Vegetarian craving meat!

[TheSarahChronicles]

Hi everyone!

I was just wondering if any other veggie or pesce ladies have been through this? I've been a vegetarian for two years now, but since week 11 of my pregnancy I've been craving meat like crazy - mainly steak - which is something I never enjoyed before becoming a veggie! I'm trying to stand up against the cravings but so worried I'll crave! I'm veggie because of moralistic choices and not wanting to cause suffering to animals - but it's always there! 😭 xxx

But I think they were vegan again as soon as they stopped being pregnant and started eating vegan!

Yes I agree with you there. Where I don’t agree is someone who describes themselves as a vegan knowing they are happy to eat non-vegan food whenever they are pregnant.

Of course someone who becomes vegan having previously not been one is a vegan. You don’t have to have never eaten meat etc to be a vegan, but knowing you intend to in the future makes you not a vegan, imvho.

Vegan for two years prior to
this pregnancy, and from about week 6 to now (currently 34 weeks) I've dabbled in meat, eggs and dairy. Mainly eaten a vegetarian diet, though. The cravings are so real! Don't fe guilty - just give your body what it wants! Xxx

Feel*

Also, not only was I craving non-plant-based foods, but I was repulsed by all the delicious plant-based foods I used to love!

I would eat it if I craved it as I think the human body is smart! It might be the B12 that is needed? Or more protein?

I craved haggis in my last pregnancy and age it, despite it being “offal”.
That was the only pregnancy I was not anemic in!

Where I don’t agree is someone who describes themselves as a vegan knowing they are happy to eat non-vegan food whenever they are pregnant.

This is what I was thinking while reading your discussion SuburbanRhonda and LisaSimpsonsbff. If you have a slip up or really couldn't resist the urge when pregnant fair enough but if you say "I'm vegan except..." then you're not one.

That makes veganism sound like a religious cult!

Yes, it does! It's a diet, not a solemn vow.

Just because you eat non-vegan food during pregnancy, it doesn't mean you are "happy" to. You could be quite frustrated with your cravings/aversion towards non-vegan food, like I was. Also, it's often not anticipated until the cravings/aversions occur - not something I'd've imagined myself doing/giving into, before hand - so I didn't "know" I was going to be eating non-vegan food.

Also, I think it depends on why someone's vegan. I, for instance, decided to go vegan for health (rather than ethical) reasons, so I wasn't morally conflicted (so to speak) when I gave into eating non-vegan food, in the way an ethical vegan would be. I didn't feel I'd permanently lost my 'vegan' status in that sense, because my status wasn't based on any moral ground which I'd broken.

I'm not a vegetarian but have never been a big meat eater and could happily go weeks without eating it until I became pregnant. Meat, especially chicken has been one of my biggest cravings, it's so bizarre to me.

Guess I know what her favourite food is likely to be at least.

Is there a special declare yourself vegan ceremony that I missed? Can the temporary meat eaters be excommunicated? I await the knock on the door in the middle of the night...

It's just logical, a vegan is someone who doesn't eat animal products so if you do then you're not one. If you take a less strict view then surely everyone is a vegan between mealtimes!

My non vegetarian husband is really excited I’m pregnant again because last time I went into some kind of bizarre chicken frenzy! The thought of it now makes me feel horrendous... he’s got his fingers crossed.

I was veggie for 16 years before DC1, I ate a (farm shop, free range, organic) bacon sandwich within about an hour of doing the test and SO much meat during the pregnancy (even stuff I wasn’t keen on prior to becoming veggie). I will only eat free range, preferably where I know where it came from. I’m still eating it 15 years later. Farming practices have come on leaps & bounds in the last 30 years. I still love some veggie food & don’t eat meat every day, but I really enjoy it