I really do need help with this one!

Here's some background about myself.

I've been a vegetarian since I was 12.. I am now 25.

During my first couple of years of being a vegetarian, I struggled finding a healthy balance. However, the older I got the more conscious and smart I got about food and health. So I can confidently say I've been doing pretty good being a vegetarian for this long.

Last year, I started craving animal protein. You have to understand tho, this is something that had never happened to me before. It has been so long, that I don't even remember the taste of animal protein.

So, back to last year... I re introduced egg and fish to my diet. 

This year I am having a new craving to Chicken!

And this is way I'm scared. It is really hard for me to explain this to you. I am fully conscious that this is just a mental thing and that I need to get over it.

I think that if my body is craving chicken is for a good reason. But I am scared that if I cross that line, I am going to forget about my morals and compassion for the poor lil chicken.

What is your consensus... should i, or not? any ex-vegetarian that can understand me?? Hehe... I need help.

Thanks for reading to my ranting...

 

if your body is craving something, listen to it.  especially if it's something healthy- it probably means you need it.  morals aside, you'll probably feel much better when you satisfy that craving... and i'm a vegetarian.

first, i've never been vegetarian, so maybe my opinion isn't relevant.  i believe that we're designed to eat animal protein (many people eat way too much of it, but that's beside the point).

maybe you can honour your morals and compassion by eating only free range, organic chicken.  i think your body is telling you something, and you should listen.

Have you been getting enough B12 in your diet? It is important for vegetarians to eat dairy products now and then to keep up the B12, or to take a supplement.

Also, if you do not get enough of a certain vitamin, your body craves foods that contain it. So if, for example, your body is not getting enough iron, it may crave foods high in iron such as meat.

Try taking this quick test to see which vitamins you may be lacking: http://whfoods.com/foodadvisor.php

I think you should try free range, grain fed organic chicken. It's super expensive, so you probably won't be able to have it often, but it would be a good way to satisfy your craving, without supporting the more cruel meat industry. 

I'm not a vegetarian. I'm a free range organicatarian, lol. I won't eat any meat, eggs, or fish that isn't either wild, or organically grown. It works for me. In the summer I catch my own fish, straight from the ocean!

I'd either go with the above or try some type of fake chicken by Boca or Morningstar.
Morningstar Farms has a "chicken meal starter" which is strips of chicken to put in dishes, and it tastes EXACTLY like the real thing. I've fed it to my dad multiple types and he's never known the difference (even though he's a carnivore of 59 years).

Good luck, and if you choose to eat natural chicken, don't think of it as harming an innocent animal because it probably got to live its life on a nice farm, just tell yourself it is WHAT YOUR BODY NEEDS.

I know exactly how you feel.  I am also 25 and have been a vegetarian since 13.  If you're craving chicken then you're probably lacking something in your diet, especially if this is not just a middle of the night craving, but one that is reoccuring.  Is it possible that you are much more active and in need of some extra nutrients? That's what happened to me... I was working full time at a restaurant and going to school full time, the combination of mental and physical exhaustion led me to start eating chicken again (I had serious cravings).  After a few months I didn't feel like I needed it anymore, and was able to give it up again very easily.  You should do whatever keeps you healthy, but if you do decide to add animal protein to your diet start slowing, maybe by adding some broth to rice and veggies. 

Thank you for all the advise.

That's really interesting, linme78 , that you went thru the same craving. 

I'm also a true supporter of organic, free-range and grass fed!

My bf owns cow shares and chicken shares at a local farm.. so we know all our eggs and dairy product is all the above.

If I do decide to eat chicken, I would go this route as well.

Spending money in food is well worth it. I rather spend my money in food that I know is good for me, rather than on impulse shopping. 

I'll keep you posted. 

I'm not a vegetarian. I like meat. I think if chickens were bigger and smarter, they would eat us.

 

No offense, but where are your morals and compassion for our poor little fishy friends? I mean, as a non-vegetarian, I don't understand the difference. If you don't want to eat meat because you don't like it, then , hey, thats cool, I don't like asparagus. However, if your eating fish, the chicken isn't that much higher up on the "brains" scale

I completely agree with you stefanie! Fish, chickens, cows.... all the same...

It is just hard for me to explain it... I've been a vegetarian for sooo long, that I never imagined eating animal protein again. It is justa tough adjustment for me. 

Original Post by stefaniepaglinco:

I'm not a vegetarian. I like meat. I think if chickens were bigger and smarter, they would eat us.

 

No offense, but where are your morals and compassion for our poor little fishy friends? I mean, as a non-vegetarian, I don't understand the difference. If you don't want to eat meat because you don't like it, then , hey, thats cool, I don't like asparagus. However, if your eating fish, the chicken isn't that much higher up on the "brains" scale

Well said!  I agree with your points down to the opinion of asparagus.

awwww! But what about the poor little asparagus?!!

B12 is a good point. B12 is only found in animal products and enriched foods.

My roommate is from the country, and her family raises their own chickens. Yes, they do eventually eat them. But morally speaking, I don't find that cruel. These chickens aren't tortured and stuffed in boxes and injected with who-knows-what. Would getting chicken from a local farm ease your moral tensions?

what about trying morningstar chikin patties? you can make chicken parm that way...add some tomato sauce and cheese to the top. are you eating fake meats at all? i'm 25 and have been veg since 14...and i don't ever crave meat since i gave it up even though i used to love it and found it quite tasty.

lol, just watch meet your meat again and the craving just might go away. but if you do know a free range farm that raises chickens or are willing to buy organic free range chicken then at least you are eating an animal that had a good life... that's what i would do, so it makes it better morally, but personally, the idea of chewing up actual muscle tissue from a once living being disgusts me... lol. sorry about that - i phrased that rather grossly. :P

b12 is in yeat also, so it might be a good idea to eat it