I'm into Day 3 of a carnivore diet. It's been remarkably simple: beef, eggs, water and when the mood strikes, a coffee. I've chosen to use coffee not as prepwork for another day, but just as a sidenote delight—take it or leave it. And I just may punt it this season.

It is good to leave the artificial sweeteners behind. Yeah, everyone is selling 0 this and 0 that, but on some level, 0 stuff does make an impact! I just don't think we can trick our bodies with mind games. We can't both experience sweetness in our mind and not in turn react to it, there's gonna be a raise in your blood glucose, thereby a raise in insulin levels and a work stoppage on fat burning.

I like my diet approach because a) there are real people who have been on it for 10+ years; b) it's remarkably straightforward when something doesn't work for it's easy to figure out; and c) it's how animals eat. I don't think tigers keep a list of nutrients and ratios to hit, so why should this Memphis Tiger be so technical?

No medication, no supplements, I just devour 2 or 3 lbs of meat and some eggs. Come to think of it, it's awfully holistic: pay attention to your appetite—it reminds me of mindfulness training. We're so...ARTIFICIAL today. Status updates, downloads, uploads, messaging—MAN, all this reminds me of my former life spent in server rooms! Where do I contact the folks that store my backup tapes offsite? It's time for a restore!

Back on point, today I woke up feeling great from my diet, drawing closer to that oh so lovely equilibrium where power meets agility. Now THAT is the feeling I want to chase in dieting. Eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full, and drop the weight.

Note: I did try eating 2 lbs of ground beef for breakfast with no eggs (saved the fat for tonight's omelet) so I could skip lunch, but I just couldn't finish in one sitting. After all, I'm not following a plan, just a feeling.

It's funny: in the past, I'm sure it would not taking much goading from someone for me to eat 1/2 gallon of Blue Bell ice cream. I TOTALLY could have knocked THAT out in one sitting despite its 2.79 lbs in weight. But, would I care to eat post-cooked 2.79 lbs of beef? Naw!

After extended thought, I've decided to allow coffee to be. If I want a cup, sure. It's not something I've gotta have, but if I'm in the mood so be it. More importantly, its application is a function of how it makes me feel.

I am resolved to evade all of that sugar-free nonsense! Gone are my days of 4-8 boxes of Jello a day or the old familiar lineup of diet drinks! I gotta admit, Mountain Dew Zero was a top shelf drink for me!

The past couple of days, I've run across Kelly Hogan, someone who has been having remarkable success on a carnivore diet. Yesterday, I watched this YouTube clip that she hosts: The 10+ year Carnivores take on: Fasting, Salt, Organs, Electrolytes, Cheating, & their Lab-Work.

I've removed all of my old content of how I approached dieting. I had this tight 995-1140 calorie per day approach, with all the RDAs locked in, a truckload of fiber, vegan approach...it was all the kind of stuff that folks think is healthy. Green tea extract, creatine, extra choline—The Vitamin Shoppe loved me! I did that along with 2+ hour daily workouts for...well, long enough to have lost 113 lbs and gain most of it back, something like 84 lbs. in what felt like a FLASH.

Looking back, it's a really DUMB way to lose weight in the long term. Since going keto in the summer and now starting my second day of carnivore now sans artificial sweeteners, I've lost 51 lbs, and feel its something I can take the distance.

What did yesterday look like? One pound of ground beef and 6 eggs for breakfast, another lb and 3 eggs for lunch, and repeat for dinner. I ate because I was hungry. Wolf am I. I heard of one strategy of 2 lbs of ground beef for breakfast so as to not fool with lunch and skip it entirely; I like that idea.

The thing I gotta keep in my mind is to EAT. In the years of 2018, 2019, and most of 2020, I had this thing where I had to eat just enough of calories to hit my RDAs, with a bagful of tricks to slip the dogs of appetite...or just rely on my willpower to make it through another night. Night after night after night down in dry county...

Should anyone be surprised that such an approach leads to a months-long derailment?

My core remains jacked up and I SO want to work the bag over again! The bruise on my middle right knuckle has just about faded away! While a few days ago, I couldn't walk a few feet without seizing up in back pain, I think I can now return to the treadmill.

I gotta train!

2021: like the Sam & Dave song goes...

Yesterday, I considered bringing coffee back into the carnivore lineup. Abandoning the trail map of all my past, resolute footsteps, I was unsure if I really wanted to leave my coffee companion behind. Yet, in that hesitant sip from a mug artfully designed with Starbuck's Memphis, I found all the reasons why I should not pour a second cup for the rest of 2020. My stomach bemoaned the bitter brew, no longer tempered by Kerrygold!

That was that, full speed ahead—so I thought. However, the end of the day marked the return of beef jerky and Diet Coke, as I fell backward off the climb. Now, you might think that this isn't a big infraction, but I'm beginning to put more stock that in how the taste of sweetness affects my mind and in turn my body. Look, there's always a balance that occurs, if my body doesn't react to sweetness than why do I want it in the first place? Payoffs gotta be paid.

Thus, today, I shake the dirt off and clap vigorously my hands together. I'm abandoning my desire for sweetness. I've got this.

2021 is coming.