Vegetarian thinking about eating meat again-help!

queenmedusa

Always check to make sure that the protein values in the foods that you log are the right ones. Some of what individuals have logged on here is incorrect so you have to make sure it ties up with what's on your packet. And if it's a whole food you can always check the values on nutritiondata.com. Chickpeas and lentils are great proteins and can be used to make dips for veggies or sandwich fillings. Daal is brilliant for a low cal meal, chickpeas are great in salads. Quinoa is a great replacement for rice and pasta and is a protein too. Lots of ways to fit proteins into your life without giving up being a veggie - it's something I would never consider giving up now and I'm positive that there's always a vegetarian way to get around every health problem!

nkenga

Get your doctor to refer you to a nutritionist who is VERY familiar with vegetarian diets, and is willing to work with you to craft a vegetarian diet that will give you all the nutrients you need. If you have friends who are vegetarian, they may know someone who meets those qualifications.

Also, new research suggests that it's not the cholesterol in meat that is causing the problems humans have with cholesterol, it's sugar intake. Watching how much refined sugar you eat, along with exercise, may help your cholesterol levels.

If you do choose to eat meat again, going the path of locally farm raised animals is IMO, the best way of doing it. However, you may want to try adding fish and seafood first before diving into chicken, beef, and pork.

Lastly, sometimes, unfortunately, we find that the diet we want to follow is not the diet that is best for our bodies. I find that a vegan or vegetarian diet is not good for me (I start having serious skin and nail issues, along with fuzzy-brain and memory loss, after a couple of months). There are many other people who are vegetarian who do great with it, others need to eat a serving of meat every once in a while (once a month or so). Put it this way - the more supplements you need to make your diet work, the less your diet is working for you.

Janeta58

Hi there!
I think our nutritional needs are quite individual: when my oldest daughter was 14, she was 'grossed out' cooking chicken and decided to eat a vegan diet; I am a good cook so I was very careful with making sure that she got all of her nutrients. Then my youngest daughter decided to go vegetarian. She liked cheese and eggs too much to give them up. So I thought, heck! I am cooking for these two, I might as well join them. I followed a vegetarian diet for two years; ate fabulous meals and soy based foods several times a week.
All of us had issues with low vitamin B12 levels, and my youngest daughter and I had low levels of iron storage. Fatigue! Headaches! Nausea! All of them. At one point, my daughter was getting iron injections because the oral supplements did nothing to the blood levels.
Finally, the two of us added in a little bit of meat every week and we felt so much better! My oldest daughter started eating vegetarian after the first year of eating a vegan diet and 15 years later, she eats a little high quality chicken and fish.
I feel so much better eating a bit of meat which is a great protein source that my body seems to like. My iron stores are great and I haven't had to take B12 supplements for 15 years.
However, ALL of us are now allergic to soy in any form. I have been told that this is not unusual.
I have been hypothyroid for years and also have hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) ... eating a healthy diet with lots of fruit and vegetable and good protein, with some olive oil or canola oil is the diet I follow now. I don't have the huge swings and aching muscles that I do when I eat a lot of sweets and white flour. Now I avoid BOTH of these.
It's trial and error for sure but I agree with everyone else who has suggested cutting out white flour and sugars!
Good luck and eat what 'feels' right for you.

FullOfSpice

I am in the same situation. I've been vegetarian most my life, it happened when I was about 10 years old. I didn't eat meat for about 8-10 years, then after college, I became very fit. A little side story is that my whole life I've never been thin, more curvy. That being said, after I started incorporating chicken and lean turkey into my diet, with exercise 5-6x a week, I was the healthiest I had ever been in my whole life. I was used to getting sick 4-5 a year without a doubt, and after I started working out and eating meat, all those problems disappeared. Recently, I decided to go vegetarian again. After 8 months of not eating meat, I realized I gained a lot of weight, due to eating way to many carb and starchy foods. I even tried protein shakes, soy, and hemp powder, but nothing really helped. I guess eating too much soy is not good, bc I recently found out hypothyroidism runs in my family, and eating soy can slow down your thyroid even more.

Last week, I started eating meat again - chicken and fish and even though I'm not too fond of the taste, I found I have more energy and can workout for longer periods of time without being exhausted. If you want to try it out for a little bit, there's no harm, if you don't feel comfortable after trying it, you can always go back to eating vegetarian. Good luck

fteale

I couldn't. Like you, I just don't view meat as food at all. I can't bear to touch it, let alone put it in my mouth. I really don't think you need to worry about protein goals. I think most people eat too much protein anyway. I have always been very low on protein, and yet I build muscle faster than any other woman I know. Just go with your ethics.

TurtlesRule

MEAT IS AWESOME!!!!!

sweet_lotus

I know there are many protein sources...but when I log it, I still see that it just isn't that much. For instance, an egg is 6 grams. And I keep hearing that I shouldn't be eating soy alllll the time. Nuts only have so much as well, and they aren't complete proteins. I set aside maybe 30 percent, but I don't usually meet that goal. Even though I eat eggs regulary, tofu regulary, etc. I've been adding lentils and quinoa lately as well.

Oh yeah, an egg is only 6g protein, but it's like only 70 cals, so I usually eat two.

The CDC recommends 10-35% cal from protein, with 10% being absolute barebones minimum-to-sustain-health. The thing with protein is that eating more doesn't necessarily have a benefit - you just pee out what you don't use. I aim for 20% and don't have any problems meeting it most of the time, but, 30% would definitely be tough without going really heavy on the soy and/or dairy. If I'm doing math right, that's 150g on 2000cal./day diet. Anyway, again, good luck.

krea4

If you have high cholesterol you should be avoiding food high in saturated fat. Most (80%) of our cholesterol is synthesised in the liver in a response to the type of fat we are eating. When your blood was tested you should (i know you get these values in the UK) have been told your levels of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) . Ideally you want low levels of HDL as they are linked to CHD. HDL are produced in response to saturated fat in our diets.

I think seeing a dietian familiar with vegetarian nutrition would be a fantastic idea for you.

Best of luck!!

Eskimopie

Wait...you mean HDL should be high, and LDL should be low, right? That's what I've always heard anyway.

My HDL is actually really good, my doctor said. It's the LDL that's the problem.

Eskimopie

Interesting...everyone on this board is allllll about getting protein. Do you lift weights or build muscle other ways?

Edit: this was addressed to fteale. Sorry!