Nutrition 100% Carnivore

[Michael Scott]

Interesting, my gastroenterologist and my PCM both disagree with you. As a diabetic, and someone who exercises, a gallon a day can be just the right amount, or actually not enough. So, I will have to also disagree with your diagnosis.

Drinking over a gallon of water...

It amounts to using a sledgehammer instead of a fly swatter; it is over kill.

No one need to drink that much water.

Kenny Croxdale

 

[Michael Scott]

Interesting article a friend shared with me today, regarding Diabetes and drinking water:

Water for Diabetes

How much water do you need?
When you consider that our bodies are roughly 50% (in an elderly person) to 75% (in a newborn baby) water, it makes sense that we need to replace a fair amount each day. Dr. F. Batmanghelidj, MD, writes on his site, “The Water Cure” that, “Through activities of daily living, the average person loses about 3–4 liters (about 10–15 cups) of fluid a day in sweat, urine, exhaled air, and bowel movement. What is lost must be replaced by the fluid we drink and the food we eat. We lose approximately 1–2 liters of water a day just from breathing.”

Ten to 15 cups a day may sound high, but consider that consuming caffeine or alcohol causes even more water loss. Physical activity, hot weather, high altitude, or dry air increase the need for water. So do fevers, diarrhea, high fiber intake, and high blood sugar.

Higher-than-normal blood sugars make blood thicker. Sticky blood can increase insulin resistance by making it hard for glucose to move through the little blood vessels to the cells. Drinking water may help glucose get into cells by making blood less sticky.

Doctors don’t agree on the exact amount needed — it varies from individual to individual and from day to day. You can tell when you need water in several ways.

 

[Kenny Croxdale]

Interesting, my gastroenterologist and my PCM both disagree with you.

Nutrition and Medial Physicians

Physician aren't nutritionist.

Physicians have 6 hour of nutrition.

Physicians specialize essentially in the treatment of disease. Ironically, the majority venture into area they don't belong.

A Better Source

A more qualified source would be a Registered Dietitian who specializes in Diabetes.

Water - Effect on Blood Glucose and How Much Should I Drink

How much water should we drink?

The European Food Safety Authority advises that we take in the following quantities of water on average each day:

• Women: 1.6 litres - around eight 200ml glasses per day
• Men: 2 litres - around ten 200ml glasses per day

Take Home Message

More doesn't means better.

Making Weight

Drinking a gallon of water is an effective method for cutting weight.

That is about the only benefit.

Kenny Croxdale

 

[offwidth]

Drinking over a gallon of water...

It amounts to using a sledgehammer instead of a fly swatter; it is over kill.

No one need to drink that much water.

Kenny Croxdale

I have to disagree with that one...
Endurance activities especially in hot climates, or at altitude demand this level of consumption or greater.

 

[Marc]

One thing guys:
No person on earth knows how much water should be consumed.
Recommendations like 2l/ day one gallon/day are more or less entirely arbitrary and have no basis in science/research.
So, don't feel bad if you do not hit a prescribed number.
Really it also depends a lot: there is water in the foods you eat. And a major factor is your personal water loss. Do I need a gallon of water if I lay on my couch all day long on a rainy, cold day? Def not!
The easy way: drink as you are thirsty. If you haven't drank in a while and feel a bit mentally foggy it would also be a good thing to have a glas of water but don't steess over an arbitrary number.

 

[offwidth]

@Marc
I totally agree with your comments. Water consumption is based upon a wide range of variables. Often times very condition and environment dependent.

For instance, I just did two days of approach (and retreat) from a climb. One day was 11 hrs, the next day was 12 hrs. Heavy packs. Rough trails. Well over 1,000m el gain (and loss) each day. Temperatures in the 30C range. I probably drank 4 or 5 liters each day. No small feat, as we had to filter every drop.

I lost 6lbs of weight in 2 days. I suspect mostly H2O.

Tour de France riders will consume 1 to 2 liters per hour depending upon conditions.

And then there are days I might only drink a liter or even less. It all depends.

But... you can be in for a world of hurt if you don't hydrate adequately for the conditions...

 

[Brain Ignition]

This is why carnivore diets work:

Because people stop eating foods out of a box!
It’s not that consuming just meat is good for you, it’s that all the other s*** out there destroys us, so of course cutting out all the processed junk is gonna make you healthier.

Therefore regardless of your “diet” choice this should be the number 1 priority, and you will see health improvements.

Cheers,
Chett

Brainignition.ca

 

[Groove Greaser]

This is why carnivore diets work:

Because people stop eating foods out of a box!

I absolutely agree that everyone in the world would do well to eat out of boxes less. But there are a surprising number of folks who try a paleo or keto diet and wean themselves off of processed foods - and then claim to feel remarkably better when they go full carnivore.

Caveat - as anytime discussing this way of eating, there is a dearth of scientific study, so I refer to anecdotal evidence that I've mostly collected on various carnivore facebook groups (which I study with fascination, though I don't partake in a carnivore diet myself).

I would argue there's something they remove from their diet when they go carnivore that was stimulating their immune system. This could be, as many of them claim, something inherently present in vegetables. Or it could be a pesticide. Or even some yet-unknown byproduct of genetic modification. My point is I agree that there must be some underlying mechanism, but I'm not certain it's as simple and precise (or even presently knowable) as we'd like.

 

[Snowman]

This is why carnivore diets work:

Because people stop eating foods out of a box!
It’s not that consuming just meat is good for you, it’s that all the other s*** out there destroys us, so of course cutting out all the processed junk is gonna make you healthier.

While I would agree that there is benefit in removing certain things, I would also contend that there seems to be a certain degree of benefit from high doses of animal protein and fat. Rarely are significant changes caused by only one factor.

I would also politely disagree with your statement, which I would consider oversimplification to the point of inaccuracy, as it regards to my personal experiences. I have spent the last 5-6 years making a variety of adjustments to diet and observing the results. One of the first things I did was largely eliminate processed food, and then figure out what kinds of food sensitivities I had. By the end of 2017, I had been eating a diet largely free of processed food and known food sensitivities for at least 3 years, maybe 4. I have a hard time believing that switching to a carnivorous diet had the results it did simply because it eliminated a couple of low-grade food sensitivities that I had missed. I would also like to point out, as mentioned by @Groove Greaser, my excellent response to a carnivorous diet after years of generally healthy eating is anything but exceptional.

I'm certainly not claiming to have all the answers or understand all the physiology. I'm not even claiming that my dietary practices are especially healthy for most people. I'm just saying that there seems to be quite a bit going on, and it doesn't seem all that useful to chalk it all up to one thing, especially something that only applies to a sub-group within the group being discussed (people who follow a carnivorous nutrition strategy).

I took a look at your website hoping to understand where you're coming from. Now I am simply more puzzled. If you're concerned that simplification and democratization of high performance nutrition will somehow undercut your bottom line, I assure you that people will always need guidance for performance optimization.

 

[LukeV]

The search for the optimal diet for all or some (or even one) humans is endlessly fascinating. I confess to wondering whether there is any other species that displays the same (claimed?) variability in response to different nutritional intakes. Are there, for example, cows that can't eat hay and grain but do well on the "quinoa only" diet? Inspired by this thread I googled "meat only diet" and was astounded by the people who not only claim to have survived in good health up to two decades on animal products but have the blood work and bikini photos to prove it. This is so contradictory to the public health messages of my life time as to leave me astounded but the evidence seems to support their claims

 

[Brain Ignition]

While I would agree that there is benefit in removing certain things, I would also contend that there seems to be a certain degree of benefit from high doses of animal protein and fat.

While I would agree that there is benefit in removing certain things, I would also contend that there seems to be a certain degree of benefit from high doses of animal protein and fat. Rarely are significant changes caused by only one factor.

I would also politely disagree with your statement, which I would consider oversimplification to the point of inaccuracy, as it regards to my personal experiences. I have spent the last 5-6 years making a variety of adjustments to diet and observing the results. One of the first things I did was largely eliminate processed food, and then figure out what kinds of food sensitivities I had. By the end of 2017, I had been eating a diet largely free of processed food and known food sensitivities for at least 3 years, maybe 4. I have a hard time believing that switching to a carnivorous diet had the results it did simply because it eliminated a couple of low-grade food sensitivities that I had missed. I would also like to point out, as mentioned by @Groove Greaser, my excellent response to a carnivorous diet after years of generally healthy eating is anything but exceptional.

I'm certainly not claiming to have all the answers or understand all the physiology. I'm not even claiming that my dietary practices are especially healthy for most people. I'm just saying that there seems to be quite a bit going on, and it doesn't seem all that useful to chalk it all up to one thing, especially something that only applies to a sub-group within the group being discussed (people who follow a carnivorous nutrition strategy).

I took a look at your website hoping to understand where you're coming from. Now I am simply more puzzled. If you're concerned that simplification and democratization of high performance nutrition will somehow undercut your bottom line, I assure you that people will always need guidance for performance optimization.

I think you misinterpreted my response, I’m not saying there isn’t benefit from high animal protein and fats, of course there is.
Low protein alone is likely a problem for many ppl that this “diet” fixes - simply having adequate amino acids to manufacture DNA and neurotransmitters in the brain, strengthen gut lining and really satisfy hunger goes a LONG way in improving health and making ppl feel better. You’d also get a suppression of insulin which improves a host of metabolic factors.

The point was people constantly search for that perfect diet and use the long list of options as an excuse to make no changes at all. In reality everyone who consumes a boxed diet would benefit from removing these processed foods, this isn’t a perfect diet it’s just a hugely important change.

And regarding not everyone noticing changes in response to “other diets”, well of course, just like not everyone would benefit from carnivore diet. People with APOE4 allele should not go on keto bc their cholesterol responds unfavourably. There are hundreds of other examples of gene variants which determine how ppl react to diets - which is why there is no such thing as the perfect diet.

Aswell, we develop food allergies from consuming processed foods, it’s very possible that carnivorous diet doesn’t agitate these like a keto or fatty diet would because animal proteins are not as commonly a culprit of allergies as veg. **again this is not an absolute statement there is always exceptions. But remember that veg have defence mechanisms that are triggered when we eat them - veg are good for us because they are actually bad for us, it’s hormesis, same as exercise it’s good bc it breaks us down. This is why veg are more likely candidates for immune responses.

And you’ll have to clarify what you mean by your final statement of democratization etc etc since it’s pretty unclear what point you’re trying to make.

 

[North Coast Miller]

The search for the optimal diet for all or some (or even one) humans is endlessly fascinating. I confess to wondering whether there is any other species that displays the same (claimed?) variability in response to different nutritional intakes. Are there, for example, cows that can't eat hay and grain but do well on the "quinoa only" diet? Inspired by this thread I googled "meat only diet" and was astounded by the people who not only claim to have survived in good health up to two decades on animal products but have the blood work and bikini photos to prove it. This is so contradictory to the public health messages of my life time as to leave me astounded but the evidence seems to support their claims

Many confounding factors to consider when it comes to humans and our diet. For starters we are the only animal on the planet currently that evolved entirely alongside fire to get the most out of the foods that are available.

The average person has 200 or more manmade chemicals in their bloodstream before they are even born, how many of them effect our digestion and metabolism, to say nothing of gene expression?

But people are highly adaptable and the huge variety in known means to prepare and store food means we can be healthy on pretty much any diet from all meat to all veg and everything in between as long as some thought is used in meal planning.

If you look at the historical record though, you'll find 100% veg or 100% meat is nothing that any ancestral human group survived on.

The Inuit come close but there are so many peculiarities about their diet, anatomy, and the specific meats and fats they ate you cannot really extrapolate to the average person. Stefansson could not duplicate their diet under clinical setting because he became violently ill and had to increase the amount of fat he consumed.

And then, some of the foods we digest well at one point in our lives might not be tolerated later, or the ill effects are slow and cumulative only to be revealed at some unhappy moment far in the future. Eat what makes you feel good but regard all food with a bit of suspicion. Variety is the ultimate safeguard.

 

[Snowman]

I think you misinterpreted my response,

I likely did. There was a fair amount of room for misinterpretation

The point was people constantly search for that perfect diet and use the long list of options as an excuse to make no changes at all.

Agreed.

In reality everyone who consumes a boxed diet would benefit from removing these processed foods, this isn’t a perfect diet it’s just a hugely important change.

Agreed.

And regarding not everyone noticing changes in response to “other diets”, well of course, just like not everyone would benefit from carnivore diet.

Agreed.

it’s very possible that carnivorous diet doesn’t agitate these like a keto or fatty diet would because animal proteins are not as commonly a culprit of allergies as veg. **again this is not an absolute statement there is always exceptions.

Agreed.

And you’ll have to clarify what you mean by your final statement of democratization etc etc since it’s pretty unclear what point you’re trying to make.

Of course. It was really just a little extra manipulation to draw out a more complete statement. You sell things. That makes you and your beliefs inherently biased and, in my mind, potentially suspect. Even more suspect than the opinion of a salesman in general, is the opinion of a salesman regarding something that could possibly increase or decrease sales. I wasn't sure exactly what your opinion was, but since this thread touches on some of the same things you deal with in your business, I presumed you might have some kind of vested interest. Based on what I see on your website, and the more complete response you have provided, I think I can safely say that we are of a similar mind in many/most respects regarding nutrition. Moving forward, I will likely regard you with little more suspicion than I reserve for anyone else I meet on the Internet, and I look forward to seeing what you have to contribute

 

[paleo lifestyle]

Brian aka "snowman"

Loved reading the whole thread; I'm about 2 months in the carnivore diet; recently added in some dairy (heavy whipping cream and cheese) and it's not been good. Achy, sore, cloudy headed, and tired...then again, probably because I'm overdoing it by doing excessive HWC in my coffee and a ton of cheese in my meals...irregardless, I'm not felt better, stronger, leaner, more clear...question I have for you is centred around coffee consumption. Do you drink it? I seem to use it as a clutch. I can drink pots of it int the morning/day and it'll help me stay fasted. I train and lift around 5am, usually fast until dinner time as I have a 8-4 job.

What's your experience been around caffeine and coffee?

And with dairy?

 

[Brain Ignition]

Brian aka "snowman"

Loved reading the whole thread; I'm about 2 months in the carnivore diet; recently added in some dairy (heavy whipping cream and cheese) and it's not been good. Achy, sore, cloudy headed, and tired...then again, probably because I'm overdoing it by doing excessive HWC in my coffee and a ton of cheese in my meals...irregardless, I'm not felt better, stronger, leaner, more clear...question I have for you is centred around coffee consumption. Do you drink it? I seem to use it as a clutch. I can drink pots of it int the morning/day and it'll help me stay fasted. I train and lift around 5am, usually fast until dinner time as I have a 8-4 job.

What's your experience been around caffeine and coffee?

And with dairy?

I just want to clear up a common confusion - if you are consuming coffee then you are not technically fasting. Since coffee goes through the liver and starts our "metabolic clock" effectively ending all the physiological responses to actual fasting. That's not to say you are getting SOME of the benefits of fasting by doing a "coffee fast", you certainly are, just not as much of the benefit as a true fast would give you.

If you aren't using grass-fed pastured dairy you might want to try this, it is common for people to react to 'traditional' dairy but not the real stuff. Likely due to processing removing some of the proteins and enzymes and subbing in fillers that agitate our gut and immune system.

Using minimal caffeine is a win for everyone in the long run

 

[Brain Ignition]

I likely did. There was a fair amount of room for misinterpretation


Agreed.


Agreed.


Agreed.


Agreed.


Of course. It was really just a little extra manipulation to draw out a more complete statement. You sell things. That makes you and your beliefs inherently biased and, in my mind, potentially suspect. Even more suspect than the opinion of a salesman in general, is the opinion of a salesman regarding something that could possibly increase or decrease sales. I wasn't sure exactly what your opinion was, but since this thread touches on some of the same things you deal with in your business, I presumed you might have some kind of vested interest. Based on what I see on your website, and the more complete response you have provided, I think I can safely say that we are of a similar mind in many/most respects regarding nutrition. Moving forward, I will likely regard you with little more suspicion than I reserve for anyone else I meet on the Internet, and I look forward to seeing what you have to contribute

Looking forward to contributing!
I would say my only bias is towards evidence based information!
Cheers

 

[Snowman]

Achy, sore, cloudy headed, and tired...then again, probably because I'm overdoing it by doing excessive HWC in my coffee and a ton of cheese in my meals

No fun. I seem to do alright with dairy, but I definitely notice that I don't feel quite as good (less energy and mental clarity) when the dairy consumption climbs too high. I think most people generally do better with cultured dairy (cheese, yoghurt) than with the "straight from the cow" stuff like milk and cream. I've heard of some people doing well on unpasteurized, non-homogenized milk, but never tried it myself.

Is there any particular reason you're hitting the dairy hard, or do you just like it?

What's your experience been around caffeine and coffee?

I drink coffee pretty regularly, but mostly because I like the taste. I don't miss it if I don't have it, unless I did something unwise the night before that messed with my sleep. I'm currently checking to see how much of an increase in blood pressure it causes me, and if it's causing as much of a jump as I think it might be, I'll dial it back a bit more. No reason to be hypertensive for a third of the day just for a tasty drink.
I see coffee as a useful tool and a nice treat, but it seems like dependence on it usually indicates an underlying issue. I see two potential issues for you:

1) Sleep. You get up in time to train at 5. When do you fall asleep (not go to bed, but actually fall asleep)? If the answer isn't 9 pm or earlier, you're probably setting yourself up for failure. Poor sleep leads to inappropriately high doses of caffeine, which leads to poor sleep, and on and on and on.

2) Fasting. If you can't fast fairly comfortably without caffeine, your body is trying to tell you something. Personally (and this is just my anecdote, so take it with a grain of salt) I had to take a break from IF when I started carnivore. I had been enjoying it for 3 years at that point, but once I made the switch I started getting hungry. So I ate. Three meals a day. Turns out, with all the extra animal protein (I assume), my body had decided that it wanted to get bigger. After a few months without much fasting, and stabilizing with an extra 7 or 8 pounds of lean mass, I went back to 2 meals a day. I know IF is super convenient, but it might be worth your time to shorten your fasting window, and pack some boiled eggs, cold steak, etc to work with you for a mid-morning or mid-day meal.

So my first and biggest suggestion would be to work on fixing your sleep. Even if you have to get blue light blocking glasses for before bed, an eye mask and ear plugs for sleeping, and tape tin foil over your bedroom windows, you need to be getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night. For now, probably closer to 9 or 10 hours, since you're likely in some sleep debt.

The next thing would be to cook extra food at dinner time, pack it to work, and add a mid-day meal. Eat it when you get hungry, whenever that is.

The bummer is that, in order to get good sleep, you'll have to stop drinking as much coffee. Limit yourself to 2-3 cups, and no coffee later than 8 am. That means the first few days are going to suck. Hard. Once you're getting more sleep and food (and cut back on the dairy), I can almost guarantee you that you will feel amazing.

Hope that helps!

 

[paleo lifestyle]

No fun. I seem to do alright with dairy, but I definitely notice that I don't feel quite as good (less energy and mental clarity) when the dairy consumption climbs too high. I think most people generally do better with cultured dairy (cheese, yoghurt) than with the "straight from the cow" stuff like milk and cream. I've heard of some people doing well on unpasteurized, non-homogenized milk, but never tried it myself.

Is there any particular reason you're hitting the dairy hard, or do you just like it?


I drink coffee pretty regularly, but mostly because I like the taste. I don't miss it if I don't have it, unless I did something unwise the night before that messed with my sleep. I'm currently checking to see how much of an increase in blood pressure it causes me, and if it's causing as much of a jump as I think it might be, I'll dial it back a bit more. No reason to be hypertensive for a third of the day just for a tasty drink.
I see coffee as a useful tool and a nice treat, but it seems like dependence on it usually indicates an underlying issue. I see two potential issues for you:

1) Sleep. You get up in time to train at 5. When do you fall asleep (not go to bed, but actually fall asleep)? If the answer isn't 9 pm or earlier, you're probably setting yourself up for failure. Poor sleep leads to inappropriately high doses of caffeine, which leads to poor sleep, and on and on and on.

2) Fasting. If you can't fast fairly comfortably without caffeine, your body is trying to tell you something. Personally (and this is just my anecdote, so take it with a grain of salt) I had to take a break from IF when I started carnivore. I had been enjoying it for 3 years at that point, but once I made the switch I started getting hungry. So I ate. Three meals a day. Turns out, with all the extra animal protein (I assume), my body had decided that it wanted to get bigger. After a few months without much fasting, and stabilizing with an extra 7 or 8 pounds of lean mass, I went back to 2 meals a day. I know IF is super convenient, but it might be worth your time to shorten your fasting window, and pack some boiled eggs, cold steak, etc to work with you for a mid-morning or mid-day meal.

So my first and biggest suggestion would be to work on fixing your sleep. Even if you have to get blue light blocking glasses for before bed, an eye mask and ear plugs for sleeping, and tape tin foil over your bedroom windows, you need to be getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night. For now, probably closer to 9 or 10 hours, since you're likely in some sleep debt.

The next thing would be to cook extra food at dinner time, pack it to work, and add a mid-day meal. Eat it when you get hungry, whenever that is.

The bummer is that, in order to get good sleep, you'll have to stop drinking as much coffee. Limit yourself to 2-3 cups, and no coffee later than 8 am. That means the first few days are going to suck. Hard. Once you're getting more sleep and food (and cut back on the dairy), I can almost guarantee you that you will feel amazing.

Hope that helps!

Righteous!!! I'll get to that right away; that's some sound sage wisdom. Thanks brother. I'll share my progress in this thread.

 

[paleo lifestyle]

I just want to clear up a common confusion - if you are consuming coffee then you are not technically fasting. Since coffee goes through the liver and starts our "metabolic clock" effectively ending all the physiological responses to actual fasting. That's not to say you are getting SOME of the benefits of fasting by doing a "coffee fast", you certainly are, just not as much of the benefit as a true fast would give you.

If you aren't using grass-fed pastured dairy you might want to try this, it is common for people to react to 'traditional' dairy but not the real stuff. Likely due to processing removing some of the proteins and enzymes and subbing in fillers that agitate our gut and immune system.

Using minimal caffeine is a win for everyone in the long run

I'm way past just stopping; I drink pots of it daily...I know...crazy, I was considering trying to keep it to just the mornings, and then go green tea and broth

 

[paleo lifestyle]

No fun. I seem to do alright with dairy, but I definitely notice that I don't feel quite as good (less energy and mental clarity) when the dairy consumption climbs too high. I think most people generally do better with cultured dairy (cheese, yoghurt) than with the "straight from the cow" stuff like milk and cream. I've heard of some people doing well on unpasteurized, non-homogenized milk, but never tried it myself.

Is there any particular reason you're hitting the dairy hard, or do you just like it?

just like it...i had it out of my diet for almost 2 months, and then brought it back in with heavy whipping cream topped up in a starbucks coffee...that was Sunday...and I'm 5 days in dairy binging on cream in my coffee and cheese on everything...definitely a trigger food for me.


I drink coffee pretty regularly, but mostly because I like the taste. I don't miss it if I don't have it, unless I did something unwise the night before that messed with my sleep. I'm currently checking to see how much of an increase in blood pressure it causes me, and if it's causing as much of a jump as I think it might be, I'll dial it back a bit more. No reason to be hypertensive for a third of the day just for a tasty drink.
I see coffee as a useful tool and a nice treat, but it seems like dependence on it usually indicates an underlying issue. I see two potential issues for you:

1) Sleep. You get up in time to train at 5. When do you fall asleep (not go to bed, but actually fall asleep)? If the answer isn't 9 pm or earlier, you're probably setting yourself up for failure. Poor sleep leads to inappropriately high doses of caffeine, which leads to poor sleep, and on and on and on.

Actually I'm up at 4...I have 2 boys under the age of 4 and and 8-4 sales job...so when I get home I want to be present for them and for my wife. Early AM is the only time I can work on personal development, growth, reading, writing, and my fitness. So yes, sleep will be become a priority.

2) Fasting. If you can't fast fairly comfortably without caffeine, your body is trying to tell you something. Personally (and this is just my anecdote, so take it with a grain of salt) I had to take a break from IF when I started carnivore. I had been enjoying it for 3 years at that point, but once I made the switch I started getting hungry. So I ate. Three meals a day. Turns out, with all the extra animal protein (I assume), my body had decided that it wanted to get bigger. After a few months without much fasting, and stabilizing with an extra 7 or 8 pounds of lean mass, I went back to 2 meals a day. I know IF is super convenient, but it might be worth your time to shorten your fasting window, and pack some boiled eggs, cold steak, etc to work with you for a mid-morning or mid-day meal.

So my first and biggest suggestion would be to work on fixing your sleep. Even if you have to get blue light blocking glasses for before bed, an eye mask and ear plugs for sleeping, and tape tin foil over your bedroom windows, you need to be getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night. For now, probably closer to 9 or 10 hours, since you're likely in some sleep debt.

The next thing would be to cook extra food at dinner time, pack it to work, and add a mid-day meal. Eat it when you get hungry, whenever that is.

The bummer is that, in order to get good sleep, you'll have to stop drinking as much coffee. Limit yourself to 2-3 cups, and no coffee later than 8 am. That means the first few days are going to suck. Hard. Once you're getting more sleep and food (and cut back on the dairy), I can almost guarantee you that you will feel amazing.

I'll work on the sleep...7 sounds doable, like Arnold, I can do quite well on less than 6, but I think it's because I keep all the other factors dialed in....

Hope that helps!