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omnivorous boyfriend

837 views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  aprylveggie 
#1 ·
Hello all, I would like to know what you think of my situation, I've been dating my boyfriend for 6yrs now and I've been a vegetarian for a year now. My boyfriend is the biggest meat eater of all meat eaters! If he could only have loads of meat for dinner rather than vegetables and starch to, he would. Now hes huge into fitness and I told him why don't you try out vegetarian for a week I bet you'll feel much stronger with exercises and energy, he refused. I think its because he thinks men are supposed to be "manly" do what I want meat eater working man. But that means for dinner I have to cook him meat which I dislike doing. I don't like smelling it, picking it out, cooking it or anything else about it! Another conflict is someday when we have children I would like to raise them to be aware of what their eating and he wants them to be meat eaters....what are some thoughts?
 
#2 ·
Why can't he cook his own meat?

If you plan to hace children with him you should discuss that with him now, incase it becomes a deal breaker.

You can also dig up stuff ov the vast array of vegan and vegetarian athletes to show him.
 
#5 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by aprylveggie View Post

Thanks ill try that, hes big into sports! He works nights and I work mornings so I usually cook dinner so when he gets home late he can just heat it up and it wont take long.
Ah I can understand that, the last thing anyone wants to do after a long long day of work is cook dinner.
 
#6 ·
I used to cook my ex boyfriend lots of vegetarian food, and he didnt even like vegetables of any kind.

But he loved falafels, veggie burgers, chili sin carne, onion rings, veggie lasagne, veggie springrolls, veggie curry etc.

So I guess anyone can enjoy veggie food, as long as its not just green salad and boiled vegetables.
 
#9 ·
I used to be a HUGE meat eater whilst my partner was vegetarian, like your guy I was kinda condition to think eating lots of meat was manly. My partner (now wife) never once pushed me to drop the meat but straight up refused to cook me it and in my own time understood why she was vegetarian. I went away and did all my own research and adopted a vegetarian diet and now have been vegan for 10months.

Honestly I mean when I say if I can go vegan any man out there can.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by aprylveggie View Post

Thanks ill try that, hes big into sports! He works nights and I work mornings so I usually cook dinner so when he gets home late he can just heat it up and it wont take long.
Yeahhhhh here's the thing, you can still cook him dinner but it doesn't need to involve meat. If he wants meat with his dinner, then he's just going to have to be inconvenienced by cooking his own meal (or at least meat to go with the vegetarian meal you've made him).

As for the kids thing, this is how I see it- If he really thinks eating meat is okay, then he shouldn't have any problem explaining that a steak comes from a cow, that a leg of chicken is from a chicken that has to die to 'provide it'. If it's not a moral issue for him, then there shouldn't be an issue with explaining where it came from. I mean, if eating meat is so manly and natural, then the kids shouldn't have a problem with it.....Right?

That's how my parents brought me up. I've always known that animals had to die for me to eat them and for many years, I was a very loud carnist. (Obviously, things have changed :p).

And the whole 'men eat meat' thing? Urgh. How boring and archaic. I get that it's a thing, but every time a dude acts all "Well, I like steak because I'm a man" I let them know that my partner is one of the strongest, most masculine men I've ever met and he hasn't eaten meat in over a decade. And also that red meat makes them smell (along with ruining more....intimate acts).
 
#12 ·
Introduce him to people like Juliana Sproles (World's Toughest Mudder), Arian Foster (Running back for the Houstan Texans), Scott Jurek (ultrarunner), Robert Cheeke (Bodybuilder), Rich Roll (Ultraman Triathlete), Montell Owens (Running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars), and Mac Danzig (Mixed martial arts fighter), amongst others. There is Vegan Health and Fitness Magazine, and books Eat & Run, Finding Ultra, The Vegan Athlete, the Thrive books, and Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness. There's websites such as veganbodybuilding.com, and greatveganathletes.com. Trust me, there's more out there. The people I listed I got out of last year's December Veg News, the books I got from the library and the websites I got from Google. I hope this helps.
 
#14 ·
A very close friend of mine raised 3 children as a single parent, and became vegetarian then vegan when they were all still about under 7. Other family members gave the children meat and other animal products at first, and my friend's attitude was that it's the children's own choice what they ate, even at a very young age, and that it was wrong to impose one diet or another on them. She only cooked for her children what she'd eat, so they always ate veg at home. She of course taught her children why she was veg* and so they were able to make a well-informed choice. The advantage was that the choice was entirely the own. The diet wasn't something to rebel against as teenagers because they were allowed to eat whatever they wanted. 2 of the 3 children chose to be vegan as they grew up, and the other was vegetarian. As far as I know they still are, as young adults.

In a mixed-diet relationship, I would only aim for mutual understanding at this stage, without attempting to influence or change my partner's diet. Just having each other's opinions and feelings known and understood can work wonders. At the same time, being assertive when you need to be, such as what ever your own choice is about cooking meat, is something to decide. Some problems can often be avoided by trying to make clear that when you choose to be assertive, this doesn't mean that his own insecurities (whatever they may be) are confirmed.
 
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