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« on: June 18, 2010, 03:39:59 am »
Hey guys hows it going? Been reading around this site for a few days now, great site! Decided I think I want to take the plunge and try this thing out for myself. A little background on me....for the past couple years dietary health and exercise (strength training) has become a huge interest and hobby of mine and I have been trying my best to juggle these two things to find balance. For the last couple years I have been on relatively low carb diets, all organic and grass fed meats (cooked though..), wild fish, etc.
I have had gut problems for as long as I can remember (probably something to do with being on antibiotics for a long period as a child). I should mention that for about 6-10 months I was finally able to produce a stool and felt great, I thought I had my problem all figured out. Then I recently got some kind of stomach flu and lost almost 10 lbs in a week (still losing weight) from being unable to eat my normal diet with loss of appetite and constant, frequent bowl "problems". The stomach pains only lasted a couple days, but the bowl "problem" has been persistent and has not let up one bit. I feel fine besides feeling a little malnourished, low appetite, etc. but I have this sinking feeling that the flu has passed, and this problem is here to stay, just like it has for years before that. Well that's what got me thinking that maybe my current diet is not as perfect as I had thought, maybe its time to try something else. My old diet is repetitive, and it usually looks something like...
-6 cups raw milk (taking this out today...this amount worked with me in the past--but maybe not anymore)
-10oz x2 meals daily of grass fed beef shank, cooked in crock pot cause this stuff is TOUGH (and the only grass fed meat I can find for under $8 a lb...)
-10oz x2 meals daily of wild Alaskan salmon (steamed)
-around 90 grams of soaked unpasteurized almonds through the day--sometimes substituted for real sourdough
-fruits, cultured veggies, etc. Greens like salad don't seem to digest at all.
(every day.)
So...now I have some questions regarding all of this.
-As of now, Weightlifting, gaining muscle and strength, etc. is a slight priority over diet, meaning I NEED to be able to eat enough to make progress. Now the reason I mention this is because on the front page of this site it mentions people overdoing it, and eating TOO much raw meats and having issues. Is there a way I can make this work then? Are there any competitive lifters on the board with success with this kind of eating? I realize I may not need as much food as I previously did, but I am still thinking I will need a good bit more than the average Joe.
-Like mentioned on my diet post and in a little more detail, the only grass fed meats I can find around here (in southern california) is sold at whole foods market. They are stocked with Eel River beef. Anyway I do have a budget, and I can't afford any other cut than the beef shanks (cow leg). Now I don't know if anyone here has tried this cut, but its full of stringy fat, and is very tough to cut, let alone eat. Has anyone had any success with this meat, or any ideas on what I can do with this problem? I have ground it up in the food processor once and the texture about made me sick--but maybe its something I can get used to. I can also get grass fed beef liver somewhat affordable, and have eating that raw a couple times, its actually much easier to eat than the meat.
-Any raw meat rules or rules of thumb? Like for example how many days can thawed raw meat be kept in fridge. Or how many times can you re-freeze and re-defrost a single piece of meat without worrying about anything. (I think whole foods always gets their meat products frozen on the truck, then defrosts them and cuts them for display...then I bring them home to freeze again...etc.)
Those three questions are about all I have got for the moment, other than just wondering how I am going to get enough food in, what kind of things I can eat to get my calories up, etc. As you can see the milk and nuts are a huuge part of calorie intake, I have been drinking raw eggs to try to get used to the raw thing--so that can replace some, but we are talking about like 1500 calories lol
Anyway I really hope I can figure out a way to make this work with my current lifestyle--and hopefully I can finally put this gut problem to rest... any and all questions/comments/help is greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time!