There is a question that many close friends have often asked me, and to which I have never answered in detail until today.
"But @fapfap, why are you no longer a vegetarian?"
I've been vegetarian for more than two years, for ethical reasons.
I have many vegetarian and vegan friends who have opened my eyes to the subject of the animal condition, especially the conditions of breeding.
At the same time, I read many books on the subject, and saw the fabulous documentary" Forks over knives "that ended up convincing me that becoming a vegetarian was the fairest and most humane choice I could make.
My first year of vegetarianism was very rich, I completely re-learned to eat (I had a catastrophic lifestyle at this point in my life, you can read my last post where I mention it), I learned to cook, to shop away from the giants agri-food, and especially I started eating my vegetables. I discovered fantastic restaurants, and especially full of new tastes (the sprouts germinated! Kale! Kombucha!)
I especially re-learned to think for myself, and to be very vigilant about what I was putting in my body, and it radically changed my relationship to food. At that time, I really never thought I would be changing meat or fish.
My second year of vegetarianism was much more difficult. I started doing a lot more sports, I experienced stressful situations, professionally and personally. My diet was felt and I started to lose a lot of weight. In summary, I finished with an onset of depression while weighting less than I should to be healthy. No anorexia, just overtraining and a lot of stress that had led to this result. (Imagine I was "fat" 2 years before) I also had a girlfriend at that time, who was following this path too.
A catastrophic visit to occupational medicine and two blood tests later, I decided, with the support of my friends (thanks @troilo!), that the best solution was to reintroduce the meat in my diet. (And optionally to break up with my girlfriend, who was way to extreme)
I started again with white meat and fish, before reintroducing red meat and offal. I quickly regained weight, I regained my energy and my good humor.
Yet, I do not feed at all as before:
1 / I source my food. I buy my meat only at my organic butcher's market, the meat is of very good quality, nourished with grass and I consume only 2 to 3 times a week.
2 / My plate consists of 70% to 80% of vegetables and good starch for 20% to 30% of animal proteins. Before the vegetarianism, these proportions were totally reversed.
3 / I make many vegetarian or vegan meals during the week.
4 / I always consume all the great foods I have discovered by being vegetarian, I always eat tofu, seitan or put spirulina in my smoothies. I frequent as often as before my favorite vegan restaurants.
5 / I am aware of what I eat.
I know that many people are not in step with this choice of life, that it can be considered a "treachery" or a weakness, when we leave the vegetarian ship (see worse if one is vegan), and I think that I took a long time to assume and to be at peace with myself on this subject.
Then I read Michael Pollan's book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" where a former PETA activist became a farmer, explains that the right choice if animals are to be raised in a decent environment and killed the most it is our duty to consume meat ethically.
I know that at the moment there is no ideal solution, but I decided to give my voice in this direction if you decide to consume meat, pay attention to where it comes from and do not consume it in excess.
I know that vegetarians and vegetarians do not necessarily accept this choice of life, so you are free to express your point of view in the comments, I am open to debate and not necessarily hermetic to a return to vegetarianism.
Pictures Source: Made by myself with imgflip
Good for you man, no need to feel any thing but well. People take diets to the extreme sometimes.. its just about equilibrium. Since my partner went Pescatarian, I've been eating less meat just because of meal planning. I feel pretty much the same eating less meat but I continue to eat eggs which are packed full of nutrients, I truly feel better eating the way humans have been eating for thousands of years.
Yes. I took it to the extreme myself, so I totally understand. Exactly. EQUILIBRIUM! ;-)
I was also Pescatarian for 4 weeks, went I started to eat meat again. But I added slowly a bit of red meat. And yeah, I eat a lot of eggs too. Cheers!
Nice post and good for you for having the courage to make your own decisions on what is healthy for you.
I also was vegetarian for a while and immediately people became "concerned" with how much protein I was getting ... but they were never concerned about that before, or how much sugar I was getting, etc, LOL!
I do eat meat again, albeit in small doses, and I also pay attention to the types of fats I eat. I recently came across this post on Steemit which I thought was great on explaining the facts about fats.
https://steemit.com/food/@thehutchreport/fat-explained-do-not-be-misled-by-fat-anymore
Thank you for the nice feedback.
I totally agree with you. Everything is a question of moderation and balance.
Cheers. ;-)
Awesome post, thanks for sharing :)
It's really good you are not closed minded, most of the people once they get struck by an Idea they almost never let it go!
Please check my new post, It talks about the effects of the environment on us, I think based on this post you can understand that other people opinions have an effect on us :)
@paps
I'm trying to test out everything in life, I try to stay open minded. Thank you!
I too have changed the way I eat. I eat a lot more organic raw vegetable than I ever have. My wife picked up a nice juicer (tribest slowstar) and that makes a huge difference on how I feel. I try and juice 3 times a week. It can get spendy $$. But there ain't nothing like some good ol BBQ!! Ha ha ha. I don't know if I could ever go totally without meat. That would be very rough. Glad you came to your senses. Dah ha ha ha
You made the good choice! Haha, and yes, a good BBQ, but moderately. :-D Thank you
For women and children the lack of heme (iron) causes so many health issues. There is plant heme and non heme in animals but this type of iron is difficult for our digestive system to absorb, I had to introduce red meat back into my diet as well and I eat a large amount of bitter dark green leafy veggies. I have fibromyalgia and went vegan for ethical and health reasons. I followed nutrition guidlines and supplemented per medical data as well. I am a very active person! Some of my symptoms abated but my structure, bone and muscle became very week. I was suffering from iron deficiency. I decided to eat like my grandma, no sugar, very little refined grains, no junk foods and healthy animal proteins and fats. I lost 50lbs, fatigue, brittle hair and nails, cognitive fog is gone too! This was early 2000...I'm still doing really well except I started eating more sugar and refine flour, gained weight back and my symptoms started flaring up. Cut out the sugar and flour and lost a lot of weight, I am back on an even keel emotionally and physically!
Thank you for an excellent post!
Exactly, it's a really bad thing that parents are obligating their children to be vegan. It can cause a lot of health issues like your said.
Woah, it should had been a real fight to get the right nutrition for you. It's a good thing that you could get some medical advices, and that you found the right diet. The sugar should be avoided, you're right! I hope your health will be doing well, but you seem to be the kind of person to know what she needs now, as you went through many difficult situations. I bet your learned a lot!
Thank you for the interesting a real feedback.
Greetings!
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