High Carb Moderate Protein Low Fat?

[Sscobalt]

I've been lurking, reading a bit and see this has been done by a few people. I'm leaning towards this WOE. Thinking 60% carbs 25-30% protein and 10-15% fat(saturated of course)

Been carnivore for close to 2-3 years off and on. Strictly carnivore for the past 9 months. Been having a LOT of energy draining after eating and worsening of workouts. I notice I get more fatigued the more fat I eat. At first it was great, I'm guessing my metabolism has shifted gears. Generally am feeling better on higher carb now, but still having issues with satiety.

Any advice on proceeding?

I'm trying to consume the following:

Lean beef/lamb
Beef liver/heart
Grapes
Black cherries
Dates
Bananas
Pineapple
White potatoes
Yams/carrots(occasionally)
OJ

I feel better but still am getting some energy drainage.

I'm considering adding into my diet:
Bone broth from ox tail/bones
Oysters(unsure how to prepare)

I've been trying dairy with a little success, but it has been full fat dairy in the form of goat milk.


I'm mainly getting brain fog after eating and not feeling as strong for a few hours. Maybe I need more starch than fruits? I feel kind of cold after eating fruits in excess

 

[Hans]

Brain fog is most likely due to the fiber from the fruit. Maybe you can try fruit juice and milk with honey and see if that removes the brain fog. Also, feeling cold from too much fruit is most likely due to low salt intake. Starches, apart from spiking insulin, is also a good carrier for salt. Just don't take salt on an empty stomach, that can cause damage to your intestine. Rather have lots of salt with your meat. Are you having meat with salt first thing in the day?

 

[Jessie]

Reasonably good macros. Personally I would drop the protein another 10% and add it to the carbs. Something like 70/20/10 for example. Really you should only be consuming enough protein to remain in a positive nitrogen balance. Any additional protein on top of that is not useful, and could be wasted through the gluconeogenesis pathway (which also increases stress hormones).

I agree with the salt thing. Fruits have a high water content and are also generally high in potassium while low in sodium. So make sure you are eating more salt on a fruit based diet. I would recommend dry fruits, which helps by eliminating the high water content.

Dry fruit will also raise insulin more then fresh fruit, and this can actually be good if you're trying to lower adrenaline and fat oxidation. I recommend getting a dehydrator and making your own dry fruits, as many store bought options are filled with bad ingredients.

Starch can also work if it dosen't bother your digestion. I've found that parboiling potatoes for about 5 minutes before roasting them makes them very digestible. I also brush them down with a little bit of coconut oil. Not a lot, only like a teaspoon, maybe less. Just enough to let salt stick to them.

 

[Sscobalt]

I appreciate the responses!

A couple of things to add:

The brain fog has been a thing since I was 17. Am 27 now. Went on a bodybuilding style cutting diet of brown rice and chicken.. lost a lot of weight but my thyroid crashed BAD. Been battling it ever since. Carnivore helped til my training regime increased. I lift heavy **** weights, only really feel good when I do.

Is there a transition period? I've tried fruitarian a few years ago and always felt 'off' even used salt to no benefit

 

[Sscobalt]

In regards to meat, yes lately I have been eating meat with liberal salt and white potatoes. Probably a half pound or less of lean lamb and about a pound of white potatoes

 

[Hans]

I appreciate the responses!

A couple of things to add:

The brain fog has been a thing since I was 17. Am 27 now. Went on a bodybuilding style cutting diet of brown rice and chicken.. lost a lot of weight but my thyroid crashed BAD. Been battling it ever since. Carnivore helped til my training regime increased. I lift heavy **** weights, only really feel good when I do.

Is there a transition period? I've tried fruitarian a few years ago and always felt 'off' even used salt to no benefit

Fruitarians is too low protein, so hopefully you'll feel better with higher protein.
Brain fog can be due to leaky gut and food sensitivities. Did your brain fog improve on the carnivore diet?

 

[Sscobalt]

Fruitarians is too low protein, so hopefully you'll feel better with higher protein.
Brain fog can be due to leaky gut and food sensitivities. Did your brain fog improve on the carnivore diet?

Very much so. I had a stool test after horrible digestion. Had an overgrowth of klebsiella pneumoniae. Horrible joint pains when eating starch. I think it reset my gut a lot. No joint pains when eating starch anymore. I do avoid sweet potatoes though

 

[Sscobalt]

I'm noticing more fatigue and brain fog when consuming fat. Still get it with carbs, it does improve after a hard workout for the rest of the day, but after it's back to a weird feeling

 

[Sscobalt]

I think I will use this thread for updates.

So I went to the gym and lifted heavy as possible on core lifts. I didnt feel as strong as I did on carnivore today. Felt like my blood sugar was struggling. This was in the beginning of the session. Still managed heavy lifts.

240lbs x 5 rep on the squat
225lbs x 5 deadlift - not my heaviest but was sore
135 x 6 clean
225 x 5 bench
Overhead press 110 x 5

Added some pendlay rows for reps at the end I think I did 105 x 10.

A pretty insane workout, very explosive especially on the clean. The further into my workout the less blood sugar issues I felt.


Got home,

drank 2 cups of oj. No symptoms felt good.
Ate a banana - no issue
Cooked a yam along with a lamb shoulder shank roughly about a half lb. Grassfed, pretty lean
While cooking I scarfed down a bunch of grapes. Too many imo, but still felt good

Ate the yam with honey. Still feeling good.
Ate the lamb with honey, lots of salt on both the yam and lamb. Felt a bit of fatigue

Then ate a bag of dark red cherries - frozen, about 2 cups. Felt better.

Here I am about a hour after eating...feeling pretty good. I'm guessing I need to dilute my blood of excess lipids and now I'll start feeling better. I do think also the exercise played a big role in how I feel.

Will update tomorrow. Please leave feedback!

 

[Tristan Loscha]

Stay on high protein. How much do you train, how many sets, how do you feel when you avoid training for a week.

 

[Sscobalt]

I train 3 times a week. Debating to go 4 times a week as my lifts are getting up in weight for me now.

I also work a physical job on the weekends sat sun mon. 12 hour shifts lifting 45-135 lbs all day for a warehouse. Its production based so its balls to the wall the whole time.

My protein has come out to around 180 grams at least.

Like I said before, I've done carnivore. I'm used to extra protein.

I did notice that if I get too much protein though my lymph nodes would hurt, especially if the meat was undercooked (blue rare)

 

[Sscobalt]

My training is usually this:

Squats 5x3
Bench 5x3
OHP 5x3
Deadlift 5x3

That's the basis, but I'll throw in variants. Somedays I'll clean and press, other days I'll do less weight higher reps.

I feel better when working out than when I'm not. My body utilizes my nutrients better for sure

 

[snacks]

I think I will use this thread for updates.

So I went to the gym and lifted heavy as possible on core lifts. I didnt feel as strong as I did on carnivore today. Felt like my blood sugar was struggling. This was in the beginning of the session. Still managed heavy lifts.

240lbs x 5 rep on the squat
225lbs x 5 deadlift - not my heaviest but was sore
135 x 6 clean
225 x 5 bench
Overhead press 110 x 5

Added some pendlay rows for reps at the end I think I did 105 x 10.

A pretty insane workout, very explosive especially on the clean. The further into my workout the less blood sugar issues I felt.


Got home,

drank 2 cups of oj. No symptoms felt good.
Ate a banana - no issue
Cooked a yam along with a lamb shoulder shank roughly about a half lb. Grassfed, pretty lean
While cooking I scarfed down a bunch of grapes. Too many imo, but still felt good

Ate the yam with honey. Still feeling good.
Ate the lamb with honey, lots of salt on both the yam and lamb. Felt a bit of fatigue

Then ate a bag of dark red cherries - frozen, about 2 cups. Felt better.

Here I am about a hour after eating...feeling pretty good. I'm guessing I need to dilute my blood of excess lipids and now I'll start feeling better. I do think also the exercise played a big role in how I feel.

Will update tomorrow. Please leave feedback!

Unless you just have weird lift ratios (I do; for example I OHP more than I bench) or just chose to do some exercises lighter then the extent to which your clean is diminished relative to your squat and the extent to which your OHP is diminished relative to your bench says that you should probably space out your compounds across days, assuming you did them in the order you listed

 

[Sscobalt]

Unless you just have weird lift ratios (I do; for example I OHP more than I bench) or just chose to do some exercises lighter then the extent to which your clean is diminished relative to your squat and the extent to which your OHP is diminished relative to your bench says that you should probably space out your compounds across days, assuming you did them in the order you listed

Sometimes I do, i will usually alternate bench and ohp for heavy weight. However I still do them both when I lift for practice on form and well..I just like to lift haha

 

[PTP]

I've been lurking, reading a bit and see this has been done by a few people. I'm leaning towards this WOE. Thinking 60% carbs 25-30% protein and 10-15% fat(saturated of course)

Been carnivore for close to 2-3 years off and on. Strictly carnivore for the past 9 months. Been having a LOT of energy draining after eating and worsening of workouts. I notice I get more fatigued the more fat I eat. At first it was great, I'm guessing my metabolism has shifted gears. Generally am feeling better on higher carb now, but still having issues with satiety. ..I'm mainly getting brain fog after eating and not feeling as strong for a few hours. Maybe I need more starch than fruits? I feel kind of cold after eating fruits in excess

Maybe going straight from 9 months of a pure carnivore diet to 60% carbs would be too rapid a change for your body and you could ease into it somehow? Maybe you need more salt if you're getting cold after excessive fruit (excessive liquid could be a problem).

B vitamins and tiny doses of methylene blue helped a fair bit with my brain fog, but that doesn't mean it would work the same for you. Starch might be more benificial before or after workouts because it gets absorbed more rapidly into the body, I like having a couple of bananas during a surfing session.

 

[Markus]

I find 60:20:20 is a good macronutrient ratio that I gravitate towards naturally.

 

[Goz]

Never drop protein below 50% of macros if your interested in building muscle! Try carnivore/low carb with a high carb reload every 5th day.

 

[Maljam]

Never drop protein below 50% of macros if your interested in building muscle! Try carnivore/low carb with a high carb reload every 5th day.

Did you even read the first post? The OP has been doing carnivore for a few years and health is getting worse.

50% calories from protein is excessive.

 

[Maljam]

I lift heavy **** weights, only really feel good when I do.

This always sounds like a red flag to me. You shouldn't only feel good when you are exercising. Exercising should be complementary to health. I would guess you are running on stress hormones and only feel good when they are elevated. I'm surprised nobody has said this yet. I don't think your health is going to improve while you are doing insane work outs.

I'd personally have a while out from lifting weights, increase the carbs (not massively straight away) lower the protein, increase the fat. 33/33/33 is a good starting point, then adjust from there based on how you feel. Allow yourself to heal before starting back exercising again.

If you have been carnivore for years, increasing carbs to anything considerable straight away is going to be very uncomfortable for you and may even set your health back. Slowly increase. You have damaged your health from eating an extreme diet, going to more extremes isn't going to restore it.

 

[Maljam]

I'm noticing more fatigue and brain fog when consuming fat. Still get it with carbs, it does improve after a hard workout for the rest of the day, but after it's back to a weird feeling

If you are running on stress hormones, then anything that reduces stress will make you feel fatigued at first. The hard workout improving this makes sense, as you are spiking stress hormones and making yourself feel "normal" again. Fat is very anti-stress and healing. It might take you a while to recover from eating carnivore, there are transition periods with all dietary changes.