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Oh No.(started meat-eating again and feel bad)

1K views 14 replies 14 participants last post by  Swaybe 
#1 ·
Oh no. I've started to eat meat again and I feel bad.
Last night I was real hungry and my mom made meat stew and I ate it, and I have had more meat today. Also, on Sunday my family is going with another family to a big fancy-type buffet,and I remember going there for thanksgiving and all the good things to eat were meat dishes. Also, it's expensive and my dad said: "I won't pay that much money for you to nibble on some lettuce."

Help please.
 
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#5 ·
Don't beat yourself up over it. You "messed up". Just think about all of the times that you did make a veg choice and how good that made you feel. Since you can't do anything about the meat you already ate, just make better choices next time.

As far as going out to the buffet restaurant, those are the best places to eat veggie. They usually have a huge salad bar and tons of veggies.
 
#6 ·
1) You should decide whether you are serious about being a veg. For me, I don't even consider meat as food. You still seem to think it is, and like the taste. If you are serious about it, do not consider those "foods" as foods. They are bad for you, the animals and the environment.

2) You should confront your parents about not being supportive of your decisions. They should respect you and not pressure you to conform to their ideas and morals. If he's not going to pay for you to eat lettuce there, tell him, "Then either I stay home or we go somewhere more veg friendly." It's that simple. It took my family over 7 yrs to finally figure out I was not going to eat meat again. Remember no one (not even your family) will respect you if you are so indecisive on something that you are morally opposed to.
 
#7 ·
It's also worth noting that for some people, the transition comes gradually. Bit by bit those 'slips' can stop happening as you inform yourself further, read more, get more engaged with why you want to be vegetarian, and why it works for you. So that's what I'd say: read more, learn more, think more: engage with why this choice makes you feel good.
 
#8 ·
I went back to eating meat several years ago when I was in college. I ate meat for 6 months - 1 year maybe. Then I thought really hard about why I had given up meat previously - for me it was for health reasons and ethical reasons. But I had lost sight of that - also I didn't have a strong support system that agreed with my veggie lifestyle so it was that much harder. But I started to read a lot more about the ethical aspects and really re-evaluated why I originally had been interested in being vegetarian. SEveral years later, I am vegan and plan on raising my child vegan. If you are not convinced or committed in your mind that this is the right lifestyle you won't stick to it. You should read as much as you can, watch videos and documentaries on factory farming, just educate yourself on the ethical aspects of raising animals for food and remind yourself why eating meat is just horrible. You will eventually get to the point, like eich mentioned, that when you see meat stew or whatever, your stomach will turn and you wont consider it edible because its meat. You will not equate meat with food, but with butchered animals. THat may sound gross but it can definitely keep you from eating meat.
 
#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mystic-Mongoose View Post

It was for moral reasons, but truth is I don't have great self-controll. Plus my brain keeps arguing with itself on the matter.
(bold emphasis mine)

I've been veg for quite some time, and I've seen a few people try vegetarianism out but then go back to omni. Here's the thing, from what I've observed: if you try to convince yourself to go back to eating meat again, you'll probably succeed- considering that's what most people around you are doing.

Self-control can be developed. There have been a very few times I've eaten meat since going veg (accidentally, or something was going to be thrown out and it wasn't suitable as food for a carnivorous pet and I didn't see that it would have been any more respectful to the animal to toss the remains in the trash). Even though I do not believe that it is necessary or acceptable to kill an animal for food, my body still likes the taste of it evidently.

I don't talk much about that here because I like to hang out with vegetarians- they're terrific people and I don't want to gross them out. But I'm talking about it now to show you that you can still be vegetarian. I found out what other foods I enjoy and replaced meat with those. Learn about basic nutrition- meat supplies mostly calories, protein, and fat, so you want to replace it with foods that will have similar nutrients (although replacing some of the fat with carbswill probably be good for your heart). You'll find that even if meat still smells good, you just don't need it- or even miss it.

Think about it: there are very few kinds of meat most people eat: beef, pork, chicken, turkey (which tasted like chicken, if I remember correctly), maybe lamb, and fish (which also always tastes like fish).

So that's all you're giving up. Four, maybe five foods- six at most; maybe fewer if you're not in the habit of eating some of those. Is that really so hard?

EDITED TO ADD: I also think it's wierd and just wrong for me to think of meat as food at all, considering my values.
 
#14 ·
It's an evolutionary process, different for each individual. Back and forth is normal, doubt is normal, conviction and progress are normal too. I hate to see people putting so much pressure on themselves. Be true to the journey and it will work itself out. If your compass is moral/ethical, you will get where you need to be by opening to that inner voice and listening to what it has to say.
 
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