IMO, the best way to get to where we want to be is to live right now the way we plan to live for the rest of our lives. There's something counterproductive about "only" anything.

I really can't imagine meat only for the rest of my life. Or the rest of the week, for that matter. Even lions and tigers must occasionally nibble on some blades of grass from time to time.

I'm on day 11 of a 30 day "challenge" to give zero carb a try and I love it. I'm down over 6 pounds so far, my appetite is under control, I haven't had to count or weigh anything. I like it. If you're not already in it, Zeroing in on Health is a great group on Facebook with many ZC veterans who've done this for years.

Although I do eat other things, I do have meals and sometimes days of just meat and eggs - rare that I have no eggs for a whole day.

One key to not feel like I am starving without over eating is eating much slower than I normally do. I am normally they guy who can pack away 1500 cals in 5 minutes. This is from growing up poor where I had to eat quickly to keep either of my brothers from getting "seconds" by taking from my plate.

When eating heavy protein, the full feeling doesn't come from the expansion of the stomach like it does with bulky carbs. Instead it comes from hormones released when it hits the small intestine. Also, protein takes longer to get through the stomach than carbs do. Therefore, eating slower and chewing the food more completely will help you not overeat. At least this works for me.

I tried meat only for a few weeks. It didn't work well for me because I have never loved meat. Some meats like burger patties with mayo, cheese and sauces are loved, but sitting down to a meal of just steak or just roast almost seemed like work.

For me, because I did not enjoy a meal of just meat, I rarely over ate. It did feel like I was eating less, and felt a bit less satisfying to me, but I did not ever go back for seconds... And this was including some eggs and cheese too.

The only all meat experiment I was always hungry on was when I ate all bacon for a couple of days. My calorie limit of bacon was always gone way too quickly. LOL

I do best with some veggies and nuts, but staying in mild ketosis.

kirkor wrote: »

The guidelines for meat only re: eating when hungry and until full are for a couple reasons: they help break people of the calorie counting/dieting mindset and help people adapt to the way of eating as a lifestyle, they help people get over chronic fears of saturated fat, and help people learn to be able to trust their internal signals of fullness and satiety.
At first, it may well seem like you can eat 4 lbs of meat per day based solely on your hunger cues, and if you extrapolate this, then certainly you would gain weight.

>even though I know the body is processing it differently and I'm not supposed to gain?

While it may be true that all calories aren't created equally, the law of thermodynamics still does exist.

The idea of a long term commitment to meat only --- including plenty of fat --- is that your hunger pangs will subside, and the point at which you feel you have had enough calories for the day will be at a lower point than before if you were eating carbs.

I think kirkor does an excellent job of summarizing what I would say. Us carnivores are going to say to eat as much as you want to eat, no more and no less. It will help you break the cycle of calorie counting, adapt your mentality to eating like this, and it also helps ease the transition. It is very hard to over-eat for extended periods of time when just sticking with meat. It is probably impossible to put on significant amounts of excess fat eating just meat.

In the long-term, your body will approach an ideal/healthy weight when you stick to a meat-only diet. This may not happen as quickly as you want and it may not be a direct path. You might gain before you lose. It also does not ensure that you'll be thin. Being "thin" isn't exactly what your body wants. It wants enough fat, but not too much. Getting a six-pack just from eating meat to satiety isn't impossible, but it's unlikely. For men, it generally takes around a 10-12% body fat (some rare people higher and some people lower) before visible abs. Your ideal fat (for men) is a little higher than that (around 14-17% for most healthily active men). Now, eating zero-carb will almost certainly get you to the ideal percentage (14-17%) without much, if any, effort. Getting down below that might take some further effort.

You are probably pretty healthy if you have a 16% body fat percentage, as a male. But, you're not going to see abs. Meat-only will get you health. It won't [necessarily] get you cut like a body-builder.

You can get very lean on zero-carb. There's a reason body-builders often eat a "steak and eggs" type diet. It isn't automatic and it does take work. I would probably even say that getting below 9% (for men) would also be impossible without including some form of calorie restriction.

All of the above is something to keep in mind. I would recommend eating ad libitum (as much as you desire) for at least the first month, possibly two. See how that is working for you and where your hunger levels level out. After that time period, you should adjust as necessary for your own personal goals. For most people, who are just aiming for health and not specific fitness objectives, there is often no need to adjust because things work out just fine on their own. If you have specific goals, you might have to take finer control.

** I use the body fat percentages for men because I am familiar with them. The numbers for women are a few percentage points higher, but the same logic generally applies.

No reason to stop working out. Are you already LCHF?

You could target your carbs around workouts a la TKD http://ketogains.com/2015/10/the-ketogains-tkd-targeted-ketogenic-diet-protocol/

@monikker didn't see my notification until now! 2.5 weeks in and still going strong. I find myself going without food for 6-8 hours between lunch and dinner without even thinking about it. Feeling good. No hunger. No counting or weighing still. Halfway through December and I've already crushed my weight goal for the month.

blambo61 wrote: »

Seems like a good way to burn out the kidneys, no?

All meat diets are not overly high in protein - I'm assuming that's what you are getting at. I doubt many carnivores are much above 30% protein unless they just choose lean meats. Meat heavy diets generally are not a problem for anyone with healthy kidneys.