Any veggies out there who have "turned to the dark side"?????????

[feedmenow]

I really, really, really want meat! My body says yes, but my head still doesn't quite know if I can handle it!
Although I have been eating tuna once every couple of weeks, and back in the summer (yes, we did have a very brief one) I tried a teensy bit of bbq'd steak.
Any other pregnant ladies succumbed to the desire for meat? Or have you successfully resisted temptation?
Anyone who ate meat during pg then gave it up again after birth? Please give me hope!!

[NappiesGalore]

i was veggie for two years from age 12. does that count?
made myself sick as a dog eating a whole pack of chicken drumsticks on the day i started eating meat again. serves me right, greedy cow

[kitsandbits]

I was a veggie when younger, but started eating chicken and the occasional, very thin, very well done burher,

when i was PG with ds2 i had the biggest cravings for steak

so i ate it.

Would honk if someone put one on a plate in front of me today though!

You body tells you what it needsin pregnancy - just go with it

[Spidermama]

I really, really wanted meat in pregnancy. Every tiem I closed my eyes I saw steak burgers and mince. So I thought, 'listen to your body' and went to get some super posh organic steak mince. I cooked it but when it got to the crunch I had one teaspoon and nearly puked. Urgh! I guess it has just been too long for me to ever cross back into the shadows.

I think if you want to and you are able, then you should.

[feedmenow]

Spider, thats the real thing..."if I am able to". I worry that I would get to the stage of having a bit of steak or some lasagne on my plate going mmm, mmmmm, then just spit it straight back out again. I can only eat tuna when I kind of don't think about what I'm doing. If I start thinking about the little fishy swimming around then I wouldn't be able to IYSWIM. Oh poop! Maybe I'll just go out and buy some veggie bacon and have a bacon buttie, and shut up
Nappies, nice story.....thanks!
Kits, so do you pretty much not eat red meat still?

[yogimum]

craved a roast dinner when 4 months pregnant and sorry to say am still eating meat.

[purpleduck]

I was veggie for 5 years - through pregnancy with ds...Then when i was pregnant with dd, I was craving meat BIG TIME!!! Thought i'd just try some chicken and it was yummy!. I still eat meat, and feel yuk if I think about it too much, but I did really crave it. Can you increase your protein some other way?

[snowleopard]

I was veggie for 7 years, then went back. It was before I was pg, but when pg I definitely needed meat. These days I only eat meat if I have bought it myself and it's free range. (eg I usually get veggie or fish in restaurants or from takeaways.)

I agree that if you crave it, you should probably have it. Could you start with something lighter like chicken?

[MrsTittleMouse]

I had the opposite, I not only found the thought of meat disgusting, but I also couldn't stomach fish, milk or eggs. Thank goodness for cheese or I would have starved!

If you breastfeed, but prepared to have strong food preferences then too, but if you eat meat while pregnant I don't see any reason why you can't give it up after BFing. You gave it up once before, right?

[feedmenow]

Snowleopard, oddly enough the thought of chicken doesn't do it for me! It's "real" meat I crave!
Purpleduck, do you eat a lot of meat now, or just when you really fancy it?
Mtstittlemouse, yes I gave up once before, so you're right - I can certainly give up again can't I?
TBH, my problems with this are all emotional ones. I never disliked the taste of meat, it was just the thought of where it came from. Maybe if I'm going to eat meat I should buy it fromsomewhere that guarantees the animals have been well looked after and had good lives - can't remember what it's called though....

[Janus]

feedmenow, I certainly know what you mean. I was veggie on and off since about 18 and had been a veggie, no fish, for about 6 years when fell pregnant with first child and I huge cravings for a big bloody steak. I gave in and have not looked back! I can't imagine life without it now but I do buy free range organic chickens etc, and try to buy free range meat such as steak or any mince. I also eat things like 'outdoor reared' sausages and bacon. I can't eat anything like veal, venison, lobster or fois gras (sp??!) but other than that I eat everything! Don't know where my morals have gone! (and don't know if this is any help!).

[snowleopard]

Most big supermarkets now have free-range meat/freedom food or things like Duchy Originals which has high welfare standards. Or you could have lamb or even better venison, which will have had a free, outdoor life.

[hatwoman]

I was veggie aged 14-20. I succumbed to lemon chicken, once. but then, egged on my by sil (well we egged each other on) we succumbed at Christmas to cripsy bacon and roast turkey. and I've not looked back - but I do stick to free range stuff. [SNOW LEOPARD - (if you're still here) I've been wondering if you're FLT?]

[missbumpy]

I'm veggie and have stayed veggie throughout my pregnancy (much to my DP's dismay...he's a real carnivore and was desperately hoping that being preggers would give me cravings for bacon butties!). However, I was vegan before I got preggers and I've stopped being vegan for most of the pregnancy. I'm still not eating loads of dairy but I'm having little bits and I'm eating eggs.

I wonder if your body's craving protein in general or if it's just a meat thing?

[snowleopard]

uh what hat? what's FLT?

[hatwoman]

obviously you;re not! I thought they might be your initials...(i was thinking of someone with a man's name and a double barrelled surname beginning with Law. but no. it's still bugging me!

[asicsgirl]

I've been craving roast chicken but haven't succumbed - I'm also worried about not being able to eat it once it's in front of me!! I had it in my first pg too. I am craving savoury stuff generally so I put it down to an extension of that. Veggie bacon butties do sound good though...

[NotAnOtter]

i am veggie - have been strict for 26 years and when pg wanted meat big time but NO would never succumb
its not food to me anymore

[snowleopard]

Aaaahhhh - remember all that now! - sorry, was miles away.

No sorry, not that person.

[purpleduck]

Feedme - i do still eat alot of veggie, but we tend to eat alot of chicken. We don't do a whole lot of red meat. But, one of the reasons I stopped eating meat is that I would feel terrible after, and that is starting to come back -especially with red meat.
asics, have you tried those "roast chicken " things that they sell in Holland and Barrets? I found they sort of cured me of the roast fancy-ing, as I would also do the whole trimmings with it....yum!!!

[NotAnOtter]

meat

[snowleopard]

Though hatwoman, from your clues, that person's whole name just popped into my head! Freaky what you remember...

[Eaglebird]

Over a period of years I gradually went off meat, and haven't eaten it at all since about 1999. I do however still eat seafood, so I'm not a veggie.
Lots of people commented that I'd need to eat meat when pregnant to make sure my iron levels were ok. My blood tests have all been fine, and I've felt well throughout this pregnancy, so I don't think there's a need to eat meat, unless you want to. And if you want to eat it, then I think you should eat it.

[suwoo]

It is weird what your body does when pg. I have been veggie since 12 and now 32, and at not one moment in either of my pregnancies did I ever crave meat. I don't think I could ever crave meat, I feel like otter- meat . An other point, do your kids eat meat? Mine eat chicken and fish only, the odd bit of ham at other peoples houses this is with the full agreement of my carnivore DH.

[ratfly]

i was veggie since 12, then turned for a little while in my 20s then went back to veggie. before i got pregnant, i was on the brink of veganism.
then during pregancy i had HUGE cravings for red meat, and spent an hour in waitrose trying to find the least cruel meat to eat.
it was disgusting, but i carried on craving it all the way through pregnancy.
now, i eat chicken and fish, so not a veggie anymore

[missbumpy]

I'm with SuWoo and notanotter. I also think it's nonsense about needing meat for iron in pregnancy. I had a bit of a dip in iron around 28 weeks but got back to normal with 1 sachet of spa tone a day. I know other people who ate loads of steak while preggers and still managed to get seriously anaemic!

I have craved savoury things though...nothing a bag of salt and vinegar crisps can't sort out though