No meat?

[Lorelei_Lane]

When I was a teenager, I had an eating disorder. Although it has had negative affects on my health, I don't have it anymore. As a matter of fact, it's the complete opposite now. I'm slightly overweight.

 

I had my gallbladder removed a few years ago as it had decided it didn't want to work anymore (because it was TOTALLY allowed to quit IT'S job, but I couldn't quit mine! lol) and since then I've had the hardest time with meats, especially beef.

 

They told me when I had it removed that it would be the case as the gallbladder puts bile into the stomach to aide with the breakdown of fatty foods. Meat, especially beef, has a lot of fat in it. I'm finding now more and more often that I just have no desire to eat meat at all. It has nothing to do with it being an animal and everything to do with the fact I'm tired of trying to eat it and "testing" which kinds (even chicken bothers me once in a while, I mean... come on!) will make me have issues and which won't.

 

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with a no meat type of diet. How healthy I can make it, things like that. I want to stay as healthy as I can and eat the right kinds of foods, and I would love to be vegetarian, but I've heard that's hard to pull off and still get everything you need.

 

Any suggestions? Ideas? I'm completely and totally open to anything.

[just_some_guy]

Just guessing, but the problem you're having is probably not so much meat per-se, but with the digestion of fats.

 

There are many vegetarian diets and books and cookbooks out there to read up and choose from. Be aware that just because it is vegetarian doesn't necessarily make it fat-free or even low fat. You may have even worse problems with high-fat vegetarian foods.

 

It is also possible that very lean meats in small quantities and low-fat fish may be agreeable to you. Your doctor or nutritionist can probably help you adjust your diet to get sufficient nutrition and calories while avoiding the effects of too much fat.

[SleeplessRomantic]

Please look into unrefined, unprocessed coconut oil. Most fats need the gallbladder to process bile, etc. but coconut oil does not require that. It's fast digesting and has a myriad of benefits.

[Lorelei_Lane]

Just guessing, but the problem you're having is probably not so much meat per-se, but with the digestion of fats.

 

There are many vegetarian diets and books and cookbooks out there to read up and choose from. Be aware that just because it is vegetarian doesn't necessarily make it fat-free or even low fat. You may have even worse problems with high-fat vegetarian foods.

 

It is also possible that very lean meats in small quantities and low-fat fish may be agreeable to you. Your doctor or nutritionist can probably help you adjust your diet to get sufficient nutrition and calories while avoiding the effects of too much fat.

 

That's what I'm afraid of. It just seems I'm going to have to do a trial and error of things that bother me. For the most part, the vegetables and such that I've eaten don't seem to bother me, but I worry if I cut out a large portion of my meat intake that I won't get what I need from them. I don't know much about alternative sources of protein.

 

Please look into unrefined, unprocessed coconut oil. Most fats need the gallbladder to process bile, etc. but coconut oil does not require that. It's fast digesting and has a myriad of benefits.

 

I have heard about that before, I'll have to look into it.

 

I should mention that my husband and I try to eat organic and unprocessed foods, which seems to have helped a lot with my stomach. It's just like tonight, I had lean beef pot roast and the meat bothered me, not the vegetables that were cooked with it. (I tried eating just the veggies later to see if there was a difference)

 

I think I'm gonna look into what types of protein options I have... that may make this situation easier.

[carhill]

Any suggestions? Ideas?

 

I have gall bladder issues and have found, purely by experimentation when traveling, that eating hindu and/or asian vegetarian meals leaves me satisfied and without the vagaries of eating flesh. I can still eat limited amounts/types of 'meat', but really don't miss them with the right diet. No marked belching/flatulence or late night gall bladder attacks either.

[denise_xo]

I'm semi-vegetarian (no meat or poultry, some sea food) and I tend to eat a lot of beans, spinach, lentils and tofu to substitute for the meat. Like carhill, I'd recommend South Asian or South East Asian vegetarian recipes, they are very tasty and usually also quite healthy.

[Cerpin_Taxt]

I'm also semi-veg. I eat strictly veg at home, because it's cheaper, and seafood when I'm out. I have a hard time staying away from the hotdog joint too. But that's a treat.

 

I started off by going full vegetarian for a couple of months. I learned a lot about nutrition and cooking in the process. It's possible and actually easy to get proper nutrition on a vegetarian diet. I used Google a lot.

 

I eat beans and rice most of the time, as I really like it, but have fun finding new things to eat to break up the monotony. I was worried about feeling full when I first stared too, but it quickly became no problem at all, I actually eat smaller portions now and still feel just as satisfied and full. It is a very low fat and low sodium diet. It's high in fiber. It can contain massive amounts of carbs, but it's not necessarily bad. Stay away from pre-made vegetarian foods and mock meats. Eat whole foods and cook everything from scratch. It's not complicated and doesn't take as much time as most people think.

 

Oh, and drink LOTS of water.