Guide
Nothing appeals on compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide: what to eat when every food sounds wrong
Aversion is a different problem from a small appetite and it needs a different answer. When every food sounds wrong, and meat sounds worst of all, what still goes down is cold, plain, mild and unsmelling: Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, a chilled shake, custard, tinned fish with lemon, a boiled egg, silken tofu, or a clear broth. Serve them cold or at room temperature, because heat carries smell and smell is usually the trigger. On compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide the aim is not a proper meal. It is 25 to 30 g of protein you will actually finish.
Your number, before anything else
Protein is what decides whether the weight you lose is fat or muscle. Work your number out once and we will keep it with you on every page here. No account, no email.
Saved in this browser only. Your dose and how you feel on compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide stay between you and your prescriber.
Why meat is usually the first thing to go
Slower stomach emptying changes how food is perceived, not only how much of it you want. People describe meat tasting metallic, cooking smells becoming intolerable, and favourite foods turning unappealing within a week of a dose step. Side effects follow the branded pattern: nausea and constipation are common during dose escalation. It is common enough that we plan for it rather than treat it as a surprise.
The trap is that the foods which still appeal tend to be beige and low in protein: toast, crackers, chips, ice blocks. A fortnight of that and you are eating almost nothing but carbohydrate in a deficit, which is the exact state that costs lean mass. Pooled across 20 randomised trials, the lean share of weight lost was 35.2% on semaglutide and 25.4% on tirzepatide, against 26.2% when the same weight came off by diet alone, and 17.5% when resistance training was added. Compounded products behave like the branded versions on appetite, but because doses vary, the pattern you read about online may not match yours. Track what you actually eat rather than what you expect to eat. So the job is to find the short list of protein foods that pass your aversion test this week, and to accept that the list will change.
If aversion arrives suddenly after a refill on a compounded product, note the date. It is useful information for your provider, and it usually settles the way a dose step does.
How to find what still works
Go cold
Heat releases aroma, and aroma is usually what turns your stomach. Cold chicken, cold prawns, yoghurt, cottage cheese, a chilled shake and cold tinned fish are tolerated when the hot versions are not.
Go plain, then add acid
Strong sauces and spices make aversion worse for most people. Plain food with lemon juice, vinegar or a pickle cuts through a metallic taste far better than seasoning does.
Let someone else cook, or leave the room while it cooks
If the smell of cooking is the trigger, the microwave, an air fryer with the lid down, and pre-cooked food from the shop are all legitimate answers.
Test one new thing every few days and keep the list
Aversions move. Write down what worked this week, because next week's list will be different and you will not remember which three things were fine.
Keep three fallbacks in the house
Whatever your product, keep a shake, a tub of yoghurt and tinned fish in stock. Aversion arrives without notice and shopping is the last thing you will feel like doing.
A day of mild, cold food at about 100 g of protein
- Breakfast: 200 g (7 oz) plain Greek yoghurt with honey, about 20 g
- Mid-morning: a cold vanilla shake in 300 ml (10 fl oz) milk, about 34 g
- Lunch: cottage cheese on crackers with cucumber, about 16 g
- Dinner: cold poached chicken or tinned salmon with lemon and rice, about 30 g
About 100 g of protein with nothing hot, nothing strongly flavoured and nothing that smells while you make it. If even yoghurt is out this week, swap it for custard made with milk powder and a broth with an egg stirred through.
Work out your own target on Compounded semaglutide or tirzepatideWorth a call to your prescriber
- Aversion strong enough that you are eating almost nothing for several days, or losing weight much faster than expected
- Vomiting, food not staying down, or pain with eating, which is a different problem from not fancying anything
- A metallic taste or a new aversion that arrived alongside another new symptom, which is worth describing rather than assuming
Dose and timing on compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide are your prescriber's decisions; we coach the food and the strength.
The three numbers that tell you what you are keeping
Aversion weeks are where protein quietly disappears. These three catch it before your strength does.
One strength test, same way every week
Goblet squat reps at a fixed weight, push-ups, or the 30-second sit-to-stand for beginners. Fat loss does not make you weaker, so a number that drops three or four weeks running is a real signal, and it is fixable. It measures what you can do, not how much muscle you have.
Average protein a day, whole week
Not your best day. 1.2 to 1.6 g per kg of goal body weight (0.55 to 0.7 g per lb), floor 1.2, protein first at every meal.
Upper arm tape, same spot, relaxed
Centimetres or inches. The waist shrinks whatever you do; if the arm shrinks as fast, that is muscle. Weight is number four, same day and time. The scale tells you what you lost. These tell you what you kept.
Questions people ask
Why does meat taste strange on compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide?
Altered taste and smell is commonly described on these medications, usually worst for meat, coffee and cooking smells. It tends to ease a few weeks after a dose step, and cold plain protein carries you through it.
What can I eat when nothing at all appeals?
Cold, plain and mild. Yoghurt, cottage cheese, custard made with milk, a chilled shake, a boiled egg, tinned fish with lemon, silken tofu, or a clear broth with an egg through it.
What do I eat on a compounded GLP-1 when everything sounds wrong?
Cold, plain, mild and unsmelling. Yoghurt, cottage cheese, a chilled shake, custard, boiled eggs, tinned fish with lemon, silken tofu, clear broth. Aim for 25 to 30 g at four points rather than a meal.
The research behind this page
When every food sounds wrong, the target does not move. These are the two numbers to keep in view on a bad week.
Guideline-informed protein targets during this kind of weight loss start at 1.2 g per kg of body weight a day (0.55 g per lb). Arslan S, Clinical Nutrition ESPEN 2026
Spread across meals at roughly 0.3 to 0.4 g per kg per meal, rather than taken mostly at dinner. Arslan S, Clinical Nutrition ESPEN 2026
The papers these numbers come from
- Arslan S. Medical nutrition in the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) era: Protein strategies, micronutrient monitoring, and lean mass preservation. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, 2026. Narrative review, guideline-informed targets. doi:10.1016/j.clnesp.2026.103305
- Eisa N, Barood O. Lean Mass Changes With Incretin Therapy Versus Lifestyle Intervention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, 2026. 20 randomised controlled trials, 15,782 participants. doi:10.1111/dom.70666
Last reviewed 18 September 2026. We update these figures when a larger or better study replaces them, and we say what changed. How we handle evidence.
The Keep Muscle Kit
The whole system for Compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide, in five PDFs
The workbook, Sunday numbers tracker, 2-day strength plan, injection-day card, and meal plans at 100, 120 and 140 g protein. Instant download.
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EverStrong provides nutrition and strength coaching and education. It is not medical advice and does not replace your prescribing doctor. Consult your doctor before starting a new exercise or nutrition plan, especially with a heart, kidney, liver or metabolic condition, if pregnant, or with a history of disordered eating.