I've happily been an ovo-lacto vegetarian for 12+ years and had no intention of changing this any time soon. However, with this preganancy (I'm 9 weeks along), I am craving meat . . . and not even a good kind. I've had a really hard time finding anything that I can choke down over the last few weeks, but the idea of a chicken salad sandwich or grilled brat makes my mouth water. (I know, you aren't supposed to eat processed meat while pregnant . . . I'm just following my cravings . . .) Any ideas? My initial thought was that I wasn't getting enough protein, so I've tried eating more of my usual protein sources, to no avail. I'm near the breaking point of at least tasting something and seeing if it satisfies my cravings. Anyone else have this experience?? Obviously, I can choose whatever I want to eat, but my preference would be to maintain my vegetarian diet . . . but my DH's smoked turkey sandwich just looks so darn good
OMG, me, too! I've been ovo-lacto veggie for ten years and I can't shake these meat cravings! (I can't digest meat, either, so what a mess it will be if I give in!) I'm so embarrassed to admit it, even to my DH!
I'm not going to give in, but it has been making me miserable since all my usual favorites seem so unappetizing at the moment. I've been known to make a favorite dish, then eat something else because the idea of eating it is repulsive! I sure hope that goes away! (You know what meat eaters would say...that it's your body telling you that you need to eat meat. Don't buy into that propoganda!)
Good luck! Maybe we can be each other's moral support to NOT GIVE IN!
I wish you much luck not to give in. I did 5 some years ago with my first. And I haven't gone back.
: But I had not been veggie for as long as either of you.
Both of my girls are huge meat eaters and I feel ike there would be a revolte if we went back veggie. But I am trying, as soon as my husband deploys, we are so going there and not looking back this time. I actually want to cut out dairy also. I know there is a book, Vegetarian pregnancy. I am not sure if it is any good, but I saw it and almost got it at our used bookstore
There is a mod here who wrote a book about Vegetarian Pregnancies - Cathe. If you do a search for her, I think the link to buy it is in her sig. Also check out the nutrition forums and do some searching there, I bet there's lots of great info. HTH and best of luck to you - I know it can be done.
A good friend of mine was vegan until she got pg - and she STRESSED about meat cravings for months (and cheese, icecream, eggs...). She ate some meat and fish while pg, and is still eating dairy. I'm surely not saying your body is demanding meat, or anything, just one more story to add to the mix.
That said, the first meat she ate was chicken mcnuggets, and she would NOT recommend that to anyone, LOL!
I don't eat red meat but I have been craving an Arby's sandwitch! I haven't had red meat in almost 15 years so obviously I'm not going to start eating it now but sometimes I just feel like my body wants it.
I was a veg for seven years, and as soon as I got pg with my first, my body's messages were loud and clear: MEEEEAT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAT
I did start eating meat, although I was repulsed at first, and I felt SIGNIFICANTLY better. I didn't like it, but at the time I rationalized it by saying that my body and my baby were telling me this for a reason.
This is my third pregnancy and I still strongly crave meat (and eat it) when pg. I am normally not a protein craver AT ALL.
Well obviously I'm in good company and not alone in my cravings. If this feeling doesn't subside, I may actually try something this weekend. After 12 years, I'm not sure how my body may react . . . ! And, if the protein makes me feel better - I'M ALL FOR THAT!!!
I am having a veg. pregnancy myself (no dairy even, as an attempt to prevent allergy that runs in DH's family; though I was lacto-ovo). No serious meat cravings, but I have been craving hot pretzels with mustard (which I was generally able to keep down but threw up once) and popsicles (which I throw up all the time). Every single research article I have found on the subject says pregnancy cravings are not related to physical needs. I'm thinking they may be more emotional in origin, especially since food cravings are not a common part of pregnancy in many cultures and since our own culture often associates food with emotional security.
This is in contrast with our usual instinctual food drives, which are functional in very young children (presumably destroyed later by societal influences), and have been shown to lead them very much along the path of what their bodies need, as long as they have free access to whole foods.
Okay, but that aritcle just made me want all the food she was craving. I am weak though. I used to be able to go to all the websites that tell you all the horrible stuff, even the dairy ones and not want to eat any of it. It didn't work through my pregnancy. But my dh worked on a dairy farm, those cows were not treated like that. Though he keeps reminding me that that was a small family owned farm, and probably not how our milk that we get at the store gets there
Forgot to add, that yes I totally agree with the food we crave is from our childhood. Not that my childhood was great, but my first pregnancy, I craved meatloaf mashed taters and peas. And all these things that my mom cooked over and over and over. My second pregnancy about doesn't count, I was horribly sick and didn't want to eat anything. But how do you substitute the emotional cravings with something other than food???
I am in my third vegetarian pregnancy. I have not experienced meat cravings, but in prior pregnancies I have craved non-food items. Just because we crave it doesn't mean we have to eat it. To me, meat is no more food than is sawdust. If I crave sawdust, I am not going to eat it. If I crave meat, I am not going to eat it. Meat is not an acceptable form of nourishment to me anymore than sawdust is. (not a commentary on the food choices of anyone else, just where my thinking is at, and this thread *is* directed towards vegetarians
)
Anyway, just my input
If you are committed to being a vegetarian, you will find a way around your cravings.
I don't know if any of you mamas live in the DC area, but there is a FABULOUS vegan restaurant called Sunflower in Vienna, VA. And they serve the MOST WONDERFUL faux meat dishes. I swear, you cannot tell the difference and it is soooooo goooooooood. DH brought home some last night! Anyway, good luck to all you vegie mamas! Those cravings can be killers!
I am feeling the same although I am not a strict vegetarian. Actually , after a few years of trial and error, I had finally managed to cut meat out of my diet just a few weeks before becoming pregnant. Now, as in my other two pregnancies, I crave meat, among other things. I agree that craving it doesn't mean that I need it but I have had some (trying to keep with fish, etc and not red meat) and I felt better. Maybe I do need something but my body is all confused?
Anyway, I am also worried about my diet because I had just started getting a hold on a vegetarian diet (also trying to cut out dairy and animal protein when possible) and then with being pregnant and nursing my 19-month old daughter, I am not sure I am getting all the nutrients, etc . that I need. Is there a "eating a vegetarian diet for dummies" book that would meet MDC-mama standards???
I was completely ovo-lacto veg until I got pg with my DD - and I started eating seafood. I still do - and it was a lifesaver while DD was little to be able to find decent food to-go. I don't think it's any healthier than being veg, but I was not in a position to be a healthy veg, so eating fish helped me make better choices. I have been wanting to go back to being veg - but also don't know if I can give up salmon...
My major meaty meal I want while pg is salmon, sauteed brocolli and mashed potatoes. I could eat it every meal.
But I've never craved chicken or red meat - they gross me out too much. I find that when I crave something meaty, like an arby's roast beef or a hamburger, what I'm really craving is the condiments and veggies that go with it. Or the chewy texture, which is rarer when you don't eat meat. So I develop a way to get those flavors.
I LOOOVE the recipe for seitan that's in the Vegan Vittles cookbook. It's gluten based. The recipe makes 3 chunks of seitan for a fraction of the cost of buying it premade. I freeze 2 and use one right away. It's soo good thinly sliced and turned into Reuben sandwiches on rye with kraut and the mayo/kethcup/pickle dressing and melted cheese.....must have one now! It's super meaty, but healthy and fresh. That cookbook also has a recipe for Vegan pot roast that has been my Thanksgiving "turkey" for years, and also makes a great sandwich.
I have been veg for many years, but during my first pregnancy I CRAVED chicken. Really craved it. So I ate chicken. I did feel better and it did satisfy my cravings. As soon as I had her, the craving went away and I haven't eaten meat since. I am now on my third pregnancy, and I don't crave meat now and I didn't with my second either. I still feel like I needed it that pregnancy for some reason and I never felt guilty about it.
Good luck. It is a hard decision.
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