Carnivore Breakfast Waffles II

This is an updated version of Carnivore Waffles, made with pork panko instead of sausage. I prefer the fluffiness of these, but the kids prefer the original version. The allulose sweetener is optional. It doesn’t do much to sweeten the waffle, but I’ve found it to be a great browning agent!

Carnivore Waffles

Animal-based waffles
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Carnivore
Keyword: carnivore, keto, low carb
Servings: 8

Equipment

  • waffle maker

Ingredients

  • 11 eggs
  • 10.5 oz pork panko or crushed bagged pork rinds
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder omit for strict carnivore
  • 1 tsp beef gelatin optional. Improves texture
  • 1/2 cup water optional, do not use if skipping gelatin
  • 1/4 cup liquid allulose optional, promotes browning

Instructions

  • Sprinkle gelatin over water and let sit to "bloom".
  • Mix panko, baking powder (if desired), and salt.
  • Whisk together eggs, gelatin, and allulose.
  • Add the dry mixture to the wet and mix well.
  • Cook, 1/2 cup at a time, in a waffle maker on its highest setting.
  • Remove finished waffles to an oven on 200˚ F to keep warm until ready to serve.

Notes

This recipe easily doubles and triples to feed a crowd.

Enjoy!

Having a Hard Time at the Fridge?

Do yourself a favor if you’re trying to go carnivore. Make a list of the foods you CAN eat. Put it on the fridge or the pantry door. Here’s my current list.

  • Beef
  • Butter
  • Tallow
  • Salt
  • Coffee
  • MCT oil
  • Bacon
  • Eggs (Chicken and Duck)
  • Sardines
  • Cod liver
  • Salmon
  • Shrimp
  • Chicken (very occasional)
  • Pork (also occasional)
  • Seaweed snacks
  • Collagen powder

You’ll note that there are some plants and plant products in mine. Those are no harm to me that I can detect, and they make things more interesting. And there’s a supplement of collagen powder that a purist carnivore would scoff at as unnecessary. We’ll talk about that later.

There’s nothing on the list that I could eat, but don’t want to, like oysters. Yuck. It’s just what I like. I can add or subtract things to it any time I want, except while hungry. Do not decide to write something on your list just because you want it right now. Only add a food once you’ve decided, rationally and not in a fit of hunger, that it will help you reach your goals.

Why make a list, though? It’s not hard to remember this stuff, is it? But you can trip yourself up looking in the fridge and thinking, “Oh, that’s pretty close to carnivore. It has honey, but honey is an animal product, so it’s fine!” or “I used to eat these and can’t remember what the harm was. I’ll just stick that in my mouth.” And the next thing you know, whatever the harm was–let’s say it was collard greens and you had anxiety and OCD within a few hours–you now remember all too well.

I find that the visual reminder helps me to not ignore my commitment in a moment of mental weakness. I’ve been carnivore for seven years now. I ought to have the perfect hang of it, and a lot of people are just perfect about sticking to it. But I’m denying myself some foods that I enjoy that are “healthy” foods. I love to eat greens! I can eat them with society’s full approval. Good girl, eating your vegetables! Sometimes it still takes a little willpower. The list gives me visual a reminder that there is a LOT of stuff I enjoy that I can reach for instead of the bad for me stuff that I’m tempted to eat.

Also, other people can see your list. If you have a nine year-old, especially, you will never be able to put a bite of food in your mouth again without realizing that somebody could catch you being this weak. “Mommy, I don’t think that food is on your list!” I don’t know if that’s a motivator for everybody, but I do not like having other people see me weak. Maybe that’s a bad thing, but I can use this character flaw to my advantage and let it help me keep to my plan.

You don’t have to do it forever. I only do it occasionally, when I’m feeling particularly weak. After holidays (because I do walk a little off the path on special occasions), or when I’ve loosened up too much with definitions (those Epic salmon strips are sweetened with maple syrup, and gosh they’re yummy!). Sometimes I have to get myself back in line. I wish we could all be Kelly Hogan, and just never look back, but some of us are a little more swayable than others.

Keep a reminder close by if you’re struggling at the fridge.

Happy New Year 2025!

Gosh, it’s time to update the narrative again.

I’ve been thinking about doing a New Year’s post for several days. I wanted to talk about resolutions, especially dietary ones, and find a way to encourage people to make the changes they’re already thinking about making. I guess it’s become a little bit of a ministry for me to tout a healthy lifestyle. So much so that I get to hear many confessions from people about their habits. They admit that they need to “go keto” or get more exercise or whatever. These are good paths for them to explore, and I really do want to encourage them, especially after the Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations, that they can and should do these things. The benefits are worth every effort!

I think it’s a fine, human thing to both mark the seasons gone by and to look ahead to the next year. No mere animal can do that. Forward and backward thinking is one mark of human ensoulment. I have grumbled at other times about the pointlessness of picking a day for everybody to get started on new habits, or ditch old ones, as if we all turned over a new leaf with the calendar page. But I can see both sides of it. If you’re not going to pick a day, you’ll never get started, will you? Why not have a day set aside for everybody to think about that?

But after a rough year–and our neck of the woods has certainly seen a rough year–, you might not be ready for any big changes, no matter how beneficial they might be. I’m certainly not.

Instead of changing things drastically, how about just doing a Narrative update?

Might take a little explainin’.

You see, we all have a Narrative we tell ourselves about our lives. Our personalities, our relationships, our routines are all kept in our minds, in a personal Story–a story only the individual and the Creator really have access to. No matter what I tell people about myself, no matter what others observe in me, my Narrative will never match theirs about me, nor will it ever be 100% true. People are inconsistent, and that’s not hypocrisy. It’s just reality. We’re limited in our understanding, and that includes how we understand ourselves.

My Narrative has been that I am a Jesus-loving, large-family mothering, homeschooling, meat-eating, fitness-interested woman of a certain age. There are other aspects to my Narrative that I wouldn’t share with anybody, that I haven’t even named for myself yet. I have a lot of growing and learning to do in all of my things, but that’s been my Story.

If you asked someone else if the aforementioned list looks correct from their perspective, I don’t know what you’d get. I know that God would know my Story better than I do. He’d have a lot of changes to make. My husband would probably add or subtract some of that list in favor of his own Narrative, which only includes me as a (very important) character. He can’t know my whole Story, and I can’t know his! He might say I’m all that, and a bag of chips, or he might notice the times I ate a plant and say “yeah, not really a carnivore”. People farther out from my life–friends, neighbors, haters–are going to have an even differenter view of my Narrative. They’re going to find all kinds of holes in me that aren’t even on my radar. That’s fine!

It’s not about making your Story line up with anybody else’s idea of you. It’s about making my actions true to my thinking. My New Year’s question–not resolution, for which I have no strength right now–, is this:

How accurate is my own Narrative compared to what I’m really doing?

Maybe you’re feeling like this year just brutally beat you up, and you don’t have the strength to throw yourself into one big resolution, or even a small one. Losing the weight, or finding more time to volunteer, or learning to play an instrument are all fine goals, but if your Narrative is out of whack, you’re not even going to start out in the right direction, let alone get anywhere.

Instead of saying you’re going to lose forty pounds, somehow, why not just do a Narrative Check-up? What is it about what you’re telling yourself (this food benefits me in some way) that is making you unable to do the thing you need to do (not eat this food)? Why not update your Narrative? This food is addictive for me, and I have to fight this addiction. You can only do something about it when you see it for what it really is. You are not a “comfort-food lover”. You are a carb addict.

This isn’t just about food, though. Interrogate yourself about every aspect of your life.

Do I love Jesus? Do I just go to church and put some money in the offering plate and sing the songs without allowing any effect on my heart? Have I lost my first love? I could remedy that by spending a half hour praying and reading the Bible every day instead of jumping straight to the internet to read the news. I could find a Bible study or prayer meeting to attend weekly. I could just ask Jesus to come closer to me, even as I am struggling to draw nearer to Him.

Or I could update that narrative and just stop pretending to love Jesus. (Oh, my heart, that hurts to even type! Whatever you do, don’t do that!) If something hurts like that, it’s a sign that you need to true up your behavior with your Narrative.

The Narrative is not false, therefore you CAN live up to it!

Or suppose my narrative is that I’m learning to play the piano. But I haven’t actually touched it in six weeks, and my progress hasn’t been good in months. Is this a chapter of my Narrative that needs to close? Am I truly a learner who’s merely hit a temporary stall? Or do I actually not have that kind of time, and lack the neuro-plasticity at my advanced age? If so, that’s going to have to be fine. I don’t like it. The Narrative said I’m a learner, and I really want to accomplish this. The Reality may be that, sadly, I am not going to be able to do everything, and this ambition has to go.

If you’ve got something like this, cut it out of your Narrative! You are not a piano player. That didn’t hurt like the last one, so it can go! And you can put that back in your Narrative any time, should circumstances change. You need to constantly update your expectations. Today’s a good day to do that.

Take account of your wins. These are the parts of the Narrative you want to really double down on.

For instance, both strength and endurance training are very important to me.

Narrative says: I work out in a systematic way, no excuses, and see continuous progress.

Reality says: I’m crushing that! I did have some setbacks, but every time I’ve had a choice, I have made that choice well. I can rest in this aspect of who I think I am right now.

Find your Narrative-busters and don’t let them get the better of you.

Narrative says: I eat only meat every day, and that feels great.

Reality says: Starting at Thanksgiving and going on through Christmas, I ate a little more “keto”, and it didn’t go so well for me.

This Narrative is still true, and the Reality, my behavior, got in the way. I still only eat meat every day, as a rule. The carnivore way of eating is an integral part of how I live. I can remedy this Narrative-buster by simply taking no action at all. It is lifting the fork that takes effort, not refusing to! That’s certainly not too high a hurdle to clear.

Fix your Narrative, or fix your Reality. Unless you want to go on lying to yourself or others, these really are the only two options. I could, instead of being true to the diet that I know works for me, decide that the square of dark chocolate is worth the inevitable inflammation it will cause. It isn’t, but those are my choices. The one choice I cannot allow myself is that of continuing after these indulgences to live out of accordance with the Narrative I know is true: Carnivore works better than anything I’ve tried.

Find these inconsistencies in your life and ask yourself “Should I change this part of my Narrative, or recommit to it?”

Is it hypocrisy I’m talking about rooting out? No, I really don’t think it is! Hypocrisy knows it’s lying, and doesn’t care. It’s just human imperfection we’re dealing with, normal inconsistency and frailty. We get so down on ourselves that we think we failed, think we’ve given up, when the truth is, we just need to get back in touch with Reality. Stop telling yourself one Story when another is more realistic.

For the world-weary, it may be better to take stock of your Self-story today than it would be to make a big commitment to one hard thing. Does it hurt to view the difference between your Narrative and your Reality? If so, you have two choices:

Update the Narrative, or change the Reality.

Keto Shortbread Christmas Cookies

Recipe first, talk later:

Keto Shortbread Cookies

An almond-flour alternative to a high-carb treat
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Course: Dessert
Keyword: keto, low carb, sugar-free
Servings: 12

Equipment

  • 2 cookie sheets
  • 2 sheets of parchment paper
  • 1 large mixing bowl

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups granulated sweetener such as a monkfruit/erythritol blend
  • 1 stick (half cup) unsalted butter room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp butter extract optional
  • 4 lg eggs
  • 4 cups almond flour
  • 2/3 tsp cream of tartar optional (makes a fluffier cookie)
  • 1/3 tsp baking soda optional (makes a fluffier cookie)
  • 1 pinch salt

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 350℉
  • Cream together the butter and sweetener. Use either a hand mixer or a rubber spatula. I find a spatula is better for this.
  • Add vanilla, eggs, and extracts, and blend well with a hand mixer.
  • In a separate bowl, sift together the almond flour, baking powder, and salt.
  • Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture.
  • Using a 2 oz scoop, form a dozen cookies per sheet, flattening the cookies with the palm of the hand (food service gloves are helpful here) or the back of a spoon.
  • If desired, top each cookie with a cherry (omit for keto, obviously), macadamia nut, or anything else you can think of!
  • Bake for 15-18 minutes, until just the edges have begun to brown. The cookies will firm up a bit as they cool. Bake one pan at a time for best results.

Notes

You can use a teaspoon of baking powder instead of the cream of tartar and baking soda. Commercial baking powders tend to use cornstarch. I have found one that uses cassava flour, as well.

I’ve shown you our adorable Advent Calendar before, haven’t I?

It’s become an indispensable tradition in our family. Some people just do a piece of candy or a small gift every day, and I have done that in the distant past. But when you are a low-sugar family, and there are eight children, that way of doing things can get unhealthy or expensive in a hurry. So I usually do activities. There is a food thing here and there, and today it was cookies!

I was going to attempt to make these traditional St. Nicholas Speculaas Cookies with a gluten-free flour, but when I mentioned that to the children, they didn’t like the idea. I think it’s OK to deviate from the plan from time to time. I’ve seen so many people stress out about putting food in their mouth that wasn’t perfect. I don’t want to see my kids with that kind of relationship with food. I just want them to know they always have a choice, and that every choice they make leads to the next one. They’ve come to understand that some foods don’t make them feel as good, even if they do provide a very satisfying experience in the mouth.

Kids want to do the best thing for themselves, if you just teach them how to think about it!

So we went to our go-to keto shortbread cookie. It really is every bit as tasty as a sugar and wheat cookie, and without the blood sugar spike and crash later on. Adding the nutmeg and cinnamon would be a very good idea, but I didn’t think to do that.

Black Bear Half Marathon Run Dump

I made it…Bearly!

It’s been more than a week since the half marathon in Hendersonville. I am sorry I took so long to update, especially to those friends who funded my run. You’re going to hear all about it now!

Pic from my hometown on Sept. 27, 2024 stolen from Bluegrass Life https://www.facebook.com/bluegrasslife/

As you all know, our beautiful mountains took a hard hit from hurricane Helene in September.

The half marathon (that at the time I was pretty confident I was ready for) was rescheduled for a month later, on November 10. I was determined to show up for this race, even though I had lost a lot of training time to the circumstances. Come Hell or high water, and the Good Lord willing, I was going visit Hendersonville and turn out in support of this beautiful community. The people in these mountains, including myself, are in desperate need of a little normalcy and fun. So I bought a neat tee-shirt to express my feelings on the matter…

…and I toddled my slow, unprepared butt on down the mountains past Asheville to run that race!

There were some challenges, of course. There always are, right?
But extra ones, this time. For one thing, I had only had four training runs between the day of the hurricane and the day of the race, a total of maybe 30 miles in the month. I spent some days shoveling mud, some days volunteering at donation sites, some days delivering supplies, and of course I still needed to take care of my own family. My community and family needed me far more than I needed to be out running. Don’t take this to mean that I was being some kind of hero or martyr. I did not do enough, and I’m not done yet! I truly wish I had done more even now, and there are a lot of actual heroes around here who deserve all the praise. I’m a very minor player, I promise. I’m only telling you this because that was how I’ve had to spend my time, rather than running. 

This is my shovel. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

For another thing, I apparently caught a bug of some kind. Maybe I poisoned myself mucking around in contaminated flood mud, maybe I was just stressed out, or maybe I caught what the kids next door had. Whatever it was, I had been feeling nauseated and unwell for the past two weeks, at that point. (I’m mostly better now!) I really didn’t know if I was going to be able to finish this run at all. I tried to keep upbeat about the whole thing, but I was feeling pre-defeated on the drive down.

Though it sounds ridiculous, the worst thing, the one thing in all this that made me almost literally cry?

I packed the wrong socks.

When I was packing for the trip, I honestly just couldn’t get my mind clear on what I was even packing for. Something about a race? Seriously? Now? I managed to grab most of what I needed. At least I packed the right shoes. But I forgot many of the obvious things that one would normally would take on an overnight trip: toiletries, pajamas, laptop, emergency cash. I just didn’t have my head in the game at all.

If you’re a runner, or you know a runner, you likely know what a sinking feeling I had when I opened up the bag of running gear that Sunday morning and saw that I’d grabbed toe socks instead of the conventional socks I normally run in. The only other socks I had were even less likely to benefit me, so I put on the stupid socks.

This was a “can I even make it?” kind of run. As you know, I’m not the fastest, nor will I ever hope to be. But I enjoy the mental and physical challenge of running. I did think there was a chance I’d be close to dead last under these conditions, if I made it at all. But I really didn’t want to have to write that up for all the friends who helped me get here, so I went out there determined to just puke and run, puke and run, if that’s what I needed to do.

Praise the Lord, I can actually say “Yes! I made it!” I came in 249th out of 289 finishers. I am not proud of this, but it is what I could do that day. I didn’t even puke!

First goal cleared!

Black Bear Finisher Medal and number bib

Half Marathon box checked!

I had some other goals that were a little less important on this run. But they were more firm, and honestly more likely to fail, I thought. I wanted to beat both my 5k and 10k personal bests in the first miles.

Second and third goals cleared, as well! This, I am proud of! Of course they’re not pro numbers, but they are getting better all the time, and I think I’ll have actually respectable speeds soon.

The one goal I did not meet, of course, was the half-marathon time goal. It was, in a word, abysmal. I had wanted to keep around a 12-minute pace for every mile, which would have put me around 2.5 hours at the finish. That was a modest goal, I thought. I do sincerely, and hopefully without fooling myself, believe that I could have done that back in October, when the original race was scheduled. My training was planned and executed well until September 27th.

I actually kept my planned pace pretty well–though widely varying between 10:30 and 12:30 each mile because I wanted to meet those early speed goals–until about mile 10, when my right foot started to feel the insult of having the toes wrapped individually instead of all in a bundle. I had no choice but to walk a good deal of the last 3 miles. I could still jog a little, but then I had to walk some more. I watched about 50 people of whom I’d felt confident I’d seen the last pass me. I was encouraged by many sweet souls telling me how great I was doing, but I was not. I was not doing great at all.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been that mad at myself. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I know, it’s just an amateur race and I’m nobody to be taking anything that seriously. But this just sucked, ok? I am not angry at myself any more, but at the time, I just could not believe what I’d done there.

But I did finish. 

And after I finished, I showered, rested an hour or so, and then smashed this beautiful steak and eggs:

Don’t mind the green stuff. I didn’t eat that.

Thanks again, so much, for supporting this run, friends! I pray for each and every one of you to be rewarded tenfold for your generosity in giving to my gofundme. God bless your generous spirits! There will be more races!

Yet Another Update on the Black Bear Race

Grrrrrr.

I just updated my previous update with some new information, to wit: (The) travel insurance was, as insurance usually is, too tricky in its terms to be of any use to me. While it would have covered my being unable to get there because of a hurricane, they refused to cover my not needing the room due to a hurricane. I have all sorts of words not fit for print right now. I’m out the money my backers sent me for the room, and will have to start driving around 4:30 a.m. to make it for packet pickup. But I will go!

I am incredibly sorry to all of my GoFundMe givers. I probably should have waited until closer to the race to book the room. Next time I won’t plan so far out. I will still be doing that race!

Black Bear Half Marathon Update

 

New Run Date!

The Black Bear Half Marathon has been rescheduled for November 10th!

I said I’d do it, and I’m going to do it. Lord willing, etc., etc. I am under-trained at the moment because the hurricane aftermath made running just a little bit difficult. First, I didn’t want to sweat too much without showers available. Then I didn’t want to try to go fast on roads covered in debris and gravel. And then I just had to admit, when those excuses were used up, that my heart was just breaking for the people who’ve lost so much. I didn’t feel like running. Besides, there were better uses in the community and at home for my energy.

And then I caught a cold or something, I think while mucking about in flood mud. I’m on about day 6 of that, and feeling like I might be all better tomorrow. The very minute I feel like I can do it without setting myself back, I’m going to get back on the road again. I’m a little bit panicky, because I have less than a month to be ready for the challenge. Fortunately, it hasn’t been that long since I ran–only a couple of weeks and change, though it feels like a lot longer–so hopefully I haven’t lost too much ground.

Pray for me and wish me luck, friends! I’m already daydreaming about crossing that finish line with some PRs to brag about!

My GoFundMe is still up if you want to help pay for the trip! I am funded, as explained here, but could still use the extra scratch for training and travel incidentals.

Black Bear Half Marathon Funded

Get ready, Hendersonville! I’m coming to run ya!

I’m tickled pink that 17 donors have made it possible for me to go to the Black Bear Half Marathon without dipping into the family funds. I felt a little bit delicate about asking, because it’s a want, not a need. But it’s something I want to do so badly that it is worth the hit to my pride.

I didn’t talk about it here when our septic system failed last year. We had a uniquely bad situation because of the age of our house and the steepness of our lot. It took nearly $30,000 when all was said and done. That’s not to mention the several months of having to dump used water outdoors, take very short showers, wash clothes at the laundromat, etc. Many of the costs were not in the repair itself, but in the things we had to do to adapt to the situation and clean up the lot afterwards.

Praise God, we managed to do it without debt and without losing our minds! But, as you can imagine, we’re still scrimping and saving to refill the hole that left in our emergency and other funds. That means we haven’t had much extra for unnecessaries like travel and athletics.

Your kind help means the world to me, friends! I will be praying for each of my donors by name during my run. If that sounds weird, you probably don’t run a lot. The mind goes all over the place. It’s part of why I run. I often use that peaceful time to talk to the Lord! I’m going to write their names down and pin them somewhere to my clothes so I don’t miss anybody. May the Lord richly reward their kindness!

If you’re feeling bummed that you didn’t get a chance to donate, there is still time. I’m going to leave this fundraiser open, because there is ALWAYS more I can do with it. I’m a sucker for technology and shoes, we’ll need to buy meals while we’re traveling, and GFM takes a fee off the top, so every little bit more helps keep my fun from burdening my family.

Thank you again, so much!

Your Kids Eat Carnivore, Too?

Why, thank you for asking!

Yes, they are eating in a way that is known as hypercarnivore. But they are not hyper carnivores. They’re very chill.

First, let’s define that new word. The Carnivore Diet, the way I’ve come to use the term, is not exactly what we’re talking about here. Most of my children lack the gut damage and medical conditions that forced me to remove all plants (some of which I miss very much) from my diet, so we have a more relaxed approach to their food. But they’re still living the Meat Life™, and doing very well on it!

From the Infogalactic entry for hypercarnivore:

“A hypercarnivore is an animal which has a diet that is more than 70% meat, with the balance consisting of non-animal foods such as fungi, fruits or other plant material. Some examples include felids, dolphins, eagles, snakes, marlin, most sharks, and the GAH children.”

I may have made up part of that definition.

My kids are more carnivore than even that, though. I guess about 90% of their food is meat, fish, dairy, and eggs right now. One of them is almost 100% carnivore due to IBS. A few of them don’t tolerate dairy. They all know their own unique quirks, and as long as they eat their meat, I’m flexible on the other stuff.

I posted a meal plan a few years ago when someone asked if I fed my kids a carnivore diet. I had not yet fully applied my new way of thinking about food, and the family were still eating a high-carb (by my current lights, anyway) diet most days, though I did consider it to be carnivorish. Even then, I think it met the strict criteria for hypercarnivore. It didn’t meet my current standards, but we were moving in the right direction.

These days, my children eat all of the meats, and a limited selection of fruits and vegetables. I allow fruit once a day, and a sweet potato every now and then, but other than that, high-carb foods are out. As much activity as these children get, the amount of sugar in what I do allow them is still very low. Seeds and nuts are allowed, but limited. Grains and beans are not in our pantry, but at church functions, or friends’ houses, we will make a few exceptions for the sake of being social. Gluten is verboten, no matter where we are. Likewise, seed oils.

Parents, you don’t have to feed your kids junk food and “kid food”. They don’t need to eat what everybody else eats to be happy. In fact, what nearly everybody else’s kids are eating is making them unhappy. I was just making lunch for my family after a busy school day, and it was 2:30 p.m. before I got it on the table. We do that almost every school day, because I have seven children to homeschool, and we don’t want to interrupt our school day with food. We’re concentrating–something that a whole lot of people are unable to do simply because of their food choices.

How many Standard American Dieters, even if they try to keep it clean, organic, and “healthy” can say that their children go until 2:30 or even 3:30 in the afternoon without begging for food and getting hangry? Because my children are on a low-carb diet, they have very steady blood glucose, and very steady moods. They have breakfast at 7:30, and they are finished eating until whenever the food can be ready. They are extremely flexible, and I never hear a word about how late the food is.

When I think back to how hungry my children–especially the smaller ones–used to be between meals, and how cranky they would get, I am appalled that I let it go on that way for so many years! I just didn’t realize it could be any other way. I’d have to give them a snack mid-morning just to hold them until lunchtime, usually at noon. Then they’d want another snack while dinner was cooking. Nowadays, nobody is ever hungry around here at noon!

I thought 3 big meals and 2 snacks a day was normal! While it is common, it is not normal. It is a highly disordered food culture that has children eating every two and half to three hours, right up to suppertime, and sometimes even another snack right before bed. We still have three meals, most days, but only two of them are big meals, and the third will be a quick, small one of cold cuts, leftovers, and berries. Sometimes dinner (it’s called supper, if you’re one of ourn) is our biggest meal, but I usually try to do the biggest feed in the middle of the day, so we’re not eating a lot near bedtime. This meal timing helps our sleep, in addition to giving us extra time in our day to work.

Do you want to have hypercarnivore kids, too? I really think you should! Healthy kids are happy kids. Many, many of our family’s behavioral and supposedly untreatable health and brain problems just vanished into thin air with a better way of eating. I don’t want to talk too much about my kids’ personal challenges, but even difficulties as intractable as autism and IBS can be mitigated greatly with a high fat, low-carb diet. If you’ve ever been unable to get your child to smile and make eye contact with you, you know what it would mean to have those things all of a sudden. This is precisely what happened with one of ours! Please try it and see for yourself, parents! It’s worth the time and effort.

I would dearly love to see more children healed in body, mind, and soul.

If you’re trying to move your children to a more appropriate diet than the standard fare, it is wise to change diets slowly to avoid upheavals, both digestive and emotional. Take half a year or a year, not a month, to wean off all the bad stuff. Start with the worst foods (usually grains and added sugars) today, and eliminate the lesser offenders later, one at a time, after your child is used to thinking differently about food. It worked beautifully for my family!

Don’t fret about the time lost. Just work your way out of the mainstream food habits a little bit at a time.

Let me know if you have questions. I love to answer them, free of charge. I also offer half-hour coaching sessions via Zoom where we can talk about ideas for making your lifestyle healthier. Email me if you’re interested! My address is cindy at getalonghome dot com.