Vegetarians: What do you do when craving for meat?!
Vegetarians: What do you do when craving for meat?
I've was a Vegetarian for 2 months now; I was doing great and I felt great. Last night, I had a dream about eating Chicken Wings. I had uncontrollable salivations all day. I couldn't help it, I went to the store and bought a pack of chicken wings and ate it. AFter that I felt like pure crud. Maybe eating meat once a month isn't bad?
Answers:
Your craving may have come from one of two places:
1) force of habit, or
2) your body telling you that it needs the things that meat can contain.
In other words, in either case, your craving for chicken wings was not a craving for chicken wings! I will go into more detail ...
Hypothetical scenario: Before you became veg*n you enjoyed eating meat. The taste, the smell, the texture, the "fitting in" with what everyone else does and likes, the availability of it through fast food outlets, the convenience. It all made you feel good, and for a long time counteracted the feelings you had that gave you reason to become veg*n. At some point immediately prior to your choosing to become veg*n, something happened to jolt your consciousness to become aware of the problem of eating meat, but that didn't take away all the reasons you liked it. It's merely that the balance was suddenly tipped in favour of your being veg*n.
So you decided to stop eating all your meat, but failed to realise that by reducing your intake of protein and iron, and not replacing it with other types of foods that contain protein and/or iron, you are depriving your body of it's dietic needs. After a while of not knowing that you were essentially starving certain body functions of the fuel they need, your body began to crave the sources it knows it can get it's fuel from, and one of the easiest ways to replace what you cut out of your diet is to put it back the way it was.
However, I can tell you without a doubt, that the consumption of meat is the least effective source in terms of digestion for acquiring the protein and iron your body needs to survive. And as a result of eating those wings you have committed murder. And have tortured that chicken constantly for years before it was killed, gutted, and carved into pieces. And have imposed immense strain on the environment that the chicken was grown in. And have committed human rights violations on the workers at the various factory farming plants that the chicken visited, both before and after it's death. You have done all of this, indirectly, as a result of paying the people who supplied you with the chicken wings at point of consumption. You are ultimately and soley responsible for everything those wings endured, and everything associated with making them "ready to eat". And just to top it off, when you'd finished, your body rejected them, and asked you in the clearest possible way not to consume them again.
So what can you do, next time you think you are craving chicken wings?
1) Acknowledge that perhaps you are craving the things that eating chicken wings your provide your body, in terms of nutrients (they have virtually none), enzymes (they have virtually none), vitamins (they have virtually none), minerals (iron, which can be acquired from dozens of different foods that also contain other things that your body needs), Protein (one of the most common elements in all food, in various quantities, and which the average diet includes several times the RDI of, and is completely unneccesary for optimal function, and in many areas a hinderance to long life and vitality), fat (it is biologically impossible to get a craving for that, but you may crave the taste of fat, and may even become addicted to the taste of fat, which is a VERY dangerous place to be), sugars, artificial sweeteners, colours, flavours, antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, anticoagulants, antibacterial agents, and a long list of other man made chemicals that are damaging to your body, carcinogenic, mutagenic, bioaccumulative, and will store in fat cells for decades (even centuries) to come.
Other answers have provided manufactured options for you to research and if you want to can be purchased online mail order, or from your local health food outlet.
Good luck with your vegetarianism, and I hope it is a successful long term improvement in your life and livelyhood.
Source(s):
Vegan over 6 years now, nutritionist, dietician, and toxicologist, among other things. I dare people to challenge me with intelligent arguments!!!
EAT
There is absolutely no reasonable reason on this earth not to eat meat. There are reasons to not eat specfic meats (because they're not treated humanely or safely). But other than that... you got canine teeth! use them!
Try something new like soyabean meat and stop eating meat.
If you are choosing to be vegetarian, then when you eat meat it can cause problems as your body stops being used to digesting animal protein.
If you have insatiable cravings, then perhaps a good feed of rice & beans is in order to give you more protein, and a side serving of green salad with red capsicum (for Vit C) for iron.
Blessings, Gypsy Queen
Eventually the craving goes away, if you have a craving for a particular meat, there is a substitute. Both Boca, Morningstar, and Quorn make great chicken alternatives.
Eating meat once a month is likely to mess with your stomach as the meat gets broken down a bit different and frequently causes a little sickness in people.
Think about why you are a vegetarian cause it sounds like you don't really want to be one
I get the soy "meats" and enjoy.
You're new to vegetarianism, so I commend your efforts. When you get a craving, eat some soy products, like Boca Burgers or VeggieBurgers. Tofurky sausages are really yummy, and so is Tofutti cheez slices. Get some vegan margarine, Tofutti slices, and make some grilled cheez. Serve with tomato soup, and visit childhood again. Yummy and comforting.
I understand the meat thing, though. My sister and I live together, and she warmed up some wieners in the microwave. The aroma was tempting, but I didn't indulge. Instead, I imagined all the carnage and suffering those animals had to endure, and for what? For someone's taste buds? Not for mine, no animal has to lose its life or even its parts just for my greedy gut.
Look into the fake meats, they really help when you want something hot & juicy. LOL, I mean food, hehe!
Eventually you won't. The smell will offend you. Or maybe not, maybe you will always crave meat. It doesn't really matter. There are many reasons for being a vegetarian, and generally you have to buy into all of them to be disgusted by meat.
If you feel the need for meat once a month, have it. You dont need anyones permission. After educating myself about how nasty meat is, I no longer crave it at all. Here is a good site with some valid information-peruse through all the catagories and it should help.
http://www.factoryfarming.com/index.htm...
I do not get cravings for meat. So, I would suggest to think about the reasons you went vegetarian. If you truly want to be vegetarian, then the reasons you went vegetarian should keep you from eating meat.
I only have a craving for meat when I am really hungry. Try eating something vegetarian that would satisfy that hunger and you won't crave meat anymore.
Just buy the veggie meats.
I have to warn you, for the first 6 months you have the hardest time. Over 80% of vegetarians are in their first 6 months, and they drop out. Be strong! Buy quorn, morningstar, boca, or anything that appeals to you. If you keep up being a vegetarian for half a year, you'll be used to it and won't have difficulty avioding meat.
I occasionally think about eating meat, but then I either read a book (ex. "Slaughterhouse") or watch a PETA video at http://meat.org/ or http://petatv.com/. Soon I'm feeling fine again.
Good luck on your next try! And know that we wil be here to support you on Y! Answers, or at http://veggieboards.com/, or at http://peta2.com/boards .
--samTHEman
Mushrooms.... have u eaver heard that mushrooms are the vegos meat? Otherwise if your cravings are bad... you need to weigh up why you are vego?
If your veggie for the health, think of the disgusting chemicals pumped into the animals and the fat and stuff. If your veggie for the planet, think of the damage eating meat does. If your veggie for the animals, think about the suffering. Just think about why you are veggie in the first place really.
I don't crave meat because I know what it is.
Whether you are quitting smoking, drinking or eating meat, you are up against an addiction, and quitting can be a very difficult process. Unlike other addictions however, meat products have been shoved in our bodies since birth, are easily accessible everywhere we turn, and offered to us as the obvious, easy and necessary way to live.
I crave chocolate, but it is not because my body needs the *important nutrients* it provides.
When we crave meat, we often crave the fat and grease. Fat is a highly addictive substance found in meat. You might *not feel satisfied* because your body is wondering where the heck the fat is. A great fix is to cook a dish heavy in olive oil; you will get the fat you crave (but please don’t make a habit of it.)
When you are transition, it is a good idea to make the meals you are used to, but with fake meat instead. You can still have much of what you are used to eating.
You also crave the seasonings you put on meat. Seriously, how often have you eaten plain meat with nothing on it. Get yourself a veggie burger (Garden burger All-American Classic) and add some onion, garlic powder, pepper, grilled onions, bbq sauce, veganaise... whatever you like.
It will fix the cravings.
~Good luck
:)
no theres nothink wrong with eating meat once a month. your doing a well just by eating less meat
Never really have any true cravings for meat but when a T.V. ad comes on t.v. then I get the urge to make myself a soya burger. here's a recipe I got from Burger King their Flame Thrower Veggie burger: 14 oz can pumpkin, stuff in wheat germ, oatmeal, add soya sauce, mix in Rasberry Habenaro sauce ( not too much cause that's hot stuff) mix all together U can make patties or fake meat balls. Put patties in burger buns after cooking in oil of course. The fake meat balls can be cooked with spagetti. The fake meat balls don't have to be cooked first but they are better if they are dipped in oil before placing in the spagetti while it's cooking!
try those chik'n nuggets or 'buffalo' wings by morning star.
ive never craved meat
I love the Morningstar brand of fake meat.
Also, find a local restaurant that makes homemade garden burgers. If they make it right, it will taste AWESOME!
Eating meat once a month IS bad, if you ask me. Think about all the insensitive, uncaring cretins out there that eat it every day .... I wouldn't want to contribute! Then again, any decrease in the amount of money a person spends on meat is, technically, a good thing. But then again, if you KNOW what you're doing is wrong ... the guilt isn't worth it.
I've been a vegetarian for going on a year and I haven't had meat craving since those first few months. Now, meat repulses me. Just hang in there ... self control ...
I suggest trying lots of different varieties of veggie foods to keep your mind off of it... tofu and cucumber sushi, anyone? I also suggest perusing anti-factory farming websites so that you can see what the animal you're eating had to endure. Sympathy goes a long way.
I don't, I hate meat and it's smell, think about cute baby animals if you get a craving for some reason.