you'll probably all hate me - I want to get back into meat, but im scared.

Ive been vegetarian for 12 years, I stopped eating meat at 14 and now want to get it back into my diet but im scared.

I stopped eating me as it totally freaks me out the idea of putting a dead animal in my mouth,especially when you hear the horror stories on the news of the dieases and bad hygiene. I dont think its going to happen anytime soon but somehow i need to get over the fear, i just hate the fact that its a dead animal with blood, guts and eyes etc.

Unlike most veggies i have no moral stance against meat eaters, in fact i think peeple should eat meat its normal. I do really want to start being able to eat it again, im sure my body must need it and i really dont want to go the next 60 years of my life missing out on something.

Im not talking about burgers and cheap nasty stuff, but a proper steak, roast beef or a bacon sandwich (they smell so good). Im lucky enough that i go to very good resturant 2-3 times a week, so wouldnt even have to see or cook the raw meat.

Do you think my body would react to the meat and make me ill or do you think it would appericate the long missed protien? Has anyone here become a carnivor after being a long term veggie?

Please someone help me.

I would guess that many if not most of the people in the forum eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, so I'm not sure what type of a response that you will get.

I know that from personal experience, even if I accidentally have a bite of something and it has meat in it, I get violently ill. Not because I make myself sick thinking about it, but my body basically rejects it.

It's too bad that you feel that you are missing out on something by not eating meat. I feel as if I'm gaining so much. Good luck with your decision.

You sound a little conflicted.  On the one hand you clearly don't like the idea of eating a dead animal -- and that's what meat is, no escaping it -- but you seem to feel that you "have" to or that it would be better to eat meat.  Do you mind if I ask why?

If you're simply worried about your protein intake, why not add a protein supplement to your diet?

There are soy protein mixes, as well as many others which use no animal products.

I also get ill if I accidently put meat in my mouth.

If you really want to eat meat then you should face up to what you are eating and not rely on others to cook it for you. You are old enough to know how to cook, and if you can't make yourself a steak than you shouldn't eat one- that is just my opinion. Ignorance is bliss- right? I'm not trying to be harsh towards you, I have nothing against actual meat eaters, but most of them are at least willing to face the fact that they are eating an animal and will cook it for themselves. I can respect that more than I can respect someone just doing it because they feel as though they are missing out on something & want a restaurant to cook it for them.

You should start out slowly- maybe try eating a small amount of chicken mixed in your salad, and if you can hold that down and digest it just add a little bit more here and there. You don't even need meat everyday, even if you do decide to go back to eating some.

not eating meat doesn't deprive your body of anything as long as you eat a balanced diet. i am SO SICK of that misconception!!!

if you can post on a forum you can do some educated research into this subject.

Everyone's personal reasons set aside (no matter how good), it really is up to you and yes your body will adjust.  It may not react at all and then again it may.  You can start going slow, I wouldnt suggest going full force into it.  Ok so where do I come off huh?  Posting to the veggie forum LOL  well.... a year and a half ago I was a full fledged VEGAN.  I was vegan for about 3 full years.  I don't regret my dicision to change but I do feel guilty at times.  Even now I do not eat meat regularly.  Three times a week is about all get in unless I am really trying. 

You don't need meat for protein though, so there is no health reason to change.  But if you just don't see yourself continuing then that is your reason.  I don't think you are really missing out on much.  Sure they smell good but you can also increase your knowledge of delicious veggie food.  There are just as many yummy vegetarian things as there are meat things!  --Sumi

thanks everyone. guessed i may upset some people, sorry. Unlike most people the reason im veggie is I very very scared of it. The blood, guts, carcas also the idea of it being in my body the germs etc, therefore i dont eat eggs, fish, im even funny about yogurt and only have very limited milk products.

However i have absolutley no moral stance and therefore im not being a traitor to the cause as i never stood for vegetarianism.

I want to eat meat as it smells good and im sure it will taste good.

Then I say go for but take it easy at first and let your body adjust.

I can understand your reasons, since I have my finicky food habits as well.  I stoped eating red meat at 12 and only went back it during my pregnancies.  Even know I have a thing about it, and yogurt as well, but I am trying to get better on that one.  We have our own chickens and I have an aweful time eating their eggs.  I can buy them from the store and be fine but I get weirded out when its from my super healthy happy free chickens (yes they are 100% free, they could walk away if they wanted)  It makes no since, and I am trying to get better about my weirdness towards food.  

You are free to eat meat if that's what you want to do, and you don't have to apologize for it.  I would recommend that you go slowly though, to give your body time to adjust.  Eating a whole steak after not eating meat for years could cause some serious discomfort and indigestion.  Something small like a piece of deli meat would probably be easier on your digestion.

Hello everyone! I'm a new member!

My opinion on this is the following:

I think telling you to remain a vegetarian would be both condescending and ignorant. People have the right to live their lives the way they please. It's free will. As I hate and cannot stand people who explain to me testimonials on how meat is great, it's the same on the other face of the coin.

Do as you like.

Hi Bell!  Glad to see another gadfly in the vegetarian forum!  ;-)

Eating meat is perfectly natural....we do not have teeth like cows (all molars) to grind vegetation. You were given incisors and canines for the consumption of meat.

Human evolution if we would not have varied our diets, brain development etc. jumped leaps and bounds when high protein was introduced into our ancestors diets.

"Humans are an omnivorous species due to their physiological adaptations to eating a varied diet of vegetation and meat. As with all omnivorous species they are capable of sustaining themselves with diets of just meat or vegetables but both must be carefully managed to avoid health problems (notably anemia with vegetarians and heart disease with those who eat diets made up mostly of meat). The digestive system and dentition of Homo sapiens serve as a prime example of omnivorous adaptations."-text book.

In other words you should should have a varied diet that contains both. Its each persons perogative though, "ain't life grand" like that. Do what you want. But I suggest Filet Mignon from a high end steak place.......Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! !!!!

Regarding the post concerning teeth to grind vegetation. It's not the way the teeth are but the way the mouth chews food. Most meat eating animals like tigers etc, their jaws just go up and down and they swallow their meat in one bit without really chewing it. But humans and other vegetarian animals, our jaws can go from side to side so we can chew things.
I don't really care whether people eat meat or not but don't try to justify it by saying that's how our bodies are designed. As you say, we evolve and adapt. The majority of the world is mostly vegetarian,most of the time,  it's only in the richer west that we eat so much meat.

Yes, eating meat is natural, and so is a life expectancy of about 40 years.  Fortunately humans are not limited by nature's constraints and we're able to improve our situation with trade and technology.  Given how many more foods are available in today's world than in a state of nature, I think it's very safe to say that eating meat is more of a choice than ever.

i was vegan for 2 and a half years.  i would have enjoyed it more if i was a HEALTHY vegan, but i relied on alot of starch and did not eat a very balanced diet [unless my mom, who went vegan with me at the time, was cooking haha].  re-introducing dairy into my system was WAY WORSE than re-introducing meat, but once i had done that, i ate dairy/eggs for a couple of years before i occasionally ate meat.  i didn't buy it, didn't cook it.  i worked at Whole Foods and occasionally got handed down food which i ate as opposed to spending my meager paycheck on their astronomically priced groceries [well, they ain't that bad, but on my budget they are!].  i never got sick from eating meat, probably because the portions were small and it came from trustworthy sources.  then i moved in with omnivores and they would sometimes cook meat [free range chicken, buffalo] and have leftovers which my boyfriend and i would eat before they went bad because they hardly ever touch their leftovers!  THEN it progressed to stopping at fast food joints on the way to and from New Orleans and i just had to stop myself!

i don't believe that you'll get violently ill if, like others have suggested, you gradually re-introduce meat into your diet.  and if you have no moral stance one way or the other, then it's your choice to do as you please.  i'm not trying to push you one way or the other!

sometimes i find myself craving salmon and tuna and have been thinking about eating one or the other once or twice a week...  wild- caught from alaska or iceland of course haha.

the more life experience i gain, the more i tell myself, "i am educated, i know the atrocities of factory farming and that eating animals is unnecessary and, to me, undesirable.  i am allowing myself to make an informed choice." animal welfare and animal liberation... all great stuff, but i'm a little too cheap and lazy these days to turn up my nose to, for instance, a cheap egg which, to me, is a good source of protein and nutrients, or even fish.  stringently adhering to the confines of labels that others have created isn't for me.  i have enough to worry about with living below the poverty line, trying to eat high protein and high fiber, limited refined carbs and low fat, and getting exercise in.  plus i'm trying to limit my soy and wheat consumption.  i do value veg[etari]an diets and strongly admire people with such conviction to stick to their guns.  there was a time in my life when i was the same way, now i guess i'm just a sell-out chump whose "needs" have changed!  i hate to admit it, but right now in my life i am finding that getting myself into shape takes precedence over blatantly protesting meat/dairy/eggs by withdrawing my monetary support.  i let the other little things that i do be enough for now, and maybe one day i can do more for the "cause".

Chelseagirl,

Just as we all longed for support when we became vegetarian/vegan, no doubt we hope for the same if we ever decide that it no longer suits us. I support your decision (realizing that it is, indeed, your decision). Like you, I am the only vegetarian in a group of Carnivores. I made a deal with friends and family in the very beginning that I would respect their decisions so long as they respected mine, and I have found it to be a very beneficial stance. I quit eating meat gradually, giving up processed meat, then red meat, then pork, then foul and finally fish. I am both sympathetic to and supportive of moral vegetarians/vegans, but I am not one of them.

I would definately integrate meat into your diet slowly, of course, as you surely know of our bodies reaction when someone accidentally introduces some animal product into our otherwise tasty meals.

Good luck.

Think about what the animals will miss out on if you eat them! Don't do it, you know it's not the right choice.

i have full respect for vegeterians/vegans but what i dont understand is why ppl flip out so much when somebody starts talking about eating meat or that eggs are chicken menstruation and that makes it gross to eat? lol i think its a childish approach to things.

ppl should be allowed to eat what they want. personally im not veggie, but i also prefer veggies over meat anytime. that being said, i love having me a steak or somethin every now and then.

its a personal choice and one should be entitled to eat whatever they want. as for the original post, yes i think ur stomach will take a while to get used to meat, perhaps u shud consult ur doctor about it? either way i suggest u slowly start eating meat, blending it into ur diet... :) good luck with it

and i dont think chelseagirl wants to eat meat because of lack of protein, cuz u can easily get nuff protein in a vegetarian diet, i just think she wants to have the option of eating meat if she wants. right? :)

chelseagirl,

It seems a bit odd to me that you would come to a vegetarian forum for support in your choice to go back to eating meat.  In your heart, I do not think that this is what you really want to do.  You say that you want to go back to eating meat because you consider it 'normal'.  Perhaps it is normal in the sense that it is what most people do, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is the right thing to do, or that it is what is best for your health.  I can understand your desire to not want to think about where the meat comes from so that you can feel more 'normal' and fit in better with the rest of society, however, I don't think that repressing your deepest inner feelings is such a good idea.  You are repulsed by the idea of eating dead animals, and it is perfectly valid for you to feel this way and to act on your feelings and beliefs regardless of what others do or think.  It might feel lonely sometimes, but I think that you should honor and be true to your heartfelt beliefs.

BTW, you make it sound like it is unusual to become a vegetarian because of a repulsion for meat and where it comes from, but that is not true.  I became a vegetarian 34 years ago, at the age of 15, and it was for moral reasons, because the idea of consuming dead animals was repulsive to me.  Back in those days, it was not generally considered to be a healthful choice, and I was even implored by a well-meaning aunt that I should at least eat a little meat so that I wouldn't get sick and die! 

Anyway, many of us become vegetarians because we don't want to be a party to the harming and unnecessary killing of other creatures just so that we can eat food.  And personally I think that the whole idea of eating meat is gross, disgusting, and unpalatable.  Don't feel pressured to put that stuff in your body just because everyone else around you is doing it. 

What an interesting post. I have friends who can't stand meat, like you, and yet, they're also moved by problems in the American meat industry and what's happening to animals. I really don't know what to say, except that like cbullock said, follow your natural instincts. Or, just try it and see what happens. Report back.