The First 30-days On The Carnivore Diet — Struggles And Successes

25 min readMar 30, 2022

Let me start out discussing my first 30-days on the carnivore diet by saying I started it to support my husband. We have both tried different food plans over the years from the most strict — the Daniel Diet (which he did with my support) — #75 Hard in which I chose intermittent fasting, Keto, Brightline, to simply tracking food intake with an app, etc.. I’ve also changed my food plan based on pregnancy, injury, and the amount I exercise from marathon training to fitness competitions and everything in between. When we began this food plan, I expected struggles and hoped for successes.

I posted about the first 3 1/2 years after the “beach photo” to share the journey I took to feel better and lose the post-menopausal weight I had gained.
I felt like nothing worked, and I was incredibly discouraged. I took a break from trying to figure out what was going on, and then was ready to dive back in with renewed hope and a great attitude.

This is the journey of our first 30-days on the Carnivore Diet and the hope that it will become a lifestyle.

MY HUSBAND FOUND THE CARNIVORE DIET

Dane had been struggling with his own weight gain, poor sleep, and feeling unmotivated after we got Covid in August 2021, so he began a journey to learn everything he could to find out what we could do to combat this post-covid lack of motivation we were both feeling.

He also suffers from inflammation manifesting in the form of a Bakers Cyst in his knee — something he’s had for years now. He also has a chronic infection in his lungs that comes and goes and makes him cough and spit up yucky stuff. In the past, he’s tried antibiotics, elimination of potential triggers, and other than getting rid of our dog that he’s allergic to (the thought which makes us cry), there’s nothing we’ve been able to find that makes this completely disappear.

Dane hit the point where he wanted to figure things out and feel better again. Between how we were both feeling and increased stress levels about our health, and the world around us, we’d pretty much had enough. I was ecstatic that he was on board! He was searching for food plans based on reducing inflammation, GI issues, sleep issues, etc… so that he could determine what was triggering him.

His first priority was to feel better, the second was to get in better shape, including weight loss, and I was completely on board.

LET’S TAKE A SECOND TO RECAP MY STORY

The “Beach Photo” from September 2018, 9-months before I gained 13-pounds. The “After Photos” — in 22 months I gained 27 pounds

In the past 3 1/2 years, I’ve struggled with weight gain which was very unusual for me. I’m currently 51 years old, and post-menopausal. I have zero food addictions or disorders. I have no health conditions, am not under doctor supervision and there is nothing in my family history to be concerned with. I see my doctor annually for bloodwork, checkup, and get an annual mammogram. I believe strongly in preventative medicine. I’ve been a consistent size, weight, measurements, body fat since I gained the “college 15” at 17-years old and began to pay more attention to food and exercise.

From the date of the “beach photo”, I gained 13 pounds in 9 months and then at the 22-month mark, I was up 25 pounds. That’s when my doctor did some deeper blood levels and realized I was post-menopausal — at the time I was only 50. I had noticed having much fewer hot flashes, otherwise, menopause wasn’t super awful, and since I had a hysterectomy 18 years ago I can’t track it through my periods. My doctor did mention that my hormones dropped hard and fast and were lower than expected for my age, which could be a big contributing factor since it’s the only thing in my life that had changed. At my heaviest, I was up 29 pounds from the beach photo at 154.

AFTER TIME AND TRIALS, THEN TAKING A BREAK, WE JUMPED IN TOGETHER

If I’m being completely honest, when Dane first told me about the Carnivore diet, I wasn’t really excited but wanted to support him. I decided I’d do most of it with him, but I’d continue to eat veggies.

During the few days prior to the next grocery shop (when we would begin Carnivore), as I continued to read and watch videos I began to get more excited and onboard because it spoke mostly to how you would feel once you got through the first phase of your body becoming fat-adapted. Yes, people experience weight loss and muscle development, however, a huge part of the discussion was changing how they felt. I became so excited, I wasn’t as interested in keeping the veggies, and jumping on board was a fun challenge.

The Carnivore food plan is touted as a success for people who suffer from autoimmune disorders, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and inflammation to name a few. The information discusses how they felt so much better — and these were people with health issues I wasn’t struggling with. If it worked for them, I felt that it would work for me also. An article that was written by a woman on the plan, that I read and re-read HERE was really helpful in understanding HOW this worked and what side effects to look for in the beginning

What I find confusing is that if this is a plan that works when people have really awful diseases that are debilitating, why wouldn’t it become more mainstream as a preventative measure to help people NOT get sick or feel better regardless of illness?

THE MASTER PLAN

My husband planned on doing a strict carnivore diet — nothing but meat and meat by-products, where I decided to use a slightly modified carnivore diet. I was only adding full-fat yogurt and blueberries occasionally for part of my first meal as it’s something I’ve eaten for years and small amounts of cheese.

We dove in headfirst to determine what we could eat, to eliminate everything else. To be transparent, we have a 12-year old daughter at home who we do not expect to follow food plans at the same level we do. A side note is that she was diagnosed in 2018 with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, so we already limit gluten, dairy, and sugar as a recommendation by her rheumatologist who is amazing. We are hyper-aware of (and can see her body react to) how dairy, gluten, and sugar affect her health — especially sugar. Interestingly, her arthritis struggle fits the demographic of people who use this plan to combat health issues.

I started to get even more excited and wished we had heard of this 3+ years ago when our daughter was diagnosed.

Our hope was that if the food plan worked well for us, she would ease onto it — just more slowly. A food plan you find and love becomes a lifestyle, and I wanted our daughter to find something that made her feel so great, she craved that lifestyle.

OVERCOMING STRUGGLES

One struggle I had was letting go of eating vegetables. We’re so conditioned that vegetables and plants are healthy that I had to process this over a couple of days. As with most kids, this was one aspect of the food plan our daughter was ecstatic about — no vegetables, which she detests. Another struggle I had was not eating fruit because I love fruit. This was a small part of why I decided to go with the modified plan — to keep some fruits on my plate.

With the modified plan I found during my investigative online searches, I decided to use dairy, although on the below list I use mostly yogurt, and I decided to use mustard (so did my husband). I also decided to use fruit sparingly, and most of it is berries. I also planned on limiting these the first 30-days.

From healthhomeandhappiness.com

LET’S GO SHOPPING!

We had our list of what to get, we know how many meals we eat per week, and we decided to begin on the weekend when we menu plan and shop. We expected our shopping bill to be much higher since we were purchasing more meat, and we only eat grass-fed meat, all organic, wild-caught fish, etc… already. We were also making sure we had food for my husband’s packed lunches when he’s at work, and options for our daughter as she weaned off of the foods we weren’t replacing.

We often go to brunch before our weekend shopping trip for the next week, and that seemed stressful until I broke things down in my head and decided exactly what I wanted. We explained our order to our waitress and our question was that we didn’t know how to do it so we were being charged correctly. Basically, we don’t want to order the $12 omelet if we’re not getting over half of what comes with it. When we got our bill we were surprised — because it was so much less to order 4 eggs, with bacon and cream cheese and make it like an omelet with nothing else.
SCORE!

When we got to the store, we passed the bread. We passed the deli. We passed the bakery. We hit the meat section and shopped like crazy adults with a limitless bank account. We passed the alcohol. We passed the fruits and veggies. We got yogurt, and then passed the freezer, all the processed foods, chips, cookies, crackers. We hit the seasoning section, we read labels, we had a list of recommendations, and we didn’t hold back.

Our shopping cart looked empty and we felt like we were forgetting something so we stopped and looked at each other and went over our list again and realized — this would take some getting used to. To our surprise — we spent less.

We checked the receipt, we rechecked our list, we double-checked that we got everything, and we shrugged and high-fived.

STARTING OUR FIRST MONTH

We began on February 27, 2022. At a family party on the 26th, I drank alcohol and it will be the last time for at least this next month. The following list was what I wanted to focus on as far as changes in what I was doing or how I was feeling. I was really excited about what I was reading and the videos I watched because there is so much focus on how you feel that I began to focus more on that than on losing weight. When we started, I was running a few miles once a week (slowly), swimming 1–2 times a week, walking the dog at least once a week, and walking backward on the treadmill for 10-minutes once a week (which I will write about in a separate post).

My Goals:

Less coffee. My plan was to drink 2–3 cups a day instead of 1/2 a pot or more
Better sleep and no sleep aids. I use melatonin sleep gummies every night and I wanted to ditch them
Better skin. My thighs, butt, and upper arms recently started getting dry bumps on them. I combatted most of it by using eczema lotion, however, I want them to clear up
No alcohol. Although I don’t drink often, and I like the way a buzz makes me feel, it disrupts my sleep and I often feel gross or “off” the next day. I sometimes get headaches
GI system functioning better. I do take fiber (since my hysterectomy), and my functional medicine doctor likes the vitamins and supplements I’m on, so although I’m keeping that the same, I still have GI issues and upsets that I’m hopeful will subside
More consistent energy levels
Improved mood — less emotional highs and lows (not feeling like I want to cry). This doesn’t happen often, I’m just aware of it. Feeling unmotivated since Covid is part of this issue
Improved mental clarity & energy

Week 1:

I forgot to weigh myself before we started, so I don’t have a number, but I do know at my highest I was 154. I didn’t remember to weigh myself until day 6 and I was 149 lbs. I didn’t expect HUGE results in my weight and am focusing on how I feel mostly. I can say that my wedding ring fits better and my body feels less bloated. I couldn’t wear my wedding ring for months. If I left it on overnight, I’d get red, itchy bumps and what looked like eczema and it took days to clear up. I started wearing it again on day 5 since I felt much less puffy.

I cut coffee to 2 cups a day. I had a 3rd cup once
I stopped melatonin gummies for two days, then did a half dose. One night I took the full dose. My sleep is definitely “off”. It takes a long time to fall to sleep and I wake up more often. Some of this was an issue prior, but it’s worse
I had carbs twice. Once because I took my vitamins on an empty stomach (nausea) and once after running. Both times I ate 7 grams of carbs — breadsticks (processed) just to get my stomach to feel less nauseous
At 7-days, I ran my first 10K in probably 15 months. It was SLOW but I felt great once I was done (haven’t run due to a foot injury). I felt really nauseous at 3 miles, which I pushed through, and again from mile 5–6. When I got home I waited to eat and got nauseous again — ate the carbs
I got hives twice (photos below of the first — and worst time). Once after running a 10K (pics) and once on a random day I got 2 hives on my arm
My energy levels are consistent. I didn’t have issues with low energy prior — except I had MUCH more energy in the mornings and crashed in the afternoons. I’m more even-keeled energy-wise
I took a laxative twice. Since my hysterectomy, I’ve needed to watch that closely. I pooped once all week. In the info I read this is normal and they describe “rabbit pellet poop”. Check! The laxative (which was half dose) didn’t seem do anything at all
Electrolytes — I drink these every day and twice a day when I work out hard enough. This is a big deal especially to avoid “keto flu”. I experienced that massively the two times I did keto and not at all this time
The BIGGEST thing I noticed was a level of “mellow” or “calm”. Not sad, not bummed, not quiet as a mouse — calm. I’m an extrovert from New England and I get loud when I’m excited or upset. It feels very strange to me, and yet very comforting. This came up in info I read also — it’s a strange feeling, although a good one
I have looked up and read (or watched videos) of other people — especially female athletes — who are on this food plan to get ideas and tips from someone who has already been where I’m at

I broke out in hives after running. My naturopath told me years ago that this is a good sign. It means toxins in the body are working their way out. I was very itchy for about 30-minutes

Week 2

We ordered more (and better) electrolytes. I learned NOT to take one with caffeine as I drink it right after coffee. We also ordered Cod Liver Oil capsules. As a side note, I love supplements and have a list of what I take daily. Do I think this is absolutely necessary? No. Do I think it’s helpful and beneficial? Yes. Are there some specifically for this diet? Yes. Do I want them? Yes. Not just because they are listed — because I want to be successful on this food plan and help is, well, helpful.

One of the suggestions is cod liver oil as many people experience constipation, especially in the beginning. The other is beef organ capsules. There’s tons of great stuff in organ meat, and I’m not eating it. Capsules bridge that gap. The electrolytes are beneficial for many reasons — one is to bypass “keto flu” and bridge the gap until your body is fat adapted. I’ve used them for years if someone gets sick, if I have a longer run, on longer runs, etc… We usually have them in the house, so we used up what we had and ordered some that we felt were cleaner.

We tried eating out twice. Once at In & Out — which made Dane sick — and once at Genghis Grill — which made me sick. It’s actually easy to order out on this plan (and less expensive), however, after cutting so much out (even at 2-weeks) we are definitely sensitive to things that bother us. It’s interesting to me how much we eat things that our bodies don’t want, and yet we’re completely unaware of it because of the overwhelm of garbage foods in our daily lives.

Now we’ve streamlined so much that it’s very apparent when something doesn’t sit right, and we’ll continue to eliminate foods and restaurants.

I finally pooped on day 1/week 2. It wasn’t easy. I’m grateful the cod liver oil came later that day. I only pooped once in 9-days prior to this. By the end of week 2, I’m pooping more — even if it’s not daily
I reached out to a female ultrarunner on the diet and she emailed me back. I’m so glad I have more info moving forward with food plan suggestions AND how to run stronger. I basically overthink things, however, because I ask questions I also get some great info. Connecting with someone was really helpful
Shopping for week 2 was easier and we didn’t feel like we were forgetting anything. We also went to Costco — which is more expensive at the moment, and less over time. We’re planning on continuing that
At the beginning of week 2, my hot flashes are worse than they’ve been in years. I wake up at least half a dozen times, throwing the blanket off and then freezing. It’s disruptive to my sleep even though I fall back to sleep quickly, and it’s annoying. By the end of week 2, they’re waking me up 2 times a night — and I’m glad they’re back down. 10-days of lots of hot flashes wasn’t fun
My sleep has been very disrupted in other ways also. I’m on a half dose of melatonin gummies and waking up twice to pee and I’m often up for good around 4:30 am. It’s frustrating. By the end of the week, I’m waking up once to pee and sleep is getting better
I’ve already gotten better at cooking meat and salmon! Even after over 30-years of cooking, I get nervous with expensive meats. I’m learning well
I got hives once at the beginning of the week. 2 bumps on my stomach
My sense of mellow and calm is still there, and my energy is getting better
On my weigh day at the end of the week I was 147.7 pounds
I stopped eating yogurt and blueberries a couple of days into the week. Now it’s just cheese occasionally from the modified plan

Week 3

I burned the bottom of the tri-tip on day 1/week 3. Look at me killing it! It was still pink in the middle and delicious, so I guess I can still brag about my ability to cook higher-priced meat. We shopped at Costco again and the variety and quality of the meats are great. We usually shop at Sprouts, and the quality is just as good, however, variety and price per pound are a little worse. I haven’t taken my wedding ring off since week one with NO reaction!

Clocks sprung forward and temps are better in the afternoons which makes getting out and getting exercise easier. YAY!
On day one/week 3 we both inadvertently did a 24-hour fast since we didn’t feel well after Genghis Grill. I couldn’t stomach the idea of eating
I got hives on my stomach again on day 3/week 3 although not as bad
I’m either not pooping or I have diarrhea and not as much in volume as before the food plan. This is something I read about and I’m taking cod liver oil and fiber, so I’m not particularly concerned
My sleep has continued to be — wake up once to pee (fairly normal for me since my hysterectomy 18 years ago), have 1–2 hot flashes, sometimes I wake up early, although this week I can fall back to sleep. By the end of the week, my sleep is much better — I’m falling to sleep faster and more easily, I’m not waking up from hot flashes or needing to pee every night and I’m sleeping until my alarm
Headaches are gone now. The first week to 10-days I had a few and noticed that I haven’t had any
I weigh in on day 6 of each week. I was at 145.7. I’ve lost 2 lbs per week the last 2-weeks
Eczema on my arms, butt, and thighs is nearly gone
I added feta cheese to my steak. I’ve always loved it, and although I didn’t react badly, I know my body doesn’t want it
I got my annual bloodwork taken

Week 4 (Plus 2 Days)

30-days is a little longer than 4 weeks, so this week is actually 9 days. My final weight was on the 30-day mark. We’ve really gotten the hang of shopping, we’re even bulking up the freezer a little. Some people have concerns that they’ll “get bored” eating, however, I haven’t found that to be the case at all. As a matter of fact, we’re having fun and a lot of variety.

Cooking takes less time because it’s only meat, and I’ve rarely gotten hungry in between the two meals or in the mornings. In the event that happens, we have pork rinds, beef jerky, and bone broth packets.

At 4-weeks my weight was 144.9 so this week I lost .8 lbs. I’m grateful I’ve been losing at all — I didn’t expect to in the first 30-days — having said that, it was discouraging not to see another 2 lb drop since that was what I had been experiencing.

Things are so streamlined now with shopping, it’s become easy and dinners/lunches seem much more effortless
This is the week I really FELT what I read about. Your body will KNOW when it’s done eating and you won’t want another bite. If something doesn’t sound good to your body you will know without question that you shouldn’t eat it. Your body TALKS TO YOU and all you have to do is listen. It’s incredible! I eat twice a day and only what I want. Sometimes it’s a lot, sometimes not much at all
I made sourdough bread from the starter I got from a running friend. Sourdough is my favorite because there’s no sugar, so we thought IF AND WHEN we eat limited carbs, it would be awesome to make it ourselves. The only problem with this is that I ate a slice a couple of times and that will end until I’m at my goal weight. It’s great for higher volume exercise days and to make sure you don’t lose too much weight — which is sometimes an issue on this plan
I met with my doctor about bloodwork. Except for hormones being post-menopausal, my bloodwork looks amazing. She did a calculation with my age, cholesterol (and other results), my lifestyle, etc… to determine my chances of having a heart attack in the next 10 years. 1.3%
I ordered sourdough from a local woman who has a home business so we have some in the freezer as the carb we use when we exercise more. I am also continuing to make it
I’m often really hungry for the 10 am meal and often not very hungry at dinner. It’s great to gauge what you want based solely on how you feel
I started running with the dog this week while my daughter rides her bike. We have a 2.5-mile loop. It’s hard! I weigh more now than a couple of years ago AND I haven’t been running much for over a year, so holy cow I need to build up!
I also started an exercise program with Dane by the “knees over toes” guy to increase mobility and strength. I’m at basic reps and weight and it’s kicking my butt

Homemade sourdough bread is a work in progress

DANE’S STORY

Dane is a self-proclaimed food addict. Predominantly with sugar, the secondary would be “simple carbs” like cupcakes, cake, cinnamon rolls, andy bars, french bread, and tortillas. He works at a food company and is constantly inundated by this type of food. This combined with addiction creates quite a problem. As a matter of fact, one of the low points in his life was when he regularly purchased half a dozen large Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. For breakfast.

He would go straight home and melt a stick of butter in the microwave and pour it on top. He grabbed a fork, parked himself on the couch, and ate about 4 1/2 of them inducing a literal food coma. He was passed out for about 2 hours. Upon waking up, Cinnabon still on his lap, he picked up the fork and resumed consumption, wiping them out.

This was prior to our meeting when he was at his heaviest (247 lbs at 5'10" and 32% body fat) and was the first time he decided that perhaps he had a problem — let’s not get ahead of ourselves and admit it outright. The super crazy part of this is for most of his life he’s been an athlete. He played basketball all the way through college — including a stint overseas in Portugal — and has the mentality and the drive of an athlete.

Food addiction for him is a vicious cycle of eating to feel good, which in turn makes you feel bad, which makes you want to feel better, so you eat it again. In our years together, I’ve known Dane has food addictions, and I have seen him struggle almost daily with them. His health has been a bigger concern for me. Lack of sleep, yoyo weight loss, a lower frustration level, forgetfulness, lack of intimacy, falling asleep randomly sitting up frequently, seeing that he suffered from inflammation, concern for his blood pressure, and potential insulin resistance to name a few. Basically, although I didn’t see him at his worst, I worried he was slowly killing himself and wouldn’t have been surprised if he had a heart attack in his 40s because I knew his history. Health is more than weight gain — it’s all of the side effects that I saw happening, and those were scary.

About a year ago we took the same quiz to determine food addiction on a scale of 1–10. I scored a 2. He scored a 10+. This was a glaring comparison of how differently we struggle with food and initiated our first conversations about his food addiction. The Carnivore diet addresses these issues head-on, and for the first time, he’s been much more comfortable discussing the struggle he has, which has been great.

Dane’s 30-Day Update:

Lost a total of 19 lbs. From 185.4 start weight down to 166.7
Ultrasensitive to sleep aids, so he can’t take them anymore
Motivation for working out is back again — which was gone after Covid in Aug 2021
Mental clarity is much better — he is a self-proclaimed “bird brain” and doesn’t feel that way
Ability to sit and read without feeling sidetracked or falling to sleep
He’s noticed a weakness in strength, so he’s more focused on weights than cardio
He did cardio 2X a week, 20-minute sessions, and increased the intensity and regularity of his workouts as the month progressed. The knees over toes guy has been great for him
Chronic phlegm in his chest and nagging cough is nearly gone
His mood has been amazing — more calm, overall much happier and more energetic
Not drowsy in the afternoon — even energy levels
Baker’s cyst in his knee is starting to reduce
Knee pain is gone
Sugar cravings are almost completely gone
He eats carbs daily in the final week since he’s lost most of the weight he wanted to lose and he’s exercising daily
We’ve read more about Carnivore and realized pepperoni, salami, and sausage are not on the plan. We have had sausage, and have some in the fridge and freezer. It’s not the end of the world, although we won’t purchase it again

MY WRAP UP OF THE FIRST 30-DAYS

Since I don’t know my weight when I began, I can only go off the highest weight I saw on the scale which was 154. At the end of 30-days, I’m at 143.7! I’ve lost 10-lbs, I’m no longer puffy, and I feel great in so many ways! I was losing 2 lbs a week for the last 3-weeks. In my opinion, the reason the challenge is 30-days is that if you just tell your brain you only need to abstain for that long, by the time you’re done you feel so much better and it’s so much easier than you imagined, that you don’t want to stop.

I wake up and have 2 (occasionally 3) cups of coffee with half and half. I do know the half and half breaks a fast. I’m not trying to fast necessarily, although this is something I could tweak. I stopped using almond milk, which has so few calories it doesn’t break a fast (but no nuts on carnivore). I love coffee — just not black, so for now, this works. After that, I have my first 20 ounces of water with electrolytes. This also breaks a fast, and I could tweak this also and use plain water until after my first meal. Since I’ve broken my fast with coffee, I figure it’s not a big deal. Although I can tweak these two things, I also don’t feel like it would be a significant difference. I could be wrong, for now, I’m feeling so great and the puffiness I didn’t know was SO BAD is gone so I’m not going to obsess about it.

I eat my first meal between 10 and 11, and I very rarely have snacks between my two meals. If I do I choose jerky, bone broth, or a few pork rinds. My second meal is usually around 5. For both meals, I eat until I’m really full and my body is done. I’m so in tune with my body it’s crazy and I love it.

One thing we read that I wasn’t sure would happen — or didn’t understand — is that your body has cues. Your taste changes from loving what you’re eating to not wanting it at all, and your body will react and you’ll KNOW when you are done or if your body does not want something (feta cheese for me). It happens. It’s crazy how incredibly in-tune you become with your body, and if you’re in the same place as I was — not understanding — just know it will happen and it will be obvious. Often I know NOT to eat something before I even try it.

I never ate mustard, although I’m keeping that option open. Although I was convinced I’d do a modified carnivore, I actually rarely eat cheese. No sour cream, or yogurt. I can eat cream cheese, Dane can’t. We can both eat cheddar or pepper jack cheese and limit it. Technically that makes it modified — I just didn’t want most of what’s on the list, and I’m more strict carnivore than I would have imagined. In the beginning, making this shift seemed so monumental that I wanted backup plans and “insert other options here”. I didn’t need that though. My advice is to do what you need to process this change knowing you probably won’t need any crutches once you get going.

I looked at several websites for fruits in season and printed a list. They all lumped fruits and veggies together which is great. Once I had the list, I looked up what fruits and veggies have the fewest carbs and sugar to narrow down the options (highlighted). Then I circled the options I might be interested in. IF I add veggies, I wanted to know what the options are. With fruit, I definitely want to eat what’s in season and only those that are the best for me. This doesn’t mean I’ll add any veggies back in, and I feel now I’d eat fruit only on tougher workout days, long runs, etc… If you’ve learned anything about me, it’s that I like to have a POA.

UPDATES ON WHAT I HOPED WOULD HAPPEN AND THE RESULTS

Less coffee. My plan was to drink 2–3 cups a day instead of 1/2 a pot or more.
DONE! I’m using half and half and cut out honey or any sugar on day one
Better sleep and no sleep aids. I use melatonin sleep gummies every night and I wanted to ditch them.
This got much worse before it got better, which made it easier to track. I’m still using a half dose of sleep aid on some nights and I’m falling to sleep faster and staying asleep most nights only getting up to pee once
Better skin. My thighs, butt, and upper arms started getting dry bumps on them about a year ago. I combatted some of it by using eczema lotion, however, I want them to clear up.
More clear! My skin is looking better and better all the time
No alcohol. Although I don’t drink often, and I like the way a buzz makes me feel, it disrupts my sleep and I often feel gross or “off” the next day. I sometimes get headaches.
No alcohol and I’ll continue this knowing I can occasionally have some if I decide it’s worth the calories, etc.. although I don’t miss it
GI system functioning better. I do take fiber (since my hysterectomy), and my functional medicine doctor likes the vitamins and supplements I’m on, so although I’m keeping that the same, I still have GI issues and upsets that I’m hopeful will subside.
My GI tract is MUCH better. Almost no gas, no bloating, no discomfort or pain, pooping less frequently although regularly and I can’t believe how awful my GI tract felt until it didn’t anymore
More consistent energy levels
I felt “calm” in that first week — it was crazy how fast that happened. My energy is consistent throughout the day and I don’t crash in the afternoons. The calm is still there — I suppose great energy that’s more evenly dispersed throughout the day. I don’t feel so exhausted at bedtime either
Improved mood — less emotional highs and lows (not feeling like I want to cry). This doesn’t happen often, I’m just aware of it. Feeling unmotivated since Covid is part of this issue
Motivation is getting better — although I’m not crying, it wasn’t a daily thing to begin with, just more than my usual in the past. That’s gotten better and if my mood isn’t sparkly all the time, it’s moving in the right direction. This with the “calm” is a good combo and the feelings of being motivated are coming back
Improved mental clarity
This happens more slowly and I’m not sure when or if I’m “there”. I’m not sure if my clarity is better — I still make lists for everything, and I don’t feel “cloudy” or forgetful

Holy long blog post! If you made it to the end, thank you! I hope the detailed information is helpful for your journey. Since I’m not ending things here, there will be other posts surrounding some of the topics I discussed, and I’m still using a calendar to continue to track my progress each month. Look out for posts that will continue to share the journey and let me know your thoughts, feelings, questions, and successes!