Okay - I've gone 3 maybe 4 weeks now without animal flesh .....

[Bullwinkle925]

if I'm going to be perfectly honest - I have had things with either chicken or fish in them (not VERY frequently) due to consuming some items that were in the freezer prior to making this vegetarian decision.
Blame flvegan for that! I was going to throw it all away.

At any rate - when I am in a restaurant situation - I must admit that the smell of whatever is on the grill is very tempting - but I have refrained so far. Totally vegetarian ordering on my part. Does the craving for animal flesh fade away? I hope so.

[YDogg]

1. I've never had animal flesh ... but I do eat meat.

:-)

[Kali]

2. grilling would be the thing that would do me in!

Not that I would be inclined to go veg, but that would just kill me. Having said that I had some really delish grilled veggies the other night and they WERE done better than the chicken that went with them.

[hellbound-liberal]

3. The tempting smell of something on the grill hasn't gone away in nearly two years for me

But I don't have any desire to eat animal flesh due to the fact that I know that it was a living, breathing animal prior to it's slaughter and processing. Chicken is real easy to avoid since it usually still looks like it did when it was alive. I miss bacon and sausage the most.

[Joe Fields]

4. I wouldn't want to go a day without eating meat...

:toast:

[steelemagnolia]

5. Good For you and Good Luck sticking with it....

[BarenakedLady]

6. It does

But for me, it was the sauces that I craved more than the actual meat. Steak sauce, barbecue sauce, etc. I can use those anytime. I had a really scrumptious grilled marinated portabello mushroom for dinner tonight. The smell from the grill and taste of the mushroom was divine.

[pitohui]

7. no it never goes away, veggie for 3 years

it never goes away, altho for me i really didn't have much craving at first and when it finally got bad around the 3 yr mark i realized that my body was telling me something and the time to be veggie was over

[LeftyMom]

8. Cooking meat smells really revolting to me, but for some people it doesn't.

Sometimes it takes a while for a reaction built up over years of experience to change based on new information. Try not to worry about it either way.

[stuntcat]

9. Good luck staying with it!

I'm kinda lazy about it but I'm doing better all the time.
I just couldn't imagine life without cheese :cry:

[Bullwinkle925]

10. I'm not Vegan - but vegetarian ....still have the cheese and yogurt and milk products.

I have been incorporating a bit more soy milk (with my chai lattes) at times, however.

[stuntcat]

11. oooo the soy milk

we have our cereal with it and it's just right, how it's a little sweet mmmmm :9

[badgerpup]

12. Went mostly vegetarian for about a year...

...but had an Anatomy and Physiology class in college at the time...
and that's all I'm gonna say about it. :yoiks:

[jobycom]

13. It comes and goes, but it weakens over time, unless...

There are two types of cravings. One is just memory of tastes, or even emotions associated with a taste. Fake meats can help with those, or just good old-fashioned will power. Those go away over time, though emotions can bring them back at odd times. Or other things. When I was using biodiesel a while back, I kept getting cravings for barbequed chicken, because biodiesel smells vaguely like barbequed chicken.

Another craving is diet related. Your body associates food with taste. If it needs a certain nutrient (Iron, protein, whatever), it can create a taste it associates with that nutrient. So, if your main source of protein, for instance, is meat, and you are suddenly not getting it (or more likely, you are missing one or two essential amino acids), your body may create a craving for meat in an effort to make you consume what it needs. Make sure you are getting a balance of what you need. (Not hard, but you do have to pay attention to it).

When I get cravings, I ignore them. If they won't go away, I mix up my diet a bit, try a couple new dishes. That fights of food boredom, and maybe gives me whatever I'm missing.

[RebelOne]

14. I have been a vegetarian for 10 years now.

And I am still tempted whenever I smell meat cooking. I would love to eat a pork chop or a filet mignon again

[ThomCat]

15. Yes. After a while, it's just a smell.

I spent a fair amount of time cooking meat for other people though. I would be looking at it, kind of disgusted that this was what people wanted to eat. That's probably what got me over the smell.

Some people don't loose the craving. Some people do. I hope you do. :)

[Rob H.]

16. It went away for me pretty quickly

I have to admit that I still liked the smell of cooking bacon for awhile after giving up meat, though. (Vegetarian for going on four years.)

[flvegan]

17. Congrats on your 3-4 weeks!

As for the "craving" when you smell the grill, it may or may not go away. I used to like fried chicken, and now the smell makes my stomach turn. However, there are some foods (seafood, usually) that trigger my senses and remind me that it does taste good.

Nothing wrong with it. Lots of meat, when cooked right, DOES smell good and tastes good. If it didn't, people wouldn't eat it, never mind paying a premium for it.

I'm also glad that you didn't throw that food away. I see folks on the street here every day that would kill for what you might've tossed.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

18. Good work!

I hate most vegetables, so I wouldn't make a good vegetarian--I like my goddamned meat! And I'd be an even worse vegan, considering that I'm a cheese and milk addict. But I admire those people who can stick with it. :)