My 10 year beef-iversary – The Fitnessista

Sharing more about why I started to eat red meat again, how I’m feeling, and a friendly reminder that the best eating strategy is the one that works for you. No shade or judgement here.  

Hi friends! How are you? I hope that your week is going well! We had dinner with friends, family dinner at madre’s, Mass, NCL, the usual fun stuff. This is our first full week of school + homeschool so we’re officially back into it. Good luck to all of my mama friends out there as we head back into the chaos!

For today’s post, I wanted to talk a little bit about MEAT. I realized a couple of weeks ago this this summer was my 10 year beefiversary after not eating red meat, or much meat, for most of my life.

I stopped eating meat when I was eight years old because I read in Tiger Beat that Jonathan Taylor Thomas was a vegetarian. Since I was DEFINITELY going to marry him – he just needed to meet me – of course, I had to be a vegetarian, too. (And yes, my parents totally tried to talk me out of it but I was a stubborn little thing and they supported me.)

I didn’t eat meat much at all until I was in high school and even then, it was a little iffy for me. I eventually added it back in during college (eating low carb will kind of force you to), met the Pilot, saw a bunch of documentaries and read a particularly frightening book, and then found myself again as a pescatarian, then a vegetarian, and for a couple of years, a vegan.

I loved eating plant-based and still love vegan food. (A random fact about me is that I went to raw vegan culinary school. This chocolate tart is the best vegan tart you’ll have in your liiiife.) I had added fish back in, and right before I got pregnant with Liv, I started eating chicken again. The internet went wild. Also that was back in the day when a trash post that took me 30 minutes to write would get 100+ comments. Those were the days haha.

When I was pregnant with P, I was craving a steak, so I came home and asked the Pilot if he’d grill one for me.

You should have seen the joy on his face. He went to Whole Foods, grabbed a beautiful grass-fed steak, grilled it to perfection, and I ate the entire thing.

When I told my acupuncturist about it, he said, “You need to eat flesh and blood to make flesh and blood.” Primal lol.

Since then, I haven’t really looked back, and now I eat meat multiple times a week. While I don’t think we need insane amounts of protein, I definitely think it’s important. (I still believe that fiber and micronutrients are the most important!)

Eating beef again after being a vegetarian

Anyway, now that I’ve been all over the place as far as meat consumption goes, here are some things I’ve learned along the way:

– Quality makes all the difference in the world. It’s important to me that the products we use are responsibly and sustainably sourced. This is a huge reason why we get almost all of our meat from Butcher Box, and I also buy certified organic and grassfred options from Whole Foods and the farmer’s market.

– It’s really a bioindiviaul thing. Just like anything else, it depends on your unique body, preferences, and needs. Some people feel horrible on high-protein diets, while others thrive. All in all, I feel like most women do really well with the nutrients that meats provide. There are also certain nutrients that you can onlly get from animal-based products, and I feel like they can be extremely nourishing and satisfying. I honestly feel like I came back to life once I started eating red meat again.

– If you want to hit your protein goals, meal prep is the best way to do it. I love to make hard boiled eggs, shredded chicken, chicken meatbals, and seasoned ground beef. P and I had bowls of ground beef with rice and avocado with a side of fruit for lunch almost every day last week.

– Like I mentioned above, protein/meat is just once piece of the puzzle. How much color is on your plate? How’d you sleep? How’s stress? How’s your digestion? Mood? Cycle? Exercise? There are so many things that contribute to a well-rounded routine, but nutrients are definitely a significant piece in how we feel and function.

So, tell me, friends: any vegetarians/vegans out there who have decided to eat meat again, or some new vegetarians/vegans? How’s your experience going?

Friendly reminder that this is a non-judmental space. I know people can get fired up about these things but the reality is that we’re all doing the best we can on this wild journey of being as healthy as we can be.

Have a great day and I’ll see ya soon!
xo

Gina