Overweight Vegetarians
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In MY opinion.... people who claim to be "vegetarian" but don't understand nutrition and how to eat a healthy balanced diet, are simply people who have chosen not to consume meat products.
In order to classify yourself as something, you generally need to have a certain amount of knowledge and expertise in that field.
If one chooses not to eat meat and fish, one is a vegetarian. Regardless of motivation, or interest in health or any other issues.
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Wait ... meat makes you fat?0
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MilllieMoo wrote: »
In MY opinion.... people who claim to be "vegetarian" but don't understand nutrition and how to eat a healthy balanced diet, are simply people who have chosen not to consume meat products.
In order to classify yourself as something, you generally need to have a certain amount of knowledge and expertise in that field.
If one chooses not to eat meat and fish, one is a vegetarian. Regardless of motivation, or interest in health or any other issues.
Agreed. Saying you have to have specific understanding of stuff to classify yourself is like saying you can't be a certain race unless you have specific knowledge about that race. Does that mean that a child adopted out of China isn't Chinese since they may or may not have an in-depth understanding of Chinese culture? No. If you don't eat meat you meet the qualifications necessary to be a vegetarian...in-depth understanding or no.0 -
MilllieMoo wrote: »
In MY opinion.... people who claim to be "vegetarian" but don't understand nutrition and how to eat a healthy balanced diet, are simply people who have chosen not to consume meat products.
In order to classify yourself as something, you generally need to have a certain amount of knowledge and expertise in that field.
If one chooses not to eat meat and fish, one is a vegetarian. Regardless of motivation, or interest in health or any other issues.
Agreed, Millie. THE definition of being a vegetarian is not consuming poultry, fish or meat. Nutrition is another aspect. Also Budda, the same could be said for ANYONE who is overweight or obese. Why rag on vegetarians?0 -
I think that sometimes people have the misconception that vegetarians eat nothing but broccoli and lettuce all day. There is a wide array of vegetarians, but things like nuts, beans, and grains are calorie dense. It's really difficult to be obese eating celery or carrots, it's not difficult to be obese eating an actual vegetarian diet.0
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bclarke1990 wrote: »Vegetarians don't eat meat. You can eat 1000 calories of trail mix in five minutes; ice cream, candy, chocolate, etc. Meat doesn't make you fat, lmao.
It wouldn't take 5 min. The last batch of homemade trail mix I whipped up, intended to be a lot of calories without a lot of weight (though I admit I could have accomplished this better if I had more time), was apportioned into sandwich baggies of 1,500 calories each and 337 grams.0 -
Ha! I was definitely an overweight/obese vegetarian. My boyfriend (now hubs) called me a breadatarian because carbs was my main source of fuel. I rarely ate vegetables, salad usually and lots of peanut butter. My concept of nutrition was non existent. I did that for seven years. Added meat back to my diet(hubs used to be a butcher) and still didn't eat vegetables. Fast forward to today... Much better now, lost 75lbs or so. But not until I became diabetic with high blood pressure. Hopefully getting BP meds reduced soon.0
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Going vegetarian never affected my massive cheese intake.0
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beer.0
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Okay, so I wanted to clarify a few things in this thread. Foods that are often not considered vegetarian: donuts (lard) marshmallows (gelatin) parmesan/similar cheeses, many yogurts (gelatin), certain red food coloring (bugs), anything with beef/chicken broth, many strawberry/raspberry/vanilla ice creams or desserts (castoreum), L-cysteine, and many beers and wines. Vegetarians don't eat slaughter products, which means if an animal had to die for a food to be made, we do not eat that food. It's also possible to get enough protein, but it does require work and planning.
Also, you can be a real life vegetarian who knows absolutely nothing about nutrition as long as you don't eat non-vegetarian foods, just as you can be an omnivore and know nothing about nutrition; eating requires the knowledge of how to chew, not an understanding of how the foods affect your body.0 -
8 years as a pescetarian certainly never helped me to weigh less. I actually used to eat very healthy foods, it was just that my portions were always out of control... And snacking probably did me in, too.0
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MilllieMoo wrote: »
Surely this isn't a serious question?!
You know, now that you bring it up, it probably wasn't.
Oops. Tricked by another trickster.
But Johnny did succeed in getting the conversation rolling.
Even lured in vegetarians who eat animals. Or whatever they're called.
Yes, serious question. No, I am not a trickster. When I was younger (back in the Woodstock days), very few people were vegetarians and none of them were overweight. Now I happen to know people who are vegetarian and they are overweight. Am I right?0 -
johnnylakis wrote: »MilllieMoo wrote: »
Surely this isn't a serious question?!
You know, now that you bring it up, it probably wasn't.
Oops. Tricked by another trickster.
But Johnny did succeed in getting the conversation rolling.
Even lured in vegetarians who eat animals. Or whatever they're called.
Yes, serious question. No, I am not a trickster. When I was younger (back in the Woodstock days), very few people were vegetarians and none of them were overweight. Now I happen to know people who are vegetarian and they are overweight. Am I right?
Aren't there many more overweight people now, in general, than there were during the "Woodstock days"?
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Okay, so I wanted to clarify a few things in this thread. Foods that are often not considered vegetarian: donuts (lard) marshmallows (gelatin) parmesan/similar cheeses, many yogurts (gelatin), certain red food coloring (bugs), anything with beef/chicken broth, many strawberry/raspberry/vanilla ice creams or desserts (castoreum), L-cysteine, and many beers and wines. Vegetarians don't eat slaughter products, which means if an animal had to die for a food to be made, we do not eat that food. It's also possible to get enough protein, but it does require work and planning.
Also, you can be a real life vegetarian who knows absolutely nothing about nutrition as long as you don't eat non-vegetarian foods, just as you can be an omnivore and know nothing about nutrition; eating requires the knowledge of how to chew, not an understanding of how the foods affect your body.
Agreed. I don't consume gelatin or things with carmine in them, anal beaver gland stuff [usually found in ice creams] and non vegetable broth.0 -
For anyone who is interested, Barnivore.com is a great resource for which alcohols contain animal products. Their mobile site is very handy for when you're out and about.0
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johnnylakis wrote: »MilllieMoo wrote: »
Surely this isn't a serious question?!
You know, now that you bring it up, it probably wasn't.
Oops. Tricked by another trickster.
But Johnny did succeed in getting the conversation rolling.
Even lured in vegetarians who eat animals. Or whatever they're called.
Yes, serious question. No, I am not a trickster. When I was younger (back in the Woodstock days), very few people were vegetarians and none of them were overweight. Now I happen to know people who are vegetarian and they are overweight. Am I right?
Woodstock days? Nevermind. I believe you.
Yeah, some vegetarians might not be chubs. Like the ones who eat lowfat yogurt and a cup of black tea for breakfast, spinach salad with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and fake bacon with balsamic vinegarette plus a fresh apple for lunch, and 2 tofu hotdogs on whole wheat buns with broccoli and carrots and a single dark square of chocolate for supper.
But who really does that when they can chow on heaps of fettucini alfredo, scrambled eggs with 10 pieces of buttered toast with cinnamon and sugar and snack on bags of Lay's potato chips plus lots of Milky Way candy bars and bottles of Snapple Lemondade?
Just like non-vegetarians can find ways to balance their nutritional needs with culinary pleasures, I'm pretty sure vegetarians can figure it out too. Although I LIKE spinach salad with mushrooms and faux bacon . . .0 -
I imagine that I would be much heavier if I was vegetarian. It would be harder for me to get protein in and I imagine I would live off of pasta and french fries.
It is definitely possible to be vegan and overweight but I imagine it's less common. Veganism (to me) seems like such a hardcore, disciplined and restrictive way of eating that I would think people tend to be less likely to massively overeat, though it certainly happens.0 -
I imagine that I would be much heavier if I was vegetarian. It would be harder for me to get protein in and I imagine I would live off of pasta and french fries.
It is definitely possible to be vegan and overweight but I imagine it's less common. Veganism (to me) seems like such a hardcore, disciplined and restrictive way of eating that I would think people tend to be less likely to massively overeat, though it certainly happens.
Although studies show that vegans tend to weigh less than non-vegans, there are vegans of all shapes and sizes.
Veganism does require avoiding animal products, but there's nothing inherently disciplined or restrictive about it otherwise. We still have access to lots of highly palatable and calorie dense foods, the same thing that helps contribute to weight gain in others. For me personally, the decision to avoid animal products is an ethical one -- I'm naturally a very undisciplined person when it comes to regulating what I eat.
And, besides, having extra weight doesn't require "massively" overeating. It can often happen as the result of more moderate over-eating over time. I gained my weight in relatively small pieces -- adding potatoes to my bean burrito, getting fries and a veggie burger ALL the time instead of sometimes, an extra tablespoon of peanut butter on my sandwich, 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the stir-fry instead of 1, 1 cup of rice instead of 1/2 a cup . . .
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I too am a vegetarian with about 20 pounds to lose. It's easier than you think. I do eat dairy and eggs-so cheese and crackers, bread, sweets--lots of stuff that isn't particularly healthy is still vegetarian. It's odd, but true. And I often actually don't eat as much veggies as you would think a vegetarian ought to! I default to toast and peanut butter, noodles and sauce or scrambled eggs when I get busy and BOOM--nary a fruit or veggie in sight for days. Not that any of the things I listed are hugely unhealthy, but a big wopping portion of pasta and sauce has a lot of calories. Ditto two slices of toast (even whole wheat) generously spread with peanut butter. Yes healthy carbs, yes protein, but also high calorie.0
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realityfades wrote: »Agreed. I don't consume <snip> anal beaver gland stuff [usually found in ice creams]
My God. Ben and Jerry are chasing down beavers, clubbing them and stealing their anal glands to stick them in ice cream cones? There must be an easier way...
LOL. For real?
But seriously, CICO. I was a fat vegetarian, now I'm not, largely in part to MFP showing me how many cals are in everything.0
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