Skinny ***** and being a vegetarian!

Read it. What a fab book! Just take it slowly and don't beat yourself up over accidently eating stuff with animal produce in like I did! There are so many animal-friendly alternatives to meat and dairy. Some take a bit of getting used to but you'll get there. Just don't be afraid to experiment.

Vegetarianism is really healthy, if you do it right. I'm not one, mostly because my husband would divorce me! LOL.

Re: the animal cruelty, it really is true and really is out there, but for those who are concerned about animal treatment, there are other options. I buy eggs and poultry (and soon pork) from a local guy who has a farmette where he raises TRULY free-range poultry, eating an organic diet (plus all the bugs and stuff they can find), keeps them over the winter in the "Chicken Palace" which he has built for them--it even has a big bay window for them to sit in and look outside when the weather is too bad for them. Check out local organic farmers. Some of them treat their livestock better than some people treat their pets. Oh--and the eggs and poultry are FANTASTICK!

if you need any motivation read the book "eating animals" by jonathan safran foer. (or something like that)

it is horrifying the things that are done to animals, before they're even brought to a slaughter house! after reading that it should be a lot easier.

i didn't crave meat before either, and i've had almost no trouble not eating meat. the hard part is realizing there is meat in a lot of "meatless" items. cheese? marshmallows? salad dressings? and i'm not talking dairy. if you're going to become a vegetarian (congrats!) make sure to read every label. "rennet" and "gelatin" are found in many unassuming foods, and are made from animal parts, not necessarily meat.. :S

i have had cravings. i have not given in to them. there is nothing that could remove the imagery in that book from my mind. i don't want to support that industry by eating meat.

after the first week or so, once you learn a few recipes, and start to remember what things you can and cannot eat, it becomes a lot easier.

good luck!! add me if you have any questions or need some advice!

I actually just listened to the audio version of this book and I am doing exactly what they said.....Take it slow and Phase out 1 thing at a time.

My first thing to give up was cheese.

Hi! I switched over to a vegetarian diet over 3 months ago and I feel WONDERFUL! I spent my whole life going back and forth with myself on the issue. I went vegetarian for a while when I was younger, then always went back. Sometimes its hard to break the habits you were raised on. I come from a big family of big eaters and I did most of the family cooking... cutting meat out just wasn't an option for them. I always felt like I couldn't do it because I'd be making too many sacrifices or that I'd miss it too much. I guess I felt weak - I couldn't break my poor eating habits and lose weight, so what made me think I could stop eating meat. I have many reasons for doing it - I wrote a blog post about it if you're interested - Mainly for my health and for my moral reasons. I am a HUGE animal lover and animal rights activist, and couldn't bare to contribute to the issue any longer. I felt like I'd start as a pescatarian first, allowing myself occasional fish or shellfish to ease the transition. But after a short time, I even lost my taste for that. I think MFP was a huge factor that helped me - With such a huge support system, I found that making all kinds of other healthy choices was so much easier, why not go veggie? I have found I have more energy now, and I feel better. I am learning all kinds of new foods and exciting options... do your research, there's tons of options so you're not going to just be eating veggies and salad. I love my new lifestyle and I finally feel 'right' inside. The other HUGE thing for me, was that it does limit some of the unhealthy options... I no longer go for fast food because there's not much I could eat there. McDonalds, Taco Smell, Buger King... blah... I used to go there out of desperation, a quick fix. Now I can't, so I've saved a lot of poor choices there, and overall, it makes me more conscientious of what I eat. I can still eat out with friends and family, and have plenty of options out there. I will note though, being vegetarian doesn't neccessarily translate into healthy - a lot of meatless options are not healthy and pack lots of calories, so you still have to work at making the right choices. One food that really helped me is Seitan. I don't care for tofu very much, but seitan, a wheat gluten product, is DELICIOUS and versatile, very high in protein and low in calories and other bad stuff. It is very close to steak and is great in any beef dish you can think of. There is also chicken and sausage flavored seitan. Anyway, good luck to you if you decide to make the choice. Do your homework, and understand the changes you need to make. Also, from an animal cruelty standpoint, do your research there too. I always imagined the treatment of animals for food was horrible, but the research I did scarred me for life and made it that much easier to make the change. I googled 'vegetarian' and vegetarian diet and found videos the made me cry. Always make changes in your life for your own reasons, and don't let others sway you. If you want more on that, again, look at my blog... just recently several 'haters' went on and cut me down for my reasons for the switch... haven't decided yet if they are worth responding to... good luck to you!

Hi! I have been vegetarian for a little over a year now and like you, I never really craved it... I only really ate it because that's how I was raised. For me, the switch was slow and almost uninentional. I stopped eating red meat first and before I knew it was only eating turkey or chicken. For me, the worst part was preparing meat. *cringe* It never felt natural to be touching something that was once living and breathing. I like to tell my husband that I think I was born a herbivore in a carnivorous world. Anyways, nothing has been extremely hard for me except still trying to plan meals for my husband and son who are both meat-eaters still. I've stopped preparing meat and buy only pre-cooked meat. I've had to get more creative with meals, but besides that, it hasn't been bad. I will tell you...if you make the switch BEWARE of too much cheese! I gained weight because of the high cheesy/fatty foods that restarants offer to vegetarians. I had to start being more aware of the things I was putting in my mouth. Anyways, good luck and feel free to add me as a friend!!

Vegetarian is the way to go! I have been vegetarian for 12 years. The way I stay away from meat is to eat meat substitutes, like Morning Star. I absolutely love the way they taste and you can get every single kind of meat variety- everything from ham slices to Thanksgiving turkey to breakfast bacon.. it's incredible! My family (no one else is a vegetarian) eat it as well and they agree that it tastes just as good as regular meat. It is a TON healthier and much, much better for the environment, and of course, no animal cruelty! If you want more information, let me know!! Good luck, and welcome to the light side

That book along with "The Kind Diet" turned me vegetarian! I would definitely suggest picking up a copy of the KD, it's a great read.

A few weeks ago I made the transition to vegan and I love it! I feel so much lighter and more energized. Plus, it's great fun to experiment with recipes and new ingredients.

That book changed my life (along with extra research)!!! I realized I was "ignoring" my subconscious vegetarian! Ever since I was a little kid, I was SUPER picky about the meat I did put into my mouth (eew, steak! don't even think about me putting prime rib in my mouth! Animal fat eew!). I always liked chicken, but I never looked at it closely because when I looked at the muscle fibers and or fat veins it grossed me out to the point I couldn't eat it. Why else are chicken fingers so popular to children?? What is covered in batter can't gross you out! I did love cheeseburgers, but only well done hockey pucks, if I saw or ate pink I would gag. But it's how I was raised, humans are supposed to eat meat. And the general public ignores where and how it comes from animals.

I'm by no means even a good vegetarian right now, but I am trying. I can tell you that within the year I first read Skinny, I've eaten meat maybe 6 times, 5 times being my worst weakness-chicken fingers, and once being turkey breast (a gathering with good friends, and I won't lie, it was the most scrumptious turkey dinner, but I felt super guilty after I ate it, and I remember being mad that I ignored that voice in my head saying "how are you enjoying this and ignoring how gross it is, this carcass that lived on a factory farm?"

Being/trying to be vegan is HARD, Especially when trying to lose weight. I'm currently struggling with eating enough so that I CAN excercise without starving my body The hardest non vegan foods to give up are pizza and ice cream. I know there are vegan cheese alternatives, but where I live, there's NO options, I once ordered a vegan cheese online and I HATED it. And veg ice cream is delicious, but if you honestly compare it to the real thing, it's not the same. but veg ice cream doesn't have the natural addictiveness of ice cream. I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE eggs too. I have successfully stayed away from them (except in occcaisonal baked goodies, sweets are my downfall more than anything). My mouth still waters like crazy when I smell them cooking.

It can be done, and it's a constant battle, but I am trying to go and stay vegan. No matter how much family/friends may make fun of me

Feel free to PM me. I've been a vegetarian my entire life and was a vegan for five years. I'll be more than happy to give you any advice that I can and offer support when you need it.
I opened my eyes at a very young age as to what was being done to animals and it made me a pretty hard core advocate for animal rights/liberation.
Good luck on this journey.
:flowerforyou:

I'm not vegetarian, but I'm fussy about the meat I buy and make sure it's reared and culled to British standards (I'm in the UK). Other countries have different standards, they may be worse, they may be better, I have no way of knowing from a pack. Often I'll go to the supermarket and find the same meat has been flown in from a different country is cheaper. I avoid that, that way I'm eating meat to our high standards (we have icons etc to guide us on the packaging) and I'm eating locally which both more ecologically friendly and economically friendly. In fact it's just occurred to me that shopping that way was my 2010 resolution and I stuck to it :-)

This is a great thread and has got me thinking about going veg....again. I have tried a few times and it never works out because I don't know how to replace my protein. I HATE tofu and fake-meat.

I understand about the fake meats...I rarely eat them. However....tofu you should try again and again. There are so many ways to prepare it. But either way...you can still go veg without tofu if you want to. Seitain, tempeh, lentils, beans, other pulces, nutritional yeast, vegan protein powder (I like Vega)....there are tons of options for getting your protein in.

I was a vegetarian from 1987 (when I was 14) to 2001. For me, I started to crave meat again and as a single parent, found it too difficult and costly to prepare seperate meals for my son and I all the time.

No need to prepare seperate meals....children can be veg too. But if you started to crave meat again...it doesn't matter anyways...but best of luck.

if you need any motivation read the book "eating animals" by jonathan safran foer. (or something like that)

I agree, Eating Animals is a really exceptional book.

Safran Foer is about to become a father and realizes he will soon be responsible for his child's view of the world. He decides to research what it means to eat animals- not only recounting the journey from farm to plate for different types of animals, but interviewing "family run" slaughter houses, ranchers, PETA members, and anybody else who will talk to him about eating animals. The thing I love about this book is its references- the back 10 or 20 pages are packed with citations, and Safran Foer employed 3 fact-checkers during the writing process so he could try and be as objective as possible.

Anybody who feels like eating meat isn't explored closely enough in their lives- anybody who buys a skinless boneless chicken breast at the grocery store and doesn't know where it came from or what has been done to the meat NEEDS to read this book. Making the choice to eat something that was once alive means that you are agreeing with the practices that you are supporting with your purchasing decisions.

I doubt I'll ever be a vegetarian, as my husband is a hunter/butcher.

That said, I completely understand animal cruelity and encourage those of you not eating meat for those reasons to really look at EVERYTHING in your life. If you refrain from eating cow because of animal abuse yet sport leather shoes, you've completely contradicted yourself.

Honestly? I'm a bit jealous... I don't know if I could live without meat and cheese.

Which is why I own no leather, no fur, no silk, no cashmere, no make-up containing animal by products nor were they tested on animals. PETA's site is full of great lists for those starting out on the vegan lifestyle.