Any Vegetarians Out There??

I've been vegetarian for about 8 years for ethical reasons. I started in high school. A major bonus is it really helps me maintain/lose weight. I did a fitness evaluation for work last year and the nurse said my bad cholesterol levels were the lowest she had seen in a long time and I was one of the healthiest people she had seen! She asked me how I keep it so low and it's because I have been a vegetarian for so long.
Becoming vegetarian took a bit of effort for me at first. You have to really learn what is in the food that you buy and order at restaurants. As in, you pretty much can't eat soup unless you make it yourself or buy it at the store and comb through the ingredient label. Chicken broth is in pretty much EVERY type of soup, even broccoli cheese which most people assume is vegetarian. Most restaurants even make their macaroni cheese and creamy pasta dishes with it. Look for gelatin in cereals, candies, etc. Feel free to add me, my diary is open!

You will feel soooo much better in everyway.... I don't like to get too opinionated about all of this because people tend to get offended and I certainly don't mean it. I've been vegetarian for about 4 years now and it's one of the easiest things I've done. There are a lot of GREAT supportive sites and books out there. Veganist by Kathy Freston - LOVE her, Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr, the China Study, the Beauty Detox (forgot auther) and anything by Joel Furhman. My niece is surviving a "fatal" brain tumor, has amazed and stunned her doctors, and it's largely due to feeding her body the right nutrients to fight it off through juicing and eating a plant based diet. Sugar feeds cancer and meat also turns cancer off and on "China Study". Your skin will clear up (especially if you cut out dairy which is horrible for us!). Good luck with it and feel good that you are doing something good for yourself, the planet and our animal friends.

Anyway, I was wondering if there are any other vegetarians on here who have tips about how to get enough protein and vitamins normally provided by meat into my diet? I know that just cutting out meat isn't healthy, and you have to substitute those vitamins and minerals with something else.

I would love some feedback!

The vitamins I take are spirulina and flax seed oil. I try to eat a lot of the superfoods from the list:
http://www.foodmatters.tv/content/superfoods

I buy them from this company:
http://www.navitasnaturals.com/

I drink protein shakes often, whey protein is not vegetarian, so I get this brand:
http://www.sunwarrior.com/product-info/classic-protein/

I eat nuts and tofu daily for protein. I use almond milk in my protein shakes where I get a lot of calcium from. If I don't add tofu to my dishes, I end up hungry and thus eat a larger portion of pasta.

I'm a vegan, started two years ago when my blood sugar started going high and my doctor recommended that I read Dr. Neal Barnard's book "Reversing Type II Diabetes". I read it, kept reading, read more, changed my diet and haven't looked back. I LOVE it!

You can get all the protein you need from vegetables - beans, whole grains, broccoli (it's loaded with protein), and of course soy. I eat mostly beans and grains for my protein - used to do soy milk but have gotten away from it (much prefer almond milks) - there's also peanut butter, almond butter, etc.

I recommend taking a look at Barnard's "Turn Off the Fat Genes" - corny title for a book but lays out the basics - personally I follow Dr. John McDougall and Mary McDougall's recommendations on a plant based, no-added-fat/oil diet largely because they've published so many darn fantastic receipes! - so I also recommend their books or you can just Google "Dr. John McDougall" and you'll hit his website, which has many resources, a forum, and allows you to subscribe to a free newsletter that usually also includes recipes (no, I don't work for him!)

I should also say my targets are 75% carbs, 15% protein and 10% fat. I do fine on that; most adults do, but they do OK on other variations as well. I strongly recommend seeing a nutritionist who is expert in vegetarianism if you'd like help setting targets, rather than relying on the internet.

The trick is to eat a varied diet to get the nutrients you need, and "clean" - as little processed C**P as possible. In any given week I eat black beans, red beans, green beans, lots of greens (collards, kale, beet greens, mustard greens), brown rice, plenty of potatoes (I favor Yukon Gold and sweet potatoes but do the occasional Russet as well), whole grain bread (rye/pumpernickel), whole wheat tortillas, broccoli, salad (tomatoes, mixed greens, broccoli slaw, carrots, bell peppers, onions, radishes), dark chocolate (vegan), fruit (bananas, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, mangos, oranges), take lemon and/or lime with my water...etc. When I started I ate alot of meat substitutes and I occasionally still get links or "vegan dogs" and mix them with baked beans when I'm harkening back to childhood, but that's rare. I don't eat much in the way of processed food anymore; instead I spend most of Sunday afternoon cooking up the weeks' food and munch to my heart's content, adding a potato or some rice or whole wheat spaghetti here or there. If I'm feeling a bit peaked and/or have done alot of exercise and want to spike up my protein I just use a soy-based protein additive/mix/powder in my morning shake.

The vegetarian group here is "Happy Herbivores" - I encourage you to lurk and take a look - and keep taking baby steps, make changes in your diet as you go - I think you're going to love it!

Hi, I'm another one. This might help. Best of Luck on Your Journey.

M.D.’s Diet Suggestion for Healthy Nutrient Value Food.

This sample diet provides 2,095 kilocalories, of which 13 percent come from protein, 74 percent come from carbohydrates, and 13 percent from fat. It can be seen from the following analyses that there is ploenty of protein in this diet, along with the other essential nutrients. The percent of sodium, rather than being too low, is actually appropriate. The ridiculously high RDA for sodium is reflective of the American norm and is much too high for optimal health. Dr. Joel Fuhrman M.D. Fasting and Eating for Health.

Breakfast:
Oatmeal (3 cups cooked); Oranges (2 medium); Apple (1 medium)

Lunch
Vegetable salad, made from lettuce, sprouts, cucumber, carrots, jicama, and lemon (8 ounzes); Kale (3 cups steamed) Potatoe (1 whole, baked)

Snack
Banana (1 raw)

Dinner
Vegetable salad, made from lettuce, celery, red pepper, carrots, tomatoe, and lemon (16 ounzes); sunflower seeds (1 ounce) Broccoli (16 ounces, steamed); Brown rice (2 ½ cups cooked)

Snack
Grapes (2 cups)


Nutrient Value and Percent RDA for Selected Nutrients of Preceeding Menu
Protein: 73.12 grms 149%RDA; Tryptophan 851.9mg 340%RDA; Threonine 2,493 mg 554%RDA; Isoleucine 3,011 mg 465%RDA; Leucine 4,565 mg 480%RDA; Lysine 3,185mg 398%RDA; Methionine 1,166mg 274%RDA; Cystine 1,048mg 246%RDA; Phenylalanine 3,124mg 657%RDA; Tyrosine 2,051mg 437%RDA; Valine 3,647mg 561%RDA; Histidine 1,633mg 296%RDA; Calcium 989mg 123%RDA; Magnesium 829.4mg 296%RDA; Phosphorus 1,898mg 237%RDA; Selenium 0.289mg 525%RDA; Vitamin A 8,981 IU 1,122%RDA; Thiamine (B1) 3.429mg 311%RDA; Riboflavin (B2) 1.950mg 150%RDA; Niacin (B3) 22.98mg 147%RDA; Pyridoxine (B6) 4.479mg 279%RDA; Cobalamin (B12) 0ug0; Folate 344.4 ug 469%RDA; Pantothenic acid 8.692 mg 158%RDA; Vitamin C 791.2mg 1,318%RDA; Vitamin E 46.28mg (No RDA): A-Tocopherol 66.67mg 833%RDA; Vitamin K 1,375ug 2,117%RDA; Linoleic fat 14.64grms 299%RDA; Iron 25.8mg 171%RDA; Manganese 15.35mg 438%RDA; Potassium 6,728mg 336%RDA; Zinc 12.57mg 104%RDA; Sodium 488mg 20%RDA