Question for vegetarians
 

How did you start? did you quit meat all at once or weaned off? trying to start and be healthier overall.

started with red meat, did two years without it then moved to no more chicken and turkey, then no fish. took years to do it, not just overnight. its change of entire lifestyle and eating habits, cant be done overnight and be as efficient nor sucessful as a long term slow gradual change that persists and remains.

thanks for the advice :)

I went from the Dr. Adkins diet( ALL Meat) to NO meat at all. My doctors finally convinced me to eat fish or seafood once or twice a month. I also ate eggs and dairy... some vegetarian huh? I was that way for over seven years. I was a BAD vegetarian for seven years. I do admit it was a learning process. I read every label and book and every website I could find. I learned a lot along the way. In January of this year I went Vegan and have never looked back.

My blood sugar is finally under control( I am a type 2 diabetic) and I have lost over 40 pounds. Most importantly... I feel better.

There are several websites where you can find suggestions in the transition.


OH... and don't be one of "those" vegetarians. The ones that look down on people that eat meat. Those folks can be annoying.

just out of curiosity for the veggies out there..

is it about killing animals or JUST about eating healthier. If the latter, do you ever eat unhealthy food still ? like splurge on fudge or someting ? if so how does that differ from splurging on a burger ?

Do you totally boycott all animal products ? like jello, toothpaste, leather shoes ?

I want to be vegetarian because it will save me from buying deodorants and cologne. The sulfur compounds that I ingest by eating meat is one of the factors of my bad musky smell.

that is umm the most ridiculous reason i have ever heard.

You make a whole lifestyle change so you can save like $20 a year ?

And on that subject, i don't really go out of my way to smell people but i have noticed vegetarians often smell of strange spices, its not the most pleasant smell either.. then again the ones that advertise it on their sleeve so i know they are vegetarians are usually hippies and they often have a "hippy stink" regardless of if they eat meat or not

I'm looking into it for the health benefits. Check out a book called "The China Study". It's got some really interesting info.

I would imagine that going cold turkey could be very difficult on your body and your mind. If you want to go vegetarian, for whatever reason, it's probably best to slowly ease into it like Fletch suggested. You're basically changing your lifestyle and that is not an easy thing to do, go step by step.

I don't eat much red meat anymore (not on purpose, it just seemed to happen,) but I would have a very difficult time cutting out chicken and especially fish. You may want to pinpoint a few things that you think will be easy to phase out and start with that.

I stopped cold turkey. (no pun intended)

I did it for the ethical reasons, not really the health benefits although I consider myself to be in pretty good shape. I work out 5 days a week and ride and race bikes all summer.

I still eat junk food now and then so I'm not some diet weirdo. Ice cream, potato chips, chocolate, pizza, etc.

No leather or other animal based products. Finding shoes is actually harder than the diet part...lol

The key is to make sure you supplement your diet with high quality protein shakes and take supplements for nutrients you can't get from non-meat sources. Certain amino acids, vitamin b12, creatine, etc. If you do that you can build muscle and work out and get the same results as a meat eater. This is why most vegetarians give up, they end up eating the wrong foods and not taking the right supplements. They look skinny and weak and feel terrible and it gives us all a bad image.

And of course, don't push your non-meat eating ways on anyone once you switch over.

I always ate mostly salads and vegetables, so if you eat healthy in general it is much easier to give up meat.

Most people just eat greasy flesh and cheese, fast food, so in their minds to give that up for fruit and veggies is just not feesible.

It is just so much better for your digestive system. After a couple years your body will thank you and you won't want to ingest animal products when you adjust to veggie foods. Plus there are replacements for everything if you know how to cook decent. You won't miss meat or cheese if you do it right.

I don't know any veggies who eat healthy, are in good physical shape, etc. I know over a dozen veggies I can think of off the top of my head...

I don't know anyone who totally boycotts animal products - I don't think in our society you realistically can even if you wanted to (go live in the hills maybe!)

I've been considering going ovo-lacto veggie for a while myself, mostly because I want to see how it is (I tried vegan years ago, didn't feel good, didn't do enough research anyways and only did it for a month) and because I would like to increase my vegetable intake anyways...

I just want to add - not that I don't believe that there aren't veggies out there who are healthy, fit and do it for all the right reasons.

But most seem to be people who do it because it's "cool" or mean to animals if you eat meat blah blah and then they eat chips and candy bars all day long...

meat is good for you, at least occasionally

The very same can be said if people just eat and cook decent to begin with.
Also find it harsh to call it greasy flesh and cheese - then lump in fast food, which should just be overly processed foods. There is also nothing wrong with meat and ones digestive system, same could be said of dairy unless of course someone is lactose intolerant in the first place.

sigh... from now on I am just adding people who quote me with negativity to ignore on ffvb. It is such a nice add on time saver.

this is a nice thread, unfortunately non vegetarians will come in here and shit all over it...

carry on veggies! :)

Stop eat meat and keep eating vegetable

I feel stronger when I eat meat and wish I can go all veggies...but it's not going to happen...I am Italian and love food and it is one of the favorite pleasures of my life.

I do agree that you can eat healthy and still enjoy food...but it takes more planning. Also there is no way I can sit at work eating a salad when the other guys are eating chicken parm heros.

Good info.

im not a vegetarian but if I WAS going to be one I would do it for health reasons and to decrease my chances of getting cancer... Meat eaters have a higher risk of getting cancer. I dont think i could go vegetarian completely, i would eat fish and shrimp and crab and lobster... just no red meat

i would probably splurge on chocolate etc sometimes but its probably less harmful if i cut down on red meat.. because that way you cut down on at least ONE unhealthy thing... its one less unhealthy thing.. chocolate doesnt lead to cancer... i have a high metabolism so i dont have to worry about getting fat plus im not diabetic..im healthy and i can eat a lot of sugar and be ok.. i can eat shitloads of sugar and not get fat, i have good genes.

i dont really care about the animals to be honest.. i only care about my health.. i would do it to decrease my chances of cancer.. my number 1 priority is me myself and I and my health and my body.

That was starting shit, WOW! Hell was not even negative.
Carry on though.

but thats completely different than a vegetarion. thats just someone who chooses to eat what they consider healthier at that point in time , not ruling out foods forever.

Thats more like saying you dont jaywalk but you might do it once in awhile or if you have to as opposed to someone who will die if there is no crosswalk or a cab doesnt come pick them up in ordr not to jaywalk

I dont drink much because it is unhealthy but i'm not swearing off alcohol because it can cause cancer.

common sense tells us eating ONE steak one time and mostly healthy food the rest of the time is WAY healthier than some vegan that eats a bag of marshmallows every signle day

Just seems to me theres some deeper issue with alot of vegetarians , like maybe they have no willpower and have to stay off meat forever because they can't control their eating or something , because a normal person could just eat unhealthy things once in awhile and be just fine.

I don't eat alot of processed foods and most of the meat is local small farm meat , thats got to be healthier than a vegetarian eating junky food and terminator soy products.

I fail to see how quitting meat = eating healthy.

my glass is half empty of lol :winkwink::Oh crap

Pretty much the same way as Fletch. I had no problem staying away from red meat. White meat and fish costed me a year. After about 5 year I reached a point where the smell of meat started to repulse me (same way as you smell a dead corpse) so it has lost all attractiveness.

just eat meat until you puke

I am guessing most vegetarians are probably healthy overall and have healthy eating habits.. I'm thinking they have to be more vigilant than regular people with their eating habits... they have to make sure they get enough protein through egg whites or whatever... I'm sure they eat healthy and plan their diets so that they get their required amount of iron and protein in their system and other vitamins etc so they don't go into deficiency... I seriously doubt any vegetarian just refuses to eat meat and instead just eats marshmallows instead all day... Their body would get weak due to lack of protein and sugar overload...

Pam Anderson is a vegetarian and her body looks healthy.. her face is aged but her body seems really fit and toned for her age...

I think Vegetarians and "Vegans" take themselves too seriously ...

For me it is about the killing of animals. I do eat and drink unhealthy.
I do not boycott all animal products however I do try to avoid them. Practically it is hard to boycott them all.
If I wanted to not be a part of all the unneeded animal killings I would not eat regular cheese for example because during the making of cheese animal products are used. I would need to eat vegetarian cheese from special shops. I have to go out of my way a lot to get to these shops and cheese takes way much lives then steak does.
Thats where I am pragmatic and I feel ok with that. I have needed to "answer" myself a lot to non vegetarians though who feel you need to be an extremist or eat the fucking steak and be "normal". They feel a vegetarian can not wear leather shoes or this person is a hypocrite. That always makes me giggle inside.
:)

I have found vegetarian vs meat eater is just like mac vs pc, its always gonna be some dude who has never used a mac, bashing them, and it will ALWAYS be, meat eaters come in threads like this and talk shit about something they know NOTHING about.

those who have not the strength or determination to stop eating meat, really have no valid input in these discussions, theyve never attempted to change their dieting habits, nor can they control what they put in their mouth.

This thread is directed to vegetarians, and look at how many of the people arent.

just like a mac vs pc thread and its really not worth anyones time to argue. No matter what a vegetarian says, there will be hordes of meat eaters who come in and say we are all unhealthy, we suck, etc.... despite us being much healthier than they are, our weight better, our figure, our enegry etc... they know nothing.

after having changed my life so much and having taken the difficult step of going vegetarian in a meat consuming world, there really is no need to argue with meat eaters who are ignorant to our diet, they dont know anything let alone whats good for them.

Ive learned to just let them make an ass out of themselves and not directly counter them, no different than sopme dude bashing mac because he says they "cost too much"

meat eaters will never understand vegetarians, and most of us dont care really... our diet highlights their weakness.

One miracle product that made the transition much easier for my taste buds is called "Quorn". Trust me, this ain't no nasty tofu. The taste and texture is a very good meat substitute for just about any recipe.

The face of a vegetarian...

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...lly04/imus.jpg

And another

http://buddhapest.files.wordpress.co...magination.jpg

"So I am living without fats, without meat, without fish, but am feeling quite well this way. It always seems to me that man was not born to be a carnivore."

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel Prize 1921

can i play the pc part pleeze
There will always be some veggie that uses a mac that thinks mac's are soooo great talking shit when in reality they do the same things just a little differently
people who do not have the determination to eat meat really have no valid input in this discussion as they are likely sick in the head from not eating meat

vegetarians cant control what they put in their mouths so they must swear off meat forever because they have no willpower

This thread is directed to vegetarians, and look at how many of the people arent.

no matter what meat eaters say there will always be hordes of vegetarians who say we are unhealthy , we suck etc despite the fact they have no willpower and arent any healthier, have no more energy and stink like hippies.

:winkwink::winkwink::winkwink:
p.s. just flipping it around to see how it sounds

Smokey, what about the fact that eating a lot of red meat increases your chances of getting cancer? It's true for reals

http://www.naturalnews.com/026272.html

here is an excerpt :

"Many studies have shown that eating red meat in high quantities can be harmful to your health. The general consensus seems to be that we should eat less of it. Colon cancer is the third most common cause of cancer in both men and women in the U.S. It affects over 145,000 people and kills over 56,000 each year. "

http://www.cancerproject.org/surviva...facts/meat.php

"studies showed significant reductions in cancer risk among those who avoided meat.4 In contrast, Harvard studies showed that daily meat eaters have approximately three times the colon cancer risk, compared to those who rarely eat meat."

and

"A number of hypotheses have been advanced to explain the connection between meat consumption and cancer risk. First, meat is devoid of fiber and other nutrients that have a protective effect. Meat also contains animal protein, saturated fat, and, in some cases, carcinogenic compounds such as heterocyclic amines (HCA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) formed during the processing or cooking of meat. HCAs, formed as meat is cooked at high temperatures, and PAHs, formed during the burning of organic substances, are believed to increase cancer risk. In addition, the high fat content of meat and other animal products increases hormone production, thus increasing the risk of hormone-related cancers such as breast and prostate cancer. "

Study above is about meat in general, not even red meat

I'm kinda scared now :( I'll try eating fish and shrimp from now on..

dont let them ruin the thread, although its already happened,... the thread is a question to vegetarians, therefore meat eaters will find any reason to come in here and derail it.

the posts above by the trolls prove my point, they just want to argue, they care not for facts.

I will leave you guys with this,...

in a thread called "question to photographers"

would you take someones advice who has never picked up a camera?

thought so, see you guys monday

/logout

life causes cancer, breathing causes cancer.. Look, the point is that even if eating lots of red meat increases your risk of cancer, then DON'T eat alot of red meat , you dont have to swear off it forever. Chocolate and sugar are bad for you if you eat lots of it, doesnt mean you should never eat them.

Cars cause more deaths than eating meat yet you still drive in cars.

in a thread called "question for vegetarians" would you ignore all valid points / questions and instead insist on one opinion because you are bullheaded :winkwink:

I should point out the thread we are in the starter asked a question that no non-vegetarian has given any advice to the contrary of thread starter.