First, the primary grains fed to chickens to lay are soy and corn.  You'll never get an egg any where even close to the color or orange by feeding any amount of cracked yellow corn.  It's the conversion of the green foods they eat and or the insects that produces that color.  Also, look for thick in consistency of the yolks.  Free range really means nothing except that have some room to move around.  Free range should mean that they have ample green space where insects and green grasses and weeds are still lush.  Check out ninety percent of free range chicken operations and you'll find that they're devoid of anything green.  Their chickens ate it all some time ago.  But I have seen farmers who move their chickens from field to field and or within a large field, rotating, with mobile pens.  Now that's an egg worth eating.

  I've mentioned this before, but it may help here.  Years ago when I visited the instinctive center in France (five times over as many years) I started eating raw tuna.  I wasn't yet able to think about eating meat the first time I went.  I had eaten raw tuna at sushi bars before, but only infrequently.  When I returned I ate it often, maybe every other day.  For at least a month I had cups of waste material in the toilet.  This after years of colonics and all kinds of intestinal cleansing and twenty years on a raw diet.    For all of my childhood and years after, tuna was the food my family used most often.  I probably ate it three times a week my whole life till I turned raw.   So from my point of view, experience,  I have witnessed first hand how the body will exchange building blocks, and how cleansing raw protein is.   
  As far a reactions from fruit:  I think a lot has to do with where people are in their tolerance to sugar, in their diet,  period.  Typically, adulterated fruits are the highest in sugar, hence the ability to sell them.  As we age, our ability to control blood sugar weakens or lessens.  See Rosedale's articles on insulin and leptin resistance for a more detailed account on how powerfully they affect our hormones and hence our entire system.    Any excess sugar feeds all sort of things beyond candida.  And we all come from various backgrounds which have left us with less than intact healthy intestinal bacteria.  So each of our reactions to sugar will of course be different.   Usually those do the best with high sugar or fruit diets are also those who are very very active, and are able to burn off excess sugar in the blood before it can cause hormonal problems or feed things like candida.    So as we age, I believe our needs or tolerances change.     I look back on the high fruit diets I used to think were healthy and shudder at the thought.  But then I really acted out my beliefs to my own detriment.

Bronwen, hi.  You might try the pages of beyondveg.com.   They have or had an 'enlightening' article describing just how many animals are killed when tractors farm with discs, or with orchards and the killing of ground animals that would otherwise descimate the fruit tree's roots.  The examples are many.  Bottom line is that when you eat beef, you may eat one cow a year.  When you eat carrots and beans, and fruits, you actually are killing hundreds of animals (albeit, small ones) each year.  We tend to value a larger animal more than say a rabbit or snake or ground squirrel.      The other point is, all well cared for and humanely killed large animals live a glorious life that they never would have had the chance to live if not for you.  And they aren't left in the wake of a tractors harrow or discs bleeding to death from being cut in half or dismembered.    Maybe this might help.     Oh, and you might try eating your beef separate from your salads.  Salads tend to diminish the acid level needed to handle meat, especially  if coming from a veg. orientated diet.   All the best,   Van

Hi Klowcarb.  I want to suggest to you that your newly expanded diet may actually be the reason for your muscle gains.  I think I can remember reading (not sure from which forum) where you were so happy with eating, correct me if I am wrong here, just ground beef, and raw.  I think during those days you were completely satisfied with how your work-outs were doing.  Hope you don't find this as being judgemental.   I can't tell you how many times I have fallen into the minds' trap of believing it's found 'perfection' in a diet.  Very tricky thing.  And then there's Charles who promotes basically Wallmart meat and fat at the exclusion of most anything else, including organs etc.    And extolls the notion that he is the healthiest person in the world.   We each have what seemingly works for us, at any particular time period.  And my guess is that most of us here are constantly learning, adapting and evolving as we relearn to feed ourselves.  But again, variety, as I have found offers me the greater balance or health for my body.  So Yes, for you light cooking may unlock certain nutrients you weren't assimilating before, and, or, the inclusion of the foods you now list may equally be what's feeding your 'muscles'.      For instance,  I have ducks at my farm.  I notice that I feel better when I eat at least 3-6 yolks a week, sometimes more.  However I have seen it written in forums several times that eggs don't satisfy as does meat and for that reason they are overlooked or passed by.   That's true for me too.  But my guess is that years ago foragers would never find  several dozen eggs to split amongst a tribe so that each could eat a dozen.  No, they more likely stumbled on one or a few eggs and snarfed them down right then and there, completing more of their nutritional needs.    The same logic can be applied to eating liver, heart, testicles, thymus, bone marrow, brain, kidney, eye balls, fish eggs, insects, vit-c rich fruit, whale, salmon etc. etc.   And finally reading what I have just written here,  it appears it's just as much a reminder to myself as a note to you.   Let us know how it plays out for you.  Would love to see a recent picture.   Van

raw food.com has cassia sticks, of great quality.  Open and suck on two disks in the morning on empty stomach.  wait an hour before eating.  They work.

Just nibble the potato or anything else that comes with the steak.  that will appease everyone.

more than likely you have pockets where bacteria are thriving.  Try having your teeth/pockets cleaned by a hygenist and cut down on sugars rinsing your mouth with either warm water or diluted salt water after every meal.  Floss too. 

I may have mentioned this before, but,  try placing it in a ceramic or glass bowl in the fidge.  Flip it over every two days or so.  After a week or two it will have a slightly tart taste.  It's pretty good that way, also the layer on the outside gets dried out, that too is good.

I'll 'leave it'.  You tend to make quick conclusions, and this time, it was from not eating much fat at all, but a heck of alot of protein.  You might like to see what it would be like if you slowly changed the ratio of fat and meat, allowing your body to adapt to using fat as fuel.  That is an experiment you can't do overnight and write about your response the next day. 

Rabbit starvation, from what I have read, is about a relation of protein to either fat or carbs as a total percentage of calories.  Thus one can avoid rabbit starvation by eating either fat or carbs with their protein.  Those eating high protein diets and little or no fat,  are you eating carbs along with your wild lean meats?

Kefir can go through a lot a adaptation to what milk you put it in.  Try keeping it closer to body temp, and remember to stir it several if not many times a day to provide the grains milk instead of already digested milk stagnating around undisturbed kefir grains.  I like it the best just,  just as it turns sour.  You have to cool it quickly then.

'it' being  marrow.   Can you eat it plain with out meat and enjoy it, the same quantity that you would eat along with meat.  It does keep a long long time inside the bone in the fridge.  I used to  go through the laborious task of emptying 20 pounds of marrow bones into 'tupperware' containers and refridgerate.  Now,  I just spread the bones out on a wire rack in the fridge and the dry cool air dries the left over meat on the surface of the bone keeping it from going bad or smelling bad.  I ended up throwing out two bottles of green pastures clo because I didn't trust, intuition or not, the burning in my throat after taking it.  Rancid oils have the same burn.  The owner told me it's simply the  fermentation??  I presently take Mercolas spray Vit D.  Here in northern Ca.  I am able to get sun about every third day on the average. 

Ionna, there a was a time when all I wanted was bone marrow with meat.  Then I couldn't eat it anymore.  I would try to eat it inbetween meals to increase my fat intake, and or keep the marrow from slowing down the digestion of meat. It was hard to eat it alone, even if hungry.  That was a sign to me my body didn't really want or need it.  I went back to back fat. Now I do fine with it and crave it again.  Not sure what this says, but maybe we all need to mix things up more.  Lately, don't tell Tyler, I've been eating a pint of raw cream a day. Yum, it's amazing.  I think even addicting.  But at this point, I don't care.  I also started to enjoy avocado with my meat again.  Paleo people would have eaten eye balls, brains, suet, back fat, bugs, and the list goes on.    And thanks for posting your picture.  Captivating.   I like having an idea as to who it is I'm writing to.  Have been meaning to do the same for some time now.  I agree with Phil, that Vit D thing I think is a big one.  It regulates so many things in our body.