Feeling guilt (obsessive, grief, eating habits)

If you do want to eat meat there are actually ways to do this that don't mean more animals die.

For example if you buy products like soup chickens (they're the egg-laying hens too old to lay eggs anymore), bacon, pig's feet (you can make delicious schnitzel from these) or any organs (liver is awesome, just saying) then you can get your meat on, without encouraging more animal production. Because those products aren't what brings in the money. The animals get slaughtered, whether these products sell or get thrown away. So you might as well use them.

Obsessions tend to be about "all or nothing", so maybe allowing yourself small things will reveal whether you're actually in a lifestyle or in an obsession.

Are you approaching meat consumption solely from a moral standpoint? I am not sure how accurate it is, but I have read that combine harvesters are responsible for more animal death than the meat industry (due to catching all kinds of small animals, which are never used for anything.) So from a moral standpoint it is hard to escape the fact that we are causing harm to animals in one way or another.

It might sound weird, but I eat meat based on sentience, so the more aware animals are generally out and the less are eaten in moderation. This means that I try to be pescatarian, though we wat beef probably once per week. I can't understand the people who can eat a high functioning animal like a dolphin, but o also try to avoid pork, as pigs are one of the smartest animals. This sentience scale also means that I cut most red meat from my diet.

That's not really an argument since we feed the animals stuff we harvested off fields, so not eating meat would mean less combine harvesting.

Indeed most of the soy that is destroying the rainforest is fed to cows, almost none of it is eaten by humans.

I appreciate that, I was only trying to say that it is harder than it seems to eat morally

Personally I realised/decided I just don't care about animals. Any changes in agriculture that I want to happen are about making stuff better for humans and the environment. Except those changes align about 90% with vegans who are all about animal welfare. Eating plants is simply much more efficient and very few of us need the amount of animal products we eat today.

However in my philosophy it's the higher priority to eat in a way that enables health, than to eat ecologically efficiently.

Or you could look for animals to eat that are classified as pests (rabbits, for example) and thus need to be thinned out in some regions, or animals that get raised in areas where it's impossible to grow vegetables or the like (goats come to mind. Many areas in Great Britain successfully raise goats and sheep, but it wouldn't be feasible to grow greens there). You could also think about acquiring a licence to get your own meat. Rabbits are pretty easy to kill, skin and prepare and it might help you to appreciate their meat more, thus lowering your feelings of guilt. And then there's the possibility to look for butchers who sell meat from animals that were injured in a way that they got mercy-killed. Horses often fall into that category. Or try out shellfish, you know, go for the animals that are more insect-like, like crabs. Many people have difficulties applying their morals to things that basically look like sea-spiders.

All ideas aside, I don't think it's wrong to give in to your cravings. You don't have to buy the most cheapest meat you can get in the supermarket, but buy higher quality meat, but maybe eat that on fewer days. You only have this one life and using it to agonise over your food choices doesn't increase the quality of it. Try out how you feel with introducing animal products back into your diet and if it makes you feel better, look for ways to do that without feeling guilty. Not that you should feel like that in the first place. Find what works for you and (if that's a problem for you) ignore voices telling you that what you're doing is bad.

Hi, first off, I see you're from Arizona That's cool Second, don't beat yourself up because you want to eat something you like. We're human, it's just what happens (humans also have cheat weeks )