Alexander McKinney's Blog, page 3

Carnivore – Day 27

Tomorrow will mark 4 weeks of eating Carnivore. I can say that my sleep seems to have drastically improved in the last day or so, which is a welcome change.

My daily meals aren’t what I’d call exciting, but at the same time, I’m not facing any cravings, and I’m still genuinely enjoying my steak and my bacon. That said, tomorrow I will be smoking a celebratory boneless leg of lamb.

Carnivore – Day 26

My weight jumped another pound. What I find interesting about this is that its happened twice now, both after evenings where I felt hungry around 9/10, but didn’t feel inspired enough to cook. I’m starting to wonder if some days I’m not eating enough. I’ll figure it out eventually.

Weight irritants aside, I think my sleep is improving, and I can’t swear to it, but I think my tolerance to bright sunlight might also be improving.

Carnivore – Day 25

Up 2 lbs today. A bit surprised by the weight gain, but ultimately unperturbed.

I’ve been very focused the last few evenings, and devoted a lot of time to writing or research, and perhaps I haven’t afforded myself enough time to rest, because tonight I feel exhausted. Nothing some extra sleep won’t cure, but enough that I’m going to take a break and make sure that I get to bed early. Even if if means just lying there and trying to sleep, the downtime will help me recharge a bit.

Carnivore – Day 24

I slept well until about 4 am, and then it was challenging to get back to sleep. Luckily I was rested enough that those last few hours weren’t crucial. I slowly growing more convinced that carnivore is reducing my sleep requirements.

My digestive issues are a minor nuisance, but have kept me near a washroom for the past 24 hours. Not too inconvenient during a lockdown, but I’d see this as a major problem for anyone who had a job without spur of the moment access to a bathroom.

Also, I smoked a lot of bacon today, and it’s just as fantastic as my memory told me it was. Then my children stole all of the bacon that I’d cooked for myself, and I had to make more. No great hardship, but very amusing.

Carnivore – Day 23

Sleep continues to elude me. I’ve got no issues with hunger, my digestion seems to be most of the way there, and so long as I don’t overdo it with the fats my weight is going down. My sunlight induced headaches seem milder, and I feel healthy. I just can’t sleep well. Hopefully I will by the 30 day mark.

Carnivore – day 22

I have to confess that last night’s sleep was atrocious. Atrocious. Then the kids were up early. Hooray… but, again, I was fine. I’d have happily stayed asleep for another hour, or three, really, I think most parents consider sleep to be on par with gold in terms of value, but still, I was okay.

I had homemade pork cracklins for breakfast today, and I will again tomorrow… and then I’ll be all out of pig skin, but then on Tuesday I’ll be smoking bacon, so I might even think of that as an upgrade from the cracklins.

That aside, my weight continues to go down, and I feel healthy.

Carnivore – Day 21

Three weeks!

I’d read so many articles where people talked about how difficult it was to get to three weeks, or how they were so relieved to be almost done with this diet. I was worried that committing to a year was a massive mistake… but I’d also read so many posts by people who have embarked on this way of eating, where they said that the real benefits are months in the making.

At this point, I feel like I’ve made a manageable decision and that I’ll be able to make it to a year. I’m looking forward to the benefits (if they come) and in the meantime I’ll be enjoying my meat, fat and bacon (yes, I know bacon is a meat, but it’s so good, that sometimes it deserves a category all its own).

Carnivore – Day 20

I think my focus for today was realising that I’m almost at the three week mark. It feels like an accomplishment, and that I’m pretty close to a month. I feel like it’s going to be surprisingly easy to get to two months, then three.

Breakfast was homemade fried pork cracklings, skin courtesy of the pork belly that I had to skin which is now curing into bacon. I’m not feeling deprived of anything, and my sweet tooth seems more in control than I can remember it ever being.

Sleep still isn’t perfect, but I seem to need less of it.

The post Carnivore – Day 20 appeared first on Good and Bad, Mostly Bad, Ways to Fill Your Empty Soul.

Carnivore – Day 19

Sleep, sleep continues to be tricky. Luckily I’m not waking up particularly tired in the morning, so I’m functioning fine.

I have noticed that I seem to be more driven. I’ve been finishing cleaning for the day, and then I spend an hour on my creative writing. Previously I’ve felt too drained after a day with the kids for such pursuits at night. Could be unrelated to eating Carnivore, and it could be a fluke, but I suspect there’s a connection.

Also, I got more pork bellies, so right now, I have ~24 lbs of bacon curing in my fridge.

The post Carnivore – Day 19 appeared first on Good and Bad, Mostly Bad, Ways to Fill Your Empty Soul.

Carnivore – Day 18

Mild gain on the scale and another night where it was difficult to sleep. I can understand why people falter on this diet. It’s hard to believe that you’re doing the right thing for yourself when your body is still adapting, and most people you might talk to would actively discourage you from pursuing such an extreme lifestyle. Luckily for me, my wife is supportive.

In easier news, I got my hands on some beef ribs and a grand quantity of pork belly. The beef ribs are salted and will be cooked tomorrow, and the pork belly needs to that before I can cure it, but this is the kind of food that keeps my morale up.

The post Carnivore – Day 18 appeared first on Good and Bad, Mostly Bad, Ways to Fill Your Empty Soul.