would never say those words knowing an alcoholic’s recovery may be hampered by your words, then you must acknowledge that there are other addictions that are just as valid in the effect they have on people as well. I am 100% positive, no harm was meant by her words. They still haunt me. Yep, I’m TRIGGERED. This person whose content I enjoy, who seems so loving and who is using her platform to ensure she is doing all she can to put positivity into the world is not in any way responsible for my weakness.

That self-sabotaging bitch in my head though, she’s trying real hard to justify what she heard.

Stay Focused

So how do you stay focused, or re-focus, when you’re battling that voice in your head? Dive deep, my friend. Immerse yourself in all healing things. Whatever it takes to get yourself right. Read, or listen to helpful and positive topics from AudiobooksNow. Join an online community like The Steak and Butter Gang, where you can connect with others, listen to their struggles and their victories here https://sbg-s-meat-up.mn.co/share/KqFp3vyXjBT6w81T?utm_source=manual. Or feel free to reach out to me here, or on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/thecandidcarnivore/. I’d be happy to offer support.

Thank you for your support and your time. I hope my content supports and inspires you – and maybe makes you laugh sometimes.

xoxo

~ The Candid Carnivore

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How the Carnivore Diet Can Relieve Anxiety and Masking Personality

An often overlooked benefit of the carnivore diet is dramatic improvement in mental health. We carnivores know this to be true, but most people don’t come to this way of eating for that specific benefit. Some do, but most are looking for physical changes and/or healing some medical issues. What brought me to carnivore? A couple of things: disordered eating, weight, autoimmune disorders, food addiction, and just being really fucking sick and tired of counting and tracking every damn thing I put in my mouth. But wait, there’s more…

Cleaning out my home office today, I came across a notebook that I had used for many different things. As I flipped through the pages to see if anything important jumped out at me, I noticed I had scribbled some thoughts onto a couple of pages at some point in the last year or two. Maybe three. There are two entries that caught my eye – and both of them completely shattered my heart. I cried for the woman who wrote those thoughts. The version of me who wrote these things is still here, but she has healed so much since then.

One entry was probably written within the last six to twelve months. It’s a whole blog entry all on its own, so I won’t share it here. It’s very similar to my first blog post CARNIVORE MISSION: FOOD ADDICTION AND RESTRICTION, WITH A DASH OF HASHIMOTO’S AND A SIDE OF SHAME. Food addiction, as I write about often, is cruel and sinister. You need food to live, you can’t just avoid it. That causes a whole other issue. I’ve gone that route, too. I’m better now – thanks to carnivore. I will take each day as it comes, but I have zero desire to ever take that ride again.

Masking Personality

The other entry I found, is in regard to something I am still struggling with. But I am so much better than I was when I wrote this:

“It’s exhausting. Being the person people expect you to be. It’s a lie. Every time I flip the switch it drains my soul. I WANT to be that person – that happy, fun, bubbly person. That person who makes a connection with everyone I meet. Maybe I am that person, somehow, somewhere deep, DEEP inside. But the chains, the weight of not being able to act what I feel, to look how I feel when I want to shut out the world. Sleep. Think. Dream. Plan. Heal. Then maybe I could be that person. But for now, the pretending, on-off, on-off, on-off… it’s torture.”

Masking, in my case, has been a way for me to cope with anxiety and depression. I crave friendships and connection but the thought of social situations crippled me. Holidays with extended family was excruciating for me. I dreaded them from the moment the invitation was extended. Smile, converse, look amused, know you’re being judged but pretend you don’t. Or maybe that part was just in my head. Working with the public was exhausting. Smile and greet people, validate them whether they are right or wrong, pander to them because they might be well-connected. I was always completely exhausted. I’ve done this all my life. But get ready, because the mask is about to come off!

Don’t be scared, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Unmasking

Trauma gets buried under expectations and layered under the day to day. The pain, ailments, work, family, obligations pile up, covering the initial major trauma(s) and we forget it’s there. Too busy to deal and heal. But your body remembers and acts out in ways we cannot ignore. Once we begin trying to heal the physical problems we have created for ourselves, heal the very cells and nourish each one of them so that we can be whole again, those deeper traumas may be revealed and demand to be dealt with.

Through that healing, I’ve discovered a lot about myself and still am discovering more. I’m recognizing my past traumas, naming them, and releasing them. There is no room for them in my life anymore. I’m removing all things from my life that do not serve me in a positive way – including my government job. That is the place where I have had to mask the most. Even though I now feel I am me again, completely authentic. That authenticity is happiness now and I no longer feel like I’m flipping a switch. I have room for joy. My mind is healing along with my body.

How Does the Carnivore Diet Heal?

A carnivore diet means eating only animal products. So many complex things happen in your body in reaction to what you consume, apply, and inject. Yet, it really is very simple. I think of it this way: we are what we eat. Humans are animals. Humans are not plants, we did not sprout up from the ground. We are not manufactured or made up of lab-produced chemicals. Human cells require replenishment with the correct building blocks. We need to replace animal protein with animal protein. You can’t rebuild a brick house with cardboard boxes or sugar cubes and expect the same stable structure. This seems like common sense to me.

Once your cells are healthy and functioning properly, after all of the clutter that is unusable material is removed from your body, you start to think and process more clearly. When your body and your cells are working congruently, your mind can finally deal with everything it needs to deal with – swiftly and clearly.

Me, Revealed

I am very happy to report, that I am actually a very happy person. I’m removing the mask, bit by bit, and I’m finding that I AM that happy, friendly person. I wouldn’t go as far as saying I’m a ‘people person’, and I still get anxious about social gatherings. but it’s getting easier. It’s not a tremendous effort anymore. I’ve found that the ‘on switch’ is the real me. The off switch was my very sick body attempting to recuperate from any effort I put out and the buried trauma that I had not dealt with properly. I still get tired after a particularly people-y day, but I have the tools to refuel and not shut down at 5pm. I gained the strength to leave my job so that I can earn a certification to become a health coach, and focus on helping others heal so they, too, can live a joyful life.

Don’t waste another day.

xoxo

~ The Candid Carnivore

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Benefits of a Carnivore Diet: Reversing Diseases and Disorders

For several years now, long before I found the carnivore diet – and even before discovering paleo, low carb, and keto – I have seemingly instinctively known that what we eat may be causing health issues. The whole food pyramid and ‘my plate’ graphics seemed off to me. I had no idea why at the time, and it took years of digging into various resources to finally understand that everything we have been taught about diet and nutrition is complete and utter bullshit.

For me, it started with my children’s diagnoses: one with Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, like me, which led me to researching gluten and sugar; one with ADHD, like me, which led me to the chemical additives in food; and one with epilepsy, which led me to learning about the keto diet. Now it has taken several years, but I have experimented with so many variations and seen so many improvements in my own health. So much information has come to light regarding root-cause and the reversal of diseases and disorders through the elimination of many different foods.

My Carnivore Healing Experience

Brain Fog

The very first thing I noticed when I cut out grains and sugar was mental clarity. I knew then that I was really on the right track. It’s an extremely scary thing to be mid-sentence, speaking to your boss or co-worker or customer, and completely lose the words and thoughts you’re trying to convey. Sure, everyone loses their train of thought once in a while. But this was more than that.

Brain fog is one of many side effects of Hashimoto’s Hypothyroidism. And it isn’t improved upon with medication. It didn’t matter what dose of levothyroxine my endocrinologist had me on, I could not effectively communicate. I was so scared that this was early onset Alzheimer’s or dementia! Come to learn, dementia is referred to as type 3 diabetes and I had been diagnosed as pre-diabetic at one point! More on that at a later date.

I noticed a marked improvement in my mental clarity once I greatly reduced my intake of grains and sugar. Even more so when I started removing all processed foods, including keto approved treats, and began eating only animal products. The elimination of the foods that were harming my body, and therefore my brain, and the increase of proteins and fat – yes, fat! – was the combination my body was quite literally dying for.

Eating Disorders

When we think of eating disorders, we often think of anorexia and bulimia. Those two seem to get all the attention. To a degree, they are almost glamorized. Binge eating disorder is more common than you’d think, and often leads to other eating disorders.

Food addiction and binging began for me at a very young age. I was maybe 4 or 5 years old and can remember sneaking food and hiding to eat it. By the time I was 12 I hated myself and my inability to control myself around food. I was 22 when I became anorexic and was bulimic at age 25. By 35 I regained the 112 pounds I had lost, plus an additional 50 pounds by binging again. Doing what we have always been told is necessary to lose weight, I tried calorie restriction, weight-loss programs, exercise…nothing worked. Until, that is, I stopped eating grains and sugar. Then, the weight began coming off. Dieting, calorie restriction, is disordered eating. Yet that is what we are told is necessary to lose weight.

I continued counting calories and trying to fit into a certain number of macros even while following the keto diet. I lost a lot of weight this way, but my brain was so overloaded and stressed out trying to track everything – and I was so hungry all the time! Now that I am a carnivore, none of that matters. I eat the animal products I want. Counting, tracking, and restricting is not necessary. Meat and fat fuel my body and my brain. I am well nourished and losing weight at the same time.

Insulin Resistance

I am not a medical professional, but I think I understand that insulin resistance is the disorder in which the body is producing insulin with little effect on glucose levels. Glucose levels remain high in the blood and cause type 2 diabetes, which is the need for additional insulin to help the body process the glucose in the blood. The body isn’t able to keep up with the demand. So rather than removing the foods that cause the glucose to rise, we take a pill or an injection.

My endocrinologist told me I was insulin resistant and pre-diabetic and handed me a prescription for metformin. That seems crazy to me. It’s like, if you’re allergic to peanuts, but you continue to eat peanuts and use an Epipen or take Benadryl to stop the symptoms, rather than just no longer eating the damn peanuts. This absolutely blows my mind!

Hirsutism, PCOS, & Hormone Imbalance

Receiving a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s, hirsutism, and PCOS came with prescriptions for each issue also. But I had to learn on my own what each of these things meant.

Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism is an autoimmune condition in which the body produces antibodies that fight off the hormones produced by your thyroid as if they are invading with malicious intent. When in reality, those hormones are necessary for your body’s daily functions – like…well, literally everything. Thyroid hormones are responsible for every cellular activity in your body. Hypothyroid means your body isn’t producing enough hormones. Hashimoto’s means no matter how much thyroid hormone your body is producing, your immune system is fighting those hormones off.

Hirsutism is a condition that causes women to have dark, whisker-like hairs growing on their face – like a beard. This is often caused by hormonal imbalances, like poly-cystic ovarian syndrome, aka PCOS.

PCOS is linked to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. See the pattern here? PCOS results in ovarian pain, bleeding, ruptures, infections, and infertility. Due to not having been diagnosed or treated for all of these issues until I had suffered for decades, my menstrual cycle stopped in my late 30s. Not that I missed it or wanted it back, but that is just not normal!

But, I’m happy to say that PCOS is not an issue anymore. My beard growth has dramatically slowed. And the hair on top of my heads has stopped falling out – another side effect of hypothyroidism, insulin resistance, and hormone imbalances. I attribute this to my body no longer having to try to deal with trying to process ridiculous amounts of carbs and having the much needed protein and fat to heal.

Anxiety, Depression, & Mood Disorders

Anxiety, depression, and wildly fluctuating moods are more symptoms related to everything that was wrong with me physically. I was malnourished even when I was obese. My whole body ached after the smallest household tasks and my brain was so cloudy. Adding more medication was not the answer. It couldn’t be! It was time to start removing things I was putting into my body.

Allow me to give you a recent example. Five months ago I had surgery to repair a small rotator cuff tear. During that time I lapsed back into keto, eating all the Rebel ice cream, because I had an owie and I deserved it, right? See, I’m not always the brightest bulb. And my sweet, loving, attentive husband will give me absolutely anything I ask for. It doesn’t matter if I tell him not to, under any circumstance, give into my request for sweet tastes. The moment I ask, he caves. Sweet tastes are my weakness. And I, apparently, am his. So while I claimed to be a carnivore, I was feeding my addiction, very literally, for sugar.

The fact that it wasn’t actual sugar doesn’t matter. It still lit up my brain’s dopamine response due to the sweet taste. And guess what! I became addicted to that f-ing ice cream! I ate an entire pint of it every single day. Sometimes two pints. It’s embarrassing.

Between the non-nutritive ingredients and being back on the addiction path, my mood tanked. Anxiety and depression were back. Did I ask my doctor for prescription to combat anxiety and depression? Hell no! I knew where I went wrong and I knew how to fix it. Of course it wasn’t easy. But there is no way I will every hand over my power again. That is exactly what some food does to me. It takes my power. When I eat only animal products, all the power is mine. I am in control.

Carnivore, Low Carb, and Keto Resources

So where do you find all the information I talked about? So many places. If social media and group support is what you need, I really recommend checking out The Steak and Butter Gang over on Mighty Networks. You can join here. There is so much love there, so much expert information and support. You won’t regret joining.

If you prefer books, here is a list that I cannot recommend enough. Many have audio versions as well.

Lies My Doctor Told Me by Ken Berry, MD

The Carnivore Cure by Judy Cho, NTP

The Carnivore Diet by Shawn Baker, MD

The Dietician’s Dilemma by Michelle Hurn, Registered Dietician

Check them out. Let me know what you think. As always, thank you for taking the time to read my little posts. I truly appreciate it!

xoxo

~ The Candid Carnivore

PS: Link disclaimer – I am an Amazon Associate and while there is never any additional cost to you if you purchase via these links, I may receive a tiny commission from Amazon. For the Steak and Butter Gang link, I receive no compensation to promote this group. The coaches and members just bring me joy, so I like to share and invite others to join.

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Obese and Malnourished/Stuffed but Starving: the Real Epidemic

There’s a lot of conflicting chatter about the obesity epidemic and body-positivity. The diet and fitness industries are booming and have been for quite some time. So with so much health-conscious advice and programs available to us, how is it that the obesity rate just seems to keep climbing? Shouldn’t people be healthier than ever? Shouldn’t diabetes and heart disease be a thing of the past if all this advice really works?

Diets are Designed to Fail

Let me share my personal experience with you. Being 5′ 4″ and having been 240+ pounds, 112 pounds, and everywhere in between; having been anorexic and bulimic and having run the gamut of diet trends, restricting, binging, and being completely addicted to food in general as a means of coping with many issues in my life, having meticulously counted calories, fat grams, and carbs, done low fat, low carb, keto, and carnivore…I can speak pretty confidently about this subject.

Both times that I lost a significant amount of weight, I did so by restricting my food intake. It definitely works for weight loss. But it is not, has never been, and will never be, a sustainable way of life. Eat less, move more, right? No. Please stop doing that to your body. Do not punish your body for doing what it was designed to do. There’s so much talk of self-love and body-positivity, but the meaning of those phrases is being twisted. Self-love should not be conditional and body positivity should not take precedence over actual health. It’s one thing to love who you are as a person at any size, but the reality of the actual health of a person of any size – overly fat or overly thin – is something different. The first photo shows me at approximately 240 lbs – malnourished from eating tons of sugar and processed foods. The second photo shows me at approximately 140 lbs – malnourished from eating tons of keto products and calorie restricting. Yes, I felt better about my body and the way I looked in the second photo, but I didn’t feel great. I felt better, for sure. But not great. 

When you see an overweight person, it’s easy to assume they are not lacking nutrition. But in most cases, they are. For example, let’s think about Thanksgiving when you eat all the things, not only the turkey but the potatoes, the rolls, the stuffing, the sweet potatoes. You are absolutely stuffed, yet you manage to squeeze in a piece of pie or two, and whatever other desserts catch your eye. A few hours later you’re back at it, picking at the turkey, having another helping of your favorites. And you may actually feel hungry, even though you know your stomach is at capacity. How?

Stuffed but Starving

One Thanksgiving a few years ago, I made sure I stayed keto/carnivore. I had turkey, deviled eggs, and made PSMF rolls. PSMF rolls are a protein-sparing modified fasting recipe made from eggs. I ate until I was stuffed – yet I still felt like I needed more. For the entire month of November, I had been eating beef only. I was satisfied, happy, nourished, and thriving every day. But on Thanksgiving, everything I ate was from poultry. Again, my stomach was completely full after eating so much – including nearly an entire pan of those rolls. After that, I ‘treated myself’ with my favorite keto ice cream. I could NOT stop eating! I literally made myself feel sick because my body was crying out for the nutrition it had been getting all month and I threw it a curveball that day. I love turkey, chicken, and eggs – don’t get me wrong. I eat one of those things almost daily. But I can’t get by just eating those things. I had starved my body of whole nutrition for too long all those years of eating what we were all taught was healthy. 

2010: 230+ lbs, malnourished, always hungry

Nutrients > Calories

Chances are that an obese person is not that size because of the whole one-ingredient foods. They are likely eating very processed foods. It’s not really about the calorie content of a food, but the nutrition. It makes sense to me that if you are consuming both carbs and fat, that your body will use the most readily available fuel first – the carbs, saving the slow-burning fat in case of actual starvation. If you have been restricting calories in an effort to lose weight, your body doesn’t trust you. Your metabolic system has no brain or logic. It reacts based on your actions. Or lack of action. 

Whether I was eating low-fat, low-calorie, low-carb, or whatever I wanted, I still ate a lot of processed, manufactured food. I always felt deprived, tired, achy, lethargic. When I began my health mission on Carnivore, I started out still using zero-carb sweeteners and diet sodas. While I was feeling much better than I ever had on any other way of eating, there were still times my energy would plummet. Those ‘natural’ and artificial sweeteners were still causing an insulin response. And I still had some minor carb cravings. When I cut those things out, I have consistent energy and zero cravings.

Proper Human Diet

Eating meat and animal products has allowed my body to trust me again. No more glucose spikes and dips. I have nice, level energy and mental clarity that I thought I would never experience. I am now 51 years old and I feel better than I did at age 20.

XOXO

~ The Candid Carnivore

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Food Addiction is a B!

Addiction is painful, no matter what the drug happens to be.

Food to Mask the Pain

What is comfort food? Does it truly bring comfort? Or does it bring more pain?

If we are talking about the traditional comfort foods, most of us think of cookies, ice cream, cake, macaroni & cheese, maybe pizza and other foods high in carbohydrates. There is a very scientific reason that we feel comfort when eating those types of food. People much smarter than I can explain all of that in detail and do so with absolute authority. But I can tell you that I have learned from those very smart people, and from my own experience, that these foods contain high amounts of carbs. Carbs turn to sugar in our bodies. Sugar creates a chemical response in our bodies and in our brains that trigger a dopamine response. It’s something very similar to getting high and that feeling, in turn, creates an addiction. Sweet taste is several times more addictive than cocaine. Read that again – sweet taste. is several times more addictive. than COCAINE! What? We give these foods to our children! We are literally raising addicts just by feeding them foods from our local grocery stores. (click here to read one study using artificial sweetener and cocaine, as an example – there are several articles on the matter, just search for yourself! Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward (nih.gov)) 

There is sugar, in some form, in most processed foods. I dare you to grab any food item in your kitchen with an ingredient label – guaranteed there is at least one form of sugar in that item. Maybe more. Sugar has over 50 different names, and food manufacturers will try to fool you as often as possible. 

You hear a lot of people say they are an ’emotional eater’, meaning when they are sad, stressed, angry, happy, or any strong emotion, they turn to food. Rather than allowing themselves to feel that emotion, they distract themselves or use the food to cope or celebrate. Doesn’t that sound very similar to how a person with an addiction would respond? In my statement above, replace the phrase, “…they turn to food.” with “…they turn to alcohol.” Or a specific drug. Even when someone says they reward themselves with chocolate or some other food, isn’t that the same as saying they reward themselves with a drink or drug use? 

The Culture of Food as a Drug

This behavior is something many of us are taught in childhood. A good-intentioned adult wants to fix what is bothering the child, or distract them from crying, by giving them a treat. This creates a dependency very early in life! Rather than being taught how to cope with or regulate emotions, children are often taught to just cover it up or use some substance, which may start out as sugar or carbs, to create a flood of dopamine in the brain that gives us that feeling of comfort. Maybe, just maybe, this is the beginning of what predisposes a person for drug or alcohol abuse? It makes sense to me. Eating becomes something that is tied to emotions, whether we are eating to celebrate or to mourn. The chemistry of the food creates such an intense reaction in the body that it mimics emotion or masks it. Processed food, carbs, and sweet tastes (yes, even your diet soda and keto sweeteners) give us that dopamine hit that is so strong that real joy and happiness can’t compete. Is this a cause of depression? 

The problem is that – and I am not saying it is as simple as this – while lifestyle changes can be made to avoid drugs and alcohol, you can’t avoid food. You can avoid certain foods and ingredients, but it is SO difficult when family gatherings, social functions, and even office meetings often revolve around the very types of food you are trying to avoid. You hear things like, ‘oh come on live a little’, ‘one cupcake won’t kill you’, ‘you deserve a treat’….Would those food-pushers say to an alcoholic, ‘one shot won’t kill you’, or ‘it’s a celebration, how are you not going to drink?’ But most people don’t understand, because we need food to live, that sugar and processed foods are addictive. 

Nutrition is the Key

I, and I think many others can attest to this, have found that eating only animal foods reduces or eliminates the addiction to sugar and carbs. Why is this important? Sugar and carbs are not what our bodies were designed to thrive on. The over-consumption of these foods creates constant insulin response, which affects our mood and emotional regulation. Without the constant dips and spikes in blood glucose, and therefore insulin, my mood is fairly constant. I don’t crave that dopamine release that food used to give me. 

So do comfort foods really bring comfort, or do they replace true emotions with dopamine, thereby eliminating the processing of emotions and perpetuating the trauma, never allowing the healing or the development of coping skills? In my opinion, processed foods, carbs, and sugar do damage to our bodies and our minds. I know in my healing mission, my body feels so much better. But the healing I have experienced within my mind and my emotions is the most valuable result so far. 

Feel free to comment or ask questions about my experiences and let me know if there is any way I can help you on your own healing mission!

xoxo

~ The Candid CarnivoreShareLabels: carnivorecomfort foodcommunitydietdisordered eatingdopamineemotional healthfood addictfood addictionmental healthsugar addiction

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CARNIVORE MISSION: FOOD ADDICTION AND RESTRICTION, WITH A DASH OF HASHIMOTO’S AND A SIDE OF SHAME

Food Addiction and Obesity in Childhood:

I have been addicted to food since I was a kid. I have binged on everything from sliced bread to uncooked hot dogs. One of my earliest memories of feeling shame came from sneaking yet another handful of little chocolates that my dad had brought home and my mom calling me a glutton when she discovered me stuffing them into my mouth while hiding behind my toy box. I remember asking her what that word meant and that feeling when she told me. I was about 5 years old, maybe 4. 

I felt shame, but it didn’t stop me. Rather I think it defined me in my mind. I was the fat kid. Shopping with my grandmother in the boys’ ‘husky’ section of Sears as a girl in 1st grade was humiliating, but I had no concept of diet. My next shameful moment, at about 8 years old, came when my grandfather had bought me a bag of Reese’s Pieces. We were going to go fishing after he closed up his shop, and he told me not to open that bag. That was a treat for later. I insisted I would not open them, thinking to myself how I didn’t even really like Reese’s Pieces. No sooner than he left the room, I opened and devoured the entire bag. Within 5 minutes, he returned and expressed his disbelief and disgust. I literally ate anything and everything that I wanted and would constantly search cupboards for food when I was not even hungry. The food was filling a void that I did not understand at the time. I could go on and on with memories of feeling that shame related to my binging. Maybe I’ll share those another time. 

When I was around 12 years old, my mom said she would buy me some workout clothes if I promised to exercise. You know, the shiny, colorful leotards with the matching headband and leg warmers from the 80s. Yeah, that must have been a sight! But she bought them for me. And that was it. I didn’t keep my end of the deal. I had no idea HOW. Like, ok thanks. I have this outfit, but how exactly do I exercise? No one ever showed me or encouraged me, so I didn’t do it. 

Now, was this all due to the failing of the adults in my life for not putting any restrictions in place or teaching me how to eat properly? Was this something broken in my brain? Dopamine deficiency? I can say with 100% certainty that I did not have a typical childhood. I was born to teen parents. My mother had severe mental and emotional trauma of her own. I’d be willing to bet that it was a perfect storm of a lot of things. 

I’ll skip over the teen years for now. Just know that there was a lot of destructive behavior and I truly believe I’m lucky to have made it through that period alive. 

Anorexia & Bulimia:

As I continued with binging into my 20s, it finally hit me. I was in my apartment searching for loose change so that I could go buy some snack cakes when I realized that I did not have control of my own actions. I felt possessed! It finally occurred to me that I wasn’t really consciously making this decision. I felt an overwhelming urge, but not a thought process. It was as if I had held my breath for too long and felt the overwhelming urge to take a deep breath. You don’t tell yourself constantly, ‘breathe in, ok now breathe out, breathe in…’. You just do it. That’s what eating was like. Mindless, compulsory binging. That revelation didn’t stop me, though and disordered eating from one end of the spectrum to the other consumed my life for more than two decades. 

Around the age of 22, and at approximately 230lbs after giving birth to my first child, I went to the other extreme. I became obsessed with staying under 20 grams of fat. I cheated, though. I rounded up. If something had 3 grams of fat, I counted it as 5. I kept a running tally in my head all day, counting and re-counting obsessively, and then rounding up that number as well. So, when I may very well have had only 7 grams of fat for the day, I was counting it as 20 grams. I lost a lot of weight very, very quickly. There were days when all I had eaten was a small bag of pretzels from the vending machine, a diet Mt Dew, and a bag of light microwave popcorn for dinner. Snackwell cookies and ‘yogurt’, Tootsie Rolls, or Twizzler Nibs were eaten as an additional ‘meal’ now and then. I worked in retail at the time, so I was on my feet, racing around all day. It definitely was not enough food. My manager at the time was extremely worried about me. She pulled me aside one day, almost in tears. Which was really strange because she was a tough lady. Most of my coworkers were a little afraid of her because she was strict and didn’t put up with anyone’s shit. But that day, she told me about her niece who had passed away from complications of anorexia. She saw similar behavior in me. I thought she was crazy, of course. “I eat, Pat. I promise I do!”. I wasn’t lying, really. Or at least that’s what I convinced myself. I was very skinny – and very sick. My cycle had always been irregular, very heavy and very painful. But now it was very light and short. I had blood in my urine at times. I would get extremely sick and vomit at random times. I began over-exercising, teaching 9 – 11 cardio kickboxing classes per week, plus working out at home. I fractured both of my legs due to malnutrition and over-use. But I had lost 112lbs, so I wasn’t about to stop. I maintained my weight at 118lbs for a few years and through another pregnancy. I even kept that weight, or there about, through a seriously abusive marriage, divorce, and into another abusive marriage. But after the birth of my third child, I lost control. The weight crept back up through my second divorce and continued beyond that 230lb mark. 

For Weight Loss, Eat Less Move More…Yeah, Fuck That:

By my late 30s – early 40s I was finally over this shit. I did not want to just exist as a fat lump. I missed out on so much with my kids because I was just so tired all the time. Dusting the living room would wipe me out. My muscles and joints ached, and I could not do any more. After just dusting! 

My youngest had been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Hypothyroidism at the age of 8. Her antibodies were in the hundreds, she had so many digestive issues and had so much inflammation at such a young age. I did a little research, put her on a gluten free diet and – WOW – what a difference that made for her! So I went to my family doctor and asked if this could possibly be my issue as well. He begrudgingly ordered a blood test for my TSH level and antibodies. TSH is the thyroid stimulating hormone and the presence of antibodies mean the body is attacking that particular part of itself. The result was a TSH of 5.5 and antibodies around 180. He told me that my TSH was in the normal range and never mentioned anything about the antibodies. At the time I didn’t even know he included antibodies in the lab work. I argued that my TSH was at the very high end of normal, so couldn’t my symptoms be due to that? He laughed at me. He LAUGHED at me. HE LAUGHED AT ME, and said, “Everyone would like to blame being overweight on thyroid issues, but that’s not your problem”, and he refused to look any further

Bullshit. I called an endocrinologist on my own and told them my TSH results and the experience I had with my doctor, and they brought me in for an appointment immediately. I never went back to that arrogant ‘doctor’. I was put on thyroid medication and also began taking a weight loss/food addiction drug. 

That experience taught me how to advocate for my children’s health and for my own. I researched everything I could before any appointment after that. That research led me to paleo – which helped a lot. That led me to low carb – which helped even more. Which led me to keto – which helped even more, BUT I began to get bogged down in the counting and tracking macros, and keto ‘treats’, and the expense of trying to make SAD foods (SAD = Standard American Diet) into keto-approved versions. Freaking exhausting! Between keto, calorie restriction (1200 calories a day), and the weight loss drug, I was down to 140lbs, working out, and feeling amazing. But I was SO. Freaking. Tired of tracking every single thing and calculating. UGH! Then, I found Dr. Ken Berry, and Neisha Berry, and Kelly Hogan, and Dr. Shawn Baker, and Steak and Butter Gal, and all the wonderful, amazing, brilliant others who have taught me so much! And now I belong to a community where I am supported and encouraged to EAT as much carnivore food as I possibly can to heal my hunger hormones and my thyroid. But it’s also healing my mind, my outlook, my everything. I have gained a lot of weight back doing this. I don’t even care. I feel so good, and I know it will come off again once my body has healed from all the trauma I have put it though. There’s no rush. I’m living now – not just existing. 

So here I am, about to turn 50, and I finally figured it out! I stopped the weight loss medication and I’m happily eating about 3,000 calories a day at the moment. Meat is healing me. I don’t eat any plants, I don’t eat any sugar or processed foods, I don’t use any sweeteners. I eat meat, butter, and eggs. I’m ridiculously happy and energetic, my mind is clear and focused, I do not crave carbs, I have no food addiction issues, and my sleep quality is incredible. From mindlessly eating as though possessed to being able to be around people who are eating pizza and ice cream, and just be able to say, ‘wow that smells good,’ and not be compelled to eat it…. that is nothing short of a miracle. 

More on the whole thyroid, wight loss drug, and some other medications I have had to take in the next post. Hint – I was pre-diabetic, insulin resistant, and could almost grow a beard in 12 hours. True story!

If you managed to get through this ‘short post’ – thank you! While I’m writing mostly for myself, to work through some things, I hope you come back again and that I can help others who may have endured these things in some way. 

xoxo

~ The Candid Carnivore

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Hello! Hi! Welcome!

 Hey there! Welcome! So happy you stopped by!

I’m guessing you are interested in, or are somewhat new to the carnivore WOE (way of eating). Me too!

Here I will try to keep my posts very concise and specific, so that you can easily search and find any scenario and situation that you may be curious about.

But before you dive into my posts here, I have a few disclaimers to lay out for you. 

1. I am in no way a medical professional and this blog should not be construed as medical advice. 

2. This is a chronicle of my personal choices and my results and discoveries along the way. 

3. As such, I am not asking for opinions or advice. I have a community for that. Questions and on-topic, respectful comments are welcome.

4. I do not require anyone’s approval – this is MY healing mission. I am on a MISSION of healing from decades of autoimmune and eating disorders.  

5. Negative Nellies, Disrespectful Dicks, and angry (hungry) vegans will be banned posthaste. 

6. Any links contained on my site may result in my earning a small commission should you decide to purchase via said link – however, there will never be any additional cost to you for my benefit.

Now, then. I’ll get started with my long, dramatic history with food, weight, and dieting. 

Thanks for coming and I hope you decide to stick around. Maybe even subscribe!

xoxo

~ The Candid Carnivore