Beef talk. Who cares where's the beef?

[VitoVino]

Any other meat eaters here who have basically given up on red meat?

Since I've been using FitDay I've made drastic changes to my diet, but not all at once. If someone had told me about the changes I would be making, in advance, I think they would have scared me away from the clean eating I'm now doing.

One of the things I've decided to give up is red meat. No more steak, no more hamburgers. For the most part. It's not like I won't ever eat it again, it's just that I have no desire to be putting tasteless, saturated fat laden meat into my body when there are better alternatives. And beef is expensive as well.

I've found beef to have gotten less and less flavorful over the years. Is this my imagination or is this the reality? Seriously, I'll buy a steak, barbeque it and it will be pretty much tasteless anymore, even the expensive cuts.

Chicken, turkey, and even ham are all great substitutes in my opinion. I live on turkey burgers these days and have grown to love them more than their beef counterparts.

So, my question is, have you "basically" given up beef? Or maybe altogether? And if so, what are your reasons?

[diabeticmonster]

Nope!!!
But I was never into fatty pieces of meat. Extra lean ground beef is fantastic. I make hamburgers that are healthy and extremely tasty then freeze them. I actually have to add oil to the pan when I fry them because they're so lean. I also don't have to worry about some of the problems that other people have with their food like where and how it's been raised etc. Food where I am is just plain expensive so I have to suck it up anyway but ten bucks of extra lean ground beef can make lots of lunches!

I do also eat chicken and ham (turkey isn't as available for some odd reason).

[wildbeanerz]

I have never been much of a red meat eater to begin with. I prefer chicken & fish over steak anytime. I have noticed though that switching to ground turkey over ground beef does have benefits but I'm not sure they are as big of benefits as people seem to think. Working in the food industry provides pretty easy access to lots of nutrition facts. I just wanted to show you what I see in my system.
85% Ground Turkey 4oz - 220 calories, 16g fat (5g sat fat), 20g protein
85% Ground Beef 4oz - 245 calories, 17.1g fat (6.7 sat fat), 21.2 protein
My thought was if you really liked the burger as beef the trade-off in nutrition isn't really that big of a difference.

[zyxst]

I won't give up on beef. It's too much a staple and one of the few ways I get enough protein. I grew up eating unflavored hamburgers, so tasteless is normal to me. :P I'm sure the lack of flavor you get is going from regular cut beef to lean. No matter what is said, cutting fat from meat does cut out flavor.

I like chicken and turkey well enough, though they have this weird texture when used for sandwiches. Ham is great when it can be found/cut in lean portions.

[handcycle2005]

I had a beef sandwich for lunch-slices of beef between two slabs of beef and garnished with thin strips of beef.

*manly grunt*

[VitoVino]

Originally Posted by wildbeanerz

I have never been much of a red meat eater to begin with. I prefer chicken & fish over steak anytime. I have noticed though that switching to ground turkey over ground beef does have benefits but I'm not sure they are as big of benefits as people seem to think. Working in the food industry provides pretty easy access to lots of nutrition facts. I just wanted to show you what I see in my system.
85% Ground Turkey 4oz - 220 calories, 16g fat (5g sat fat), 20g protein
85% Ground Beef 4oz - 245 calories, 17.1g fat (6.7 sat fat), 21.2 protein
My thought was if you really liked the burger as beef the trade-off in nutrition isn't really that big of a difference.

Good points, April. But I can buy 93% lean ground turkey for $3.50/lb that has about 1/3 less the saturated fat as 85% ground beef at $5.49/lb.

To me, that's a big benefit.

[almeeker]

Nope, not giving up me beef. Truthfully left to my own devices I'm pretty much a vegetarian, however I have 3+ children to feed, a tight budget and a husband that also watches his weight but works out regularly and needs the protein in his diet. Meat at our house is very nearly free as my family raises beef cattle and sheep, although we do have to pay the butcher and the electric bill on the deep freezer. I do agree that grocery store beef is sometimes tasteless, but the half steer in our freezer is organic grass fed, aged Angus cross, it just doesn't get any better than that. My kids are fond of saying "Beef, it's what's for dinner - AGAIN!". Although tonight we're having sweet & sour pork because the grocery store had pork steak on special, buy one get one, which worked out to $1.70/lb. Anytime meat goes for $2/lb or less, I take a long hard look at the inside of the deep freezer to assess just how much more I can pack in there.

[VitoVino]

Originally Posted by handcycle2005

*manly grunt*

I like to let out many belches as much as the next guy. Just following in the footsteps of my Roman ancestors.

[almeeker]

Originally Posted by handcycle2005

I had a beef sandwich for lunch-slices of beef between two slabs of beef and garnished with thin strips of beef.

*manly grunt*

Did you cook that man-food with fire or just eat it raw?

[almeeker]

Originally Posted by VitoVino

Good points, April. But I can buy 93% lean ground turkey for $3.50/lb that has about 1/3 less the saturated fat as 85% ground beef at $5.49/lb.

To me, that's a big benefit.

Have you considered getting a freezer and stocking up when things go on sale?