Eliminating Meat, Substituting Fish & Seafood

[ForeignExchange]

I enjoy eating whole grains and I'm adding more vegetables to my diet, which was never that great to begin with. What I want to know is, has anyone here ever dropped meat altogether from their diet, and switched to fish and seafood instead? Did you stick to it over the long term, or did you get tired of it?

 

[Dawg52]

Never tried it. I like a steak every now an then and will continue to do so. I eat more chicken than beef though. Love fish too, but think I would get tired of it all the time.

 

[W2R]

I eat a lot of fish and seafood, and grilled chicken. I think a variety of foods is healthy, and so I continue to include small to medium portions of beef maybe twice a week. I think I would feel a little deprived if I could never have beef again. I think beef is very filling and so I don't need as many ounces of beef to satisfy me, as I would need if I were having fish for dinner. On the other hand, here in Louisiana we have wonderful shrimp and fish, so I eat these foods a lot more than beef.

 

[ziggy29]

I can understand wanting to do this for health reasons, but in reality variety and moderation are good things in a diet. Unless you have a heart condition or high cholesterol, I don't see that eating some lean meat would be a problem -- primarily poultry and lean cuts of beef, grilled or baked and not fried.

The general guidelines on fat call for no more than 30% of calories from fat and 10% from saturated fat. If you can examine your diet and determine that eating some chicken and *lean* beef from time to time can keep you within the guidelines, I don't see a problem -- again, unless you have a heart condition or high cholesterol which requires a low fat, very low-cholesterol diet. (Disclaimer: neither a doctor nor a dietitian here, just applying common sense.)

 

[W2R]

I can understand wanting to do this for health reasons, but in reality variety and moderation are good things in a diet. Unless you have a heart condition or high cholesterol, I don't see that eating some lean meat would be a problem -- primarily poultry and lean cuts of beef, grilled or baked and not fried.

The general guidelines on fat call for no more than 30% of calories from fat and 10% from saturated fat. If you can examine your diet and determine that eating some chicken and *lean* beef from time to time can keep you within the guidelines, I don't see a problem -- again, unless you have a heart condition or high cholesterol which requires a low fat, very low-cholesterol diet. (Disclaimer: neither a doctor nor a dietitian here, just applying common sense.)

Good points - - I forgot to mention that I only eat the absolutely leanest cuts of beef I can find and I cut off any visible fat. The last time I had a "normal" non-lean steak was a couple of years ago at Ruth's Chris. I have high cholesterol already, so I don't need extra fat on my steak. Of course, shrimp and egg yolks are high in cholesterol too, so I have to watch out for them as well.

 

[ForeignExchange]

I can understand wanting to do this for health reasons, but in reality variety and moderation are good things in a diet. Unless you have a heart condition....

Ziggy,

You got that one right. With my last annual checkup, the electrocardiogram results don't look great, the stethoscope detects a slight heart murmer that wasn't there before. Some time soon, I have to get an echocardiogram check.

I'm lucky that I like fish and seafood so that's not a problem. Getting prepared, just in case I'm put on a diet. Right now, I'm trying to get my omega-6's down, and my omega 3's up.

 

[bssc]

My friend gave up meat for Lent in 1988 and has been a vegetarian since then. She take supplements for certain vitamins. And it had helped her grocery bill. I don't think that I could do it but when I went on vacation with her, I didn't eat meat for a week or two without any problems.

 

[Nords]

I enjoy eating whole grains and I'm adding more vegetables to my diet, which was never that great to begin with. What I want to know is, has anyone here ever dropped meat altogether from their diet, and switched to fish and seafood instead? Did you stick to it over the long term, or did you get tired of it?

Lots of fish & chicken, some ground turkey. A pound or so of tofu every month.

Ground beef maybe once or twice a month and steak/kal be once or twice a year.

Don't miss beef a bit and don't care much one way or the other when I eat it. But I don't enjoy cooking that much and mostly go for speed/convenience when it's my turn. When we eat out I'd rather see what the chef can do with fish than other meats.

If you feel that you're missing beef then you could try more salmon & ahi. But I think it's pretty much all yummy.

If you read "Fast Food Nation" or "The Omnivore's Dilemma" then you'll have a hard time even looking at beef...

 

[Sue]

I don't eat meat. Not because I have any moral or ethical convictions against eating meat, but over the last twenty years, I just stopped buying it in the grocery store. I don't eat it at restaurants or "work functions". I enjoy the smell of roasting meat, but can't stand the taste or texture of cooked meat. I do use homemade chicken broth when I cook. I don't know how to explain this apparent contradiction except that chicken broth does provide lots of extra flavor to some dishes.

I eat some fish, but much more yogurt, cheese, grains/beans/rice and soy protein bars. I'm healthly. My cholesterol and trigylcerides are quite low. I have lots of energy. This type of diet seems to work for me.

 

[Maurice]

We cut most meat out of our diet a few years ago. For us its fish probably 6 nights a week, with poultry one night a week (rough estimate, not a rule). Every once in a blue moon we'll cook something with beef or lamb or veal in it. Probably less than 10 times per year.

We also cut starches out of our dinners dramatically - maybe down to once a week. Most nights we get by with fish and two very generous vegetable dishes. I've started to back away from this a bit lately, though, as I've lost more weight than I'm comfortable with. I'll occasionally cook myself a side starchy dish, but DW is still sticking with 'fish and two veggies' as we call it.

One word of warning, as a rule its much more expensive to eat fish than beef and chicken. (at least here in NY) Its not uncommon for us to spend $20 on a piece of fish for two for dinner. In fact I'd say its typical.

 

[W2R]

One word of warning, as a rule its much more expensive to eat fish than beef and chicken. (at least here in NY) Its not uncommon for us to spend $20 on a piece of fish for two for dinner. In fact I'd say its typical.

Eek! That is definitely a regional thing. Fish is NOWHERE near that expensive here. I can buy $5-$7 worth of fish and only eat half of it for dinner, saving the other half for the next night. I do focus on the less expensive varieties, but for example the salmon that I bought on Friday was about 8-10 oz for somewhere in that price range and will last me two nights.

 

[bssc]

Eek! That is definitely a regional thing. Fish is NOWHERE near that expensive here. I can buy $5-$7 worth of fish and only eat half of it for dinner, saving the other half for the next night.

I had an ex-GF from Terrebonne Parrish. We used to get shrimp right off the boat for free because her dad fixed fishing boat engines. Best shrimp I ever had.

 

[W2R]

I had an ex-GF from Terrebonne Parrish. We used to get shrimp right off the boat for free because her dad fixed fishing boat engines. Best shrimp I ever had.

Nothing like Louisiana shrimp!!! Huge, succulent - - you haven't had shrimp, until you have had Louisiana shrimp, you're right!! I have a hard time limiting myself to having it only 1-2 meals per week (due to the cholesterol). Sometimes I just throw caution to the winds.

 

[brewer12345]

We haven't eaten beef, pork, veal, etc. in years. Still do poultry, probably 4 or 5 evenings a week. Otherwise eat fish and legumes, cheese and other dairy, etc. A lot of the time when a meal includes poultry it will be as a more minor ingredient rather than big hunks as the main course. For example, I am making a dish with locally grown collads and heirloom beans with some chicken andouiile in the dish.

 

[happy2bretired]

I eat very little red meat. My daughter is vegan (no meat or dairy). When I get hungry for red meat, I eat out and let someone else prepare it.

 

[HFWR]

collads...

Cross between collards and gonads?

Many if not most of my homegrown dishes are of the "casserole/stew/stir-fry" variety, loosely termed "skillet glop"...

Some meat, some veggies, some legumes/rice, some herbs/seasonings, a sauce/broth, and Viola!

(Pronounced 'vy-o-luh' in Texas)

 

[brewer12345]

Cross between collards and gonads?

If I ever lose my mind and buy a racehorse, I will be naming it "Nad."


"Go Nad!!!"

 

[Buckeye]

Started eating nothing but fish and seafood back in 1986. Haven't eaten poultry, beef or pork for 21 years. Wanted to eat healthier. Fish and seafood will always be part of my diet since I grew up in Seattle. Somewhat challenging diet in NW Ohio.

 

[Martha]

We eat primarily rice, beans or dahl, and veggies. We do eat the local fish, primarily herring. Once in a while chicken.

 

[REWahoo]

We do eat the local fish, primarily herring.

What, no lutefisk?

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

blood on a dinner plate used to gross me out as a child so i'd order everything well done. i'd tell the waiter to burn it. if it came to the table as recognizable corpse, i'd send it back to the kitchen for further desiccation.

later in life i learned to eat meat blood rare and my cholesterol went through the roof. by the time i was 35 i was a walking time bomb of bad eating habits. in considering my survival, i realized that if i would never kill a cow, butcher and eat it all on my own. still, it took me a while to change my habits.

i have not eaten meat in about 10 years or more and i much prefer this way of living. as odd as it was to get used to tofu and other meat-substitutes, i find that now it is meat which is odd to eat. i know this because i had some soup which i thought was vegetable-based but turned out to be chicken and in there was a piece of the bird. i could tell on my first chew that something was wrong. i tried to chew it but wound up spitting it out. so it seems my transformation is complete. i am now eating only the foods which did not gross me out as a child.

 

[Martha]

What, no lutefisk?

Once a year, whether we need it or not.

 

[ziggy29]

blood on a dinner plate....

if it came to the table as recognizable corpse...

...kill a cow, butcher and eat it...

...a piece of the bird...

Are you trying to convert everyone to vegetarianism here?

 

[ERD50]

What, no lutefisk?

Once a year, whether we need it or not.

You've got to be kidding! Greg was going on about feeding GMO corn and supplementing the hormones for milk cows, and you guys eat poisoned fish!!??

from my friends at wiki:

The first treatment is to soak the stockfish in cold water for five to six days (with the water changed daily). The saturated stockfish is then soaked in an unchanged solution of cold water and lye for an additional two days. The fish will swell during this soaking, attaining an even larger size than in its original (undried) state, while its protein content decreases by more than 50 percent, producing its famous jelly-like consistency. When this treatment is finished, the fish (saturated with lye) has a pH value of 11–12, and is therefore caustic. To make the fish edible, a final treatment of yet another four to six days of soaking in cold water (also changed daily) is needed. Eventually, the lutefisk is ready to be cooked.

Sterling silver should never be used in the cooking, serving or eating of lutefisk, which will permanently ruin silver.

It is important not to incubate the fish too long in the lye, because saponification of the fish fats may occur, effectively rendering the fish fats into soap. The term for such spoiled fish in Finnish is saippuakala (soap fish).

Yep, ya' sure wouldn't want to do anything 'unnatural' to your food!!

Finally, some words of comfort:

Today, akvavit and beer often accompany the meal....

Ahhh, beer - good. Akavit (the water of life - a spiced vodka) - good. Lukefisk, I'll pass, thank you.

I always heard about the silver turning black from my Swedish in-laws, thought they were joking. I guess not! And I didn't know it was permanent, figured it was just accelerated tarnish. Scary!

-ERD50

 

[megacorp-firee]

After 40 years of being a consumate carnivore (lottsa beef, pork (especially bacon) and sausages), DW started moving us on to more fish and the occasional chicken. Along with that we were starting to eat more veggies and fruits too. Now we have fish at least 2 times a week. Steak is a once a month or so treat, sausage and mushroom pizza's are also.
We have done this as part of our 'health kick'. It has been a weaning process over the last 15+ years.
Balance and a 'non-deprivation' policy has allowed us to get much more healthy in our diet and more importantly stay on it.

I still eat chocolate and the occassional dessert. After all you have to have some 'treats' to reward yourself for easing off the artery clogging stuff.
... oh ... and red wine, beer and alcohol is STILL good for you ... RIGHT?