Tag: diet

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My 2023 (Resolutions) To-Do List

My 2023 Resolutions To-Do List

Many people say that New Year’s resolutions have a negative connotation for them. But I don’t think the word choice really matters. If you make a resolution, a goal, a commitment, or a plan….it’s all the same thing. No matter what word you use, the idea is the same and if it isn’t always at the forefront of your mind, it can become a passive attempt at a loose concept. Not to mention, if you just set the goal without the steps to get there…it’s probably not going to go great for you. I don’t remember the last time I even made a New Year’s resolution. But I make the hell out of to-do lists. Like daily. So that’s what I’m doing for this year. The items on my 2023 To-Do list are things that I will need to take action on daily, weekly, or monthly in order to be able to check them off my list this time next year. 

  1. THE WHAT: Get strong AF – at the young, tender age of 50, my family is already beginning to treat me like I’m fragile. Let me tell you, that pisses me right off! Just because I had to have a rotator cuff repair and a week before the surgery I tore the other side, does not make me fragile. It makes me independent, and maybe a little impatient and dumb. But not fragile!
    • THE HOW: Weight lifting at least 3 days per week at an incrementally challenging load and duration. 
  1. THE WHAT: Prioritize sleep – I love my sleep. Always have. But I have struggled with it a lot lately due to dopamine antagonist withdrawal. That’s a story for another time but if I could go back to 2016 and not take some recommended medications, believe me, I would. This is a misery you don’t want to mess with.
    • THE HOW: End phone and computer time by 6 pm daily unless I have a coaching session, group, class, or meeting. 
    • Also, no phone or computer time at all on Sundays. This will be great for my sleep and my mental health!
  1. THE WHAT: Get ready for the day, every day.
    • THE WHY: Because of my poor sleep, I have a tendency only to make myself presentable when absolutely necessary. I feel like this has made me so freaking lazy over the last 6 months since I left my government job. To clarify, I think a lot of work-from-homers get trapped in this. Getting a quick shower and switching from PJs to other equally comfy clothes doesn’t really motivate me. I comb my hair but do not style it. I put on clothes, but nothing I would leave the house in. I want to eliminate any excuse for not putting myself out there more.
  1. THE WHAT: Drink more water. I forget to drink water. Can anyone else relate? I know this is a big issue for those with ADHD, which I have learned I probably have but have not been formally diagnosed.
    • THE HOW: I downloaded an app on my phone already. It’s helpful, but I may need something a little more extreme – like an alarm on my phone every few hours. The app makes a noise, but when I’m hyper-focused on something (which is almost every minute of every day) I ignore it. Not on purpose, I hear it but it doesn’t really register in my brain and the reminder only sounds once at each designated interval. I almost need something that will ensure I can’t ignore it. 
  2. THE WHAT: Continue my education – to better serve my clients, the plan is to watch, read, and/or listen to educational content every week.
    • THE HOW: I will schedule time for this every week. I may join a group hosted by a trusted mentor, watch a webinar, read or listen to an audiobook, or enroll in free and paid courses. All of which will be related to zero-carb, low-carb, keto, carnivore, food addiction, etc. 

I will track some of these habits each day, week, or month so that I can check them off my list at the end of the year! None of these items will be automatic – meaning I’m obviously not going to be strong AF tomorrow, but I will be making progress toward each to-do item every day, week, or month. 

I feel that saying, ‘ok, starting today I am doing X’, can be a recipe for failure. I know I need transitions. 

Another thing that helps me is the reminder to act like who I want to be. By that, I mean I will start ‘identifying’ as the kind of person who is productive and ready for every day. I will ‘identify’ as the kind of person who stops working and puts the phone away at 6 pm each day. I won’t beat myself up if I can’t do that due to something that is scheduled, like a meeting, a client session, or something going toward my continued education. But on the days I do not have something planned, I will be sure to have screens off by 6 pm. This is a small measure that will go toward my to-do item of prioritizing sleep. So small steps toward a larger, overall goal is my strategy for success. Knowing I love to cross items off a list means making this a to-do list rather than a lofty goal or resolution is less daunting, and will (hopefully) lead me to success. 

See, it always, ALWAYS goes back to individuality. Knowing yourself and what you need to do to succeed is the key. You can’t copy someone else’s goals or systems and expect to get the same results. It might work, but you really need to consider the process of achieving the goal and not just the goal itself. 

If that seems overwhelming, reach out! I can help you pick an attainable goal in a realistic time frame, and help you break that goal down into a process toward progress. 

There are two options available!

Group sessions offer a community led by two mentors, meetings at least once per week, and group support with the ability for the mentors to give individualized advice due to the small group size. Join us here for just $30 with no ongoing commitment. 

Individual coaching offers a one-on-one, private approach. This allows me to focus solely on you, your goals, and the steps to achieve them. Book a session with me here for just $17.99 with no ongoing commitment.

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Addicted to Food vs Addicted to Living

Addicted to Food vs Addicted to Living Life

I don’t like to focus on weight or size as a goal anymore. I used to think those numbers would mean I’m healthy. I now know that isn’t the case.

Once you begin to heal, those numbers change. But it’s always the comparison, the before and after, that gets our attention, right? We all want to look better, and that’s ok.

What I want people to understand is that there is so much freedom and life available to us when we break free of sugar, carbs, processed foods, and the strain it puts on our bodies and minds.

And when you begin that healing, THEN the physical changes happen!

The impulse to eat garbage, the feeling that I was POSSESSED by sugar and carbs, is gone.

Autoimmune symptoms are decreasing all the time and meds have been reduced 3 times this year.

Hair stopped falling out and is growing back – with less gray!

Nails are strong, not bendy. Skin is smooth and clear.
No more constipation!
No random aches and pains.
Steady energy throughout the day.
Mental clarity and mood are greatly improved.
Depression is gone. Anxiety is greatly improved.
Hirsutism is diminished.
So many things….

The best part – I have more LIFE in me. I’m lively, creative, goofy and fun-loving.
The worst part – I wish I had known all of this when my kids were young…

No matter what stage of life you are in right now, the information is out there and easily accessible. But if it seems too overwhelming, it’s ok – there are so many wonderful support groups and coaches out there!
Amy Labbe, aka @amysketolife73, and I have openings in our small zero-carb focused groups called Beyond the Scale: Zero Carb Healing, or you can work with me one-on-one – register for either at www.thecandidcarnivore.com or go to the link in my bio!

And to illustrate just how goofy I am sometimes, I’ll admit that while I’m writing this, the quote from the Terminator keeps rolling around in my head – “Come with me if you want to live”…no, like REALLY LIVE 😂

xoxo

The Candid Carnivore

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A Diet for EveryBODY: Reverse and Prevent Chronic Disease

a diet for everybody: reverse and prevent chronic disease

I know, I know – I’m always saying there is no one-size-fits-all approach to weight loss or healing. I still mean that. Your nutritional needs will always depend specifically on your past health, present health, and future goals. Your genetics, your relationship with food, your activity level need to be taken into account. The amount of damage your body has sustained from eating processed foods, chronic dieting, and many other factors go into what exactly you should be eating and how much. But there is a diet for everybody…and that diet can reverse and prevent chronic disease.

Why I’m a Carnivore and You Should Be Too

It’s easy for me to explain to friends and family that I eat only meat and eggs because of my autoimmune disorder, or because of my history with dieting and eating disorders, or due to my food addiction. Those are simple terms they can understand without feeling like I’m trying to induct them into some sort of cult. If they express interest, well then they are in for a full sermon on the gospel of meat – can I get an  Amen??

Allow me to explain why this carnivore way of eating, this carnivore diet, is beneficial for everyone. See the foods we have been eating since the inception of processed/manufactured foods were not meant for us. I could go on about the evils of the processed food industry creating hyper-palatable foods in order to create an addiction to their products using the same addiction model used by the tobacco industry. I could go on and on about how the pharmaceutical industry cheers for the food industry because they are the vultures who feast on the carcass of people addicted to processed foods that create disease as a by-product, ensuring the pharmaceutical industry has customers for life. 

But I digress.

Reverse or Prevent Chronic Disease

There is one, plain, simple truth: What you eat is either making you sick or is making you healthy, it’s either helping you or harming you, it’s either building you or tearing you down. If you have excess fat, if you are on medications for anything other than a congenital condition or accident, you are eating the wrong things. 

Species Appropriate Diet

We also need to take a look at the word diet. There are two different meanings – first we have the word as it has come to be defined in the last few decades. That definition of diet being a temporary means to achieve a specific goal. Then we have the conventional definition that describes a specific way of eating for any living creature. This is the definition to which I am referring. For example, a rabbit is an herbivore, meaning that animal eats a species-appropriate diet of plant material on a daily basis in order for it to function optimally. Wolves are carnivores, meaning they derive all of the nutrition their bodies require from meat. 

So are humans more like rabbits or wolves? Judy Cho, who is a certified nutritional therapy practitioner, creates a lot of really great infographics that show the nutrition profiles of various foods. (check out her book, the Carnivore Cure, here) So there are varied nutrient density values in different foods, but we must also consider the ability of our human bodies to extract those nutrients from the source. 

Sure, kale may have a high level of vitamin A, but the bioavailability of vitamin A from this source for our human digestion is just not there. We cannot physiologically extract that nutrition. Liver provides a higher level of bioavailability for our human cells. Add to that the fact that many plants have naturally occurring toxins that actually harm us, negating any nutritional value they may hold, and making them inappropriate for human consumption. See, the species matters. A rabbit’s digestion was created in a way that allows it to extract the nutrients it needs from the food it prefers. As does a wolf, as do humans. 

Aren’t Humans Omnivores?

The general consensus is yes. But I, along with many other carnivores including medical experts disagree. While humans are physically able to eat fruits and vegetables and not die immediately, the damage that is being done even by these whole, natural foods, along with processed foods proves we probably should not. People who have eaten only animal foods for 10, 15, 30+ years are thriving effortlessly. Not to mention there are people like the Inuit who historically did not have easy access to plants. 

Down to the Basics

I can’t stress enough that we should ALL be eating this way, at least for the purpose of finding out what may be causing issues in our health. This truly is a diet for everybody.

I can say with certainty that cutting out processed foods and all forms of sugar will greatly improve your health. Whether you chose paleo, low carb, keto, carnivore, or just eliminate the bad stuff, your health will improve. People have found it keeps insulin low, resolves chronic disease, eliminates sugar cravings and addiction, reduces inflammation, allows the body to heal and rids it of toxins. It works beautifully for EVERYONE as an elimination diet. Strip it down to the bare minimum – meat. See what resolves, then add back other items like eggs, cheese, etc. to see what happens. It is absolutely sustainable long term, but at the very least you’ll find out exactly what other foods you can and cannot tolerate. 

Get Support

So, in short, a meat-based diet is for all humans. However, the various ways to go about it all depend on the very unique parameters that make you, you. There is a ton of information out there. That is both something wonderful and something a bit overwhelming. Find the voices in the carnivore/keto/meat-based space that feel right for you. And if it’s still too noisy, get yourself a carnivore coach! I help people all over the world to narrow it all down to create a plan focused on that one unique human. Are you ready to reverse and prevent chronic disease? Book a session today to start your mission for better health!

Reverse or prevent chronic disease
Book a coaching session!
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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 Bitch

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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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