Vegetarian: A life-style change

[TechAngel85]

So, after years of wanting to go vegetarian but never being able to because of having to take into account other people's choices, I'm finally doing it! I've bought $150 worth of groceries and not a single ounce of meat in sight. I also bought a cookbook, Forks Over Knives, to help me with the meals. I'm curious if there are any other vegetarians here to which I might gain advice/insight from?

 

I should note that I'm not going 100% vegetarian. My goal is to have at least 90% of everything I eat to be vegetarian. (I still love my cheese and eggs ! Also, eating at family gatherings will be nearly impossible to eat vegetarian.)

[Farlo]

Congratulations, I could never give up chicken wings, lol. My sister's a vegetarian but the only advice I have is to make sure any tofu or fake meats you buy are high quality and fresh, those things can get nasty if you try to cut corners. That said, vegetarian bacon bits are the bomb!

[MontyMM]

Welcome to the club! 

 

Any specific questions?

[TechAngel85]

None right off the bat. I was hoping there would be a few that if I had questions I would be able to ask. Looks like there is! :D

 

I've done a lot of research on it and have watched every video I can think of that covers it and more. (Food, Inc., Forks Over Knives, Hungry For Change, Food Matters, Vegucated, etc) This has been a decision that been in the making for several years. Living in a small town, it's going to be more difficult because a lot of vegetarian products are not readily available.

 

I have noticed that you get a lot of flack from family, friends, and co-workers when you tell them. Comments like: "eww! I could never do that", "that's going to make you fat from all the carbs (uneducated imbeciles! haha!) ", "(when looking at my meal) that looks gross" etc etc etc.

[dreadflopp]

Great choice! I'm a vegetarian too. Indian, thai and Italian dishes are easily made vegetarian imo. You said you lived in a small town, but if it's large enough and you're lucky there may be stores with Indian/Asian/Middle-East food where you can find great tofu/soy products and spices/pastes.

[rootsrat]

20 years of vegetarianism experience here, and counting :)

 

Ask away if you need to know anything. Word of advice - do not switch immediately, gradually reduce your meat intake, so that your stomach and digestive system are slowly getting used to it. Depending on your organism the rapid shift may have some negative effects.

 

As for soya food - ALWAYS check if "fake meats" are made of non-GMO soya (welcome to Monsanto world). There are lots of choices (I'm speaking from European point of view, not sure about North Americas) of meat free food that uses fungi proteins rather than soya ones.

 

P.S. As for the comments from your mates, co-workers etc, you will just need to get used to them, best thing just ignore them, as I can imagine they could be discouraging at the beginning.

 

Even I still get them, after 20 years of not eating meat! :)

[MontyMM]

I'm sure you'll do fine. The main things are to ensure a sufficient supply of certain nutrients, like calcium and B12 (which will be much less of a problem since you're eating dairy), and to eat a range of foods to ensure you receive complete proteins. Like anything to do with health and nutrition, there's an overload of advice (a whole industry in dispensing fads and pet theories), and it can seem overwhelming. Just stick to the basics of healthy veggie eating as recommended by any sensible doctor and you won't come to harm.

 

Don't take any notice of people giving you a hard time - if they give me any nonsense, I like to refer to them as "they who crave the flesh of the dead", their meals as "platefuls of grim remains", and so forth. They hate that.

[TechAngel85]

Great choice! I'm a vegetarian too. Indian' date=' thai and Italian dishes are easily made vegetarian imo. You said you lived in a small town, but if it's large enough and you're lucky there may be stores with Indian/Asian/Middle-East food where you can find great tofu/soy products and spices/pastes.[/quote']

Unfortunately, it's too small for even that. I'm in Southeastern Oklahoma where the "folks" are still very "Cowboy and Indian western". We have no specialty markets and the only specialty foods you can find is in the very small section at Walmart. I couldn't even find miso to make miso soup! The closest city is an hour and a half away so I might be making runs there just to do some shopping.

20 years of vegetarianism experience here' date=' and counting :)

 

Ask away if you need to know anything. Word of advice - do not switch immediately, gradually reduce your meat intake, so that your stomach and digestive system are slowly getting used to it. Depending on your organism the rapid shift may have some negative effects.

 

As for soya food - ALWAYS check if "fake meats" are made of non-GMO soya (welcome to Monsanto world). There are lots of choices (I'm speaking from European point of view, not sure about North Americas) of meat free food that uses fungi proteins rather than soya ones.

 

P.S. As for the comments from your mates, co-workers etc, you will just need to get used to them, best thing just ignore them, as I can imagine they could be discouraging at the beginning.

 

Even I still get them, after 20 years of not eating meat! :)[/quote']

I ate minimal meat in the first place so switching off of it should be fairly easy on my body. My body happens to be a very resilient powerhouse too (rarely get sick or injured or anything). I know all too well about Monsanto from my research. I think the government needs to put some chains on them, personally.

I'm sure you'll do fine. The main things are to ensure a sufficient supply of certain nutrients' date=' like calcium and B12 (which will be much less of a problem since you're eating dairy), and to eat a range of foods to ensure you receive complete proteins. Like anything to do with health and nutrition, there's an overload of advice (a whole industry in dispensing fads and pet theories), and it can seem overwhelming. Just stick to the basics of healthy veggie eating as recommended by any sensible doctor and you won't come to harm.

 

Don't take any notice of people giving you a hard time - if they give me any nonsense, I like to refer to them as "they who crave the flesh of the dead", their meals as "platefuls of grim remains", and so forth. They hate that.[/quote']

From my research, as long as I "eat the rainbow", I should be covered completely with my nutrients. In other words, eat a wide variety of colorful veggies. I also take a multimineral/multivitamin daily and have for years. As for dairy, I'm not actually eating that much of it. Eggs (which isn't really dairy) and cheese will the the extent of it. I'm mid-grade lactose intolerant so I'm using almond milk as my milk replacement. I've used soy milk as well, but I've found almond to be taster and richer to my palette. Proteins will mainly be coming from beans, a few special veggies and grains, and supplements (I work out).

 

As for all the negativity from others, it's dust off the shoulders. Especially when I'm healthier and live longer than them!

[torminater]

I pondered becoming a vegetarian... and thought about my mother's 4 ounces bacon-cheese-barbecue-burger. Good luck to you, mate! ;-)

[TechAngel85]

I pondered becoming a vegetarian... and thought about my mother's 4 ounces bacon-cheese-barbecue-burger. Good luck to you' date=' mate! ;-)[/quote']

You are an evil one...! I SHALL NOT THINK ABOUT THE JUICY BACON-MELTED CHEESE-DELICIOUS BBQ-BURGER! I SHALL FIGHT THY URGE! I SHALL NOT FALTER!

 

*grabs a carrot to munch on*

[rootsrat]

Just think the production process backwards, to the point where the burger had 4 legs and a tail, and moo'ed at other cows ;)

[z929669]

While I am not a vegetarian, I pride myself as a connoisseur of ALL food and hold nothing in prejudice. I envy being vegetarian, alas I am too weak.

 

As a biologist, I would advise against ingesting multivitamins, even as a vegetarian. They are just not healthy and really overload your body with metabolites (bad for liver/kidneys in the long run). Just eat plenty of green leafys and balance with legumes and Earth-friendly soy proteins (or nutritional yeast). I imagine some fungi has protein as roots says, but most I know of are almost exclusively carbs, so he must be dealing with an extract of some kind.

 

Actually, a pound of broccoli sprouts, 81 mg of aspirin and a tall glass of red wine every day is really all you need to be healthy ;) (maybe balance with some avocado for the fat)

[TechAngel85]

OMG! I love avocado! That's news to me on the multivitamins though. I've also been told (even by doctors) that the excess that your body doesn't need is simply discarded by the body through waste. Fungi...like mushrooms...are delicious! I don't know of any other edible fungi. My main concern is the obvious, protein and eating balanced meals (the stew I made tonight was AMAZING). Getting proper protein will be the hardest thing for me and speaking of, I should buy some tofu. That stuff has no taste anyway so it's perfect for stews and broths. I tried a recipe that called for it to be breaded and browned in shallow oil once...GROSS!

[stoppingby4now]

I love me some Almond milk! And raw almonds too. I'm not a vegetarian per say, but I've reduced the amount of meat that I eat and love my veggies (and raw nuts and eggs)...and avocados..making my mouth water.

 

One of the things that I do is supplement additional protein a few times a week with a no sugar, 100% pure egg white protein powder. Cup of almond milk (can make yourself with raw almonds, water, and a good blender), 4 ice cubes, non-sweetened cocoa, scoop of protein powder, and a pinch of stevia. Makes an awesome Chocolate protein shake.

 

I generally agree with Z in regards to multivitamins, but that is mainly because the market is flooded with bad products containing useless fillers and synthetic vitamins. There are good products out there though that are very beneficial. Main thing to look for is being derived from whole foods. A sign that a product contains synthetic vitamins (unless otherwise stated) is when they are listed with their technical name, like Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), Vitamin E (dl-tocopheryl acetate), etc.

[TheCompiler]

Didn't know z is a biologist, i'm studying to become, hopefully, a biologist too, but you know what's italy's policy towards research. Here leterature, history, arts are fine, science nah, it's for nerds, don't invest there.