Well, I’m not an old fogey, underage, a young geezer or whatever the thread for people in their late twenties/thirties is called, or left-handed. But I am a (octo-lacto) vegetarian. I know there are a number of others out there, so come on in. Why are you veggie, how long, and do you have any good recipes to suggest for the culinary-challenged (aka me)?
I’ve been veggie for about a year. I was living in a veggie co-op, and simply didn’t eat meat for that summer, cause we never had any in the house. I completely lost my desire to eat it afterwards - it just seemed disgusting. (By the way, I would never ever ever ever ever tell anyone that they shouldn’t eat their hamburger or Thanksgiving turkey. So don’t get on my case.) After living in Israel, I had already stopped eating pork products and never ate seafood to begin with. Giving up beef and chicken was a cinch. I have not noticed any change in my health, but I have no desire to back to an omnivorous diet.
Well, I’m sure that my posting here will not come as a shock to anyone!
I became veggie (ovo lacto) about 14 years ago. It was a gradual process - an old friend, and then my sister became veggie, and they sure weren’t suffering. In fact, they ate wonderfully. I could not see that they were “giving up” much. I guess I never was much of a meat-eater to begin with. I just ate it out of habit. So, the transition to veggie was rather seamless.
The thing that pushed me over the edge into full-fledged vegginess was the really gross, gristly meaty dish I felt compelled to eat at a friend’s house . She is a rather “sensitive” (read: defensive) person, and I knew I could not beg off from eating this gross, way-too meaty dish that she had prepared. So I ate it. And I thought - “Being vegetarian will be worth it if I never have to eat anything like this again.” And it has been worth it! Now, bear in mind, I didn’t become veggie just to avoid gristly meat dishes served by defensive friends, but it certainly is a perk!
I don’t mean to hijack your thread, but I don’t understand how you can feel comfortable without any meat in your diet. What I mean is my body feels noticably weakened without even a day with some meat in it. As it is I usually eat eggs, meat and/or fish at every meal. I have tried to eat beans and other vegetarian sources of protein but physically they just don’t cut it for me as I feel weak and listless.
Do you have to go through some kind of meat withdrawal before you can feel comfortable with getting your protein from vegetarian sources or am I talking about something that you haven’t experienced? I read all the information that touts vegetarianism from a health perspective so I have seriously considered it but I can’t get past the tremendous body fatigue I experience when I don’t eat meat.
Seriously, I was vegetarian from when I was 17 until I was 25. It was stupid to quit, I went back to it when I was 35, and now it’s been 5 more years this time. I can’t imagine ever eating meat again, yuck. I feel so much better without it. It’s made me feel happier, healthier, lighter, fresher. I can think better. To have meat clogging up the system would just be a heavy weight dragging me down, no thanks.
I went vegan last winter . . . it involved little more than replacing cow milk on my breakfast cereal with soy milk, which, it turned out, tastes better anyway and doesn’t smell strong the way cow milk does. I am happy to be living in a time and place where being vegan is easy.
I’ve been vegetarian for three years. I started to be one in high school, but found it difficult still living with my parents. After i moved out on my own i completely became a vegetarian and i will never go back (to my parents house or to being a meateater).
I feel great from it! At first i lost 10 pounds, but other than that didn’t really notice much of a change. I never ate much red meat anyway though.
Maybe you should try nuts or vegetarian meat products like veggie burgers. I never had the fatigue you are talking about. I gave it up because I simply don’t want to have to kill anything that doesn’t want to die. Life’s too short to take some time off of anything else’s.
Psychological. If anything, we get too much protein in our diets. I just make sure that I have either some cheese or some other sorce of protein (beans and rice make a complete protein, and yes, I LIKE tofu…).
I am an octo-lacto, too. Stopped eating red meat my sophmore year in high school, decided to stop completely my junior year. That would be 4 years ago. Occationally I miss meat, but that’s usually because I LOVE ethnic/regional foods and it can be really hard to get them in veggie form. And traveling as a veggie sucks. (gee, could I have a Caesar salad or grilled cheese again?) But in day-to-day life, I don’t miss it at all.
As far as cuisine goes, I’m a big fan of Asian/Indian foods, they tend to be very veggie friendly. That, and one of my favorite 2 minute meals is diced scallion with smooshed tofu with seasame oil and soy sauce and this mystery hot Indian pepper powder that my landlady gave me. (“It’s very good for the stomach. Take!”). Sounds gross, but tastes very Asian and literally takes 2 minutes to make. mmmm…
I am generally an ovo-lacto-vegetarian, although I will make occasional exceptions for fish. With an exploratory break of about a year of occasionally trying meat (8 yrs. ago) I haven’t eaten red meat for 14 or poultry for about 12 years.
I have also done quite a bit of travelling, mostly in Europe, but have had little difficulty in finding lacto-veg food, even in places where vegetarian is an unknown concept. Even in Germany (where I have lived the past 9 years), you can find things without meat almost anywhere, but should always make sure first by asking! And even then there can be slip-ups. Options include salads (of course), pasta or pizza (found nearly anywhere), Indian meals if available (usually with great veg variety), and even many local specialities can be meatless (Kaesespaetzle in SW-Germany, all sorts of things in Italy…) Vegan travelling, however, must be truly next to impossible!
I’ve been vegetarian since last August 9th. I had been thinking about making the change when I visited my friends in Austin, Texas last year.
During my visit they took me to a famous barbecue restaurant called The Salt Lick. It’s an all-you-can-eat place, and they brought us plate after plate of beef, pork, ribs and chicken. I ate like there was no tomorrow, and afterwards I was round and drowsy and didn’t want to move for hours and hours.
When my wits returned, I decided I’d had my Ragnarok as a carnivore. There’s no way I could ever equal that experience again, so it was a perfect opportunity to go vegetarian. I haven’t eaten meat since, except for a few exceptions for seafood when I was in the Caribbean last month.
Mainly I am a vegetarian for health reasons, which are very well-established. I wouldn’t presume to make an ethical stand on the issue, because I still take photographs and wear leather. But, I do have a certain…distaste, at least, for the idea of killing our fellow thinking, feeling creatures when we clearly don’t need to.
I eat eggs and dairy. I’m fifteen pounds lighter than I was a year ago. I cook for myself much more now, where before I always ate out, so I’ve probably saved lots of money in the past year also.
Unless there’s something you’re not telling us, I think this has to be a psychological effect for you. The daily requirement of protein is trivial: around 3 ounces, and you wouldn’t notice the effects of deficiency for days or weeks afterward.
My only other guess is that you’re leaving the meat dishes out of your diet but not supplementing them with an equal number of calories from some other source. If you go short on your usual caloric intake you will definitely feel the fatigue you describe.
I have been veggie (ovo lacto) for a few years, at first not out of choice. I was having severe migraines and other health problems and was finding that I felt better when I didn’t eat much meat, so I cut it out altogether. So far things are going well.I have much more energy and feel heaps better. It was hard at first, I’m originally a farm girl and used to eating meat 3 times a day, but I started making easy things like mushroom burgers and salads which I already liked and building on it with pulses and beans. You have to get a bit creative, but I have discovered some wonderful foods just by looking and experimenting. I love cooking anyway, so it is just another excuse to go silly in the kitchen.
Eating is all about doing what is right for you.
My reasons exactly! And after the birth of my daughter five years ago, I couldn’t face the thought of meat. There was a chicken breast in the refrigerator and the very thought of cooking it made me ill. Then I had a revelation: I DIDN’T HAVE TO!
There are wonderful books to get one started, including The Gradual Vegetarian (I’m sorry I don’t have it with me to check the author, but I’m sure you can look it up on amazon or somewhere). I subscribed to Vegetarian Times.
I’m not really strict, I’m afraid. Sometimes when eating at someone’s house and non-meat items are scarce, I’ll go ahead and eat a little meat. On the road, when you’re pretty much consigned to McDonald’s or Burger King, I’ll eat the fish sandwich. But by not eating meat I don’t feel like I’m missing a thing. I love pasta, tofu, soy milk, rice milk and every fruit and vegetable created.
Here are a couple of my favorite recipes:
CHILI If (like me) you really want to make the recipe simple, skip the onion and garlic and buy diced tomatoes with onion and use garlic powder
1 lb. Morningstar Farms meatless crumbles, thawed and crumbled
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 can corn, undrained
1 can kidney beans
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 or 3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. chili power
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil.
Dump all other ingredients into large pot or crock pot. Add onion and garlic.
If it seems thick, add another can of crushed tomatoes.
Simmer a couple hours.
RATATOUILLE
1 eggplant
salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow and 1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 can peeled tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
pepper
Cut unpeeled eggplant into long strips, then cut strips down to about finger-length size. Put in colander, sprinkle with salt, and let drain for half an hour.
Heat olive oil. Saute onion in it for 5 minutes, then add peppers, garlic, and tomatoes and stir well. Mix in
thyme and oregano.
Rinse eggplant and dry it. Add to pan. Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring now and then, til soft–about 20-30 minutes.
Season to taste w/salt and pepper. Can be served hot or at room temperature. Serve over brown rice; it is superb.
[post edited by UncleBeer to fix underlining tags.]
It’s nice to see so many veggies check in! Thanks, Kyla, for starting this thread!
One bug-a-boo I have (and forgive me for being so anal) but the person who “occasionally” (or even rarely) allows themselves some meat, fish, chicken, whatever, is what most vegetarians and Veggie societies would consider “mostly” vegetarian. However, they would not be a “full-fledged” vegetarian. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t doing something great, however. Any dramatic move towards full-fledged vegginess is something to be respected, and applauded.
I was a vegetarian for about a year and a half or two years when I was growing up. I just couldn’t eat meat without getting ill. Anyway, eventually my body started craving meat again and I started eating it again. Although, I now eat far less meat than I used to and often will eat vegetarian meals (about 2 or 3 days a week I won’t eat meat). It seems to work for me. I go back and forth with the idea of vegetarianism now and wouldn’t mind going back. It would be a little tough since my boyfriend likes to eat meat now. I don’t have any ethical points of view on vegetarianism now or then, I just did what felt right for me. I may do another vegetarian meal tonight as I did last night.
Sqrl, Beleive me, you can be veggie in a mixed household. I’ve been vegetarian for 10 years now, including pregnancy. My husband is a total meat eater, although he has had a few of my dishes. We just cook what we want when we want it. Our daughter is veggie, too, because she eats off of my plate a lot, and also because we are cautious about ecoli, which can hurt kids a whole lot faster than adults. (And she’s totally heathy, too. She’s 20 months old, and is the size of your average 3-yr-old.) I don’t hassle my dh about his food choices, and he pays me the same curtesy. Easy!
Well, I was a vegatrian once back in the 80’s. As soon as I got off meat(no puns please), my face cleared up, and i started needed to go to the bathroom a lot more often. I felt no different, but it certainly helps on the grocery bill. In any grocery store, you can find the inexpensive items to make many wonderful veggie meals.
ALso, my son and I stopped drinking milk mnay years ago(he was alaergic when born). As soon as I stopped drinking milk, I stopped getting upper respiratory infections all winter long. I havent had one since, and its been over 10 years!
Cows milk is for calves.
