Transitioning Off Veganism Tips?

I went vegan for a year. Although I did enjoy feeling light. I began to lose hair. So all I did was eat a burger. The thing I'd suggest is eat a meat dish you enjoy. One that you liked before you went vegetarian and vegan. That way it wont gross you out. Burgers and ribs are my favorite meat dishes, so that's how I transitioned. Than began to make my own dishes with meat in them. Not sure that'll help. But that's what worked for me.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

I haven't done it, but I think you're following a good approach. (I'm a long term vegetarian, fairly old (67), figure I'll need to do that transition when I need to move to assisted living someday, in order to get adequate nutrition in an omnivore setting, so I've given it some thought.)

I can't find the cite quickly, but I saw a small crossover study that examined gut microbiome adaptation when vegetarians started eating animal foods, and omnivores started eating only plant foods. The adaptation period was shorter than the researchers had speculated beforehand, I think something like 2 weeks. Obviously, that's only part of what needs to happen to make the shift, but it's relevant. I'll try to remember to look later when I have more time, see if I can find it or similar.

With apologies: Though I didn't forget, I poked around a bit and didn't find the study I was thinking of. I swear I didn't make it up!

As an aside, I was in a "mixed marriage" for over 20 years: I'm a long-term vegetarian, he was a meat eater/hunter. (Widowed - for reasons with zero to do with meat AFAIK! - not divorced. Reasonably happy marriage throughout, I'd say better than average.)

I'm not trying to talk you out of transitioning back to eating meat, if that's your preference, and/or you feel it would enhance or simplify your valued relationship. That's 100% your call. My point is more that if there's an assumption that different eating styles are inherently a deal-breaker, I don't think they necessarily have to be. It does require some empathy and flexibility from both parties, though. For us, it was worth it.

BeanieBean93 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

I haven't done it, but I think you're following a good approach. (I'm a long term vegetarian, fairly old (67), figure I'll need to do that transition when I need to move to assisted living someday, in order to get adequate nutrition in an omnivore setting, so I've given it some thought.)

I can't find the cite quickly, but I saw a small crossover study that examined gut microbiome adaptation when vegetarians started eating animal foods, and omnivores started eating only plant foods. The adaptation period was shorter than the researchers had speculated beforehand, I think something like 2 weeks. Obviously, that's only part of what needs to happen to make the shift, but it's relevant. I'll try to remember to look later when I have more time, see if I can find it or similar.

With apologies: Though I didn't forget, I poked around a bit and didn't find the study I was thinking of. I swear I didn't make it up!

As an aside, I was in a "mixed marriage" for over 20 years: I'm a long-term vegetarian, he was a meat eater/hunter. (Widowed - for reasons with zero to do with meat AFAIK! - not divorced. Reasonably happy marriage throughout, I'd say better than average.)

I'm not trying to talk you out of transitioning back to eating meat, if that's your preference, and/or you feel it would enhance or simplify your valued relationship. That's 100% your call. My point is more that if there's an assumption that different eating styles are inherently a deal-breaker, I don't think they necessarily have to be. It does require some empathy and flexibility from both parties, though. For us, it was worth it.

Oh yes, I completely agree! Eating styles would never be a relationship deal breaker for us but we do miss being able to go out together. Part of this was because I became so restricted in what I was eating that even going to a vegan restaurant was a challenge. He knows I'll never be the type of foodie that he is but if we could go out without me panicking about there being butter in the sauce or egg in the breading, that would be a nice change of pace for us.

I do like living a mostly plant based lifestyle but I am noticing that adding in eggs has had some nice initial health benefits. Maybe as I widen my diet in general, I'll be able to balance plant based with a varied and nutritious diet. We shall see!

That sounds really positive: Food anxiety beyond any hard limitations (like allergies or contraindicating health conditions) can be life-limiting and joy-limiting. You're showing strength in and character in taking this on. I wish you great outcomes!

I'm wondering if it would be easier if, instead of trying to come up with a plan to transition to omnivore, you just decided you're now an omnivore. That doesn't mean that every meal has to include animal foods. That way, you can eat what you want from what's available at any given time, which is pretty much what being an omnivore means. I'm an omnivore, but I'm not always in the mood for meat/poultry/fish.

Maybe I'm missing the point. Is it that you're never in the mood for meat/poultry/fish and you feel you need them for better health, so you have to have a plan to adhere to or you'll never get there? I think the suggestions just above about starting with eggs and dairy makes sense, if you have less resistance to those foods, and then trying dishes that only have a small portion of meat/poultry/fish -- like a "mostly bean" chili, or a salad that you add a limited amount of chicken, steak, or shrimp to. You can make a chicken/tuna/egg/ham salad spread for sandwiches that is half (or more) mild beans, like chickpeas or cannellini. And you don't ever have to move beyond that at home if you don't want to -- most restaurants these days will have at least a couple of vegetarian or vegan dishes. Or you could order a dinner salad with whatever protein you want, and not have to eat all of the protein if you don't want.

I'm wondering, reading the totality of responses, whether some of the omnivores giving kind advice also realize that the conversion from fully plant based to omni, or the reverse as well, can have unpleasant though temporary physical consequences.

OP clearly has some additional issues with food and eating that have more to do with established taste preferences/habits or some personal psychological slippery slopes as well. That complicates the process. But any major dietary switch, especially taken suddenly, can result in some significant physical distress - usually digestive - that isn't "all in one's head".

There have been a few times when I ate something with meat broth in it by accident, and figured out that there was meat protein because I experienced symptoms before knowing what the ingredients were. IOW, I questioned the ingredients after experiencing minor digestive upset. There isn't a way that can be purely psychological, that I can see. With small amounts like that, it was pretty mild, but noticeable. For sure, if/when I start eating meat again, I'm phasing it in rather than starting with a big ol' juicy steak.

With apologies to OP for the extremely off-topic digression (and a trigger warning for gentle souls):

kshama2001 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

I haven't done it, but I think you're following a good approach. (I'm a long term vegetarian, fairly old (67), figure I'll need to do that transition when I need to move to assisted living someday, in order to get adequate nutrition in an omnivore setting, so I've given it some thought.)

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

Well, that's a depressing thought that hadn't occurred to me -- getting to the point where I just have to eat what some institutional dietician trying to satisfy the "average" palate thinks I should be eating. I probably won't see a legume from one week to the next. One more item on the list of reasons to do everything I can to forestall that day.

@AnnPT77 I had a big negative reaction to your statement "when I need to move to assisted living someday" and mentally changed it to "IF*" with an asterisk for disclaimers.

I've often mentioned that my partner's mother ended up in a nursing home after years of being sedentary, losing muscle, and losing the ability to go to the bathroom unassisted, while my mother is at the other end of the activity spectrum, and if she ends up in a nursing home it will be due to something like falling off a ladder while cleaning gutters. (Which she should have stopped doing years ago as she is 85 and has osteoporosis.)

Since you are far more active than his mom and much more sensible than my mom, I have higher hopes for your independence

Thank you! I have the same hope for both you and me, @kshama2001.

But my very independent dad, at 83, fell off a workbench (where he was standing while changing a fluorescent light bulb), bounced on a sawhorse on the way to the floor, broke all the bones around his good eye, and fully ruptured the eyeball. (Yes, that's awful, and the whole story is worse.)

Instantly, he was legally blind. No significant things limited him physically (once he fully healed from the totality of injuries), and his mind/intellect was completely sound (better than mine TBH). But he tried visiting his home for a weekend (with me), decided entirely on his own that he could no longer live alone, and moved to assisted living. Boom, just like that. (NB, he didn't want to live with me, nor move away from his hometown 90-some miles from where I lived/worked.)

I don't have children, siblings, a partner, or anyone psychologically/socially close to me who's going to look out for me "when I get old". (Friends tend to be around my age, many of them already less physically/mentally capable, realistically.)

At 67 now, I'm not there yet, but I suspect my smart move will be to go live somewhere with support services before I'm too far gone intellectually/physically to handle the move myself, because there literally isn't anyone else who'll look out for me. The only alternative likelihood is one of those sudden-drop deaths while still independent, but can't count on that, either.

So I think about the implications a bit, even now. If that's too grim, I apologize. From my perspective, it's just realistically how things are. 🤷‍♀️

ETA: I was on a tall ladder in my driveway just today, reaching overhead as far as (?) "safe" (?), trimming overhanging branches off a maple tree with long-handled loppers. Don't count on me having good sense. I'm related to that "standing on workbench" guy, after all.

While I didn't transition from vegan to omnivore, a few years back I transitioned back to allowing dairy, eggs and gluten into my life after several years without, and it was definitely a slow and steady process. (We were planning a trip to France and I knew I didn't want to worry about submitting to the Call of the Almighty Croissant or the Seduction of the Wine and Cheese). Dairy was by far the hardest intestinally, and ultimately it became a compromise: I avoid cow milk (because in all honestly, humans aren't meant to drink ANY type of mother's milk after the age of 6 or 7, which is why cow milk in particular does a doozy on the gut for a lot of us, and focus on goat milk if I feel I really need animal dairy, otherwise stick with homemade organic oat milk.

As far as cheese goes, it's still definitely in moderation years later - except when I make my homemade Mac & Cheese on Thanskgiving. Too much gluten still makes me tired, and we raise backyard ducks so I automatically watch how many I eat of those since they are considerably larger than chicken eggs. My tummy has never done well with beef, so it's a rarity that I eat that, and now that I'm on MFP, pork is treated like a delicacy - a treat every once in a while, as my husband is a butcher at our local co-op, and we occasionally cure our own bacon.

The more you are without animal products, the more the dietary change will affect you when you introduce it. So try it in moderation if you really want to add meat back - when we cure our own bacon, for example, I have my husband cut it into lardons and put it in the freezer, so they are more used as little 'salty flavor bombs' in dishes like Carbonara instead of a big greasy thing on a breakfast plate that I know will give my tummy some trouble. The fact it's from pasture-raised pork is a big deal as well - the animals who have the least amount of stress in their lives emit the fewest hormones at slaughter, not to mention have a healthier diet, and therefore ultimately tastes better - and it's richer, so you also eat less of it! Same goes with chickens - before we recently downsized back to the city, we raised pastured heirloom chickens on our farm, which not only showed me how much tastier they are than the bland chicken at the grocery store (FYI folks - the 'organic' chicken at the store will say if it is pasture raised - which is not the same as 'free range', a meaningless trope - and therefore not as humane as folks like to think it is), along with the fact that we processed our own birds, giving us hella more respect for our food having shepherded them through their entire life cycle...which makes you eat less of it as well.

A bit of a run on response, but it goes back to the Michael Pollan quote about 'Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.' Meaning, it's OK to eat animals as long as you eat ones that are humanely and sustainably raised, and you don't make it the main part of your diet. Even though I've got a butcher at my side, we eat vegetarian or vegan usually 5 out of 7 days a week. And we definitely don't just rely on tofu -its more about using vegetables in creative ways, like subbing cauliflower for chicken, or mushrooms for pork (there's a great cookbook called Shroom that has a recipe for Trumpet Mushroom "scallops" that made me think I'd died and gone to heaven). One can definitely not survive on tofu alone - nor should they! Diversity is the spice of life!