Tired, probably not eating enough

#1

So, I’ll preface this by saying I’m a poor starving student at the moment. That should change in the next few months, but right now I’m eating pork shoulder (Nice dark meat, plenty of nice white fat) and chicken liver. I was eating beef liver up till a few days ago, but my source stopped selling it. I found a new source so I’m headed there in the morning. Unfortunately, I can’t really afford to switch to beef right now, it’d cost me twice as much as the pork (I’m talking ground beef, the fatty kind). I’m adding butter/hollandaise to most meals. Up until yesterday, I was feeling fantastic. Been three weeks now and my knees feel better than they have in years. No food cravings. Not sure about weight changes, avoiding the scale for a while till my body settles into this way of eating.

I’d been eating about 2lbs of pork and a half lb of liver a day and felt fine, but the last few days I’d eaten only one pound of pork and a half lb of liver in the am and then just been full all day. No desire to eat even by bedtime. Yesterday and today I was just exhausted and when I did some research I realized I’m probably eating about 900 calories, even with the fat I’m adding. I ate another pound and a half of pork this evening, and I already feel better, but it was really hard to eat so much, I had no appetite for muscle meat. I’d love some more liver though… tomorrow I’m making a run to the new butcher I found, to get a few pounds of fresh beef liver, to see if eating more liver helps, since my body is telling me it wants more liver and less muscle meat.

UPDATE: Well, due to some traffic, I couldn’t get to the new butcher in time before my SO needed the car for work. As a result, I went to the winco nearby and got a tube of 73/27 ground beef (2.45 a lb, still a buck more than the pork I buy :frowning: ), and last night I put a whole shoulder, skin, bones, and all, in the crockpot. SO went crabbing yesterday and brough home a pair of big ones just for me, so I’ll probably make omelets and crab stew out of them to make them stretch. I’m eating a beef burger and some of the fattier parts of the pork right now, no liver today (I’m going to see if the liver urges decline if I have more than just pork for a bit - thanks Safi). I’m hoping getting some more variety will help. Any more tips are appreciated, you guys are great :slight_smile:

(Ron) #2

How are you measuring?

Here is 1 lb of pork shoulder only. Not sure how you got 900 cals.

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#3

Just a heads up - I’d be wary of eating too much liver. You can end up with Vitamin A toxicity.

#5

I’m measuring/weighing it raw, not cooked. Also, I’m buying the boneless cut roasts without the skin/fat layer. “Separable lean only” Still has good marbling.

Https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/pork-products/2175/2

As a side note, I’ve bought a few bone in shoulders, but the fat layer was super thick and the skin is impossible to eat without roasting it for hours or putting it in the crockpot all day. I like the roasts without the skin and fat because I can throw them in a pan and have nice dark juicy porkchops. I’m not home long enough for a 4-hr oven roast. I could use the crockpot.

Sorry for deleting that last one. On mobile and thought I replied to the wrong post.

#6

I’m not worried about that, that really only happens with supplements.

#7

It can happen much more easily with supplements but it can also happen with a lot of dietary liver - it’s just that most people won’t eat liver in such high quantities. You also need to keep copper/zinc balance in mind but if you’ve done your research then so be it. I personally would not eat liver more than two or three times a week.

#8

I really appreciate the concern. I just feel like I need it right now, like my body is craving it? I could try to throttle that back, but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to fight that feeling, when it might be happening because I have a deficiency. I know pork isn’t as nutritious as beef.

#9

Are you able to get blood tests to see if you do have any deficiencies? I don’t discount how you feel but sometimes too much of something can create very similar side effects of too little. A case in point is iron - anemia can present in a very similar fashion to iron overload.

I’m not trying to scare you at all (I really hope I haven’t!) I just don’t think that a lot of liver is a good idea. I do get that it’s tough on a budget though :grimacing:

(Alec) #10

Are you getting enough salt?

#11

I don’t think I can get tests. My (terrible) insurance isn’t likely to cover tests because I ask nicely, and my doctor is very likely to tell me I need to eat veggies and send me to a dietitian.

#12

I think so. I use sea salt and lite salt on my meat. I was keto for a long time and I don’t feel like my electrolytes are low, no headaches or anything. The fatigue feels different, but I did feel a lot better after eating more tonight.

#13

Glad you’re feeling a bit better.

Maybe just a basic blood panel will give you some idea - it won’t go into every possible nutrient deficiency but you might be able to have the Dr check basic thyroid/iron/electrolyte/vitamin D levels.

PS - as you have a slow cooker you should keep an eye out for some of the cheaper stewing type beef - slow cooking will break down all the lovely & nutritious connective tissue :smile: