Week #10
I do hope that your finish isn’t the end. I hope that your finish is the start of a permanent lifestyle change.
Welcome to your final week of the 10 Week Keto Challenge – carnivore week. From Monday to Friday, you will be eating meat, fish, and other animal foods such as eggs, hard cheeses, and certain dairy products (hwc). You should only consume foods that either walked, swam, or flew at some point in time. Plant-based and processed foods are eliminated on the carnivore diet.
Refer to the end of this post for some carnivore recipes. And. be sure to take another look at the carnivore recipes from the start of the challenge.
Saturday and Sunday (on our 2 strict keto / macro tracking days), you will eat/drink anything that falls under the strict keto umbrella. You will carefully log and monitor all of our macros and calories.
If you’re so inclined, I encourage you to try doing a 9-hour eating window on your strict keto / macro tracking days. Not necessary, just beneficial!
See the post entitled: What Is Intermittent Fasting? How To Do It?
This week, the following topics will be addressed:
Ready for a repeat of week 1; carnivore week??? To refresh your memory, I encourage you to refer back to the preparation week post and reread the information on the carnivore diet.
The dairy products that you can consume during carnivore week are relatively limited – butter, ghee, hard cheeses and heavy whipping cream. Be mindful of those hidden carbs (remember labeling laws). Cheeses and heavy whipping creams are particularly good at ‘hiding’ carbs. Look for zero carb cheeses (Signature Cracker Barrel Marble Cheese from Costco is the only cheese that I use) and zero carb heavy whipping creams (I purchase Lactancia from Costco; Dairyland is also zero carb). It’s a good idea to keep your dairy product consumption as low as possible during carnivore week. Having said that, I can tell you that I consumed cheese at virtually every meal during my carnivore weeks and still lost weight.
Clearly, water is your best choice for this week. You can consume zero calorie, zero sugar, zero carb sparkling or carbonated beverages as well. If you have become water-enhancer dependent like me, look for enhancers sweetened with stevia. Coffee and tea are also acceptable to drink. Throw in a splash of hwc and, if you prefer your hot beverages to be sweet, use stevia or erythritol. Bone broth is also an acceptable drink of choice. Not only does it provide you with great minerals and vitamins, it also has a ‘filling’ effect.
Recall that the basic rule of thumb when following the carnivore diet is to eat when you’re hungry and eat until you are full. Snacking is fully permissible during carnivore week – provided that it falls into the acceptable foods category.
Here are a few quick snack ideas:
How did you do? Did you drop 5 lbs? 10? More than 10??? Or, did you remain the same; not losing or gaining? These are all successes to be embraced. Remember, we are all different and we can’t compare our weight loss to the weight loss of others.
However, the 10 Week Keto Challenge wasn’t all about losing weight. It was also about feeling better – physically and emotionally. It was about gaining some confidence and knowing that we have it within us to change our lifestyles.
If you did lose weight, please remember to look back at the ‘what have you lost’ visual in my week 7 post. In my opinion, this comparison of weight to lost to a ‘real’ object, kind of puts things into greater perspective.
The 10 Week Keto Challenge is officially over at the end of this week. Now what? Do you maintain a ketogenic lifestyle; stating with strict keto or venturing into lazy or dirty keto? Or, do you slip back into those old habits that brought us together in the first place? Do you continue to strive to do 10,000 steps each day or do you throw your Fitbit in a drawer and hit the couch? These are all things that you need to give serious consideration to.
While I hope that everyone maintains a ketogenic lifestyle, it is likely that some of you won’t. If you do decide to jump off the bandwagon, here are a few pieces of advice:
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