Apologies to my loyal blog followers for taking last week off. Ironically I got back from an amazing trip to St. Barths with plenty of pictures to post for once, but I felt mentally drained. There are many weeks where I’m not sure what I’m going to write and push through anyway, but a few times a year I just have no juice.
The trip to St. Barthelemy (I’ve actually never heard anyone use the full name before) was the rare trip that exceeded high expectations. I only live an hour flight away, but was surprised at how different the nature on St Barth’s is. We hiked to Colombier beach (one of the highlights of the trip, definitely don’t miss) starting with huge cliffs, walking through a forest, it turned partially desert with cactuses, and then when we got to the beach it was a beautiful clear-water and white sand beach. Along the path were goats and turtles which was an awesome bonus.
I let loose with my pocketbook and health, drinking and eating at amazing restaurants for lunch and dinner every day. It was nostalgic for me enjoying eating out and drinking, as I often have a bit of remorse when I eat out now. At home I buy the highest quality foods, cook them in ghee/other good fats, and put on seasonings that don’t hurt my stomach. I can cook a ribeye steak (for my tastes) as well as any top steakhouse, and use superior grass-fed beef too. As for drinking, I have so many day-time things that I like to do that involve me having a sharp mind that I don’t enjoy it that much anymore. I also rarely like what I’m drinking enough to want to consume enough to get buzzed. On the trip I was eating lobster, fish, desserts, and drinking fancy rum drinks daily, and loving it. I was excited to get back to healthy living by the end of the trip, but everything was so tasty that every meal was a blast.
The best part of the trip was being able to hang with Johanna, Jeff, his wife Ashleigh, another mutual friend Jimmy, and his gf Lizzie. I’ve known and worked off and on with Jeff for over 15 years now, and I met Jimmy around the same time too. I don’t talk with Jimmy that often, but on the trip I realized how many places around the world we’ve been together on group trips. They had me laughing the whole time, and it was a welcome change from my normal nerd life. I don’t think about the past much when I’m by myself, but it’s really fun when you have so much shared history with friends.
Last week I finished “The Carnivore Diet” by Shawn Baker. I’d read a book and many blogs about the diet, but I needed this book for the final convincing. I had my first ever 100% everything carnivore (although I might have chewed some gum, but let’s not count that) day a few days ago highlighted by having 0 coffee. I’ve been back on it since I got back a week ago, and I’ve probably been about 95% carnivore (I’m down to drinking coffee on workout days, and I had one glass of rum which I regretted the next morning). The first things I read kept talking about all of the initial things you might have to deal with, which unfortunately are real, but it works! I lost 8 lbs in a week, and I’ve been eating 2-3 lbs of meat a day, so I’m not starving myself. I’ve lost 5-6 lbs of water/bloat in a week before, but never 8, and never so smoothly. In the past when I’d go on meat, veggies, and a little fruit diet, I would lose fat, but much slower, and mostly by depriving myself of calories.
I’ve been semi-carnivore since I got back from Bali a few months ago, but that doesn’t work for me. I can’t eat a bunch of steaks and then act like it’s ok to have a bag of tortilla chips at night, and expect to not be a fat-ass. I’ve tried every variation of being “mostly” carnivore, but it didn’t really start working until I cut out everything besides coffee. I cut coffee too for a few days, and I did notice an even further improvement. I know that coffee often unsettles my stomach, but it’s been hard to go from 3+ cups a day to 0. I couldn’t motivate myself as much in the morning for my workouts, so I added coffee back for training only, and that seemed to be fine.
One hard part for me is the lack of social interaction. I can and will still eat at restaurants (when I’m with friends/family), but it’s hard to want to when you feel so much better eating at home. Unfortunately drinking coffee has become part of my identity, even though it has upset my stomach a bit since I’ve first had it, so still figuring that out. I know I don’t digest it that well, and noticed my stomach feeling better (and worse when I had an iced coffee after a day off). My plan with the eating is to relax on trips and holidays, but be pretty strict otherwise.
The other hard thing is dealing with the quantity of meat I need to eat. I try to eat grass-fed beef (superior nutrient profile, and in general the animal welfare is better too), but I can only get grass-fed burgers, ribeye, and lamb from my local grocery store. There’s a delivery service in Puerto Rico with a full assortment of local grass-fed meats, but I always forget to order before the weekly deadline. Eating 1 lb of burger meat and 1 lb of ribeye can get a little monotonous, especially when I get hungry at night (do I go for more burger or ribeye?). I mix in the lamb a bit now, but I need just a tiny bit more variety. Before I could cook 1-2 lbs of any type of meat, and that would last me a few days. Now that’s one meal. I’m considering getting a grill, and I want to get more roasts/big meats that I can cook in bulk. It’s tough when you’re starving and you forgot to take anything out of the freezer.
I finished some other books last week too, but not worth recommending. I rewatched “True Detective” Season 1 which was almost as fun as the first time. My memory sucks, so after a few years it’s like I’ve never seen/read something, I only have a vague idea that it’s good. After enjoying the rewatch of “True Detective” so much (I’m home alone now, so I have idle time on my hands), I started rewatching “The Leftovers”, which I also forgot how good it was. I’m really impressed with Justin Theroux’s acting in the show. I walked by him on a quiet street in SoHo this summer and regretted not recognizing him until I was a distance away, as I would have given him some props for doing an amazing job in that series.
That’s it for this week. It might be a little quieter from me around the holidays, but I’m still here! Leaving you with some pics from St. Barths.
Andrew Manser 