The FastDay Forum

Before starting this WOE, it used to be every day, even though, during my 20s I was a vegetarian - bacon was my downfall!

Now, it's a weekend steak on the barbe and a chicken dish once a week, with beans, pulses and vegetables making up the bulk of my diet. I could quite happily give up meat forever, but I know I'd miss the occasional roast dinner.

I'm also eating more sustainably caught fish, particularly a Cambodian fish 'curry'.

So, have your eating habits changed in respect to being a meat eater?

Nope, I enjoy it, think it's healthy and eat it almost every day. I eat more vegetables, more fish, more fat and less carbs.

I eat meat most days. I'm including all animal bits, and a wide variety of animals. I can also quite happily eat meatless meals. I eat a lot of veg too, and think my diet s pretty balanced. I do try and source ethically raised meat (which is much easier here than Europe or N. America), this and environmental issues are my meat concerns - I don't think meat per se is unhealthy.

Since I began dieting, I stopped the red meat (well there is a home made hamburger waiting for me this weekend and it will be my first taste of red meat since february) eat sardines or tuna on fast days and chicken breast on feast days but a small piece, 80 gr and nt every time either because sometimes I find my proteins elsewhere like in lentils.

Still have either meat or fish daily plus loads of vegetables + salads
But my lunch time salads are quite often meat free I just pile it high with lots of salad greens, peppers celery, beetroot, jalapenos anything I can get my hands on and do really enjoy them to, but I could never give up the meat completely. Sue

I don't eat meat every day and very rarely will I buy a whole joint or big piece. For me it's as much about price as anything - I want to buy ethically-reared, local organic meat but it is so expensive. We have a good local butcher and whilst the meat is local I wouldn't know how it is reared (it's not the sort of place you can ask without looking like a posh know it all).

In my fridge at the moment is a slice of thick ham from the supermarket deli which might go in my fast day frittata tonight and last night we ate the remainder of the chorizo in a gnocchi dish (NOT fast day friendly alas!). I often use meat like this as an element of a meal rather than building a whole meal around it. I like to buy stewing steak or mince and pad it out with veg in the slow cooker, so 500g can serve 6 people (sometimes when I'm ekeing out the leftovers I can realise I've had a whole portion with maybe one chunk of beef in it!) If I buy a chicken (again, very rare) I strip the carcass and then make stock, so it does last again. My husband likes meat but thankfully he's not the sort of guy that demands a big slab of it every day. He was brought up by a veggie mum so he does get a bit squeamish about things like fat & gristle! And he certainly can't eat a fish off the bone without making a mess...

I'm not against eating meat. In an ideal world it would all be organic, grass-fed, hand-reared etc but the truth is if I had to only buy meat like that I would just end up being veggie. Perhaps I should. Although, I'm more likely to be tempted by chorizo than a bacon butty!

I eat meat most days, or fish. I aim to have two non-meat days a week but don't often manage it. That said, I'm managing it a lot more since starting 5:2 as my evening skinny meal is often meat-free (last night I had a small, 100g, piece of steamed haddock with roasted vegetables).

My biggest change has been reducing my carbs. I'd rather have meat than carbs, although I do love my bread. I'm cutting back on that a lot, though, on non-fast days.

I belong to a gastronomy club and we're having our monthly do tonight (so glad I was having my regular fast day yesterday) - the menu is full of meat and fish and I can't wait!

I still eat meat most days but I'm finding I eat a lot less bread. I do love bread though. Especially white bread.

I eat chicken almost every day but I'm happy to go without. Love my veggies and in the quest for healthier feast days I'm moving outside my comfort zone and trying new recipies.

Since I don't eat fish (only crab, crayfish, prawns and lobster) and no offals, I have meat all days a week, but different kinds. Much ground beef and chicken is served around here. My fav dish is pulled pork or beef - oh,my lean and yummy.

Not since 1987 for meat but fish weekly at least - haddock & chips on Fridays and usually a tin of mackerel fillets with salad midweek.

Threatening to go back to eating liver, and possibly bacon, for the health benefits and the taste!

You know me, I follow the Greek diet so read meat is on the table once every 7-15 days.
I usually eat chicken once a week and fish as often as I find something good in the market. In the summer, that could easily mean every day.

My dad had bowel cancer and since I became aware of the link between bowel cancer and red/processed meats I have cut back a lot on these. Made a concerted effort a couple of years back to be meat-free during the week and just have meat at the weekend, usually chicken. I must admit that since starting 5:2 though I have started a couple of feast days with bacon, eggs and mushrooms - yummy!

I eat more meat during cold weather - love casseroles, slowly simmered with onions, carrots, swedes, celery, bit of red wine and lots and lots of gravy, topped with floury spuds. Nothing nicer on a chilly winter's day. Tend not to eat red meat for months on end and eat more fish, shellfish and veggies and salads. Chicken once in a blue moon.
love nuts like cashews in stirfries, and often have them, or seeds, in salads too instead of meat. Eat venison and pork too, but usually in the colder months. love lamb, especially in a coconutty curry!

Yes, PennyForthem, like you, I have cut right down. I eat a 90% plant based diet now, and just have the odd bit of meat at the weekend. I still love a nice juicy cheese burger, or a roast chicken, but just far far less of the time.

Eating a vegetarian diet really helps me shift the weight.