How much meat are you guys eating on a daily basis?

[invisible]

great post!! i do the same. my 2 and 1/2 yrs old toddler eats raw beef. i give him 1/4 lb lean muscle with 2 tsp of raw butter. i feed him that for his diner.

Sounds good. Some liver would be really good for him as well.

[raw]

Hey, that's great to hear raw!  How long have you been feeding your child RAF?  How is his general development and what particular effects have you noted since introducing RAF?  As you may have seen in other threads, I have a 6 month old son that I will soon begin introducing to solid foods (currently 100% breast-fed).  Obviously, I'm extremely keen for him to eat mainly RAF but am also aware that I have to take into consideration the expectations and views of my partner who is not following a RAF diet.  You're extremely lucky to have a wife eating in a similar manner to yourself - a result of which your child must be thriving!  I'd be extremely interested in on-going reports of your experiences and progress.  I hope to start a journal on here for my son which others have expressed an interest in.  I'm sure your experiences would also be highly valued.

thanks. well, since my son's born, i put him on 100% breast milk. but all those negativities, i get from my parents (baby is too small, give him some sugars, cow milk...etc); it's a long story. so i'm thinking to write a feature about my baby too. but, my busy schedule, keeping me off sitting in front of this computer.  for your information, i'm giving him raw muscle meat (everyday for diner) about 3 months now. before i used to give him raw liver ance a while. i put him in raw vegan diet which was really bad for him. but at this points, he really likes those home grown celery juice, wildly grown bitter dandelion leaves. he doesn't like raw meat that much, but he loves fruits. i limit his fruits intake by blending one banana into raw goat milk acidophiles everyday. i'll write all details later. take care.

[Michael]

raw - I would be very interested in your feature about your baby when you find the time!  I appreciate time is short and commitments are many!  I've only had the chance to make so many posts this week as I've been off work sick with suspected swine flu!  (Most people are knocked out with it for 2 weeks that I've known.  I'm pretty much over it in 4 days without taking anything!!)   

Good to hear that you're limited your son's fruits.  I hope he gets a taste for the raw meats and it's great to hear that he's been having them daily for so long already.  I look forward to your journal and further details!

Keep up the admirable work!

[raw]

 ;)Michael, thanks.i found something new about my son and that's cold shower. when he was on vegan diet, he feels too cold to go to beach, or simple stay naked outside. recently, i'm giving him cold shower and i don't see any sign of cold. today he stays completely naked under the mild sun around 12:30 (my backyard)and he is playing with the rain water for an hour.

[livingthelife]

As planned, I have been eating nothing but fatty beef or lamb with suet and a few herbs for flavouring.  I calculate out ratios to give me around 2100-2200 calories per day, 85% calories by fat and keep protein around 85-100g per day.

Can you describe the quantity of meat & fat you are eating per day? I don't have a scale.

Is that still going well for you?

Thanks 1,000,000 for posting your suet experiment. Several have noted that suet was too difficult to use and unappetizing to eat.

[Michael]

It's going remarkably well thanks livingthelife.  I've spoken about that in other recent threads so I won't repeat it again here.  But, do let me know if you want further info.

I'm glad that you found my suet experiment useful.  That was quite alot of work last night - especially the washing-up! 

I would highly recommend buying some cheap kitchen scales purely for the purposes of getting to know how much meat and fats to use and in what ratios.  I'm not one for measuring things particularly and it's easy to do it by eye once you know what various quantities look like.  Having said that, I'm not sure I know well enough to describe the quantities I use to you.  That's mainly because I take random size joints of brisket (from 1.5kg to 3kg), slice the whole lot into a large bowl, pump the weight of the joint into my spreadsheet which then tells me how much suet to grind up & add to achieve my desired ratios.  When I'm making 5 days worth at a time I CAN tell you that it's ALOT!!!   

[PaleoPhil]

;)Michael, thanks.i found something new about my son and that's cold shower. when he was on vegan diet, he feels too cold to go to beach, or simple stay naked outside. recently, i'm giving him cold shower and i don't see any sign of cold. today he stays completely naked under the mild sun around 12:30 (my backyard)and he is playing with the rain water for an hour.

Yes, I had similar results: I found that plant foods, especially carby ones, made me cold--except for hot, sweaty feet (perhaps because of pooling of blood?)--and gave me poor circulation. I would get very cold and shivering from swimming in a lake and would have to quit before other kids, running for a towel to warm up. Whereas animal fats have greatly improved my tolerance to cold (now I can tolerate swimming in colder water than most people, for example), yet paradoxically didn't make me overly hot in the summer.

[Michael]

Yes, I had similar results: I found that plant foods, especially carby ones, made me cold--except for hot, sweaty feet (perhaps because of pooling of blood?)--and gave me poor circulation. I would get very cold and shivering from swimming in a lake and would have to quit before other kids, running for a towel to warm up. Whereas animal fats have greatly improved my tolerance to cold (now I can tolerate swimming in colder water than most people, for example), yet paradoxically didn't make me overly hot in the summer.

Likewise, I've experienced similar improvements from a similarly overly sensitive beginning.  However, your improvements seem greater than my own in this regard Phil as I would still consider myself quite sensitive to cold.  I do still find it difficult to retain weight which is probably a big factor in this.  Also, I'm coming from a background of great ill health so my healing, I expect, is longer.

[PaleoPhil]

I hear ya. My hands do still get cold and other people notice that they feel cold (though I suspect less so than they used to), but they feel less cold to me and no longer seem to get painful and stiff from the cold and the coldest weather only numbs them for a few minutes instead of a half hour or more. I'm hoping for additional improvements in cold tolerance going forward. My feet never get as hot and sweaty as they used to. I also have trouble gaining and maintaining weight.

[Michael]

It will be interesting to review the cold intolerance situation in another year or two.  I think levels of activity are also a factor.  Due to an excessive workload recently in a rather sedentary job my lack of mobility has noticeably affected my body's tolerance.  I'm hoping this will now also improve as I've now completed my work contract and will be returning to uni in Jan with more freetime for exercise.

Have you always struggled gaining/maintaing weight Phil?  It was never an issue for me until I became ill in the mid-nineties with digestive and adrenal issues.  It's been an issue ever since with the exception of the period I was following an AV style primal diet.  I can pile weight on quickly using dairy products but nothing else.  I'm finding it difficult maintaining weight on my 2 meal vlc/zc raw paleo regime but wouldn't say I'm particularly underweight.

[TylerDurden]

Lex seemed to claim that really high amounts of raw fat(as a percentage of diet) does also lead to weight-gain. No need to take up dairy again.

[Michael]

Don't worry.  I've no intention of taking up raw dairy again!  I've finally learned, like you, that it's no good for me - even butter seemingly!

I don't recall hearing Lex mention that but that's good to hear - thanks.  I'm quite happy with my current size and low body fat - I just don't want to lose anymore weight.  I guess things will find their own balance by continuing to give my body the proper foods.

[PaleoPhil]

... Have you always struggled gaining/maintaing weight Phil?  It was never an issue for me until I became ill in the mid-nineties with digestive and adrenal issues.  It's been an issue ever since with the exception of the period I was following an AV style primal diet.  I can pile weight on quickly using dairy products but nothing else.  I'm finding it difficult maintaining weight on my 2 meal vlc/zc raw paleo regime but wouldn't say I'm particularly underweight.

Not always. In my late 30s I suddenly was able to put on lots of weight by eating lots of carbs (all flab, as far as I could tell). My highest measured weight was 179 lbs, but I think I exceeded that. Since I'm no longer eating much in the way of carbs, it is now extremely difficult to put on any weight again. I dropped to 120 something. I'm currently

For me it is easier to lose weight than gain it. This seems to piss off a number of overweight folks and several have claimed to me that this is impossible and got upset when I mentioned it, so I generally keep quiet about it now. Intolerance of super-thin people seems to be one of the last socially acceptable prejudices, but it doesn't bother me (it bothered my mother though, who constantly tried to fatten me and my siblings in our youth--so people wouldn't ask "Doesn't your mother feed you?") and I can understand the frustration, so I'm not griping. I just find it fascinating. I actually thought it was pretty neat and funny when I was flabby because I had struggled to put on weight for so many years and didn't know what it was like to have a "jolly" belly I could jiggle (I had fun with it for a little while --I should have taken photos, 'cause now few will believe I was ever chubby), but my corresponding poor health stats and illnesses and my doctor convinced me it wasn't good. Having a flabby belly with thin limbs is apparently the worst combination, health-wise.

[Michael]

I just find it fascinating. I actually thought it was pretty neat and funny when I was flabby because I had struggled to put on weight for so many years and didn't know what it was like to have a "jolly" belly I could jiggle (I had fun with it for a little while --I should have taken photos, '

The BEFORE and AFTER photos would of certainly been a good advertisement for RAF!     I'm glad to say that I've never experienced the jelly belly phase.  I'm in my late thirties now so I'm glad I found the path to good health in my late twenties/early thirties.

Likewise, I find it easier to lose weight than gain it but that's probably just representative of the fact that we don't consume a high-carb diet with it's resultant insulin response and fat storage.

[redfulcrum]

I think the average is about 2lbs./day for me.