Gone off meat. 5 weeks pregnant.

[PollyBlue6]

Has anyone else gone off meat? I can't stand the smell or the thought of it.
All meat, even fish.

I'm trying to eat a good balanced diet could anyone recommend anything to substitute meat with?

I have completely stopped eating meat! It tastes so horrid and smells awful! I’m 19 weeks now and it’s showing no signs of changing. I’ve found I can manage fish and I’ve been using quorn instead

I absolutely had this happen to me. I'm 18 weeks now and back onto meat. I recommend if you're off meat try some Indian curries, lentils, spinach for iron like saag or throw some into a Quorn chilli/spag bol to wilt down.

I think this is quite common - it's happened to me with all three pregnancies.

For some reason, minced red meat (eg beef mince in a spag bol or lasagna) is fine and sliced cold meat is tolerable (eg sliced pork ham in a sandwich with tons of mustard) but even just the thought of chicken makes me want to vom!

Once I'm done being pregnant, I do start eventually eating meat again, but I never get back into it in the same way!

Yes I’ve been the same! 10 weeks and can eat it now but never really fancy it, the thought of it (meat or fish) is just “bleurgh”! Watching Seaspiracy definitely didn’t help either!

I’m the opposite and have gone off veggie proteins, meat is about all I can tolerate.

If you’re not used to veggie proteins, you can start with quorn meat alternatives. Before pregnancy, I was always a bit meh about quorn and I much preferred beans and lentils as forms of veggie protein. Bean casserole, bean chilli and we used to enjoy Mexican lentils. Lots of Indian dishes use lentils, you can try a veggie dhansak, some cauliflower and lentils will be filling (but you will be gassy after) - if you can stomach curries that is. Google healthy veggie dishes and go through the ingredients seeing if any other ingredients make you feel queasy.

I’ve got a recipe book somewhere which is called the accidental vegetarian. There’s a recipe in there that might work for you, ]]

I’ve been the same, 12 weeks and off meat since about week 6. I’m also off the majority of veggies too which doesn’t help

Managed to keep down mince in sauce but other then that i’ve been trying to get protein in other ways like yoghurt or protein enriched cereal

I’ve had a very bland and basic diet the past six weeks and I was really concerned but the midwife basically said it’s better to eat something and concentrate on nutrition when the aversions ease. As long as you are taking vitamins and eating, baby is getting everything it needs :)

I went off meat when I was pregnant with my first! I ate a lot of pasta and cheese! I could stomach very processed meat so that may help but it's not particularly healthy - things like Mac Donald's hamburgers which my body did not seem to recognise as actual meat!

Same and I'm now 31 weeks!

I had this, especially chicken. It gradually went off x

Absolutely. Especially chicken. It just looks so slimy sitting in the packet. Yuck. 🤮

Welcome to first trimester. I'm 8 weeks and from around 5 weeks started to go off some meat and veg gradually. Now all that I can eat is fruit, plain white pasta, and bread. It might get worse before it gets better I'm afraid. I've given up and am resigned to just eat whatever I can at this point. I take pregnancy vitamins so hoping that's enough until I'm feeling better.

You can get protein from dairy or beans and pulses but you might find you get more aversions. In both my pregnancies there were days I lived off of ice-pops and low-fat chips. It was only for a few weeks then I like all foods again.

Thank you all for messages, seems I'm not the only one!
This is my 3rd baby and I've never experienced it before.

Actually managed to eat some Chicken today, very thin drenched in Cajun sauce and it bloody beautiful.
But I'm sure that will change by tomorrow

I’ve had the opposite. Devoured two steaks last week! I’m craving meat and am put off by beans and lentils atm

Exactly the same thing happened to me, just with this third one. It mostly went away in the third trimester, but I no longer want meat in the same way I did previously. I'd quite happily give it up for good if I didn't have such a fussy family. Maybe after birth I'll want nothing but a footlong meatball sub again .

I hated it. Really hated it. Had to cross the road rather than pass a butchers or a BBQ. But I could manage white fish so ate a lot of that. You might need to take iron supplements and make sure you get enough protein.

I'm 31 weeks and have been unable to stand meat the whole way so far. I'm now iron and b12 deficient, so my advice is to ask for b12 testing when you have blood tests, just in case it continues!

This is an interesting thread. I’m a strict vegetarian and have been since the age of 3. I have never been deficient in iron and the only thing I’m slightly low on is B12 but that’s after a very long time on my diet. Like most who have replied, most food is turning on me too and I love my food normally. I just wanted to reassure you that as long as you eat beans, nuts, lentils, seeds, different types of veg you will not miss out. The meat substitutes I don’t bother with personally, but if you can stomach them, why not? Good luck x

Yep! 13 weeks and I still struggle. I can manage a little chicken if it's hidden in a sandwich. Ironically, I had random tuna cravings though.