Carnivore diet tips by coach Tracy K
Beginning the carnivore lifestyle: Eat when hungry, stop when satisfied. Plan ahead so you have food available for eating each day. Clean your house out of off-plan foods if possible. Throw away the scales but do take pictures and measurements if you like to do measurements. No need to count anything, unless that is your thing. Maybe keep a journal of how you are feeling and what all you are eating so you can refer back to it in the future.
Tips for the transition period: Take good electrolytes (like Re-Lyte or Keto Drops) to help with adjusting in the beginning. Get lots of rest (try to plan some time off of many activities or work if possible starting out). Most important is finding places to communicate with other carnivores (Meatrx! 🙂 Support is SO important and if you think you need someone to be accountable to or ask questions from, hire a coach! (Meatrx- Tracy K:)
Tips for grocery shopping: Skip all aisles except meat and dairy and maybe cleaning aisles. 🙂 Plan your meals to the best of your ability, and stick to your plan! Shopping is SO simple!!
Tips for social situations: When going to a social situation such as Thanksgiving, plan, plan, plan! I often like to eat some meat before going so that I will not be tempted by coach less than optimal foods. Another idea is to bring a lovely meaty dish so share and one that you can enjoy as well, or a meat/cheese tray perhaps.
Tips for making carnivore easy:
The meaning of Carnivore is easy! Totally! It is the easiest lifestyle you’ll ever find! Carnivore = Easy! To make it the very easiest, plan your meals, buy your foods, and enjoy everything you put in your mouth! It’s a dream come true! You’ll wonder why you hadn’t always known how to eat this way!
If others ridicule your lifestyle choices, be prepared with letting them know that this is how you choose to eat and the way that makes you feel your very best. If they try to tempt you to eat junk food, let them know that it will make you sick to eat those foods. Tell them that your body did not feel well when you used to eat carb laden foods. Explain exactly how they made you feel. Sharing the lifestyle with others just might help to bring them around to a healthier choice too!
Cooking: Cook your meat however you enjoy it cooked. Your tastes may change as you go along, such as if you like it more well-done in the beginning, you may find that you like it closer to rare in later months. Tastes seem to change as you go throughout your journey, but you will be able to determine when you need to change something. I found that I didn’t care for chicken after a few months, but then around 2 years in and I’m wanting some again as we are going into the fall season and I love some yummy chicken soup and bone broth made with chicken feet. 🙂 Slow cookers are amazing as well as grills, air fryers, waffle irons, egg steamers, instant pots, etc.
Tips for dealing with cravings: The best way to deal with cravings is to be sure to eat enough meat/fat to keep you satisfied during your meals. Also, keep the craved foods out of your home or out of our sight if you cannot get them out of your home because others in your family are eating them. The longer you are on carnivore, the easier the cravings are to deal with. They basically just go away if you are eating plenty of meat and fat at your mealtimes.
Fatigue – in the beginning of the carnivore lifestyle, fatigue can be expected. It is not something that cannot be worked through but does happen as the body is adjusting to the lifestyle with burning ketones instead of sugar. Rest is so important, not only in the beginning of a carnivore lifestyle but throughout the entire journey. Listening to your body is something very much needed for when to nourish, when to rest, when to move, etc.
Food addiction & cravings – Meat is the answer to food addiction and any cravings. If you crave something to eat, eat meat. If you are not hungry enough for meat, then it isn’t true hunger. Listening to the body is again so important. Cravings subside with time and lots of meat! Eat meat when hungry, drink water when thirsty!
Gout: Caused by coach sugar, not by coach meat. I understand that gout can get worse in the beginning of eating a carnivore lifestyle, but will eventually heal as the body heals and rids itself of oxalates and inflammation.
Hypertension and weight loss: These conditions all go hand in hand. Losing weight helps with sleep and hypertension and eating meat and fats helps with all three. I noticed after going carnivore that I began to have a drop in blood pressure around my 3rd month and was able to reduce my medication. So my recommendation would be to stick to it for the first three months for sure and beyond for sustained healing.
Sleep: For sleep, I recommend using a blue-blocking pair of glasses as well as eating meat/fat. The ones that I used are called BLUblox and they are super great for reducing blue light, especially in the evening. They have ones that you can order and use for day use while using your computer or watching TV too. They were very helpful to me as I would wear them about an hour to an hour and a half before bedtime and I could almost rest assured (no pun intended) that my body would produce a good amount of melatonin to help me fall asleep. Additionally, eating meat/fat helps the body to heal, and while healing, sleep happens quite nicely. I believe many people have different levels of hypertension trouble as it could be dependent upon age, current health conditions, etc. Give your body time to heal and you will be amazed!
