Keith's Journal

[boxcarguy07]

Hello all!
My name's Keith and this is my journal 
My main goals, besides ultimate supremo-health, are to gain weight in the form of lean muscle and increase strength.
I will not keep a day-to-day log of my eating but here is are some typical days of eating as of right now.

Meal 1:
1 banana
4-6 oz. of raw organ meat
Handful of berries
3 oz. Spinach

Meal 2:
1 banana
1 apple
3-6 tbsp. of hemp seeds

Meal 3:
1 banana
16 oz. of raw 75% lean ground beef
3 oz. spinach and 1/2 of a tomato

Meal 4:
16 oz. of raw 75% lean ground beef
3 oz. spinach and 1/2 of a tomato

Meal 5:
3 raw eggs

However, right now, I only have organ meats once every few days. If I'm not eating organ meat I'll split up the first 16 oz. of ground beef and have 8 oz of it in Meal 1 and 8 oz. in Meal 3.
Also, I have 1 tbsp. of honey in the morning on workout days. Other than that I workout on an empty stomach and eat Meal 1 about an hour after my workout.

Like I said, the above is a typical example, but some days it's different.
I've tried eating one large meal in the evenings like many do here, but it didn't work out as well for me. I feel like what I'm doing right now is very good.


Today was my first day going to a gym in a long time... I had a great workout and I was full of energy. I used to yawn frequently during workouts when I was not rawpaleo, but not today. I felt so mentally acute and physically energized.
This could be due to my better health as a result of the rawpaleo diet, or it could be due to working out on an empty stomach, which I wouldn't have dreamed of doing in the old days. My, how things change   
Other than having a great workout, I went to get an idea of how much I could lift after taking such a long break (I haven't gone to the gym consistently in about two years).
Now I have a good idea of how much I can lift so I don't need to worry about finding this out on Monday, when I begin my real routine, which I will put up as soon as I get it all figured out.

Anyways, I'm excited!
Thanks for reading!

[Raw Kyle]

Good luck, I'll be following your progress. I have a similar goal. Right now I'm about 160 lbs and was going to be competing at 155 lbs but I think I would look better and be healthier and stronger competing at 170 lbs so I'll be trying to get up to around that weight.

[boxcarguy07]

Thanks man! Good luck to you as well! 

Saturday July 19
Man oh man, my legs and my ass are sore from doing squats yesterday.
I forgot what it was like to be so sore that just sitting down is a chore.
I hope I'm not sore anymore by Monday morning!!


Anyways, I continue to amaze myself at how stupid I can be when it comes to eating things that I shouldn't be.
I know how negatively certain foods affect me, but I still eat them anyway. I can only accept myself as in a process and move on and try to do better! 

I know people on here say that they can eat less raw food and feel full, but man, I am always hungry! I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, but now 2lbs of meat is nothing to me. For instance, today I had eaten 2 lbs of meat by 3:30... I ate the first pound at around 10:00 or so and I was going to eat the second pound much later on in the day but I was so hungry and my body was really craving it so I ate it. I'm now letting a third pound defrost so I can eat that later tonight. This is getting expensive lol!

When I first started eating the two pounds a day I wasn't getting so hungry, but that only lasted a couple days.

[TylerDurden]

You need to buy lots of pure fats, especially marrow and suet  or very fatty meats.It's really difficult to eat vast amounts when you're eating so much raw animal  fat, IMO.

[boxcarguy07]

Is 75% lean ground beef fatty enough? Because that's what I'm eating...
I do have a bit of marrow that I've yet to try, but it's not really enough to last me a long time.

[Raw Kyle]

You should mix the meat with fat, fatty meat isn't enough. If you look at a carcass there is the meat, the organs, and fat surrounding and running through all of that. The best strategy imo is to try and replicate that. So I'll try and take some meat (regardless of how lean it is doesn't mean much to me) and mix it with maybe a quarter in volume to the meat of pure fat like suet. Then once in a while I'll eat organs, which I don't like at all but can stomach once in a while like medicine.

[TylerDurden]

Minced/ground beef usually has its fat removed before sale, so it's well worth looking for a pure fat like suet or marrow. Sometimes one can get a farmer to NOT cut off the fat from the meats in which case that's great, but not everyone can get that opportunity, so it's best to set up long-term supplies of  tongue, marrow or suet as alternatives.

[wodgina]

After reading AV's books and the yahoo RVAF forum for some reason I didn't pickup the need to eat fat, all I was thinking about was eating raw meat. So I was eating alot! 3 pounds (lean meat) was not unusual and was still hungry, I really struggled and couldn't work out what I was doing wrong.

I would of thought 25% fat would be fine, that's a fair amount, if your eating 3 pounds a day equals 300 grams of fat at 2700 calories. I was eating about that for a while at the start and I'm around the same size as you (I'm 5'9 155 pounds)

Now I eat about 500 grams of minced beef (5% fat)and around 200-250 grams of suet mixed together like hamburger mix. It was cheaper to eat less meat and higher fat although I don't mind shelling out cash for food. In fact when I was first starting the diet I was spending $350 a week! I was eating gourmet stuff like emu eggs/oysters/scallops/exotic fruits etc. Now I spend around $100 and could easily get it lower than that.

[Satya]

Thanks for posting this.  As you get into your workouts, perhaps you will share details of them.  Are you still sore from leg day?  OMG, in taekwondo class, we were practicing falling and rolling for an hour Wednesday.  Standing and falling forward, catching myself on my forearms inches about the ground repeatedly.  My triceps and upper back are still sore from that.

[boxcarguy07]

Wow that sounds intense!
My legs are still sore but not nearly as bad as yesterday. They should be good to go tomorrow (hopefully!)
Yep, I'll keep a log of my workouts...

Oh, and lol @ your typo of "lag day"... it was anything but that! 

[lex_rooker]

Keith,
The fat content of meat sold at the market is usually about 2% to 3% below what is marked on the package.  The USDA assumes that fat is waste and will fine the market if the actual fat content of the meat is even the slightest bit over what is marked, therefore, the markets error on the side of less fat to assure that if they are randomly tested by an inspector that they will pass.

You should be eating around 80% of your calories as fat.  I personally don't like the mushy taste of regular ground beef so I used coarsely ground or chopped meat and add additional fat to assure that I'm getting enough.  I also eat only grass fed meats as they have a very high content of Omega 3 fatty acids - usually between 25% and 50% of the total fat is Omega 3 and that's a good thing.   Normal grain fed beef from the market usually has a ratio of 4% Omega 3 or less and that's a bad thing.  You can eat regular meat and fat from the market but I always supplement with fish oil (about 30 one gram softgels a day) if I eat grain fed meat from the market.  This will add the Omega 3 back in and if you buy the fish oil in bulk from places like Costco you can get a 10 day supply (300 caps) for less than $10.  Another benefit is that this adds more fat to your diet as thirty 1gram soft gels equal a full ounce of additional fat.

Here's a list showing the amount of fat by weight vs the fat content as calories.  Remember that this is the true weight of fat in the meat and the true amout of fat is 2% to 3% less than what is marked on the package.

10% fat by weight = 50% of calories
15% fat by weight = 63% of calories
20% fat by weight = 71% of calories
25% fat by weight = 77% of calories
30% fat by weight = 81% of calories

As you can see, after you subtract a couple of percent from the marked value, the only thing that comes close is the 30% fat ground beef.  Being young and very active you may need to eat 3 to 4 lbs per day.  On the Lewis and Clarke Expedition, after a hard day of rowing and portage the men often ate 9 lbs of meat.  When you are eating meat and fat, and keeping the fat at 75% to 80% of calories, the rule is to eat as often and as much as it takes to satisfy your hunger. 

I also recommend that you add a couple of grams (1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) of salt to your meat every day.  You need the chloride in the salt for your body to manufacture the hydrochloric acid for your digestive system.  Contrary to popular belief, hunger/gatherers prized salt.  The Inuit drink brackish water which contains a good bit of salt.  There are even cases of tribal wars being temporarily halted so that salt supplies could be replenished.

Hope this helps,

Lex

[boxcarguy07]

Hi there Lex! Thanks for writing.

I do make sure to only consume grass-fed meat. I am a big believer in it (how could you not be?  )
I've read so much about the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio and I'm a huge believer that that is the very first thing that should be checked and corrected when it comes to any health problem before any other steps are taken.
I'm not a fan of taking capsules unless I'm really sure of what's in them as far as fillers and such (many capsules have things like magnesium stearate, soybean oil, titanium dioxide, and the like) and also what the capsules are made of. However, since I'm eating grassfed beef, that's not really a problem, eh?

I must correct a statement you have made though... you say that grass-fed beef has 25%-50% of the total fat being Omega-3. While this would be nice, it's not true. 25%-50% of the total EFA's are omega-3, not total fat.

So, with eating the 75% lean beef as well as the hemp seeds and eggs, I'm pretty sure I'm getting close to 80% fat. I think my hunger the past couple days has had to do with forgetting/skipping meals (yesterday I didn't have any spinach or seeds or eggs... DUH!) and also perhaps an effect of eating the "bad" foods that I shouldn't have throughout last week...

As for the salt, do you know if baking soda is an adequate substitute? Every morning upon rising I make a drink from ACV, baking soda, and cayenne pepper. The baking soda (1/8th of a teaspoon) provides a LOT of sodium, but you mention chloride, and I'm not sure if that is present in baking soda.

I know ACV and baking soda aren't technically paleo, but it is an addition to my diet that I do believe is positive. (I also wash my hair with ACV and baking soda!)

[lex_rooker]

Keith,
Here is a link to an analysis of the fat breakdown of Slanker's meats.  My assumption (which could be wrong) is that it includes all the fatty acids in the meat.  You are free to interpret it any way you wish.

http://www.slankersgrassfedmeats.com/id73.htm

Baking Soda is sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and contains no chloride - infact it neutralizes hydrochloric acid and can cause real problems with digestion.  I never touch the stuff and haven't needed anything to deal with heartburn or other acid issues since I converted to paleo (cooked or raw) in 2005.

You need something with Cl in the formula.  Salt is Sodium Chloride (NaCl), or if you'd prefer to reduce your sodium and raise your potassium you could use Potassium Chloride (KCl) which is usually labeled 'salt substitute' right next to the salt in the supermarket.  Either is fine for increasing your Chloride intake.  If it were me, I'd substitute Potassium Chloride for the baking soda in my morning drink.  The body needs more potassium than sodium and you'd be getting the chloride you need so you're killing two birds with one stone as it were.

[xylothrill]

This is what I see:

Fatty Acid	%Composition
**Total Omega-3	1.22
***Total Omega-6	1.08

I always thought it was the ratio that was more important with 1:4 mega3:omega6 being "okay" and the closest to 1:1 being ideal.

[lex_rooker]

At 1.22 Omega3 to 1.08 Omega6 it looks like it is a little better than 1:1.

[xylothrill]

It does and since non-paleo foods aren't high in Omega6, our ancestors probably only ever got 1:1 and better. Furthermore, the Omega3 is already broken down into it's DPA, EPA, DHA -  16 various forms of Omega3 acids.

Craig

[Nicola]

I also recommend that you add a couple of grams (1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) of salt to your meat every day.  You need the chloride in the salt for your body to manufacture the hydrochloric acid for your digestive system.  Contrary to popular belief, hunger/gatherers prized salt.  The Inuit drink brackish water which contains a good bit of salt.  There are even cases of tribal wars being temporarily halted so that salt supplies could be replenished.

Lex

Lex, did you start out with adding salt, or is this what you added because of poor digestion? You mentioned salt in connection with cramps, but not if you needed it for your digestive system and if so can you tell a difference?

For me it is hard to add salt because of this alkaline ionized water; as soon as I start to drink this water after my jog and exercise the thought of lack of energy is gone - salt? : meat : fat :. I end up doing all kinds of things and I believe that this water is playing a pig part - how I do not understand...

I have had a few days with adding salt but this water makes up a different picture for my mind to process; our minds are made up of all kinds of information and adding salt will give all kinds of human information.

Do you know how your sister gets on with feeding her dogs raw meat? I tend to wonder how they make hydrochloric acid?

Nicola

[boxcarguy07]

First of all, I want to explain my workout program that I devised last night.
It's an 8 week program. Each day is a full-body workout. The first three exercises of each day are the main ones... they are compound lifts that focus primarily on the larger muscle groups: chest, back, and legs. The rest of them are more isolation type, things like arms, shoulders, abs, etc. Most of these I'll be shooting for 6-8 reps.
The first two weeks, I will be doing 3 sets, shooting for 8-10 reps, of the first three exercises. Then the next two weeks, I'll change it to 4 sets of 6-8 reps. Then the next two weeks it will be 5 sets of 5-6 reps. And then the final two weeks I will go back to 3 sets of 8-10 reps.
I've done a plan like this before in the past and it worked very well.


Monday, July 21

Had a good workout today. I felt full of energy despite not having a good night of sleep last night, which is a rarity these days. My workout lasted approx 1 hour. I took about 60-90 seconds of rest in between each set.

Here's my log of the first day of my lifting routine. (for those that don't know, the first number is the weight, and the second number is the amount of repetitions I completed. For exercises that utilize dumbbells, the weight that is shown is the weight of one dumbbell in one hand, so for instance, standing shoulder press: 20x12 means that in both hands I had a 20 lb. weight, totalling 40 lbs)

1. Bench Press
         -115x10     -115x8       -115x5
2. Leg Press
          -340x9      -340x9       -340x8
3. Lat Pulldowns
          -120x9      -120x7       -120x4
4. Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press
          -20x12      -20x8         -20x6
5. Tricep Pushdown
          -130x7      -130x5       -120x5
6. Preacher Curls
          -70x8        -70x4        -60x6
7. Incline Crunches with added weight
          -20x10       -20x6

[Nicola]

Hi Keith

Try eating your organs after a few days/weeks; cut the hart (good source of Q10) to bite size pieces, put in a glass container/jar and open&turn the pieces once/twice a day. Keep in the fridge (I leave the glass out for the first few days to speed up the process - till my neighbours ring at my door and complain about the smell...).

Most organs taste better a little aged or as high meat. Spleen (lamb) and/or other aged/high organs add a mouth full of "high light" to a meal of muscle meat and fat.


Nicola

[boxcarguy07]

Thanks for the advice Nicola! I've read about making high meat before, and most things I've read about it say that it's for people who have been doing a RAF diet for quite some time.
I was thinking about trying it when I get back to school, but I'll have to see how my suitemates in my apartment react. I would fully understand if they didn't want me keeping rotting, smelly meat in the refrigerator! 

That aside, how much should one make at one time? And how often and in what quantity should it be eaten?

[Nicola]

Thanks for the advice Nicola! I've read about making high meat before, and most things I've read about it say that it's for people who have been doing a RAF diet for quite some time.
I was thinking about trying it when I get back to school, but I'll have to see how my suitemates in my apartment react. I would fully understand if they didn't want me keeping rotting, smelly meat in the refrigerator! 

That aside, how much should one make at one time? And how often and in what quantity should it be eaten?

Keith, I am a woman - a big lad may/can put away more/different food (like 40+ bananas... ) so go by your own feelings. I just like to tell people that organs have more "aroma" when they are smelly and you don't have the problem of "having" to eat the organ "fresh" - it will not run away. I like to have a few organs for a little "kick" to my muscle meats and fat.

Nicola

[boxcarguy07]

Understood!
I just didn't want to make a bunch of high meat and then not be able to eat it all before it just got too old (i hear it gets very liquidy after a while)
I also didn't want to make too much or eat too much as I wasn't sure if it's the sort of thing where you only need a small amount, you know, to get that bacteria in you, and maybe too much was a bad thing.

[TylerDurden]

Aajonus recommends eating a marble-sized amount of high-meat each day. I found, however, that I didn't get the full benefits unless I ate two bite-sized chunks each day. One has to remember that our digestive system wipes out something like 99% of the bacteria in food, so eating fresh, raw food isn't enough to make up for eating bacteria-deficient cooked foods over decades. High-meat helps to correct the balance. IMO, people new to the diet should preferably start getting used to fresh raw grassfed muscle-meats first(along with raw fish/shellfish etc.), then proceed onto raw (grassfed)organ-meats, and then wild meats/organ-meats(if available) - only after that should they try high-meat - however, if beginners have serious problems with digestion right at the start of the diet they should either go in for EM products or the high-meat (along with enzyme supplements which are as natural as possible) so as to improve digestion.

[boxcarguy07]

Thanks TylerDurden for the info!

Wednesday, July 23

I just got back from the gym a little bit ago. Here's my workout log... still going for three sets of 8-10 reps on the first 3 exercises, 6-8 reps on the rest of 'em:

1. Barbell Row                -         80x10        80x10       80x7
2. Incline Dumbbell Press  -         35x10        35x8        35x5
3. Stifflegged Deadlift      -         135x10      135x8       135x6
4. Barbell Curl                 -         50x11       50x8         50x7
5. Dips                          -           x9            x7            x3
6. Barbell Shrugs             -          145x8       145x7        145x6
7. Leg Extensions            -          180x11      220x7       220x7

I'm still keeping my rests in between sets pretty short, usually around 60 seconds.

[boxcarguy07]

Friday July 25

I didn't go to the gym today as planned. I'm still rather sore from Wednesday (my hamstrings and my traps) and I really want to have another day of rest, especially because I'll be doing squats this next workout and with my hamstrings as sore as they are I don't think I could perform 100%. But I'll be sure to go tomorrow morning, that way I still have Sunday as a rest day before starting the week again on Monday.

On a couple side notes, I've started going barefoot as much as possible. Even just doing it the past couple days, I've already noticed a change in the way I walk. First of all, my posture is much better. And my feet feel stronger and more comfortable somehow.
I've also been reading about free electrons in the earth being transferred through our bodies through our bare feet. We miss out on this when we wear shoes, and also lose part of our "connection" with the earth. It's all very fascinating.

Secondly, I've been getting interested in Kombucha... I determined that I wanted to start taking a probiotic again (used to drink Kefir, but I've since given up dairy. Not to mention the Kefir that I drank was probably highly pasteurized, rendering it pretty much useless) and Kombucha seems like a pretty good thing. I know it's not as "paleo" as high meat, but I don't believe everything has to be paleo for it to be good. I do believe some (perhaps not many) post-paleo discoveries have been good things. But anyway, I bought some pre-bottled Kombucha to see how I like it, but I plan on culturing my own soon, as I've read that many people believe Kombucha is something to be shared, not made a profit from, and there is something very noble in that.