I'm starting next week! Keep me accountable

[Robinlove]

Hello everyone!

I'm going to be starting zero carb next week. I've tried literally like every diet, and I can't get below 150 lbs, and I have about 25 more to lose. I know why, too. I go keto. Then I start saying " oh some berries are ok as long as it fits my macros." Then I tried fully raw, and next thing I knew, there goes a whole mango. Oh hey, ok back to cooked. Aww look, a mini berry pie with only 3 net carbs... I'll take 3.

See, I used to have a serious alcohol issue. I'm still massively, massively addicted to carbs. I can't seem to handle any, cuz I just binge. Lately, I've noticed that I get backed up on salad, and I'm just craving insane amounts of meat and butter. So, why not go zero carb?!?!

Wish me luck. I'm going to go full force for 30 days, just meat and water. Ideally, I'm hoping I can handle raw beef, raw beef organs, raw eggs, raw butter, and raw cream as my only meal items. Maybe the occasional pound of bacon for a meal.

Additionally, I know that it's supposed to be like zero plant foods, but I've seen spices as acceptable. So, can I do homemade, raw, fermented hot sauce and mustard? Those are "spices", so I'm unsure what the difference here would be. I think I could live happily on raw steak covered in raw mayo made with butter instead of olive oil, that's been lacto fermented, with homemade fermented Chipotle sauce and homemade fermented mustard... Thoughts?

Here are some progress pics.
First pic July 23, second pic today, August 28 (down about 7 pounds, 15 from the start of the journey).

Is it acceptable for me to post topless pics if I cover my nips? Not fair guys can post chest pics if I can't 

[TylerDurden]

Fine, just don't overdo it if things go wrong. I, for example, do fine  on RZC for the first 3 weeks, with the exception of the weightlifting no longer really working, and my sports stamina being reduced a bit. My mental focus/concentration would soar  etc., BUT, after 3 weeks, I would mysteriously get sudden health-problems like suddenly-loosened teeth and massive hunger-pangs unable to be sated by consuming animal food of any kind, etc.,. Others seem fine eating RZC for much longer periods, though, of course. All depends on the individual.


Lastly, you don't mention your height or  whether you have a naturally small, medium or large frame. For example, a 5ft 7 inch woman with a large frame can have a healthy range of up to 163 pounds in weight, according to online claims.
Also, I hope you are not using BMI as a measure, as that is quite useless. BMI apparently ignores gender and, using it, one would have had to designate Schwarzenegger as an overweight  person in his younger days.

Oh, and we allow most pics, barring full nudity, last I checked.

[Robinlove]

I am 5'4" and my body fat is roughly 30%, which i think is way too high!! That's what I use as my baseline for healthy weight, my body fat percentage. That, and I can't seem to get excess fat off, meaning to me, there must be metabolism issues. Plus, I Know for a fact that I have hormone issues, partly responsible for my massive weigjt gain a few years back. I've been hospitalized a few times and have had to have surgery once for stupidly large cysts on my ovaries. Both of my sister have been diagnosed with pcos, I seem to have it the worst due to multiple hospitalizations, I just haven't been diagnosed since I avoid drs. Additionally, the fat storage distribution on my body is indicative of  excessive hormones. You can see it stored around my arms, hips, and waist.

That's funny about Arnold!! My old governator😀

I will definitely keep that in mind about weightlifting, as I am.going to get back into it starting Monday. I will keep that three week window in mind, see if that occurs for me. Personally, if it does, I hope I need to eat other things during my pms of my period so can a lot of food then - best time! Hahaha

Is this picture ok? This is with the 7 pounds weight loss.

[Robinlove]

Plus I feel a bit tired all the time. I'd love, love, love that feeling to go away. And to know that my liver isn't going to give out, and that my hormones are balanced so my ovaries don't hemmoraghe spontaneously or suddenly die from the cysts twisting them. Honestly, that may sound dramatic, but those are all possibilities considering my drinking/drug/past eating combined with my hormones issues. My ovary twisted three times under the weight of a 10cm cyst, and I've had a dr tell me before when I have cysts the size of grapefruits (a different hospitalization from cysts) that try can rupture and cause very quick bleeding which can kill me. Ideally, I'd like to live off grid, so I need to figure out how to not have monthly ovulation cycles be life threatening. I feel my cysts almost every month, painful, let me tell you, even now.

Man oh man, I hope zero carb is a solution.

[Iguana]

...cysts...
Man oh man, I hope zero carb is a solution.

I certainly won't be. Too much animal proteins, especially from mammals, is most probably even dangerous in your case. Eat 100% raw, unprocessed, unmixed and un-spiced, but for God's sake avoid ZC!

[Projectile Vomit]

You're obviously welcome to try ZC if you want to, but I'll echo Iguana and suggest that you avoid it. I've met some people who claim that it works for them, but they're outliers and not the norm (or they're just lying, which is always possible on the Internet as there's no way to make sure people are telling the truth about lifestyle choices).

If your goal is to lose weight, I'd switch to a 40-60 diet of carbs-fat, by calories. I would be selective on what sorts of carbs you eat. Sugar from wild or near-wild fruit is fine, like blueberries and raspberries. Complex carbs from raw vegetables, especially roots and tubers like Jerusalem artichokes, beets, sweet potatoes, burdock root, etc. is also fine. You will need to eat a fair amount of these each day to get your day's quota of carbs, but that's not a bad thing. Your gut bacteria can turn the indigestible dietary fiber into short-chain fatty acids, which work wonders for gut health and make great metabolic fuel.

Another thing I've noticed as I age is that it's important to eat enough calories each day. If I don't eat enough, my body thinks it faces starvation and slows my metabolism down. This slower metabolism seems to be coupled with turning any sugar I eat into fat, thwarting my attempts at burning body fat. I've found that if the total carbs + fat calories I eat is maybe 5 % more than I actually need, then my body relaxes its controls on my metabolism. With a faster metabolism I'm better able to burn that excess fat. Eating most of my calories from fat helps this too, as it trains my body to burn fat as fuel.

Exposure to cold on your chest and upper back helps too. This turns white fat into mitochondria-rich brown fat, and this brown fat is what metabolizes our body's fat deposits and helps reduce body fat percentage. In the winters I go swimming in lakes and streams near my home to get this effect. In summers when the water's too warm I take cold showers.

As far as protein goes, Iguana's warning against eating too much protein (from any source, not just mammals) is a good one to heed. Eat enough protein to meet your body's needs, but don't go overboard. Unless you weightlift like crazy, the equivalent of 6-8 ounces of animal food each day is probably plenty. Excess protein is turned into sugar in the kidneys, and just adds to the burden on these often already-stressed organs. Best not to overdo it, in my opinion.

Good luck!

[Robinlove]

So the people in zero carb are against zero carb? Uhh....

And yah, I would keep protein to like 25% or so, rest from fat.

[TylerDurden]

So the people in zero carb are against zero carb? Uhh....

And yah, I would keep protein to like 25% or so, rest from fat.

You should have been here a few years ago. From c.2010-2014 or so, RPF was almost wholly pro-RZC, to the point where I was once  asked to remove the  supposedly "irrelevant" raw omnivore diet forum.

[RogueFarmer]

I have heard claim that the body can process fat and protein into sugar however the brain needs so much carbs it is very difficult for the body to process all of it's needed carb from protein or fat so a minimum of 20% of diet should be made up of carbs. Also so called "bad bugs" may be responsible for excess fat, eating less food, increasing micronutrients and eating prebiotic food as well as probiotic may provide the results needed along with extra burning calories.

[Iguana]

So the people in zero carb are against zero carb? Uhh....
And yah, I would keep protein to like 25% or so, rest from fat.

The diet of our ancestors wasn't "zero carb"! They didn't have such an ideology! "Zero carb" is not paleo, it's a modern invention.
Neanderthal dental tartar reveals plant-based diet – and drugs

[goodsamaritan]

Not everyone does well on long term ZC.
Be open to adjusting to adding a bit of carbs a day when you feel the need.
Our bodies are always in flux, our needs change, ride it to health.

On another note, do not take any drugs, any birth control pills, patches, injectables, etc, etc.
Some women grow fat because they keep taking those poisons.
I heard these chemical contraceptives are popular in western countries.

[Robinlove]

Can the anti zero carb people stop commenting on this post? And also those who don't know about ketosis?

Back on topic, i've been doing a lot of reading about women specifically on zero carb, many of them have tremendous success. Also, duh it's never going to be fully zero carb, since there are some carbs in eggs and meat - I'm not the one who named it, nor am I the one who named it that on this site.

Again, get off the thread if you are against it! Go outside and smell the flowers instead of wasting your time on a thread in a section you are against!

Updates. This is the easiest eating style I've ever tried so far. 4 days in, and Im ridiculously happy, and feel amazing. Im effortlessly shedding weight. Im down 2 pounds in four days. Im not counting anything, since I have a rough idea of the macros of what im eating, but I'm certainly not counting. I'm getting super energetic after I eat, which is a nice change. Before, it was I either got tired or felt not spike in energy, depending on diet style.

I'm eating mostly cooked, but soon will be switching back to mostly raw, but still maintaining the carnivorous style. I've decided to dip out of ketosis once a season, and see how that goes. Gorge on fruits one day per season so I can mimic more natural cycles of maintaining some body fat stores for times of scarcity.

Anyway, this is working well so far. I'm enjoying it, it is tasty, easy, and I feel great. Mind is clear, skin is glowing, sleep is improving, focus and drive are sky rocketing. I'm also going to do some calculations to determine co2 and water foot print of diet versus how I used to eat while vegan. It will be interesting I surmise.

Once again, get off my thread in the carnivorous section if you are against it. Go be happy instead of wasting time complaining about something in a section dedicated to that said something. It's weird and irritating.

[the6step]

I know RobinLove. That happens a lot. Just ignore it.

I will say this though, to inform your decision, as I wish this was communicated to me back when I was also interested in ZC.

Carbs aren't JUST relegated to fruit. In your story (and other people's view point), you talk about berries, mangoes, etc. That doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the category of carbs.

Like you said, our ancestors probably only ate fruit once a season, mostly in fall, to build up a fat store for winter when hunting wasn't as doable.

So in my take, fruit isn't natural. That being said, that says absolutely nothing about vegetables. Cabbage, celery, carrots, cucumbers. These, like meats, have carbs but are extremely low amount of them. Good luck on the ZC though, however you decide to go about it. I'm pretty confident I finally found the fix I was looking for in keto + raw paleo... it's just how exactly to apply that.