OK, I'm back. As promised. Sorry, that got way way way out of control. I didn't have the slightest clue my post would generate so many upvotes and comments. Even so, I wanted to answer your questions.
When I started this way of eating, I was not overweight at all. However, my body did find it suitable to remove about 20 pounds of subcutaneous fat that no one, least of all me, would have thought needed to go. It was during a summer I was away from my girlfriend. After I came home, she saw me in my underwear and asked if I had worked out all summer. I had not worked out at all, but the loss of subcutaneious fat definitely made my muscles more prominent.
I don't employ recipes. I'm single, an eternal bachelor. My specific meal ideas are pretty simple and austere. Some might say boring. But within the parameters of the two macronutrients fat and protein, the realm of possibilities is virtually endless for those who demand variety. A lot of books on high fat, low carb eating, including the Eenfeldt-authored one I mention in my original post, contain recipes and meal ideas. The field got pretty crowded, actually, over the last almost 10 years.
A typical day for me would be no breakfast, ever, because I'm never hungry before noon. And I always have plenty of energy in the morning to make it to lunch. Sometimes I don't feel hungry until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I might take a serving of collagen peptides on an empty stomach earlier than lunch because it's best to take those alone. Lunch is a fatty steak, like a pork steak or lamb shoulder steak, or else a higher percentage ground meat, lamb, beef, buffalo or pork. I melt butter over everything: meat, eggs, everything. I get the finest grass-fed butters, and they taste like heaven. If I'm eating pork, I'll be spooning up sour cream with every bite.
For dinner, I'll have a spread of various cheeses; some grass-fed cream (again, tastes like heaven); full-fat yoghurt or kefir; eggs in various preparations such as made into a soup with a bone broth base; and if that's not enough, some canned fish with cream cheese (mackerel, herring, anchovies, sardines or salmon).
I do intermittent fasting. Not systematically. But because I only feel like eating twice a day, if I space my meals 7 or 8 hours apart, then I'm doing an unconscious 16 or 17 hour fast every day. Most weeks I skip a day, or will eat only once, or at least skip protein. But it's not systematic, because it's common for me to just not feel much like eating one day a week. Like if I've got other things on my mind or to do, it's just really easy to skip eating and focus on what I want. It's effortless, because the way appetite works when you're fat-adapted is so much less demanding. It dramatically changes your relationship to food.
I don't lift weights at all. I do walk, maybe two or three times a week, two or three hours at a time. It's how I clear my head, so I set aside big windows of time to do it. But other than that, nothing. Everyone I've ever advised on this diet got skinny without a day of hunger or physical exertion. It works, just like it works on a wild animal. For a human, this way of eating is a sort of recapturing of a part of our wildness.
I should point out that I'm not advocating a keto diet. Not really. Ketosis is measured along a continuum, so of course one can never truly speak of being in ketosis or out of ketosis. It's always what degree of ketosis. But strong ketosis is only possible by eliminating virtually all carbs. I don't eat this way, however. I eat about 30 grams of carbs per day. This keeps me in mild ketosis. Most of my body runs on fat, not ketones. Ketones are made by the liver out of fat, but you don't need many ketones to be fat-adapted. The only cells that need ketones are the ones that can't use fat for making energy. This includes the brain because fats are not allowed to reach the brain. So when fat-adapted, the body makes at least enough ketones to run the brain, but most of the rest of the cells get their energy from fats. Also, cells that don't have mitochondria can only use glucose for energy, so for instance red blood cells, retinal cells, and a few types of cells in the kidneys. But the body doesn't need carb intake at all to fuel these cells. The body can easily and readily make glucose from other substances to take care of these cells. Glucose can be made from glycerol (fat), lactic acid, protein, and I believe even from other things. As for what amount of carbs are going to take your body to what degree of ketosis, it is somewhat individual. But from what I've heard from most people, 50 grams or below is sufficient. I think 100 grams or less per day, however, will get you into the effortless fat loss zone, as long as you replace the carbs you cut out with increased fat intake. Though the lower this number gets, the faster your body will rid itself of excess fat stores. The rate is always dependent on where you keep your insulin levels at over the long run.
I only went full carnivore last spring. I realize virtually no one will be interested in it, so I don't mention it. And in any case, I think high fat, low carb is the most important change one can make. If you want to learn more about carnivore eating, the best book by far is Paul Saladino's The Carnivore Code. So my staples are meat and eggs and animal fats. I buy virtually all of them at the local farmers markets. There are only two redeeming qualities about living in the arch hellhole of Portland. One is the beauty of the surrounding nature, the other is the astounding quality and accessibility of the local farmers markets. All my eggs are pastured, corn and soy free. All my meat is grass-fed, or free roaming in the case of pigs and chickens. I buy the fattiest cuts of meat, or high percentages of ground. I prefer the taste, it requires less fat to be added from another source, and they are generally the lowest in cost because most people are still paranoid about fat.
As for my grocery list at the store? I get bone broths, cream, sour cream, cream cheese, grass-fed butters, sometimes raw milk (it's legal in Washington State). I discovered that my body is perfectly fine with A2 milk products. If you haven't heard of the A2 issue, take a look at an article or read the book The Devil in the Milk. It's a big deal and I can easily tell the difference between the two in terms of whether I break out in rashes or not. So, I love dairy, and with A2 I can eat all I want, no problem. I eat a lot of European cheeses, mostly goat and sheep because all of their milk is A2. I'm selective about cow milk cheeses depending on whether I can get it in A2. My cream is A2 and so is my yoghurt and milk.
It might sound expensive. And it certainly takes more time and money than loading up on ramen and spaghetti from the local dollar store. But a funny thing happens when you eat high quality, nutrient-dense, fat-rich food. The actual volume of food you eat goes way down. Not only because fat and protein are so filling, but because highly nutritious food is also very satiating. So you just end up needing less food overall. And I only eat two meals a day, because that's all I'm ever hungry. So, yes, I spend more money than I used to on food, but it's not a whole lot more overall. What you gain from that extra money in terms of taste and feeling healthy is more than worth the expense. It's the only investment I know of from which you get a 100% return on your dollar. The biggest sacrifice is the preparation time. It's not so simple to conveniently provide real food. But once new habits were established, I got used to it.
I hope this helps!
OK, I'm back. As promised. Sorry, that got way way way out of control. I didn't have the slightest clue my post would generate so many upvotes and comments. Even so, I wanted to answer your questions.
When I started this way of eating, I was not overweight at all. However, my body did find it suitable to remove about 20 pounds of subcutaneous fat that no one, least of all me, would have thought needed to go. It was during a summer I was away from my girlfriend. After I came home, she saw me in my underwear and asked if I had worked out all summer. I had not worked out at all, but the loss of subcutaneious fat definitely made my muscles more prominent.
I don't employ recipes. I'm single, an eternal bachelor. My specific meal ideas are pretty simple and austere. Some might say boring. But within the parameters of the two macronutrients fat and protein, the realm of possibilities is virtually endless for those who demand variety. A lot of books on high fat, low carb eating, including the Eenfeldt-authored one I mention in my original post, contain recipes and meal ideas. The field got pretty crowded, actually, over the last almost 10 years.
A typical day for me would be no breakfast, ever, because I'm never hungry before noon. And I always have plenty of energy in the morning to make it to lunch. Sometimes I don't feel hungry until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I might take a serving of collagen peptides on an empty stomach earlier than lunch because it's best to take those alone. Lunch is a fatty steak, like a pork steak or lamb shoulder steak, or else a higher percentage ground meat, lamb, beef, buffalo or pork. I melt butter over everything: meat, eggs, everything. I get the finest grass-fed butters, and they taste like heaven. If I'm eating pork, I'll be spooning up sour cream with every bite.
For dinner, I'll have a spread of various cheeses; some grass-fed cream (again, tastes like heaven); full-fat yoghurt or kefir; eggs in various preparations such as made into a soup with a bone broth base; and if that's not enough, some canned fish with cream cheese (mackerel, herring, anchovies, sardines or salmon).
I do intermittent fasting. Not systematically. But because I only feel like eating twice a day, if I space my meals 7 or 8 hours apart, then I'm doing an unconscious 16 or 17 hour fast every day. Most weeks I skip a day, or will eat only once, or at least skip protein. But it's not systematic, because it's common for me to just not feel much like eating one day a week. Like if I've got other things on my mind or to do, it's just really easy to skip eating and focus on what I want. It's effortless, because the way appetite works when you're fat-adapted is so much less demanding. It dramatically changes your relationship to food.
I don't lift weights at all. I do walk, maybe two or three times a week, two or three hours at a time. It's how I clear my head, so I set aside big windows of time to do it. But other than that, nothing. Everyone I've ever advised on this diet got skinny without a day of hunger or physical exertion. It works, just like it works on a wild animal. For a human, this way of eating is a sort of recapturing of a part of our wildness.
I should point out that I'm not advocating a keto diet. Not really. Ketosis is measured along a continuum, so of course one can never truly speak of being in ketosis or out of ketosis. It's always what degree of ketosis. But strong ketosis is only possible by eliminating virtually all carbs. I don't eat this way, however. I eat about 30 grams of carbs per day. This keeps me in mild ketosis. Most of my body runs on fat, not ketones. Ketones are made by the liver out of fat, but you don't need many ketones to be fat-adapted. The only cells that need ketones are the ones that can't use fat for making energy and so require glucose. This includes the brain because fats are not allowed to reach the brain. So when fat-adapted, the body makes at least enough ketones to run the brain, but most of the rest of the energy comes from fats. Also, cells that don't have mitochondria can only use glucose for energy, so for instance red blood cells, retinal cells, and a few types of cells in the kidneys. But the body doesn't need carb intake at all to fuel these cells. The body can easily and readily make glucose from other substances to take care of these cells. Glucose can be made from glycerol (fat), lactic acid, protein, and I believe even from other things. As for what amount of carbs are going to take your body to what degree of ketosis, it is somewhat individual. But from what I've heard from most people, 50 grams or below is sufficient. I think 100 grams or less per day, however, will get you into the effortless fat loss zone, as long as you replace the carbs you cut out with increased fat intake. Though the lower this number gets, the faster your body will rid itself of excess fat stores. The rate is always dependent on where you keep your insulin levels at over the long run.
I only went full carnivore last spring. I realize virtually no one will be interested in it, so I don't mention it. And in any case, I think high fat, low carb is the most important change one can make. If you want to learn more about carnivore eating, the best book by far is Paul Saladino's The Carnivore Code. So my staples are meat and eggs and animal fats. I buy virtually all of them at the local farmers markets. There are only two redeeming qualities about living in the arch hellhole of Portland. One is the beauty of the surrounding nature, the other is the astounding quality and accessibility of the local farmers markets. All my eggs are pastured, corn and soy free. All my meat is grass-fed, or free roaming in the case of pigs and chickens. I buy the fattiest cuts of meat, higher percentages for ground. I prefer the taste, it requires less fat to be added from another source, and they are generally the lowest in cost because most people are still paranoid about fat.
As for my grocery list at the store? I get bone broths, cream, sour cream, cream cheese, grass-fed butters, sometimes raw milk (it's legal in Washington State). I discovered that my body is perfectly fine with A2 milk products. If you haven't heard of the A2 issue, take a look at an article or read the book The Devil in the Milk. It's a big deal and I can easily tell the difference between the two in terms of whether I break out in rashes or not. So, I love dairy, and with A2 I can eat all I want, no problem. I eat a lot of European cheeses, mostly goat and sheep because all of their milk is A2. I'm selective about cow milk cheeses depending on whether I can get it in A2. My cream is A2 and so is my yoghurt and milk.
It might sound expensive. And it certainly takes more time and money than loading up on ramen and spaghetti from the local dollar store. But a funny thing happens when you eat high quality, nutrient-dense, fat-rich food. The actual volume of food you eat goes way down. Not only because fat and protein are so filling, but because highly nutritious food is also very satiating. So you just end up needing less food overall. And I only eat two meals a day, because that's all I'm ever hungry. So, yes, I spend more money than I used to on food, but it's not a whole lot more overall. What you gain from that extra money in terms of taste and feeling healthy is more than worth the expense. It's the only investment I know of from which you get a 100% return on your dollar. The biggest sacrifice is the preparation time. It's not so simple to conveniently provide real food. But once new habits were established, I got used to it.
I hope this helps!
OK, I'm back. As promised. Sorry, that got way way way out of control. I didn't have the slightest clue my post would generate so many upvotes and comments. Even so, I wanted to answer your questions.
When I started this way of eating, I was not overweight at all. However, my body did find it suitable to remove about 20 pounds of subcutaneous fat that no one, least of all me, would have thought needed to go. It was during a summer I was away from my girlfriend. After I came home, she saw me in my underwear and asked if I had worked out all summer. I had not worked out at all, but the loss of subcutaneious fat definitely made my muscles more prominent.
I don't employ recipes. I'm single, an eternal bachelor. My specific meal ideas are pretty simple and austere. Some might say boring. But within the parameters of the two macronutrients fat and protein, the realm of possibilities is virtually endless for those who demand variety. A lot of books on high fat, low carb eating, including the Eenfeldt-authored one I mention in my original post, contain recipes and meal ideas. The field got pretty crowded, actually, over the last almost 10 years.
A typical day for me would be no breakfast, ever, because I'm never hungry before noon. And I always have plenty of energy in the morning to make it to lunch. Sometimes I don't feel hungry until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I might take a serving of collagen peptides on an empty stomach earlier than lunch because it's best to take those alone. Lunch is a fatty steak, like a pork steak or lamb shoulder steak, or else a higher percentage ground meat, lamb, beef, buffalo or pork. I melt butter over everything: meat, eggs, everything. I get the finest grass-fed butters, and they taste like heaven. If I'm eating pork, I'll be spooning up sour cream with every bite.
For dinner, I'll have a spread of various cheeses; some grass-fed cream (again, tastes like heaven); full-fat yoghurt or kefir; eggs in various preparations such as made into a soup with a bone broth base; and if that's not enough, some canned fish with cream cheese (mackerel, herring, anchovies, sardines or salmon).
I do intermittent fasting. Not systematically. But because I only feel like eating twice a day, if I space my meals 7 or 8 hours apart, then I'm doing an unconscious 16 or 17 hour fast every day. Most weeks I skip a day, or will eat only once, or at least skip protein. But it's not systematic, because it's common for me to just not feel much like eating one day a week. Like if I've got other things on my mind or to do, it's just really easy to skip eating and focus on what I want. It's effortless, because the way appetite works when you're fat-adapted is so much less demanding. It dramatically changes your relationship to food.
I don't life weights at all. I do walk, maybe two or three times a week, two or three hours at a time. It's how I clear my head, so I set aside big windows of time to do it. But other than that, nothing. Everyone I've ever advised on this diet got skinny without a day of hunger or physical exertion. It works, just like it works on a wild animal. For a human, this way of eating is a sort of recapturing of a part of our wildness.
I should point out that I'm not advocating a keto diet. Not really. Ketosis is measured along a continuum, so of course one can never truly speak of being in ketosis or out of ketosis. It's always what degree of ketosis. But strong ketosis is only possible by eliminating virtually all carbs. I don't eat this way, however. I eat about 30 grams of carbs per day. This keeps me in mild ketosis. Most of my body runs on fat, not ketones. Ketones are made by the liver out of fat, but you don't need many ketones to be fat-adapted. The only cells that need ketones are the ones that can't use fat for making energy and so require glucose. This includes the brain because fats are not allowed to reach the brain. So when fat-adapted, the body makes at least enough ketones to run the brain, but most of the rest of the energy comes from fats. Also, cells that don't have mitochondria can only use glucose for energy, so for instance red blood cells, retinal cells, and a few types of cells in the kidneys. But the body doesn't need carb intake at all to fuel these cells. The body can easily and readily make glucose from other substances to take care of these cells. Glucose can be made from glycerol (fat), lactic acid, protein, and I believe even from other things. As for what amount of carbs are going to take your body to what degree of ketosis, it is somewhat individual. But from what I've heard from most people, 50 grams or below is sufficient. I think 100 grams or less per day, however, will get you into the effortless fat loss zone, as long as you replace the carbs you cut out with increased fat intake. Though the lower this number gets, the faster your body will rid itself of excess fat stores. The rate is always dependent on where you keep your insulin levels at over the long run.
I only went full carnivore last spring. I realize virtually no one will be interested in it, so I don't mention it. And in any case, I think high fat, low carb is the most important change one can make. If you want to learn more about carnivore eating, the best book by far is Paul Saladino's The Carnivore Code. So my staples are meat and eggs and animal fats. I buy virtually all of them at the local farmers markets. There are only two redeeming qualities about living in the arch hellhole of Portland. One is the beauty of the surrounding nature, the other is the astounding quality and accessibility of the local farmers markets. All my eggs are pastured, corn and soy free. All my meat is grass-fed, or free roaming in the case of pigs and chickens. I buy the fattiest cuts of meat, higher percentages for ground. I prefer the taste, it requires less fat to be added from another source, and they are generally the lowest in cost because most people are still paranoid about fat.
As for my grocery list at the store? I get bone broths, cream, sour cream, cream cheese, grass-fed butters, sometimes raw milk (it's legal in Washington State). I discovered that my body is perfectly fine with A2 milk products. If you haven't heard of the A2 issue, take a look at an article or read the book The Devil in the Milk. It's a big deal and I can easily tell the difference between the two in terms of whether I break out in rashes or not. So, I love dairy, and with A2 I can eat all I want, no problem. I eat a lot of European cheeses, mostly goat and sheep because all of their milk is A2. I'm selective about cow milk cheeses depending on whether I can get it in A2. My cream is A2 and so is my yoghurt and milk.
It might sound expensive. And it certainly takes more time and money than loading up on ramen and spaghetti from the local dollar store. But a funny thing happens when you eat high quality, nutrient-dense, fat-rich food. The actual volume of food you eat goes way down. Not only because fat and protein are so filling, but because highly nutritious food is also very satiating. So you just end up needing less food overall. And I only eat two meals a day, because that's all I'm ever hungry. So, yes, I spend more money than I used to on food, but it's not a whole lot more overall. What you gain from that extra money in terms of taste and feeling healthy is more than worth the expense. It's the only investment I know of from which you get a 100% return on your dollar. The biggest sacrifice is the preparation time. It's not so simple to conveniently provide real food. But once new habits were established, I got used to it.
I hope this helps!
OK, I'm back. As promised. Sorry, that got way way way out of control. I didn't have the slightest clue my post would generate so many upvotes and comments. Even so, I wanted to answer your questions.
When I started this way of eating, I was not overweight at all. However, my body did find it suitable to remove about 20 pounds of subcutaneous fat that no one, least of all me, would have thought needed to go. It was during a summer I was away from my girlfriend. After I came home, she saw me in my underwear and asked if I had worked out all summer. I had not worked out at all, but the loss of subcutaneious fat definitely made my muscles more prominent.
I don't employ recipes. I'm single, an eternal bachelor. My specific meal ideas are pretty simple and austere. Some might say boring. But within the parameters of the two macronutrients fat and protein, the realm of possibilities is virtually endless for those who demand variety. A lot of books on high fat, low carb eating, including the Eenfeldt-authored one I mention in my original post, contain recipes and meal ideas. The field got pretty crowded, actually, over the last almost 10 years.
A typical day for me would be no breakfast, ever, because I'm never hungry before noon. And I always have plenty of energy in the morning to make it to lunch. Sometimes I don't feel hungry until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I might take a serving of collagen peptides on an empty stomach earlier than lunch because it's best to take those alone. Lunch is a fatty steak, like a pork steak or lamb shoulder steak, or else a higher percentage ground meat, lamb, beef, buffalo or pork. I melt butter over everything: meat, eggs, everything. I get the finest grass-fed butters, and they taste like heaven. If I'm eating pork, I'll be spooning up sour cream with every bite.
For dinner, I'll have a spread of various cheeses; some grass-fed cream (again, tastes like heaven); full-fat yoghurt or kefir; eggs in various preparations such as made into a soup with a bone broth base; and if that's not enough, some canned fish with cream cheese (mackerel, herring, anchovies, sardines or salmon).
I do intermittent fasting. Not systematically. But because I only feel like eating twice a day, if I space my meals 7 or 8 hours apart, then I'm doing an unconscious 16 or 17 hour fast every day. Most weeks I skip a day, or will eat only once, or at least skip protein. But it's not systematic, because it's common for me to just not feel much like eating one day a week. Like if I've got other things on my mind or to do, it's just really easy to skip eating and focus on what I want. It's effortless, because the way appetite works when you're fat-adapted is so much less demanding. It dramatically changes your relationship to food.
I don't life weights at all. I do walk, maybe two or three times a week, two or three hours at a time. It's how I clear my head, so I set aside big windows of time to do it. But other than that, nothing. Everyone I've ever advised on this diet got skinny without a day of hunger or physical exertion. It works, just like it works on a wild animal. For a human, this way of eating is a sort of recapturing of a part of our wildness.
I should point out that I'm not advocating a keto diet. Not really. Ketosis is measured along a continuum, so of course one can never truly speak of being in ketosis or out of ketosis. It's always what degree of ketosis. But strong ketosis is only possible by eliminating virtually all carbs. I don't eat this way, however. I eat about 30 grams of carbs per day. This keeps me in mild ketosis. Most of my body runs on fat, not ketones. Ketones are made by the liver out of fat, but you don't need many ketones to be fat-adapted. The only cells that need ketones are the ones that can't use fat for making energy and so require glucose. This includes the brain because fats are not allowed to reach the brain. So when fat-adapted, the body makes at least enough ketones to run the brain, but most of the rest of the energy comes from fats. Also, cells that don't have mitochondria can only use glucose for energy, so for instance red blood cells, retinal cells, and a few types of cells in the kidneys. But the body doesn't need carb intake at all to fuel these cells. The body can easily and readily make glucose from other substances to take care of these cells. Glucose can be made from glycerol (fat), lactic acid, protein, and I believe even from other things. As for what amount of carbs are going to take your body to what degree of ketosis, it is somewhat individual. But from what I've heard from most people, 50 grams or below is sufficient. I think 100 grams or less per day, however, will get you into the effortless fat loss zone, as long as you replace the carbs you cut out with increased fat intake. Though the lower this number gets, the faster your body will rid itself of excess fat stores. The rate is always dependent on where you keep your insulin levels at over the long run.
I only went full carnivore last spring. I realize virtually no one will be interested in it, so I don't mention it. And in any case, I think high fat, low carb is the most important change one can make. If you want to learn more about carnivore eating, the best book by far is Paul Saladino's The Carnivore Code. So my staples are meat and eggs and animal fats. I buy virtually all of them at the local farmers markets. There are only two redeeming qualities about living in the arch hellhole of Portland. One is the beauty of the surrounding nature, the other is the astounding quality and accessibility of the local farmers markets. All my eggs are pastured, corn and soy free. All my meat is grass-fed, or free roaming in the case of pigs and chickens. I buy the fattiest cuts of meat, higher percentages for ground. I prefer the taste, it requires less fat to be added from another source, and they are generally the lowest in cost because most people are still paranoid about fat.
As for my grocery list at the store? I get bone broths, cream, sour cream, cream cheese, grass-fed butters, sometimes raw milk (it's legal in Washington State). I went full carnivore last spring, and I discovered that my body is perfectly fine with A2 milk products. If you haven't heard of the A2 issue, take a look at an article or read the book The Devil in the Milk. It's a big deal and I can easily tell the difference between the two in terms of whether I break out in rashes or not. So, I love dairy. I eat a lot of European cheeses, mostly goat and sheep because all of their milk is A2. I'm selective about cow milk cheeses depending on whether I can get it in A2. My cream is A2 and so is my yoghurt and milk.
It might sound expensive. And it certainly takes more time and money than loading up on ramen and spaghetti from the local dollar store. But a funny thing happens when you eat high quality, nutrient-dense, fat-rich food. The actual volume of food you eat goes way down. Not only because fat is so filling, but because nutritional food is also very satiating. And you just end up needing less food overall. And I only eat two meals a day, because that's all I'm ever hungry. So, yes, I spend more money than I used to on food, but it's not a whole lot more overall. What you gain from that extra money in terms of taste and feeling healthy is more than worth the expense. It's a 100% return on your investment. The biggest sacrifice is the preparation time. It's not so simple to conveniently provide real food. But once new habits are established, it doesn't seem so hard.
I hope this helps!
OK, I'm back. As promised. Sorry, that got way way way out of control. I didn't have the slightest clue my post would generate so many upvotes and comments. Even so, I wanted to answer your questions.
When I started this way of eating, I was not overweight at all. However, my body did find it suitable to remove about 20 pounds of subcutaneous fat that no one, least of all me, would have thought needed to go. It was during a summer I was away from my girlfriend. After I came home, she saw me in my underwear and asked if I had worked out all summer. I had not worked out at all, but the loss of subcutaneious fat definitely made my muscles more prominent.
I don't employ recipes. I'm single, an eternal bachelor. My specific meal ideas are pretty simple and austere. Some might say boring. But within the parameters of the two macronutrients fat and protein, the realm of possibilities is virtually endless for those who demand variety. A lot of books on high fat, low carb eating, including the Eenfeldt-authored one I mention in my original post, contain recipes and meal ideas. The field got pretty crowded, actually, over the last almost 10 years.
A typical day for me would be no breakfast, ever, because I'm never hungry before noon. And I always have plenty of energy in the morning to make it to lunch. Sometimes I don't feel hungry until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I might take a serving of collagen peptides on an empty stomach earlier than lunch because it's best to take those alone. Lunch is a fatty steak, like a pork steak or lamb shoulder steak, or else a higher percentage ground meat, lamb, beef, buffalo or pork. I melt butter over everything: meat, eggs, everything. I get the finest grass-fed butters, and they taste like heaven. If I'm eating pork, I'll be spooning up sour cream with every bite.
For dinner, I'll have a spread of various cheeses; some grass-fed cream (again, tastes like heaven); full-fat yoghurt or kefir; eggs in various preparations such as made into a soup with a bone broth base; and if that's not enough, some canned fish with cream cheese (mackerel, herring, anchovies, sardines or salmon).
I do intermittent fasting. Not systematically. But because I only feel like eating twice a day, if I space my meals 7 or 8 hours apart, then I'm doing an unconscious 16 or 17 hour fast every day. Most weeks I skip a day, or will eat only once a day, or at least skip protein. But it's not systematic, because it's common for me to just not feel much like eating one day a week. Like if I've got other things on my mind or to do, it's just really easy to skip eating and focus I what I want. It's effortless, because the way appetite works when you're fat-adapted is so much less demanding.
I don't life weights at all. I do walk, maybe two or three times a week, two or three hours at a time. It's how I clear my head, so I set aside big windows of time to do it. But other than that, nothing. Everyone I've ever advised on this diet got skinny without a day of hunger or physical exertion. It works, just like it works on a wild animal. For a human, this way of eating is a sort of recapturing of a part of our wildness.
I should point out that I'm not advocating a keto diet. Not really. Ketosis is measured along a continuum, so of course one can never truly speak of being in ketosis or out of ketosis. It's always what degree of ketosis. But strong ketosis is only possible by eliminating virtually all carbs. I don't eat this way, however. I eat about 30 grams of carbs per day. This keeps me in mild ketosis. Most of my body runs on fat, not ketones. Ketones are made by the liver out of fat, but you don't need many ketones to be fat-adapted. The only cells that need ketones are the ones that can't use fat for making energy and require glucose. This includes the brain because fats are not allowed to reach the brain. So when fat-adapted, the body makes at least enough ketones to run the brain, but the rest of the energy comes from fats. Also, cells that don't have mitochondria can only use glucose for energy, so for instance red blood cells, retinal cells, and a few types of cells in the kidneys. But the body doesn't need carb intake at all to fuel these cells. The body can easily and readily make glucose from other substances to take care of these cells. Glucose can be made from glycerol (fat), lactic acid, protein, and I believe even from other things. As for what amount of carbs are going to take your body to what degree of ketosis, it is somewhat individual. But from what I've heard from most people, 50 grams or below works well. I think 100 grams or less per day, however, will get you into the effortless fat loss zone, as long as your replace the carbs you cut out with increased fat intake. Though the lower this number gets, the faster your body will rid itself of excess fat stores.
My staples are meat and eggs and animal fats. I buy virtually all of them at the local farmers markets. There are only two redeeming qualities about living in the arch hellhole of Portland. One is the beauty of the surrounding nature, the other is the astounding quality and accessibility of the local farmers markets. All my eggs are pastured, corn and soy free. All my meat is grass-fed, or free roaming in the case of pigs and chickens. I buy the fattiest cuts of meat, higher percentages for ground. I prefer the taste, it requires less fat to be added from another source, and they are generally the lowest in cost because most people are still paranoid about fat.
As for my grocery list at the store? I get bone broths, cream, sour cream, cream cheese, grass-fed butters, sometimes raw milk (it's legal in Washington State). I went full carnivore last spring, and I discovered that my body is perfectly fine with A2 milk products. If you haven't heard of the A2 issue, take a look at an article or read the book The Devil in the Milk. It's a big deal and I can easily tell the difference between the two in terms of whether I break out in rashes or not. So, I love dairy. I eat a lot of European cheeses, mostly goat and sheep because all of their milk is A2. I'm selective about cow milk cheeses depending on whether I can get it in A2. My cream is A2 and so is my yoghurt and milk.
It might sound expensive. And it certainly takes more time and money than loading up on ramen and spaghetti from the local dollar store. But a funny thing happens when you eat high quality, nutrient-dense, fat-rich food. The actual volume of food you eat goes way down. Not only because fat is so filling, but because nutritional food is also very satiating. And you just end up needing less food overall. And I only eat two meals a day, because that's all I'm ever hungry. So, yes, I spend more money than I used to on food, but it's not a whole lot more overall. What you gain from that extra money in terms of taste and feeling healthy is more than worth the expense. It's a 100% return on your investment. The biggest sacrifice is the preparation time. It's not so simple to conveniently provide real food. But once new habits are established, it doesn't seem so hard.
I hope this helps!