Let's get this out of the way in one note. I've failed, but so fucking what?

I'm back on the ciggies again. As of Dec, actually. Quit for about 7 months. Will quit them again, just not today.

I'm not a strict carnivore. I eat a meat-based diet, and understand that I don't need to consume anything other than meat and water to optimize health. That said, if I am in a social or family situation, I won't turn down a meat-based option if it has a sauce on it or a few small pieces of plants stuck to it. I won't eat helpings/servings of plants, and won't prepare plants for my own meals - but I've decided to optimize social aspects of my life over health.

I also have compromised with my sugar addiction. When I do my weekly shopping, usually Sunday, I often get two donuts (usually something with chocolate icing or maybe fritters), and maybe a chocolate bar. Doing this is a long way from eating pastries every day. Does it kick me out of ketosis. Probably, idgaf.

I'm not going to claim to be carnivore, ketovore, or any of the diet cults, because strict rules are not for me. I prefer to avoid things, like plants and sugars, but only as a preference, not as a rule. I prefer to eat meat-based foods, but I am not at all strict about what that means, how it was prepared, etc. I prefer to avoid seed oils, but will not have an issue if my social meal was prepared using them. I prefer to eat meata that do not have corn syrup or similar sugers added to them (wtf?), but if there is dextrose or something similar added as part of a curing or preservative process, not a huge deal - I just will eat that in lesser amounts or less often.

I discovered I could eat too much fat. For a while I was eating steaks with butter, tallow, and bacon cooked with them in an air fryer, along with all the rendered juices in the pan. That was too much, I gained back 20 lbs or so, even when being a lot more strict with everything. I still eat the pan juices, but stopped with the bacon, kept the butter, and use tallow only occasionally on leaner cuts of meat. Lost that 20 lbs again, even with being less strict now.

I'm not optimizing to lose weight, though - I really am optimizing for social situations, and for being food-optional, where if something meat based or something I want (this week, half-and-half for my coffee, a new habit I picked up), I can go without for a meal, a day, a week or more for non-meat items. 24 or even 48 hours with absolutely no food is no big deal anymore. I'm sure I could go longer, but haven't needed or wanted to.

So that's where I'm at. I'm not leading a movement, just learning what works for me.