Just starting Carnivore - suddenly feeling repulsed by meat / or even perhaps all food

(Mazzy ) #1

I’ve been following a Keto WOE since Dec 2018 (and have been on a journey of cutting out sugar, gluten and then carbs for several years before that). By now, I’m pretty certain I should cut out dairy too (I totally have that addicted feeling about it, and often get itchy/spotty/rashy skin after eating, it definitely makes me gain weight and I’m pretty sure both dairy and red wine are not doing my sinuses any favours) and I’m not sure about how well I do with eggs. So, I’ve been looking at trying Carnivore as a way to both, really test this, and take things to the next level.

I’m quite fascinated by the health benefits that others report on Carnivore and feel seduced by the simplicity and ease of meal choices and preparation. I have also not reached the feeling of having energy or a clear/bright head so far with Keto or any real weight loss (I did experience both several years ago after a 10-day water fast, so I know what to aim for, but am not there yet!), so I’m hoping Carnivore will help me get there.

Since starting Keto, I’ve been increasingly drawn towards eating a much greater variety of meat. I am a former Vegetarian, one that was grossed out by eating meat and hated the taste, texture & gristly bits (bacon was my absolute most detested type of meat, closely followed by lamb - haha how things change!). I could only eat chicken breast for many years after stopping being vegetarian, but now I am much more open to trying anything. I think my stomach is slowly winning over my brain in the being grossed out by fat / enjoying fat department. It’s been interesting to gradually try new types of meat and actually really enjoy them (did somebody say chicken hearts?!).

I am currently at around day 5 of moving towards Carnivore. I have found myself wanting to drink way too much Almond Milk (like a litre a day). It is literally the only thing I want to ingest, so I’m trying to stop that! But the main issue is that I am feeling totally repulsed by everything else (it might not even just be meat - but since meat is what I’m focusing on eating, it feels meat-driven).

Normally, I love to drink bone broth straight from the fridge. I literally cannot stomach the thought of it at the moment. I’m finding beef particularly revolting to think about eating. (Up until now, ground beef has been one of my go-to fav things to eat). I’ve been able to get down some pork-belly (the meaty bit rather than the fatty bit) and a can of tuna (totally doused in ACV), but I would say the experience of eating was more about getting something down without experiencing total revulsion.

This morning, I tried some cottage cheese (normally, my most favourite thing EVER) and felt grossed out by that too - I think to do with the fact it has come from a cow… But, even the thought of an avocado or anything really is just not appealing at all atm…

I think part of it is that I’m working very long hours just now. I leave for work at 6:30am and often return after 10pm (7 days p/week - sometimes it sucks having your own company!). I don’t want to eat super-early or late, so I’ve been getting up early, frying some meat (eg pork chops, steak, home-made burgers or meatballs) and taking them into work to eat cold (gross). It feels as though there is nothing enjoyable about eating like this. When I get super-hungry I can force down a few bites, but then I literally cannot face the thought of eating more.

Perhaps this is the ideal time to try an extended fast… However, with the long hours at work, during a very stressful period, I’m not sure it really is a good time…? I am also absolutely and utterly exhausted every minute of the day. Literally, I could lie down on the floor and sleep at any point - even right after waking up in the morning. I suspect I need to eat more, so I’m worried that meat/food are grossing me out.

(Re fasting in general, I have done a 91 hr and a 44 hr extended fast this year and tend to IF most days 16:8, 20:4 or omad - normally due to not having time to eat! Sometimes, I drink red wine late evening or coffee with coconut milk early morning so, therefore not really fasting)

If any of you have any pearls of wisdom to throw my way, it would be very much appreciated! Thank you!

Edited to add: I am a 43 yr old female, 5ft6, 82kgs/180lbs (down from 93kgs/205lbs a few years ago - keto has enabled me to maintain rather than lose).
I usually exercise several times p/week (swimming, rowing, running, yoga) but for the last 3-4 weeks, work has been too intense and I don’t have the time. I’m on my feet most of the day.
NSVs include much thicker hair, a few grey hairs that were coming seem to have disappeared (yay!), better sleep, reduced cravings, better food control, feeling more ‘in-tune’ with my body’s needs, slightly better skin (still room for improvement!) and a slightly flatter stomach (again, much room for improvement!)

#3

Longer post so I hope I don’t make some mistaken points here LOL

It sounds like you should stay with keto. Why leave it? All you have to do is clean up the keto tightly. Drop dairy since it is so bad for you. Drop the red wine for a bit and let the body rest from it. Drop the eggs. Stop guzzling almond milk LOL and eat more real foods.

Once you are on a very tight cleaned up keto menu plan…slowly start adding more meats with your salad and veg options you do like. When you get a chance off work, make some different meats and experiment and find what you do like.

Do not forget about seafood if you can handle it and like some of it. Great protein vs. red meat etc. I eat a lot of seafood and love it.

Going Carnivore sounds like it would be a nightmare for you…why do that to yourself.

I would focus on Keto and make it all it can be for you and not against you. I think you would do very well since you have had good results.

I am Carnivore. I am a true meat eater and lover. So I run to this eating plan easily. I jump in with gusto. Your revolution you posted, I would play in my keto lane for a bit and be the best darn keto person I could be and have eats that are more acceptable to you. You have that choice to build your own darn best keto eats for yourself.

best of luck to you. let us know how things change for ya!

(hottie turned hag) #4

This coupled with your new, pretty strong (even your favorite cottage cheese you said) food aversion makes me think underlying health issue or an early pregnancy.

I’d suggest a fast of 48h, then slow food reintro of simple things: eggs, chicken breast (not fatty I know but easy on the gut), avocado, easy to digest things one by one over a few days.

If the aversion persists after that I’d visit a doc.

#5

I don’t understand why you force something that can’t seem to work, not yet, at least.
Maybe you are a bit sick now. Maybe it’s in your subconscious or something, your mind got cold feet? I don’t know, human psyche is so complicated, I totally can imagine some part of you fight with your decision. But I easily can imagine it’s just not for you physically. You can skip dairy and eggs without going carnivore, there are so many other things to eat.
You tried it, I think it was a nice idea but it doesn’t seem to work. Add other items but no red wine, dairy or eggs (or only a little if you really feel the need) if you suspect they are bad for you.
Maybe carnivore will be your future at some point, who knows? But don’t force yourself into it now. Slowly ease into it if it keep sounding a good idea for you. But it’s fine to do a different type of keto, find you sweet spot.

Fast sounds a good idea unless you have no energy after eating not right for days. Do until it feels right (if it works well in your case, some people overdo it). I definitely would do real fasting to maximize the benefits.

(Rebecca ) #6

I was going to say the same thing, but I didn’t want to be assuming!

#7

Not being female there may be things going on I can’t fathom: y’all have always been a source of mystery, wonder, and amazement to me.
Anyway, I agree that carnivore is not something you should force upon yourself. I started and stopped a couple of times myself. I noticed that over time my diet was naturally progressing towards meat as if my very DNA were pushing me along. Not everyone has this and not everyone should go carnivore. If you think it might work for you in the future then slowly work up to it.

I was actually vegan/ vegetarian for a couple of years and for me it was not good. Not good at all.

(Mazzy ) #8

Thank you all so much for your time, thoughts, wisdom and kind words. Very thought-provoking :slight_smile:

@barefootbob

That is EXACTLY how I have been feeling for the last few months! The very thought of going Carnivore would have been laughable/incomprehensible to myself several years ago, but I feel like it is somehow calling me at the moment.

But as @SkyStars said “Repulsion is a pretty clear signal that you are for some reason doing what you don’t want to do”, so I was feeling worried something was not right. But, when I examined my revulsion, it felt the same towards avocados too - so I think something else might be going on. As @Shinita mentions, maybe something subconscious…?

@Fangs

You are absolutely right! I’m going to try Shrimps and Salmon today :slight_smile:

And I love your comments about being the best person you can be and building the best eats for yourself <3 Very lovely and positive attitude and outlook! :heart_eyes: :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: Thank you!

Haha! @BlueViolet any pregnancy would have to be very much in the immaculate department :rofl: (although, weirdly, it did also cross my mind!) But I’m going to try your suggestions of a 48hr fast as I have a feeling I’m somehow ‘ready’ to fast at the moment. I have finally woken up starving though, so I will eat well today and then start a fast!

I’ve decided to try a different approach today (I also feel very different today - I went straight for a glass of bone broth when I woke up and it tasted great! :blush: ) I’m going to try eating right when I get up and cook - I think meat is so much more appetising when freshly cooked than covered in cold, congealed fat several hours later. If I could figure out a timer/delayed-start oven function, that would be a game-changer!

My current thoughts:

  1. During changing to Carnivore, perhaps your body/hormones/microbiome undergoes some changes and I had wondered if this meat/food aversion/revulsion might a ‘stage’ that people go through when transitioning to Carnivore? Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

  2. I think whatever I eat/drink first in the day, sets the ‘tone’ for my hunger/taste buds. If I drink eg Almond Milk first - I want more of that, but if I drink Bone Broth first, I want more of that! I’m going to experiment with eating meat/fish first and see if that works too!

  3. Maybe this is what non-addiction to food feels like somehow. Maybe hunger somehow changes on Carnivore? I feel like, all of a sudden, I might just need to eat a lot less. Maybe I need to feel REALLY hungry before I try eating. Other, more general feelings of hunger might just be the clock or other ‘less-real’ forms of hunger. How much meat are people generally eating on Carnivore? I seem to be maxing out at around 500g/1lb p/day in 1-2 sittings. I was thinking this was too little - but maybe it’s fine?

  4. There is certainly an area to be explored that lies between meat-based keto (no dairy, no eggs) and pure Carnivore. At the moment, I feel very strongly drawn towards pure Carnivore. I would very much like to commit to it for a while (2-3 months) to see how I feel. The transitioning period is likely to have challenges, but I guess I was not expecting food/meat-aversion to be one of them!!

  5. One of the main things I’m struggling to balance is ‘Eat when you’re hungry’ and the ‘Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail’ conundrum of prepping food that’s ready for that elusive time when you may or may not be hungry much later in the day… :face_with_monocle: What kind of Carnivore foods do people prep to eat later cold?

(Troy) #9

^^
This
Dairy, alcohol, eggs and nuts
The not so FANTASTIC Four🤣

For ME at least🙂

In addition, you can experiment w eliminating and changing the above?

Good luck

(hottie turned hag) #10

Yes! This is an excellent approach!

I call what I do, “almost carn”.
I have just meat eggs and butter BUT some limited veg: cabbage, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, olives and I use a lot of deli meat. No cheese as it stalls me and causes cravings.

#11

I’ll try to tackle your questions :wink:

Usually when starting Carnivore people don’t get meat repulsed. They want the meats. But during Carnivore many start to say, omg I can’t eat any more hamburger or will puke. I can’t touch another steak. The fat is making me sick. For me I went in loving meat tho and I had no troubles til later in the change for me I truly dropped some meat and added more seafood etc on how I felt that day.

Just be careful not to drink your food. Carns need the meat, sometimes people have the bone broth etc. and it takes their hunger a bit and they really should think food before broth.

Setting your tone for the day. I get this. If I start the day with a more snack food like a ton of bacon then I want less heavy meat thru the day, like ribeye. Nope, don’t want it, I want things like slices of salami, lighter chicken, shrimp. But if I hold til later and start the day with a ribeye steak, then I tend to eat more heavier food thru the day, so yea, I kinda get seeing this happening in a way.

Oh yes your hunger will change. No doubt about that. Getting into a very deep keto state you will truly not be hungry. You will be in a very easy calm of not requiring food. This might unnerve people sometimes because we are used to ‘needing something’ and we really don’t and it messes with your brain a bit. In Carnivore it is said do not eat til you really want it. This is good to go by.

Normal is about 2 lbs of meat per average person. Depending on who this is it can easily be 1 lb. or 1.5 lbs…later in the carnivore changeover…it is best to eat a pretty good bit, you know, til you are really full and satisfied. It is fine to eat less. Absolutely. Just follow your hunger. If hungry eat. Never deny that. If not hungry, let it go and wait til you are.

If you want pure carnivore then you go for it! I got your back on that LOL and we have a 90 challenge running so that is good over in the carnivore section.

I am so picky. I like hot food. I am not a cold fat eater. I like all my food cooked fresh. But for things in the fridge you can do a few that you might like…peel and eat shrimp cold are good, hard boiled eggs, deli meat, any and all meats you might be ok with cold…like I only eat a very few leftover. reheated ribs are fine with me. reheat meatloaf is ok. others things nope. Prep to eat cold goes by your personal choices.

hope some of that helps :slight_smile:

(Edith) #12

I was wondering if you might have the stomach flu or maybe some food poisoning.

Also, I did a carnivore trial for a while and my body did have to go through an adaptation phase even though I was already keto. My appetite also went way down at first. I also found carnivore allowed me to go longer between meals than keto. Just like when starting keto, don’t force yourself to eat. Just wait until you’re hungry.

(Bob M) #13

I actually get the opposite, where I’m hungry but can’t eat any more meat. And I’m about 90+% meat, usually have zero or little veggies at lunch, and some at dinner (which is often out of my control). At this point, I fail to know what to do.

For instance, lunch today is beef flap meat + beef sausage + cheese (Humbolt fog and/or blue cheese, for K2), and some olives. Dinner will likely be pork belly + mustard. May or may not have veggies, depending on what’s at home. Tomorrow, will likely have chili for dinner, and similar lunch.

(Elizabeth ) #14

I’m not sure how something is out of your control, you can control putting it in your mouth and swallowing :slight_smile: I’m not being sarcastic I just don’t understand your reasoning

#15

Why am I writing in a carnivore topic again…? Sorry, you are just too fascinating.

I experienced this a lot. I don’t want the same thing all day, I can get bored of anything but it was very apparent when I went low-carb that I desire carbs after carbs, sweets after sweets (those were never the first thing I ate but after I ate sweets and was still hungry, I had to continue with sweets, my SO is the same)… Now I’m smart enough to start with my most proper and nutritious, lowest-carb food and my desires changed anyway. But it’s better to be safe.
Your experiment sounds the best idea. Especially that you want to eat meat. Eat meat then (fish is meat to me, animal) and not almond milk, seriously.

You still need proper nutrition but hunger often changes A LOT if you change your diet (IF does it too but it’s very known about keto. But it’s not about ketosis only, the actual carb intake matters a lot for many of us and even if your macros are the same, food choices matters too). We need less food if we have excess fat and want to lose it, fasting can be fine sometimes but longer term, you need to eat properly. Don’t worry about it in the beginning, it’s normal your hunger is different when you take a drastic step. But don’t starve.

Find your own method. Both of those are bad advices in my case… We people are too different, these aren’t for everyone. And it might be different in the very beginning.
Many people just don’t get suddenly hungry later. Probably it’s even more frequent among carnivores than ketoers. If you eat the proper amount of food in the right times, whatever these mean, you should be okay but maybe not, prepare some “snack” for later then. I think most people can eat cold baked chicken but it might be too lean for you even for a snack but the carnivores surely will have lots of ideas. It’s very individual though. I eat almost anything cold if needed and I enjoy most of it but some people hate cold cooked food. Most people are in between, of course.

#16

The first thing I thought of when I read your original post, was maybe you need to fast for a bit. When transitioning to mostly carnivore, I felt a bit grossed out with eating all meat. Absolutely NOTHING sounded good to me. I’d open the fridge, and was like “eh. just not feelin’ it.” That is when I decided to do an extended fast. I’ve done 3 , 5 and 7 day fasts. I don’t eat nearly as much or as often as I used to, and feel so much better. More energy, better mental clarity, better self control, less stressed. The longer I’d fast, the better I felt.

This led me down a path to what I’d call intuitive eating. I really had to think hard about whether I was actually hungry enough to eat. Sometimes is took 16 hours, sometimes 20-30 hours or more. Then and only then would I eat. (We raise grass fed/finished beef cattle, so, that is my go-to food source.) Sometimes I’ll have chicken or salmon or trout- but that’s about it.

And, like you, I run my own business, run a second one with my hubby, and work 30+ hours/week at another job. I feel great though. I’d credit the energy and focus to fasting and carnivore.

Another thought, maybe up your salt intake? MCT oil, possibly? Could you be low on iron? (I know that was a massive factor for me, as I’m anemic.) When I forget to take my iron complex, I turn into a slug. Just a little food for thought. =) Take care and let us know how you fare!

#17

have you put seafood on your list.
when heavy meat is not attractive, I go seafood. All the best ones I adore. It changes up the protein so much that it feels to me personally like a whole new carnivore menu, you know, like there are true taste difference in options. just wondering on that

(Bob M) #18

I don’t make dinner. My wife does.

It’s this type of obnoxious “I’m holier than thou because I eat nothing but meat” that keeps me from eating nothing but meat. I’m afraid I’ll turn into one of you. You people truly are obnoxious.

Judgement and Disappointment
#19

Hahaha…this so happened to me once!

#20

Excuse me here but I think that comment was uncalled for and unecessary. If a comment was out of bounds then please address that comment instead of insulting an entire group of people, most if not all of whom are trying to help each other.

(Elizabeth ) #21

I still don’t understand why you can’t avoid eating it? Honestly, if you can tolerate vegetables then more power to you. Those of us that are carnivore usually can’t. I’d love to have raspberries, avocado, asparagus. I didn’t give up chocolate because I don’t like it :roll_eyes: