Thread for former vegetarians and vegans
dragthewaters1991
Posts: 45 Member
I've been vegetarian for almost three years and I've recently decided to start eating chicken again. I plan to eat chicken this weekend. Lately I've been having increasing constant cravings for chicken and they aren't going away even after eating substitutes for chicken and making sure to have a balanced diet. This hasn't been a problem in the past so I assume that maybe my body is trying to tell me that it needs meat for some reason. Also, the main reason why I went vegetarian was to reduce carbon emissions and the carbon emissions of chicken are actually similar to eggs and dairy per calorie, based on what I can find anyway. I thought that I would feel bad about it but I don't feel bad at all. In fact I feel excited and like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I still will eat a lot less meat than the typical American and not eat red meat (which I didn't eat very often in my pre-vegetarian life anyway).
Anyone else have stories of quitting vegetarianism or veganism? How long did you last and why did you quit?
Anyone else have stories of quitting vegetarianism or veganism? How long did you last and why did you quit?
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Replies
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I was vegetarian and then vegan for over 10 years. I just felt like I could be healthy and fit on plants so that was my mission. I also read the book Slaughterhouse, which was an undercover investigation on factory farms. That was long before video footage started popping up on the net. I was committed to the cause for awhile, but now I just don't care as much anymore. I eat hamburgers.
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Have you tried Gardein chick'n products? Awfully similar to chicken.1
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I was vegetarian for 15 yrs, although towards the end I was eating fish. I'd taken it up as I thought it would give me health benefits. I realised after 15 yrs, there'd been no noticeable benefits. I never missed eating meat, but now I'm eating it again, I love a rare steak. And bacon. And roast chicken.1
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I was vegetarian for about 3/4 years. I'm a pescetarian now and generally happy with it. I do get cravings for meat though. I think in time I may adopt the same approach as my partner which is pescetarian at home, occasional meat when eating out, or at someone's house.
I decided to give up meat for many reasons which are still valid now. However I think I may favor a more moderate approach now.3 -
I was vegetarian for about 3 to 4 years. I decided to do it for ethical reasons more than for health reasons. However, I struggled a lot with keeping weight on and keeping energy levels up. Vegetarianism could have been related or unrelated to these symptoms but over time I just decided that I didn't want to fight with it anymore and started adding more lean meats back into my diet. I also started with chicken and still eat most of my meat sources from chicken, turkey and seafood. I usually try to restrict meat to family dinners and avoid it when I'm eating for just myself. This is partly for convenience but is also a way to limit meat consumption if you're concerned about your carbon footprint.1
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I was a vegetarian for about 4 years and now I mostly eat chicken/turkey products. Very rarely red meat. I ended up eating meat again due to pressure from my parents and their concern that I wasn't getting enough protein/iron and their lack of helping create meals that I could eat. I was a lot younger and still lived at home with them, so that was pretty important. When I first started eating meat again it took a while for my stomach to get readjusted, it still gets upset when I eat red meat.1
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I became a vegetarian around age 12/13 for ethical reasons, and I also just didn’t like meat. By 17 or 18 I had transitioned fully to vegan. Started dating my husband at 24 who is a meat eater and when I was 26 I started eating meat again, although a few times along the way I seriously considered switching back to vegetarian. I’ve now been a meat eater again for 10 years (about 5 years without feeling guilty or wanting to switch back), and I like it much better. I’ve made peace with the fact that animals have to die for me to eat, it doesn’t bother me anymore.
The transition was easy, I didn’t have any stomach issues or anything like that. I actually had less stomach issues after starting to eat meat again. I eat any meat, seafood, beef, chicken, pork, it’s all good!3 -
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I could never be a vegetarian. I'd die literally because I wouldn't be able to eat enough calories to survive. That being said, sometimes when eating meat I do get a little grossed out thinking that I'm eating muscle.2
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I went pescetarian for 1 year and then went back to eating beef and chicken occasionally, too. I probably eat meat 3-4 times a month, maybe a bit more if I'm traveling/staying with family who are big meat eaters.
My husband has eaten pescetarian for about 18 years but once every few years, he will get a craving for a (beef) hamburger and eat it, then go back to his usual diet. At about the same frequency he's eaten chicken on pizza or in tacos due to order mix-ups. He definitely doesn't eat meat more than 1 time per year though. He has never had any stomach issues when eating meat even when it's a big hamburger after 7 years without beef, despite hearing stories from other former veg people who say they're violently ill when they eat poultry, pork, or beef again... I think people just vary when it comes to that stuff, both psychologically and physically.0 -
jefamer2017 wrote: »I could never be a vegetarian. I'd die literally because I wouldn't be able to eat enough calories to survive. That being said, sometimes when eating meat I do get a little grossed out thinking that I'm eating muscle.
Do you have food restrictions that keep you from eating calorie-dense plant foods (or the calorie-dense foods included in lacto-ovo vegetarianism)? Not trying to be snarky, I'm just not really understanding this.2 -
I'm not exactly who you're talking to, but I might have a perspective for you to think about.
First, let's get this out of the way: I've been vegetarian for 43 years - 44 years in July. I'm not an apologist for Big Meat.
Personally, I think most of us first-worlders are unavoidably each a little bundle of global and environmental harm. There are so many things that we do that have a disproportionate negative impact on the world and on people in less-privileged locations.
We can't fix that, not totally. Therefore - and this is just my personal opinion - good people pick out some things that are the most do-able for them, to mitigate the harm. It will be different for different people, and it will change over the course of life. It could be less resource-intensive ways of eating, could be minimizing use of disposable products, could be bike commuting, could be volunteering at food pantries, could be contributing money to appropriate organizations, could be lots of things, certainly can be combinations of multiple things. But no one person can do everything.
Vegetarianism isn't working for you. Sure, you could grit your teeth and do it. But you can't fix everything. Pick the easy targets, the low-hanging fruit. Do some do-able good stuff, and don't worry about the parts that don't work for you. There's no point.
JMO.
P.S. I may quit vegetarianism when I have to make the permanent move to an assisted living facility. Obviously, I'm working to put that off as long as possible for many reasons (I'm 62, BTW). But if the time comes, I think it may be difficult to get enough protein in that sort of place without eating meat. Other than that possibility, vegetarianism is a pretty ingrained habit, and easy, for me.8 -
I have been vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, and total carnivore at different times in my life. Each stage can last for several years. I don't decide for ethical or health reasons, but because sometimes meat seems disgusting, and then at another time it smells delicious
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jefamer2017 wrote: »I could never be a vegetarian. I'd die literally because I wouldn't be able to eat enough calories to survive. That being said, sometimes when eating meat I do get a little grossed out thinking that I'm eating muscle.
You'd be surprised, pasta , bread, beer, sugar rich fruits..... I was veggie for 15 yrs and I put weight on!2 -
janejellyroll wrote: »jefamer2017 wrote: »I could never be a vegetarian. I'd die literally because I wouldn't be able to eat enough calories to survive...
Do you have food restrictions that keep you from eating calorie-dense plant foods (or the calorie-dense foods included in lacto-ovo vegetarianism)? Not trying to be snarky, I'm just not really understanding this.
As someone else who also can't be a vegetarian because it would kill me, I can at least give you an answer for one person for that. :-)
I have food allergies, plus a disorder that makes many foods off limits, plus celiac disease. I am sensitive enough that not only the 'bad' foods are a problem, but foods can be cross-contaminated by these allergens, and so THOSE foods end up off limits too. And on top of that, foods that are allergen free are typically much more expensive, so I often can't afford too many of them.
So right now, because of all of this, I can have a little rice, but no other grains seem to work well. I can have a couple types of nuts, but only from expensive sources and can't eat too much or I get sick. Processed seeds are cross contaminated and off limits. My safe source of beans just started processing an allergen of mine on their equipment lines, so now I get sick from them and have yet to find more beans. Can't have too many beans, either, without getting sick. I cannot have eggs, or dairy, or soy. I've been starting to react to potatoes recently, too, so those are likely going to be off my menu again soon.
So basically, I can't get enough protein without meat. It's very hard to get calorie dense food that is affordable, without meat. Meat and olive oil are my main calorie sources, along with some rice.
I know that is not the issue for everyone, but I know many people that have something similar, where some critical issue cannot be addressed either without animal products like eggs or dairy, or without meat.
And just as an addition - I also have a reaction to some of the most common fillers used in vitamins, so there are almost no vitamin supplements I can take, including vitamin B12, so eventually, I'd have to eat meat for that vitamin as well.
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dragthewaters1991 wrote: »
I wonder if the cravings are related to a deficiency. Have you had your iron levels tested recently? Do you already supplement with B 12?1 -
jefamer2017 wrote: »I could never be a vegetarian. I'd die literally because I wouldn't be able to eat enough calories to survive. That being said, sometimes when eating meat I do get a little grossed out thinking that I'm eating muscle.
I'm an omnivore who spent three years living in vegetarian yoga communities. There were PLENTY of calories.4 -
jefamer2017 wrote: »I could never be a vegetarian. I'd die literally because I wouldn't be able to eat enough calories to survive. That being said, sometimes when eating meat I do get a little grossed out thinking that I'm eating muscle.
Heh. I've been vegetarian for almost 44 years. I was obese for 30+ of them . . . all but the first few, and the most recent 3. It was eeeeeeasy.
Chicken feet, now those are gross. Also, the tiny sauteed whole calamari where they sit on your fork and the little tentacles hang down off the sides. Muscles? Meh. Mussels are worse, even, if you ask me. 2 -
janejellyroll wrote: »jefamer2017 wrote: »I could never be a vegetarian. I'd die literally because I wouldn't be able to eat enough calories to survive...
Do you have food restrictions that keep you from eating calorie-dense plant foods (or the calorie-dense foods included in lacto-ovo vegetarianism)? Not trying to be snarky, I'm just not really understanding this.
As someone else who also can't be a vegetarian because it would kill me, I can at least give you an answer for one person for that. :-)
I have food allergies, plus a disorder that makes many foods off limits, plus celiac disease. I am sensitive enough that not only the 'bad' foods are a problem, but foods can be cross-contaminated by these allergens, and so THOSE foods end up off limits too. And on top of that, foods that are allergen free are typically much more expensive, so I often can't afford too many of them.
So right now, because of all of this, I can have a little rice, but no other grains seem to work well. I can have a couple types of nuts, but only from expensive sources and can't eat too much or I get sick. Processed seeds are cross contaminated and off limits. My safe source of beans just started processing an allergen of mine on their equipment lines, so now I get sick from them and have yet to find more beans. Can't have too many beans, either, without getting sick. I cannot have eggs, or dairy, or soy. I've been starting to react to potatoes recently, too, so those are likely going to be off my menu again soon.
So basically, I can't get enough protein without meat. It's very hard to get calorie dense food that is affordable, without meat. Meat and olive oil are my main calorie sources, along with some rice.
I know that is not the issue for everyone, but I know many people that have something similar, where some critical issue cannot be addressed either without animal products like eggs or dairy, or without meat.
And just as an addition - I also have a reaction to some of the most common fillers used in vitamins, so there are almost no vitamin supplements I can take, including vitamin B12, so eventually, I'd have to eat meat for that vitamin as well.
I understand that food restrictions can make it difficult, that's why I was asking if there were additional restrictions involved that would make it difficult to get enough to eat. For a person who has regular access to food and no additional restrictions, I can't see how it would be impossible to meet calorie needs on a diet without animal products.0 -
I was vegetarian and then vegan for five years, for ethical and environmental reasons. I stopped for social reasons, and also because the restrictions of a vegan diet fed into my binging tendencies (when I had access to vegan junk food or desserts I would go crazy because it was so rare). I gained weight adding meat back into my diet, again due to binging, but that evened out after a while. I still eat less meat than the average person, and it got me to try a lot of foods that I still incorporate into my diet (I love tofu!). I think of it this way, 100 people eating veg once or twice a week has a much bigger impact than 10 full time veg/vegans. If adding meat back is what I need to commit to a low-animal product diet for life, then that’s what I need to do.1
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I was vegetarian for about 10 years. I gained a bunch of weight during that time and had a kid.
When I started tracking calories here it was a bit of a shock how little protein I was actually getting, even on days when I had tofu, beans and nuts it still wasn't close to how much I was aiming for... But mostly I really really really just wanted some of those BBQ ribs at Boston Pizza.
The first few times I had meat I was completely amazed by how filling it was.
Now I eat meat a few times a week. It's a nice compromise.0
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