So I've recently made the decision to go pescatarian. For those that aren't familiar with that term, it's someone that doesn't eat meat but does still eat seafood. I've found its surprisingly easy, and I'm finding myself more and more repulsed by meat. I'm considering going vegetarian after I get used to this diet, but im curious how others have experienced their diet changes. Was it hard? Did you take baby steps or just go cold turkey? How did your friends and family react?
I am a vegetarian of over a year now and it was one of the best decisions I have made. Was it hard? Not really. After coming to a decision about why I wanted to choose this lifestyle, I didn't really have an inclination to turn back. And as time progressed I found myself not only not having cravings for meat, but not finding it desirable at all to eat. Did you go cold turkey or take baby steps? I phased from no red meats to pescatarian and finally vegetarian. But the phasing only lasted about two weeks before I made up my mind. So it was essentially cold turkey. How did your friends and family react? In all the stereotypical ways from being concerned about my protein and vitamin intake to giving me morality lectures. They are rather embarrassed about having a vegetarian in the family, I think. And of course there is the teasing, which has been incessant since I "came out" as a vegetarian. But at the end of the day it is your diet and your body. What other people think about it doesn't matter. I am in the best physical shape of my life and am happy with my food options.
I've tried vegetarianism, veganism, raw fruitarian/cooked fruitarian, paleo, and pescatarianism (sp). With vegetarianism and veganism, I have always ended up becoming unwell regardless of how much research I did for the diet (vitamins / minerals deficiencies). I felt the best with a raw fruitarian diet. However, it's not feasible for me anymore. I'm transitioning to an omnivore diet. I want the main focus to be on meat (lamb) and dairy, as these are the foods I seem to do best with.
I noticed myself eating less and less meat. Plus food and I are on a sort of perpetual war, and I need food that is easily digested. That is fish for me. So I am a pescatarian yes. Since about 8-9 months now. It wasn't hard. It was a gradual change. I tried to eat completely vegetarian at first, but I do like fish a lot. I think I eat fish once or twice per week and vegetarian the rest of the days.
I've been a vegetarian my whole life, so I haven't had the experience of changing my diet. Vegetarianism is becoming more and more common, and there's no better time than now to stop eating animals. People who know me tend not to care that much that I'm a vegetarian as it's not weird nowadays.
I've been a vegetarian for about a year and a half now and I don't miss meat at all. I went cold turkey, I never really liked it anyway. However, I miss fish and seafood sometimes. I've eaten it 2-3 times since I went vegetarian, but it's not like a main part of my diet and I always think I'm never going to do it again etc, so I didn't vote for pescetarian. I'm considering going vegan but I'm not such an organized person, to keep track of nutrients, cook good food everyday etc so it will be difficult.
The diet you are on really interests me. Why did you want to give up meat but not seafood? You said that you are considering going vegetarian if you get used to this so is it a transition diet? I'm just really interested, sorry Edit: I was vegetarian for about 5 or 6 years and I did really well health wise and like when I wasn't a vegetarian I didn't get sick almost ever so I still had a great immune system too. My family didn't take it hard though as some of them at the time they were vegetarian and vegan (they no longer ago)
I went vegan when I was 10, I think. It was a very peculiar situation. I may not be remembering it correctly, but what truly influenced me was a cereal box mentioning cholesterol. I proceeded to do some hefty research. I have learned by now that it's not wise to take lifestyle advice from cereal boxes, but I was young and impressionable! It turned out to be a great change for me and a good path for my health. I don't think it was very hard, although it did help that I took it slow. My dad was already vegetarian and bought lots of dairy-free products, so it was easy to start using those instead. I was never a picky eater in the first place. Whenever it came up, my friends would say it was "really cool". My family supported and encouraged me.
See, I come from a Greek family where meat is a very heavy part of the table. Lamb, souvlaki, keftethes, etc, so I never thought I'd find myself giving up meat. Greek food also has a lot of Mediterranean foods, meaning tons of seafood options. I think, based on how I was raised to eat, I wouldn't be able to handle giving up both sea food and meat. Obviously I chose to give up meat because it's a healthier option and pescatarian is a real option that I could deal with. I did go Pollotarian for a bit, but I decided to just give up all meat in general. I went Pollotarian a year ago but I slipped because I wasn't adamant enough about my meat intake. Giving up all meat gives me more dedication.
Pollotarian comes closest. I try to avoid excess red meat (not that I'm always successful). And, well, due to Native American genes, indulging in dairy isn't always feasible...
*Looks at topic title* Phrasing. In all seriousness, though, I'm not looking to become fully vegetarian or vegan, but I do want to reduce my consumption of meat significantly. The current meat industry is unsustainable and it's not like everybody needs to become vegetarian, just eat less meat. However, it is quite difficult for me. First of all, I have Asperger's which can make it very difficult for me to deal with change in my life and taste just happens to be one of my sensory over sensitivity bullshit things. Basically, I'm a picky eater and when I taste something I dislike, it's not like I can just force it down like most people can and eventually learn to like it, I just straight up become nauseous and lose all my appetite. Secondly, I currently live with my parents and there's no way they would change their lifestyle any for my sake when it comes to their diet.
I went ovo-lacto-pescatarian for a year or so but it didn't work out. I eventually got so iron-deficient that I scratched a pinprick-sized scab on my arm and bled heavily for hours. It started while we were out of the house so I had to wrap a paper-towel bandage around my arm and replace it a few times as it got soaked through. That scared me back to meat.
Skaros, my family is also greek but I live on my own. It's a bit of an issue at family gatherings, but well, what can you do. As for iron, I'm trying to get enough by combining beans and green veggies with sources of vitamin c, sometimes I eat molasses, and I've read nuts and dried fruit help too. But I still take a multi-vitamin supplement just to be sure, because even when I was eating meat, my iron levels and haemoglobin were low. My last blood test was normal, finally.
I think you're right, but unfortunately my mom is allergic to fish so the rest of us can't eat it very often.
