(Bolding mine) You mean like not eating red meat?
@OP: I’ve been vegetarian for about 8 months, but I stopped eating red meat in 2003. Really, that first transition was not a problem at all.
In addition to the movie Food, Inc mentioned above, I would recommend the book Eating Animals by Jonathon Safran Foer
I eat very little red meat because 1) I loathe hamburger and 2) simply cannot afford the good stuff - namely, steak. (Exceptions: A Burger King Whopper once a month, and in winter, a nice pot roast sandwich made from chuck steak). I’ll cook the stuff for the family, but I have to be starved, with no alternative except a peanut butter sandwich on white bread, to eat it myself.
Every vegetarian I know has backslid, going back to eating meat once in a while. A hippie who lived in a yurt told me she got very sick as a vegan, which was more of a philisophical embracing of the Alternative Lifestyle.
No. Like eating a balanced diet, with more modest portions. There’s nothing wrong with red meat in moderation. People have been eating red meat for longer than the human race has existed.
To be fair, there’s nothing wrong with not eating red meat, either–plenty of people never do. But it’s not likely to be effective for weight loss if that’s all you do (unless it triggers over-eating in a person for some reason.)
I eat very little red meat because I love ground turkey. It’s awesome because there’s so little grease, it makes clean-up easier. I use it for all sorts of things, like last night used about a pound with some black beans and red/green peppers and onions, popped it on a fresh tortilla with some queso fresco.
Also cottage (shepherd’s) pie, lasagna (mixed w/turkey sausage), burgers, and chili. Not spaghetti though. I don’t know why but it never tastes good in spaghetti.
I do have some of that good thinly sliced beef from the Mexican store; haven’t found a satisfactory replacement for that yet. There’s very little fat there too so I’m not so worried about it.
I don’t know about losing weight. The only time I’ve lost a significant amount of weight I was eating tons of red meat on Atkins.
And on that note, I went out and had prime rib for dinner last night - a piece of tender, medium, beautifully-cooked prime rib. It was delicious, and I may not eat red meat again for days.
Same here. I’ve been vegetarian for about 8 months now and have felt no difference in my health whatsoever.
It just depends on who you are and how you do it.
I stopped eating red meat, and it was no problem at all. But I never liked it much to begin with. Now I will eat it, but I rarely go out of my way to do so.
You won’t lose weight if you just substitute cheese or end up eating larger portions (this was always my problem.) But if you can make this part of an overall campaign to pay more attention to your eating habits, it can help.
Yes, you do need to put some thought into what you eat to make sure you get enough nutrients like protein and iron (as well as supplementing B-12). It’s really not that hard to find non-meaty sources of protein though. I think this website gives some good ideas: Protein in the Vegan Diet -- The Vegetarian Resource Group
Every year I give up beef for Lent.
I’m not religious or Catholic, but I like the very concrete time period. It’s become more and more easy.
My mom and sister are pescetarians (eat eggs and dairy and seafood) That’s what they call themselves. My SO was a vegetarian years ago but isn’t now. He does limit his beef b/c of bp issues, etc.
Giving up beef forces me to find other things than fast food. Over the past about ten years I’ve learned to cook a lot more.
And I have lost weight. Still fat, but learned how to cook more veggies. (Those steam bag thingies for the microwave rock!)
The first time I tried going veggie I got sick and felt weak most of the time. The second time around, I’m going more slowly. I started by cutting out the red meat, then I moved on to the pork, and now, slowly, chicken and seafood are being taken off the menu. Anyone can be healthy on a veggie diet and gain or lose weight. I have a ridiculously active lifestyle now compared to how I lived when I first tried to go veggie and I haven’t had a single problem. Go slowly, learn about good alternatives and how to cook them, and have supplements on hand for the first few months or so.
Just wanted to pop back in to thank everybody for their input. I should say that I’m not really looking at this as a real way to lose weight. But I do think that if I’m cutting out things like bacon and hamburgers, it will help me make better choices over all.
By the way, it’s been three days since I posted this and still no red meat. Not exactly something to shout to the heavens about, but for me that’s quite a feat. It’s definitely pushed me into eating a lot more vegetables and chicken than I usually do, which has to be better for me.
Does this mean you’re defining “people” in some new way, or “human race?”
I’ve never found it difficult at all. I was vegetarian for 10 years and am virtually red-meat free now. It’s not some necessary component for human survival. If you “crave” burgers, have a turkey burger instead. You’re probably just craving the experience of a thick thing on a bun with lettuce and tomato.
FWIW I never experienced weakness or sickness in eating a vegetable-based diet. The idea that you have to be very careful regarding proteins is a myth.
On a vegetarian diet, I agree: it’s hard to not get what you need if you are eating enough food in general. But a vegan diet? Most of the vegans I see are teenagers (my students) who don’t plan at all, and I’ve seen 2-3 of them get noticeably weak and slugish after a few weeks on a vegan diet. Of course, they may well be eating nothing but french fries and apples, but it does illustrate the point–being a vegan with no thought to nutrition can lead to poor health.
The Eat This, Not That series of books might be good, if you eat in restaurants a lot and want to eat healthier and still be able to eat out. They’ll point out some pitfalls. For example, fast-food chicken or fish sandwiches or even salads can be much less healthy than a small burger.
At McDonald’s, a Filet-o-Fish has 380 calories, a McChicken 360, compared to 250 in a regular hamburger (not a Quarter Pounder or Big Mac). Giving up red meat doesn’t save you calories there. Nor would giving up fried food- a Premium Grilled Chicken Classic sandwich has 420 calories (compare to the fried McChicken or Filet-o-Fish). I am not picking on or recommending McDonald’s here, just using them as an example.
It’s just not as simple as giving up certain “bad” foods to automatically save calories and lose weight. There’s more to it than that. If you are eating bigger portions of chicken than you were of beef, or are eating your chicken and vegetables with a lot more high-calorie dressings and sauces than you were eating your red meat with, you’re not going to lose weight.
If you eat in chain restaurants, they probably have at least some nutritional information available online. Use it. Don’t rely on nebulous concepts that aren’t always true, like “chicken is healthier than beef” or “non-fried foods are healthier than fried foods”.
One rule of thumb that does work is that a small always has fewer calories than a large, if the item in question has calories and the small and large are prepared in the same way. Get a small order of fries instead of a large, and you will save calories. You do get less food for your money, but if you’re overweight, more food is not better for you, so the large is not really a better deal.
I haven’t really “cut it out of my diet,” but it’s kind of expensive where I live so I don’t really eat much of it at all. In fact, I can’t think of when I bought it last.
I don’t get cravings for steaks or anything. Sometimes I’ll have a burger at a restaurant if they’re known for them. I don’t think I feel any different, but that might be because I haven’t been making any kind of effort, so any benefits would just slip under my radar.