Semi-vegetarian lifestyle

pixiechick8321

Hi all,

So I have a few questions for all those who are "vegetarians". I am thinking about the process and I just wanted to know what people who have done it awhile think....in addition to the questions, please add any other helpful comments.

1. If you practice this lifestyle, do your other family members join in? How do you divide it if they eat everything and you don't?

2. It seems to be a personal choice - and I really like fish, so if I left fish, eggs, and dairy in the diet, would that still "count" or is it cheating somehow? I'm not sure I understand the subtle differences...

3. What kinds of processed foods do you eat?

4. Is this a healthier lifestyle than just eating all foods in moderation and eating healthy meat (ie, not animals fed with grain, small portions, etc) or is the choice more for ethical/moral reasons than health?

Thanks!!

calliope_music

1. If you practice this lifestyle, do your other family members join in? How do you divide it if they eat everything and you don't?

my husband isn't a veggie, but does eat the veggie meals i make (and sometimes he cooks them as well). he will normally get meat if we eat out.

2. It seems to be a personal choice - and I really like fish, so if I left fish, eggs, and dairy in the diet, would that still "count" or is it cheating somehow? I'm not sure I understand the subtle differences...

someone who eats fish is called a pescaterian and someone who doesn't eat any animal products is a vegan. leaving in eggs and dairy, you're a lacto-ovo vegetarian (which is what i am). i try not to eat fish at all, but i would pick that over meat if i needed to.

3. What kinds of processed foods do you eat?

i sadly eat a lot of processed foods. i try to keep them to a minimum but they are very convienient for lunches. fake chicken patties, veggie burgers, etc.

4. Is this a healthier lifestyle than just eating all foods in moderation and eating healthy meat (ie, not animals fed with grain, small portions, etc) or is the choice more for ethical/moral reasons than health?

my choice was for moral/ethical reasons but i am also seeing a health benefit. i have more energy and my skin looks better. i'm sure if you googled it (or someone will probably eventually answer), that there are huge benefits to a veggie lifestyle.

good luck! feel free to add me if you'd like

pixiechick8321

Thanks calliope! Bumping for more responses...

gingerb85

Hi all,

So I have a few questions for all those who are "vegetarians". I am thinking about the process and I just wanted to know what people who have done it awhile think....in addition to the questions, please add any other helpful comments.

1. If you practice this lifestyle, do your other family members join in? How do you divide it if they eat everything and you don't?

2. It seems to be a personal choice - and I really like fish, so if I left fish, eggs, and dairy in the diet, would that still "count" or is it cheating somehow? I'm not sure I understand the subtle differences...

3. What kinds of processed foods do you eat?

4. Is this a healthier lifestyle than just eating all foods in moderation and eating healthy meat (ie, not animals fed with grain, small portions, etc) or is the choice more for ethical/moral reasons than health?

Thanks!!

1. I am vegan and have been for almost two years. I am the sole veggie in my family. When my husband is home, I cook a vegan meal one night and a meal with meat the next, adapting the dish for me as I go generally. Because I had been cutting down on meat for years before going veg AND because I had also transitioned my family from a meal where meat is the star to meals where meat is simply an ingredient, I think it went over much easier.

Now my husband has been working out of state for the past seven months and for the most part I cook all vegan meals. The other night, I did make a salad and grilled a chicken breast for my girls (15 and 17) and tofu for me, but the rest of their meals for the past two weeks have been vegan. That said, they have options of meat for lunch if they wish, and they eat what they want when they go out. I do make fish for them occasionally for supper, subbing tofu for me. One of my girls' carnivorous boyfriend eats with us frequently and surprised me by requesting my vegan chili! He said he loves it! Do tell!

When I go to family functions at my in-laws, I always bring a dish I can eat. My MIL is wonderful about trying to accommodate my diet, even though I have told her she certainly doesn't have to make anything special for me. Usually she does and I have had people drooling of MY stuff!

2. There are different "degrees." Vegan = no animal products whatsoever. I eat no meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and even do not eat honey (mainly because I've never really liked it - I sub agave nectar for honey in recipes). Vegetarians may eat dairy or eggs or honey. Pescatarians are vegetarians who occasionally eat fish/shellfish. It's not cheating, just a matter of personal preference. The reason I eat vegan rather than vegetarian is that I went vegan for health reasons - mainly because of a family history of high cholesterol and heart disease. The eggs and dairy on a vegetarian diet would be things I would definitely not want to eat because they are high in cholesterol. And since being vegan, my cholesterol (on a low fat, healthy, whole foods type diet) has gone from 205 to after 18 months vegan 168.

3. I eat very few processed foods. I do eat tofu, which is processed, and I consume a few other soy products - soy milk, soy sour cream, soy yogurt - these are used infrequently. Tofu might make an appearance once a week in my menus. I prefer almond milk to soy milk. I will use soy sour cream at most twice a week - usually not at all. Soy yogurt is generally less than once a month in baked goods. I prefer beans and whole grains and fresh or frozen veggies and fruits.

4. I answered this one up there ^^^, but now that I have been vegan for a while, and especially after watching the documentaries "Food, Inc." and "Earthlings," I highly doubt I could EVER eat animal products again. The one thing that has surprised me the most is my sensitivity to smells of the foods I no longer consume. I dislike cooking or even touching meat now - it makes me nauseous - and while stinky cheeses have always bothered me, it does much more now. I hold my breath in Whole Foods while getting my almond milk and non-dairy yogurts and butters because it's right by the cheese section. Bleh.

Kristhin

1. If you practice this lifestyle, do your other family members join in? How do you divide it if they eat everything and you don't?

When I first started out they just picked on my incessantly and it got really annoying. Now, while mostly they still eat tons of meat, they seem to either keep quiet about it or else, like my parents, become more veg friendly--like they will these days acknowledge that less meat is healthier, and they try to incorporate more veggies into their diet and less meat than they used to. Also my mom got into learning more about health even though none of my fam has gone veg with me (unless you count my live in boyfriend ) My boyfriend decided to try vegetarianism a few months after I went vegan and now he's vegan too. He's at times even more serious about it than I am!

2. It seems to be a personal choice - and I really like fish, so if I left fish, eggs, and dairy in the diet, would that still "count" or is it cheating somehow? I'm not sure I understand the subtle differences...

That would make you a pescatarian--which is great!

3. What kinds of processed foods do you eat?

I tend to eat veggie burgers a lot, which are processed. Better for you to eat it in a more natural state such as tempeh or tofu but I can't help it. I love my veggie burgers. Try Amy's brand, they're good.

4. Is this a healthier lifestyle than just eating all foods in moderation and eating healthy meat (ie, not animals fed with grain, small portions, etc) or is the choice more for ethical/moral reasons than health?

My veganism is for many, many reasons--compassion toward other sentient beings, compassion for exploited workers, compassion for hungry people, wanting sustainability, wanting to help stop environmental devastation, and lastly, health.
While health is the least of my reasons for doing it, sometimes its a person's ONLY reason. This usually means it will not last though so I suggest educating yourself on the other aspects of it. For information on why its much healthier for you and why meat is bad, try watching Food Matters, Simply Raw, and Forks Over Knives. For reasons beyond health try watching The Witness, Earthlings, and reading The World Peace Diet--real eye openers.

Good luck!

_GlaDOS_

I’m not a vegetarian or a vegan, but in general I eat about a 70% vegetarian diet, and I often have vegan days and don’t even realize it.

1. If you practice this lifestyle, do your other family members join in? How do you divide it if they eat everything and you don't?

My boyfriend still eats meat. I don’t eat red meat or processed meats much anymore, but since I’m the one who cooks, if he wants to eat dinner with me, then he will eat what I make, otherwise, there is plenty of other things he can make for himself. If I had children, they would eat what I made for them as well. There is no reason to feed my family crap just because they think they are “picky” eaters. It’s pretty rude to the chef anyway, imo, to not eat what is made for you and put in front of you. Therefore, my boyfriend eats whatever I make, whether vegetarian, vegan, or something with meat. I’m so glad he eats pretty much anything.

2. It seems to be a personal choice - and I really like fish, so if I left fish, eggs, and dairy in the diet, would that still "count" or is it cheating somehow? I'm not sure I understand the subtle differences...

I like fish, eggs, and cheese too, in moderation. I also eat chicken sometimes. I describe myself as someone who simply tries to eat a whole-foods, plant-based diet. I think even if I went completely vegan with my diet, I wouldn’t use the label, because I think it describes a whole culture that I don’t necessarily agree with and I think at times, can be fairly hypocritical. So it’s not “cheating”, and there is a term for the way you eat if you want to use it—“pescatarian”. As you move toward this type of diet you’ll find your own ethical reasons for eating or not eating certain things, which is perfectly normal. Describe yourself and your diet however you want; the lines are blurred usually anyway.

3. What kinds of processed foods do you eat?

I try my best to stay away from these, but I do eat granola bars sometimes, as well as some cereals and pasta. That’s really about it. Everything else, like breads and grains, I try to get as minimally processed as possible.

4. Is this a healthier lifestyle than just eating all foods in moderation and eating healthy meat (ie, not animals fed with grain, small portions, etc) or is the choice more for ethical/moral reasons than health?

Eating more whole foods and plants is healthier. Smaller portions and less red and processed meat in general is healthier.


If you are more interested in the health benefits of a vegan diet, I recommend the documentary “Forks Over Knives”. :flowerforyou:

MrsCon40

1. If you practice this lifestyle, do your other family members join in? How do you divide it if they eat everything and you don't?

I do all the cooking so everyone eats vegan at home. My husband eats whatever he wants when he's not home - and I do punch the "good wife" clock occasionally by perfectly cooking a beautiful locally grown, grass fed steak.

2. It seems to be a personal choice - and I really like fish, so if I left fish, eggs, and dairy in the diet, would that still "count" or is it cheating somehow? I'm not sure I understand the subtle differences...

No - that would make you a Pescatarian. No need to feel guilty or like you're cheating.

3. What kinds of processed foods do you eat?

We do eat some soy sausage and lunch meat stuff - but not a lot because it's really expensive.

4. Is this a healthier lifestyle than just eating all foods in moderation and eating healthy meat (ie, not animals fed with grain, small portions, etc) or is the choice more for ethical/moral reasons than health?

You can be healthy no matter what diet you identify with...

crystalinda

It sounds like most of your questions have been answered thoroughly. So I just wanted to add a few resources.


If you're a veggie livinging with non-veggies it can still be done with out much effect to those around you. In my household I do most of the cooking so I often make dishes that are veggie based then add whatever meat the meat-eaters would want at the end or on the side. Btw, I'm a pescatarian so I think this add a degree of simplicity too, because non-veggies are likely to eat more fish and less meat if you do as wel.

Some examples of the meals I prepare regularly:

- Fajitas (I do shrimp, they do chicken)
- Tacos (I do potato tacos they used to do ground turkey but now also do potato)
- veggie stir fry ( all veggies and tofu, make teriyaki chicken on the side for non-veggies)
- spaghetti & marinara (meat on the side or 2 different sauces)
- burgers (meat and veggie patties cooked separately)

Over time my husband has come around and doesn't even feel like he needs to add meat or chicken to his meals anymore because he likes what I eat. He will still orders meat when go out though.

Here are a few cookbooks I often recommend for veggies who live with non-veggies:

Double Take:
http://www.amazon.com/Double-Take-Fabulous-Vegetarians-Omnivores/dp/1558324240/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315334122&sr=1-6

The Adaptable Feast:
http://www.amazon.com/Adaptable-Feast-Satisfying-Vegetarians-Omnivores/dp/B005FOIMAQ/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

I try not to eat many processed foods but haven't gotten completely "clean" yet, look into Michael Pollan's books he talks a lot about processed foods and how you should eat. Check out his books "Food Rules" and " In Defense of Food". also be aware that there are many pre-made foods that incorporate beef and chicken stock in thier ingredients. Like Sauces and soups, keep this in mind when eating out too, you should be able to ask your waitress to find out if any of the soups, rice, or sauces animal stock.

Your last question, refer back to Michael Pollan. The problem is that the American diet is high in fat (mostly from processed and engineered foods) and large portions of meat. This has changed drastically over the years through improvements in manufacturing and farming making it cheaper to produce unhealthy foods that are more convenient to consumers in comparison to natural whole foods. Michael Pollan's idealogy is that you should eat only food (if it has more than 5 ingredients is less likely to be food and more likely to be a "food-like" substance), eat mostly plants, and don't eat too much.


Lastly, there's an App for that! Look into "Fooducate" if you have a smart phone you can download an app. It has a scanner, you can scan products and it will give you the good, the bad, and the ugly about that product. Just like the name indicates it helps educate you about food!

pixiechick8321

Thanks so much everyone!

@crystallinda, I have been reading Pollen, that's what's really put me onto thinking about all this!

The other books mentioned also sound interesting so I'll try and get to them as well.

I like the ideas suggested for food and the fact that I don't have to give up all meat, dairy, etc (esp. cheese, I love cheese, good cheese though!).