To vegetarian mamas/ or not :]

Ok so I have been a vegetarian/vegan(very rarely a pescetarian for health reasons) for 7 years. I switch off between the two sometimes and honestly.. I have been second guessing it all. I feel like I am missing out on things and I do it primarily about how animals are treated now but my fiance works at Whole Foods and we could get properly trained organic meat which has never seen the inside of a factory farm. I just... I don't know. I don't see the diet as overly healthy anymore because of all the grains, gluten, processed meats ect.. I don't view it the same as I used to.

I have this overwhelming guilt with stopping this diet though. LIke I am letting myself and the animals down. Is this weird?

Opinions?


I don't know how to feel about this. Anyone go through something similar?

Kinda of. I'm a vegan. And I quit once for three months and ate organic meat and dairy products. I went back to being a vegan because I felt gross and being a vegan I feel sooooooooo much better. I also see no nutritional value in meat and dairy products organic or not.

Quoting ILOVEWINE:" Kinda of. I'm a vegan. And I quit once for three months and ate organic meat and dairy products. I went ... [snip!] ... and being a vegan I feel sooooooooo much better. I also see no nutritional value in meat and dairy products organic or not."

Well there is some nutritional value but its different.
Honestly, I ate meat for a month after I had my son because I was anemic and didn't want to take pills for it. Since then my anemia is gone and honestly, I didn't really like the flavor lol. So I stopped but I am having this complex again >.>

I don't understand why it's so hard for me lately. I have been second guessing my diet because I am tired of the same old foods and I realized I unfortunately eat too much breads, gluten, processed meats in replacement. I have tried to cut back but I have a hard time finding time to cook three intense meals a day with everything I need in them.

I was a vegetarian for a few years, looking back I have no idea how I made it lol. I still am super picky about the type of meat I buy though.

My husband and I went back to eating meat and fish about a year ago, after being vegetarian for 8 years together and raising our kids that way for 1 and 5 years. We still only have meat once a week or so but it was a hard switch to make in the beginngnbecause of the guilt, but we're still very healthy. Our kids have the choice to either eat meat or not, we don't feed it to them until they are older and understand where we got it. Our son,6, has chosen to remain a vegetarian.

Quoting MommaSav2:" My husband and I went back to eating meat and fish about a year ago, after being vegetarian for 8 years ... [snip!] ... we don't feed it to them until they are older and understand where we got it. Our son,6, has chosen to remain a vegetarian."

So you still have guilt? What made you decide to eat meat again?

<blockquote><b>Quoting EpicThunderCat!:</b>" Well there is some nutritional value but its different. Honestly, I ate meat for a month after I had ... [snip!] ... I have tried to cut back but I have a hard time finding time to cook three intense meals a day with everything I need in them. "</blockquote>




Sometimes it does get old. I don't eat any meat replacements. I eat pretty much real food only, and I have never felt better. Sometimes I wish I could eat anything because of how easy it would be, but I believe the way I feel out ways that. Good luck!

<blockquote><b>Quoting EpicThunderCat!:</b>" So you still have guilt? What made you decide to eat meat again?"</blockquote>




We had started eating a lot of the "meat replacements". And not the good ones like tofu and seitan, more like gross frozen chik'n nuggets, and that smurf is not good for you nor is it cheap. We only buy fresh humanely raised and farmed meats now and the guilt isn't so bad. For thanksgiving we got a turkey from the farm around the corner from our house, we were able to go feed and visit the turkeys during the year and see exactly how they lived and how they were slaughtered. I feel better about it that way. And groceries (even buying most to all organic and local) are cheaper now.

Quoting MommaSav2:" <blockquote><b>Quoting EpicThunderCat!:</b>" So you still have guilt? What made you ... [snip!] ... were slaughtered. I feel better about it that way. And groceries (even buying most to all organic and local) are cheaper now."

That is my issue to. We ate a lot of that fake meat crap.. >.>
It does not make me feel very healthy at all.

<blockquote><b>Quoting EpicThunderCat!:</b>" That is my issue to. We ate a lot of that fake meat crap.. >.> It does not make me feel very healthy at all."</blockquote>



It's not healthy. It's crap. Now we eat whole food meals either with or without real meat and we feel muh healhier. We actually had a vegan pot pie for dinner tonight with seitan and about 9 different veggies in it and a filo crust (yum) and vegan soup last night. We are no longer vegetarians but we don't eat a lot of meat, it's just the meals that we were using meat substitutes we now use real, fresh, local humanely raised meat. For us, this diet is much healthier.

Quoting MommaSav2:" <blockquote><b>Quoting EpicThunderCat!:</b>" That is my issue to. We ate a lot of ... [snip!] ... that we were using meat substitutes we now use real, fresh, local humanely raised meat. For us, this diet is much healthier."

I think this is what I am going to do. I can't handle being a vegetarian anymore. The other night I had a dream I ate a hot dog. I think my body is trying to tell me something you know? I will ONLY ever eat locally grown happy animals though.

My buddhist friend just told me I should focus more on suffering rather then death.
Which kind of opened my eyes.

To those of you that ate meat again after a long time. Did you gain any weight? Lose weight ect? What happened to your metabolism?

<blockquote><b>Quoting EpicThunderCat!:</b>" To those of you that ate meat again after a long time. Did you gain any weight? Lose weight ect? What happened to your metabolism?"</blockquote>

Lost some weight. And this pregnancy is the first one I've eaten meat during and I'm far less fatigued.
Instil think vegetarianism has its benefits and is generally a better diet than others, but it just stopped being what worked best for our family. We grow most of our veggies in our backyard and were considering getting chickens for eggs. We are much healthier now. We had kind of gotten into a rut as vegetarians.

Quoting EpicThunderCat!:" To those of you that ate meat again after a long time. Did you gain any weight? Lose weight ect? What happened to your metabolism?"

My metabolism and weight is the same. However, my digestive system was royally smurfed. I was diagnosed with "dumping syndrome" It was hell for almost 6 months.

Quoting BareFootBabyMaker:" My metabolism and weight is the same. However, my digestive system was royally smurfed. I was diagnosed with "dumping syndrome" It was hell for almost 6 months."

How did you get that? Was it from switching back to meat or from eating to many breads? D: