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I failed too. I eat meat now and that is AFTER i (finally) got my family to not try to feed me meat. I am not a meat lover so now I just eat what I want and try not to let the guilt get to me!!

i've said it before and I'll say it again.... There is plenty of room for all God's creatures, right between the potato and vegetable!

Call yourself a flexitarian. So what if you eat high on the hog during holidays? They only come around 2-3 times per year. The rest of the time you can be vegetarian or pescetarian or whatever combination works best for your health. After all, what's a little goose between friends ; )

Do you really have to commit to one or the other? Eat the way you like. If that usually means no meat, ok eat that way.
Is it a philosophical issue or do you think meat is bad for you? I can't help you with your creature issues but if it's dietary; practice moderation and balance.
I grew up in a hunting family. I have no problem with eating any kind of meat per se. It tastes good. I just don't often crave it and I eat alot of vegetables, grains and tofu. But, if I'm going to eat a steak, knock it down and put it on my plate bloody. AND, I'll try it all. Wild game is good and it's fun to learn how to cook all the different things there are out there.

Aww you guys rule; as usual, a flood of great information from a flood of smart people.

I grew up in a hunting family as well so I understand the circle-of-life if you will. I ate meat because I had to and I will continue to eat meat only if I want--I heard somewhere that it takes something like a week for your body to break down red-fibreous-meats? So, thank you for explaining pescetarianism, this is what I had in mind. I had made the decision for health reasons (ie- digestive tract, cleansing and just to see how I felt!!!??)--but now I think every once and a while (like christmas) I will treat myself between the potato and the veg; without guilt (call myself a 'flexitarian'), until I've phased it out completely.

The general consensus seems to be to eat well; and don't deprive myself of what I like. I really appreciate everyone's comments and advice;

carnavores, flexitarians, vegitarians and pescetarianisms alike--
live on!!
Bestest munchie-wishes! :D Christel

My most sincere apologies Perky! How could I forget you!?

" WAY " on Opportunivores! LOL

To be honest, in most traditional societies it was typical to only have a great big 'meat-o-rama' during feast days, because of poverty. In most of the healthiest societies, a single animal could feed an entire community for a long time--meat was used as a condiment, and consumed only once or twice a week as flesh. By using 'drippings' and eating meat only on feast days you're still consuming less animal protein than most and reducing your carbon and cruelty 'footprint' on the planet and probably mimicking the 'balance' between consuming and not consuming meat of quite a few indigenous societies in the process.

Meat in moderation is good for you. As long as you like it, I say eat it.

Christel - don't beat yourself up because you enjoyed meat. If you need meat protein, don't ignore what you're body's telling you - or it will scream louder and that will only get more uncomfortable.

If you eat a la vegetarian most of the time with the occasional enjoyment of a great cut of meat, you're ahead of most people.

HAHA, Pavvie!

@HeartofGlass ~ Feast Days! As an elementary school kid, I equated that word with saint day and never connected it to food. Ok, maybe I wasn't the brightest kid. LOL Fascinating stuff!

@hungrychristel ~ thanks for accepting my vore-ism. I'm so relieved. Seriously though, why would anyone want to label themselves? It seems like you prefer vegetarian foods most of the time. Sounds like a pretty healthy choice to me. If you desire meat because it tastes good, and/or feel you need the protein, who is going to judge you? No one, I would hope. Trust your instincts for your own body!

I respect your decision, but think you're going to have to wean slowly or you'll be miserable.

If you can't commit to vegetarianism (I can't either), please consider at least committing to eating only meat from responsibly and humanely raised animals.

We've been doing that for a few months now, and we don't eat much meat anymore, but when we do, at least I know that the animals were not treated like those in mherzog0's link. If you do eat meat only rarely, it's not a significant increase in cost at all. Making that decision might have added $5 at most for our weekly grocery bill (we eat less meat for multiple reasons, and we are eating a lot more veg, pulses, and whole grains). We brought the ham for my parent's Christmas dinner for the same reason.

Womandingo - I have to disagree. Humans are very obviously omnivorous. Yes there were early hunters, but early humans also gathered plant-based food sources, and it would be hard to argue against agriculture's importance. Whether or not you choose to eat meat, you still need fruits, grains and vegetables.

As was said upthread: Eat what you crave. If you want tofu, eat the tofu. If you want fish, eat the fish. If you want bacon, then eat the bacon.

And if you're not going to eat the bacon, could you send it to me? Thanks.

There's nothing sexier than a woman and steak. That's why I can't stand the vegetarian trend. And that's all that it is. A dietary fad. There will always be a few, but come on... Tattoos and tofu.

On the contrary, Karyn, I love tofu. But vegetarianism is a worse fad than bacon because nobody kids themselves about chocolate covered bacon being healthy. Or ethical. There's nothing unethical or unhealthy about meat consumption if it's done properly. That's not to say you can't eat tofu, but you shouldn't eat it every day.

@schwartz - Well, so far as ethics are concerned, that's a matter of opinion. I agree that healthy diets are healthy diets - an omnivore can eat plenty of grains, legumes, etc. and a vegetarian can survive on cheese fries. But there are health benefits to a plant-based, if not a vegetarian, diet, and eating lower on the food chain is better for the environment in almost every circumstance (yes, I am aware of exceptions, hence the 'almost'). Religion can also play a factor.

So far as "done properly" goes - I really don't have anything against the idea of animal husbandry. I started out as a pescetarian because I didn't want my money supporting factory farming. Slowly, I have become stricter in what I will and will not consume for ethical as well as health reasons. But it is a process, and I would never push my ideas on anyone else. It is my plate, and I am the one who has to live with what's on it.

Maybe there is nothing unethical or unhealthy about proper meat-eating, but I see nothing unethical or unhealthy about vegetarianism, either. So as long as everyone's healthy and happy with their decisions, I think it's best to live and let live without throwing around the term "fad." Atkins and cupcakes were fads. Vegetarianism has been around a very long while, and I don't think it will or should disappear.

@hungrychristel - Good for you! There's no reason to eat anything you don't feel like consuming, and every reason to enjoy what you do.

As for omega 3s, you can get them through plant-based sources, and even if you are eating fish, flax and walnuts never hurt anyone. ;-) I take a multivitamin fortified with B12, but I can get every other nutrient by eating a varied, healthy diet.

Here's to happy eating!

I was vegetarianism for seven years, and even managed to resist meat for most of my two years in Poland. (Poles who didn't know what to do with me mostly gave me eggs. A lot of eggs.) And then, I read Heat...damn you Bill Buford! On the bright side, now I finally get to eat bacon again.

I managed to get a vegetarian or two to fall off the wagon for my Thanksgiving turkeys this year (principles = 0; me = 2). Then again, my cousin quit vegetarianism after two years upon seeing a particularly tasty Burger King commercial, so I suppose some are easier to topple than others. Good luck.

seeing that i've been vegetarian my entire life (30+ years) i'm very sad to hear that it has all been in service to some new fad. thanks for the education, schwartz, let me know when my life falls more in line with your standards.

Obviously you crave and enjoy these items - why deprive yourself? If you are a vegetarian for "ethical" reasons, then work on your self control or buy meat from responsible sources. If it's a health-based choice, ignore the PETA propaganda and eat a healthy diet which naturally includes moderate amounts of meat-derived protein. One can love bacon and tofu!

As a current vegetarian (for about 8 years now) I am so happy to read a balanced CONVERSATION rather than diet vs. diet bashing thread.

I subscribe to the school of "eat and let eat." I am vegetarian because I had an eating disorder--so I cut meat out. Now that I'm wayyy past that phase, it's now a texture issue. To put a chunk of meat in my mouth and chew it is kind of gag-inducing. I've tried a half dozen times in the past few years, it just doesn't fly.

I handle meat, I cook meat for my family and boyfriend, I even buy it. I LOVE leather and Ugg boots and even a little fur. I will roll myself in a pile of bacon if need be...I just won't eat it. The way I figure it is...it's more for my carnivorous friends :) I crave broccoli and tofu and brussels sprouts the way someone would crave bacon, or steak and potatoes.

Let's all ring in the New Year with a big ol' piece of your favorite protein, vegetable or carbohydrate.
and a big old glass of wine, since that appeals to ANY diet!! :)

It is a highly odd American thing to me that people have to profess food allegiance. I also find it very silly.
If you ask anyone you will get that many different answers. So here is my answer. You can eat meat in moderation. It is a protein.
You should eat 5-7 fruits and veggies a day and you can switch out your proteins and just say you eat healthy. Why does anyone have to declare a party? Yesterday I had a salad all veggies. At dinner I had a cup of cannellini bean/escarole soup in a tomato broth (again no meat), am I declaring myself vegitarian, HELL NO!
Some days you want to be veggie some days you want some meat.
I just felt like some veggies.

I can't believe that after 50+ comments no has noticed that hungrychristel failed to spell vegetarian correctly throughout the entire post. I would not recommend calling yourself one if you can't even spell it....

I'm so glad someone posted the spelling issue before I did - I just noticed this post and thought exactly as Embackus - how can you be it if you can't even spell it?

Embacku: the spelling error was pointed out around the 30th comment. I would not recommend posting unless you know how to search a web page.

Well I see I am not alone as my husband and I fell off the vegetarian wagon after about 6 years when he craved fried chicken on Christmas Eve and we cooked some. That got me going and last night we had roast chicken. So now I am confused because I was mostly ethically committed, besides not eating meat for health reasons. Oh well . . . we will see where this goes