Been veggie for 3 years, want to start eating meat again - how!?

So like the topic says, been veggie for a while now, though occasionally eat fish when my family are worried I'm not getting enough protein (background info: have been struggling with eating disorder for about a year and a half).

So how do I start eating meat? I'm assuming I can't just dive into a big chunk of meat (not that I want to). I'm not keen on eating meat to be honest, but me and my family think I should try to, just in small amounts. What will my body do when it all of a sudden starts getting pure protein?

What types of meat should I try to eat? I'm not that happy about eating any red meat to begin with - but would like to eventually!

Any advice on starting back on the hard stuff would be great :)

Think 'baby food'.... to get your digestion up to speed.   Your body is designed to process meat but give it a helping hand.   Start with more tender cuts, cooked so that they are soft and digestible.   Chicken breast gently poached in a white sauce or sauteed in butter for example.... or minced turkey, mixed with grated apple & onion and made into a  Turkey Burger.  These types of meat don't require much chewing, they're not tough and they won't take long or be difficult to digest.... rather like fish  When you move along to red meats try lamb.... it's very sweet & succulent especially when slow-cooked or pot-roasted.  Slow-cook beef cuts are very tender and melting...  minced beef made into meatballs or a meat sauce for pasta is another you could try.

Try to make sure any meat you eat has a little fat running through it and is moist.  There's nothing worse than tough, chewy, dry meat...

I did the exact same thing after 4 1/2 years of being very strictly vege.  I started with chicken, which caused me no problems at all.  After that I tried spaghetti bolognese.  Unfortunately for my tummy i found it ABSOLUTELY delicious and stuffed my face with it, which led to quite bad cramps as my stomach simply wasnt used to processing it anymore. 

Chicken and fish shouldnt cause you any trouble, but I'd take it really slow on the red meat.  Try only eating a couple of mouthfuls in any one sitting, and slowly increase that to a normal serving size.

thanks so much guys :) I'd bought some pre cooked chicken breast and really wanted some advice before tucking into it later! I'll take my time on it! I'm actually quite looking forward to it! The taste and the idea of protein! Woo!

I got sick when I started eating meat again after three years. I had stomachaches and bowel issues (to put it nicely). Definitely take it slow. 

Original Post by kat0386:

I'd bought some pre cooked chicken breast 

Do make sure you warm that up with a buttery sauce or something similar.   Cold cooked chicken breast can be very dry and chewy otherwise. 

I grew up in a vegetarian household (Ova Lacto).

I had meat for the first time when I was 26 and pregnant giving in to a craving...it did not go well!

I like you ate fish and seafood on occasion to that was how I started when I decided to eat more meat(actually poultry). I added my favorite seafood a few times a week and gradually moved on to very lean cuts of turkey and chicken.

To this day I eat no red meat or pork by choice but have grown to enjoy poultry especially turkey.

The look and smell of red meat and things like ham, bacon just don't sit well with me but that is my personal preference.

Start with what you know meaning fish add it in more frequently and when your feeling sparky and adventurous try a nice lean cut of turkey.

It's different for everyone but if it looks good to you give it a try.

Just eat small pieces of chicken with veggies fried(well not fried  ahah just heated) on the pan :P.

Or just tuna on water with mayo, or creme and with some RITZ :P!!

I hope i helped =D

Wow, this post is so depressing.  I hate being preachy, and I know I am, and I know everyone hates me for it, but reading about someone who is reverting to eating meat is so sad.  It just makes me feel like our society will never make any progress.

On the plus side (for you, anyway, can't say there is any plus side for all the animals or the environment), I have never had any digestive problems due to any of my relapses or errors in judgement.  Even after stuffing my face with a plate of hot wings after over a year of being vegan.  If you do feel sick, maybe it's guilt, or your body reminding you of how wrong your actions are.  Just a thought.

It's not illegal to eat meat and it's really unfair and unsupportive to try to guilt-trip the OP back into her ED.  Your choice is your choice...  but if the OP is struggling to get back to health, what's more important?  Her life or a chicken's?

I went from vegan to meatavore after 16 weeks of pregnancy. I had no digestive issues at all.

Here's some food for thought: http://www.acsh.org/healthissues/newsid.760/h ealthissue_detail.asp

I think, in general, it's important to listen to your own body.

It's also important to feel entitled to your own ethical view & not allow other people coerce or intimidate you.

Extremists who coerce tend to have the same arguments:

"My way is righteous"

"My way is the natural way"

"My way is morally superior to other's way"

You see it in animal rights activists, pro-life activists, anti-gay / homophobic activists... ad nauseum.

Just do what's right for you.

(p.s. no, I was not an activists or "ist" of any kind when I was vegan. It was simply a personal choice that satisfied me... until I got pregnant! Boy, then I could eat a cow!)

Original Post by gi-jane:

It's not illegal to eat meat and it's really unfair and unsupportive to try to guilt-trip the OP back into her ED.  Your choice is your choice...  but if the OP is struggling to get back to health, what's more important?  Her life or a chicken's?

 Exactly. There's nothing wrong with eating meat - no matter what the type. God himself confirms that in the Bible.

Original Post by pumpkin314:

Wow, this post is so depressing.  I hate being preachy, and I know I am, and I know everyone hates me for it, but reading about someone who is reverting to eating meat is so sad.  It just makes me feel like our society will never make any progress.

On the plus side (for you, anyway, can't say there is any plus side for all the animals or the environment), I have never had any digestive problems due to any of my relapses or errors in judgement.  Even after stuffing my face with a plate of hot wings after over a year of being vegan.  If you do feel sick, maybe it's guilt, or your body reminding you of how wrong your actions are.  Just a thought.

I would also like to point out that by eating vegetables . . . you are killing a living organism.  Same thing if you buy any kind of wooden furniture.  Life feeds on life.  That is just the way it is.

Original Post by gi-jane:

It's not illegal to eat meat and it's really unfair and unsupportive to try to guilt-trip the OP back into her ED.  Your choice is your choice...  but if the OP is struggling to get back to health, what's more important?  Her life or a chicken's?

 Thank you for your support. I had the exact feelings that you have mentioned. I am starting to think of my OWN health and nutritional needs whilst trying to overcome my disordered eating, and not that of the chickens'. It's hard for me because I do have a strong opinion on animal rights, however I feel as though right now my body needs the protein gained from eating meat again. I am very grateful to the chicken though for supplying me with these nutritional benefits!

I had the chicken and it was yummy with no bowel misbehavior! I may buy some more tomorrow! :)

Original Post by kat0386:

 I am starting to think of my OWN health and nutritional needs 

 Good on you.  That's exactly the right pragmatic, practical attitude and I predict you're going to be 100% successful as a result.   When you're back in full health, up to a healthy weight, got past the ED and you're a bit more savvy on what it takes to keep yourself in mint condition then there's nothing to stop you going back to being vegetarian whatsoever.  It's a great lifestyle and lots of people look very well on it.  I just didn't like the way that post was trying to twist things... that wasn't fair. 

I was lacto-ovo for 8 years and started eating meat about 8 years ago. My experience was a little different in that any stomach pain I had wasn't related to a particular type of meat but the quantity in one sitting. Try eating something flavored with meat, like a stir fry with tons of veggies and some chicken, beef, seafood, pork-- whatever really. Some folks have advised lean cuts of meat but I actually found that fattier cuts (again, not slabs, chunks along with a balanced meal) went down easier. The worst pain I ever had getting back to meat was chicken breast, but it was also my dad's Chicken Piccata and a huge slab o bird. In retrospect I think it was the quantity. It is also possible the fattier stuff helped me feel full or sated sooner than the slab o breast and that is why I felt ill.

Congrats on doing something good for you, by the way. I know you're recovering from ED, so I don't want my advice up there to sound too restrictive or rulebound-- it just worked for me to ease into it that way. I also have not dealt firsthand with what you're dealing with, so you do with this advice what works best for you.

Remember, too, that there are so many more humanely raised options out there now, so if animal rights is a concern for you, it shouldn't be too hard or too exorbitant to try to hew to more humanely raised options. Personally, I buy only humanely raised meat and dairy whenever it is available. I make a point to look in places I am likely to find it, but I don't torture myself when I can't. It is hard to find organic milk that is certified humane, but I am looking forward to some local milk from a nearby farm come spring. I can go out there and pet them if I worry about them! For me, killing animals for food isn't the crime-- it's the needlessly awful lives conventional livestock farms condemn them to. Not everyone will agree with me there, and that is okay. So there is a lot between meat-free and carnivore. Welcome back! :)

I'm sorry, but I agree with Pumpkin.....WHY GO BACK TO MEAT?! I too had an ED, and was vegan, but I didn't need to eat meat to sort out issues regarding protein or my ED. All the vegetarian resources, cook books, ect. explain easy and perfectly healthy ways of getting more than enough protein. If you are going to eat meat, fine. But don't use the old protein excuse. Modern research shows that excuse doesn't hold water anymore.

Just so you know, you'll probably get sick.  See, human bodies cannot break down animal proteins without the help of certain enzymes excreted by bacteria.  Stop eatikng meat, and those bacteria die off.  Until you can build some up, your body won't process the meat properly.  Think along the terms of someone who is lactose-intolerant.

Now, as far as protein goes...  The average American gets far, far more protein than he or she needs.  The same rings true for vegetarians.  I have been a vegetarian for 12 years now, and my protein intake hovers around 85-90 grams a day - far more than the 70 grams my height and weight would need.  Any excess protein cannot be stored by the body, so it is simply converted into fat, same as anything else you eat.

Eating one or two servings of fish every week is a good idea, particularly if you can get your hands on low-mercury fish.  Red meats have their own health risks, same as soy.  Of course, if you just WANT to eat meat, go for it :)

Original Post by msingerman:

Just so you know, you'll probably get sick.  See, human bodies cannot break down animal proteins without the help of certain enzymes excreted by bacteria.  Stop eatikng meat, and those bacteria die off.  Until you can build some up, your body won't process the meat properly.  Think along the terms of someone who is lactose-intolerant.

 I used to be veg, and I didn't experience any change when I went back to being an omnivore - and I eat meat every day.

Perhaps a couple here shouldn't be so condescending regarding someone's choice to revert to eating meat. It's not your place to pass judgement. If you can't answer the question she asked, just keep your mouth shut. 

Original Post by vancouver_girl:

I'm sorry, but I agree with Pumpkin.....WHY GO BACK TO MEAT?!

 Because I want a burger :D