Day 23

    

      The fork in the road, as portrayed in the above image, is where I am right now. Straight ahead represents carrying on with the carnivore diet. The left turn represents going back to my old eating habits. The right turn represents a Keto diet which is the next best thing to what I am doing now, cutting carbs and sugar, but introducing other foods into the diet. 

      At this point I am not even sure if I should tough out the whole 30 days, something I promised myself I would do. Why do I say that? When I first considered this carnivore thing, I was hesitant because I used to get gout and Uric acid kidney stones. After many very painful attacks of both kinds, including a traumatic emergency surgery, I was told that I could either take a drug to  prohibit the uric acid build up in my system, or I could eliminate red meat from my diet. I chose the 'no meat' option and stuck faithfully to it for more than 10 years, having only the occasional mild gout attack. 

     To go from that, to eating nothing but meat, was making me very hesitant. I researched as much as I was able and came to the conclusion that although the chance of aggravating the situation was remote, it has happened in the rare instance. Obviously, I was willing to take the chance. 

     Early this morning, at around 3 am, I awoke with a mild ache in my kidney area. This was higher than, and on the opposite side of, my usual lower back pain, which has greatly improved in the last few weeks. Needless to say, I panicked a bit and prayed that it was not the harbinger of a full blown attack. By mid-morning the feeling subsided. Was it my kidney? It felt like it. 

     As I lay awake until morning, I did a mental assessment of where I was at with the pros and cons of the diet. There a few issues that will disappear if I go off the diet. Hopefully, the kidney stone issue. I definitely need more fiber to move things along, and I sometimes wonder if my continual cravings are my body type telling me that I am missing something that my blood type or body type need to operate optimally. The final issue that I am struggling with, I have mentioned here before. That is the lack of energy and strength. It is like I have suddenly aged a few years, because it came on quite quickly after about 4-5 days of the diet. I have noticed lately that I have been cold. I am rarely cold, especially not my legs or feet. Again, it is probably because I am not eating enough fat. 

     So here I sit tonight, at a crossroad. I had salmon tonight as it is not red meat, so I have not yet thrown in the towel. Often sleeping on problem or decision brings fresh insight in the morning. Stay tuned.