I have given up meat but would like to give up fish also any ideas?!
I have given up meat but would like to give up fish also any ideas?
I have given up meat for the last few months, and dairy within the last few days. The first reason being because I think it is a cruel industry, and the second being for health. I now want to give up fish (which I know is a meat) as I feel this is the right step to take. Problem is Im finding it really hard because unlike other meats its more difficult to replace the nutrients which is in fish, and I dont really want to take supplements. I also find I just cant empathise with fish as much as I can with land mammals. Does anyone have any motivation tips on giving up fish and ideas on what I could replace it with? Many thanks
Answers:
I became vegetarian about a month ago, and the thing that got me to give up fish for good was when my boyfriend's step brother came home from fishing and was like, "Hey, Heidi, wanna see the fish I caught?" I didn't want to be rude, so I said, "Okay ... " ... he brings it out ... this fish was so sad looking. I couldn't even bring myself to say "Nice catch!" It just looked so pitiful. There is controversy over how much pain fish feel, blah blah, but I just know I wouldn't want to be caught in the ways they are. I had lots of fish in an aquarium as a child too, so I guess that also factored in. You might not be able to pet them ... but they are living, breathing creatures with a brain, and that's what matters to me. I don't want anything to be killed for me to enjoy it, I don't need meat THAT much.
It's actually not hard to find the nutrients that are in fish in other products - omega 3 is the big one, but it is found in large amounts in flax seed and walnuts.
Unfortunately as a vegetarian/vegan, it is a good idea to at least take a multivitamin. I took one long before I became a vegetarian, but they have quite a few vitamins aimed at vegetarians. Just make sure it either says vegetarian/vegan on the label, otherwise, it could have animal derived ingredients.
Good luck! Do what you feel is right. Pescetarians are basically vegetarians who eat fish (but are NOT vegetarians). But it doesn't have to be about labels.
Edit: Huh, I guess no one liked my fishing story. Well too bad! :)
Stop fishing?
My advice would be not to give up fish. There's probably a reason why fish are less emphatizable (whether it's a part nature or religion, you pick), but it's probably meant for us to consume fish. I don't think there really is a good substitute.
However, if your heart is set on it, think soy and peanuts. Those will help to replace some of the nutrients, but not all. You really need a balanced diet with some meat. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a vegetarian child and how skinny and weak they appear compared to non-vegetarians.
Read "Mad Cowboy." You'll definitely want to give up fish after that! Fish is full of cholesterol and saturated fat, just like other animal products. Fish also concentrate all of the toxins of the water they live in. It's dangerous to eat too much of the fatty fish because of the levels of mercury and other toxic chemicals present. The only nutrient I can think of that you'd want to replace is the omega fatty acids. Fortunately, these can also be found in flax seed, hemp seed, walnuts, and their respective oils, and kiwis, as well as other sources.
By all good means: do you want to ruin your health?! I'm a vegetarian myself but twice a month a small,healty piece of fish... You won't save the world either by not eating anything that your body need's.
Hello Sarah. Perhaps knowing how much the fish suffer as they are brought out of the sea might help with the motivation. The pressure change they undergo is so great that their eyes pop out of their heads and very often their inside come out too. They suffer horribly in the time it takes them to die. Another motivator might be that the seas are now so overfished that it is having a very negative effect on all the animal and plant life that depend on the seas being healthy and well stocked.
If you contact People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on www.peta.org they will be able to give you advice on how to have a healthy diet. I get vegan multivitamins from Holland and Barrett and find them very good. I have been vegan now for about 3 years and have never been healthier.
I wish you luck and applaud your affinity with land animals. You sound like a person who cares a bit about the world and I wish there were more like you.
no worries there is plenty of things they added omega 3s too u can always take a supple ment and pasta whole wheat pasta with the vitamin and bread and silk soy milk has the vitamins there are plenty of options don't worry they have made so many new foods out there to help out
There are many lovely faux meat products available, sold by the kilo from veggie supply stores, made of soya and whey and wheat, made to taste pretty much like chicken, or goose, or duck, etc. They never taste exactly like it, but they come real close. I swoitch from one to another to keep from being bored.
The "fish" one, to me, is even closer to the exact taste of fish, because what they usually do is wrap it in Nori (seaweed), like a sushi roll, and the Nori flavors the product to taste almost exactly like fish, plus gives you a reminder of the sea and still has a little sea salt on it.
I'm thinking I even like it better than fish, less messy to prepare, and no bones or scales.
Why torture yourself by not eating all those good meat and fish you are missing a lot in this world. The only way you can do things right is eat with moderation .To much of anything becomes HAZARDOUS to one`s health. Enjoy life it was made for you beautifully.
Well fish IS meat. So if you want to give up all meats, that should be your motivation.
There is no issue at all with having to try or worry about replacing nutrients, proteins, vitamins or minerals if you stop eating meat, fish or poultry.
I haven't eaten any of those things for 27 years and am very fit ( i run an arable farm - no pale-faced weakling here ), never ill, don't take any suppliments.
Just eat a variety of vegetables, cereals, pulses, nuts, fruits and you'll be fine.
All this "you'll be deficient" stuff is just meat-eater propaganda.
"maddona Troller" ( above somewhere ) may live in Tailand but i question her belief that she is fluent in English..she definately does not know the definition of a vegetarian......
please people, stop all this "fishy" rubbish will you.
Hi there, firstly congrats on giving up meat n dairy...now fish firstly omg to that person who said he doesn't know how many times he has seen a weak veggie excuse me i have never eaten meat or fish in my life and i am not weak nor fragile i weight-train n do cardio n is probably more healthy than a non-veggie, i have also been a vegan for a year n is probably healthier, i have been complimented more now than when i was a veggie so please don't talk you narrow mindedness again...right sorry fish like i say u dnt need at all i have never had in my life, people say u need the omega 3 from fish but people wise up where do the fish get it from...plantssss so fish is not needed in your diet i am living proof no animal has entered my body n i am healthy all you need to do is live a healthy lifestyle like anyone does to maintain healthy. Good Luck!
I was a peskyvegetarian for about four years, but what drove me to give up fish was seeing them killed up front. It was in a Chinese market, they had the fish in a tank, and when customers wanted them, they took the fish out, and drove a spike through its head to kill it... that sight was enough to make me think about giving up fish eating. I'm not sure how you could replicate that experience for yourself. Maybe hang around some fishermen in the UK, or go to the docks when a catch is brought in?
Man, why not do supplements? It is a small inconvenience to you, to the fish, it is their life.
If you really want to give up fish (and don't feel bad if you don't!) then you can easily get all the same nutrition from a vegetarian diet. The main reason that fish is seen as such a healthy part of a balanced diet is the omega oils. However these are also found in nuts and seeds, cold pressed oils of the seeds and are also added to lots of products now (juice, milk, etc - although do check where they source their omegas from as it can be fish!!).
On the plus side by excluding fish you will reduce your intake of toxic metals like mercury and almost eradicate your chance of getting food poisoning.
I haven't eaten meat for fish for 17 years and am very healthy - in fact I just had my iron levels checked as I am pregnant and they were above average! Good luck with making the shift.
Yes, one can. Many men and women, who were not vegetarian, started working towards improving the conditions of animals. They were born in non-vegetarian families and they were raised with animal flesh and dairy products as their main food. A stage came in their life when they realized what truly fair treatment toward animals would mean. They joined their hands with those who were saving and protecting animals. In the process, not only did they become kind to animals, but also to themselves. This way, many animal rights workers have become vegetarian at some time in their lives. If not, they are kind at heart, but still a slave to old habits of meat eating.
Those who are born and raised vegetarian are lucky. Their minds, speech, and actions are nourished for kindness to animals and all other non-human life. Most individuals who are raised with those values will not harm animals, nor will they support any harm to animals.
Here is a true life example -- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
My Transition to Vegetarian...
I was born into a Russian/American family and raised as a typical American meat eater. My evolution into the animal and environmental rights movement has been gradual. A turning point for me occurred when I was 15 years old. A friend and I had just eaten hot dogs for lunch, and walked next door to a leather shop. I whispered to her that she shouldn't buy anything in there because it is all dead animals. The clerk behind the counter heard my comment to my friend and asked me if I ate meat. I was shocked. I had never made the connection before that moment. I never realized that the meat on my plate was anything but 'food'. As I realized, while standing in that store, that meat is dead animal, I replied, "No, I don't eat meat" to the clerk. My friend thought I had just lied to the clerk. I explained to her that from this moment on I would not eat meat. That was 26 years ago. My personal evolution continued when I saw the pain of a dairy cow being separated from her calf and realized that the male calves on this farm were being shipped to veal facilities. I then quit using dairy products. I am now a strong advocate of strict vegetarianism for our own health and the well-being of animals and the environment.
You can take omega-3 from cereal with flax seed instead of taking flax seed as a supplement.
You can get veggie fish once in a while. I usually eat it every few months.
You can get supplements from the health food shops but why bother? I've been veggie for 18 years and haven't taken supplements because you can get everything you need from a balanced veggie diet. If you're confused about what to eat there are a number of really good veggie cookbooks which also spell out exactly what you should eat and where to get it from. Once you get used to what to get from where it's really easy.