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rrrbecca11
Posts: 477
My name is Rebecca, and I'm a vegetarian. 
Just a little 12 step humor there to kick things off, although vegetarianism is one lifestyle choice you would never want to break yourself from. I started this group to give a place for us vegetarians to hang out and swap stories, recipes, whatever. I don't consider myself the moderator, per se, or the "owner" of this group - I just started it. I hope you all will post often and let's get a good community going here. Invite your vegetarian friends...or those considering eliminating meat from their diet.
Becca
Just a little 12 step humor there to kick things off, although vegetarianism is one lifestyle choice you would never want to break yourself from. I started this group to give a place for us vegetarians to hang out and swap stories, recipes, whatever. I don't consider myself the moderator, per se, or the "owner" of this group - I just started it. I hope you all will post often and let's get a good community going here. Invite your vegetarian friends...or those considering eliminating meat from their diet.
Becca
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:drinker: Thanks for the Discussion / Post !
Looking forward to seeing lots post and join.
Have a great day Becca :flowerforyou:0 -
Glad to be a member! I have been vegetarian for just over a year and I love it! I look forward to chatting with y'all 0
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Very cool! Thanks for the invite!
"I'm Ginger and have been vegan for 2 years."
I feel SO much better without animal products in my diet! Cholesterol has gone from over 200 to 168 in just 18 months. I've gone from being borderline anemic most of my adult life (while eating meat) to now having perfect hemoglobin/hematocrit levels without iron supplementation. No more tummy issues. (hello? how did I survive 44 years without knowing I was lactose intolerant? I always craved dairy!)0 -
Hi, I'm Susan. I am 54 and easing into this as it is quite a change for me to try to implement living with a big Carnivore! I saw Joel Fuhrman on PBS and read his Eat to Live book which was very compelling! So I am venturing forth and making the changes that I can while I try to get my husband to adjust to me not wanting to take part so much in the meat portions of our meals. It is just the two of us so he feels like I am taking the fun out of eating together. Yes, I admit I was much more fun to eat with when I was 205 pounds, but I like how I feel now and want to live a long and healthy life, so I feel having mainly a plant based diet is really the way for me to achieve that.
I originally started to lose weight as I turned 50 with the help of Dr. Oz's book: You On a Diet, so I have already gotten rid of the white flour and saturated fats and sugars which all were such substantial parts of my diet. I am a good vegetable and fruit eater so I have plenty of options, but would like more recipes. I have found some great websites to help me out in the meantime that I'd like to share with you:
www.vegweb.com
www.katheats.com
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/
I'm looking forward to spending time here and getting to know you all!0 -
Hi Everyone! I am transitioning from Vegetarianism to Veganism right now and well, it's a longer road than it was to go Vegetarian, but so far so good! Milk is completely out and eggs are still there SOMETIMES when I bake, and well- cheese is.... Cheese! LOL I have daiya when I can and I skip it typically, but sometimes it's just good. LOL I totally gave up yogurts and cottage cheese etc.
Anyway, that is where I am right now! I look forward to hearing/getting to know all of you! 0 -
Hi my name is Sam and I've only been a vegetarian for 3 months, but i love it. I feel so much better and it's great. Thanks for starting this
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Kim I am much the same, I don't drink milk and I avoid eggs 99% of the time, but I do love me some cheese! I might eventually cut that out more, but I don't think I could ever give it up 100% as I would miss my pizza and cheesy pasta. (Although I don't eat those much at all since they are high calorie items and more for treats)0
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Hey everyone. I've only recently made the transition to becoming a lacto-ovo-vegetarian but I've never been a big meat eater. I would go for weeks without eating any and was always very fussy so decided it would be easier just to give it up completely.
I'm curious what other peoples reasons for being vegetarian are? taste, health, animal rights?0 -
Hey everyone. I've only recently made the transition to becoming a lacto-ovo-vegetarian but I've never been a big meat eater. I would go for weeks without eating any and was always very fussy so decided it would be easier just to give it up completely.
I'm curious what other peoples reasons for being vegetarian are? taste, health, animal rights?
For me, it is a combination. I too had issues for many years, feeling a vague unease that I couldn't quite put my finger on whenever I ate meat. I read Robin Cook's 'Toxin' in about 1999-2000, and that put me off ground beef forever...but still I would eat steaks, pork, etc...then I read Sinclair Lewis's 'The Jungle' (an old book about the meat packing industry in Chicago), and that did me for all red meat, and pork. So for many years, I ate only poultry and fish. But still felt bad about it. I could not justify to myself human consumption of meat if it meant that meat had to be raised and kept in inhumane conditions...so I looked for free-range poultry sources and learned to fish. But still.
This past summer, I read 'The China Study' by T. Colin Campbell, and that sealed the deal. Now, I understood my feelings of unease. Animal protein is not good for the human body. Vegetable protein is superior by far, and contains many other nutrients and micronutrients whereas meat contains ONLY PROTEIN. Also, I was becomingly increasingly aware of the enviornmental impact of meat consumption in this country in particular.
Tie all this together, and you'll see why, on July 24th of this year, I ate my last meal of meat, wiped my mouth, put my napkin down, and have not looked back. I have never felt better in my life. Healthy, happy, light of spirit, sleep like a contented child, amazing energy and stamina, and paying more attention to nutrition and to the world around me than ever before.
It's a personal choice. I've made mine. I don't preach it, I just live it.
Becca0 -
Hi, I'm Maggie, and I've been vegetarian for over 30 years now. I don't really think about it much now - it's just part of who I am. My main motivating factor all that time ago was animal welfare concerns (not just the fact that I was eating my friends, but also issues around treatment of animals in the processes of rearing, slaughter etc). At that time I was told by very many people that my diet was very unhealthy, particularly because I wasn't getting enough protein. Of course I scoffed at that, and now the vegetarian diet is generally viewed favourably. However, ironically, since using MFP, and looking seriously at nutrition, I have come to the conclusion that I wasn't getting enough protein after all. I've upped the protein considerably, through vegetarian sources of course, and feel SO much better. In fact, I can say in all honesty that I've never felt better!
I am considering becoming vegan in the future, mainly through concern about the treatment of cattle, but I would want to do it properly with good attention to nutrition. I can only see that it would take up a lot of time, which is something I really don't have much of. So maybe it is something to aim for in my retirement - alas, a long way off yet (I will probably have to work until I'm 70, and I'm 'only' 53 now).0 -
Hello everyone! I haven't been a vegetarian for too long I'm going on week 2. So i need the support. I cut meat out of my life mainly after educating myself about the treatment of animals and what really happens in slaughter houses/animal farms.My family has graciously decided to join me. They only eat meat when we are out at a restaurant.0
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I'm actually brand new to this lifestyle, read Eating Animals, then saw Earthlings, and realized I had to make a change. Any advice and tips for a rookie would be greatly appreciated!0
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So glad I came across this group - looking forward to seeing tips and recipes.
Im a vegetarian, noone else I know is a vegetarian.
I cook meat meals for my husband and daughter and just leave the meat out for me 0 -
Hi, I'm Julie... I've been a vegetarian for about 3 years now. I'd like to go completely vegan, but I haven't gotten there yet. I'm glad to find this group and hope to learn a lot from you guys!0
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Hi! I'm Sharon and have been a vegetarian for about 10 years. My vegetarian choices have not been the best, but I am hoping for improvement as I adopt a healthier lifestyle.0
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I'm excited to be hear. I'm Amy and I've been strictly vegetarian for one year, mostly vegan for the last several months.
I feel so much better. I've had migraines since I was 9 (I'm 35 now). I usually had anywhere from 2-6 in a month. In January I stayed strictly vegan and have only had dairy a few times since then. Surprise, I've had I think two migraines in the last 11 months. Even medicated I've never gone that long!!
I'm happy to meet some other veggies here! 0 -
Hi! I'm Lulu and I'm a vegetarian. I go vegan off & on, but have trouble resisting eggs! I belong to a local CSA, and we get a dozen fresh eggs from right down the road every week. At least I know they're from happy free-roaming birds (and boy are they goooood eggs).
My boyfriend and I are way into vegetarian cooking, and we're forever experimenting. We first had seitan a few years ago at our favorite burrito place--in WV of all places--and ever since have been in love with it! I'd love to share some of our favorite recipes, or at least the healthiest ones.
Oh, and I suppose I'm vegetarian for 3 reasons:
-Taste: I've never been a big meat fan.
-Environment: I don't like the environmental impact of commercial livestock (or factory farming in general that is...we buy local when possible).
-Health: I'm concerned with the long term over consumption of animal proteins.
Oh, and I'm an animal trainer, and have worked with/trained most of the animals people regularly eat. They don't deserve it! Not even chickens
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Thanks, all ya'll, for posting and keep spreading the word and let's try to grow this community. Maybe after the holiday rush settles down we can all visit here more often and add links and recipes, etc. I'd like to invite all of you to visit my vegetarian blog @ www.passthetomatoes.com
Becca0
