Any vegetarians here?

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  • MaureenCreates
    MaureenCreates Posts: 97 Member
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    Hey girl!
    Next month I'll have been a vegetarian for 5 years, and I have to say, the first couple months are really hard.
    First couple weeks I felt great, but I didn't know how to deal my diet properly yet, so my nutrient stores were quickly sapped. After about 3 week I felt like crap. I was tired all the time,etc. That's when I started to turn to vitamins to help supplement my diet and it helped a lot.
    It took a couple months for me to really fix my diet. I still take multivitamins now, but mostly to support my more recent muscle-building lifestyle. Even without them, my doctor's quite pleased with my blood test results.
    After the first year I started being repulsed by meat. It's still really a weird feeling. I smell it, and remember how good it tasted, but I look at it and the thought of eating it turns my stomach.
    Good luck!
  • JoJoDoerr
    JoJoDoerr Posts: 173 Member
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    http://www.vegetariantimes.com Is a really good site! Tons of good recipes and even a "Vegetarian Starter Kit" that gives you info and tips for getting started!
  • IronmanPanda
    IronmanPanda Posts: 2,083 Member
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    I have been a vegetarian my entire life so it isnt particularly difficult for me. Why do you always go back to eating meat? For me i dont even think of that stuff as options.... at all. Im not tempted to be like "Oh chicken pasta!" i am just like "Oooh pasta".

    *Shrug*

    Why do you want to be vegetarian anyway? If its because you think it is wrong- and you are able to to continue to eat meat.. maybe you should reevaluate how you really feel about it. I think people are able to disregard that they are eating a dead animal because you dont actually see the animal- you just see a meal or a dish.

    If its for health reason- decide whats important to you. Health or eating Bacon wrapped cheese sticks.

    Just Sayin

    Don't knock bacon wrapped cheese sticks. They're ****ing tasty!
  • leavingfat
    leavingfat Posts: 64 Member
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    I second starting slowly. I started eating veggie two or three times per week and now I only eat meat once every two or three weeks. It's usually because I'm eating at a friend's house or cooking something my husband is craving.

    Eating vegetarian, for me, feels great and it encourages me to be more creative with my cooking. Though, I'll admit, I keep homemade frozen falafel in my freezer for a quick meal. We eat a lot of Indian and Asian food, too. We eat lots of beans, I make seitan (which is super cheap and easy to make) and we sometimes eat tofu and tempeh, too. It's easier for me to stick to it if we keep it cheap and meat replacement products (like pre-made veggie burgers and chix patties) seem crazy expensive to me.

    One of my biggest weight traps is cheese, so I've slowly been cutting down on that, too. That makes it easier for me, for some reason, to not eat meat too.

    I love to try out recipes from these sites:
    http://www.theppk.com/
    http://theveganstoner.blogspot.com/
    http://www.101cookbooks.com/ (Not all veg, but much.)
    http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes-galore/
    http://thelazyvegetarian.blogspot.com (Really easy stuff.)
    http://veganmenu.blogspot.com/
    http://beyondthefreezeraisle.blogspot.com/

    I watched the documentaries that others mentioned and enjoyed them. I tend to think all documentaries are biased in one way or another, though, and a vegetarian diet can be just as unhealthy as a meat-based diet if you're eating a ton of pasta, sodium-filled meat replacements and cookies, you know?

    Anyway, I've gone on waaaaaay too long. Happy eating!
  • starracer23
    starracer23 Posts: 1,011 Member
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    Wow. Scaring oneself into not eating meat?

    If you knew how it was raised, slaughtered and processed...I'm sure it would "scare" you too.

    It's disgusting what is allowed to happen to the meat that feeds this country (for the most part)....Everyone wants cheap food. That means that it's not raised properly, it's not feed properly, it's not always slaughtered properly. Plus the fact that beef has to have an ammonia bath before it can be consumed...that disgusts me. Oh and also the fact that a chick hatches, and 46 days later it is slaughtered and packaged. FORTY-SIX days!! That isn't normal....no way, no how.
  • lelaspeaks
    lelaspeaks Posts: 163 Member
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    I was vegan for a bit, then vegetarian and now I eat dairy, eggs, and seafood. There are tons of great websites and most meals are still as equally as good if you just remove the meat component and supliment it with things like beans, nuts, etc. My one warning is don't limit experiences in life simply because you're a veggie! If you're eating at an insane restaurant and have an opportunity to try something you may never get a chance to try again - try it! Well - it also depends on why you became a vegetarian - humanitarian reasons, health, etc. There are plenty of unhealthy vegetarians though - make sure you watch your calories because things like nuts build it up fast! And CAAARBS!! It's easy to just up the carb intake when you don't have meat. Also - you can have too much tofu in a day - women tend to have a sensitive immune system to soy - so I've read at least. Also - watch your protein - that will have a big effect on how you feel throughout the day - many dark greens and broccoli have great sources of protein.

    As far as websites - there are a ton but I don't think you really need them :)
  • AlbertPooHoles
    AlbertPooHoles Posts: 530 Member
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    Wow. Scaring oneself into not eating meat?
    If you knew how it was raised, slaughtered and processed...I'm sure it would "scare" you too.

    It's disgusting what is allowed to happen to the meat that feeds this country (for the most part)....Everyone wants cheap food. That means that it's not raised properly, it's not feed properly, it's not always slaughtered properly. Plus the fact that beef has to have an ammonia bath before it can be consumed...that disgusts me. Oh and also the fact that a chick hatches, and 46 days later it is slaughtered and packaged. FORTY-SIX days!! That isn't normal....no way, no how.
    I don't get my info from biased documentaries.

    To each his own, of course. In my case, the way meat is raised and slaughtered does not scare me from eating it.
  • Charlottejogs
    Charlottejogs Posts: 351 Member
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    If you need further motivation- reading the book Fast Food Nation may help. Since my reasons are moral there really never times that I want to eat meat. I think it helps to be interested in trying to cook new and different foods to keep it interesting and then you have no reason to go back to old habits- good luck!
  • shivaslives
    shivaslives Posts: 279 Member
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    Lots of vegheads here. I'm going on 13 years.

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