The Paradigm Shift That Made It Stick

In my last post I told you I reversed thirty years of diabetes, lost over one hundred pounds, and got off every medication I was on. What I didn't tell you was how many times I failed before any of that happened.

When I started eating this way, it worked for a while. Then I started having trouble with my bowel movements, and I began feeling dizzy and unwell. I stopped. I assumed my body simply could not handle it, and I went back to eating the way I always had.

I kept watching videos from doctors who teach about this way of eating, and eventually the answer became obvious. I was not taking electrolytes. That one missing piece was the entire problem. It was not that this way of eating did not work for me. I simply was not doing it correctly.

I did not jump back in right away. For about a year, I studied everything I could. I kept following Kerry Mann's journey, along with a host of other doctors posting online who understood this far better than I did at the time. I was not just researching anymore. I was building an understanding of my own body and what it actually needed.

Somewhere in that year, the real shift happened, and it had nothing to do with food science. It had to do with how I saw my own life.

Being Italian, food had always meant pasta, bread, the table my whole family gathered around. Letting go of that felt impossible at first. But I finally saw the decision in front of me clearly, maybe for the first time in thirty years.

One path was to keep believing I could never eat the foods I loved, stay on medications that were not truly helping, and enjoy a wonderful dinner that lasted maybe an hour, followed by twenty three hours of not feeling well.

The other path was to eat foods like steak, pork chops, eggs, and other meats, and feel wonderful twenty four hours a day instead of just one.

Once I saw it that way, the choice was easy.

A special treat for me... A 17 pound ribeye purchased at only $14.99 per pound at Costco.

This is a rare treat for me. One thing I discovered shopping at Publix and Costco is that if you read the labels carefully, many pre-cut steaks say you must cook the meat to 145 degrees, which is basically well done. The reason is that they tenderize the meat using tiny blades that push through it, and that process can push bacteria deep inside. That's why I buy ribeye and chuck roast in large, untenderized slabs instead. I can't do this every time, but I do it whenever it's financially possible. After cutting it all up and freezing much of it, I cook it sous vide. It makes the meat incredibly tender and cooks it to the exact rare, medium rare, or whatever you prefer, no matter how long it sits in the water. I will be following up on this blog showing you exactly how this works soon. As I mentioned above, this is a rare treat. Many of my meals consist of hamburger and eggs, pork chops, and chuck roast cooked in a slow cooker. I will be showing you recipes that are very easy and very inexpensive in future blogs.

I have no desire to go back to the way I used to eat. Not because I am forcing myself to resist it, but because I finally understand what each path actually costs and what it actually gives back. That shift in thinking is what the electrolytes alone never could have fixed on their own.

If you are just finding your way here, you can read how this all started in my first post.

I am not a doctor, and nothing here is medical advice. This is my own experience, told honestly. If you are considering a significant change like this yourself, please talk with your own doctor first. Feel free to email me with questions and comments. dino@rachiele.com

Here is a video I found interesting. Kelly, diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer and over 160 tumors after her original breast cancer returned, was told she had months to live and would need lifelong treatment. After seven years of chemo and feeling miserable, she switched to a carnivore diet. Fifteen months later her PET scan was clean with no active cancer, allowing her to stop chemo; she now has high energy, is losing weight, and lives fully while planning to stay carnivore for life. This is a link to the video.

If you ever want to talk about a kitchen built around the life you're actually living, my goal has always been to design a sink that fits your lifestyle, not the other way around. You can learn more about me here.