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I never thought it possible...but I'm losing my taste for meat. Actually the thought of eating it makes me feel gaggy. I have always been a meat eater, and would prefer it over other treats .. but now that I've been eating so much of it...it's making my stomach turn!! What to do!!

I have been VLC and eating protein every meal...a few slices of bacon with an egg for B, meat on salad for L and a stirfry or steak for dinner (with veggies)

I've also been having the paleo morning glory muffins from 'paleo comfort food' cookbook.

anyway just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what they did...

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Switch to only seafood for a while, this will make you crave beef after two weeks. I promise :) – Thomy Mar 15 2012 at 17:42

13 Answers

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Listen to your body, maybe take a break from the meat you regularly eat. Maybe take this as an opportunity to try other types of meat you don't ordinarily eat. Maybe you could try some new organ meats, duck, pheasant, quail, deer, or goat meat.

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Oh funny, I went through this exact thing about a month or so ago. Muscle meat seriously was skeeving me out something fierce. I played with different proteins and components and finally just shut down the food stress and ate what sounded good until the craziness subsided. Now I'm happily back to le muscle goodness. IMO I think I actually had a bit of a stomach bug but it was freaky.

What I ate, if it helps, were shrimp, oysters, mussels, scallops. Those nice chicken sausages that I either left in the casings or broke out and made into little meatballs/patties. Eggs. Fruit, veggies, tubers and sweet potatoes, chocolate - thank god that didn't gross me out, everything else stayed the same.

I feel for you, for reals. Good luck!

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Are you getting balanced protein?

Eggs, organ meats, bone broth, gelatin?

I imagine your body is telling you something!

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I'm a freak, I know, but the whole unlimited meat VLC was more torture to me than fun. I did it only because I believed it was the best treatment for my stomach problems. As soon as I was able to discontinue it, I did. I don't eat meat every day and I prefer certain organs over muscle meat anyway. I absolutely cannot stand the idea of eating bacon as a protein for a meal for some reason now, which is annoying. I eat a lot of fish, shellfish, salads, and various tropical starches. A favorite treat of mine is panna cotta, very lightly sweetened, made with coconut and egg yolks. Another is bone marrow salad (from Nose to Tail at Home). My normal diet is probably one vegetable meal, one seafood meal, and one meaty meal per day.

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yes! bacon! I thought it would be bliss to eat so much bacon, but the smell/taste of smoked meat is whats become especially sickening. What is in smoked meat that has now become so unappealing? nitrates? sodium? (just guessing..) – Leanne Mar 15 2012 at 16:40
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Are you pregnant? :) I met a couple paleo mommies who got this as one of their first pregnancy related aversions...

That aside, I never experience this phenomenon (hope I never do) but I'd agree with Carl and say maybe you just need to change it up a bit. If its making you nauseated, maybe not go full on vegetarian but at least add in more veggies or trying different types of meat would help. You don't specifically mention all the protein you're consuming but since I started paleo my mind was broadened to the world outside chicken, eggs, beef and fish.

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Definitely not pregnant :) 3 babies later and I'm happy to be enjoying my body as mine again :) – Leanne Mar 15 2012 at 13:28
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Lol. Just checking! I can't wait until I can have my body back to myself. :) – Susan Mar 15 2012 at 15:06
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Eat less meat perhaps? I think folks can and do over-eat on meat, because the message on paleo is often to gorge on fat (coconut oil) and meat. You don't have to eat pounds of meat daily to meet nutritional requirements, you don't have to eat coconut oil straight to consume enough calories in your diet.

Maybe ease off the VLC for a little while...

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I agree with the overboard on meat thing when going paleo, that's totally what I think I did... for one meal I had a pork chop and devilled eggs and the thought of it just keeps coming back to haunt me. The VLC has been good for weight loss, 14 lbs gone, and I can tell the inches are coming off too. – Leanne Mar 15 2012 at 13:51
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Ive just tried the VLC thing for a few days, didnt last the duration. Im not sure how you felt but i had real dizzy spells and bloating. Guess the low carb thing just isnt for everyone. Im now sticking to less than 150g a day. – robertg Mar 15 2012 at 15:17
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Leanne, I have days when I eat meals of eggs, or egg yolks, cheese, or fish. Do you eat yoghurt? I don't find it a problem to skip the beef some days.

All the best to you. :)

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I have an issue similar, sometimes I take a bite out of meat and I spit it out - my body just doesn't want it shrug That's when I've found comfort in veggie soups, or cutting back on the size of the meat and disguising it in a sea of lettuce - so it's not like I'm focusing so much on the meat. Also, do you use spices? That helps a lot for me.

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I've experienced something similar. Meat didn't make me gag, but I did get bored with it because I was eating so much.

Just abstain for awhile. I went vegetarian for a few days.

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i did keto for a month...and got sick of meat. when i came off i went on a total carb binge. a few days of this plus my normal workouts and IF and now im naturally eating more balanced than i did before i did keto (equal protein and carbs with less fat...seems to work as 10 days later i look different)

try going vegetarian for a few days like susan suggested...i ate prettymuch fruit and had like 3 eggs for a few days and now im back to normal.

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that's what I was thinking...those carbs are looking so good, but I don't wan to gain back what I've lost, as I am doing this for weight loss as well as a healthier lifestyle. – Leanne Mar 15 2012 at 13:43
You won't gain it back, and if anything you'll lean out a little bit with some extra carbs for a little awhile. Fair warning though the scale may go back up (the fat won't), but that is only become you'll be storing some more glycogen. (For every gram of glycogen you store, you store 3 or 4 grams of water with it. It adds up quick.) – e.istre91 Mar 15 2012 at 21:12
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Ancient Homo ate meat a lot less often than Paleo romantics like to (want to?) believe. They certainly did not eat it every day, much less for every meal! Lacto-ovo (or just Ovo) vegetarian might be a nice change.

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In my first 4 months I ate mostly beef but since then I have gradually reached a balance in which I eat a nice portion of meat/fish many days and no meat on some days.

I've done that because I just feel better on a wide mix of meat, fish, vegetables and fruit. My assumption is that when I started I was starved for protein but once I got caught up I settled into eating enough but not too much.

I've particularly noticed lately that sardines taste better to me than they used to; I used to eat a can every week or 2 and now they taste so good I eat 2-3 cans per week.

EDIT: I think the current appetite for sardines, and whatever meat I'll be hungry for next month, is driven by changing nutritional needs. So I try to listen and not worry about it.

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We had one week where we ate only fish. For some strange reason it made us really angry and tempers flew. It was only when we ate a steak that night that we felt calmness descend on the house again. Funny thing really, i guess the body prefers variety more than anything – robertg Mar 15 2012 at 15:19
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Yeah, even in the wild environment we wouldn't have eaten the same thing through all seasons. I really think we're wired for rotation. – Nance Mar 15 2012 at 15:47
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I've noticed this occasionally, particularly if the meat is fatty. If my body has enough fat for the day, the meat quickly becomes unpleasant. This could be possible for nutrients as well. Do a little protein fast, eat things that look good to you- which seems to work pretty well in a paleo context- and come back to meat when you are ready for it. We don't have (or want, because who wants to run the risk of starvation?) the built in fasts the hunter-gatherers had when they missed a kill, so sometimes we've just got to create our own versions.

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