OT - question about eating meat

poet_kelly
on 11/4/11 2:51 pm - OH
I've thought about posting this question for a while but haven't because I couldn't think of a way to phrase it that wouldn't come off sounding critical or judgmental.  I still can't think of a way to put it that  doesn't sound that way, but hopefully you will all believe me when I say that's not how I mean it to sound.

I don't eat meat myself but it doesn't bother me that other people do.  I won't cook it but I buy it if my partner wants it, he just has to cook it himself.  and that's fine with me.

I've been thinking about eating meat, though, and eating other things, and why we eat the things we do.  For those of you that do eat meat, I'd just like to know why.  Is it because that's what you've always eaten, is it because you like the taste, is it because you don't know what else you'd eat for protein, is it because you believe it's healthier for you than a vegetarian diet, or what?  And how do you feel about way animals raised for food are treated?  Or do you not think about how the animals are treated?

I promise not to tell you that you shouldn't eat meat.  You should eat what you believe is right for you.  I'm just curious.

View more of my photos at ObesityHelp.com          Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR.  If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor.  Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me.  If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her.    Check out my blog.

 

hlacy
on 11/4/11 3:05 pm - Chandler, AZ
Hi Kelly,

You and I have talked about this before, but I'll post it again for everyone...

I was a vegetarian for eight years. I began eating meat again because I really felt myself craving. I mostly stick with chicken, turkey and fish - but will have some pork on occasion. NEVER will I eat beef again.

I go back and forth about being a vegetarian. I am almost three months out, and I admit the amount of meat I have been eating is tough sometimes. I have days where I don't want to touch the stuff. But, I think maybe it is easier to get in my protein with it. I believe in animal rights, but admittedly I am lazy and usually buy what I can afford, perhaps not what's the most humane. I may try to get better about it the further out I get, but since I am so early out, the protein I need seems to be easier from meat. I really hate shakes and bars don't always sit well with me.

I will say, though, the one thing that helped me get over the meat BLAH post-op was being able to finally eat salad again. I live on it. Lots of chicken breast and fresh veggies make me happy. I also throw in beans for more protein. I'm not a tofu person so that won't ever be able to replace meat for me - I have so much trouble with the texture.

Hope that helps, for what it's worth 
"Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come"           

poet_kelly
on 11/4/11 3:34 pm - OH
It is easier to get a lot of protein when you eat meat.  At least, it seems to me that it would be easier.  I don't have much trouble getting my protein in now, but I sure did in the beginning.  Also, based on my labs, I don't seem to need as much protein as some people do after RNY.  I keep my total protein level good on about 70-75 grams a day, but I know people that need at least 100 grams a day.  Which would be hard for me to get.

Have you thought about buying your chicken and turkey from a local farmer instead of from the grocery store?  Which would cost more, I imagine, but the animals are usually treated better.

View more of my photos at ObesityHelp.com          Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR.  If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor.  Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me.  If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her.    Check out my blog.

 

Cicerogirl, The PhD
Version

on 11/4/11 3:17 pm - OH
I eat meat for a number of reasons. 
1) My dad was a "meat and potatoes" Marine so that's what I grew up with -- lots of steak, hamburgers, pork chops, etc. (and the only kind of chicken he liked was fried, so we had chicken only occasionally, which meant even more beef and pork). 
2) I also like the taste of quality beef (my most frequent meal at a nice restaurant is filet mignon)
3) I don't like very many kinds of fish, and I eat a lot of simple foods (cooking complicated recipes for one person with RNY is a PITA and just too much time and effort for my lifestyle),  so there is a LOT of repetition already in my diet, so if I were to eliminate meat (and I assume that includes beef, pork, AND poultry) I would REALLY be limited in what I ate or would really struggle to get the protein in.

Honestly, I do try NOT to think about the process of raising and processing animals for food. I don't object to animals being raised FOR food, but I saw a news report many years ago about a chicken processing plant and it was MONTHS before I could eat chicken again, and then after getting food poisoning fromsome chicken from a KFC after that, I did not eat chicken for years.. and still eat it only about once every 2 weeks.  (So I don't want to think about the processing of beef and have a similar issue with it!)

Lora

14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

poet_kelly
on 11/4/11 3:37 pm - OH
Thanks for an honest response.  And I won't tell you about how most beef is raised!

View more of my photos at ObesityHelp.com          Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR.  If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor.  Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me.  If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her.    Check out my blog.

 

Cicerogirl, The PhD
Version

on 11/5/11 12:55 am - OH
I appreciate that because I have some leftover filet mignon (and some garlic grilled shrimp) in the refrigerator that I am really looking forward to having for dinner tonight... a nice dinner before I have to drive 8 hours tomorrow to attend a training class next week! 


Lora

14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

Loveshinesthru
on 11/4/11 3:46 pm - Mesa, AZ
 I like meat way too much I guess.  I am going to be switching to grass fed beef and free range chicken though. I already switched my eggs. Trader joes carries grass fed and free range. its more exp, but worth it in my opinion. Pretty soon the price wont matter much, cuz hubby is going to get the rny done too, so the meat will go a long ways. I too try not to think about how they are raised.. I once watched our neighbors butcher a chicken when I was little (maybe 12?) I couldnt eat chicken for a long time after that. I love chicken though, its on of my favs. 


HW: 314 SW: 297 CW:166

lilbear412
on 11/4/11 4:03 pm - MN
 Ok so i am a north dakota girl..born and bred...grew up eating meat and mom and dad always had a freezer full.  I LOVE steak...i seldom eat it now after surgery though as i am a bit leary about eating beef as its so much more tough.  I love chicken also as its so versatile..you can make it a hundred ways or more.  I love how its tender and good for one.  I eat turkey some times but not lots.  i eat pork but its also tough to eat so i only make it occassionally.  I refuse to eat veal and i refuse to eat lamb.  I have had buffalo...a few times and i am not a venison person.   
I don't get to into what the animals go through.  I am not a huge poor cow kind of person.  I guess because i believe its suppose to be eaten & they are not in this world to aimlessly wander around and multiple so that all us humans can't walk outside for all the dogs, cats, cows, deer, chix, geese...etc..out there.  Overpopulation of animals would be bad.  
How would i get my protein in if i didn't eat meat?  I am not sure and have always said i hope the vegetarians know how important it is to eat beans and high protein foods.  I can't eat lamb and veal because i can't stand the thought of eating baby animals..lol  
I would probably rather buy my chickens from a farmer who doesn't have a house with 3 million chix in it just being raised for food.  I would rather buy my beef from someone like that too.  But i can't afford it now so i am forced to buy at a grocery store or specialty meat shop for a treat.  I am also picky about where i buy my meat.  
I personally could never be a vegetarian and certainly could never be vegan.  I love eggs, cheese, meat and poultry to much.  I love the things a vegetarian eats too accept for that nasty tofu stuff.  lol   for lunch yesterday i had a boca burger..it was pretty good.  But i am not going to eat that every day.  lol  
good questions kelly  

Laurie says:  Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind  ~~~ dr. suess

                
poet_kelly
on 11/5/11 2:55 am - OH
I don't like tofu either.  I have tried to like.  Periodically I try it again, and I've tried cooking it in lots of different ways.  I think it's the texture I don't like.  Even the firm tofu is kind of mushy and, well, just gross.

If no one ate meat, I don't think cows would wander around aimlessly and multiply so much that you couldn't walk outside.  We'd stop breeding so many cows and there would be fewer cows than there are now.

If animals are meant to be eaten, does that mean it's OK to treat them however we want before we eat them?

I understand the cost issues with buying meat from local farmers that treat their animals well.  I've started buying my eggs from a local farmer and I've been to the farm and seen the chickens and stood in the hen house and it's wonderful.  But a dozen eggs from the farmer cost about $3 more than the eggs at the grocery store.  And I am not rich!  $3 isn't a huge amount of money to me, but it's not nothing, either.  When I don't have the extra money to spend on eggs from the farm, I just don't buy eggs.

How do you reconcile buying from less-than-good sources to save money?  I'm struggling right now with buying dairy products.  I've been unable to find a local farm where I can buy  milk, so I've cut back on my dairy but I still eat cheese occasionally and I still eat a lot of yogurt, which I buy at the grocery store.  I've considered becoming a vegan but I can't quite commit to eating no dairy at all.  Well, I guess it's not that I can't, it's that I am not willing to.

View more of my photos at ObesityHelp.com          Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR.  If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor.  Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me.  If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her.    Check out my blog.

 

qnmimi
on 11/4/11 7:13 pm - Cottage Grove, MN
I was raised in a household with 7 siblings, so hunting & fishing were essential. I grew up processing meat off the animal as a family (yeah, sorry kinda gross), so I was not raised to be squeamish around food. I do really enjoy the taste of meat, and a well cooked steak is my ultimate treat. Although to be fair, we had to garden too, so I can't live without my vegies either. Liking meat has made getting my protein requirements in easier.
    
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