To Be or Not To Be?
That is the question. Oh, sorry, I guess you might like to hear the question in its entirety, then perhaps it’ll make a little more sense. My question is this: do I continue being a vegetarian, or do I consider eating meat again?
The reason for this question is multi-faceted. Lately I have grown incredibly frustrated with my menu options when dining out: Why of course I’ll have the pasta dish. There’s nothing else on the menu I can eat! I also tried a bite of fish recently and was shocked – pleasantly shocked! – at how amazing it tasted. Additionally, I eat a lot of “fake meat” products. Morning Star, Bocca Burgers, you know what I’m talking about, you’ve spied them at the grocery store, strangely sandwiched in the freezer section between ice cream and Lean Cuisines. So I eat a soy-based product intended to mimic various meats in taste, smell, and texture. I don’t need to point out the irony to anyone. I eat them in part because they help expand my diet options beyond the basic pasta dishes and also because as a runner I need to ensure I’m getting enough protein to build lean muscle.
I stopped eating meat when I was seventeen for various reasons, the biggest reason being I was never a huge consumer of it. Having grown up on a cattle farm, you can imagine how pleased my parents were when I announced I would no longer eat animal flesh. Even as a child I didn’t like red meat, but we were poor and we raised it so it was served for nearly every meal. I also never cared for pork, so if I decided to re-join the carnivores, I would likely only eat fish and chicken.
But I’m not sure about it. At this point I’ve been a vegetarian for 12 years and it’s a part of who I am. I am incredibly healthy and fit. But I am also aware I can be incredibly healthy and fit as a meat eater since lots of people do it.
So my plan – I think – is this: I’m going to try eating a small amount of fish and chicken over the next couple of weeks. Nothing crazy, but a little bit. I want to see how my body reacts to this new food I’ll be putting into it. If I feel good I’ll consider making it a permanent change.
Stay tuned dear readers, stay tuned. Oh, and don’t tell my mom I’m considering this. She’ll get all excited and if it’s not a permanent change I don’t want to get her hopes up only to crush them later. Come on people, I’m not that cruel to my own mother!
Yeah. I’m ten years in and it definitely does get frustrating to only have say three or four options to choose from at restaurants. Or to force friends into making pastas when I come over for dinner instead of the fancy meat dishes I’m sure they’d like to make.
If I’m being completely honest though, I’m terrified of the weight that I’d put on if I expanded my diet to include meaty things.
Wow – more and more I meet vegetarians. I’ve tried becoming vegetarian – and there are days when I go by and I don’t eat any meat – and it’s not that I would miss it… but I do love a nice filet mignon. Or burger with bacon… hmmm… bacon. But I digress… it’s good you’re taking baby steps. If I were to become vegetarian – I would have to eat fish… because I can’t live without sushi.
Team steak!!
Ok, actually, I only have red meat once or twice a month — TOPS.
But I’m a huge advocate for fish…and chicken, if done right!
HAHAHA And I was *just* about to write to you to tell you that I found an awesome place in Utah – the Moab Brewery, of all places – that had a decent vegetarian menu and I wanted to click my ruby heels together and bring you out there with me to enjoy it! I ended up eating off of that vegetarian menu two nights in a row — my first meal was a delicious hummus wrap with plenty of yummy veggies packed inside and a cup of black bean soup that was TO DIE FOR. My second meal was a pasta dish, a canneloni filled with mushrooms and spinach and cheeses. Nothing to go back for (not like the soup), but definitely very good.
Since I’ve gotten home, I’ve been making my own hummus wraps and been craving veggies and fruits over meats. Maybe we can swap a little? Some of your vegetarianism for some of my carnivorism?
Two words… “goat cheese.”
Goes great with steak. See, I learned something…
There are good arguments for both staying vegetarian and for switching to meat.
The arguments for eating meat: okay, so maybe you ARE missing out on all the stuff that us carnivores rave about. But you’ve already stated some arguments, such as a source of more protein, and the fact that lots of people still stay healthy and in shape even by eating meat. I think with your running and r@cist habits, you’ll stay super thin and super sexy. Besides, if you switch to eating meat, then maybe you too can come finally come over and I’ll make sushi for us!
The arguments for staying vegetarian: the first is obvious–sure, I think meat is mighty tasty, but man, have you seen my love handles??? Second, just because you might feel like you’re “missing out,” it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to jump on that bandwagon. For instance, lots of people smoke weed or do drugs. While I’m certain it’s a really groovy experience and that I’m missing out, I’m willing to forego it because of the potential consequences. Not that one could ever go to prison or develop an addiction to eating meat. Well, maybe. But the best argument for staying vegetarian is so that I can bug you by saying, “come, come to the dark side.” Ha ha! “I am your father…” (breathing heavily)
Not enough blood in chicken or fish, you need the iron that you can only get from a steak! Does the DC chop house still exist? They made a great portobella mushroom that tasted like a steak.
[...] time I’ve eaten fish (I also had Chilean sea bass earlier in the week) since deciding to give meat another try, and I think I will continue to incorporate fish into my diet. I’m not sure about going past [...]
[...] or grew), we also didn’t eat much chicken when I was growing up and never any fish. So when I incorporated fish into my diet last fall it was a first for me. I found I loved fish and soon had fallen in love with sushi as [...]