Anyone start eating meat again after many years as a vegetarian?

[mamaluvs]

I've been a vegetarian for 10+ years now. Ever since my pregnancy with #2, I've just been wanting to eat meat again. I'm really debating what to do. I did have one chicken meal while pregnant and I really enjoyed it. Originally, I became a vegetarian for health reasons and because I believe it is a better choice for our environment. Lately though, I feel like I could eat just as healthy being a non-vegetarian and I now have options for buying environmentally friendly meat (from local farmers). I'm not totally sure what is driving me towards this. I'd love to hear from others who have a had similar feelings. Thanks!

[jocelyndale]

This may belong in another forum, I'm not sure.

Anyhow, yes. I started eating meat (while pregnant) after 13+ years veg*n. I don't regret it. In my case, I feel much healthier, but I also have a ton of allergies and other health conditions and now have a hard time keeping my health stable while veg.

[LavenderMae]

I was veg*n for almost 15 yrs and I started eating meat again about a year ago. My decision came from a health stand point after years of slowly digesting (hehe) information about eating meat and the health benefits as well as the fact it can be done responsibly and ethically. I do feel healthier now and less depleted over all but I still have a long way to go until I'm eating a healthy (and ideal) diet but eating meat again was a step in that direction for me.

[Vegan Princess]

I was veg from age 14-21 then started eating meat again. I made the conscious decision that as a college student trying to get protein it would be easier on me to eat chicken (this was before everyplace had veggie options like they do now). I eventually ended up eating everything. I didn't feel healthier or really much different once I started eating it again. I ate meat for 6 years and then went vegan. Stayed vegan until my pregnancy and then added dairy back in. I am still lacto/ovo (and still nursing) but haven't touched meat in 4 years. I think it is really common while pregnant to crave dairy or meat. Most people I know gave in to those cravings. Do what feels right for you. You could always go back if it doesn't work for you.

Cindy

[maplesugar]

I was a vegetarian for years untill pregnant for the first time. I bagan to eat a little meat here and there, unfortunately just crap from the grocery store. I continued on this path for a good ten years untill just recently.

Now I am back to being a vegetarian since september. I am also not eating dairy, and focusing on raw foods mostly. I feel better that ever and have lost 15 pounds since then, not that that is my goal. My goal is to be healthy.

[caiesmommy]

I was vegan before getting preggers w ds. Then the meat craving started and I was eating it like crazy and felt horrible. I gained a ton of weight, felt slow tired all around BLAH. Not to mention the weight just wouldn't come off after. I went back veg(kept dairy while nursing for the first little while) then went vegan again. When I got preggers w dd I made the decision to not eat meat. I did eat dairy and though I was on bedrest(unrelated to diet) and had really hard pregnancy, I felt great..not to mention dd came out bigger then ds and I gained less weight

It's your choice. Noone is forcing you to either eat meat or not. If your body/mind feels it needs it then do it. You can always change your mind

[Ruthla]

This thread probably belongs in the regular Nutrition and Good Eating forum, not the vegetarian forum.

I was a vegetarian for several years as a young adult. At the time I beleived it was healthier for my body and for the planet. Then, after a few years, I'd done a lot of spiritual growing and I was no longer certain that vegetarianism fit in with my religious outlook. I re-read all the books I'd read on Judaism and Vegetarianism that I'd read at the beginning of my vegetarian journey, and saw them in a different light.

I ended up feeling that, since G-d gave us permission to eat meat, being a vegetarain was akin to saying "I know better than G-d." (This is my own personal viewpoint- I'm not judging anybody else!) I also realized that most of my ecological and health benefits of a vegetarian diet would still be realized if I ate small amounts of meat infrequently, rather than completely escewing meat. For years, I only ate meat on Shabbos and Jewish holidays, eating a vegetarian diet the other six days of the week (except for some Shabbos leftovers.)

Much, much later I realized that I'm actually healthier when I eat more meat- my personal body chemistry really doesnt' thrive on a low-meat diet, in spite of what I'd beleived when I was younger. The diet I ate in college: high in wheat, corn, and total carbs, is probably the worst thing for my health possible, even though I thought I was being healthy.

[ursusarctos]

I grew up vegetarian and then started eating a very little meat as a teenager. For the past 5 years I have eaten meat maybe once a week or so, but now in the past few months have started eating (organic, good quality) meat almost every day. For me it's a health thing. I have never felt better than I do now. I personally just don't thrive on a low/no-meat diet, even if I'm getting enough protein and eating well otherwise.

[almadianna]

I have moved this to the general N&GE forum since it really did not belong in the Veg forum.

[mamaluvs]

Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. Sorry I originally posted in the wrong forum. I'm not sure why it never dawned on me that I can always switch back to a non-meat diet if I decide to incorporate meat into my diet for awhile.

[Peacemamalove]

WE had been veg for about 5 years until a few months ago and we are now eating a traditional foods diet. There are a lot of us over there that have made that switch!

[Kelilah]

I was a vegetarian for 12 years, starting at age 11. In my twenties, for reasons I'm still not too sure on, I introduced kosher meat and now I eat all-natural meat (pastured, no hormones, etc). I still only want it a couple times a week, and I still love tofu and vegetarian meals, and my diet is still based more around complex carbohydrates than meat. But I do eat it and enjoy it. I guess I'm more of a traditional foodist now.

I think the philosophy behind my going vegetarian in 1990 is still the same philosophy I have now - a protest of the feedlot, factory system and the unhealthy practices that corporate "farming" foists upon us. In 1990, in the South, we had no other meat options. Now we do. But we still need to treat our meat with respect and consume it with reverence.

[mouso]

nak
I was a ovo/lacto veg for 4 years, ate meat when I went to college, then veg again for the past 8 years. During my 1st pg I was fine but this last pg I craved red meat like crazy- even with taking Floradix, etc.

So now we are eating some local meat. It's more expensive but that means we'll eat it only when we can afford it, not that I want it all the time. I am off dairy right now for DS so I like not having to only eat vegan.

I was never against meat eating, just the inhumane way it is raised. Buying locally makes me feel good about the food I'm eating.

[Liquesce]

Hi. I was a vegetarian for well over a decade, but then moved to a not especially vegetarian friendly country (or, it could be, but I didn't understand the local food enough to be able to do it healthfully, and initially I wasn't preparing a lot of my own meals anyway). And then I got pregnant, and didn't want to work out resuming vegetarianism while pregnant. And then I got pregnant again. And, well, here I am ... a year and a half after my last child was born, back in the U.S., still eating meat, and not feeling especially bad about it. Although I would like to find a little more of a middle ground diet for myself and my family, in which meat isn't quite such an obligatory staple.

I definitely do agree that, provided one doesn't find animal slaughter itself inherently ethically objectionable, a diet containing meat can be just as ethically sound as one that does not.

[Blueone]

I was a vegetarian right up until I was 24 I think. Or 23. The only time I ate meat was when a friends mom sneaked it into lasagna at a sleepover even though she knew I was a vegetarian. I started meat due to multiple food allergies and so I could no longer eat soy or tofu etc. I only eat fish and turkey, occasionally chicken. But I don't really get into cooking it. It didn't cause any problems for me stomach wise.

[hildare]

us

we were veg most of our lives, even vegan for over a year, but now eat deer meat & local and are soon to have our own cows for beef.
we had some conversations about what exactly comprises a vegetarian diet-- boxed mixes with soy protien etc is not necessarily better and is arguable about environmental impact. meat substitutes if you eat those aren't too good for you, but one shouldn't eat too much red meat either. imo, deer is about the best nutritionally, fat wise, environmental impact, etc.

[emaye_to_2]

I've been a vegetarian for 20 years, the last 10 years I've included fish in my diet once or twice a week. Anyway.. with both pregnancies I had anemia. With my second (four years ago) my iron was pretty low so for five months I ate red meat (steaks) with greens and OJ. I never ate red meat again after that. At the time it tasted good..