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how to reintroduce meat into one's diet

km267

km267

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 7, 2003
Messages
419
Location
oregon
hi, i've been a vegetarian for 12 years or so, and i've had enough of it! i'm not veggie for any particular reason anymore - mostly out of habit. i would like to start eating meat and or fish, but I find that NOTHING in these categories is appealing to me. i think it would be good for me to get the protein and vitamins from meat, but i keep putting off actually eating some.

has anyone been in this boat before? what kinds of foods helped to to ease back into the world of meat-eating? i do eat dairy, btw.
please don't bash my decision - it's become extremely difficult for me to get what i need from a vegetarian diet, since i'm allergic to nuts and have a phobia of strange/too-many-ingredient foods (aka every vegetarian dish at most restaurants)...
 
They aren't too good for you, but chicken nuggets (supposedly) have meat in them and are pretty mild tasting.
 
topping on a pizza, but you don't do dairy. Make your own cheese-less pizza with a topping. chicken is pretty mild tasting. Boil meats taste bland as well from what I have heard.
 
Yes, I was in exactly the same boat as you, became a vego when I was 7, and then just didn't eat meat for about 10 years purely out of habit! You just get used to not eating it and it isn't even an issue! Fully know where you're coming from, and a couple of years ago I decided that I wasn't a vegetarian for any reason at all, and i should try eating some meat for protein and cos it is quite healthy, also sick of taking iron pills.
I found it a real struggle at first to eat meat because I found the texture really off putting and made me feel sick. I started with chicken breast cos that's bland, and I think i had a very small amount cut into little pieces, mixed through a strongly flavoured stirfry to try hide the taste of the chicken as much as poss. I remember feeling quite sickened by the stringy/rubbery texture of the meat, and I could only eat about 50g of raw meat at the most.
In my opinion you do have to introduce it slowly. Don't start off with anything really fatty or chewy and try disguise the meat by mixing it with sauces, veges, noodles, that sort of thing. Maybe only have it once a week for a while, then start trying to eat it more frequently.
Eventually I got back into my meat, and now I love having a big hunk of fillet steak for dinner! My friends laugh at me sometimes and can't believe I used to be a vegetarian with the amount of meat I'll eat nowadays. Though I am still picky with my meats and would never eat meat off the bone (too carnivorous) or anything really fatty cos I think that's rank.

All the best! Let us know how you get on!
 
great to hear from someone with a similar experience! thanks cloud9!
i have the fixings for fettucine alfredo, so maybe i'll get a chicken breast to grill and put tiny pieces on top. :)
 
Also beware that being a veggie for a long time trained your stomache not to produce the enzymes needed to digest meat, so you will get sick and have digestion problems. The best thing to do is to start with fish, because fish is extremely lean and (by far) the easiest meat to digest. Again, THE BEST THING TO START WITH IS FISH. Even if you don't particularly like the taste of fish (I hated fish until I discovered sushi), it is the best thing to train yourself back to meat on. Once your digestive tract adapts to meat again, move your way up to chicken and, eventually beef and pork.
 
I second the fish suggestion. I haven't eaten meat for about 13 years because I don't find it particularly appetizing, but fish is not only delicious but mild tasting and far healthier than most meats.

Japanese eat more fish than anyone else and they have the longest lifespan on the planet, Icelanders come a close second in both categories and so forth. Nothing wrong with meat if you LIKE it, but I see no reason to force yourself to eat something that makes you feel sick and isn't even healthy.

Fish on the other hand, yummy =D

--- G.
 
Red meat gets a bad rap because it usually contains lots of saturated fats. But there is plenty of lean red meat out there, although it can be expensive. Beef and other red meat contain many benificial amino acids, minerals and vitamins. Some of these benifits are mostly unique to this kind of meat. As far as I know there is nothing that makes a 98% fat free cut of steak less healthy than a 98% fat free piece of fish (except possibly the slightly higher saturated fat content).
 
This a healthy living forum. I was simply clearing up a common misconception regarding the health benifits of certain foods.
 
Sorry, I was being facetious, what I meant is that I have heard some vague assertions about certain elements of fish having a lot of health benefits - hence the longevity. However, I am far from an expert on nutrition so I think it's a fair bet you are right that you can get meat that is fairly equivalent :)

--- G.
 
Ya I should get a sense of humor 8) The benifits of fish you've heard of are probably referring to fatty cold water fish such as salmon, mackeral etc. The fat in this fish is omega 3/6/9, the rarest and most benificial kind of fat. Studies link it to decreased risk of heart disease, improved brain function and improved skin condition. Perhaps most surprisingly, some studies also link omega 3's to increased thermogenesis (ie: fat burning) and more efficient nutrient partitioning (ie:more calories are used to maintain/build muscle or for energy, as opposed to being stored as fat). That paticular claim may be exagerated to sell fish oil pills though so do your own research first.
 
Thanks for that info I was a bitch sketchy on the details. However, being Icelandic I've been fed cod liver oil since I was old enough to swallow the damn stuff. Everyone back home swears by it, I believe it says "OMEGA 3!!!" or something on the bottle these days.

No one seems to know the real deal, but mommy said to take it so we all just keep using it and we keep living longe... ugh! *thud*
 
>>I believe it says "OMEGA 3!!!" or something on the bottle these days.
>>

are you sure it doesn't say, "teh 0m3g4 3333!!!!111one@2!~"?

ebola
 
I cant understand why you would want to go back to eating meat (Im trying really hard to get RID of the meat in my diet but keep losing willpower), but if you do, starting with only white meat would be my recommendation.
 
Deja why are you trying to eliminate meat from your diet? Vegetarian and vegan diets are not healthier. If you have a moral problem with meat that's cool. . .but otherwise there's no reason to not eat from this healthy and delicious food group (see my comments about saturated fats a few posts up if you think meat is unhealthy.)
 
>>Vegetarian and vegan diets are not healthier. If you have a moral problem with meat that's cool. . .but otherwise there's no reason to not eat from this healthy and delicious food group (see my comments about saturated fats a few posts up if you think meat is unhealthy.)>>

I concur, but clearly fatty cold water fish (like you said) is best. Who hear actually thinks they eat the optimal diet in terms of health though?

ebola
 
meat is delicious, i was a veggie for years too. now the idea seems silly lol. slowly is the only way. i find fish easy. i like tillapia right now, and of course salmon and tuna. turkey was the first thing i introduced, which wasnt too bad, and chicken wasnt terrible either. i occasionaly have a small piece of red meat as a treat, fuck its amazing lol.

i still eat shit loads of soy though, i think its a habit. i rarely go out and order anything meaty, unless its sushi. always tofu dishes or something veggie.

lean red meat is good as mentioned. its nice to hear some people have a decent knowledge of nutrition to recognize that red meat isnt evil, as long as its consumed in moderation. lean bison is making its way into the fitness world as well.

codliver oil is great for you, especially if youve been fed it since you were young. im jealous lol, i got sloppy joes and mcdonalds and you were getting omega 3s.
 
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