She doesn't eat what!?

I get a wide variety of response both verbal and nonverbal when people discover that I do not eat red meat. In Texas, many would consider this sinful but it is something that I gave up years ago- about 8 years ago.

Due to the fact that I get so many questions as to why, I figured I would go ahead and share that with you today. First off, let me make a disclaimer, I am not saying by any means that you or anyone else should give up red meat. In fact, I will admit that eating red meat that is lean, and in moderation, is great for muscle gains. Red meat is also a great source of iron which women especially tend to be deficient in. But just as everything else, there are also cons to eating red meat.

It all started one summer, eight years ago. My brother and I went up to my dad’s. At the time, he was living with his sister and her husband. Out of all my aunts and uncles, they are definitely ones that I see most often. I love them so incredibly much. But something about them is that they eat a lot of red meat or at least they did at the time. That summer we ate red meat constantly! There were very little fruits, veggies or grains available. Prior to this, I was already not a huge fan of red meat. Ever since I was a little girl, I didn’t really care for hamburgers or any kind of pork. So you can bet by the time I got home I never wanted to eat meat again- any kind of meat, not just red.

I remember going back to my mum’s and as soon as we walked into the house I could smell ribs. My stomach hurled. I remember telling my mum I didn’t want to eat meat for awhile. She was FURIOUS at both me and my dad. With time, she began to let things go and as the months went on I continued to eat meat-free. I began researching vegetarianism online and watched many documentaries… more than I probably should have. It was through my research that I found many reasons to go vegetarian for animal rights but even more so, health benefits.

As the years went on, I was questioned and made fun of constantly. I brought my lunch to school all throughout middle school and high school and ate before any social function. I stood firm in my beliefs and pushed through it all. After about four or five years, I had had enough of my mother growing frustrated with me, so I compromised. I slowly began adding fish and chicken back into my diet. I will admit, I didn’t care for the taste but slowly I began to not mind it. Yet, I never added red meat back into my diet. I simply didn’t desire it. The taste, smell, texture were all turn offs for me. Here we are eight years later, and this still remains true.

I get asked often, “Don’t you at least miss bacon?”

No actually, not at all. In fact, over the years I have continued to cook for my family things that they liked. These dishes included red meat- handing it alone was enough for me not to want it. It just never seemed appealing. Not to mention, they make so many alternatives these days: turkey bacon, turkey bratwursts, even turkey corn dogs.

One of the major benefits I have seen from having a diet free from red meat, is that my cholesterol levels are excellent. In fact, they are abnormally low, and we are talking the LDL, the bad cholesterol. I won’t go into the other health benefits gained from refraining from red meat as I do not want to come across as persuading you to not consume it, that would be an entirely different post. If you are curious I would recommend you doing your own research to therefore come to your own conclusions :) today I am just answering the “why”.

Regardless of the fact that I am no longer vegetarian, I still spend the extra dollar or two to buy cage-free, local, grass fed, hormone free, preservative free, and antibiotic free chicken, turkey and eggs. I do not believe in factory farming as I do not believe it is ethical and therefore, will not support it with my dollar. I also do not support GMOs and will do all that I can to buy non-GMO foods (which is a whole other post, let’s just say I studied enough biotechnology).

Always remember there are a million different beliefs out there when it comes to health and nutrition and just as everything else there are pros and cons. It is important to listen to your body and do what you feel best nourishes it.

That’s all folks! I hope this inspired you today. Stand strong in your convictions.

-xxoo Britt