Vegetarians?

terraskye
terraskye Posts: 370 Member
edited September 21 in Food and Nutrition
I'm trying to eat a 95% vegetarian diet with the other 5% fish....I'll be eating dairy though and trying to cut off eggs too. Would love to find some people on here with similar eating habits for sharing and support:)

Replies

  • kristinlough
    kristinlough Posts: 828 Member
    I'm not a vegetarian (and don't know that I could be one) but I eat vegetarian meals fairly often. I'd love to hear recipes/suggestions/etc. to keep my low-meat diet up!! I applaud you for being an almost-veg! :smile:
  • lab_goddess
    lab_goddess Posts: 170 Member
    Hey there! Vegetarian here, no fish for me though. Not quite vegan yet--I've found it a bit tough in practice to avoid dairy and eggs consistently. however, I've cut almost all dairy and feel better for it! Good luck! Feel free to add me as a friend!:flowerforyou:
  • monkeysmum
    monkeysmum Posts: 522 Member
    hi im veggie no fish but do have dairy not sure id eat a ood enough diet without eggs and cheese feel free to add me if you want
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
    Hey there! Vegetarian here, no fish for me though. Not quite vegan yet--I've found it a bit tough in practice to avoid dairy and eggs consistently. however, I've cut almost all dairy and feel better for it! Good luck! Feel free to add me as a friend!:flowerforyou:

    Thanks :) I added you
  • becky123456
    becky123456 Posts: 75 Member
    Hi - my son and I have been meat free for several years.. I will very occasionally eat fish or shellfish, though.. We eat a lot of the Morningstar Farms products - they have great meat free barbecus riblets, "chicken" nuggets, and veggie burgers that we eat about 3 times a week for the protein.. The other nights we eat all fresh veggies, brown rice, chick pea burgers, lots of options. Good luck! We enjoy not having meat and feel alot healthier for it too! Feel free to add me as a friend if you want! Becky
  • African_Goddess
    African_Goddess Posts: 46
    Im not all the way Vegetarian yet but im working on it, I have cut out red meat, pork, and chicken I do eat fish and turkey sometime, but I have found that the brand Morning Star has some great meat substitute and they taste really good, they have the burger patties and the chicken flavored strips that i put on my salad and I make chili and stuffed bellpeppers and taco's with the meatless crumbs they taste just like ground beef, but if u go to their website u will find alot of recipes and as I said b4 it is great.
  • African_Goddess
    African_Goddess Posts: 46
    I luv Morningstar it is great, my husband doesnt eat meat at all so im slowly go in that direction.
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
    Hi - my son and I have been meat free for several years.. I will very occasionally eat fish or shellfish, though.. We eat a lot of the Morningstar Farms products - they have great meat free barbecus riblets, "chicken" nuggets, and veggie burgers that we eat about 3 times a week for the protein.. The other nights we eat all fresh veggies, brown rice, chick pea burgers, lots of options. Good luck! We enjoy not having meat and feel alot healthier for it too! Feel free to add me as a friend if you want! Becky

    Oh I wish they carried Morningstar products here in Canada..I really miss that..I heard the Lightline products (smartbacon) was good too..I can pretty much get most Yves products and some Boca stuff. I'm going to a store tomorrow that has their own line of meatless too that I want to try.
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
    I luv Morningstar it is great, my husband doesnt eat meat at all so im slowly go in that direction.


    I miss Morningstar stuff....My hubby is a meat eater but I figure that is his thing...I'm mostly doing it because I have huge digestive issues with meat:( even the hormone, free range stuff
  • Alleghany
    Alleghany Posts: 200
    I strive to eat as few animal products as possible. I'd love more veggie/vegan friends! :flowerforyou:
  • jeniam
    jeniam Posts: 13
    I am not vegetarian, but eat a predominately vegetarian diet. I do eat dairy and have no intention of stopping although I limit it due to calorie limitiations and I buy most of my dairy from a local non-conventional farm. Meat no more than 2 times a week and usually not that often. No pork at all, very little red meat. Usually chicken breast or turkey breast. Not much fish frankly because we eat mostly organic and organic fish is not cheap. I rarely eat processed or packaged foods and that cuts out the meat -free products. Feel free to friend me, though as i would also love the support as well.
  • ryanmelissa09
    ryanmelissa09 Posts: 36
    Vegetarian here as well. :smile:
    Not all the way vegan , but almost at 100% there. Still love my occasional egg here and there and of course cheese.
    Would love to here any great ideas or recipes .
  • ruth1104
    ruth1104 Posts: 40 Member
    I've been veggie for 9 years! Although I have gone back to eating fish in the past few years. I find Quorn products really good as they're very low fat and filling, made from mushroom protein (although they don't taste like mushrooms!)
  • moreveggiesplease
    moreveggiesplease Posts: 12
    I am! Happy to see so many others on here!
  • Jane1848
    Jane1848 Posts: 19 Member
    I've been Vegan for 6 years, Vegetarian 10+ years. I'd never go back. :smile:

    I'm not an "evangelical vegan" (meaning, I won't preach "vegetarianism" at you). But, I'd love to share anything about my recipes and experience.

    I'm glad to see other vegetarians on the message boards! I live in rural Northeast PA and it's rare that I meet another vegetarian/vegan. :heart:
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
    Update: I totally gave up fish/shellfish but am now classifying myself as an ovo-lacto vegetarian. I feel great, loads of energy and happy since I've stopped eating meat:)
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
    I've been Vegan for 6 years, Vegetarian 10+ years. I'd never go back. :smile:

    I'm not an "evangelical vegan" (meaning, I won't preach "vegetarianism" at you). But, I'd love to share anything about my recipes and experience.

    I'm glad to see other vegetarians on the message boards! I live in rural Northeast PA and it's rare that I meet another vegetarian/vegan. :heart:

    Did you find it heard going vegan from being a vegetarian?
  • BlueLikeJazz
    BlueLikeJazz Posts: 219 Member
    terraskye: very happy that you bumped this thread and very happy for you that you have cut out all meat now! Do you care to share what made you decide to go veggie in the first place? If not, that's perfectly fine! Just curious :)

    I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian for about a year a while back until I spent 6 weeks in Mexico and it just became too difficult to maintain there. Well, I've always had the little Jiminy Cricket conscious bugging me about it but it wasn't 'til very recently that I caved in and decided I could no longer go on eating meat with a clear conscience in regard to the animals, workers, farmers, or environment. The movie "Food, Inc." had some to do with that, I highly recommend it!

    I'm a Heartland girl, surrounded by dairy farms, and I haven't found it too difficult so far to give up dairy. I love soy milk, prefer it over cow's milk actually. And cheese is a very yummy topping but it ends up being so high in calories, I didn't use it much anyways once I started eating healthy. So I probably won't miss it much, haven't so far. And although it's hard to really duplicate an egg, there is always tofu scramble!

    Going vegan is much easier once you are convicted to do so...if that makes sense. I think it would be harder for me to follow if I didn't have the ethical reasoning to do so.
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
    terraskye: very happy that you bumped this thread and very happy for you that you have cut out all meat now! Do you care to share what made you decide to go veggie in the first place? If not, that's perfectly fine! Just curious :)

    I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian for about a year a while back until I spent 6 weeks in Mexico and it just became too difficult to maintain there. Well, I've always had the little Jiminy Cricket conscious bugging me about it but it wasn't 'til very recently that I caved in and decided I could no longer go on eating meat with a clear conscience in regard to the animals, workers, farmers, or environment. The movie "Food, Inc." had some to do with that, I highly recommend it!

    I'm a Heartland girl, surrounded by dairy farms, and I haven't found it too difficult so far to give up dairy. I love soy milk, prefer it over cow's milk actually. And cheese is a very yummy topping but it ends up being so high in calories, I didn't use it much anyways once I started eating healthy. So I probably won't miss it much, haven't so far. And although it's hard to really duplicate an egg, there is always tofu scramble!

    Going vegan is much easier once you are convicted to do so...if that makes sense. I think it would be harder for me to follow if I didn't have the ethical reasoning to do so.

    I love the movie Food Inc!!:) I bought it through iTunes and its on my itouch.

    I know I may possibly get flack from this but its not that I personally didn't like meat, but the fact that it was making me physically sick everytime I ate it. Horrible stomach pains that would keep me up all night. After 20 years of this I finally got tired of being in pain, being bloated and not having any energy. I tried free range, hormone free but that didn't work either. I figured I'd rather just stop eating it and feeling better.

    I do love scrambled tofu but I also love hard boiled eggs...I do love almond milk but like regular milk for cooking and Mmmm cheese.. but so far those haven't been making me ill but if they do then they'll have to go too. I dont eat them often though because of the calories or cholesterol.

    I tried vegan once about three years ago but I only lasted one month. I really hope this time around I can still with being vegetarian for a long time:)

    P.S. We live in Cattle Country so I feel your pain :) being Heartland Girl
  • TerraEarth
    TerraEarth Posts: 16 Member
    Hi,
    I've been lacto-ovo- vegetarian for 7 years now. I find that I have been relying too much on dairy for my protein though. Its time to step up the other sources for me!
    Good luck, and great name Terraskye- is your name really Terra? I have only met two others in my life!
  • sgcorrie
    sgcorrie Posts: 22 Member

    I know I may possibly get flack from this but its not that I personally didn't like meat, but the fact that it was making me physically sick everytime I ate it. Horrible stomach pains that would keep me up all night.

    This is exactly why I went vegetarian 6 years ago!

    I'm vegan, have been for almost 2 years and love every minute of it. I always thought I would miss cheese, but it's really not a big thing for me!
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
    Hi,
    I've been lacto-ovo- vegetarian for 7 years now. I find that I have been relying too much on dairy for my protein though. Its time to step up the other sources for me!
    Good luck, and great name Terraskye- is your name really Terra? I have only met two others in my life!


    I wish:) My name is Fiona though
  • absie107
    absie107 Posts: 290
    The issue is the quality of meat in our system. Industrial meat just is... horrible. The system is sick, and the meat is sick, so we get sick from it. I'd be happy to have meat once or twice a week if it was 100% grass fed beef or chicken that were outside their whole lives... Meat isn't inherently horrible for us, but generally having it too much, as Americans often do, will make you sick sick sick.

    The other issue of course is the moral... people can't deal with the killing part of eating meat. Animals do it, take life for food, all the time, but I think we have issues with our own brutality and animality. Factory farming and completely cutting people off from how they get their food is definitely not the way to go, though...
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
    The issue is the quality of meat in our system. Industrial meat just is... horrible. The system is sick, and the meat is sick, so we get sick from it. I'd be happy to have meat once or twice a week if it was 100% grass fed beef or chicken that were outside their whole lives... Meat isn't inherently horrible for us, but generally having it too much, as Americans often do, will make you sick sick sick.

    The other issue of course is the moral... people can't deal with the killing part of eating meat. Animals do it, take life for food, all the time, but I think we have issues with our own brutality and animality. Factory farming and completely cutting people off from how they get their food is definitely not the way to go, though...

    Unfortunately for me even 100% grass feed beef and local free outdoor raised chickens made me ill too:( I dont have anything personally against eating it and I still prepare it for my iron gut husband but its just something that isn't for me now. To be on the safe side we only buy and consume confirmed eggs from cage free outdoor raised chicken..the eggs don't make me sick which is good because I love eggs:)

    I do agree with what you are saying though
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
    The issue is the quality of meat in our system. Industrial meat just is... horrible. The system is sick, and the meat is sick, so we get sick from it. I'd be happy to have meat once or twice a week if it was 100% grass fed beef or chicken that were outside their whole lives... Meat isn't inherently horrible for us, but generally having it too much, as Americans often do, will make you sick sick sick.

    The other issue of course is the moral... people can't deal with the killing part of eating meat. Animals do it, take life for food, all the time, but I think we have issues with our own brutality and animality. Factory farming and completely cutting people off from how they get their food is definitely not the way to go, though...

    Unfortunately for me even 100% grass feed beef and local free outdoor raised chickens made me ill too:( I dont have anything personally against eating it and I still prepare it for my iron gut husband but its just something that isn't for me now. To be on the safe side we only buy and consume confirmed eggs from cage free outdoor raised chicken..the eggs don't make me sick which is good because I love eggs:)

    I do agree with what you are saying though


    Its dumb we can't edit our posts....I know people are vegetarian or vegans for a lot of different reasons but mine is for health plus after watching Food Inc I was quite disgusted by the way animals are treated to feed humans. Im not going to rag on my hubby for his choice to continue eating meat but I'll make every effort to at least make sure it comes from the least cruel sources possible:)..its the least I can do
  • BlueLikeJazz
    BlueLikeJazz Posts: 219 Member
    The other issue of course is the moral... people can't deal with the killing part of eating meat. Animals do it, take life for food, all the time, but I think we have issues with our own brutality and animality. Factory farming and completely cutting people off from how they get their food is definitely not the way to go, though...

    The difference, though, is that carnivorous animals do it out of necessity. Humans do not need to eat meat (and in fact most of us are doing more harm than good to ourselves by doing so) to survive.


    I certainly don't strive to force my beliefs on anyone else. My husband is a meat-eater and refuses to eat much of my veggie-fare, and I don't chastise him for his choice at all. I respect meat-eaters' choice in the same way I desire them to respect mine. I do wish, though, that more people would inform themselves of what is in their food, especially their animal products, where it comes from, and also be more aware of some of the disgusting practices involved in factory farming. I've heard numerous meat-eaters say "I just don't think about it," or "I just don't WANT TO think about it" in regard to these things. And I'll admit, I was the same way, but my conscience finally got to me. I honestly feel happier, healthier and more at peace without animals on my plate.
  • DancingYogini
    DancingYogini Posts: 377
    Vegetarian here...almost vegan. Cheese is the hardest to give up, there really isn't a decent substitute...when I was fully vegan, I just learned to live without it, pizza is actually quite good with red sauce and a ton of veggies :tongue: . My DH is an omni as is my 5 year old. My 12 and 9 year olds are both lacto-ovo (occasionally pesca-fish). I am an ethical vegetarian. I actually like the taste of meat, just couldn't in good conscience keep eating it, when I knew that is fundamentally wrong. I will only buy grass fed beef or buffalo for the meat eaters in my family, but I won't prepare it, I can't :sad:
  • Jane1848
    Jane1848 Posts: 19 Member
    No-- the transition was pretty easy for me for a few reasons.

    Although I had considered it for a while, I decided overnight to just stop eating all dairy, which was the last non-vegan element in my diet. One night, I ate pizza and ice cream and felt so sick afterward that I said, "Enough!" and just gave it up.

    A second thing that made my transition so easy was the overwhelmingly positive response from my body! I felt better. My skin cleared up quickly. And, most surprisingly, my allergies went away. I used to take prescription and over-the-counter allergy medicines all year round to manage my indoor and outdoor allergies. When I gave up dairy, all of my allergies disappeared--I haven't taken any medication for them in years.

    I do admit that the biggest challenge in being vegan comes from how other people see you. They're either interested or they're annoyed by vegans. The second challenge is, of course, finding vegan-friendly foods in restaurants. But this is becoming easier as more restaurants post menus and ingredients online. And, if you're polite and patient, you can ALWAYS get the chef to make something simple and delicious for you.

    I'm vegan for both ethical and health reasons-- I'd never want to go back to a non-vegan lifestyle. It's an integral part of who I am and what I believe. :smile:
  • Jane1848
    Jane1848 Posts: 19 Member
    I've been Vegan for 6 years, Vegetarian 10+ years. I'd never go back. :smile:

    I'm not an "evangelical vegan" (meaning, I won't preach "vegetarianism" at you). But, I'd love to share anything about my recipes and experience.

    I'm glad to see other vegetarians on the message boards! I live in rural Northeast PA and it's rare that I meet another vegetarian/vegan. :heart:

    Did you find it heard going vegan from being a vegetarian?

    I just posted in response to this question....but it didn't look like a reply...! Sorry. :heart:
  • maccabeth
    maccabeth Posts: 111 Member

    Oh I wish they carried Morningstar products here in Canada..I really miss that..I heard the Lightline products (smartbacon) was good too..I can pretty much get most Yves products and some Boca stuff. I'm going to a store tomorrow that has their own line of meatless too that I want to try.

    Can you get Quorn? We are just starting to get that here in the States, but I know in England they have TONS of Quorn products and I like them a lot more than Yves (it's a poor substitute for Morningstar! Sorry, Yves fans! lol) From my experience, you get more UK products in Canada than we do here. Worth searching out. :)

    And it's easy to go veg even without those products. SOOO many easy veg meals to make. I love sauteed vegs (asparagus, any leafy greens, mushrooms and onions and peppers to make a veggie hoagie.) Oven roasting stuff is also nice since you can use less oil.

    Good luck! Feel free to add me, too, and/or PM for any thing. :)
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