Vegetarian or Not?

Vegan = no animal products (eggs, dairy) and no meat.

Vegetarian = no meat (eggs and dairy are included in the diet).

Even eating vegetarian a little bit more than you do now has a positive impact on the environment, and probably on your body, too.

Vegan proteins include beans, soy, nuts and nut butters.

Vegetarian proteins include the vegan proteins listed above, as well as dairy and eggs.

I don't really have meat substitutes, though will occasionally cook something with quorn mince (though lentils do just as well in shepherd's pie). I tend to cook things that don't have meat in the the first place, like vegetable curries, most Italian food - pizza, pasta, risotto (though I don't eat wheat, but the rest of my family do), bean stews, lots of salads and soups, wraps. For protein I eat a lot of cheese, yoghurt and pulses, though I get a lot less protein than most people on here seem to. I am not a great believer in overdoing it, it has never done me any harm getting the WHO recommended amount, rather than the American fitness industry (who want to sell you protein shakes) recommended amount. Sushi is another good vegetarian option. I make cucumber, avocado, tamago (egg) and umiboshi (pickled plum) sushi. Stir fries with either just vegetables or with nuts or tofu. Baked potatoes with fillings such as creamed mushrooms. Souffles, omelettes, quiches, pies, tarts. I have hundreds of vegetarian recipes where you don't miss the meat, because they were never designed to have meat in in the first place.

Vegan = no animal products (eggs, dairy) and no meat.

Vegetarian = no meat (eggs and dairy are included in the diet).

Even eating vegetarian a little bit more than you do now has a positive impact on the environment, and probably on your body, too.

Vegan proteins include beans, soy, nuts and nut butters.

Vegetarian proteins include the vegan proteins listed above, as well as dairy and eggs.

and I will break that down further

lacto-ovo vegetarian - will eat dairy and eggs but no animal flesh
pescetarian - will eat fish
not sure for the chicken thing - I think once your at chicken you are just simply someone who avoids red meat/pork

remember rice and beans together is a complete protein- why not try to make a few vegetarian recipes and see what you like, increasing your ratio of vegetarian dishes to non-vegetarian dishes slowly until you find the balance that's right for you?


good luck!

There's different kinds of veg, some eat fish, and all eat eggs and dairy. Vegans don't do any animal derived product, like eggs and dairy, even things like wearing leather.
As far as subs, there are prepackaged subs that are supposed to imitate meat, but I've found a lot of them to be either dry, high sodium, expensive, and just not worth it. They don't taste like meat, let's be honest. There are natural high protein things though. Ergo Tempeh, edamame, seitan (high sodium), and you obviously know of tofu. I'm not a fan of it though.

Vegetarians dont eat any animal at all, this includes fish, chicken, prawns, oysters and gelatin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin
My wife is a vegetarian.
I Dont eat any Chicken or Pork but occasionally eat beef and Fish. Im not a Vegetarian.
My wife also uses soy milk instead of cow milk.
Im lucky in that I really like Soy milk so If I ever run out of my skim milk I have Soy available.
I call it Soy Juice to stir her up a little as its not really milk now is it.

I also love all the Vegetarian meals she cooks and am happy to eat any of the Vegge patties she buy's.

I dont think I could handle being Vegan as I love my ice cream and milk but I could handle being Vegitarian if I had to.

I actually believe becoming a vegetarian is one of the best ways to loose weight if you struggle with temptations as you eliminate a lot of crap food that is available.

I actually believe becoming a vegetarian is one of the best ways to loose weight if you struggle with temptations as you eliminate a lot of crap food that is available.

This is only true if people don't substitute refined carbs for the lack of protien... somethign MANY people do when making the switch (think pasta and rice heavy dishes EVERY meal)

I test drove being vegetarian for a month or so? It was a while ago. I didn't really miss beef or pork, but I missed the HELL outta chicken! I kept eating and eating and EATING EGGS! Haha. I managed to not slip up, but I really don't know or didn't try long enough to live without chicken in my life.

A pescetarian is someone who eats fish.

I don’t feel it is politically correct or factual for that matter if you call yourself a vegetarian but yet you eat fish. It had parents, it once breathed air, ate and bred. Is it because it may have a less developed brain than a mammal? I’m not sure, I’d have to research that more.

That being said, I eat meat, I just believe if you want to define yourself with a word you better understand what that word means, all definitions.

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."

I have been a vegetarian for 8 years. 4 years I was Ovo-lacto then for the most recent 4 years I have been Pescatarian. There area bunch of different types of vegetarians and vegans.

I've been some form of vegetarian or vegan for most of my life. After being veg for so long I can tell you that there are a whole lot of "vegetarians" out there who are actually just MOSTLY vegetarians. And you know what? That's OK!! Eating a mostly veg diet is still better than eating meat at every meal in my opinion. Whether one chooses to use the "vegetarian" label or not has more to do with their IDEALS than their actual habits. A similar example might be if you call yourself a Christian and believe that as a Christian you must go to church twice a week. If you don't always live up to that and miss church for a couple of weeks, do you stop calling yourself Christian? Most people wouldn't because their beliefs and ideals didn't changed, they just "fell off the wagon" for a bit.

I use labels when I'm talking to other people about how I eat or have eaten in the past because it's easier for them to understand, but I've given up using labels for myself. I just try to eat the best foods that are available to me at that time and don't stress anymore about whether I'm still a vegetarian or not. I honestly don't think that most meat substitutes fall into the "best foods available" category though. They're ok once in a while, but many of them are highly processed. If they aren't made with whole grains, veggies, etc. then I don't usually eat them. I used to eat more of them, but realized that just because they were veg didn't mean they were any better for me than other processed foods. Lentils are one of my favorite "meat substitutes". They're much better for you, and better tasting, than most vegetarian burgers. As a general rule, I have found that most vegan cookbooks tend to have better ingredients and rely less on fake meat substitutes than a lot of vegetarian cookbooks. Unless a vegetarian cookbook specifically says it uses whole foods, I usually pass it by.