Eat Your Meat
Check this out. Since Christmas, I have lost thirty pounds. I have been slowly gaining weight since recovering from COVID in January 2021. This Christmas, we got the kids a VR, and in the midst of trying it out and playing some intensive games, I got pretty winded and had some extreme palpitations. These palpitations forced me to take a close look at my health. While looking at family pictures, my eyes were opened to how large I had gotten, and I knew I needed to start making a change. Several years leading up to moving to Alabama, I had pretty healthy eating habits. While I maintained much of those habits, I had allowed myself to indulge in food that tasted great but may have been nutritionally empty. I would eat anytime I was hungry, late at night, and what the kids left on their plates because I didn’t want it to go to waste. My weight slowly climbed, and I’m sure I had breached 250 pounds. While such weight might not seem all that much, it was more than I liked carrying around. After playing with the kids for a short time, it would wear me out, and my Onewheel could no longer carry me on trails.
I had a CT after COVID, and my liver was noted as large and fatty. One of the docs that looked over my CT was pretty worried about the incidental finding since I am not a heavy drinker. He wanted me to drop some weight and exercise to help my lungs heal. My liver got in the way of my echo after COVID and another after my run of SVT (fast heart rate). I knew I had to do something about my health, but I just kept saying, “Tomorrow, I’ll start tomorrow; I just want one my snack.” It was this internal dialog that was keeping me from making better choices.
What have I done? Where am I? Am I okay? I am doing great. As I said, I have lost 30 pounds, probably more, since I didn’t start weighing myself until about two weeks into my lifestyle change. I still have a way to go, but I am satisfied with where I am now. I have gone Carnivore, yes, nothing but meat. A few “celebrities” mentioned this lifestyle change and that they had never felt better. I started doing some research and found many family physicians, cardiologists, and neurologists promoting the elimination of all plants from the diet. The thought of not consuming vegetation took me aback. Won’t I get sick if I only eat meat? Will I ever poop again? I have been told my whole life I needed a high-fiber diet because it’s good for me. These doctors, who have active practices, recommend just giving it a try, giving it at least 120 days. I was already unhealthy and not feeling great; what were another 120 days?
I had diarrhea, constipation, and sometimes both simultaneously in the first fourteen days. I ate some spinach and collards every other day to try to help with these issues because I feared that my body wasn’t smart enough to handle the changes I was implementing and requiring it. I did some more searching and made some adjustments to the ratio of fat and protein. I found a sweet spot in my gut. Next, I was worried that it didn’t seem like I was evacuating as much as I was putting in, and maybe I was backing myself up. No, I was absorbing the food I was eating, but also losing weight. I was consuming smaller volumes of food without reducing calories.
Eating high fat with quality protein, your brain will realize cessation sooner than a modern high-carb diet or the standard American diet. My volume of food consumption has plummeted, as has my need for the bathroom. I used to go three times a day, and now maybe it’s twice a week; I’m in and out, leaving just a little bit behind.
My mood and ability to navigate stress are like nothing I have experienced before. I generally have a feeling of well-being, and when things aren’t going the way I want, it takes little to adapt and work through the stressor. I wake up ten to fifteen minutes before my alarm clock and fall asleep faster. There were many times I would eat shortly before bed and then couldn’t fall asleep because my heart would be racing from the spike in blood sugar. This doesn’t happen anymore, not once since I have dropped all carbs. I don’t get tired after eating, and I am not looking for snacks ten minutes after dinner since the cessation achieved by eating meat and fat can keep you feeling full longer.
Having this new feeling about myself, I tell everyone. It’s like I’m getting vegan traits; you know how they have to say to all meat eaters they are killing the world and themselves. Except I am telling everyone how great I feel and that meat is good for them. Well, I started telling the docs I work with how much weight I have lost and how great I feel. They ordered, and I had a blood test that day to check my cholesterol. My total was pretty high, as was my LDL (the supposed bad cholesterol), and I was told I needed to be on a statin before I left work. This scared me, and instead of jumping on a pill, I did some more digging. My triglycerides were 60, my LDL was 220, and my HDL was like 58. As it turns out, this ratio does not put me at cardiovascular risk. They have also removed LDL as a risk factor for such incidents.
While I am thankful to have someone I work with care so much about my health, they are still insistent that I lower my LDL; his partner ordered a CAC, which is a coronary artery calcium score that shows calcified plaque in the heart and can generally predict risk for future infarction. I scored a zero; this means I have little to no risk of having a heart attack over the next ten years. It also gives me the confidence to try this lifestyle change for a good time without worrying about irreparable damage.
At the time when I underwent a CT scan, I had already been making positive changes in my life for five months. The scan revealed that my liver had reduced in size, which was a good sign. However, there was some scarring that had resulted from COVID, which was a bit concerning. Thankfully, my breathing has improved significantly since losing weight, and I am hopeful that by regularly achieving periods of autophagy, my body can repair some of the damage in my lungs.
I have also started mouth taping; at first, it was because I was curious after seeing ads and videos on YouTube. I bought a month’s supply of Hostage Tape and have been mouth-taping for almost two weeks. I don’t see much of a difference in my sleep. I have been sleeping great since losing so much weight, anyhow. But. I am not snoring now. The first night Sarah said I woke her up with some nasal snoring, and that was it. I skipped the tape this last weekend and didn’t snore those two nights. Maybe my mouth is getting used to being closed at night. No, the tape doesn’t pull out my facial hair. I’m unsure if I will keep up the mouth taping, but I will probably bring it while traveling, like on a plane. I always fall asleep while flying and wake myself up snoring. I feel bad for the people who sit next to me.
But Michael, this sounds crazy. What about going out to eat? I order just meat. It honestly doesn’t bother me. Fast food? I order just meat. Dinner with the family? I just eat the meat until I am full. Don’t you get tired of having the same thing every night? Nope. Isn’t eating all that meat expensive? I spend about $20 a day total on my food. I could get away with $8 most days. Yes, that is the total I spend a day on all my food intake. I fast about 22 hours daily, which is a fancy way of saying I only eat once daily. I fill up at dinner and am not really hungry until the next day at dinner time. I will occasionally get hungry around 8-10 am; this is when our circadian rhythm produces a little more cortisol, creating a feeling of hunger. After that initial feeling is ignored, the rest of the day is a breeze.
I turn forty-two this year and am starting to feel as good as I did in my twenties. I credit this to not eating food that doesn’t nourish my body and starting some, and by some, I mean a little, weight lifting. I’m going to increase the lifting of heavy things this summer. My mental clarity has improved, making school easier when studying and taking tests.
If you’re looking to truly enhance your life and well-being, I strongly recommend exploring the carnivore diet instead of keto. By consuming solely meat, you can experience a range of benefits that can truly transform your health. And if you’re struggling with snoring, don’t hesitate to try mouth-taping – it can make a huge difference for both you and your partner. Luckily, there are plenty of resources available for those interested in making these lifestyle changes, and the community is incredibly supportive of one another. Although I’m personally a bit introverted to engage with them, I’ve observed firsthand the positive impact they can have on one’s well-being.
I will update you with some pictures of my progress soon.
Michael Trump 
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