A while ago I considered going vegetarian, but after a lot of thought and a couple of steak dinners I decided against it. I know there are health benefits to it but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
Yesterday my 10 year old daughter told me she had thought long and hard and had numerous conversations with her mum, after which she had decided to go pescatarian. She explained her reasons well and got me thinking "I could/should do the same". I love seafood, am happy to go from steak and chips to tuna, baby potatoes and salad. Yes I'll miss real bacon and fillet steak, but not so much that I'll be put off the healthier eating and environmental benefits (however small). So, if anyone has made the same change in diet sre there any downsides? Any supplements that I should consider? I know to avoid too much tuna due to mercury content but would love some feedback from others
Just go full veggie. I did 3 years ago and now the thought of eating meat/fish and the smell of it cooking genuinely turns my stomach (which surprised me the first time it happened!)
Been doing something similar since November last year.
Just tried to cut out meat in general.
Although if going out or having a take away we have eaten meat.
Wasn't really a big fish eater before and haven't upped my consumption.
I'm interested to see what supplements are recommended!
You won’t need any supplements.
Healthier eating? There are plenty of healthy meat options.
Cutting out dairy, which most vegetarians don’t do, is likely to result in a healthier diet that is better for the environment.
Bacon.
It's okay to eat fish
Cause they don't have any feelings
Kurt Cobain
There wont be any health benefits if you don't ensure you balance out the essential vitamins and proteins that you will be missing. So you need to take some proper dietary advice and stick to it.
We've reduced our meat intake - prompted by 2 daughters deciding to go vegan, and it's easier to make the same meals for everyone.
I'd recommend the BOSH cook books - there is some nice food in there
Bacon was what I thought to be the one thing stopping me going full vegan, but after realising I liked the smell of it more than the actual taste, it literally always dissapointed me, steak too, no matter what the cut, what sauce it was with, always a dissapointment, not filling just bleh and it was always medium rare before anyone says it wasnt cooked right. Making the switch was super easy, as well as being lactose intolerant which cuts out 99% of diary anyway.
My mum has gone pescetarian and is enjoying food and cooking again and is feeling healthier
My wife had us doing veganuary. I have been a prolific meat eater in the past, and a lot of booze to boot. After boozing and eating my way through two lockdowns and one heavy Christmas I have actually enjoyed and not missed meat as much as I thought I would. She has gone full vegan, I have gone Pesci, with a couple of smoked salmon fillets/ tuna Mayo days.
As the previous poster said, cutting out dairy makes a huge difference. I am amazed at the side effects, coupled with lack of animal products/ booze.
I was 87 kilos at the start of the month, Today’s post Zwift weigh in was 78. Feel healthier and fitter.
I will start eating a bit of meat when the need grips me in feb, but I’m very much going to be mainly plant based with an occasional treat in future.
My top tip would be to try it for a month and see how your fare.
Bacon was what I thought to be the one thing stopping me going full vegan, but after realising I liked the smell of it more than the actual taste, it literally always dissapointed me
Agreed. It's similar to walking past a Chinese takeaway, never tastes as good as it smells.
Not a veggie, but don't eat much meat these days, just enjoy it when I do. We've a local fishmonger that comes from fife every week, and a prawn boat that now sells straight off the boat since the arse fell out the restaurant market, both cheaper than supermarkets and miles better, have a look around your local area.
My old man has been pescatarian for the past 30 years or so, never taken any supplements and it's done him no harm.
We’ve a local fishmonger that comes from fife every week
That'll be pittenweem eh
have a look around your local area.
Unfortunately my local area is almost as far from the sea as you can get in the UK.... Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes are not known for their fishing industry.
I initially went pesci in early 2019,mainly for environmental reasons, then realised that most farmed fish that you buy (no local fish monger anywhere near us) is worse than a lot of meat from an environmental perspective. Been veggie since August 2019. Don't really miss meat that much, and never got the 'but bacon' comments even when I was a meat eater....bacon is ****ing horrible!
I may or may not treat myself to some fresh mackerel in Cornwall this summer.
I used to be full on carnivore, meat with every meal, mmmm bacon, etc. Went to a health farm for a few days with Mrs Kilo two years or so ago, not my idea at all but anything for a quiet life, haven’t had meat since and the thought of it is not pleasant. Pescatarian is easy, I’m not a massive vegetable fan and salads largely suck but I still get by fine. Not sure I could drop fish from my diet, probably helps that I’ve got no deeper philosophical reason for not eating meat, although cows are one of my favourite animals.
The top tip I got, from here, Cauldron sausages, they’re better than a lot of normal sausages I’ve bought over the years
I've been doing veganuary as well - the main thing I'm missing isn't the food as such, it's just the freedom to eat whatever I want. I'm the only one in the house that's trying it so it's been difficult when I'm in the mood for a snack and there's nothing but fruit and veg and then a load of milk chocolate and crisps etc that I can't eat!
There's loads of naturally vegan/vegan alternative snacks and meals in the shops now though so a bit of forward planning and well stocked cupboards has seen me through the month!
I feel like a flexible diet, where you actively limit your meat and dairy intake and allow yourself the odd treat/slip up (in the same way that a weight loss diet would allow an occasional dessert or cheat meal), is far easier from an enjoyment and willpower perspective rather than labelling yourself as a 100% strict vegi/vegan/pesci. It's not great from an ethical and animal welfare point of view but it's a reduction at least and it still brings most of the benefits from the health and environment side of things too
That’ll be pittenweem eh
Aye, he's from Ainster, cracking guy. I've seen him during the first lockdown still delivering a single bit of haddock to a pensioner at 10pm, and still a 2+hr drive to get home, so I like to support him.
Cutting out dairy, which most vegetarians don’t do,
because: Cheese
honestly, if cheese hadn’t been invented I would be sooo much more healthy, but y’know, **** it
Fish makes my pee stink of.. fish :'(
Shell fish seems fine, but any white fish, yuck.
Ironically I live in Shetland with the main industry being sea food (more so than oil and gas in terms of income generated), but there's not many outlets for fresh local fish and what is stocked is limited as it all goes straight sooth and abroad to market.
Our line grown Mussels are supposed to be the most ethical and 'green' meat there is and high in protein.
Did it for about 10 years, no downsides apart from people wanting to talk about ****ing bacon.
I went pescatarian in the very early 80's, it was much tougher then as your only option in most pubs/restaurants was vegetable lasagne. I don't take any particular supplements but just try and eat a sensible balance - nuts/fruit etc. Just give a bit of thought as to where your protein is coming from.
As for fitness well I've played sport at a reasonable level for all that time and still cycle so I'd say it makes no difference.
And roughly every couple of months I do have a bacon sandwich - don't beat yourself up over the occasional thing like that.
It’s okay to eat fish
Cause they don’t have any feelings
Sadly Kurt, they do.
Its an interesting one to me
There are serious ethical considerations to consider. Farmed fish can be very polluting and cause issues for wild fish populations. wild caught fish can be unsustainably fished. Is farmed salmon ethically better than eating wild deer?
Health point of view? eating meet is non essential and you do not need to do anything special. Indeed a fish based diet can be better as you get more vit D and less saturated fats
For me I like a plant based diet with fish or free range meat as a treat rather than as a staple. I do not always live up to that tho. When i do have farmed fish I do try to make sure its high quality stuff and locally produced but again often fall short.
Sadly we farm fish and that has very bad environmental impacts.
We catch wild fish with no regard to the environment or fish stocks.
Mostly as no one can see the fish or sea bed, so its easy to ignore the consequences. Also no one polices international waters, so its a free for all.
To protect the environment just stop having kids, that's easier than cutting out food.
To protect the environment just stop having kids, that’s easier than cutting out food.
I have one and she is more than enough so won't be having any more sprogs. Does that mean I've done my bit for the environment and helping to stop overpopulation?
My daughter decided to try a pescatarian diet before Christmas so we now eat more fish (we normally have fresh fish twice a week as a family now) and our food bill has gone up considerably - for example, at Tesco fresh chicken fillets are around £5 per kg, fresh haddock and salmon are both around £13 per kg and fresh tuna is about £28 per kg (which is around the same as fillet steak).
For me I like a plant based diet with fish or free range meat as a treat rather than as a staple. I do not always live up to that tho. When i do have farmed fish I do try to make sure its high quality stuff and locally produced but again often fall short.
This is pretty much where we've settled now too, and it's a decent balance I think. We've managed to cut out milk (shout out to Aldi's fortified oat drink!) but you'll have to pry cheese out of my cold, dead hands I'm afraid. There's a balance to be struck between doing the right thing and buying super-processed junk alternatives.
Our household has two vegans and two omnivores, of which I am one. I can't eat fish (allergy) and the other omnivore doesn't eat fish. I've significantly reduced my meat consumption, going instead for quality rather than quantity. I suspect that for 3 days out of 7, I eat no meat. Going vegan and I would miss eggs, cheese and milk in my tea.
Downsides- There can be very significant environmental impact.
Many fish stocks have been taken far past the point where they are sustainable, including lots of UK fisheries.
Lots of seafood in supermarkets has been airfreighted, may have also come from unsustainable or damaging production or sources.
Farmed wet fish means industrial farming/catching of the protein to feed those fish.
Pluses- buy local on a short supply chain wherever possible. There are sustainable sources and species, just a bit harder to find; think about what you're buying.
I love most seafood; in fact, appropriately, I've just received a parcelforce delivery this morning from 'The Oyster Shed' on Skye. Scallops, langoustines, crab, salmon, oysters, venison. yum... Guess what's for tea tonight!!
Fried onion rings?
Yeah please don't go pescatarian for environmental reasons. The seas are getting devastated through overfishing and trawling and fish farms, not to mention ocean acidification from climate change. It's unlikely to recover in the next 100 years, if EVER.
The downside for me would be having to eat fish, I just don't see the appeal, it all tastes so 'fishy'. Never liked it. I can cook a mean seared tuna steak with miso for my wife on the BBQ though, so it's not as if I haven't tried it. Consistency, fishyness, potential for bones, the smell ugh, the smell (I know raw meat doesn't often smell great either).
For those that do enjoy it, good on you, but yeah, ethically seafood and meat and dairy all have their flaws, but unless you eat locally grown sustainably sourced everything there are always going to be compromises.
I must admit the smell can be a bit much at times - a Sunday favourite at our house is hot-stone cooked salmon (ie, cooked on a super-heated lavastone at the table) so the room gets a bit smokey/smelly and the fish isn't being cooked under the cooker hood either. Monday morning smells in the kitchen are pretty revolting sometimes.
I would miss eggs, cheese and milk in my tea
That's not tea, that's soup.
Update: unpacked the box and thank you guys, you have thoroughly impressed me with the quantities and particularly the quality of the content. Recommended.
I've had a 28 year internal monologue about this.
Went pesci at university. An infrequent fish added to a mostly veggie diet. That decision was for lots of reasons but mainly about wanting to eat quality food on a limited budget.
Over the years I've been veggie, pesci, back to omni and now vegan. The last couple of years as a vegan have been the least conflicted for me. I felt a hypocrite not eating land animals for ethical and environment reasons but then still eating dairy and fish. Of course it would still be very easy to pick holes in me - probably too many frozen processed LM sausages, I am not religiously avoiding all palm oil, and some of my food travels too far to my plate.
I'm also very aware that plant based and animal based farming are too interwoven to avoid the by-product of one to the benefit of the other. My food needs 'farmed' bees to pollinate so why avoid honey? All that natural organic manure used to fertilize the crop fields is coming from dairy farms. It is a product of the dairy industry as much as the milk (sort of) so why am I ok with this? The corn I eat is only the price it is because the straw by-product goes back into dairy farming etc etc. I've not resolved that internal monologue yet but I'm much closer.
That's a lengthy way of saying you need to take time to work out your reasons for your food choices and abstentions that make long term sense for you because you will find them regularly questioned by both others and more importantly yourself.
@highlandman You should ask for a commission as I’ve just ordered their crab box.
As with the consensus I just went veggie.
The "science" (propaganda on both sides) is highly polarised but I just reached the conclusion that there really wasnt a good reason for eating meat that outweighed the ethical, environmental and health downsides. After a wierd couple of months where muscle and strength seemed to just fall off, it seems to have levelled off and gone back to normal. It's been a wierd year for exercise/training so way too many variables to really say anything.
Made a concious decision not to go Vegan. I grew up on farms and have no qualms about the welfare of free range chickens or dairy heards. I've been trying various alternatives but only really to see what they're like (almond milk ice cream is nice, but makes every flavour taste of peanut butter).
I'm always intrigued at people stating health benefits as a reason for dropping meat and going vege. I completely understand the ethical argument, but the health one I don't.
In my head it's perfectly possible to eat healthy food that's meat based and unhealthy food that's veg based. Bad food is bad food, whether it's a heavily processed beef burger or a heavily processed bean burger.
Am I missing something?
Fried onion rings?
You'll have to wait and see
I’m always intrigued at people stating health benefits as a reason for dropping meat and going vege. I completely understand the ethical argument, but the health one I don’t.
In my head it’s perfectly possible to eat healthy food that’s meat based and unhealthy food that’s veg based. Bad food is bad food, whether it’s a heavily processed beef burger or a heavily processed bean burger.
Am I missing something?
Whilst I broadly see your point I think you have to factor in finance too. The cost of moving to the healthiest non processed cuts of meat is more than a super healthy nutritious plant based diet. So unless your budget is bottomless a healthy and varied meat free diet is easier to achieve. I think some also go on about reducing saturated fats but not all meat (esp if you include fish as a meat) has this in abundance and you can also still eat it in modest proportions if that's your thing so not that convinced about that angle. Meat is also relatively calorie dense so if eating a finite amount of calories daily it leaves more 'room' for vitamin and mineral rich veggies and pulses.
The biggest health benefit for me of going vegan was to save me from myself - it cut cheese out of my diet in one fell swoop. I could of course have eaten in moderation but I don't appear to be wired that way. A blanket 'not, that's not for you' worked best. It removed the blocker needed to shift the weight I had to shed.
I've been sort of turning pescitarian by accident since being put on long term low dose methotrexate for RA.
The nausea created by the MTX for a day or so each week really puts me off most meats, then a bit like if you get food poisoning from a certain food you dont really want it for a while, I'm stuck in a permanent cycle of being reminded that meat makes me feel sick when I take my meds every 7 days. Additionally I read that oils in fish are supposed to be good for my joints and the RA and I've ended up in a situation where I've gone from having meat everyday maybe 2 or 3 times, to having meat maybe 3 times a week, and eating loads of different fish in its more natural, none finger form.
It's definitely a more expensive way to live than eating meat, and I've realised how bad quality some of the fish I would have eaten previously was, as someone says above about it tasting fishy.
I feel like it's probably a healthier option than eating meat, it definitely feels lighter, but it's hard to tell with all the other variables going on around the meds etc
Plenty of downsides if you're a fish.
