Help me NOT be a veggie

[Gufo]

I've not eaten meat in over a a year, mainly because I feel guilty about the animals and what happens at the abattoir.

I always feel weak and tired, live on carbs and have gone up a dress size and never really know what to eat. I've tried lots of substitutes but then feel guilty about the plastic packaging and general bad-for-the-environment-ness. Veggie stir frys and curries are great - but not everyday!

I just want to eat meat a couple of times a week without feeling guilty. Any tips (apart from just eat the goddam sausage)?

I am vegetarian with vegan days
I don’t really eat carbs. A proper vegan or vegetarian diet won’t add weight.
Adding meat to an already bad diet won’t help.

I have been vegetarian for 30+ years. It was before I became vegetarian that I suffered from lack of iron and vitamins

Loads of inspo and ideas - thanks everyone.

Had planned frozen pizza for tea but instead have made this egg, haddock, leek and potato dish

Haven't RTFT as am about to be called to a venison dinner, but seriously, venison is amazing.

And deer in the UK have no natural predators and if left to breed unchecked destroy their own environment, which damages it for other species too as well as ultimately starving the deer.

The venison currently frying in the kitchen is off an animal shot as part of a culling programme to keep numbers at a sensible level. All the stalkers I know are very responsible and keen to despatch an animal quickly with a single clean shot.

Have you heard of Bivalveganism? Some vegans eat mussels and oysters because they grow on ropes (little cost to the environment) and there is good evidence that they can’t feel pain. Oysters aren’t very accessible but mussels are £3 for half a kilo frozen. They’re great in Thai curries and in stews and with chips and they’re a great source of protein and b12

Why couldn’t you put the effort into making a proper vegetarian meal

Being vegetarian doesn’t mean you eat frozen pizza.

Why not try oysters OP? They're very likely not sentient and contain an insane amount of nutrients. Or start taking a multivitamin. Or go to the doctor and get some blood work done then take a specific vitamin in whatever you're deficient in. Or speak to a dietician and ask them to help you create a more balanced meal plan. Or just research it a bunch online/buy a good recipe book. If you want to be veggie for ethical reasons and the only thing stopping you is your health then there are a lot of options between where you are now and eating meat.

Of course you might do best to have an honest conversation with yourself first about your motives. This isn't an accusation, just a pattern I've seen in lots of ex vegan/vegetarians that they come up with a bunch of reason they "had" to start eating meat which don't come over as very convincing. If you actually just want to start eating meat again and are just looking for an excuse then telling people "it made me ill" might get them off your back about it but it won't make you feel better. Easier imo to just own your true mreasons and make an active choice to eat meat because you like the taste/it's easier etc. I'm a vegan but I buy dairy products for my children. They get enough calcium from plants but I worry about them feeling too "different" at school so I choose to give them some dairy even though I don't need to. I don't feel good about it but I personally find it easier to acknowledge that I'm participating in something that's against my values for reasons that I consider sufficient, than to make a bunch of excuses and rationalisations that I know are bs about why I have to do it. It's the same amount of guilt but less cognitive dissonance.

Anyway, I'm not saying that definitely applies to you it's just something I've observed in some other ex vegans and veggies. So just be honest with yourself and then proceed according to your values.

Meat won’t solve your issues in the long run if your diet isn’t well rounded.

If you want to eat meat then eat meat. If it makes you feel better to go for higher welfare then do that.

But outside of that try to overhaul your diet by adding in non animal proteins and fats. You don’t have to live on vegetable stirfrys, I’ve been veggie for most of my life and I eat a stir fry about twice a year.

Why don’t you look on YouTube for some guidance on healthy diets and inspiration for well rounded meals and recipes

Lol nothing wrong with a frozen pizza but it’s amusing that this was the option you felt you had as a vegetarian.

As a vegetarian you eat EVERYTHING bar one food group.
The only thing you do not have on your plate is animal.
There are literally millions of combinations of things you can eat.

I agree with you op, I have vegan breakfast and lunch then meat on 5he night. I don’t eat pork at all.

What everyone else has said about better meat and far less often.

Also lentils and beans are you friend. You just need a better diet. It's a bit more effort but you only need a few recipes under your belt.

I moved my diet to 95% plant-based (I don't call myself vegetarian) because I live in a city and, not having the ability to rear my own animals for meat), I feel most commercial farming is unsustainable.

However, I occasionally eat shellfish that I forage, and wild game (hence not calling myself vegetarian).

I lost 5kg after remapping my diet and have kept it off - the switch has also 'turned off' a gall bladder issue which seemed to be brewing.

A healthy vegetarian/vegan diet is entirely possible, but you need to educate yourself and expand your cooking. I enjoy following Bosh! on FB and Instagram - fun cooking that is nutritionally balanced, relatively quick and easy and good value.

@JamesAnderson

Eat smaller portions of organic higher welfare meat

This definitely.

Do this.

Also get a SIMPLE veggie cook book so you start having more beans and pulses and less crap. You are probably low on protein - you need protein at every meal. And obvs make sure you are having c 7 veg and fruit a day.

Get your GP to do a blood test to check for any deficiencies as you might also be low on iron.

I was veggie for years and felt better when I stopped - I think the answer is moderation - and a certain amount of higher welfare meat.

I don't understand why, if the OP is asking for help how to not be vegan (because she is explaining her current diet is negatively impacting her health), some posters are insisting she should be vegan but anyway...

OP, I agree with PP, try and source organic quality higher welfare meat (beef, chicken, fish, etc)

I think it is the fact that for a vegetarian meal it was frozen pizza but then her meat meal alternative is something cooked from scratch SD will presumably having her declare how much better she feels for eating meat.
If she spent the same amount of time cooking a vegetarian meal she wouldn’t have the problems she is having.

We're omnivores designed to live on a mixed diet. We have canine teeth. For a lot of people its very difficult to get the correct mixture of nutrients when you restrict your diet.

Farm animals do not have either a level of consciousness or any concept of emotions, they moo as something is unfamiliar, rather than being aware as themselves as individuals. I don't have any issue eating a cow/chicken/sheep but I would eating a dog or a dolphin.

We only eat meat that has been farmed respectfully and the children don't eat things like macdonalds or nandos where they may have used low-welfare meat.

I don't understand why, if the OP is asking for help how to not be vegan (because she is explaining her current diet is negatively impacting her health), some posters are insisting she should be vegan but anyway...

If you live on carbs, you’ll feel crap. I think you have to put a bit of thought and effort into what you eat if you want to feel good. And if she can make effort to cook a meat/fish meal then why was the only veggie alternative frozen pizza.

Weird thread.

I think you have to put a bit of thought and effort into what you eat if you want to feel good

True. And also not everyone does well on a vegan diet. Some might, but there are genetic and physiological differences that are likely to be at play. Also what happens if someone has an intolerance, or coeliac disease, for instance. You would run the risk of ending up severely malnourished if you insisted on keeping to a vegan diet. It's not that simple

@WeekendCEO

I don't understand why, if the OP is asking for help how to not be vegan (because she is explaining her current diet is negatively impacting her health), some posters are insisting she should be vegan but anyway...

If you live on carbs, you’ll feel crap. I think you have to put a bit of thought and effort into what you eat if you want to feel good. And if she can make effort to cook a meat/fish meal then why was the only veggie alternative frozen pizza.

Weird thread.

There's not really a difference, they don't like eating meat...

Try to buy organic - the welfare standards for organic animals in the UK are so much higher. And wild fish.

Being veggie is going to be disappointing if you try to fill the space on your plate where the meat used to be with something that looks and tastes similar. You have to really rethink your diet to have healthy and delicious food. If it's not your thing - and it's fine if it's not - you're going to struggle. You're your own person, eat meat if you want to - but don't kid yourself that your roast chicken or lamb shank died peacefully in its sleep after a long and fulfilling life.

And some people don't absorb properly minerals and vitamins from supplements . There's also differences between absorption rates (in some people) between heme and non-heme iron, etc.

It's pointless for the OP to insist on something that she's saying is not improving her health but making it worse

If someone lives in frozen pizza then they will not be massively healthier on Pepperoni as opposed to 4 fromaggio. If OP feels guilty eating meat then investigating how to improve her vegetarian diet is a totally reasonable option.

How do you feel about eating fish? I don't feel the same level of guilt towards eating fish as I do meat or chicken. And find that when I eat more fish or eggs I tend to eat less carbs .

Have you been to the GP about this? You may need a thyroid function test, along with B12 and iron levels.

It sounds like you're paralysed with guilt in every direction. While it's good to reflect on the wider impact of your lifestyle, people, including you, need to live. Have you stepped back to consider the corner that your guilt has painted you into, and maybe considered going over with a counsellor. You deserve to be healthy and happy.

It sounds like your diet may not be that great (frozen pizza, ready meals?) A healthy vegetarian diet requires more planning and cooking. If that's not your thing, an omnivorous diet may be a better choice. A chunk of meat with vegetables isn't exciting, but it's nutritionally balanced.

I agree with everyone else regarding higher welfare meat - I eat mostly lamb, wild-caught sustainable fish, shellfish and organic eggs. Look for higher welfare dairy too.

@Nightbear

I think they’re really nice and my family members who do eat meat enjoy them too.

I really like them and I also eat meat