Week 3 was week 2 with dairy - mainly cream, butter and cheese. I realise this isn't strictly carnivore (seems to be referred to as dirty carnivore), so maybe more inline with zero carb or "animal based".
So how was it
This was the best week yet and I could comfortably eat like this the majority of the time. Everything felt pretty good, weight dropped another ½ kilo. The addition of butter for cooking made the meals much more enjoyable, and I had really missed cheese.
The Verdict and General Thoughts
My intention for doing this was to try and determine if there is anything to all the hype around this style of eating, or is it mainly a vehicle for getting social media credit. Putting it on here is just so I have a record of it in times to come (and I haven't done anything technically interesting of late).
The verdict - I think there's definitely something in it, and something I'll be looking to work in as a permanent change going forward.
As with anything there are pros and cons. The biggest pros are health related - losing extra weight, better bowel function and feeling generally better. The cons were more "soft" cons, but still things that would need to be addressed to do this long term.,
Cons
Firstly, the rest of the family aren't keen on this style of eating, which means separate meal prep. Not a huge problem but a bit of a pain logistically having to cook multiple meals. Meal prep is, for me, another con. I enjoy cooking and experimenting with different foods and flavours.
I also like to eat a lot of the food that I gave up - though this is a problem with any diet change, and I suspect undoubtedly why many people fail to change their eating patterns.
These cons could probably be resolved pretty easily, e.g. having set days to eat and prepare more detailed meals, and if there're no real health issues having more of an "animal based" diet than strict carnivore.
Now for a short rant.
It's also difficult to determine the long term effects. Trying to get information online swings from the "you'll die if you don't eat fruit and veg" to "fruit and vegetables are trying to kill you". Conventional medical and diet practitioners seem to be firmly in the first camp with most being very reluctant to hold a view outside of the 5+ a day and plenty of fibre mindset. The carnivore camp is getting almost as dogmatic in their views as the vegan community with an almost religious dedication to what can and can't be eaten, and digital crucifixion of anyone who decides they want to start incorporating any sort of plant. Ok, so probably only a few with this mindset, but it is (disappointingly) growing from what I've seen on social media since looking into this. It could also just be the algorithms trying to rage bait me, but does contribute to the difficulty of finding accurate information.
There's also the tendency for people to want to make money by selling you something - "vital" supplements, books/content to stop you making fatal mistakes etc. And man do some people go overboard - a simple statement to eat more fat results in people telling you to drink lard and add copious amounts of butter to your coffee, when I'm pretty sure the intent was to not cut the fat off your meat and maybe cook your eggs in some butter.
Rant over.
Other (Possible) Pros
Other than the health benefits already mentioned, there were a handful of things that I noticed during the journey which I can't categorically say are related to the diet, but they do appear to be worth closer investigation.
Smell/Odour - I try to limit the use of deodorant if not leaving the house, and must admit it can get a bit fragrant particularly in hot weather. This seemed to be significantly diminished by week 3.
Sun Tolerance - I'm a pale specimen that rapidly turns pink in direct sunlight, but I avoid sunscreen where possible, preferring to cover up with clothing. We went for an impromptu walk during week 3 and although I had a hat, was only wearing short sleeves and the sun was pretty intense so I was expecting some arm heat and redness. This didn't eventuate as I thought it would, but maybe the sun UV wasn't as strong as I thought,
Skin itchiness - Occasionally my skin will have a very mild itch, which is noticeable but easy to ignore. This seemed to disappear in week 3.
So What Next?
As mentioned above, this had many benefits so I'm keen to work this into my regular eating. I'm thinking more of a zero carb, animal based diet, but with plant based herbs, spices and seasonings, for most of the week, then maybe a bit less rigid over the weekend to cater for some cooking enjoyment. Restricting treat foods to special occasions, which I had been doing but slipped a bit over Christmas. Hopefully this gives similar health outcomes while allowing me to scratch the mental itch around food preparation and enjoying different foods. Time will tell
