Vegetarianism. Seriously? (A Debate)
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Don't forget prunes, raisins, Mangoes, oranges and orange juice. They are also high in potassium.0
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I'm a serial meat eater. I'm cutting down and trying to eat more veggies and it's going well. I can see myself becoming vegetarian or even vegan but I'm just not there yet. The welfare of the animals I eat does worry me. I try to get grass fed/ free range/ organic meat whenever I can but if I can't I try not to eat meat imported from central/ eastern Europe. Their animal welfare standards are even worse/crueler than they can be here.0
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I have exactly zero inclination to debate my diet vs. anyone else's. I made my choices a long, long time ago, and they're nobody else's biznatch.
I would be happy to help anyone interested in vegetarian learn how to balance their diet and get enough protein to lift heavy *kitten* and run really far, though.
I'm interested, but only if you promise to close every sentence with the word "biznatch."
One of the lesser understood side effects of being a vegetarian long term is that it makes you speak like a 1990's rapper.
Fo shizzle.0 -
I love meat...especially my husband's. He is really great in the kitchen.
Really. F'n really? I mean... seriously. Really?0 -
I gave up meat 4 1/2 years ago. It helped in lowering my cholesterol for a year but damn genes of my family made it go back up. I was just tired of be being exhausted and weighed down from eating meat. It made me sluggish.
Sad part is that I am 40 pounds fatter now than I was when I ate meat. Odd. I guess I do tend to rely a lot on carbs and sweets. Sadly at a family gathering like a bbq all they have for me to eat is junk. Oh well.
I love that I don't eat meat and my main goal is to become a raw vegan.0 -
I stopped eating meat about 12 years ago and went without meat, fish or poultry till I fell pregnant with my first daughter, i'n now technically pescetarian as I eat fish on occasion. Though I have to say it is pretty rare.
I don't do it for ethical reasons, just simply I don't enjoy meat, I don't like the taste or the texture. I have in the past 5 years tried to eat chicken twice and I just couldn't stomach it or enjoy it.
I have no issues cooking or handling meat for my husband and the kids, but it just doesn't appeal to me at all. I'm also someone who genuinely enjoys eating vegetables and I do use things like Tofu, Quorn and Linda McCartney products to keep up my protein.
I think essentially I am vegetarian by personal choice and I hold zero opinion of that making me better than anyone else, I don't think there is a right or wrong where it comes to food, it's whatever suits the person and I say each to their own.
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I love meat...especially my husband's. He is really great in the kitchen.
Really. F'n really? I mean... seriously. Really?
Everyone's better in the kitchen 0 -
Who said you have to understand it. Being vegan myself, I don't understand how people eat meat. Does it matter? No. I choose to not eat animals, and that is my choice. Just as eating meat is yours. I don't think I am somehow superior to those who choose to eat meat. That is how they choose to eat. I do not. I certainly am not going to go into a diatribe on the benefits of a plant-based diet. Is it going to change your mind? Probably not. To me, this is a pointless debate. In the end, those who choose to be vegan or vegetarian, will continue to eat a plant-based diet. Just as you, in the end, will still eat meat. So, I am not going to waste my time educating you, because you have your point of view, just as I have mine.
You seem like a stubborn, opinionated individual. Nothing wrong with that. I myself, am a stubborn, opinionated individual. So let's leave it at this: You eat meat, and I will not eat meat. End of discussion.0 -
]I never understand the point of "debating" this.
Who cares? It's not like anything either side says will change anyone's mind or provide brand new information. For some people it's moral, for some it's digestive, for some it's taste, for some it's political, for some it's environmental.
This is not a thought about you but I used to get SO MANY people asking me why I was vegan when I was growing up and not matter what I said or how nice I was ("well, it's just right for me") or vague ("well, I have concerns about industrial farming, the environment"), people would always call my reasons 'pushy'. Excuse me? You asked!! Otherwise I never mention it. How is that pushy?
Again, I'm not judging. I'm just curious. I don't understand the mentality. If you ever want to explore the inner-workings of big, dumb, meathead hillbillies, I am an open book.
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"Big"-appears to be fact.
"Meathead"- your call
"Hillbilly"- I think that hillbilly-hood is more a state of mind than a function of location; but, again, your call.
"Dumb"-there I draw the line. You may be a "Dumba$$", but you are certainly not "dumb". :flowerforyou:
Lol!
Oh, and I have shot my food, caught my food, and planted my food. I don't care one iota what other people eat. Just don't leap, gibbering, off of your soapbox to proselytize the virtues of your particular gustatory lifestyle.0 -
I love meat...especially my husband's. He is really great in the kitchen.
Really. F'n really? I mean... seriously. Really?
Everyone's better in the kitchen
Yes, really. One of the reasons why I gained 80 lbs after we were married.
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I don't think it's a big deal really. I have friends who eat meat, friends who were formerly vegetarian but now enjoy a plate of ribs and friends who have become vegetarian. We all manage to get together and have a few drinks and nibbles- nobody has ever had a fight over eating the chicken drumsticks or not.
I think as long as you aren't stuffing your beliefs down my throat, whether they are about food, religion, sexuality- whatever, I could not care less.0 -
For me, it's ethical. I've seen animals slaughtered in a home farm setting, and, it's not a pretty picture. Unless the farmer is damn good at what s/he's doing, the animals know what's happening, they are scared, and they suffer. It's like hunting if you miss a clean kill. I actually think the death for factory farmed animals such as electrocution or captive bolt is more humane, although factory farming is horrible for animal production in that it relies on largely on confinement. I also have environmental concerns about animal farming, primarily due to the problems inherent in nitrogen introduced to the water table via waste runoff near feedlots.
Transitioning to vegetarian was difficult in that I liked meat a lot, but, after ten years of being vegetarian I can honestly say that meat smells pretty awful and I would probably barf if I tried to eat it now. As a former smoker, it's very similar. I had no idea had badly cigarettes stank until a year or two after I gave them up. BBQ meat smells rancid and oily to me.
Being vegetarian has had enormous benefits on my health. My family has a history of heart disease, and I had elevated blood lipids. Mine have all dropped on a plant based diet, and my HDL (good cholesterol) is in the 80s. I'm also getting a lot more plant based nutrients (phytochemicals), which is growing area of health research.
I think there's a misconception here that vegetarianism is about eating broccoli and carbs all day, or that high protein, calorie-dense foods can't be obtained through plant based foods. I can rattle off a few - seitan has 20g protein/100 cal (similar to meat), tofu has 10ishg/100 cal, soynuts, beans, quinoa, are all pretty protein dense, and protein rich nuts like almonds have a lot of fat in them too. Someone said vegetarian is 80/10/10 upthread and that's kind of ridiculous. I consinder myself high carb and I eat mayb 50-60% carbs day. Protein needs are grossly overstated on this board, even for people building muscle. I prefer a science based approach - here's a good analysis of how protein requirements are studied physiologically: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_935_eng.pdf
That being said, I don't give a f#%$ what other people eat.0 -
Afternoon all!
I've been a veggie for about 6 years. The reason i jumped ship was because I read a book called Fast Food Nation, which led me to another book about UK supermarkets. Amongst a plethora of quite disturbing accounts of our supermarkets, it painted a pretty awful picture of what delightful things that can be found in meat products... other than meat. From what I remember UK meat suppliers would add water to the meat to make the mass bigger, but to keep the water in during cooking, they added a type of glue as well. Then there's all the utter crap they feed the animals, not to mention all the antibiotics... which finds its way into your body.
"Man, that's gross" I thought to myself. "I shall forever more buy organic meat and side step this entire issue. Mmmm... steak."
Except I didn't have much money at the time, and where I was working and living that just wasn't realistic. I could have specially sought out some organic meat, but jeeez, thats like, work.
About 5 days later I realised to my surprise, I hadn't eaten any meat at all in that time and it hadn't been a bother, so I just figured I'd keep going for as long as it made sense to.
There are heaps of very good reasons to become vegetarian, but for me... mostly it was just circumstance. And laziness.
Trying to "recruit" vegetarians doesn't make sense to me. If I can help someone out and point them in the right direction, then cool, but its not my business to tell you what to eat, just as its not your place to tell me what I should be doing with my body.
Hope this helps. 0 -
Love meat!
Everything in nature eats something else.0 -
its either for ethical/ environmental reasons or they just dont like eating flesh as a personal prefrence... i have no problems with that. the issue lies where there are ones that say that being vegetarian or vegan is some how superior or more healthy than omniverous eating... the 80/10/10 diet?? thats ridiculous.
What bothers me about that whole lot [of people that have never existed ever] (referencing other people is forbidden), is that you never see "healthy" vegetarians. By "healthy," I mean my definition of "healthy." IE, muscles, built, powerful, etc...
A few vegan friends of mine (from "real life" -- not online friends):
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I kept going back and forth with the eating meat thing. Then finally, I just couldn't live with the thought that I was contributing to the deaths of so many animals. It's to the point now that I tried meat (a couple of years ago) and it was so greasy and repulsive that I could not eat it. There are loads of fake meat alternatives out on the market today.
Sometimes I miss tuna fish, salmon, catfish and ham tho but I don't even want those anymore!
You gotta do what is best for you tho within the limits of the law0 -
its either for ethical/ environmental reasons or they just dont like eating flesh as a personal prefrence... i have no problems with that. the issue lies where there are ones that say that being vegetarian or vegan is some how superior or more healthy than omniverous eating... the 80/10/10 diet?? thats ridiculous.
What bothers me about that whole lot [of people that have never existed ever] (referencing other people is forbidden), is that you never see "healthy" vegetarians. By "healthy," I mean my definition of "healthy." IE, muscles, built, powerful, etc...
A few vegan friends of mine (from "real life" -- not online friends):
Awesome pictures!
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I love meat...especially my husband's. He is really great in the kitchen.
I have a lot of respect for people who are vegan or vegetarians - it's not a diet that I would enjoy on a regular basis. However, I wish one of the many vegans or vegetarians would speak with my 350 lb vegetarian niece, and please tell her that eating three meals a day of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese isn't quite the way her "vegetarian" diet is supposed to work.
I have noticed that since I have been eating healthier, my body does process meat differently. Chicken and fish are fine - but if I eat anything that has higher fat content, my body lets me know that it is not happy with me. It's not worth it.
It's probably that mac and cheese is a big comfort food. Has she read the book "Shrink Yourself" by Dr Roger Gould, MD? It deals with emotional/stress/comfort eating and truly helped me a lot!0 -
I would say that it is possible to eat some red meat as part of a well-balanced diet...
On the other hand, I have decided not to eat red meat anymore...0 -
No matter what we choose to eat, the key from my point of view is to learn how to avoid eating for emotional comfort...0
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I love meat...especially my husband's. He is really great in the kitchen.
Really. F'n really? I mean... seriously. Really?
Everyone's better in the kitchen
Yes, really. One of the reasons why I gained 80 lbs after we were married.
No love. I was addressing your statement that you "love your husband's meat."0 -
Wow! I can't believe this topic is starting again!
I am a vegetarian for ethical reasons, because I believe that if humans are the highest form of life that has evolved on this planet, the only way they can show it is by showing compassion to other species.
However, I have not won any arguments with my reason for being a vegetarian. Most humans just aren't compassionate.
However, I have shut down every thread on this subject I have ever participated in (i.e., debate veggies vs meat) by simply citing a few of the thousands of studies showing that meat is implicated in many chronic diseases, and vegetables are implicated in none. It is reall easy to win this debate for a vegetarian. Cite studies. There are hundreds if not thousands of them.
And please for those of you who got a "C" in statistics 101, please do not try to counter these studies by saying "correlation does not equal causation." My answer will be simple: show me a single study where causation is proven. Proven! By something other than correlation. Any study any subject.
I don't even know if I really want to do this again.
And Juliesummers, you go girl!!!0 -
She's so light, she actually floats.
I weigh more than all of these people put together. Including the car.0 -
I weigh more than all of these people put together. Including the car.
Yup, I believe that. Coronary occlusion waiting to happen.0 -
And she's been raw vegan/fruitarian for many years now:
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I weigh more than all of these people put together. Including the car.
Yup, I believe that. Coronary occlusion waiting to happen.
Yeah. If only I were healthier and in better shape.0 -
She's so light, she actually floats.
I weigh more than all of these people put together. Including the car.
Haha did you really just imply that these people are a) unhealthy and b) unhealthy because they're not has heavy as you are? Since when does being heavier mean you're healthier?0 -
And she's been raw vegan/fruitarian for many years now:
I wear that exact same tube-top to the gym.0 -
I weigh more than all of these people put together. Including the car.
Yup, I believe that. Coronary occlusion waiting to happen.
Yeah. If only I were healthier and in better shape.
Yeah, you will sure make a fine looking corpse. There is a difference between being steroidally muscle bound and being healthy. Why don't you post an xray of your arteries.0 -
She's so light, she actually floats.
I weigh more than all of these people put together. Including the car.
Haha did you really just imply that these people are a) unhealthy and b) unhealthy because they're not has heavy as you are? Since when does being heavier mean you're healthier?
No. I implied that they are thin, tiny little people. Mostly because they are thin, tiny little people.0
This discussion has been closed.
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