How to start eating meat again?

Pandemian
Pandemian Posts: 2
in Food and Nutrition
Hi
I was wondering how I can add meat back into my diet without getting sick,since I've heard that's a side effect.
I've been a vegetarian for about 1 1/2 years(if that matters)
Also how do you even measure a portion size without a scale?
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks:)
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Replies

  • amyg007
    amyg007 Posts: 52 Member
    Hi! I had a friend who was trying to do this after 14 years of being a vegetarian. I am not sure that the year and a half will be as challenging as it was for her. She started introducing meat quite slowly. She began with chicken broth and worked her way up to small amounts. Not being a former vegetarian myself, i think this is all the advice i can give, just start small!
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    My advice would be to put in your mouth and chew it.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,232 Member
    My American friend reintroduced meat into her diet after 3 years when we (Australians) bullied her into going to Hardee's and eating a Monster Thickburger, so we could live vicariously.

    Not sure what her cholesterol is like now, but she certainly never looked back. Biggest steak eater I know, now!
  • Lupercalia
    Lupercalia Posts: 1,857 Member
    My son was a vegetarian and a vegan for 12 years, and I was a veggie/vegan for about 20 years. When we went back to eating meat, we just did it. Neither of us were sick, ever. We started off eating a bit of fish and seafood with our dinner, then chicken. When that was no big deal, we had beef and pork. There wasn't anything dramatic or weird about eating meat again, and like I said, neither one of us was sick or had trouble with digesting it. I know it can be a major psychological event for some people, but it wasn't for us.
  • thestrawberrysays
    thestrawberrysays Posts: 31 Member
    My son was a vegetarian and a vegan for 12 years, and I was a veggie/vegan for about 20 years. When we went back to eating meat, we just did it. Neither of us were sick, ever. We started off eating a bit of fish and seafood with our dinner, then chicken. When that was no big deal, we had beef and pork. There wasn't anything dramatic or weird about eating meat again, and like I said, neither one of us was sick or had trouble with digesting it. I know it can be a major psychological event for some people, but it wasn't for us.

    That is a really long time to be veggie/vegan and quit. Just out of curiosity, why did you go back??
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Start slow. The body is all about efficiency, and if you stop eating meat, it will generally stop making the enzymes required for digesting meat, which is why some people get sick when they first start out again. So I'd recommend to start off slow, so you can give your digestive system the chance to adapt and start making the proper enzymes again.

    And before anybody jumps in with a comment about how that proves we weren't intended to eat meat, the body does this for any food you stop eating. It's why people who eat beans regularly have less digestive issues with them than people who eat beans rarely.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    Start small, but go with what you really fancy - was there anything you missed? (I know a lot of poeple miss bacon sandwiches, for example) and hae a small helping of that. Or possibly a "meaty" fish fish such as swordfish or tuna, since fish is easier to digest for many people.
  • SenseiCole
    SenseiCole Posts: 429 Member
    my daughter at age 3 stopped eating meat, what i did was slowly add a little bit of minced meat to our veg dishes and slowly add more and more

    good luck

    btw it wasn't until my daughter was 9 before she would eat meat of her own choice ( very head strong young lady) :smile:
  • Mutant13
    Mutant13 Posts: 2,485 Member
    I am here to infer sexual innuendo then leave.

    Ahem... I have some meat you can start on, sugar buns.


    That will be all.
  • Pookylou
    Pookylou Posts: 988 Member
    My son was a vegetarian and a vegan for 12 years, and I was a veggie/vegan for about 20 years. When we went back to eating meat, we just did it. Neither of us were sick, ever. We started off eating a bit of fish and seafood with our dinner, then chicken. When that was no big deal, we had beef and pork. There wasn't anything dramatic or weird about eating meat again, and like I said, neither one of us was sick or had trouble with digesting it. I know it can be a major psychological event for some people, but it wasn't for us.

    I was pescatarian/Vegetarian for about 8/9 years before I started eating meat again, which was about a year or so ago now. And I did the same as above really, chicken was the first real meat I introduced, but the texture did weird me out a bit! Since then I have reintroduced sausages, bacon etc. Not really had any red meat but I wasn't keen on it back when I was a meat eater!
    I had no digestive issues :laugh:
  • joe2626
    joe2626 Posts: 123 Member
    Bacon.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    i think this "you will get sick" thing is bs. I eat fish now but I was vegetarian for 10 years before that. nothing happened. no introduction necessary. theres been a few cases where I've eaten the wrong (beef/chicken/horse/pork) dumplings at yum cha etc, and again nothing happened.

    WeirdAlYankovichsongPics1XVHmdizf91ZhrM.jpg

    just eat it.
  • Lupercalia
    Lupercalia Posts: 1,857 Member
    My son was a vegetarian and a vegan for 12 years, and I was a veggie/vegan for about 20 years. When we went back to eating meat, we just did it. Neither of us were sick, ever. We started off eating a bit of fish and seafood with our dinner, then chicken. When that was no big deal, we had beef and pork. There wasn't anything dramatic or weird about eating meat again, and like I said, neither one of us was sick or had trouble with digesting it. I know it can be a major psychological event for some people, but it wasn't for us.

    That is a really long time to be veggie/vegan and quit. Just out of curiosity, why did you go back??

    Because being veggies/vegans proved unhealthy for us.
  • MsEmmy
    MsEmmy Posts: 254 Member
    Just wondering why you want to eat meat again? I was veggie for years, then started eating meat again but went veggie again about three years ago. With current farming methods (cruelty plus all the chemicals they pump in them plus the nasty abbatoirs) I couldn't see myself ever going back to eating meat. It would have to be wild caught with no trauma or at least raised naturally with access to outdoors, given a normal lifespan and killed humanely. I truly believe if you can't look something in the eye and kill it yourself then you shouldn't eat it.

    I know none of this helps your original question but was just curious as to the reasons for beging veggie in the first place and what has changed your mind?
  • paulperryman
    paulperryman Posts: 839 Member
    Chicken and Fish aren't as heavy in bloody flavour like red meat so probably wouldn't make you as sick if that is your problem.

    I was a White Meat-tarian (Chicken, Dairy, Turkey and Fish) 4 days a week and a Vegetarian diet 3 days a week (may have been the other way around i can't remember now, that was 20yrs ago) i kept that up for 7years b4 i gave in to pressure and ate red meat again but it wasn't a huge chance as Chicken, Turkey and Fish were my favourite foods anyway.

    Also you could eat Nuts and Mushrooms they have the protein of meat and are a good substitute while not technically being meat..
    when i was on that diet i ate alot of mushrooms and slowly add red meat back in to your diet. It wont kill you
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    My son was a vegetarian and a vegan for 12 years, and I was a veggie/vegan for about 20 years. When we went back to eating meat, we just did it. Neither of us were sick, ever. We started off eating a bit of fish and seafood with our dinner, then chicken. When that was no big deal, we had beef and pork. There wasn't anything dramatic or weird about eating meat again, and like I said, neither one of us was sick or had trouble with digesting it. I know it can be a major psychological event for some people, but it wasn't for us.

    That is a really long time to be veggie/vegan and quit. Just out of curiosity, why did you go back??

    Because being veggies/vegans proved unhealthy for us.

    not enough iron?
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
    I am here to infer sexual innuendo then leave.

    Ahem... I have some meat you can start on, sugar buns.


    That will be all.

    Well I laughed...

    And OP after such a short time it's really unlikely you'll have any issues. Eat what you fancy.
  • cainie19
    cainie19 Posts: 126
    I am here to infer sexual innuendo then leave.

    Ahem... I have some meat you can start on, sugar buns.


    That will be all.

    I've just fallen in love
  • ms_leanne
    ms_leanne Posts: 523 Member
    After a year of being veggie back when I was 14, I just went and ate some fish fingers and a small chipolata and went from there.
  • Pandemian
    Pandemian Posts: 2
    Just wondering why you want to eat meat again? I was veggie for years, then started eating meat again but went veggie again about three years ago. With current farming methods (cruelty plus all the chemicals they pump in them plus the nasty abbatoirs) I couldn't see myself ever going back to eating meat. It would have to be wild caught with no trauma or at least raised naturally with access to outdoors, given a normal lifespan and killed humanely. I truly believe if you can't look something in the eye and kill it yourself then you shouldn't eat it.

    I know none of this helps your original question but was just curious as to the reasons for beging veggie in the first place and what has changed your mind?


    Well,the truth is.I started being a vegetarian for the wrong reasons and now it's making me sick(vomiting,hair loss,blackouts,low blood sugar).I started it to restrict my intake and now that im not doing that I see no reason not to.I understand the animal rights thing though,my father is a rancher and he raises his cows in a humane way.(even though raising something right & then killing it isn't any better).
    I just think I wasn't cut out for this:/
    I'm not doing something right but tbh,I'm tired of focusing all my attention on food,I just want to get all my nutrients in one place and not worry about protein & b-12 etc.
    It's just that I now associate vegetarianism with my eating disorder and I want a change.
  • kerricus
    kerricus Posts: 165 Member

    Well,the truth is.I started being a vegetarian for the wrong reasons and now it's making me sick(vomiting,hair loss,blackouts,low blood sugar).I started it to restrict my intake and now that im not doing that I see no reason not to.I understand the animal rights thing though,my father is a rancher and he raises his cows in a humane way.(even though raising something right & then killing it isn't any better).
    I just think I wasn't cut out for this:/
    I'm not doing something right but tbh,I'm tired of focusing all my attention on food,I just want to get all my nutrients in one place and not worry about protein & b-12 etc.
    It's just that I now associate vegetarianism with my eating disorder and I want a change.

    I'm totally an advocate for a no-meat lifestyle, BUT it sounds like you are doing it for all the wrong reasons.

    If you know where your meat is coming from and that it is fresh, by all means!

    On the other hand, please do not think that you can "get all my nutrients in one place" by eating beef. You must eat a balanced diet. Keep eating as many vegetables as possible and add a little bit of meat. Meat should be a side dish, not the focus of every meal.
  • kennie2
    kennie2 Posts: 1,170 Member
    dont do it
  • painauxraisin
    painauxraisin Posts: 299 Member
    dont do it


    ....this.
  • HealthLover007
    HealthLover007 Posts: 1
    Meat is a difficult thing for the body to consume. It is kind of toxic and takes a lot of energy by the body to break it down. That's why people feel tired after consuming a lot of meat. However, if you consume meat with green vegetables, it helps with your stomach acid and makes it easier for your body to break down not only meat, but any food you might consume with it.

    According to the documentary film "SuperSize Me", as stated by the dietician experts they interviewed, a serving size meat is approxiamtely equal to the volume of a deck of playing cards.

    Think slice, not slab, when figuring out reasonable serving sizes of meat. The allure of a steakhouse or barbecue joint relies on a hunk of beef atop a sizzling plate, but in reality you should not consume more than 6 oz of meat per day, according to the American Heart Association and the USDA Food Pyramid. A 3-oz portion is about the size of a deck of cards or a bar of soap.
  • perfekta
    perfekta Posts: 331 Member
    Go to 5 Guys, order a burger. Done.
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
    I was a vegetarian for three years.
    The first meat I had was a double cheese burger from McDonald's. It didn't make me sick.

    You need a food scale. You can get a good one for under twenty dollars. Go by what the food package says, most will tell you to go by the pre-cooked (raw) weight of the meat.
  • sunnysweetpea
    sunnysweetpea Posts: 20 Member
    I hadn't eaten meat for 8 years and just threw myself back into it with a big burger. I had no side effects whatsoever!!
  • TheWiseCat
    TheWiseCat Posts: 297
    Meat is a difficult thing for the body to consume. It is kind of toxic and takes a lot of energy by the body to break it down. That's why people feel tired after consuming a lot of meat. However, if you consume meat with green vegetables, it helps with your stomach acid and makes it easier for your body to break down not only meat, but any food you might consume with it.

    According to the documentary film "SuperSize Me", as stated by the dietician experts they interviewed, a serving size meat is approxiamtely equal to the volume of a deck of playing cards.

    Think slice, not slab, when figuring out reasonable serving sizes of meat. The allure of a steakhouse or barbecue joint relies on a hunk of beef atop a sizzling plate, but in reality you should not consume more than 6 oz of meat per day, according to the American Heart Association and the USDA Food Pyramid. A 3-oz portion is about the size of a deck of cards or a bar of soap.

    6 oz? That's not even a third of my daily protein requirement.
  • nygrl4evr
    nygrl4evr Posts: 196 Member
    Regardless of what some people say you know your body best and you know what works for it. Some here say they didn't get sick which is great for them but others like me I had to reintroduce meat very slowly. My stomach would get very upset in the beginning and I would have cramps if I ate too much. My daughter on the other hand was one who didn't get sick at all, she just went back to eating meat like she had never stopped and she was vegetarian for about 2 years longer then me. Everyone is different and you have to figure out what works best for you.
  • Healthy_4_Life2
    Healthy_4_Life2 Posts: 595 Member
    Go to 5 Guys, order a burger. Done.
    ^^^^^^This.

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