Going Vegetarian

PeaceLoveandFitness140

Hello everyone,

I have been doing quite a bit of research on the subject and decided to post my question on here as well.

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for changing their carnivorous diet into a more plant based one? For health reasons, I am thinking of going vegetarian as well as cutting out all breads and pastas, etc. Not to mention coffee, tea, soda, etc.

After some recent health issues, I really want to focus on eating a clean diet. This time without meat.

Thank you.

Unknown

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kommodevaran

Restricting as many foods as possible will only lead you down a road you don't want to go. Even vilifying your current diet as "carnivorous" won't help you make better eating decisions. There are so many and contradictory ways to define a "clean" diet that it becomes meaningless, and implicating that everything else is "unclean", do you think that will make you happier?.

I understand that you have health concerns, but don't allow fear to consume you. A healthy diet is balanced and varied, no foods are in themselves bad, and no foods are so great that they should be eaten in unlimited amounts. It's all about portions and proportions, dosage and frequency, the context is your overall diet, which is also in a bigger context - a healthy mindset.

Rhumax67

Lots of info on vegetarian diets & how to go about the change here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/45-happy-herbivores

Enjoy!

Iamnotasenior

Slowly start with one meat-free dinner a week and then start adding some new meat-free recipes into your regular meals during the week. Start thinking of meat as the "side dish" instead of the main course and bulk up on vegetables. There is nothing wrong with eating meat or eating bread and pasta and neither is unhealthy on it's own. It's typically what we add to those items (think of a hamburger with a giant bun, cheese, aoli sauce, bacon, etc.) that causes the calorie and fat explosion. I've been a pescatarian for about 20 years now and it was an evolution of eating different things until I found out what I liked, didn't like and could and could not give up. I started with six months as a vegan and then decided, I missed dairy and eggs, so I became an octo-ovo vegetarian (dairy and eggs). Then, I began to crave seafood (I'm from Louisiana) and now I have either shrimp, oysters or fish once a week. It's about what way of eating works for you, not about following some strict regimen that limits the types of food you can eat. Bottom line is that losing weight is about calories in and calories burned. All calories are equal when it comes to weight loss whether they come from a slice of bread or an organic mushroom. Take it from a long-term vegetarian who started this journey on MFP 80 lbs. overweight. You can be a fat, unhealthy vegetarian (I was) if you eat more calories than you burn over a long period of time.

PeaceLoveandFitness140

Thank you all for the replies.

I have been eating a well balanced diet that includes meat for most of my life. So I am just trying to switch it up. I already do not eat any beef or red meat and I rarely eat chicken, turkey, or fish.

But I have noticed that when I do eat meat I don't always feel the best after a meal.

So I am just trying to figure out the best, well balanced diet for my body.

DanyellMcGinnis

There is no reason to avoid whole grains! I have been a vegetarian since August 1993 and I eat tons of bread, pasta, etc. - probably something like 60% of my diet. I just choose whole grain versions. (Also, cutting out both meat and grain doesn't leave you much left, and may not be sustainable in the long run.) I maintain my BMI around 20 with exercise (I had major surgery last week so my diary for recent days won't be either complete or ideal...), have plenty of energy, and feel good (other than the massive incision in my abdomen, which is healing nicely anyway).

I have been both fat and thin (multiple times) while a vegetarian. Right now I have my balance by eating lots of grain, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, beans and lentils, occasional eggs, and dairy, and counting calories even though I am in maintenance. We do a lot of cooking at home but there are a number of vegetarian dishes that make great leftovers so you don't have to spend all your time in the kitchen.

There is also no reason to cut out coffee, tea, and soda if you enjoy them. I mean, don't use up a big chunk of your calories by dumping like half a cup of cream to your coffee or drinking full sugar sodas. But black coffee or coffee with Splenda and skim milk, or a diet soda, can hit the spot if it's something you're into. I almost never drink plain water (the 8 glasses a day thing is a total myth), usually I drink tea or sometimes soda.

I have managed to stay vegetarian for so long because I found something that is sustainable for the long term. I never liked meat so that was easy to give up. When I found out I had high triglycerides, I switched to whole grains (my cholesterol/triglyceride levels are wonderful now) rather than eliminating grains entirely. Giving up like three separate things at once (meat, grain, caffeine) sounds like a recipe for disaster.

kommodevaran

PeaceLoveandFitness140 wrote: »

Thank you all for the replies.

I have been eating a well balanced diet that includes meat for most of my life. So I am just trying to switch it up. I already do not eat any beef or red meat and I rarely eat chicken, turkey, or fish.

But I have noticed that when I do eat meat I don't always feel the best after a meal.

So I am just trying to figure out the best, well balanced diet for my body.

What discomfort are you experiencing after eating meat? Humans' digestive systems are well equipped to handle meat, but if you eat too much, or too fast, maybe don't chew well, or have bad feelings about what you eat, it won't work optimally.

You can have a well balanced diet without meat, even without fish and meat. But you can't just cut out food group after food group and think that you're still eating balanced. Meat and starches are two of the main providers of energy and protein for humans. It will be very difficult to get enough without them. They also provide different micronutrients (vitamins, minerals). So if your motivation is health, it's a bit counterproductive. Not to mention how boring your diet will be, how difficult it will be to eat socially, and how badly you will cave when you can't take it anymore.

Sunnybrooke99

Try to develop a taste for cooked greens. They are the lowest calorie plant source of protein, and convenient bc canned ones are low sodium and easy. Just add them little by little and try different sauces, like ranch or bbq sauce.

Also, focus mostly on adding in more vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains. I still buy bread, but I usually have to give the last couple of slices to the birds bc I don’t use it fast enough, even in the fridge.

A turbo blender is worth the investment, if you are thinking ab it.

Have a full spice rack to season all of those beans, greens, and whole grains! I have two spinning ones that I labeled myself.

Fuzzipeg

As someone who has needed to give up certain foods because they caused me problems, some thoughts crossed my mind. Not everyone needs to go gluten free, not everyone will feel the expected benefits. There are probably more wheat proteins which cause problems alongside gluten. Wheat by some fluke has three parents which provides the platform for all these excess proteins. Exclusion of more than 6 weeks is needed to have some idea if it is effecting you, I read of someone who it took 12 months for elimination to make significant differences to their health.

It perturbs that you having digestive issues after eating meat made me wonder if you may be lacking in the digestive enzymes we should be making to digest meat-proteins, or fat, I wonder if you could have some food intolerance testing to establish where your dietary issues stem from. If someone is shown to have an intolerance to some food or other there are plentiful products available providing enzymes for specific or combinations. You could be well advised to be tested. I wonder if your meat issue could come from Histamine intolerance. Meat is often a missed cause of this problem, to generalise, raw it is high, cold the day after its high. Histamine intolerance is complicated one tends to be low in the DAO enzymes.

I'm not dismissing your goal of becoming vegetarian. It can be helpful on a personal or population level. (UK, Farming today this morning was saying we should eat more veg than meat for the sake of our planet) We are predominantly and have been for many years.

I will point out, one needs to be very astute as a vegetarian to ensure you consume enough vit b 12, its more available from meats, it is less available in nuts and things, also one requires an enzyme to ensure it reaches the part of the stomach where it is absorbed.

Dairy products can be an issue, more often it is the casein, the protein rather than the lactose as many people think. Goat dairy differs from Bovine because it is predominantly type 2 casein which is more easily digested by many. Bovine in general is predominantly type 1, both contain no's 3 and 4. Making this substitution can make it easier for someone who is lactose intolerant to be able to enjoy milk because the reduced casein issues make digesting lactose easier.

As I achieved a greater age I developed more and more health issues, I did not find my doctors helpful so privately I used a nutritionist who was able to suggest blood tests from so good American Laboratories, these identified several underlying issues and for a while I did additional eliminations, beyond salicylate and being low histamine.
True an underlying issues is Hashimoto's thyroiditis, many of the symptoms, cause digestive issues which progress if it is left untreated or inappropriately treated. Too often this problem is not identified by testing for the presence of antibodies. people are simply told they are hypo, the treatment should be very different.

All the very best, I hope you find the best diet for yourself.

dadsafrantic

PeaceLoveandFitness140 wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I have been doing quite a bit of research on the subject and decided to post my question on here as well.

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for changing their carnivorous diet into a more plant based one? For health reasons, I am thinking of going vegetarian as well as cutting out all breads and pastas, etc. Not to mention coffee, tea, soda, etc.

After some recent health issues, I really want to focus on eating a clean diet. This time without meat.

Thank you.

you sound like you've been given a load of bologna which can be quite nice with some mustard
. a carnivore is a meat eater which i doubt you are. more likely an omnivore. as a chef i can say that eliminating packaged/prepared food is a much better option. i feed about 1200 mostly kids and then faculty ans staff at an independent school in california. i sit on a nutrition counsel at the school (prek-12) with an rd, sports nutrition writer, food r&d scientist, pediatrician and that's the parents.

i cook all foods from scratch which is what clean eating requires. i also limit choices and availability to some foods. we are nut free due to allergies. all school is no sugar or sweetened foods. no sodas or desserts. we do our own yogurt, use organic dairy and serve infused water. fruit for miles. we do real ethnic dishes with real ingredients.

cleaning eating isn't so much about cutting things from your diet but adding/replacing more things.

the first thing i found i needed to add was time. it takes some serious time to manage food that isn't convenience based. i needed to add dedication. no dedication = no consistency. research/best practice/information sharing. MFP and some other sites give huge amounts of exposure to peoples experiences. you have to weed through it all to fit it to your needs. a regimen. a scale and a few other kitchen tools. support here and close by in person. open mindedness.

nooshi713

I would cut out one thing at a time. First cut out red meat, for example, then poultry, and increase your intake of beans, lentils, quinoa, and soy.

RodaRose

Start cooking recipes using beans: black bean tacos, minestrone soup, lentil soups, chic pea dishes, pinto bean chili.

rainbowbow

don't focus so much on what you DONT want to eat and instead focus on what you WANT to eat.

as far as i'm concerned restriction is never good (and i myself and vegetarian) and radical overnight change rarely lasts.

I say go low and slow and try to focus on incorporating plant foods into your diet along with a variety of preparations to get an idea about what you really enjoy.

bellabonbons

I have been a vegetarian for 12 years. Animals want to live as much adder do. I could not imagine eating one.