Get Rid of Dandruff! Meat and Veggie Diet Round 2 is Coming to a Close!

Here I am on day 7, mid-morning and feeling very good. I didn't suffer from any of the negative effects that I went through in my initial 16 day experiment so far this go around. I believe this is the case because:

1. I didn't do a 20 hour fast the first couple days of this round

2. My body was a little more adapted which was probably a result of the 16 day Meat and Veggie Diet Experiment from last time

3. I wasn't AS restrictive. The RAW Green drink I was taking in technically had plant foods other than just vegetables in it, but it was all for the better (at 5 grams of total carbs per serving, a fraction of those coming from fruit juice and taking it once a day it really wasn't much)

4. I made sure to get enough carbs from my veggies in general. Not a tone but at the least, 70 grams a day and didn't exceed say 130 grams or so.

5. This is a big one... I ate peas. Peas are technically legumes, so I was in essence cheating a little bit. (But they're still green! Right?!?) This is something I didn't eat last time and peas are a good source of carbs. Some say they can even be considered a "safe starch" <---Paleo Diet world terminology. I'll say one thing about them. They tasted good and I'm glad I didn't hit any intense fatigue or stressed feelings!

NOTE - I was indulging quite a bit from mid September just up until a few days before November 14, 2014 when I began this meat and veggie diet round

I've seen nothing, but benefits from all meat and vegetables (and a few peas) this time which has been really encouraging! It's truly amazing how eating healthy can significantly impact your health in such positive ways!

Here are a few of the effects from eating all meat and vegetables this go around!

1. Dandruff Vanished Again! 

This is huge for me. I've struggled so much with dandruff and hair loss over the past 10 plus years and it wasn't until somewhat recently that I figured out how easily (with dedication) I could get rid of dandruff. Of course, it can and will come back the further and longer I stray from the principles that have worked to rid my scalp of flakes in the first place. Low carb is huge, although I've been able to eat higher amounts of carbs again without the same recurrence of dandruff that I've had in the past it will come back. Can eating all meat and veggie cure dandruff. Sort of, yes! just make sure you're digestion is working well enough to digest everything. If you're constipated your dandruff will typically flourish.

2. Higher Energy / Clearer Mind

I noticed these effects quite easily again. Although I had none of the fatigue waves that I did last time so it was all smooth sailing in the mental clarity department. 

3. Strength Increases Without Exercise

Hey friends!

Now, since I have not been in the gym, but for a few quick and intensity deprived cardio type workouts, in the past few months I was kind of at a baseline and was able to notice these subtle strength increases. If I had been in the gym 5 days a week for the last year, lifting heavy weights and getting plenty of high quality, nutrient dense food in my diet then my muscles would have been working more optimally and I don' think I would have noticed as much improvement (but then again, maybe I would!).

4. Clearer Skin

This goes along with the dandruff issue. My skin is smoother, less sensitive etc. I just feel more comfortable

5. Overall sense of well being

I just feel good! LOL!

From my second round of documenting eating all meat and vegetables I have to say that is certainly an empowering way of eating and the benefits are real. If you want more energy, clearer thinking, better skin, less dandruff, stronger hair, improved digestion etc. give it a try. Even if it's just a few days to start you'll see some long term benefits. Just remember to listen to your body! Oh and it's my belief that relying way more on cooked or juiced veggies is the way to go, ESPECIALLY if you have any digestive issues (most do even if they don't realize it).

Happy vegging! Have a great Thanksgiving!

-Rob

Ok I'm going for another round! Only this time I'm going to change things up a bit. I'm not going to be so restrictive. This will be a short run of the Meat and Vegetable Diet, but with raw veggies allowed. Not that I'll eat that many of them though. I'll also have to break it after 7 days as I have a vegetarian wedding to go to next Saturday and I believe avoiding some fruit or grains will be next to impossible (unless I just don't eat which is a possibility...)

I'll also allow things like tea (not that I necessarily plan on having any) and the raw green drink I love taking that serves as a living multivitamin. Like the saying goes, "Meat and veggies... it's what's for dinner... and breakfast... and lunch... and brunch"

I start tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Day 16 - I threw in the towel!

I have to admit that eating an apple for the first time in weeks was a pretty delicious and enjoyable experience. I certainly missed fruit over the course of this experiment. Although I'm back to eating it I'll try not to gorge myself on it. Something I'm REALLY excited about is that I'm going to start including something that has been of great benefit to my overall health in the past, but I excluded for the purposes of this diet because it's not technically in line with the rules of the experiment. It's basically a living food multivitamin powder called Garden of Life Perfect Food Raw Organic Green Super Food. I love it because it's by far the best tasting one of these super green food powders I've sampled (I personally like an earthy green taste that's not overwhelming). Plus, it's had great effects on my energy, skin, digestion and hair health in the past. I highly recommend it if you're looking into getting a super green food product. And Amazon has the best price I've seen it for by far (other than a crazy clearance sale I lucked out on stumbling upon at Whole Foods one time). It costs almost double in every store I've ever seen it.

So I figure the best way to wrap up this experiment is to list the changes in my body and mind that came and went. Some were negative and some were positive, but I have to say that for the most part the negatives seemed to go away with time and especially so long as I got enough carbohydrates from veggie and drank enough water. If I try another extended meat and veggie only diet I'll be sure to plan my meals out more strategically and definitely avoid fasting. Well, at least in the beginning days.

1. Super Sense of Smell 

I feel like a bloodhound... My sense of smell increased immensely and I can detect some scents I never even knew existed. My take on this is that it's probably closely related to fact that eating this way has done a lot to clear up my sinuses. Side Note: This makes for better tasting (or sometimes worse) food. "Bland" is now "delectable".

2. No More Dandruff

My dandruff became nonexistent. I used to have horrible dandruff and was losing my hair at a very fast rate. Although I learned to control the dandruff pretty well with a variety of methods, nothing has ever eliminated it better that a perfect diet. All meat and veggies went beyond that! 

4. Whiter Teeth

My teeth became significantly whiter and stronger feeling that before. My oral health just felt over much improved. I believe if I were to add in a topical regimen for regeneration of tooth enamel and cavities that I would see some great success.

5. Clearer Skin

My skin has smoothed out over my entire body. That means less acne, less keratosis pilaris (a.k.a. chicken skin), overall better complexion and generally stronger feeling, less sensitive skin. I attribute this to reduction in inflammation and diminishment of allergic reactions to foods and environmental triggers. I even think my skin has ended up looking a little younger as well, but that's difficult to be objective about. However, I strongly believe that over time a good healthy, meat and veggie based diet would allow your skin to age at a much slower rate. *I should note that I went through a few inflammation flares in my skin as I transitioned into the diet, but everything stabilized and I saw much improvement in my skin compared to before the diet.

6. Joint pain and Stiffness Lessened

This has been a really cool effect. My joints feel like they're moving more smoothly and any dull pain that I tend to have in my joints has more or less gone away. This tends to happen when I eat well in general and the pain comes back if I eat sugar or highly processed foods so it was a surprise so to speak, but it's been warmly welcomed!

7. Clearer Mind & Feeling of Grounding

I just feel GOOD. I'm thinking and speaking more clearly, processing information more quickly, problem solving more efficiently. The list goes on. With the exception of feeling like my body is stressed out if I don't get enough carbs I'm feeling very solid in my cognition and emotional health.

Now onto some of the negatives I'm noticing and why I'm happy to going back to eating some fruits!


1. Increased Hair Fall

Now, although my dandruff disappeared my hair seemed to be shedding a little more than normal (normal being when I'm eating well and avoiding sugar, processed foods and grains and starchy veggies for the most part). This could have been part of cleansing process and thus a start kick to the regrowth phase in the hair follicles which would force the old unhealthier hairs out AND/OR it could have been a result of a slight raised cortisol level and could have a been a bad thing. I feel like it was more like the first scenario. I hope to have some hair benefits over the next few months due to this diet, but we'll see what happens!

2. Felt Very Stressed At Times

If I underestimated how many veggies to eat with my meals I would pay the price with a stressed body. It manifested in the form of restless legs, tense muscles and irritability. All it really took was good management of my macro nutrients (proteins, carbs, fats) to avoid running into this issue. I'm feeling much better now!

3. Needed Much More Water

I suppose this goes along with the decreased carb intake. Taking in a balanced amount of carbs will help your body to retain water and less is needed. I had no issue drinking a lot of water because I have a good filtration system at my apartment which even filters out fluoride (thyroid disruptive) which most filters do not.

4. Low Periods of Energy

I did hit some fatigued times throughout the experiment. Once again, I attribute this to a low carb intake. In particular, beginning the diet with some intermittent fasting probably wasn't a great idea and made it more stressful going through as I depleted glycogen stores from my muscles and liver very quickly.

So there ya have it! It's a wrap! Thanks so much for reading! I truly hope this helps you in some way with your diet and lifestyle. It can be a confusing time when trying to adopt an ideal diet for your health as there is a lot of conflicting info out there on what the perfect human diet actually is. My intent was to document how an "extreme" diet as the all meat and vegetable diet could affect a regular person in day to day life.


If you have any questions, comments, links to other helpful sites or anything else of value to add please comment below!!!

Be well!

-Rob

And on the 12th day of meat and vegetables my true love gave to me... a good amount of energy and mental clarity.

I think I've turned the corner for the most part and am feeling really good overall. I'm getting enough carbs to sustain my energy, but not spike blood sugar and insulin so my energy has been very sustained. I'm also sleeping well, although I've been getting to sleep much later throughout this experiment than I'd wanted to.

So at this point I have no negative effects to report. However, I'm getting really excited about being able to eat fruit again soon!

Today I ate how I've been eating and made a great stir fry with chicken, tomatoes and jalapenos.

I took the same supplements as yesterday both for general support (these are all very, very helpful for general health and efficient detoxification) as well as support for my hearing which I have had issues with as mentioned in previous posts (The Vitamin A, C and E combo has strong evidence in hearing protection as does magnesium). My supp's consisted of:

1. Wide spectrum vitamin E sofgel (Tocosorb by Jarrows) - This is far superior to your regular Vitamin E supplement. the term "Vitamin E" refers to 8 naturally occurring compounds that function as antioxidants. Typically, Vitamin E products that you'll find use a synthetic, isolated form of Vitamin E called alpha-tocopherol which can do more harm than good by creating imbalances. However, Tocosorb and others like it derive a wider of the Vitamin E family, called tocotrienols and tocopherols, naturally from palm oil. So you get vitamin E much more balanced and closer to how it's found in nature, providing you with all of the cholesterol reducing, anti-aging/healthy-aging, brain function supporting benefits without any of the potential down side. Additionally, Tocosorb contains no soybean oil (read about the dangers of soy) like most other mixed tocopherol/tocotrienol brands which . 

P.S. - There are tons of real life benefits associated with mixed tocopherol supplements including the potential to decrease hair loss!  

If you wanted an even broader spectrum (but more expensive) option you could always go with Mercola's brand Vitamin E which has all 8 Vitamin E compounds. And don't worry, there's no soybean oil in this one either.

2. 200 mg Magnesium Malate (AOR brand) - Magnesium is essential for life and unfortunately, today's human beings are generally speaking, greatly deficient in the mineral. It's incredibly important for your body to operate and has a great number of benefits in terms of supplementation that include better heart health, benefits to hair growth, reduction in anxiety and depression, relief of constipation and so on...

AOR brand is a bit expensive, but I believe in the quality. That being said, the best deal I've found on magnesium malate has to be Source Naturals brand.

3. 25,000 IU Vitamin A (Thorne Research brand) - Preformed Vitamin A is essential for many processes in the body (it should be in balance with your vitamin D levels for max effect), but right now I'm taking it mostly to support my hearing as I travel to band practice.

4. 1,000 mg Lypo-spheric Vitamin C (LivON Laboratories brand) - Lypos-spheric vitamin C is awesome stuff which can be very helpful when your body is detoxifying and needs some support. Vitamin C is an antioxidant which has been touted for its benefits to overall health for years. The added benefit of Lypo-spheric C over regular vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is that it is much more easily absorbed, you can take more of it and it's somewhat comparable in effect to intravenous vitamin C therapy. I take this whenever I find myself coming down with a cold or feeling like my immune system needs some support and it always helps. I'm taking it now because my body has seemed to be detoxifying intensely throughout the diet and I happened to have some on hand. So I figured I'd go for it!

Anyway, that's all for today. If anyone ends up taking any of these supplements or has in the past let me know what you think of them! I'll start checking in every other day now through the end of the experiment unless I have something significant to report.

Talk to you soon!

-Rob

11 Days in! Passed half way!

When I first started this meat and vegetable diet experiment I was hoping that the second half of the experience would be when the really interesting things happened. Well, I'm one day into the second half and so far I having nothing all that impressive to report.

All the early effects of my body adapting to the diet (itchy nose, changes in hearing etc) have seemed to stabilize, but I haven't noticed anything really awesome yet. Maybe in a few days.

I had no issues of fatigue today which is probably just because I'm getting enough carbs now. I had chicken soup for breakfast and the leftover spaghetti squash that I cooked last night for lunch. Right there I got a decent amount of carbs. Somewhere in the range of 100 grams of carbs seems to be optimal for my energy needs depending on activity level, sleep patterns and stress.

For lunch I just had the leftover spaghetti squash and meatballs from last night (good amount of carbs there).

For diner I winged it and cooked up a stir fry (I know, I love stir fry) grass fed beef and some sort of eggplant, scallions and green peppers along with some mashed cauliflower/carrots (This was amazing) made with coconut oil, sea salt and pepper. I just so happen to have been given a few bags FULL of vegetables from a local CSA (perfect timing) that my girlfriend's sister is a member of so I've been experimenting with a bunch of veggies I don't always buy. I highly suggest getting involved in a CSA if you can. It's easy, cheap and fun!

I also kept up on the same supplement list as yesterday.

All in all I felt great today!

Til tomorrow!

-Rob

Day 10 is behind us!

Today was another tough one just because I keep underestimating how many carbs I need and how many I take in. I was able to up my carbs with dinner tonight, but had some struggles throughout the day.

Breakfast: I had some awesome chicken soup that my girlfriend made yesterday

Lunch: Beef sauteed with kale and chives (hardle any carbs)

The layover between lunch and dinner became the hard part. I was still underslept after a late night last night and had some stressful things going on at work. The result of these stresses increased carb cravings and I almost cracked! Luckily, the commitment I've made kept me invested and kept me from giving in... I did have another Applegate Organic Hot Dog though...

Dinner: Spaghetti squash with both grass fed beef and buffalo meatballs
            Steamed green and yellow zucchini

The spaghetti squash really helped me as it's a winter squash variety with a decent amount of carbs, yet it's not too starchy and isn't as likely to cause any issues with insulin spikes that a baked potato could for some people.

I also took a few more supplements today:

2 Magnesium Malate capsules
1 Tocosorb softgel
1 B vitamin complex capsule (Thorne Research - important to take this brand because it's one of the few that has the proper types of B12 and folate. Do not take "folic acid" which is the form most supplements contain)
4 Krill Oil softgels (Better than fish oil for anti-inflammatory Omega 3 fatty acids due to the natural presence of astaxanthin, a super powerful antioxidant that keeps the highly unstable Omega 3's from oxidizing)

I'll continue to take some supplements throughout the rest of the diet and will post up what I take. If anyone has any questions about why I'm taking what, then please comment below!

-Rob

Day 9

I got around 7 hours of sleep last night and felt better than yesterday, but still fatigued. A really poor night's sleep like I got on Monday night can mess me up for a couple days. The stress response from being under rested can and will make a person crave carbs. I was just craving food.

I had packed a small chicken and broccoli breakfast that satisfied me in the morning, but by the late afternoon I needed more! 

Being stuck at work means I can't go out and find food. To make things worse I work in an area where finding plain old steamed vegetables and meat without a bunch of odd additives and cooked in oils I don't want to be consuming right now (GMO canola, soy and "vegetable" oils) is an unachievable task. 

One of the downsides to this diet is that unless you're cooking it yourself there's a strong chance it's not in line with the diet. Once I surpass the 21 days I'll ease up a little bit. As a lifestyle and not a diet having to consume a small amount of ingredients that aren't ideal every now and then is a better option that completely secluding yourself from the society you live in and starving yourself when that's not your intent (ie. when you're not intentionally fasting).

So I ate breakfast at about 6:15 pm (I rarely eat this early) and waited until 7:00 pm to eat dinner. During that time I became pretty tired and hungry. If I would have had another meal packed I think I would have been fine. So I learned my lesson... again. Make MORE food in advance!

For dinner I had some amazing chicken soup that my girlfriend cooked up using 1 whole pastured chicken, garlic, onions, zucchini, carrots, celery and parsnips along with the regular sea salt and pepper. It was amazing! And I'll probably have some for breakfast in the morning as well.

Things I noticed today...

1. Scalp/hair feel better

My scalp is starting to feel different. It just feels calmer. I'm becoming way less inclined to dandruff outbreaks, my hair feels stronger and my scalp feels kind of relaxed... like it's healing. I've always had great results with the health of my scalp and hair with certain dietary adherence so this is not surprise, but it's always welcomed. 

Note: If you're interested I'll be documenting my attempt at hair regrowth over the next few months on another blog of mine at http://ineedmorehair.blogspot.com/

2. Skin tone seems different

My skin tone seems a little bit darker. Who knows... maybe I'm jaundiced lol. Possible, but I don't feel that way and it's not a yellowish tint, but more of an oxygenated look. Call me crazy. I suppose it's tough to be objective about something like this (I mean it's not like having tan lines to use for comparison) , but I am noticing a difference my skin tone.

3. Fatigue revisited

As I stated earlier... I'm tired! I have to start making sure I get enough carbs. Going very low carb was certainly not the intent of this experiment, but it has been a result to some degree. I don't want to stuff my face with food just to avoid low carb'ing because I may just overstuff myself and miss out on some of the benefits of this diet. However, I have to make sure I'm getting more carbs. My solution may be winter squash. Winter squash varieties are heavier on the carbs without the insulin spike really starchy vegetables like potatoes bring (and still in line with SCD rules). Oh and did I mention winter squash is absolutely delicious? Acorn squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash... nom nom? Yes... nom nom.

Oh! And one more update! I excluded almost all vitamins, supplements and pills of any kind in the beginning of the diet (I took a daily probiotic and betaine HCL one time) in order to avoid skewing the blood results (I had my blood drawn Monday, day 7) and to see what the effects would be like from strictly diet. However, I'm bringing back in a few at this point.

Tonight I took:

1 wide spectrum vitamin E sofgel (Tocosorb by Jarrows)

200 mg Magnesium Malate (AOR bran)

25,000 IU Vitamin A (Thorne Research brand)

1,000 mg Lypo-spheric Vitamin C (LivON Laboratories brand)

The reason for taking this particular combination is because I was going to be playing music... LOUD music and there have been studies showing that the combination of vitamin E, C and A (in the form of beta carotene in the study which is NOT what I took) can protect against noise related hearing damage.  Magnesium on its own has also been showing to be hearing protective.

Because of my issue with hearing loss, tinnitus and hyperacusis over the past year and a few months I have to take all precautions I can to protect my ears and help improve the condition.

Another reason for taking magnesium is that I'm inclined to having hard stools. Along with the unmeasurable amount of biological processes it supports and conditions it can improve, magnesium will help to improve constipation. Some forms, more than others, will have a laxative effect. So if you're ever having an issue with constipation and increased water intake, or some good quality fat intake both aren't working try taking a small amount of epsom salts (magnesium sulfate - One of the 3 main ingredients in the method I used to rid me of my ridiculously stubborn plantar wart) in water. It should help.

I will be taking other supplements as I move forward as well to support general health and possibly and specific issues I've had ongoing. The diet should help everything to work better if it doesn't heal things on its own. For instance, the health of my hair is more reliant on my diet than anything else I've ever done to improve it. If I'm not eating right almost nothing will have a noticeably positive effect on my scalp or hair. Even minoxidil (Rogaine) barely worked until I got my diet and health moving in the right direction.

I've heard it stated a certain way before that has resonated with me ever since...

Pouring a gallon of chlorine (supplements) in a pool won't do much to make the water clear until you pull out the tree branches, leaves and plastic garbage bags. 

...Not the most elegant analogy, but I think you get the point... : )

Til tomorrow!

-Rob

Day 8 - The start of week 2

Now that I'm over a week in, cravings seem to have diminished more. I've still got quite the appetite, but when I think of satisfying food I'm thinking of tasty meat and veggie dishes and not so much candy bars or even fruit for that matter. Sure I still think about grabbing an apple when I'm hungry because it's quick and easy, but I can do without it, no problem.

Today is also the day I stop eating hot dogs! Keep in mind when I say "hot dog" I mean Applegate's The Great Organic Hot  Dog, made with grass fed beef and no added nitrates (there are still going to be naturally occurring nitrates), and not your typical hot dog you'd get at a baseball game. And of course I eat them without the bun. Nonetheless, there are still some downsides to higher quality ingredient based processed meats and I'm pretty sure my body will do better without them right now. I may still reach for one in a pinch, but I hope to avoid hot dogs way more than I did this past weekend!

Today's highlights... I was tired. Not from the diet though! I was tired because I didn't get to sleep until about 1:00 am and was up at 4:15 am. I've always been one who needs more sleep and nights like this really drain me. Since I've improved my health I've needed less sleep to function well, but there's nothing like getting a good eight hours. Especially when I get sleep like that consistently.

I really didn't notice any paramount changes in my body or mind one way or the other today. Perhaps I've plateaued a bit. As I mentioned my skin has been clearer with exception of my scalp. the skin improvements have continued and my scalp has cleared up some as well. Those are really the only things I noticed.

Here's what I ate today...

Breakfast: -Leftover veggie stir fry from last night
                 -Mashed cabbage with olive oil, sea salt, pepper and diced chives

No lunch (busy day)

Dinner: -Spicy pan fried (without oil) chicken with sea salt, pepper, white pepper, turmeric, ginger, cayenne                 pepper and some added coconut oil after the fact
            -Steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower with coconut oil, sea salt and pepper

So that's my day 8! Time to catch up on some much needed sleep! See you tomorrow!

-Rob

Day 7 - One Week Complete!

I made it a week! There were a couple rough days there, but it really wasn't that bad. It seems to me that my body was just adjusting to the diet and the lack of sugar.

Last night I was feeling much better and although I was craving foods that I can't eat right now I attribute that to the fact that my girlfriend and I went to see "Chef". It's the latest Jon Favreau flick all about a top notch chef in L.A. decides to start a food truck when he's down and out after a terrible critic review. The film highlights some of the most mouth watering food I've ever seen and will surely inspire one to refine their culinary skills. Although it was a very well done, enjoyable, feel good film I highly suggest NOT watching while on an all Meat and Vegetable Diet! I can't even begin to describe how badly I wanted a Cubano Sandwich last night.

Today, the cravings subsided and the fatigue has passed. I'm starting to really feel myself again, but optimized. The energy and focus are increasing again (although the focus never really diminished even while I was very fatigued), I feel strong even though I haven't lifted weights in weeks, and I have an overall sense of well being that's come on.

As I had mentioned in an earlier post I had a little skin flare up on my scalp. It seems better today, but I will keep an eye on it. The rest of my skin is fine and actually a little bit clearer than normal.

I took a trip to doctor today and had some blood drawn. I'm curious to see the results to make sure I'm doing alright. I should get them by the end of the week and I'll be sure to post them up here for anyone who's curious how a week of eating all meat and veggies could affect blood results. Unfortunately, I did not take my blood at the very beginning of the diet to compare against, but I do have blood work from 1 year ago which will do some good. Not exactly a double blind study, but insightful nonetheless. Keep in mind all our bodies are a little different.

I also noticed today that I seem to have better hand eye coordination and agility and I feel generally stronger. Over the past week my sexual desire has also increased dramatically, leading me to believe that my testosterone levels are rising. I don't believe I'm getting them tested though. I usually do, but forgot to ask this time. In the past I was able to increase my T levels very significantly through the use of diet almost exclusively.


Breakfast: Chicken stir fry with green and yellow zucchini, bok choy, red bell peppers, sea salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, parsley and some gelatin for its healing and collagen rebuilding effects

Breakfast!

Lunch: Leftover crock pot chicken breast from yesterday
                            Steamed baby carrots with coconut oil and sea salt

In between lunch and dinner snack: Applegate Great Organic Hot Dogs (No more hotdogs for me this week...)

Dinner: Vegetable stir fry with zucchini, eggplant, kale, sea salt, pepper, red pepper, parsley (No meat???  Nope, not tonight.)

Dinner

     
One last thing I want to point out is that for the most part I'm using organic vegetables only. It's very difficult to avoid eating a conventional (or possibly not certified organic) veggie here and there, but I try to as much as I can. Some of the biggest pros of this diet is bringing down the amount of toxins you put into your body, improving digestions and thus absorption of nutrients, and increasing the amount of nutrients you put into your body. The overall result is detoxification (I'm very reluctant to call this a detox diet because of the recent emergence of fad detox diets aimed primarily at losing weight). So why wouldn't you want to avoid as many toxins in your food as you can?

So like I said if organic is an option I will opt for it. Although I've had only organic for the most part, I'm sure I'll end up eating a little conventional produce here and there. If you're going to try this diet I suggest trying to stick to organic too.

Anyway, that's a wrap! 1 whole week is in the books! I can't wait to see what 14 days brings!

Check back and comment below!

-Rob

Day 6

Today I was still fatigued, but not nearly as much as yesterday. I'm improving in that area. However, today I got hit with some pretty intense cravings for sugars. Not necessarily table sugar, but even a piece of fruit. Normally this would be a healthy option and I would simply grab a piece of fruit and bite into it guilt free. But I'm on a mission that I intend to finish! Meat and veggies all day!

In addition to the sugar cravings and fatigue that's still lingering around I noticed a big old pimple right on top of my scalp. In the past I've had issues with scalp pimples, but normally only when I eat a lot of sugar and dairy. Other times I've had reactions on my scalp like this have been during high dose MSM experiments and other methods of detoxifying. So I'm hoping this is a good sign.

Today's meals:

Breakfast: The leftovers from last nights gourmet meat and vegetable diet

Lunch: Applegate Great Organic American Hotdogs (I can't seem to stop eating these things. Maybe I should...)
           Steamed zucchini, green beans, onions, carrots, yellow summer squash with coconut oil and sea salt

Dinner: Crock pot chicken breast on the bone with basil, rosemary and sea salt
              Steamed yellow zucchini and steamed broccoli crowns

Post Dinner (I'm still hungry!): Another hot dog, a raw green juice and a steamed artichoke

Although I had a moment or two where I wanted to give in today, I fought past those craving and pushed ahead.. I'm hoping the craving pass soon and I can really start seeing some benefits moving forward. I'm sure I'll find out soon if meat and vegetables are as healthy as the only foods in my diet as opposed to as the foundation of my diet, with fruits, nuts and seeds eaten here and there as well.

That's all for tonight! Until tomorrow!

-Rob

5 Days in!

One thing I noticed when I woke up this morning is that my skin is clearer and feeling smoother. However I was very tired and fatigued today. I'm thinking that it may have something to do with getting over the hump of cutting out almost all sugar after being somewhat reliant on the sugar found in fruit as well as occasional use of raw honey and maple syrup as part of my normal diet.

Intermittent fasting the first two days of my meat and veggie diet and eating such low carb those days may very well have played a large roll as well.

I was also ravenously hungry today. Every time I finished eating I thought I would be satisfied, but an hour later, with fatigue rearing its ugly head again, I was craving another meal. It wasn't until I cooked a big gourmet meat and vegetable diet meal with my girlfriend tonight that I finally felt some satisfaction. I think I have to make sure I'm getting enough carbs and calories in general as I continue on through the diet.

Hopefully I restored some glycogen stores and the fatigue will be gone tomorrow!

Here's a quick rundown of what I ate today:


Breakfast - Freshly juiced cucumber juice
                    Applegate's Great Organic American Hotdogs (They're so good and so quick) an hour later

Lunch - Pan fried grass fed beef burgers with Great Lakes gelatin, sea salt and coconut oil
              Steamed zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, onions and carrots with coconut oil and sea salt

Dinner - Organic chicken breast cooked with gelatin, sea salt, pepper and parsley
               Steamed baby carrots with coconut, sea salt and pepper
               Mashed cauliflower with coconut oil, sea salt, pepper and cayenne pepper and parsley
               Sauteed bok choy, zucchini, onions and garlic topped with olive oil after cooking

Here's what this gourmet (at least gourmet to me) dinner looked like...

Meat and Vegetable Diet Gourmet Dinner

And that's it for day 5! I really upped the calories with dinner and expect to be feeling more energized in the morning. We'll see...

-Rob

Note: If you have any questions or input make sure to comment below! 
     

Day 4

I should mention that last night I had slight bit of nausea again, but it was less than Day 2 and more of a gas thing

Today was my day to sleep in. I didn't get to sleep until about 1:00 am and slept until around 8:45 am. I took a probiotic first thing when I got up. I took a different kind which I find to be one of the only probiotics I've ever taken that's had a noticeable effect. It's called Dr Ohirra's.

For breakfast I started with a green juice, consisting of kale, celery, ginger and dandelion. Not necessarily the most appetizing drink, but it will give you a nice feeling of wellness right after drinking it.

For lunch I had some steamed cauliflower, carrots and zucchini with coconut oil and some grass fed beef pan fried burgers with sea salt, pepper, parsley, cinnamon (amazing secret ingredient) and Great Lakes Gelatin for some awesome gut healing, stress reducing, collagen building goodness.

Grass Fed Cinnamon Burgers!

I had an early dinner which was quite similar to lunch. Grass fed beef with similar spices, but a little heavier on the gelatin and cinnamon and steamed carrots, zucchini, yellow squash and onions. I usually mix everything together in a bowl with coconut oil and some extra sea salt and it tastes awesome. you can think of it as a hot salad... sort of.

I also had a decently active evening and night and was very hungry when I got it. All I had to eat was a package of Applegate's Great Organic American Uncured Hot Dogs so I ate a couple of those. It was a late night meal and I don't particularly enjoy partaking in late night meals, but hey... a guy's gotta eat. The ingredients are actually very simple and in line with the all Meat and Vegetable Diet. And to top it off they're made with grass fed beef.

Applegate Great Organic American Uncured Hot Dog ingredients:

Organic Grass-Fed Beef, Water. Contains Less Than 2% Of The Following: Sea Salt, Organic Spices, Organic Dehydrated Garlic, Organic Dehydrated Onion, Organic Paprika, Celery Powder.


Some of the changes in my body I noticed today...

1. Small amount of scalp inflammation

This, like all the other negative effects I've noticed so far, was very minimal. It comes in the form of a few very small blemishes and is usually a sign of detoxifying for me. At the start of a new strict diet it usually comes on and then fades away. My scalp will become less prone to dandruff and itchiness and my hair will become stronger. I expect this to be the case this time as well.

2. Short lived fatigue

I had a period of about an hour in the afternoon when I was feeling extremely tired. Other than that I had great energy all day. I don't know why it came on, but the fatigue could have been due to 2 late nights in a row, not drinking enough water, not getting enough carbs in the past few days or possibly a blood sugar low from the green drink in the morning. Regardless, it passed quickly.

3. Almost no ringing in my ears

Even after a night filled with loud music exposure the ringing in my ears has gone down even more. I had a brief period today where my hyperacusis seemed to worsen, but that's how it goes with this issue. In fact it coincided with my fatigue. Anytime I get stressed it seems to get worse so that makes sense to me.

4. Teeth are feeling stronger

They seem to be looking whiter and are certainly feeling stronger, but that's all subjective.

5. Very thirsty

Due to my low carbing over the prior days I may have dehydrated myself a little bit. This is a common symptom of ketosis or very low carb diets. No worries. I just drank some more water and felt better.

As briefly mentioned earlier, this could also explain the fatigue issue I was having this afternoon.


Anyway, I'm off to bed. I'll check in with you tomorrow!

-Rob

Here's the wrap up on Day 3...

I feel highly energetic and even more focused than the last two days!

Yesterday I probably only took in around 15 grams of carbs tops after a 22 hours fast. So I've been on a really, really low carb diet. I don't like doing that, even though it does have some benefits.However, I've been incredibly busy and haven't planned well for my meals.

Today I didn't start eating until 11:30 am which is somewhat typical for me. I had some bone broth (tremendous benefit from this) more crock pot chicken breast on the bone which was leftover from last night and some steamed zucchini and yellow squash with coconut oil and Celtic Sea Salt (I should have mentioned this before, but Celtic Sea Salt is by far my favorite tasting sea salt and it's unrefined, just as sea salt should be, meaning you get a bunch of other minerals with the sodium chloride you take in).

Tell me this isn't the happiest zucchini you've ever seen...

Smiling Zucchini

That was all I had until dinner at 5:45 pm. I started with another fresh pressed cucumber and celery juice and then had some steamed carrots and the rest of the leftover chicken from last night. I can't wait to change it up tomorrow and cook something a little more interesting.


So now for an update on how my body is reacting...

1. My stank is gone

If you read yesterday's post then you probably took note of the fact that I STUNK yesterday (maybe it wasn't that bad, but I smelled to some degree for sure). Honestly, if I would have used some good deodorant I probably would have been fine, but I haven't used regular deodorant in a while and I don't really need it a lot of the time so long as I'm eating healthy. Regardless, the body odor part of the transition seems to have passed for me. That may change if I eat a head of garlic, but for now I'm good.

2. My itchy nose is gone

I didn't notice one urge to scratch my nose all day. I think I made it past that little die off effect. I'll report if it comes back.

3. No nausea or diarrhea at all

I don't think I really need to expand too much on this, but I had a very short run in with the two yesterday. I seem to be passed these as well.

4. Zero congestion

I had a little yesterday morning. Today I was completely clear. What's significant about this is I spent late last night vacuuming an old dusty, cat hair ridden couch and the rest of an enclose room with no windows and I really didn't react at all. The last time I did this in the same room (about a month and a half ago), I had a horrible asthma attack.

5. My TMJ jaw felt better

Yesterday I had an issue with a sensitive side of my jaw due to long lived TMJ. It was gone today and I feel much better. I hope it gets even better as inflammation in my body comes down further into this diet.

6. Ringing in the ears and hyperacusis have improved

This is big for me. It was somewhat expected, but I didn't think I'd notice such an improvement so fast. My ringing is very, very low and only noticeable if I plug my ears with my fingers and listen for it for a second or two. My hyperacusis (sensitivity to sound) is doing better too, but still there for sure. Now, I can easily take a step backward again just by eating the wrong thing once or exposing myself to too much sound so I'm still going to be very cautious, but this is really encouraging.


And here are some new negative changes...

1. Small amount of anxiety (late night didn't help)

This is a new one. I woke up feeling really tired and somewhat anxious. I was up late last night (Wednesdays are always late for me) and woke up early, only getting around 5 1/2 hours of sleep. I can usually do ok with that amount of sleep, but it's in no way ideal and seeing as I've been eating so low carb I think my body could have used a little more sleep. Anyway that passed by 8 am or so and I ended up very energetic and focused all day. Once I ate I felt even better.

2. Odd vibration sensation on left side of tongue

This was weird. I had never encountered this before. It only lasted for an hour or two in the afternoon and came on intermittently during that time. Of course, I Googled it quickly and the first thing I read about it is that it can be indicative of some sort of central nervous system damage. I took a fall this past Friday hitting my head very hard (I believe I had a concussion) and getting pretty bothersome whiplash, so that may have something to do with it. I seem to have recovered quite quickly as I have no headache or neck pain and it's only been 6 days at this point and it was after I started the diet that my progress really took off. However, I can't make any real connection between the two other than interesting observations. I'll keep an eye on the tongue vibration thing.


So all of these changes in my body have taken place after only 3 days of this diet. This just goes to show how much what you eat affects you. I hope things start to get even more interesting in the coming days! Stay tuned!

-Rob

Consider Day 2 in the books!

I was up at 5:30 this morning and actually had some decent energy. My breakfast consisted of another Solgar brand probiotic, a pint of water and teaspoon of coconut oil. Coconut oil is rich in Medium Chain Triglycerides, or MCTs, which are easily digested and absorbed, requiring no metabolic energy. MCTs are an amazing way to energize the body and brain, especially when utilizing a ketogenic diet for health benefits.

Yesterday I only took in about 25-30 grams of carbohydrates. I really did not intend on going this low carb with this diet, but I feel great and haven't had the desire for more carb food or food in general so far. I intend on getting back to the 100 gram carb range tomorrow as I don't want to suppress my carb intake as much as I want to make sure I'm getting the right kind of carbs for both my blood sugar and insulin response as well as for my digestion (See note below)

I ended up intermittent fasting again today with the exception of the coconut oil in the morning. I don't suggest doing this two days in a row for most as it can be stressful. Especially for someone who isn't accustomed to fasting in the first place.

I broke my fast at 7:00 pm with some croc pot chicken breast on the bone, a cucumber and celery juice and some steamed broccoli and carrots. Nom nom nom... it tasted great and I feel pretty great right now too.

Note: If you have digestion issues of any kind and/or skin issues consider reading Breaking The Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall. This is the book that outlines the Specific Carbohydrate Diet  which holds much of the logic that has helped me with my digestion issues and subsequently my health issues in general. 

However, the diet I'm adhering to right now is similar, but much more targeted and not entirely in line with SCD. It's possible that I may violate an SCD rule here and there. One of the things I'm avoiding that's allowed on SCD is fruit and fruit juices. I want to keep my blood sugar from spiking too much during this experiment. However, the reason I'm sticking to only cooked or freshly juiced veggies is to avoid fiber intake as much as I can. As SCD will teach you, fiber can be very counterproductive to someone with digestive issues. It's very bulky and can cause physical strain (think inflammation) on an already damaged gut. It will also feed gut flora, which is not a bad thing if you have a healthy balance of flora in your intestines, but this generally not the case in anyone with digestion issues. If some of the 'bad' guys is already overtaking your flora balance then fiber will just feed it more. The idea behind SCD is to starve out the flora and replenish it with the safest and strains of probiotics that have the most proven benefits.


Effects I've noticed today:

1. Itchy nose persists!

I wrote about how my nose was a little itchy on the inside yesterday. Well it was the same today. However, it was only in the early morning. The itchiness comes and goes, but I fully expect it to subside completely or at least become very much a rarity. Again, I attribute this effect to die off more than anything else.

2. Minimal congestion

I woke up mildly congested. This is another effect I'm familiar with when on a low carb diet. I attribute this effect to die off as well. It passed completely by 7:00 am.

3. More increased focus and energy

I felt even more focused and energetic than I did yesterday. Once the congestion passed I felt great all day and was able to get tons of work done and stay focused on the tasks at hand. I can't wait to see how my brain is functioning on day 21!

4. Very mild and short lived nausea

I noticed the smallest bit of nausea this around 8:30 am. It passed very quickly and I don't know if I would attribute it to the meat and veggie diet or if it was more of a result of what I ate Monday night making its way out of me. I'll report if I run into any more of this. It was very, very minimal.

5. Jaw popping on TMJ side

I noticed that the left side of my jaw became a little irritated, so to speak, and I was able to crack it easily. I've had TMJ my whole adult life and sometimes it gets aggravated. I'm not sure what that means. Hopefully it's something indicating improvements of the TMJ, but I have no idea. Could be completely unrelated for all I know, but I can say that my TMJ is usually affected by the way I had been eating around that time. But who knows...?

6. I smell

Yup. I stink. That's something that comes with going into ketosis. This is where your body starts burning ketones as the primary energy source instead of glucose. Some in the Paleo and Primal nutrition world call this "switching to fat burning instead of carb burning". There are a lot of benefits to a ketogenic diet as I have mentioned before. It can be great for insulin resistance and diabetes for instance. However, when you first kick on the ketone burning... you're gonna smell a little bit. Once I get my carb intake back to normal I should be back to smelling like roses like I usually do.

7. Minor diarrhea 

It was quick and minimal. I think most would avoid this if they weren't fasting and eating such low carbs when breaking the fast. No more of that for me.


So far most of the effects other than increased focus and energy have come in the early morning and subsided by mid morning at the latest. I should mention that I really believe a lot of these effects have been brought on by intermittent fasting and hitting ketosis and not really from the meat and veggies only thing. I'm really excited to see what tomorrow brings and can't wait to report back to you!

Thanks for reading! Comment below if you have any questions or input!

-Rob

Hey there!

Day 1 is almost complete! Nothing groundbreaking to report at this time as far as I’m concerned though. I usually try to stick to a diet like this anyway, only I never make it for too long. It’s an exciting day for me because of the commitment.

I started the day with an intermittent fast. I did this more out of laziness than anything else. I discovered the benefits of intermittent fasting a few years ago and will very often not prepare lunch for the workday the night before because I have so many other things I want to spend that time doing and because I know that I can easily get through a day without eating and actually reap some benefits from it so long as it’s not an everyday thing.

So I did not ingest anything besides two probiotic capsules (Solgar brand probiotics) when I woke up and water until about 6 pm tonight. My dinner consisted of some grass fed ground beef, coconut oil, sea salt, pepper and a 1 lb bag of frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. Now, this is indeed an EXTREMELY BORING DINNER for most, but it’s actually quite tasty and I’m able to easily look past the boring nature of the meal because it’s quick, easy and very healthy for me.

Some effects I’ve noticed so far (and tend to notice when I start eating this way)

1. Increase in energy and focus

Usually around the 14 hour point in fast I start to notice increased concentration and higher energy. By around the 24 hour point I'll usually notice some fatigue, but it's normally a very pleasant fatigue that I can easily ignore and continue on without it affecting me. I thoroughly enjoy the increased focus and energy. With a diet built around carb intake from cooked and juiced veggies I tend to have the same effects, but I'll avoid the fatigue so long as I take in enough carbs.

 2. Itchy Nose 

My nose began to get a little itchy on the inside around 8:30 am. I attribute this to a little die off of bacteria or fungi. The truth of the matter is that we all have bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites and things of that nature just begging to take refuge in our bodies and a lot of the time their wildest dreams come true. However, most pathogens feed on carbohydrates (in particular sugars and starches) and so when adopting a new diet, like my Meat And Vegetable Diet you can effectively starve out lot of them. The itchys can result from toxins being released as pathogens die off (for example ammonia is generally released at this time) as well as from fat cells that are used for energy. And in fact, in some cases toxins like heavy metals, chemicals in the environment and plastic components (like Bisphenol A or BPA), go hand in hand with pathogens creating what are called biofilms. I’ll be posting more about this at later date.

 3. Cravings

I had some cravings for sugary foods around 9:30 am, but they passed within 10 minutes or so and I got right back to being very hungry. I’ve been eating moderately low carb; in between 75-150 grams of carbs most days of the week for quite some time now and have experimented with fasting a more than a few occasions. So I’m used to going through the morning and even the afternoon without eating and feeling ok. I tend to experience the same general symptoms within similar timeframes as I experienced today.

4. Increase in sensitivity of hearing 

This is something very specific to me because I already have an issue with my hearing going on. I damaged my hearing in April 2013 and have had a hypersensitivity to sound known as hyperacusis and tinnitus (constant ringing sound) ever since. Around 2:00 pm today I noticed my sensitivity to sound had become a little more intense. However, the conditions  has gotten tremendously better over the course of the past year and just happens to be easily influence by certain foods, exposure to sound, and blood pressure fluctuations from things like working out or stress. I consider this effect to be temporary and believe it will be back on track by tomorrow. In fact, part of the reason I committed to a 16 day meat and vegetable diet in the first place was to improve my hyperacusis, tinnitus and hearing loss in the first place.

Note: I will be starting a blog on hyperacusis, tinnitus and hearing loss in the near future for anyone interested in what has helped me overcome these issues.

Other than these effects I haven't noticed anything significant enough to mention. I feel good! I hope to sleep well tonight and continue strong tomorrow. It's so easy to say yes to an apple because let's face it... it's an apple. As the saying goes... "An apple a day keeps the carb restricted insanity away".

Ok! Time to gear up for tomorrow! Have a great night!

-Rob

Meat And Vegetable Diet - My Experience

Hi! First off I have to say how happy I am that you're reading this! I've been focused on improving my health for quite some time now and have made tremendous improvements in the way I look, act, perform and feel both mentally and physically.

However, over the past year and a half I haven't been as consistent with my diet plan as I would like to be and have fallen back on some of my progress. I'll eat ideally for two to three days or so and then end up indulging in something I don't consider healthy for me even though I'm not really craving it. In fact I'm usually craving things like sugar and processed foods less than I was in the days previous to my indulgence, but I give in anyway. It's more of a "I earned this" mentality that drives it.

Anyway, I've decided to do a little experiment. I'm committing to 16 days of an all Meat And Vegetable Diet! And when I say vegetables I mean non-starchy vegetables. So that means no potatoes! I'll be sticking to things like broccoli, carrots,

I'll be taking in absolutely no refined sugar or sweeteners of any kind. I will even be putting the kibosh on fruit for this time period (don't get me wrong, fruit is a very healthy food if not overeaten). This will be similar to the 21 Day Sugar Detox diet in that I'll be excluding so much sugar from my diet and of course eliminating sweeteners. However, I'll be going a little more "extreme". (Note that I don't consider this all that extreme, but rather a very ideal diet for me). I'll be eating 4 general things throughout this time:

1. High quality meat (preferably only organic, grass fed/pastured) prepared in healthy ways (baking, pan frying without oil, crock pot etc) and gelatin (as another highly beneficial protein source)

2. Cooked and juiced vegetables only (No raw veggies. I have impaired digestion which is one the reason I am committing to this diet in the first place. It's very inline with the logic behind the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, or SCD, and the Gut And Psychology Syndrome diet or GAPS, which has served me quite well in the past.)

3. Herbs, Sea Salt, Pepper and some other spices

4. High quality fats (Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO), Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO))


I'll also be consuming plenty of filtered water and probably taking a few supplements here and there that I always take.

It all starts tomorrow, July 29th, 2014! I will be documenting my experience each day and hope to have encouraging news to report back to you! Check back for updates and photos periodically!

Wish me luck! I'll see you on the other side!

-Rob