I want to eat meat after 10 years of vegetarianism/veganism

[Iwantasteak]

Another thread running right now has inspired this but I've been thinking about this for a while now. I feel so guilty to say that I'm considering going back to eating meat.

I have been a vegetarian and then a vegan since early teens and I feel like it's a part of my personality at this point. I don't know how people who know me will react, it would be so embarrassing to tell people.

I have a baby, who I'm not raising vegetarian, and I want to eat family meals together. I've also just been getting random cravings for meat and the eggs I let myself eat during pregnancy. I cooked a pork chop yesterday for my baby to have BLW style and it smelled so good. She loved it too.

Maybe there would be health benefits too? I don't know, I haven't eaten meat in so long that I don't remember what it's like.

I want a tuna baked potato.
I want fried eggs/dippy eggs.
I want a steak.
I want an egg salad sandwich.
I want a pork chop.
I want a proper roast dinner.
I want a chicken salad.
I want some haribo.

Really? I've tried so many vegan gummy sweets and I find that they stick to my teeth in a weird way.

I was raised a vegetarian as a child in the 70s.
My mother was hardcore about it, and I didn't have a choice.

At the age of 17, I ate meat for the very first time - I was with friends, and I just wanted to try it.

A couple of years later, my mother lapsed - after 20 years of being vegetarian. She then went back to meat eating, and was a regular customer at her village butcher.

I still love vegetarian food, because it's what I grew up with.
But, it's puzzling that my mother moved from vegetarianism to eating meat after so many years.

Do what you like, it's your life.

Eat locally and organically if you want to carry on helping the environment.

It's not like you're gonna eat a pig a week - just eat little, locally, and well.

Enjoy!

This
Also, why are you so bothered what other people think?
If you want to start eating meat/fish again, do so.
I recently have for health reasons, so I kind of get what you mean about "identity." It does feel strange at first.
If your body's wanting it, listen to it.

I was veggie for ten years aged 14-24. It was cool and I didn’t even like meat. But I started eating bacon sarnies then progressed to cooking chicken for my boyfriend then I started eating rare steaks and low carbing and never felt more healthy or connected to nature!

I was a vegetarian for.about.12/13 years. Then babies arrived and all went out the window! I think your body changes after you give birth and the cravings for meat etc.. just come.back and your body just kind of forces you to follow the cravings!

FWIW, I don't eat much meat. Some meat I can no longer stomach. But i do have a tuna jacket potato, a burger or a piece of chicken every now and again!

OP I know loads of vegetarians and especially vegans who revert to eating meat or fish after a long time. Several vegans I know were told to by their GPs. It's hard to keep your nutrients up without meat, fish and dairy.

DS is a strict vegetarian, but he takes iron supplements daily and eats a range of eggs, cheese, tofu or lentils every day at every meal.

To me, certainly. The gelatine versions are kinda...bouncy? somehow not as tasty either which I think might be to do with how the vegan ones dissolve & break down differently.

Ahhh I'm really craving some vegan sweets now 😭

I was veggie for nearly 20 years but went back to eating meat in almost exactly the same circumstances - a young child at home (who ended up being diagnosed with ASD and is incredibly fussy about food), a husband who loved his meat and me - I could see us easily going down a three separate meals route, which I just didn’t want.

A couple of friends were really surprised, and I think my best childhood friend was particularly shook (we had gone veggie together when we were 13!) but no-one ever said anything to me about it.

@Iwantasteak - I have been a vegetarian, than a pescatarian. While pregnant I couldn't force fish down - so I ate poultry, as wanted babies to develop on balanced nutrition. After that stopped chicken for a bit. Now mostly eat pescatarian, and occasionally chicken.
Cook a lot of red meat as kids love it - but don't crave it myself.

No one cares what I eat. Unless you used to preach and judge - no one will wonder why. And of anyone asks - you can always say it changed in pregnancy for you....

Rowntrees fruit pastilles are vegan and they taste fine. However, Marks & Sparks vegan wine gums are foul.

Like a PP suggested, why not start by reintroducing dairy and eggs and see how you feel about that before trying meat. I’ve been veggie for nearly 20 years and whilst I’m not planning to eat meat, I would worry how my stomach would react if I did.

@TurtlesDoNotPetsMake may I ask if working in a slaughterhouse “turned” you veggie/vegan?

My DB & SIL were vegans for well over a decade but started eating dairy and fish when my SIL was pregnant- and it’s stayed that way since then and TBH - life is so much easier - when we cater for them and when we go for meals. Just so many more options.

So don’t be worried about telling people- you’ve done amazing but do what you would like to do now. We are allowed to change our minds, our likes and dislikes so you do you and get ready for the chops! 😆

Enjoy!

Going against the grain here but I would (silently) judge you.

I was vegetarian for 12 years, from 16-28. Then I ate a steak and it was delicious. No issues reintroducing meat into my diet. No one commented. I eat red meat once or twice a week, and have a mixture of chicken or fish or veggie on other days. It’s nice to have the flexibility and as I’m probably peri menopausal I keep my protein levels high.

I know someone who was vegan and now eats meat after becoming a farmer! I didn't judge her - I was interested in why, because I'd only met people who changed from meat eater/vegetarian to vegan rather than vice versa. We had a very interesting conversation about it.

Personally veganism really really doesn't suit my body. If I don't eat meat or fish at least a few times a week I quickly feel exhausted (and I do eat nuts, leafy greens etc). I don't think it's for everyone.

Well then you're not the kind of person people would like to know anyway.

Judge away in your self righteous lonely corner.

I might ask you if you regretted all the years without meat having gone back to it, just out of genuine interest but I’m not a judge person, I’m very much ‘whatever’ when it comes to what other people do.

I went vegetarian in primary school and stuck with it until I was 30 when DS was born. I switched back to meat and haven't looked back (he's 8 years old now) I just suddenly had an overwhelming urge to eat meat and wanted to make sure my DS had as varied a diet as possible, including family dinners. It's honestly been the best decision and I really dont think anyone else cared or even noticed the change. No one commented on it other than in passing.

Why??

Interesting link in thread about genetics and vegetarianism.
i was one for 8 years & instinctively wanted to eat it again. Heavy periods on iron supplements wasn’t cutting it. I figured out myself I can’t be one even though my friend is healthy as a veggie.
I felt incredibly good within a few weeks and months- like super powered indefatigable and mood boosted. One word of warning though it took a good couple of years to have the right amount of enzymes for digesting a fillet steak . I would vom up undigested steak hours later in the night . No horrible odour of vom or anything just the steak ! All other meat was fine including minced steak.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c36550xx50yo

Cranswick is the largest supplier of pork in the UK - so probably where most of the pork you eat comes from - certainly most of the pork sold in supermarkets.

This is the reality - there is no ethical consumption -

The undercover footage "shows workers holding piglets by their hind legs and slamming them to the ground, using a banned method of killing the animals known as "piglet thumping".

So when you say "it's no one business what you eat!" that judging meat eaters is "preachy" this is what you are supporting when you buy and consume meat.

Every food choice involves death at some level.

All the more reason to make choices that minimise deaths not just throw your hands up and say death is unavoidable so it doesn't matter how many deaths are caused.

Noones likely to care at all, unless they're personally vegetarian for moral reasons. Diet isn't part of someone's personality.