Expert: Meg - 3/2/2005

Question
Hello

I am a 52 year old male, 6'2". Because I am overweight, I went to three different dieticians. I then SLOWLY changed my diet to mostly fruits, vegetables, and nuts (almonds). One thing I still CRAVE is at least one daily serving of meat. I do not understand why! It has to be served heated. I LIKE steak and hamburgers, but since I know why I should I not eat them, I switched to daily baked chicken, no skin. But still there is that craving for subs, fried chicken, burgers, etc. The craving for sugar products is gone. But the meat craving is still strong. Fruits and vegetables keep me full, but they just don't fill my desire for something else - meat!!

What is with me?

Answer
Hi David,

I'm not sure that I'm the best expert to help you with this but I will certainly take a stab at it.  

It sounds like you've done some good work visiting with the dieticians and developing a healthy eating plan.   However, I'm not sure why any of them would have you completely cutting out meat.  Are you trying to go vegeterian?  If so, email me again as I'm a vegeterian and have been for awhile and can point you towards some helpful websites.

In any case, in my knowledge of nutrition (and again, you should also check with your dietician), its best to include ALL food groups in your diet when you're trying to lose weight and if you're eating only fruits, veggies and some nutes you may be lacking sufficient protein (which would lead to your craving meat).  There are many sources of lean protein that may alleviate this craving including:  skinless or baked chicken, fish, lean ground beef, lean turkey, cottage cheese, tofu, meat subsitutes, egg whites,  beans and low fat dairy.  I would recommend checking your protein intake and making sure that you are getting enough.  

It is also possible that you are simply addicted to the foods you used to eat (like burgers, fried foods, subs, etc).  In that case, it just takes time to get used to new and healthier fare.  

Also, a good balanced diet should allow for occasional indugences.  If you follow your diet most of the time, the occasional burger shouldn't derail you. Also, there are many ways to modify your favorite foods to make them healthier and lower in fat. I'd recommend speaking with your nutritionist about this.


Good luck and I hope this helped a bit.  Again, my area of expertise is more with eating disorders so you may need to speak with a registered dietician too.

Good luck and let me know if there is anything else I can do.

Best,
Meg

P.S.  Here is a great healthy eating link for you!
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1088