So, the two weeks that I spent away from my normal, day-to-day life are now over. The two weeks I spent traveling and away from my daily routine are now scrapbook memories. Now I can get back to eating like I like to, not like I do on vacation.

We had a great time, we saw some things you only get to see once in a lifetime, like our toddler grandchildren. We went to great lengths, drove thousands of miles, at loads of road food. It was a terrific time, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

As luck would have it, the day that my routine returns to normal happens to be also the first day of the month. The first of any month is a great day to change something in your life that you want to keep track of. I am going to go for this month without eating any carbs. When I say ‘any carbs’ I happen to mean I won’t be eating anything where the carbohydrate in the food is the point of eating it. I will be eating mostly meat, and if I get any carbohydrate in my diet it will be incidental, like those you might find in a bunch of asparagus or green beans. I won’t be ‘counting’ carbs, because if what you are eating is mostly meat you don’t really need to count anything, it just all takes care of itself.

Eating mostly meat means that I will have to be careful to drink enough liquids to support that kind of body chemistry. Water will be sorely missed if I do not get enough of it. If I recall, the only real problem I had the last time I was on a meat only diet was getting dehydrated. Being dehydrated made my leg muscles ache, which was most noticeable at night trying to sleep.

I have a few friends that are going to be changing back to no carbs with me for the next month. We have all gravitated back to the easy way of eating in the Western Diet, not resisting the sweet and starchy things on our plates. For all of us I will restate the priorities of the things we will and won’t be doing for the next month.

1. Stay away from sugar in all of it’s forms. There is no chemical difference between honey and high fructose corn sweetener. For the first week, at least, stay away even from the natural sweets, like fruit or sweet corn. Even sweet vegetables will keep your cravings going. If you can avoid these things for just a week the cravings will dissipate, making the rest of the month much easier to bear.

2. Eat the best meats you have access to, but eating meat is far better than eating any processed foods. Don’t worry if the only thing you can get is the meat case wares at the local walmart. The nutrients in grocery store meats are far and away better than anything that is added to any processed food you can buy.

3. While we are on the subject of processed food, don’t eat anything that is not in it’s natural form. I would like to say that this includes any health powders, pills, or potions, but my dear wife would argue this point. I happen to think that if they cook it and disassemble it to give you just this or that special piece of a food that the specialness will be gone from it. Real foods contain probiotics growing right on their surfaces. Cabbage contains the bacteria that would turn it into sauerkraut, as do most vegetables. Eating them does not kill this bacteria, but cooking them does.

4. Drink plenty of water, if you have to drink any liquid that isn’t water, make it some other clear liquid, like tea, coffee or bone broth.

5. Keep notes of how you feel and your progress. When you tell other people about how you went a month without eating anything but meat its great to be able to let them know what the potential pitfalls are.

If you want to take this journey with us come back to this site and read how we are doing. We would love to hear from you, and how it is going for you, as well, so leave comments. Every one benefits from our shared experience.