#AllInForAugust Comes to a So-So Close
I didn’t meet my goals of staying 100% carnivore for August. I went so far off the rails that I even baked a chocolate cake and ate 3 pieces over the course of several days.
But I kept coming back to carnivore because with even the slightest deviation off plan, the achiness in my hips would flare, my moods went drastically haywire, and my gut was noticeably bloated.
The biggest success I have to report is that my god-awful toothache that had plagued me for weeks went away within the first week. There is some residual sensitivity from clenching my teeth while I sleep, but it’s nothing like the nonstop, almost debilitating pain that I had been numbing with high doses of Advil.
I also completed a 48-hour fast, which was surprisingly easy. I felt great and have decided to start a fasting protocol for my September focus.
I have always blamed my own willpower for my failure, but many nutrition experts agree that if you’re on a “diet” and can’t stay on the diet, then it’s not a very good diet. Carnivore is a way of eating, not a diet and I do believe in its merits. But I still have a dieting mindset and I did my darnedest to prove my story right that I fail in the second or third week. (The book Chasing Cupcakes and the author’s podcast Primal Potential is helping me address a lot of personal issues I have in this regard.)
At the end of the month of August, the scale read a loss of 4 pounds, which surprised me. I felt sure that I had gained. I was about 50% on-plan and 50% off.
September is starting with less structure, but I feel optimistic and ready for another bit of positive change. Carnivory, intermittent and extended fasting, lifting weights and a few other small self-care practices like journaling are all on my radar.
It’s a busy month with school starting and a hectic work schedule, but all of this will help me take back my life and harness this mid-life crisis before it gets out of control.
Mid-life crisis?? Yeah, as real and complex as it feels, that’s definitely a topic for another time.
What do you have going on in September?
Kellie Knight’s “Angle Full of Grace” 