when I went vegetarian...

gnalani · April 2013

Hi all! After being a reluctant meat eater all my life, I had an epiphany this week -- if I don't like meat, I don't have to eat it! I don't consider myself a vegetarian for the main reason that I love fish and also, I'm not opposed eating meat, I just don't really have a desire to (except for fish). I feel like a whole new world has opened up to me, and I know that kind of sounds dramatic, but I feel like a little kid who was just told that they never have to eat another vegetable ever again! lol

Its been a week since I decided to stop forcing myself to eat meat and I dropped 4 lbs and, surprisingly, have eaten more protein than on some of my best meat protein days. I feel less bloated and just all around better. I think that mostly is due to the fact that I've been cooking almost everything from scratch and eating very little processed foods.

I would love to hear some personal stories of people who have experienced any health benefits from eating less/no meat? Or some challenges too?

andieellengreen · April 2013

I decided to give up meat too when starting my diet. I dont particularly like meat anyway so it wasnt a problem for me. I do eat quorn though to which some people will say why when it looks like meat but im not a full on vegie anyway so dont mind that it looks like it! When I first started my diet I did the slimfast 3-2-1 plan and then for my 1 healthy meal a day had a quorn meal, this worked very well for me losing around 4 pound per week. It would have been more but weekends were my downfall! I havnt been on my diet now for 2 weeks and slowly some of the weight has come back on but im doing a 4 week challenge starting tomorrow which involves, slim fast, quorn, 30 day shred plus gym and other various activities such as the wii fit. Hoping to loose some weight and inches for my holiday in 4 weeks

ridiculous59 · April 2013

I tried vegan for about a year and didn't have great results (vegan is no fish, dairy products, or eggs). I felt bloated all the time, lethargic, put on about 20 pounds, and always felt like I needed to poop!!! I heard someone refer to veganism as being a "carbovore", and that's very true. Gluten, legumes, rice, quinoa all have so many carbs and apparently it just didn't sit well with my body's metabolism. So, I started eating dairy again (I had never stopped eating eggs) and fish and now eat meat a couple of times a week. I feel so much better and have way more energy. So the moral of my story? People's bodies process food differently. And everybody will tell you THEIR experience. Listen to your own body. And you'll know what works and what doesn't. If you feel great......you're doing something right. If you feel like crap....you're doing something wrong. Pretty simple

SteelySunshine · April 2013

I accidentally became Vegan. It's a choice now. But, I went vegetarian with my youngest daughter. Then at some point I just didn't like eggs anymore. I thought I would eliminate dairy from my diet at some point, but one day I just stopped eating dairy and decided I might as well just stop buying dairy products. It's really hard to give up cheese, but I was finding myself eating a whole lot more calories by having cheese as an option. I don't really need 600 cheese calories a day. I am doing ok on my carbivore diet for the time being. If I stall I will try adding more protein and cutting back on grains.