Vegetarian or Vegan

[Karma]

I'm transitioning to a vegetarian diet. Is anyone here vegetarian or vegan? How long did it take you to transition & what challenges did you face? Ever have a relapse?

Did you face criticism from friends & family over the descision?

 

[Arsenal]

Good luck with that.

Your biggest issues will be sufficient protein intake and, depending on your commitment to green leafy vegetables, anemia. You can do it but as a biologist I do not recommend it.

Is there no meat you can stomach?

 

[Clara Oswald]

I am not, though I could be vegetarian because I really don't like to eat much meat. You just have to be sure to get protein into your diet, which a nutritionist told me back in the day when I wasn't even fully vegetarian. It's not a "moral" reasoning for me though.

 

[Karma]

Good luck with that.

Your biggest issues will be sufficient protein intake and, depending on your commitment to green leafy vegetables, anemia. You can do it but as a biologist I do not recommend it.

Is there no meat you can stomach?

that's what my doctor told me as well. But she also referred me to a nutrionist who told me of some good protein supplements that i should take.

I love green vegetables. spinach, broccoli & the like. when it comes to lettuce, I avoid ice berg, which is widely panned as being zero nutritional value.

i stopped eating red meat some time ago. the thought of eating a steak makes me queezy lol! i dont like fish. the only meat that I will eat these days (& that wont last much longer) is skinless boneless chicken breast. I have to buy the meat from a certain store b/c i will only eat organic. its crazy now how you can't trust hardly anything not certified organic.

I am not, though I could be vegetarian because I really don't like to eat much meat. You just have to be sure to get protein into your diet, which a nutritionist told me back in the day when I wasn't even fully vegetarian. It's not a "moral" reasoning for me though.

yeah there's no moral issue for me either. i've wanted to go vegetarian for a while & ive made strides toward that. my motivation is to avoid certain illnesses (cancer) associated w/ high meat consumption among otther things & i think its just gonna be a good way to maintain a healthier lifestyle

i dont have the discipline to go vegan b/c that would require checking products to see if they contain ANY animal based products & things like pasta (for example) might have eggs in them.

 

[Black King]

I had a friend at college that was vegan for a short time but dropped it as it became impossible to maintain after a time mostly because eating animal product free became nearly impossible. Almost everything contains some animal byproducts now.

 

[Mary Stuart]

I was a Veggie in my teenage years but had to re-introduce meat for health reasons. If my chemical levels change too much then my epilepsy starts to become effected.

I don't really eat a lot of meat, but I eat very balanced (after years of a really crap diet and no exercise). I mostly eat chicken and white fish but I do like a burger and some steak. I tend to go meat free for sausages and mince, purely because it has less fat.

To up your protein I would suggest quinoa. I love it, one of the best things i've found, I mix it with some feta and spinach or kale, kale is my new favourite thing. Especially done in the oven with a little seasoning, it is like crisps.

A friend of mine is a vegan and swears by the Happy Herbivore cookbook.

LEAF: Low Fat, Everyday, Affordable & Fast Recipes | HappyHerbivore.com

 

[Clara Oswald]

Oh I have a good quinoa recipe

 

[Persephone]

I was a Pecitarian [which means I ate sea food only, not land dwelling animals] for a year due to watching one of those horrible slaughtering videos that are around the internet. It was more of I couldn't stomach the thought of eating meat as opposed to choosing not to eat it. However I wasn't getting enough protein intake, and towards the end of my Pecitarian days I started to lose my hair, and I also became anemic. That's when I decided to try introducing just poultry into my diet.

If you want to be a vegetarian, go for it. Just make sure you get enough vitamins and protein into your system. Also, i'm not sure if you're opposed to eating sea food, but fish is a great source of protein so that could help as well. Unfortunately I wasn't a huge fish fan back when I stopped eating meat so I couldn't take advantage of that.