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almond breeze, almond milk, butternut squash, carrotsncake, Fage, greek yogurt, Jay Robb, Kashi, laughing cow, PB & Co., pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin yogurt, vegetarianism, whey protein powder
Vegetarians and vegans, cover your eyes. I’m about to discuss… MEAT.
*cue scary music here*
Is it just me or does 95% of the blog world no eat meat? Chicken, pork, and heaven forbid, beef, seem almost taboo… Now, I know that there are some out there who DO but they are few and far between. Do we have to be a vegetarian to be a healthy living blogger? I wonder.
For the past maybe 5 years or so, I’ve been a semi-vegetarian, meaning I would only eat chicken and fish. I always defended this by explaining that I don’t agree with the inhuman treatment of animals (including chicken) and that supporting the meat industry is supporting this tragedy. And while this is true, there was also another hidden reason behind this.. my vegetarianism started at the same time as my eating disorder? Coincidence? Probably not. I’ve thought and thought and thought about it and I have came to the conclusion that at the time, it was more because of my fear of calories than my stand against the animal industry. And on my quest to get stomp out any ED related behaviors, I decided to re-visit my view on this issue and have been thinking about it since early this summer. Which led to my having my first beef hamburger in 5-6 years back in July. And guys, it was delicious. Many followed after that first one, all undocumented on the blog. Why? I felt almost.. ashamed. Like I didn’t deserve my “healthy living blog” title. But you know? That’s silly. My view on healthy eating is all about moderation. And while I still do NOT agree with the treatment of animals, I am welcoming beef and pork back into my life. However, I am trying to make good choices in choosing grass-fed and organic products, supporting the companies that DO treat animals in a humane way.
Thoughts? Opinions?
Rewinding to yesterday…
Pumpkin oats!
1/4 cup Scottish Oats, 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, pinch of salt, cinnamon, 1/2 of a banana…
Along with pumpkin stirred in the end and The Bees Knees peanut butter. And maple syrup.
Lunch was on-the-go to my meeting with my boss and it was AMAZING!!! Un-pictured but it was a smoothie with 1/2 scoop Jay Robb’s vanilla whey protein powder, cocoa powder, ice, 1/2 of a banana, almond milk, and about a tablespoon of peanut butter. YUM!!!
And dinner…
Speaking of hamburgers 😉
A lean beef hamburger with oven baked french fries…
And a salad.
YUM!
Breakfast today..
A bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch with 1/2 of a banana and almond milk.
Mmmm… sometimes nothing hits the spot like cold cereal!
Lunch was a BALLER sandwich!
White mountain bread, 1/2 of a mashed avocado, 1 wedge sun dried tomato basil laughing cow cheese, and turkey.
The avocado and laughing cow together creates this creamy cheesy delicious goodness… must try!
Along with pumpkin yogurt (yogurt mixed with canned pumpkin and cinnamon, topped with maple Agave Nectar)
Annnd this bar earlier today before the gym.
Dinner was a mom cooked meal 🙂
Pork chops (my first since my pre-vegetarian days), peas, oven roasted butternut squash (my contribution), and crescent rolls.
Brings me back to dinners she cooked when I was younger.. so comforting.
The butternut squash was simply roasted with maple syrup, salt, and cinnamon. Delicious!!
And you can’t go wrong with crescent rolls…
Then came dessert 🙂 I had the baking itch. I knew I wanted chocolate chip pumpkin cookies but I wanted them healthified. So I turned to one of Tina’s recipes, Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, and subbed pumpkin for the banana (and left out the walnuts). And cooked them about 5 minutes longer.
OH wow. SO GOOD!!! I’ve already had two and am debating another…
Today I am thankful for..
- Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies…
- …plus wine…
- …plus Grey’s!
"Stay away from what might have been and look at what will be."
The Process of Healing 
Thats my favorite oats combo-banana, peanut butter, and oatmeal! I love it. I could eat it any meal of the day! =)
Turkey and avocao sandwiches are the best! And I’ve seen those cookies everywhere lately.. they look amazing!! I think your outlook on meat is great. Making informed choices and eating everything in moderation is always good!
Gahhh that sandwich DOES look killer!! That bread looks nice and crusty 🙂
I’ve noticed there’s a lot of vegetarian bloggers, too – or at least that don’t eat much meat. I don’t call myself a vegetarian…but I can’t remember the last time I had meat, nor do I want any. I’m just not into labels, I guess. My decision doesn’t have anything to do with calories or “meat is bad for you,”…but has everything to do with ethics and environment. The poor treatment of animals at factory farms has a lot to do with it, but even more than that is all the byproducts and hormones given to the animals (at SOME farms – the meat that is most readily available in your typical grocery store!). That and, factory farms really are awful for the environment. The amount of methane gas animal waste puts out is more harmful to the enviro and is a greater contribution to global warming than the entire auto industry combined. That and, all the waste and byproducts that end up in water supplies when farms aren’t careful is pretty eye-opening.
But that’s just an uber condensed version of why I don’t eat meat. Uber, uber condensed 😛 Add to that the fact that I don’t “miss” it or crave it, and am perfectly happy eating non-meat protein instead. BUT. (big BUT) that doesn’t mean I look down upon people who chose to eat meat. What I said is definitely worse-case scenario, and by no means do I think that every single burger you ever eat is going to be injected with hormones and you’re causing global warming by supporting the meat industry. Not at all. I just wish more farms would start to be more conscious of their waste, and not be so eager to have chickens with abnormally large breasts and cows with 6 different hormone injections. There’s definitely farms out there, though – so if you enjoy it, by all means – KEEP enjoying it!
do not be afraid to eat meat!!! you are most certainly allowed to and do not have to be ashamed to put it out in the blog world. if i weren’t so hard core environmental you can bet i would be eating a burger, right now! no shame!
hugs lady…!
That hamburger looks GOOD. I know it seems like there are a lot of vegetarians out there. But I like that you’re bringing it up and are ok with eating meat. I feel like this is sort of along the same lines as how others feel when they do something that doesn’t “fit the mold”. If you eat milk chocolate instead of dark, went through a drive thru, ate hamburger helper… and so on. It’s awful that people start to feel that way. Everyone’s different- when it comes to food preferences, workouts, and their philosophy/outlook on life. I love the healthy blogging community. But I wish people would feel more ok with breaing the mold. So you do what you gotta do, lady! 🙂
I guess I’m one of those veggie bloggers! I used to eat meat (chicken, pork, and fish) but red meat has always made me really sick, so I always avoided it. Over the summer I became aware of how inhumane the animals are treated. I stopped eating meat all together cold turkey (no pun intended) and haven’t looked bacck since!!
What a brave post girl.
I totally hear you and totally agree. At the height of my ED I was eating the least meat -> I am in no way saying that vegetarians have disorders; it was ~my~ strange way of dealing with things inappropriately.
I’ve been eating meat for awhile now. I had a post awhile back when I bought my first piece of chicken and struggled with that decision.
Since then things have been relatively smooth sailing; I even shared a dish called a “vegetarian’s nightmare” (oh dear) with the boy at a Rib Fest a little while ago.
Thanks as always for your honesty!! ❤
I deeeeeeeefinately understand what you mean. Sometimes I’m afraid to even talk about meat on other peoples blogs for fear of offending someone!
It doesn’t surprise me that your choice to become semi-vegetarian coincides with the onset of your eating disorder. I have noticed just recently in my recovery that I have this weird urge (that I’ve never had before) to become a vegetarian and I KNOW that it’s not because of animal rights because I am a firm believer in the food chain. But I love beef and chicken too much to ever give it up.
Well done for being brave and putting it out there!!!
xxx
I eat meat, and I have no problems with posting about it, or talking about it. I buy organic, free range meat. We do not have feed lots in my province, and most of the meat in our grocery stores is raised here. It is illegal to use growth hormones, and antibiotics in our dairy cows in Canada, so all of our milk is free of these things as well.
totally agree- its crazy how many veggies and vegans are out there! some of them have AWESOME reasons, which is totally cool…but i love my meat! i had hamburger today too 🙂
What a lovely post for me to stumble on. I feel you with the meat issue. I had been a vegetarian for the past 5 years, and just recently I’ve ventured back into the world of meat (chicken has never tasted better) But I do feel a bit “ashamed” to share this with my blog readers. Silly, I know. I’m trying to be more open to eating a wide variety of foods, in moderation, and I think that eating meat is helping me in that process.
I think it’s very interesting, what you said about meat. There are a lot of veggies bloggers, myself included, but Im with Jess on this one – it’s 99% ethics, and partly health reasons. My ED actually would have STOPPED me being vegan weirdly enough, cos I would have felt I wouldn’t have enough protein therefore get hungry more often. Weird! So I know I’m vegan for the right reasons.
I don’t have a problem with anyone else eating animal stuff though – their choice 🙂 I just personally choose not to. But that certainly isn’t saying eating meat is necessarily bad for you..just not for me.
Love you girl! xxx
I’ve often thought about the whole vegetarian blogger thing too! I think when I first started blogging it definitely influenced my red meat intake. As you said, I felt like I was being unhealthy if I ate red meat. But after seeing Food Inc and reading Omnivore’s Dilemma, I decided to eat all meats, as long as I try my hardest to buy local, pasture-raised meats, and grass-fed if it’s beef. I haven’t been able to get my hands on grass-fed beef yet, but as soon as I do, you can bet I’ll be gobbling down my first burger in months. 😀 I’m a carnivore at heart, and I’m okay with that.
I love turkey and mashed avocado. I can’t wait to try adding laughing cow to the mix!
I do think some people will use not eating meat to fuel food rules that are outside of a moral code and more of a “scared to eat” guideline. Definitely not all or even the majority, but I think it happens.
I am actually a pretty big oddball. Most of our meals are either all veg…or beef. I’m not a huge chicken, pork, or fish fan.
I definitely still eat meat, I love hamburgers, chicken, and turkey sandwiches. I agree though, it does seem that most food bloggers are vegetarian or vegan. Us meat eaters need to stick together!
OMG I LOVE turkey, avocado and laughing cow cheese! I ate that for lunch everyday for 2 weeks straight! lol Those cookies need to be in my belly now 🙂
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I’ve noticed much of the same, and definitely find it very interesting that much of the blog world doesn’t eat meat… And I totally agree with your perspective (it’s very similar to my own!) in that meat is a great part of a healthy/balanced diet – as long as you make wise choices with it (e.g. buy organic/farmer’s market/etc) I’ve had my thoughts on giving up meat, and I still am VERY particular about what meats I eat, but I don’t think I ever see myself eating a meat-free diet in the long run.
I have noticed the same thing. I don’t think that people understand that you can eat meat and still have a healthy diet. I eat grass fed beef 2-3 times a week and I feel the best I have ever felt in my life. If someone is giving up meat for ethical reasons, that I understand. If they are giving up meat for health reasons, that I do not understand. Just my two cents.
I think you are entering the meat world just perfectly! Great job on your risk taking and loving it. Your cookies look awesome btw.
Why is meat a “Bad” thing? That’s silly. Not true. And only a state of mind.
I respect everyone’s ability to do what they want, vegan, veg, whatever! And the same respect should be given back. It’s not like your eating fatty cuts of beef 3 x a day either. I feel better when I include meat and it gives me more energy – WITH all the other stuff! But eliminating something because your afraid of what others think or afraid your not being healthy is unnecessary and silly.
Blogs like HEAB and Jenna eat meat…their a couple of the top bloggers. I don’t think they feel guilt for what they post or eat.