Quit eating meat?
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No, meat is not bad for weight loss. If you have ethical concerns, that's one thing, but meat is actually pretty good for losing weight - it's very high in protein for the number of calories (which makes it quite filling and helps you lose a better ratio of fat to muscle), it's a complete protein source, and it's got vitamins such as B12 that you'd have to supplement if you gave up animal products. Some meats are a good source of good fats, too.0
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I'm not going to try and persuade to go one way or another. While meat is a great source of protein, there are good alternatives. A lot of times, people so feel better energetically and do tend to lose weight. Make sure you exercise if you chose this path because as you lose weight the excess skin becomes flappy. I may not be completely factual on everything I just said because I am speaking through minor research, my personal experience as well as a few other's experiences, so don't quote me. I do eat meat, now. It is completely your decision. Do some research and see if it is something you're interested in, or just be adventurous and try something new. If you don't like it, you can always go grab a burger or a steak... :P
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+1 to the "irrelevant to weight loss" idea. Been vegetarian for 41 years. Got fat that way, stayed fat (obese) that way for a long time, lost weight that way rather recently. I concede that if you love meat a lot, and don't like other foods, maybe giving up meat will force you to lose weight because you can't eat what you enjoy, but I think that's a really bad idea.
What will help you lose weight? Get to Calories In < Calories Out, eating anything you like eating. Try to do it at a calorie level, timing of eating, and combination of foods that will keep you feeling satisfied and energetic, so you can stick with it long enough to accomplish your goals (including maintaining your goal weight permanently).
If you want to be healthy, too, then get a reasonable combination of macronutrients (protein, carbs, healthy fats) and micronutrients (basically plenty of veggies/fruits), while accomplishing CI<CO.
If you want to be fit, on top of losing weight and being healthy, exercise (and - wheee - you get some bonus calories to eat, besides, and maybe even get better looking).
That's it.0 -
Cutting out meat will likely lead to weight loss because your muscles will atrophy as your body pulls from them to repair other tissue. If you are going to go Vegan carefully consider where you will get your protien and then consider that only 50-70 % of the protien on the label will be utilized by your body. You have to plan your meals a lot better and eat more to your your protien requirements.0
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CalvinBardin wrote: »Cutting out meat will likely lead to weight loss because your muscles will atrophy as your body pulls from them to repair other tissue. If you are going to go Vegan carefully consider where you will get your protien and then consider that only 50-70 % of the protien on the label will be utilized by your body. You have to plan your meals a lot better and eat more to your your protien requirements.
Likely weight loss due to atrophy, eh?0 -
CalvinBardin wrote: »Cutting out meat will likely lead to weight loss because your muscles will atrophy as your body pulls from them to repair other tissue. If you are going to go Vegan carefully consider where you will get your protien and then consider that only 50-70 % of the protien on the label will be utilized by your body. You have to plan your meals a lot better and eat more to your your protien requirements.
Not true.0 -
rankinsect wrote: »No, meat is not bad for weight loss. If you have ethical concerns, that's one thing, but meat is actually pretty good for losing weight - it's very high in protein for the number of calories (which makes it quite filling and helps you lose a better ratio of fat to muscle), it's a complete protein source, and it's got vitamins such as B12 that you'd have to supplement if you gave up animal products. Some meats are a good source of good fats, too.
^ All that. Not to mention that meat is delicious!
I eat some form of meat with almost every single meal, hasn't impeded my weight loss (nor had negative effects upon my health) in the least. Humans are omnivores, that's why we have the teeth to tear/chew it and the digestive system to properly process/utilize it.0 -
I think for some people it is helpful for their digestion to give up meat but probably not for weight loss tho when I went meatless I lost initially. But again there are unhealthy vegan/vegetarian too!0
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Why would you? its a great way to add protein.0
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Squirrel698 wrote: »Also! if you cut out meat, you cut out a lot of temptation. Your buddies are having pepperoni pizza? You'd like some but you don't eat meat so ... no extra calories for you. They pull out a bucket of wings. Same thing. You get to be happy with your reasonable hummus and pita chips.
Eh, to each his own. It is much, much easier for me to go overboard on pita chips than meat. Ethics aside, OP, meat does 2 things really helpful in a calorie deficit: it's high protein (for lean mass preservation) and digests slowly (keeps you feeling full longer).
Meat is generally not the part I am most likely to overdo either (and I prefer pizza without meat, so it wouldn't help there at all!).0 -
Anyway, like others have said, I think there are plenty of good reasons to give up meat if you feel so inclined, but weight loss is definitely not one of them. I find that lean meats (including fish, even fatty fish) tend to make weight loss easier, as they are quite filling for the calories and allow for variety even for lower cal meals. It's going to depend on your own tendencies, though -- if meat is something where you tend to overeat or choose higher fat and calorie options, I'd say work on changing that, not just cutting out meat entirely. It would likely be easier to sustain. If it's about other reasons besides weight, though, my answer might be different.0
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I suggest everyone cut meat from their diet. Cow is getting too expensive and if enough people stop buying it the price will collapse and I'll be able to buy a large expensive cut of steak for every dinner instead of cheaper meats or none at all. Obviously, not everyone can stop buying meat or after it collapses too many farmers will leave and it'll become a super expensive as a luxury item, I just need enough of you to stop for the right amount of time so I can enjoy this cheap meat world for a while.0
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Squirrel698 wrote: »I will mourn for Joe the pig because he was a good pig.
I mourned for Josie the chicken when a hawk killed her a couple days ago because she was a good laying hen. But I will still have her for dinner tonight.0 -
Kamikazeflutterby wrote: »Squirrel698 wrote: »I will mourn for Joe the pig because he was a good pig.
Either you're trolling, or have absolutely no idea how freaking hilarious that is.
Also, chicken is basically tofu with a beak. You understand this if you've been around chickens.
Huh? Sorry, I spend almost every day around chickens and I have no idea what that means.0 -
larryjames716 wrote: »Should I quit eating meat to help me lose weight?
There is no reason you should quit eating meat to lose weight unless you want to or personally feel it will help you keep a deficit.
Also, when giving something up for weight loss it's a good idea to think about what you'll do when you get to goal? Will you start eating meat again? If so, what will the impact on your overall calories be?
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Only if you want to...
Personally, I've been gone back and forth between O/L/P vegetarian and full omnivore several times in my life... I found that I tended to choose dairy as my protein source when I was veg, so it really didn't help me lose weight. I have several wonderful vegetarian cookbooks, but it seemed that most of the recipes with alternate protein sources were a production and I also tired of eating casseroles all of the time. Besides, I like meat... I find it easier to lose weight if I stick to eating a nice little portion of meat alongside some steamed or grilled vegetables--getting a little excited that it's nearly spring and I can start using the grill more!0 -
You don't need to give up meat for weight loss, it really is all about CICO. You can eat whatever you like, as long as you keep within your calorie allowance for weight loss you'll lose weight.
My own experience is that I lost around 30lb in a year when I changed to a vegetarian diet about 15 years ago (a deliberately slow weight loss but also slow because I'm small-framed). It worked for me because I started to eat healthier meals than before, got more interested in nutrition and enjoyed cooking different tasty veggie dishes and discovering new foods not tried before. Now vegan and maintain to within a pound or two of my current weight so will not eat meat again for both the reasons above and ethical reasons including a refusal to support the cruelty involved in the meat/egg/dairy farming industries.
Easily meet my macros by making sure I eat a wide variety of foods. I do supplement for B12 as most vegans do, because it's vital for both humans and animals like cattle and sheep, which are often also supplemented with B12, either directly or by provision of a source of cobalt (needed to synthesise/produce B12) via feed/salt-licks. Some farmers also fertilise their pastures with cobalt-enriched fertilisers.
Meat-eaters can also be B12-deficient (along with other vitamins and minerals) due to poor diet. An omnivorous diet is definitely not essential for good health; there are plenty of healthy, fit and long-lived vegetarians and vegans, including vegan athletes and body-builders, to prove that point.
The 'we have canine teeth to eat meat' theory regularly bandied about is utter nonsense. Many vegetarian animals have canine teeth (gorillas, camels etc) and while we can chew on meat to break it down before swallowing (mostly done with the premolars and molars at the back rather than those tiny canines) we would find it extremely difficult - if not impossible - to tear open the hide of a cow, deer or sheep, for example, something true carnivores like lions can easily do; they also have a shorter digestive tract than omnivores/herbivores. These basic and easily-obtainable facts particularly annoy the thankfully very few anti-vegans on this site.
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TrickyDisco wrote: »The 'we have canine teeth to eat meat' theory regularly bandied about is utter nonsense. Many vegetarian animals have canine teeth (gorillas, camels etc) and while we can chew on meat to break it down before swallowing (mostly done with the premolars and molars at the back rather than those tiny canines) we would find it extremely difficult - if not impossible - to tear open the hide of a cow, deer or sheep, for example, something true carnivores like lions can easily do; they also have a shorter digestive tract than omnivores/herbivores. These basic and easily-obtainable facts particularly annoy the thankfully very few anti-vegans on this site.
Why would omnivores being different from carnivores annoy any human? I doubt anyone thinks humans are naturally carnivorous.
Even if we didn't have the skill to butcher animals, we can easily eat many forms of meat with nothing other than our teeth (fish, frogs, poultry, small mammals).
Is the fact that we couldn't tear through most nut shells with only our teeth a reason not to eat nuts?0 -
Squirrel698 wrote: »Tweaking_Time wrote: »Squirrel698 wrote: »Yes. Meat is murder.
^^^No. It is not murder - it is food.^^^
Using that logic, you are also food my friend.
SMH. It's militant vegetarians/vegans like you that give the rest of us such a negative reputation. It is fine to have your ethical beliefs but you don't have to attack meat-eaters. It's petty and does nothing to improve animal welfare. To the omnivores out there I promise not all vegetarians are so self-righteous. Apologies for derailing.
I agree with the rest of the posters that cutting out meat is irrelevant for weight loss. You can have a healthy diet and maintain a caloric deficit regardless of whether or not you eat meat.0 -
caffeinatedcami wrote: »Squirrel698 wrote: »Tweaking_Time wrote: »Squirrel698 wrote: »Yes. Meat is murder.
^^^No. It is not murder - it is food.^^^
Using that logic, you are also food my friend.
SMH. It's militant vegetarians/vegans like you that give the rest of us such a negative reputation. It is fine to have your ethical beliefs but you don't have to attack meat-eaters. It's petty and does nothing to improve animal welfare. To the omnivores out there I promise not all vegetarians are so self-righteous. Apologies for derailing.
I agree with the rest of the posters that cutting out meat is irrelevant for weight loss. You can have a healthy diet and maintain a caloric deficit regardless of whether or not you eat meat.
^^^this^^^
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Meat...and particularly lean sourced meat, poultry, and fish tend to be pretty low calorie...and primary sources of protein. For me anyway, eating meat was hardly the reason I was overweight...I removed or substantially reduced a lot of "junk" from my diet, but not meat.0
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Vegetarians with a well chosen diet do very well. Or vegetarians who eat nothing but white bread, candy, and sweet rolls do very poorly. I had an overweight vegan tell me that sugar is vegan, white flour is vegan.... If you don't have objections to the consumption of animal products, eat meat. Eat lean fresh meat and fish and low fat dairy. Also eat vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, whole grains, quality oils, etc.0
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Vegetarians with a well chosen diet do very well. Or vegetarians who eat nothing but white bread, candy, and sweet rolls do very poorly. I had an overweight vegan tell me that sugar is vegan, white flour is vegan.... If you don't have objections to the consumption of animal products, eat meat. Eat lean fresh meat and fish and low fat dairy. Also eat vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, whole grains, quality oils, etc.
Overweight or not, that vegan was right. Sugar and white flour are vegan. They can be included as part of a healthful diet for vegans (just like they can for non-vegans).0 -
CalvinBardin wrote: »Cutting out meat will likely lead to weight loss because your muscles will atrophy as your body pulls from them to repair other tissue. If you are going to go Vegan carefully consider where you will get your protien and then consider that only 50-70 % of the protien on the label will be utilized by your body. You have to plan your meals a lot better and eat more to your your protien requirements.
Oh, please.
I've been vegetarian for 41 years, and I'm a reasonably fit, muscle-y 60 year old. Getting enough protein as a vegan/vegetarian requires a bit more conscious attention, and protein quality is something to attend to, but . . . muscle atrophy? Really?
No.
Still not advocating that OP go veg for weight loss, though.0 -
CalvinBardin wrote: »Cutting out meat will likely lead to weight loss because your muscles will atrophy as your body pulls from them to repair other tissue. If you are going to go Vegan carefully consider where you will get your protien and then consider that only 50-70 % of the protien on the label will be utilized by your body. You have to plan your meals a lot better and eat more to your your protien requirements.
Oh, please.
I've been vegetarian for 41 years, and I'm a reasonably fit, muscle-y 60 year old. Getting enough protein as a vegan/vegetarian requires a bit more conscious attention, and protein quality is something to attend to, but . . . muscle atrophy? Really?
No.
Still not advocating that OP go veg for weight loss, though.
I agree with this 100% and I am not advocating that the OP should go veg either. Personally after going to a 100% plant sourced nutritional plan I've actually had an easier time incorporating protein into my diet. I feel absolutely amazing not being loaded down by animal products and have no concerns about my percentages any longer. Just by cutting out animal products (meat, fish, eggs, dairy) I dropped about 5 LBs in 10 days but the real benefit is that my body is getting absolutely everything it needs to thrive. My sleep is better, my mind is better, my skin is better, I'm never hungry, I have no cravings, I am always satisfied. I also noticed that my flexibility/range of motion has improved, most likely due to decreasing inflammation that I may have had. Eat more plants
But seriously, no, unless you have a personal or medical reason for giving up meat it really shouldn't matter as long as you're cutting calories.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »TrickyDisco wrote: »The 'we have canine teeth to eat meat' theory regularly bandied about is utter nonsense. Many vegetarian animals have canine teeth (gorillas, camels etc) and while we can chew on meat to break it down before swallowing (mostly done with the premolars and molars at the back rather than those tiny canines) we would find it extremely difficult - if not impossible - to tear open the hide of a cow, deer or sheep, for example, something true carnivores like lions can easily do; they also have a shorter digestive tract than omnivores/herbivores. These basic and easily-obtainable facts particularly annoy the thankfully very few anti-vegans on this site.
Why would omnivores being different from carnivores annoy any human? I doubt anyone thinks humans are naturally carnivorous.
Even if we didn't have the skill to butcher animals, we can easily eat many forms of meat with nothing other than our teeth (fish, frogs, poultry, small mammals).
Is the fact that we couldn't tear through most nut shells with only our teeth a reason not to eat nuts?
As I said, it's usually a few anti-vegans who have a problem with the facts about canine teeth, some like to insinuate the only reason we have them is in order to eat meat 'the way lions do'.
Of course there's nothing wrong with eating meat, but no-one should suggest that because they have canine teeth and can digest it then that's the reason to eat it.
You're so right too about all the other kinds of meat people could eat with their teeth if they wanted to. Anyone who does this, please remember to pluck poultry first before ripping into it with those canines; might choke on the feathers otherwise.
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Kamikazeflutterby wrote: »Squirrel698 wrote: »I will mourn for Joe the pig because he was a good pig.
Either you're trolling, or have absolutely no idea how freaking hilarious that is.
Also, chicken is basically tofu with a beak. You understand this if you've been around chickens.
Huh? Sorry, I spend almost every day around chickens and I have no idea what that means.
Like unto tofu, you rely on whatever you season and serve chicken with to provide flavor. Like unto tofu, people make anything with chicken.
The more time I spend around living chickens the less I like them. I don't hate them, but I don't like them. They're dumb, they smell, and I have found no redeeming qualities unless they're deep fried. Also like tofu.0 -
Kamikazeflutterby wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Kamikazeflutterby wrote: »Squirrel698 wrote: »I will mourn for Joe the pig because he was a good pig.
Either you're trolling, or have absolutely no idea how freaking hilarious that is.
Also, chicken is basically tofu with a beak. You understand this if you've been around chickens.
Huh? Sorry, I spend almost every day around chickens and I have no idea what that means.
Like unto tofu, you rely on whatever you season and serve chicken with to provide flavor. Like unto tofu, people make anything with chicken.
The more time I spend around living chickens the less I like them. I don't hate them, but I don't like them. They're dumb, they smell, and I have found no redeeming qualities unless they're deep fried. Also like tofu.
I rather like my chickens. It's true that the bird brained chickens are not the brightest of animals, but they do have unique personalities.
All animals smell if not bathed, humans included.0
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