Janey
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I can't stand it anymore!!Hi. I posted in the Intros forum a while ago, saying how thrilled I was to have found this forum. And it's true, I was thrilled...then. Now...not so much.
Basically, I cannot stand this boring diet! Yes, I feel better on meat, eggs, and very low/no carb. But I can only handle it for about 3 days in a row. Then the sight of a piece of meat makes me gag.
What I want to know is, do those of you who are doing this enjoy eating? I mean, I love a good steak as much as the next person, but there are so many wonderful foods out there...so many flavors and textures. They enhance life.
I went to a yuppie-type upscale restaurant in Manhattan last weekend and ate food that I wouldn't normally eat...pastas with delicately flavored sauces, meats served with vegetable purees, exotic desserts, etc. The flavors were so different, subtle...sublime. I knew then and there that sticking to no carb would mean missing out on something really special in life.
I don't mean to be judgemental at all. In fact, I respect anyone with the kind of determination it takes to stick to such a limited diet. I just wonder if it's worth it in the long run.
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adwred
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I guess it depends on your priorities. I mean, I do food for a living, so I know all about the struggle between the love of food and one's health. Unfortunately, I can't include carbs in my diet and still be a normal weight, so the choice is relatively easy for me. And it gives me an opportunity to really explore cookery in a new way and play with the flavours that are available to me.
Red
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Scout Finch
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You're the only one who can decide whether it's worth it. It's been stated in other parts of this forum, but I think many folks come to this way of eating after having no luck with other plans with respect to their specific medical conditions, like obesity, blood sugar issues, or whatever. I was on Atkins for 7 years before doing this plan. For me, it just seemed like a natural progression to lose the carbs completely, so I tried it to see what happened, and I liked the results! (I did not have weight to lose when I started carnivore but did lose about 40 pounds, and kept it off, while on Atkins.)
Our acculturations are very strong. It's understandable that you would feel torn about moving between "different worlds" of food. Only you can decide what your body needs and desires and how you plan to reach your goals (whatever they may be).
Good luck. Keep us posted. I hope you stick around, even if you're off the plan and still toying with it, or off of it and just like hanging around here! 
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brklx
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| Scout Finch wrote: | You're the only one who can decide whether it's worth it. It's been stated in other parts of this forum, but I think many folks come to this way of eating after having no luck with other plans with respect to their specific medical conditions, like obesity, blood sugar issues, or whatever. I was on Atkins for 7 years before doing this plan. For me, it just seemed like a natural progression to lose the carbs completely, so I tried it to see what happened, and I liked the results! (I did not have weight to lose when I started carnivore but did lose about 40 pounds, and kept it off, while on Atkins.)
Our acculturations are very strong. It's understandable that you would feel torn about moving between "different worlds" of food. Only you can decide what your body needs and desires and how you plan to reach your goals (whatever they may be).
Good luck. Keep us posted. I hope you stick around, even if you're off the plan and still toying with it, or off of it and just like hanging around here! |
Some of us choose this diet not becouse of obesity, insulin problems or health conditions but because we came to the conclusion that this is how we were meant to eat . The reward is a superior health and I might add that once adapted you do not get tired of meat.
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Bobi-p
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I eat this way because I LOVE meat. Can't stand veggies, bread, or pasta. Those three make me gag.
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ReddyMcMeaty
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I think of the "other" things in the same light as drugs/alcohol. I'm a major foodie, total addiction and love for all kinds of textures and flavours but it's a dangerous love because it breaks down my body and mind. I'm not going to never eat those things, I'm not going to never drink.. haha ok I'm not even going to very seldomly drink but I absolutely love meat eggs and fat and see no reason why I should let addictions drastically reduce the quality of my life.
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Moronic_Pathways
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if you have a chance to taste exotic and different foods...by all means i say go for it. C'mon, you guys trying to tell me if you all ever went to Italy or spain all you'd eat would be meats and fats and nothing else? how boring? live a little ,sheesh. i have many philipino and asian friends and i LOVE sampling some of their dishes.I love Korean foods, spanish foods and all kinds of foods- none in paticular, i just love foods.It's not like i am gonna gorge myself on it, but then i am not going to be completely anal or nit picky about what i eat..if i want to eat it, you better be sure that i am gonna do it right as well as enjoy myself in doing so 
i always say that if the diet is 90% healthy,10% can be whatever one wants to eat regardless of what it is or the effects on the body.This is something livable and realistic i say.It's more realistic then saying no carbs or sugars for the rest of my life..that's just an invitation for cheating and disaster.So many people say that they'll be no carber for life..but i don't see anyone doing so and after how many failed attempts? give me a break- there should've been some kind of balance initially in order to avoid the pitfall alltogether 
but what do i care? repressing ones desires or trying to go no carb or no this or that is a comendable goal i guess  but i don't see anyone actually acomplishing that goal anytime soon...
in the end i say do what's best for you and what you want regardless of what anyone says..failure or success, only you can decide where you're headed
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DietTourist
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OK as someone who HAS been to Japan, Thailand and is curently living
in Korea I will try to answer you on your own terms.
Variety? Yes I love variety..believe it or not in Korea and Thailand
there are MANY subtle and exotic dishes that are compatible with
this way of eating. In Korea there is Raw Beef(a favorite, "yuk way")
raw fish and OX-Bone soup. It is true that they come with
side dishes like veggies and rice but you don't have to eat those
and in fact Koreans often don't eat much of that stuff.
In Thailand there is kidney-heart soup and boiled silkworm larvae
for desert  Also boiled chicken soup or steamed chicken with lime
juice and ginger flavoring. Pork in Coconut milk.
All subtle , exotic , delicious AND compatible with Carnivore eating.
As for Italian..I always order the antipasta like fish or steak.
It is also of course true that there are plenty of cheap bad dishes
in Korea like fried rice and american fast food. But you have a choice.
[This was a criticism in the paleodiet forums too and some pointed out that there are many good recipes for compatible delicious food.]
My point is that this way of eating doesn't have to be boring.
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woof_woof
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What's boring about eating meat? It's probably tastiest food around. If you add eggs and cheeses (if you do dairy) it's like feast every single day.
Yuor taste buds must adjust to new diet.
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jager
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| ReddyMcMeaty wrote: | | I think of the "other" things in the same light as drugs/alcohol. I'm a major foodie, total addiction and love for all kinds of textures and flavours but it's a dangerous love because it breaks down my body and mind. I'm not going to never eat those things, I'm not going to never drink.. haha ok I'm not even going to very seldomly drink but I absolutely love meat eggs and fat and see no reason why I should let addictions drastically reduce the quality of my life. |
I don't get bored with meat, but I get bored with eggs fairly quickly. I think they are too bland.
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Janey
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Wow, thank you so much for all the thoughtful and interesting replies. I guess it is something we each have to decide for ourselves. Maybe I haven't reached a place where the tradeoff is worth it yet. Although I'd hate to get there. I just don't know. I hate to agree with the "troll" guy, but taking a trip to Italy and France this summer is what did me in in the first place. I wasn't meat-and-egging at the time, just regular lowcarb, and I fully intended to continue on vacation. My first night in Rome we ate at a pretty little restaurant and the thought of only eating the antipasto was ridiculous. I ate pizza and pasta and loved every minute of it. Then we went to a place near Sorrento where they make olive oil. We sat outdoors in a beautiful shady spot and ate freshly baked bread dipped in oil. I never could have passed that up and I know if I had I would have regretted it forever.
Could I ask one more question for those who said they're happy with the diet and don't want those other things...how long have you been doing it? Did it get easier after a certain amount of time? Just wondering.
Thanks again. 
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jager
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The perfect sustitute for regular pizza is MEATZA! Here is the recipe:
Meatza Recipe
Ingredients:
"Crust"
1 lb ground pork
1 lb regular ground beef 1/4 cup finely-diced onion 1 garlic clove, minced 1 egg
1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese 3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
TOPPING:
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 3/4 lb sliced mushrooms
salt, to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste 1 cup thinly-sliced bell pepper - d is 1 cup tomato sauce
12 oz full-fat mozzarella cheese, grated 1 tsp dried oregano, (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Combine the pork, beef, onion, garlic, egg, cheese salt and pepper. Mix
well. Pat out evenly onto a 16-inch rimmed pizza pan. Bake for 10
minutes.
Remove from the oven and carefully pour out the juices that have
accumulated in the pan. The meat will have shrunk to about 12-inches and
this is fine.
Mushroom and Pepper Topping: In a large frying pan over high heat, heat
the olive oil. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and fry
until they are browned and the liquid has evaporated. Scoop the mushrooms
out of the pan into a sieve to drain and add the peppers to the pan. Fry
until the peppers are slightly limp. Add to the mushrooms.
Preheat the broiler to high. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the base
and scatter with the mushrooms and peppers. Cover evenly with the cheese
and sprinkle with the oregano. Broil until bubbly and lightly browned.
Cool on a rack for a few minutes before slicing and serving.
This recipe yields one 12-inch meatza or 8 good slices.
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adwred
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Unfortunately, as many magical memories I have associated with food, like your Italy story, I have twice as many horrible memories associated with being fat... not being able to fit into the biggest size on the rack, having people call me names or look at me disgusted, feeling so over-stuffed with food from overeating that I could barf... the list goes on.
I'd rather create new wonderful memories in my new healthy body that are meat-centred than worry about missing out on some bread. I've had enough bread, honestly.
The truth is, it never gets easy, exactly. It is a struggle - I'm not going to lie. I've been doing really low carb for years and until I went zero carb and started feeling incredible all the time, not a day went by that I didn't feel a bit cheated by the fact that other people got to enjoy things that I couldn't have. Now after being on zero carb for a few weeks, my mood is so good that I have a chance to look at the situation objectively and see that I'm much happier than most of the people around me, even with their stinking bread!
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Dave
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| adwred wrote: | Unfortunately, as many magical memories I have associated with food, like your Italy story, I have twice as many horrible memories associated with being fat... not being able to fit into the biggest size on the rack, having people call me names or look at me disgusted, feeling so over-stuffed with food from overeating that I could barf... the list goes on.
I'd rather create new wonderful memories in my new healthy body that are meat-centred than worry about missing out on some bread. I've had enough bread, honestly.
The truth is, it never gets easy, exactly. It is a struggle - I'm not going to lie. I've been doing really low carb for years and until I went zero carb and started feeling incredible all the time, not a day went by that I didn't feel a bit cheated by the fact that other people got to enjoy things that I couldn't have. Now after being on zero carb for a few weeks, my mood is so good that I have a chance to look at the situation objectively and see that I'm much happier than most of the people around me, even with their stinking bread! |
adwred, I relate so much to your experience! Especially feeling a little bitter about being given the short straw when it comes to metabolism.
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Carolyn
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Janey,
for me, it has gotten easier over time. I no longer miss things like bread since I have replaced it with so many other yummy foods like meats (all kinds), butter, cheese, etc. I don't even think about it since I don't feel hungry for bread, etc. when I am eating plenty of carnivore-type foods. I've just gotten into a routine of eating certain foods, the carnivore ones, and I just don't buy the other ones anymore.
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ReddyMcMeaty
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| LC_Dave wrote: |
adwred, I relate so much to your experience! Especially feeling a little bitter about being given the short straw when it comes to metabolism. |
No kidding. A couple of years ago when I was in good shape, having used low carb and excercise, I would get really irritated and thing if a normal person ever did what I have to do they'd look like a fricken fitness model year round, as it was I could never get rid of my soft stomach and had to be consantly vigilant as the smallest things would put on weight in no time. It doesn't help that my sisters naturally are very lean and muscular regardless of diet. I hope that in time eschewing vegetables will make mainteance easy when I get there.
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paleogirl
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| adwred wrote: | | Now after being on zero carb for a few weeks, my mood is so good that I have a chance to look at the situation objectively and see that I'm much happier than most of the people around me, even with their stinking bread! |
This is exactly how I feel, and it also echoes how I felt when I had to go gluten-free. And then dairy-free. And then soy-free and now, as a result of crazy acting insulin, carb free. But in retrospect I feel blessed that the circumstances led me here. I feel so flipping AMAZING these days that I wouldn't go back to eating pizza and ice cream if I could. It used to upset me when people were all "poor you, what can you eat?!" but now it doesn't bother me because I feel like I discovered the fountain of youth and health and it came with a never-ending supply of happy pills! I used to think I just felt good because I was comparing it to the first 30 years of my life where, as an undiagnosed Celiac, I felt awful a lot of the time, physically and mentally. I just thought I was a tired, depressed type of person and that was my lot. But now even comparing myself to my so-called normal friends, I see that I feel better than them 99% of the time. I have less tiredness, better weight control, faster recovery time, more energy and my mind is sharper. Basically I just feel like I'm at the peak of my game in every department! 
And if you are buying the right type of bacon, eggs and steak and are preparing them the right way, there could be three no more delicious foods on earth.
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unintelligible
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I consider carbohydrate foods to be drugs.
Plant foods are chemically addictive to me (especially grains), they wreak havoc on my health (sore muscles, hypoglycemia, acne, gastrointestinal stress, etc) and the only way for me to maintain my health is to avoid these foods completely, otherwise I behave like an addict. Hence, carbohydrate-rich foods being labeled by me as drugs.
It's well worth it to me because I don't want to go through life with ill health and blood sugar complications, just because I like certain foods (again, it's like being an addict).
It is hard at times, especially due to social pressures and people who just don't get it. In fact, the crowd I hang out with tends to be mostly vegans and vegetarians, so I am a black sheep in this regard.
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Janey
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| adwred wrote: | | Now after being on zero carb for a few weeks, my mood is so good that I have a chance to look at the situation objectively and see that I'm much happier than most of the people around me, even with their stinking bread! |
Thank you. I forgot how great I used to feel. How happy, clear-headed and focused I was. It's taken me a while to realize that yes, I've had my bread and pasta in Italy, and yes, I'm still having all those "good" things here at home, but I. feel. miserable.
Even my husband (who knows very little of all this, just that I used to do lowcarb and now I'm not) said to me yesterday "Please go back on your diet." Why? Because I had a pile of papers all over the kitchen counter and couldn't find the bills I needed to pay. He remembers when I was "on my diet" and I could actually think. Now I'm back to fuzzy-brained confusion as my normal mode.
And my knees hurt. And my allergies are back. And I cry a lot. And my weight's back up to 204. I am really miserable.
Ha. I just looked back at my OP in this thread and discovered that I said of carbohydrate foods, "they enhance life."
Thank you all so much...you've really helped me put this back in perspective. It's eggs for me this morning.
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ReddyMcMeaty
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 Great to hear it!!!
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Janey
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I think I'm going to print out a lot of the posts on this site, especially things like this -
| paleogirl wrote: | | I feel so flipping AMAZING these days that I wouldn't go back to eating pizza and ice cream if I could. It used to upset me when people were all "poor you, what can you eat?!" but now it doesn't bother me because I feel like I discovered the fountain of youth and health and it came with a never-ending supply of happy pills! I used to think I just felt good because I was comparing it to the first 30 years of my life where, as an undiagnosed Celiac, I felt awful a lot of the time, physically and mentally. I just thought I was a tired, depressed type of person and that was my lot. But now even comparing myself to my so-called normal friends, I see that I feel better than them 99% of the time. I have less tiredness, better weight control, faster recovery time, more energy and my mind is sharper. Basically I just feel like I'm at the peak of my game in every department! |
- and read and re-read them whenever I start romanticizing carbs again, to help me stay focused and remember why I'm doing this.
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Scout Finch
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For many of us, our "relationship" with carbs is like being in a shitty relationship with a partner. There is some instant gratification, like from the intensity of the sex or whatever, but ultimately if the whole of the relationship is a train wreck, you feel bad more than you feel good.
Carbs were like that for me. They were sure good in the short run, but I always felt bad from them more than I felt good. They did bad things to my body and bad things to my mind. And I always felt worse about myself more than I felt better.
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bigsea
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Janey, I understand. I feel I jumped into zero carb too soon and was left with not many options. I'm back on the right path now and all it takes is much determination to succeed in what you believe is the right eating lifestyle. I have no doubts that 0 carb is for me and for the health of many of us, just keep eating the meat soon you'll crave another steak right after eating a steak your mind will be racing with images of meat and blood all day you will never get enough meat whether it be beef pork chicken fish bison lamb turkey jus imagine those days it'll come sooner than you expect.
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