Meat Aversion?

[CDiffWhole30]

I'm on Day 18, and ever since about day 10 I've had a really strong aversion to meat and eggs. I've never been a vegetarian, but I'm also not used to eating a lot of protein for 3 meals per day, so I thought it would go away as I adjusted. A week later, I'm at the point where I'm under eating because I'm so turned off by what's on my plate. It's food that I've happily eaten before, but now makes me feel nauseous to think about forcing down. I have never had loss of appetite like this, but I find myself not even feeling hungry when faced with another protein heavy meal. I've also lost my appetite for other things i enjoyed eating prior to the diet and during the first 10 days, such as cauliflower, lettuce, sunbutter, and certain spices. Has anyone else ever had this problem??

[Tom Denham]

Doing okay with meat and eggs for 10 days and then developing an aversion is interesting. I have two thoughts. One is that you are having a digestion problem and need digestive enzymes to help your body handle protein more efficiently. Are you feeling like you have a brick in your stomach? That could be food that is staying with you too long. The other thought is that your portion sizes may be too big. Are your protein portions the size of your palm in both depth and width? My palm-size is maybe 133 percent of a deck of cards. I usually eat 2 palm-size portions at a meal, but the meal template recommends eating just one palm-size portion and adding more only if you are hungry. However, your losing your appetite for a selection of veggies and certain spices doesn't really fit with either of my ideas. Hmm.

[melbournegirl]

I have seen a few people post getting bored with their meals at this stage, checking out the recipe posts usually helps in this case

[CDiffWhole30]

I have seen a few people post getting bored with their meals at this stage, checking out the recipe posts usually helps in this case

The strange thing is that, when I started out, lots of recipes sounded great, and now they make my stomach turn. It's hard to explain any better than saying nothing appeals to me- I'm not really feeling hungry, ever, and heavy food like meat when I'm not hungry is extra unappetizing. Fruit is the most palatable, but I'm trying to limit that.

The digestion problem theory is interesting. I made the decision to try whole30 because I had 3 recurrences of Clostridium Dificile within 2 months. I had previously been trying to limit fiber and load up on white bread and rice to try to control my symptoms, but I couldn't seem to re-colonize enough good bacteria to eradicate the cdiff. I had tried several courses of antibiotics. I am happy to say that my most recent test since starting whole30 was negative for cdiff, which is a huge relief, but is it possible that I have lingering digestive symptoms? I'm not feeling like I have a brick in my stomach, but I definitely don't feel hungry often, not even first thing in the morning.

[Tom Denham]

Here is an article about digestive enzymes that says more than I can: http://whole9life.com/2012/09/digestive-enzymes-101/

[PamH]

I'm on Day 18, and ever since about day 10 I've had a really strong aversion to meat and eggs. I've never been a vegetarian, but I'm also not used to eating a lot of protein for 3 meals per day, so I thought it would go away as I adjusted. A week later, I'm at the point where I'm under eating because I'm so turned off by what's on my plate. It's food that I've happily eaten before, but now makes me feel nauseous to think about forcing down. I have never had loss of appetite like this, but I find myself not even feeling hungry when faced with another protein heavy meal. I've also lost my appetite for other things i enjoyed eating prior to the diet and during the first 10 days, such as cauliflower, lettuce, sunbutter, and certain spices. Has anyone else ever had this problem??

 

 

I haven't had that specific problem, but I do obviously notice I do much, much better being vegetarian about 50% of my days.  Don't force it down.    It could also be that carb flu people talk about.  I felt like crap for 2 weeks when I went Paleo in July 2012 but did not get that same feeling when I started the Whole30 in April since I'd already restricted most carbs for a year.

 

Give it some more time.  In the meantime, keep your fat intake up and find some lean proteins that don't make you gag.  Do you eat fish?  Wild caught, Pacific salmon is wonderful.  Flank steak is pretty easy to get down as well as chicken (if you like it).  Don't stress over being vegetarian from time to time on days you just don't want meat.

 

You could also find a quality pancreatic enzyme.  You might be having some trouble digesting.  I had a prescription level one for my child (Creon) which was absolutely fantastic for his meat aversion.  He took it for 6 months, put on 6lbs (much needed), expanded his meat eating repertoire and then no longer needed it.  Not sure why.

 

Hang in there!  I hope you find some enjoyment in your food again.  It is important, I think.

[PamH]

Houston Nutraceuticals makes some superb enzymes.  Marketed toward children on the Autism Spectrum, but only because we Autism Moms have adopted Devin Houston as our personal digestive Savior!

 

http://www.houston-enzymes.com/

[eden1984]

I started experiencing the same issues about day 10.  (I'm on day 28 now.)  The foods that I used to enjoy eating before Whole30 don't appeal to me at all right now.  I'm hoping this is temporary and once I'm eating normally again those things will become appetizing again.  I too will go without eating because I feel like if I eat one more sweet potato or chicken salad I will be sick.  I'm glad I am not alone, I thought I was going a little crazy   I honestly can say that I did notice some benefits in the first 2/3 of the program but after that, I think I may be doing more harm than good to my body.  I would have stopped, but I too darn stubborn and I must finish the entire 30 days.