oooops - just ate a bacon sandwich after 21 years of being a veggie

[Bicnod]

Been feeling really nauseous (am 9 weeks pg) for weeks and don't fancy eating ANYTHING that I normally like. I have chocolate biscuits, cereal, pasta, cheese and yoghurt in the house and none of it appeals - thinking about any of it makes me feel queasy and vegetables and fruit (which I usually eat loads of) are a total no no.

DH left 3 rashers of bacon in the fridge from his Sunday breakfast. I've been craving bacon and chicken for the last couple of weeks but have been ignoring it. Just cooked the bacon to see what I would feel like when I smelt it then wolfed it down in a sandwich. I feel not sick for the first time in weeks.

I'm a vegetarian. That's been part of my identity for 21 years. I didn't crave meat in my last pregnancy.

ARGH! I don't even feel guilty

Don't know why I'm posting - I suppose I'm hoping someone will tell me off because I feel like I deserve it.

Sorry, no telling off here. I craved steak when pg with DS and now, 2 years later, have given in to carnivorism I didn't even like meat before I got up the duff.

Do you fancy <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.humaneeducatorsreachingout.com/images/piglet.jpg&imgrefurl=www.humaneeducatorsreachingout.com/newsletter.htm&usg=__LHZ1MjqA3B2k8f5xMmeIQDBJGMs=&h=341&w=525&sz=25&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=dtG45mjs4VJGiM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=189&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dphoto%2Bpiglet%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rlz%3D1T4HPEB_en-GBGB247GB247%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D599%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=954&vpy=91&dur=568&hovh=181&hovw=279&tx=204&ty=87&ei=Pp__TLTIOIKyhAePva3YCQ&oei=Pp__TLTIOIKyhAePva3YCQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this

You need a good multi vitamin

Thanks BrightStar - helps to know I'm not the only useless vegetarian.

ChippingIn - cute pig. But I still don't feel guilty. I think I've had a personality transplant. I'm on pregnancy vitamins - do you think it might be lack of iron that's making me crave meat?

p.s. I didn't crave anything when pg with DS and thought cravings were, in fact, a myth/excuse to eat eight bars of chocolate a day. I have been proved very wrong this time around.

I also wondered whether it was lack of iron, but my palate seems to have permanently changed.

The same thing happened to my colleague, fwiw. I found that strangely reassuring.

ChippingIn thats horrible!!!

Bicnod Well done for listening to and giving your body what it craves. Its likely you need more protien so if you'd really rather not eat meat for the rest of your pregnancy, then how about thinking of uping other things in your diet like beans, nuts and seeds. You have not done a bad thing, not many animals on the planet live on a veggie diet, its a choice we chose to make.

So ashamed to admit it, but I've also just eaten meat for the first time in a long long time... I was out with friends on Monday and the vegetarian options looked all so unsatisfying.

It's the baby, not us. At least, that's my story...

BrightStar - safety in numbers.

Hmmmm. Maybe it is lack of protein - good idea about upping the beans/nuts/seeds Tarlia.

Trouble is, I've been off everything these last few weeks and nothing has felt satisfying to eat apart from that sodding bacon sandwich.

Breastmilk (what a lovely way to shorten your name - maybe I should have gone for FabLatte instead) - what did you eat? How pg are you? Maybe you could be my secret meat-eating partner in crime. Do you feel guilty?

Just realised you did it in front of people - I haven't gone that far - it is just my own dirty little secret at the moment

boak. I second Chippingin's piggy photo.

Yes, I feel dreadful... and I wouldn't dare tell DH so am glad I can tell you! I ate quite a lot of chicken and unfortunately it was extremely good. Only 14wks, though, so I hope cravings subside. I hope you start feeling less icky soon.

I felt the same during my first trimester, I even fancied the chicken from KFC on TV, which I normally hate. When out I eat a ham and cheese croisant, but it was sadly disatisfying, I think a bacon sandwich would have been much better!
Don't feel guilty, as Tarlia said, your body will tell you what it needs and you need to listen. You might have been lacking protein, which you need now more than ever.
If it helps in any way, that craving has gone away now that ms is gone and I can eat normally.

My 30yo friend who had been a veggie since her teens suddenly started craving meat last year. Turns out she was pregnant and to celebrate the bfp she made her dp take her to the local Toby carvery! Now the baby has arrived, she's gone back to no meat but says she'd do it again if she got pregnant. Our bodies are obviously trying to tell us something.

I wish I felt dreadful. Maybe the guilt will kick in soon. The cute piggy photo did nothing.

I really really fancy a chicken roast dinner (which I haven't eaten in 21 years).

What the hell is happening to me?!

Is your DH a vegetarian? I don't dare tell mine because he is a rampant carnivore and would gloat to the point where I would probably have to eat murder him.

Ive been vegetarian since I was 9 so 20 years and when I was pregnant with dd earlier this year I craved, and I mean reallY craved a rare steak, I didn't give in but I came close, so close!

x-posts knitta and daisy - I really really hope the cravings diminish with the MS. I suppose it's not all or nothing is it? Even if I do end up eating more meat this pg (what am I saying?!) it doesn't mean I can't return to vegetarianism once the cravings stop.

Even the thought of eating meat would turn my stomach until a couple of weeks ago.

How did you restrain yourself unmentioned?

Steak is not something I fancy I have to say. Or burgers or sausages

Oh if only DH could get pregnant

I've been veggie about seven years, and I made the choice to eat meat when I was pregnant. DH is also veggie and supported my decision. It was weird at first (first thing I had was a bacon sandwich, which just tasted strange and wrong), but I ate meat and fish throughout the pregnancy from then on. Last time was on a pizza the night my waters broke - DS is now two and I haven't had any since.

Pregnancy is a get-out-of-jail-free card with things like that. Your body tells you what it needs.

Tarlia - it's not horrible, it's a lovely little piglet!

not many animals on the planet live on a veggie diet I'm not sure how that is really relevant, but does it not strike you as odd that nearly all the ones you eat do live on a plant diet? They don't do anything for you, that you can't do yourself.

Bicnod - we all have to make our own choices in life. Cravings are either emotional or physical - if it's emotional you have to decide whether you want to cave into it or not if it's physical it is a mineral/vitamin etc you are craving - not flesh, so it isn't anything you can't 'cure' by getting a good balanced vegetarian diet if you want to. One thing I think you need to consider is that if you eat meat when it suits you, then you can't really expect your DH/family/friends to put themselves out for you when you decide you don't want to again.

I posted the picture of the piglet because you said Don't know why I'm posting - I suppose I'm hoping someone will tell me off because I feel like I deserve it You know it's not something you want to be doing, you are a vegetarian, you have been for 21 years, it's part of your identity.... I could link you to lots of sites that highlight many good reasons for it if you wanted me to.

You will get mixed opinions on here depending on who sees your thread.... you will be able to convince yourself whichever way you want to :)

I'm a very strict vegetarian, but I'm not a very vocal one normally and I don't like to argue about it, so I'm not going to start doing so on this thread. If you want to talk at all PM me :)

I hope whatever you decide to do, you have a happy & healthy pregnancy and a lovely bouncing baby at the other end of it x

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Your body does tell you what you need - however, what it is saying is not necessarily what you are hearing!

It may cry out for protein - you hear meat, there are a lot of other sources of protein. Meat does not provide you with anything you can't get in another form. So eating meat to 'get something you need' in pregnancy is tosh.

ChippingIn thank you for your post. That's a very good point about not being able to expect DH/family/friends to put themselves out for me if I flip back and forth.

I think you're right that I'm clearly lacking something in my diet - will try and up my protein/iron intake and see if that helps. I don't want to become a meat-eater, but I do want to stop feeling sick all the time.

Ok. So the bacon sandwich was a blip. Now I need to focus on how to stop myself from craving meat by satisfying my crazy pg body in other ways (that sounds disturbing but I hope you know what I mean).

I agree wholeheartedly with ChippingIn. Being pg is no excuse at all for eating meat if you have made a conscious decision to be a veggie for years.

If your diet is enough to sustain you normally then it will throughout pg too. You don't need anything different from usual just a few extra calories. Obviously, that assumes that you're prepg diet is balanced!

However, saying all that, I'm not a veggie so I couldn't possibly judge you for eating meat - I could never be veggie.

Perhaps it's worth weighing up what's more important in your case. If you genuinely are not eating then a bacon sandwich whilst suffering is more medicinal than anything but if you're going to regret it then look harder for alternatives.

Lastly, being pg DOES change your tastes. Normally I have a glass of wine every day. Whilst pg I don't - not because it's bad for the baby (which I don't think a small glass a day is) but because I don't feel like it. There are lots of things I don't enjoy which I normally do and vice versa.

I think the important thing is that you are (in a traditional sense) on a restricted diet so you need to put more thought into ensuring it's balanced. You may be able to get away with less protein usually but perhaps it's not as balanced as you'd assumed.

And your secret will go no further

I don't agree about people putting themselves out for you and you changing your mind. You're pregnant, you're not flip-flopping and changing your mind because you're not certain about what you want, or are fickle ? you have a temporary change in your body and your needs. People should understand that!

(I'm not saying you should choose to eat meat - that's completely up to you - but just that I don't think that's a reason to not)