Well, this is the story all about how
my little life got flipped, turned upside down.
I’d like to take a minute, so just relax a bit more,
I’ll tell you how I went from veg to omnivore…
I’m not perfect, but gosh, I wish I could be! Hee hee. Alright, much of this blog is devoted to healthy eating. And much of healthy eating (in the U.S.) does not involve meat. And I’ll still sing the praises of veganism and vegetarianism to anyone who will listen. And I’ll spit on factory farming ‘til the day it’s gone. But the fact of the matter is: I eat animals occasionally.
I am not happy about this and, in truth, I tend to eat animals in the way many Americans do: pre-prepared, included in another meal (a steak burrito, a sausage pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, for example). To date, I have eaten some previously-mentioned steak burritos (that came frozen) and some breaded, baked chicken tenders. I stick to the convenience-meats because they are decidedly non-animal-like in appearance.
Sidebar: do you feel differently about being a carnivore when it is referred to as “eating animals?”
I sure do. End of sidebar.
Why, did you start eating animals again, you ask? I’m lazy. There it is. And if you’re one of those people who say, “I could probably be a vegetarian but I can’t do without my fried chicken/beef tacos/ bbq/insert-prepared-animal-here…,” you’re probably lazy, too. Just sayin’. Is it bad to be lazy? Sometimes, but especially in America, it is. We’re expected to be hard-working. We’re expected to give everything our ALL. We’re expected to dive into things willingly and succeed admirably. Yet everything about a typical American lifestyle goes against all of that: we live by technology, televisions, computers, Smartphones. We live on convenience foods and fast foods. We live on quick fixes, instant gratification, and magical medications. We live, my friends, in the Land of Contradiction.
And so, despite our American ideals, we are lazy.
So, I’m eating animals again. The change came about one evening when my little Baby Bear was fast asleep, Hubs was at a class, and I was HUNGRY. Nothing else looked good except Hub’s frozen steak burritos. I opened the freezer, stared at them, closed the freezer. I searched the cabinets. I opened the freezer again. I decided, “I’m going to eat the burrito,” and that was it. No one was there to judge me or stop me and I devoured the thing. Again, I’m not happy about it but I feel the change was necessary at this time.
Did I mention I’m breastfeeding? My son turned a year old in May, and ever since he started really cruising and toddling around, my weight began to significantly drop. I haven’t weighed myself in a couple of weeks, but I’m pretty sure that my frame was down to my high school weight. (My first driver’s license listed my weight at 100 lbs. and I suppose I can no longer giggle that it is still listed that way on my current license.) To be sure, I’m not sickly. But I was definitely depressed, had a lack of energy, and I was bruising easily. Little Bear was getting all his calories but literally sucking them out of me. I needed iron, I needed protein, and I needed calories and I needed them quickly.
I’m eating animals again occasionally because I feel that it is the easiest (remember, I’m lazy—and cheap) way to get my body what it needs. I’ll admit that I feel as though I failed at My Veg*n Endeavor and I feel guilty, but I do feel more energized and able to focus on other important things and people in my life instead of stressing about food.
Do you think I made the right decision? What would you suggest instead of resorting to meat?
Do you have suggestions for quick, protein-rich, high-calorie, dairy-free meals?
I was also a very healthy vegan after my son was born and then my body started to rebel when he was about a year and a half old. I felt exhausted all the time, constantly hungry, depressed, etc. I didn’t understand it because I was eating incredibly healthy – lots of fruits and veggies, minimal soy, etc – but I didn’t feel healthy.
I read a few books – The Mood Cure, Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival and Good Calories, Bad Calories – and decided to revamp my diet by adding back in animal products. I was hesitant to do this but I decided to make myself feel better about eating meat and such by only buying grassfed beef, pastured chicken and eggs, and local as much as possible.
I now follow a primal way of eating – fruits, veggies, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and seeds and I have noticed a complete difference in how my body looks and feels. I did a complete 180 with my eating but every food I put in my body, I look at as fuel and it has a purpose.
For meal suggestions, I would recommend big salads with hardboiled eggs, chicken or wild salmon, olives, avocados, olive oil, and walnuts to up the calories. You can prepare chicken and fish ahead of time as well as hard boiled eggs for quick and easy meals.
Thanks for sharing, Alicia! Since writing that post, I have started eating better forms of meat: local grassfed beef, organic chicken and locally-raised, organic eggs. I think you summarize it perfectly with saying food is “fuel and has a purpose.” It can be a hard mental shift, though, when you have convinced yourself for so long that meat is *NOT* for you! I’d like to get a lifelong vegan’s take on this…