Dealing with low appetite

[Josh]

Sorry if this has been done before, but I couldn't find any discussion.

How do you handle not having appetite?

I was overeating before, making myself eat a lot of meat and fat and it caused problems.

Now I seem to often only eat a very small amount of raw food before wanting to stop. In the past, I've become weak by not eating enough, so I don't trust my instincts either.

Options:

Just eat what I want and hope it works out.
Force myself to eat past when I want to a bit
Fill up on foods I can always eat like egg yolk


Any thoughts?

[proteus]

in my experience 3 things boost appetite:

1 - exercise ( especially swimming )
2 - marijuana
3 - steroids ( but only high quality oil based injectible ones like testosterone, low quality steroids such as orals or methylated crap is going to kill your liver and you won't be able to eat at all, and then die )

marijuana in pill form is actually prescribed by doctors to treat low appetite, and of course steroids are prescribed to people who are emaciated from aids or being bed ridden.

i'd definitely go with exercise first.  if that doesn't work - see a doctor, get your liver checked.

[goodsamaritan]

Follow your instincts. Instincto.
This has happened to me and it's just a cycle.

[Josh]

Thanks for the replies.

GS, I really have very low appetite. Like I could just eat a few bites of food.

Did you have a period of that low eating and sticking it out worked?

[Josh]

I suppose another option might be to season up my food so it makes me eat. That would be another way of force feeding though really I suppose.

Unless part of it is that my body doesn't know how to deal with the tastes of raw properly and that's why I'm not eating.

dammit.

[goodsamaritan]

Thanks for the replies.

GS, I really have very low appetite. Like I could just eat a few bites of food.

Did you have a period of that low eating and sticking it out worked?

Yes, it probably lasts for just 1 week max.

[magnetic]

I suppose another option might be to season up my food so it makes me eat. That would be another way of force feeding though really I suppose.

Unless part of it is that my body doesn't know how to deal with the tastes of raw properly and that's why I'm not eating.

dammit.

I am dealing with this same issue, although perhaps not as intensely as you.  I have been weak some days recently, and I think it is due to under-eating.  But I am never hungry.  I have been forcing myself to eat, but it still comes in to very few calories calorically.  Hopefully it is as GS says, a temporary thing.  As I am new to the diet, it could be related to my body healing itself.

[Iguana]

I have been forcing myself to eat, but it still comes in to very few calories calorically.

Perhaps you don't have enough food choice or else you need more or less to fast for a while. Forcing oneself to eat is a typical human erroneous way, as no animal would ever do it. They sometimes instinctively fast.

[magnetic]

Perhaps you don't have enough food choice or else you need more or less to fast for a while. Forcing oneself to eat is a typical human erroneous way, as no animal would ever do it. They sometimes instinctively fast.

I have been eating mostly lamb.  Maybe I will do better on beef.

[Iguana]

I would also loose my appetite if I had exclusively meat to eat. I need other stuff as well: eggs, seafood, fruits, vegetables, nuts.

[goodsamaritan]

I have been eating mostly lamb.  Maybe I will do better on beef.

Listen to Iguana, you should open up your diet to a wide variety of choices so your body can choose what it wants.

[magnetic]

I would also loose my appetite if I had exclusively meat to eat. I need other stuff as well: eggs, seafood, fruits, vegetables, nuts.

Well I have eaten some other things, mostly fruit, berries, small amounts of nuts/seeds.  These make up one of my 3 meals typically.  I also have introduced some free range eggs, so maybe I will see some improvement.  It isn't so bad that I can't function, but I have experienced some days where I had very low energy throughout the day.  Access to quality seafood is difficult, but I am working on securing that.

I am almost out of lamb and will be getting beef soon.  I have had grass fed beef and like it more than grass fed lamb.

[Josh]

I'm just not eating enough, I feel weakened. I could happily eat some fatty cooked meat right now, but can't face more than a few bites of raw.

Do you think I don't have enough enzymes or something?

Any help with troubleshooting this would be greatly appreciated. It seems like it's my biggest sticking point with raw paleo. Low carb is not even a problem now, and I don't mind the taste of most things it's just that I can't eat enough raw meat and fat to sustain me. I just get a major stop signal after very little raw meat and fat.

I don't think it's in my head, although willing to be proved wrong.

I've tried eating egg yolks, I could eat them all day, but it doesn't really help anything.

[sabertooth]

I go through periods of lowered appetite ,

I am on the high fat ketogenic diet, and If I eat a big meal I wont get hungry again for 12 hours sometime.

I don't have the time , or resources to get every food item that would be necessary for me to gain and maintain more weight. Perhaps keeping a leaner body is natural on this diet. I feel good at about 165 pounds.

I have this other habit which seems to affect my appetite.

It seems that if I smoke a little pot I will get extremely hungry and am able to eat three large meals each day, but when I go without it I eat less but have good energy until about the two week mark and then I  lose my apatite along with a couple of pounds and usually resume smoking a little pot and gain it back on the rebound.

I know it may seem insane or hypocritical for those obsessed with attaining absolute health, but I do fell better overall and keep a good apatite with a little pot in my system. I wish there was some way around it so my wife would quit griping at me about it. Other than the societal stigma behind such practices, I think there is nothing wrong with using a little herbal apatite enhancers(when all else fails)

[Josh]

I haven't got anything against it in principle, just never liked being stoned that much those times when a man in a bar told me how he'd imagined trying it 

Can I ask what kind of quantities and timing are needed in theory?

[sabertooth]

Form my own experience, I have never used pot heavily or for extended periods without intermittent breaks.

I use what I call homeopathic amounts.

about two good tokes , twice a day, a couple of hours before my main meals is the norm.

Thats all it takes for me to get an increased apatite and mood elevation.
Such small amounts wont turn you into the stereotypical stoner or cause negative side effects.

Some people genuinely don't like its effects while others smoke it daily for their entire adult life
(Different tokes for different folks)

Its about personal choice and freedom, I will not advocate for universal use of marijuana here, but for people who have chronic issues with apatite or even other mood disorders or for those who just have trouble mellowing out, I would recommend it be used as a safe alternative to prescription drugs, that has an excellent track record of safety going back since before recorded history.

[Dima]

I'm just not eating enough, I feel weakened. I could happily eat some fatty cooked meat right now, but can't face more than a few bites of raw.

Do you think I don't have enough enzymes or something?

Any help with troubleshooting this would be greatly appreciated. It seems like it's my biggest sticking point with raw paleo. Low carb is not even a problem now, and I don't mind the taste of most things it's just that I can't eat enough raw meat and fat to sustain me. I just get a major stop signal after very little raw meat and fat.

I don't think it's in my head, although willing to be proved wrong.

I've tried eating egg yolks, I could eat them all day, but it doesn't really help anything.

Sounds familiar and I'm convinced it's an entirely mental thing. You do not have a low appetite, just no appetite for raw meat. This is the result of FORCING yourself to eat only raw. You're not crazy about the taste of raw meat and your appetite decreases since you've adopted the idea that you MUST eat only raw. Try eating cooked meats and introduce raw meat gradually. Trying raw seafood and other types of meat may be a solution. I find that high quality salmon and fresh goat meat taste much better raw then cooked.   

When I became comfortable with the idea of raw eating (while still eating cooked meat) I was very curious about trying it and had a huge appetite for raw meat! When I made raw meat compulsory I ran into the same problem as you.

[goodsamaritan]

I'm just not eating enough, I feel weakened. I could happily eat some fatty cooked meat right now, but can't face more than a few bites of raw.

Do you think I don't have enough enzymes or something?

Any help with troubleshooting this would be greatly appreciated. It seems like it's my biggest sticking point with raw paleo. Low carb is not even a problem now, and I don't mind the taste of most things it's just that I can't eat enough raw meat and fat to sustain me. I just get a major stop signal after very little raw meat and fat.

I don't think it's in my head, although willing to be proved wrong.

I've tried eating egg yolks, I could eat them all day, but it doesn't really help anything.

Dima is right.  You can't just force yourself to go 100% raw overnight.  It takes time.
There will be times when you look for cooked food in the transition period.
Go for it and satisfy your current need, fall of the wagon, then get back up again.
There were times that I would bite at cooked, then bite at raw alternately.
Nowadays on my 3rd year I usually can't stand cooked food, eating more than a few bites seems toxic.

I also noticed that raw meats taste different.  Some raw meats taste better than others.  So I wind up buying only those meats that taste great raw.

[sabertooth]

I also noticed a difference in cravings based on what different foods I eat. Some meat would taste good for about two days or so then I would lose my apatite for it altogether(this would usually happen with grain finished meats), but then I would get something different and suddenly I would fell like gorging myself.

I forgot to mention, how high meat plays such a big role in priming the gut for ultimate meat digestion, and I have noticed an great increase in appetite for raw meat once I began to use it regularly.

Have you given high meat an honest try? it seems to work wonders for allowing me to quickly adapt to a 100% raw carnivorous diet.

I have some maggot infested high meat that I have been eating the past couple of days along with a fresh case of beef , some lamb fat(heavenly good), beef spleen, and some coconut butter. The coconut butter seems to help me to gain weight,  its rich in calories and satisfies my carb requirements.

[sabertooth]

I have been eating mostly lamb.  Maybe I will do better on beef.

I have an odd practice but it seems to work

I do better with beef muscle meat as my staple and will often eat about two pounds a day, but beef suet is just unappealing for the most part. I get an unlimited amount of lamb fat that is so much softer and easier to digest than beef suet. Cow meat with lamb fat somehow works for me. lately my beef has been real lean so I have to eat copious amounts of lamb fat to keep my ratios in check.(I would be out off luck if it was not for my excellent source of lamb fat).

[magnetic]

I have an odd practice but it seems to work

I do better with beef muscle meat as my staple and will often eat about two pounds a day, but beef suet is just unappealing for the most part. I get an unlimited amount of lamb fat that is so much softer and easier to digest than beef suet. Cow meat with lamb fat somehow works for me. lately my beef has been real lean so I have to eat copious amounts of lamb fat to keep my ratios in check.(I would be out off luck if it was not for my excellent source of lamb fat).

I don't have a good source of just fats, I usually but animals in whole or in part, but I have more variety now.  I had a good amount of fish a week ago and I now have beef organs and I am loving the organs.  I also have a chicken in the freezer. 

If I don't feel like meat I will eat fruit.  Yesterday I only ate fruit.  This morning I craved meat and I just ate over a pound of beef head meat and it was delicious.

@Josh: you might want to try just eating fruit until you get a craving for meat and are hungry, then try raw meat, if fruit agrees with you.  This works for me.

[Josh]

Thanks for the ideas. Regarding the psychological angle, maybe but I think it's going to take some reprogramming on quite a deep level.

I've never liked raw meat. Some people get right into it, but I've been trying this for a while and can't say I really like it. At the moment it tastes 'ok'. I've been doing 2 months 90% raw and still don't like it any better. Stick in there I suppose.

I can't help thinking there's something else to it..even when I'm very hungry I don't crave raw and can't eat a lot.

I'll probably try some enzyme supps as well and see if that helps and maybe the herbal remedy.

[magnetic]

Thanks for the ideas. Regarding the psychological angle, maybe but I think it's going to take some reprogramming on quite a deep level.

I've never liked raw meat. Some people get right into it, but I've been trying this for a while and can't say I really like it. At the moment it tastes 'ok'. I've been doing 2 months 90% raw and still don't like it any better. Stick in there I suppose.

I'll probably try some enzyme supps as well and see if that helps and maybe the herbal remedy.

Are you eating any organs or bone marrow?

[Josh]

Yep. Heart, kidney, marrow.

[sabertooth]

What about high meat, it can turn your whole digestive tract into a festering effective meat metabolizing machine. Perhaps your gut ecology hasn't yet made the adaption. Remember that the major nerve centers that direct things like well being and hunger are directly related to gut ecology. If you are going to adapt to a more carnivorous diet then in order for it to work, your digestive tract must become saturated with meat eating bacteria and develop that bio film layer of enzymes and organisms that crave raw flesh..