Considering vegetarianism

[Gorn]

I'm going to a barbecue. Skirt steak, blood sausage, and sweetbreads. The fight for vegetarianism is taking a hit today.

 

[GeneralElectric]

Aloha

I'm not a vegetarian, but my girlfriend is as are many of my friends. I also spent some time running a health food restaurant back in college doing vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free. I love delicious, delicious, animal flesh just like you. Currently getting back into fighting trim after a long winter of take out and Chinese, so I've been rearranging my diet to help me lose the fat weight and put back on muscle.

The number one thing you can do to living healthier is cooking for yourself. You have better control of portions and you're more aware of what goes into your body. Avoid processed and premade foods. They often have low nutritional value, and while convenient, often end up costing you more in the long run in terms of money and your health goals. Even restaurants tend to cheap out on a lot of stuff and you'll get a lot of low quality food because it's cheap for the restaurant to get.


I'm not advocating giving up meat to lose weight. Americans tend to overeat the proportion of meat in their diets, but meat is fine as long as it isn't low quality and you're not eating an excess of the stuff. I usually avoid most beef and chicken because of how its factory farmed. It's not even about the ethical treatment of the livestock, but free range meats that are fed their natural diets are tastier and healthier for you. They also tend to have less contaminants in their meats as well as opposed to factory farmed meats. Avoiding antibiotics and hormones are also essential because the added intake of those substances not only builds resistances to those drugs, but also the hormones can throw your body out of whack depending on how much you take. Many animals are pumped full of estrogen which is the female sex hormone so that they plump up faster. They'll cause you to eventually grow boobies and your girlfriend to have a mustache and male pattern baldness. I was just joking with my girlfriend about calling OSHA after visiting a WalMart in PA. There really wasn't many options for food sources, and I'm sure the majority of workers spent their paychecks at Walmart to get their food. They were, by and large, hormonal freaks because their natural hormonal balance was totally shot to ****. While organic meat is often more expensive, its not such an expense when you cut down your diet to include the proper proportions.

I'm fortunate enough to have a bunch of places near me that provide high quality food at good prices. I just cooked dinner yesterday with all fresh produce and fed four people who all had at least one helping each. There were also a ton of leftovers where I had two meals and my guests each got a takeaway portion as well. It was a buckwheat noodle salad loaded with fresh veggies and a sauteed tofu dish (since I was catering to 3 vegetarians.) The total bill was $35.

If you want meal advice that's healthy and high in protein I'll send you some recipes. I usually don't count calories. I eat until I'm full. But portion control, regular exercise, and actually eating quality food will have you fit as a fiddle in no time.

Best of luck to you Gorn Captain.

 

[fjadams]

Can someone explain to me the logic behind not eating fish, or taking it completely out of one's diet?

Grew up in SW CT and NYC. Despite having fresh fish and seafood I've always hated them. They just gross me out, the smell, the taste, the texture, everything to do with them.

 

[fjadams]

Brother!!!!

When we lived in New Hampshire, my wife and I went to the coast of Maine so she could get some fresh lobster. She convinced me to order lobster mac 'n cheese, and to just pick out the pieces of lobster. I obliged, but when the dish arrived, it was so full of lobster that I sent it back. The manager came out to tell me they have never had someone send back the lobster mac 'n cheese for having too much lobster.

-Mike

My mom's relatives come from Maine. Once when we went to visit we spent the morning clamming, which was kinda fun. Then there was a big family cookout with dozens of people. They cooked the clams in big steamer baskets set on top of 55 gal drums of water over an open fire. Have you ever seen what fresh clams steamed clams look like? They look like 6 inch long pieces of snot, no lie. I borrowed the car, went into town and bought a package of hot dogs and ate them. My relatives all thought there was something seriously wrong with me.

 

[bluesblaster]

I hear ya, I do like seafood but those clams are disgusting. Your description is spot on, I dont know why someone would put one those in there mouth.

 

[fjadams]

Apparently some people mistakenly think of them as food. I do not be one of them.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I'm going to a barbecue. Skirt steak, blood sausage, and sweetbreads. The fight for vegetarianism is taking a hit today.

Grilled slices of aubergine (eggplant) work well between a bun with cheese, Works well with a burger too.

 

[carl h.]

I got suckered with a mushroom burger once. Bit fat slab of soggy mushroom on a bun. I'd have rather had cucumbers on a bun. I'm OK with the taste of mushrooms but don't really much care for the texture.

 

[Stevorebob]

This argument I would say is mostly correct for meat. But for fish, come on. Environmental issues aren't really a concern if you eat fish like mackerel or saury pikes as they are treated like garbage fish and even used as bait in some places. Also, the people with the longest life spans (Japanese) eat a steady diet of seafood, doesn't seem to hurt them one bit. As long as you don't eat the top of the pack fish like tuna, there is ABSOLUTELY NO scientific evidence that eating fish is bad. There is only evidence to the contrary that says fish is in fact good for you.

Overall, those are pretty bad argument's for not eating seafood in general.

Edit: Could you point out some articles that say fish/seafood is unhealthy for you? Don't point me articles of tuna containing mercury, because I already know and avoid top of the pack fish like I mentioned above.

Hey, just answering your question.

The environmental issue with consuming fish is overfishing that leads to species endangerment even collapse. You’re right that if fish were eaten judiciously — focusing on rapidly reproducing species or farmed fish — this would not be an issue.

Health issues with seafood consumption center around pollutants — both human-induced and natural. Mercury in fish has long been an issue.

Open-net fishing indiscriminately and cruely kills; it’s victims drown to death. Hook-and-line captured fish are bled-out — their throats slashed so they bleed to death before being flash frozen.

These things may not mater to you. If you have some interest in learning more, you might Google a few things.

 

[P. Aaron]

Weight loss and health can also be done by just elevating your heart rate for 15-20 minutes 2-3 times a week. Run that motor and stress your body a little bit. Diet alone makes weight control more difficult and it helps to have strength as we age.

Good luck as you progress. I still gotta have a cheeseburger & fries at the local coney or mom & pop place. Don't do it too often though.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I got suckered with a mushroom burger once. Bit fat slab of soggy mushroom on a bun. I'd have rather had cucumbers on a bun. I'm OK with the taste of mushrooms but don't really much care for the texture.

Technically mushrooms are not vegetables. Fungi are more closely replated to animals than plants. I don't think anyone thinks they have any sort of consciousness or any other animal-like senses, though. It brings in a couple of interesting thoughts - are animals that low down on the evolutionary tree and definitely have no sort of consciousness fair game (worms, insects)? Or what sort of ecological footprint is acceptable (e.g. worms might be ok, almonds grown in arid conditions might not be). Note that I certainly wouldn't want to eat worms.

 

[Bassic Playing]

Maybe I should have worded it better, but what I am asking is why someone would forcefully remove fish (which is good for you) out of one's diet in the sake of vegetarianism. (Given that they like the taste of fish.) What is the logic behind this, besides being able to say your a vegetarian.

Umm... the same reasons vegetarians don't eat any other kind of meat..? I don't understand your premise. Vegetarians don't eat animals. Fish are animals. Ergo, vegetarians do not eat fish.

For example, a friend of mine doesn't eat any meat because:

a) He doesn't like handing off the process of killing to someone he doesn't know.
b) He doesn't believe mass meat production is sustainable or environmentally friendly. This is true also of fish, because entire ecosystems are being wiped out in the name of mass fishing.

By the way, this friend is also not on a healthy diet. Vegetarian does not necessarily equal healthy. Having lived with him, you do have to do some research and put in some effort to avoid becoming anemic etc.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

When I think of vegetarianism I think "Lions are carnavores, antelopes are vegetarians." mmm......

 

[fendermademygibson]

Vegetarians don't eat animals.

Not completely true. Vegans don't eat animals. I know many vegetarians who eat fish and on rare occasions will have some chicken. It all depends how strict one chooses to be.

I don't eat a lot of meat and do not consider myself to be vegetarian but when I do eat meat it is probably poultry or fish 90% of the time. There are definitely huge benefits to eating fruits and veggies but for me there are many times that those just don't satisfy me. Creative preparation is key.

Nothing wrong with a good burger or steak on occasion.

Side note:
There are several species of carnivorous plants. I'm not talking about the boring old Venus Flytrap either. A number of them consume rodents and birds.

When plants are craving meat what does that say about the concept vegetarianism? Just sayin'.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Not completely true. Vegans don't eat animals.

Vegans don't eat animals or animal products (eggs, milk). All vegans are vegetarians, not all vegetarians are vegans.

(I used to be vegetarian and lived with a vegan for a while).

I know many vegetarians who eat fish and on rare occasions will have some chicken.

Chickens and fish aren't plants*, so by definition they are not vegetarians. Vegetarians do eat animal products (mik and eggs, although I suppose it could include other secretions)

When plants are craving meat what does that say about the concept vegetarianism? Just sayin'.

Not much, as people aren't rooted to the spot in areas of low nutrients...

* where the definition of plants could also include algae and fungi which aren't strictly plants.

 

[MJ5150]

I know many vegetarians who eat fish and on rare occasions will have some chicken. It all depends how strict one chooses to be.

For those who are fish only, a pescatarian (some spell it pescetarian). The occasional fish and chicken folks would be flexitarians.

-Mike

 

[fendermademygibson]

Vegans don't eat animals or animal products (eggs, milk). All vegans are vegetarians, not all vegetarians are vegans.

(I used to be vegetarian and lived with a vegan for a while).



Chickens and fish aren't plants*, so by definition they are not vegetarians. Vegetarians do eat animal products (mik and eggs, although I suppose it could include other secretions)



Not much, as people aren't rooted to the spot in areas of low nutrients...

* where the definition of plants could also include algae and fungi which aren't strictly plants.

All true and valid points and I understand the definition. However I kind of feel the term has become a bit generic and in my experience a good portion of people who consider themselves vegetarian do on occasion consume fish. While this technically precludes them from being "vegetarian" they do maintain a predominately vegetarian diet and I still consider them to be.

The comment about carnivorous plants was meant more as a humorous observation of nature considering the topic at hand.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

All true and valid points and I understand the definition. However I kind of feel the term has become a bit generic and in my experience a good portion of people who consider themselves vegetarian do on occasion consume fish.

There's the term pescatarian for those that also eat fish.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

The comment about carnivorous plants was meant more as a humorous observation of nature considering the topic at hand.

I know. It's interesting that some plants aren't necessarily vegetarians, and increasingly it seems more are turning out to do a little bit of meat consumption on the side.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

For those who are fish only, a pescatarian (some spell it pescetarian). The occasional fish and chicken folks would be flexitarians.

-Mike

Oops I missed you'd already mentioned pescatarian.