Any vegetarians here?

ChrisCatMama

Hi guys I just joined a few days ago. I was wondering if any of you are vegetarian? If so, what made you decide to become one?
For me it wasn’t totally my choice. I found I’m horribly allergic to most animal products. Even the smell of meat makes me sick.
It’s always bothered me about eating meat anyways so I don’t mind not having it. Almost unfortunate there’s so many great alternatives out there and I am struggling to lose weight. I’m grateful for them but darn they’re so good! Lol

rainbow198

Welcome! I stopped eating meat without planning it a few years ago.

One day I just felt really great, but I didn't make any changes. I reviewed my food journal and discovered that I didn't eat any meat in 5 days.

So I kept going. I don't miss eating meat at all. I've found decent recipes and alternatives to the meals I used to enjoy. Going out to eat is not a problem. I'm getting my protein intake in daily as well.

I wasn't a heavy meat eater, but it was just what I was used to eating. I didn't eat pork or heavy meats like steak or ribs. I found it just sat in my belly. I would also often order veggie meals when going out because I enjoyed it.

Sorry to hear about your weight loss struggles. Are you counting calories and weighing your food?

ChrisCatMama

I’m just getting back into tracking my food. Exercise is not a problem. I work out even when I’m injured, doing what I can of course. I don’t have a kitchen scale but have been measuring it and counting my calories.
Thanks for sharing your story! It’s neat how you kinda stumbled into going veg. 😊

rainbow198

Ah gotcha. I'm the same way with exercise!

And thank you! I wish you the best of luck!

elliej

Hi, I was brought up vegetarian, never eaten meat, and now 2 years vegan. There are several veggie/vegan/herbivore groups you may like to join, the wider community is not always so accepting

ChrisCatMama

Elliej thanks! I would like to know more! Unfortunately I get some hate over it, though for me eating meat can be life threatening.

AnnPT77

"Adolescent whim" is what I usually say, since I decided when I was 18 (45 years ago). In reality, at the time, the global context was different from now, with really widespread famine that seemed to be truly related to food shortages (in retrospect, some/much of it was political). My understanding was that the protein inputs to produce a pound of meat were on average substantially less than the protein inputs, and I never was a huge meat fan, so I stopped eating it.

Overall, I feel like we fortunate first-worlders are unavoidably a moving bundle of global harm; and that it makes sense for each of us to moderate that by taking steps that are personally easy for us. (We can't possibly fix it all.) What those steps are would differ by person. Vegetarianism was one thing that was easy for me, and now it's a near-lifelong habit.

This all sounds pretty grim, but I'm not a grim person.

I don't feel that vegetarianism is inherently healthier than omnivorous eating. I do think that most people eat fewer than optimal amounts of fruits and veggies, but (1) sometimes sadly that's an economic issue (not usually, in the first world), and (2) it isn't really any of my business. But omnivores are just as capable of eating plenty of veggies/fruits as are vegetarians.

IMO, vegetarianism is slightly less socially convenient than omnivory (things like negotiating dinner invitations to one's non-vegetarian new boss's house, for one example), and requires slightly more attention to nutrition. Neither of those are insurmountable issues at all, but it leads me not to recommend vegetarianism to anyone who lacks any ethical, taste, or food-sensitivity motivation.

I'm ovo-lacto vegetarian, but I think I'd feel all of the above about strict vegetarianism/fully plant-based eating/veganism, too. I understand what I'd need to do to shift to those ways of eating, and it would be achievable. It's simply not my preference.

Personally, I dislike fake meats, protein powders and protein bars, so almost never eat them. (I don't think there's anything wrong with them: It's a taste-preference thing. Life is too short to routinely eat foods I don't enjoy.) I don't have any trouble meeting my fairly high protein goal, within my calorie goal, without those products. I think I could do so even as a strict vegetarian (fully plant-based).

jflongo

ChrisCatMama wrote: »

Hi guys I just joined a few days ago. I was wondering if any of you are vegetarian? If so, what made you decide to become one?
For me it wasn’t totally my choice. I found I’m horribly allergic to most animal products. Even the smell of meat makes me sick.
It’s always bothered me about eating meat anyways so I don’t mind not having it. Almost unfortunate there’s so many great alternatives out there and I am struggling to lose weight. I’m grateful for them but darn they’re so good! Lol

Welcome. I became Vegan about 2.5 months ago, after watching Forks over Knives. I am mainly doing this as a test since I have a physical soon, wanted to compare my blood workup from last year with this year.

However, since I have been Vegan, and after watching several documentaries and more, I will probably stick with it. Just keep in mind if you go Vegan, there are a few Vitamins you need to supplement with.

DanyellMcGinnis

Vegetarian since August of 1993 (I was 15 at the time, never much liked meat growing up so it wasn't hard to give up). Ovo-lacto, no interest in becoming vegan.

I have been up and down in weight over much of my adult life, but this site seems to be steering me in the right direction (lost 45 pounds in 2016, gained some back after abdominal surgery that required 7 weeks of little to no activity for recovery). Counting calories works for me. I can still have Halo Top and Reese's peanut butter eggs, I just have to fit them into my daily calorie goals. (I am just the sort of person who would do 20 extra minutes of kickboxing to eat a Reese's egg, though.)

amwestness

Hi! I'm pretty new here, too. I went vegetarian for the first time about 12 years ago, purely for weight loss reasons. I basically just cut out meat but otherwise continued eat the same so it only lasted a few months.
Later I cut out all commercially farmed meat and started reading labels and researching nutrition, which led to both my husband and I becoming vegetarian again. Now we've meatless for 8 years and I've been *mostly* vegan for 3 years (pizza gets me every now and again).
I ate like a superstar during my last pregnancy, but after I delivered I binged on doughnuts and oreos and convenience foods. For a year. Now I'm commited to getting fit and healthy and setting a good example for my kids.
I found that just keeping a food journal and counting calories is enough for me to start losing weight. There are a lot of vegetarian/vegan options out there that are not as healthy as you'd think! I had no idea how much I was eating!
Good luck on your journey!

LenGray

I'm still pretty new to the vegetarian game, but I'm enjoying it. I switched to ovo-lacto vegetarianism in February after--weirdly enough-- a 20-day challenge in my English class. We were supposed to do something we'd never done and I chose to go vegetarian. I found that I had more energy, slept better, and felt good about my food so I just kept going after the challenge was done.