Dilemma...

jen

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Ok last year in June, I decided to stop eating meat. It was hard at first but I slowly got used to it. I still occasionally want something but I don't, I am perfectly happy not eating meat and I really don't want to start again. I do however, very occasionally eat seafood like shrimp.

Problem is that I hate beans. I hate legumes and lentils and all sorts of beans except green beans (with italian dressing yum!). I like tofu and nuts and soy which I believe are good sources of protein, I even have protein powder I can add to things like orange juice and oatmeal. But I don't know if that is enough. I don't think it is.

So what do I do? Do I go back to eating meat again? I am afraid I will go right back to the chicken nuggets and burgers if I start again. But I am sure I don't eat enough protein to get by.

So I guess I am looking for simple easy quick and tasty recipes along with advice. Using beans possibly. I can handle some black beans occasionally. I made a good egg scramble with salsa and beans and tofu and it was pretty good. So I am open to simple things like that.

Please give me some advice! How do I fgure out how much protein I need and all that? I can't talk to a doctor bc I have no health insurance to even go to one!
 

roimata

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I'm just wondering why you stopped eating meat in the first place, was it because of your health, or animal rights or something?
 

leli

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It's not really a matter of "enough" protein. You can eat enough protein using the sources you've mentioned. The issue is whether you're getting all the amino acids necessary for your body.

Certain amino acids are only found in a few plants, like legumes and lentils. But animals need them and uses them to make proteins/enzymes/etc in their bodies. Therefore, they are present in meat and a person who eats meat can get them that way. However, if you're a vegetarian, there are few "complete foods" that are plants and contain all those amino acids needed to sustain animal life.

If you absolutely hate those foods and don't want to eat meat, some sort of supplement could help you get the ones you're missing (can't remember which they are offhand, but for some reason lysine comes to mind....). You should be able to get enough protein eating soy, tofu, peanut butter, nuts, eggs with yolk, etc. As long as you also supplement the missing amino acids you should be on solid ground nutritionally speaking. Do some googling about amino acid requirements and "complete foods" as it relates to amino acids. Hope this helps a bit!
 

margecat

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I have the same question. If it's a matter of becoming a vegetarian due to not wanting to eat animals, you've got a problem! (I used to be that way myself.) If it's because you don't want to eat "chicken nuggets", then you have more leeway in your diet. I'll tell you what happened to me: I ate very little meat for years, and became severely anemic; so much so, that about 10 years ago, my doctor ordered me to start eating red meat again. He told me my health would be in big trouble if I didn't. I read that beans, protein powder, etc. just don't cut it if you are anemic--you need the animal protein. As I assume you are of child-bearing age, and menstruate, you are at risk for iron-deficiency anemia. When I was tested for this, my iron level was 9 (I forget how they measure; may be miligrams per decileter of blood???); the lowest should be 26! It's a miracle that I could even get out of bed! Apparently, I had been running on this "speed" for years.

Of course, do I follow my own advice? No! I still eat little meat; I try for red meat once a week, usually a cheeseburger. I try to tell myself that humans are meant to be carnivores; we have canine teeth and molars, and our modern brains are the way they are due to our ancestors being carnivores. (Animal protein was essential to human brain devlopment in our evolution.) All of that being said, I still feel guilty every bite of meat I take.

Eating meat doesn't mean you have to gulp down huge, greasy fat-laden meals. Try for lean meat; roast beef is very lean; yet it's still red meat. I believe even chicken and turkey provide the needed protein and iron. Eat a diet high in grains, vegetables, fruit, and some meat each day. In other words, make the bulk of your diet non-meat; but make sure you eat meat regularly, balanced with the grains, veggies, etc.

In case anyone was wondering, I can't take iron pills; they make me violently sick.
 
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jen

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I stopped eating meat for a few reasons. It grosses me out thinking about all the chemicals and steriods and weird stuff that cows and pigs are pumped with when being prepared for slaughter. I also feel bad, not that we EAT animals, but how they are prepared to BE eaten. Ripping off chicken beaks while they are alive, killing animals in front of other animals, not instantly killing them and letting them suffer until they die. I don't know, it all just seems awful.

Thanks Leli, I will look it up!
 

carolpetunia

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No, Jen! Don't go back to the dark side! You're doing the right thing for your health, and for the planet as well. Stay strong!

Okay... you hate beans and legumes and lentils. Does that include peas? Cute little plump round spring-green peas, fresh from their tidy little pod?
You can use them in salad or cream them with potatoes or make a nice cozy soup for wintertime with some sweet onions minced in. Peas are niiiiice. Maybe give them a try?

It's great that you like black beans -- they can go into vegetarian tacos, along with lettuce and cheese and onions and salsa. And my old boss used to make a nice vegetarian black bean soup with cilantro... served it with white rice and chips with salsa.

If you think you could handle some chili beans (and you won't recognize 'em by the time we're done here), try taking some vegetarian canned chili beans and cooking them up with onions (LOTS of them, gently wilted before you add the beans), tomato sauce, and French's Chili-O chili seasoning mix, plus a little ketchup to give it a tiny touch of sweetness in contrast to the heat. Let it cook slowly for at least an hour and use a potato masher to pulverize the beans and turn it into a... well, I think the technical term is goop. You can dab this goop on chalupa shells, sprinkle with cheese, and run them under the broiler... use it as filling in your vegetarian tacos... or thin it out with water and eat it as chili with cornbread or crackers.

Goop is good! Give it a try!
 

carolpetunia

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Marge, have you tried "SlowFE?" It's an iron tablet that's formulated to enter your system very slowly, so it doesn't have such an impact on your stomach. My 86-year-old father can handle it... maybe it would work for you?
 

theimp98

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hmm go to the body buliding helth food stores.
they soy stuff there with a ton of portien in it. But the others are right you need a certain mix of other things to make it work right.

Ps come back to the right side. meat is good for you.

its have been so hungery for a big steak this last week its not funny.
 
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jen

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MMM Carol, those sound good! As for black beans, i wouldn't exactly say I LIKE them, but I TOLERATE them in small amounts. I LOVE peas, especailly fresh pea pods, I like them plain even. one good thing about working at a chinese fast food place, I constantly snack on raw veggies like pea pods, baby corn, mushrooms, etc. I also LOVE onions and I buy really good organic ketchup (since there is no high fructose corn syrup in it.
 
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jen

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For the most part, I am just not interested in eating meat. I don't know, sometimes, very occasioanlly, like buffalo wings, they smell so GOOD! But no, I don't want to eat that stuff.

I do like Quorn, it is like all sorts of normal food just made without meat. And soy/garden/boca/veggie burgers are GREAT. I do like black bean burgers. That stuff is just SO expensive. I should figure out how to make them from scratch. I bet it's not hard.
 

laureen227

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actually, depending on the protein powder, & how often you use it, that should take care of your requirements. as a gastric bypass patient, i have to use protein supplements. the good ones provide 30 grams of protein per serving, with very few carbs, & can actually taste quite good. we try to aim for 90 grams of protein per day - don't know what 'normies' should get, but that would be 3 drinks per day. since you don't malabsorp like i do, you could probably do 2 or even 1, plus cheese/seafood/whatever & easily get enough protein. my current favorite is Syntrax's Nectar in strawberry-kiwi!
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Jen

I should figure out how to make them from scratch. I bet it's not hard.
forgot to say - combinations of legumes + grains will make a 'complete' protein [has the 8 essential amino acids your body can't produce]. so things like red beans & rice [old cajun classic!] peas & corn, etc. will work. choose your favorite legume [peas, beans, peanuts, etc.] & your favorite grain [rice, corn, bulgar wheat, barley, quinoa, etc.] & try out some combinations!
 
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jen

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hey whats with green beans? are those different then regular beans like chili beans and black beans and those? I mean, they have an entirely different texture and taste. I LOVE green beans.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Jen

hey whats with green beans? are those different then regular beans like chili beans and black beans and those? I mean, they have an entirely different texture and taste. I LOVE green beans.
& they're still a legume, so they should count! hey, i found a list of legumes...
acacia
alfalfa
beans
bean sprouts
black-eyed pea
carob
chick pea
cow pea
fenugreek
garbanzo
jicama
kindey bean
lecithin
lentil
licorice
lima bean
mung bean
navy bean
pea
peanut
pinto bean
snow peas
soy bean/tofu
string bean
sugar peas
tamarind
tragacanth gum
some of these i've never heard of!
 

muttigreemom

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Originally Posted by Jen

I stopped eating meat for a few reasons. It grosses me out thinking about all the chemicals and steriods and weird stuff that cows and pigs are pumped with when being prepared for slaughter. I also feel bad, not that we EAT animals, but how they are prepared to BE eaten. Ripping off chicken beaks while they are alive, killing animals in front of other animals, not instantly killing them and letting them suffer until they die. I don't know, it all just seems awful.

Thanks Leli, I will look it up!
If this is the reason you don't want to eat meat... have you looked into buying meat from cruelty free farms? Something like this? http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/1...mindful13.html

Even something like cruelty free eggs would help.

Just a thought...
 

carolpetunia

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Without meaning any disrespect or sarcasm at all, honest... I just have to say... how can they call it "cruelty-free" if the animal ends up dead and eaten?

That's like banning "cruel and unusual punishment," but allowing execution! I truly don't understand.

Okay, shutting up now...
 
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jen

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Well I can recognise the difference between a small private farm and buying meat from a butcher that raises and slaughters the animals themselves. Like organic meat and stuff, no chemicals or anything like that. But I would want to be sure that the animal didn't suffer. Killing is killing, I am not against the idea that people eat meat, I just wish people thought a little more about where the meat came from, what has been done to it and how the anmal was killed.
 

muttigreemom

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Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Without meaning any disrespect or sarcasm at all, honest... I just have to say... how can they call it "cruelty-free" if the animal ends up dead and eaten?

That's like banning "cruel and unusual punishment," but allowing execution! I truly don't understand.

Okay, shutting up now...
Killing the animal has to be done so one can eat it... that's just a given. I mean it would probably be pretty hard to have burgers for dinner if they wouldn't sit still, right? (And I don't mean this in a "well we dont have to kill the animal because we can just be vegetarians" kind of way. Some of us, like myself, can't be vegetarians. So if one has to eat meat, one has to kill it to eat it. That's all I'm saying.)

But these farms don't treat animals in the same way that mass market farms do. For example, the other day I was watching dirty jobs and saw the host work at a pig farm for a day. They showed these animals trapped in pens so small they couldn't turn around... locked in a room with 2 tons of fecal matter... day old piglets had their tails docs, teeth cut, shot full of antibiotics and growth hormones... I can't find a link to the entire episode, but they show part of it on youtube here:
The main point of cruelty free farms is that the animals aren't put through all of this. They live regular lives - with their teeth... with their tales... without being shot full of growth hormones and antibiotics... without being stuffed in a warehouse for toddler pigs full of 2 tons of feces.... the mother pigs arent kept in cages so tiny they cant even lay down... and then killed as humanely as possible.

Sure, ok, maybe it's not a perfect solution... but it's a heck of a lot better than any of the other current farming alternatives we have.
 

bonnie1965

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Since we seem to be on the animal cruelty thread, I have been wondering about Hebrew National. Does anyone know if the animals are treated any better for this company?
 

muttigreemom

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Originally Posted by Jen

Well I can recognise the difference between a small private farm and buying meat from a butcher that raises and slaughters the animals themselves. Like organic meat and stuff, no chemicals or anything like that. But I would want to be sure that the animal didn't suffer. Killing is killing, I am not against the idea that people eat meat, I just wish people thought a little more about where the meat came from, what has been done to it and how the anmal was killed.
I totally agree with you here. Most (I can't say all, but all the ones I've looked into anyway) will let you tour the farms. And they don't have a specialized tour where they only show you the good things, they just let you roam the farms and let you see everything you want to see. If there's one in your area, it might be worth checking out.

I'm honestly not trying to force you to eat meat... just showing some other options that not everyone knows are out there is all.
 
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