I’m not too clear with the terms, but I was curious as to the reason why some of you went to this particular eating habit.
For a period of about two years, I refrained from eating any red meat, poultry or fish (I’m not sure what vegetarians consider that to be), but it was purely for a health reason. One of my friends was really lean and fit and I wanted to be like him. (AHAHAAHA). He ate no meat, poultry, or fish, and if I recall, he also ate no tofu, for some reason. It wasn’t because I felt anything about animals or whatever (not trying to be crude, but that’s all I can think of how to say it). It all ended when I dated the Man Who Ate Red Meat Everyday. I ended up eating regularly, like I had before.
Anyway, my question is why have you gone vegetarian? What do you substitute for proteins, etc.
I’ve been vegan for about 6 years. I do it now just because it’s the way I am. I started b/c I took a speech class and our teacher gave this AMAZING speech on veganism. I haven’t touched meat or dairy since. I read a few books and it started out for health reasons, and it has sort of grown to me just thinking animal products are “icky”. I see milk as cows breast milk. I see meat as “flesh”. Blech. I don’t see the line between eating Bessie the Cow and Fluffy the Dog. I just don’t. I get plenty of protein, it’s actually rather difficult to be deficiant in protien, protien is found pretty much everywhere. Not to mention that I"m a tofu junkie. I don’t know why yer guy didn’t eat tofu, i’ve never heard of that before. Unless he’s a frutarian. I think that’s a bit extreme myself…I have no problem eating in restaurants, usually i can convert a veggie dish by just asking for no cheese, chinese and indian foods are particularly vegan friendly. The only problem i’ve had in 6 years is iron. I’m anemic off and on, but as I’ve really upped my tofu intake recently, i’ve been fine. Also, a multi-vitamin can get rid of that problem. I’m just horrible at taking vitamins. Thanks for asking!
A vegan is someone who doesn’t consume or use animal byproducts. This includes dairy, any meats, and other things like whey (found in damn near everything), honey, gelatin, leather or any hide products, etc. This, to my mind, is an ethical point of view where vegitarianism can be ethical or for health reasons.
I am a vegan and have been for about 6 years. I love all animals. As lezlers said, I see no difference between any animals…they are are beuatiful and have a right to live.
I honestly believe if people where educated about how livestock were treated they would either hunt for their own food or stop eating meat. It is foul and disgusting just from a heath standpoint…not even considering the suffering involved.
There are a lot of people out there who take offense at this viewpoint, possible because they have been given a “hard time” by vegitarians or whatever. So be it. I feel little pity as vegans are bombarded with images of the flesh and the suffering of other animals non-stop. It is like some Christian groups complaining about how persecuted they are in America.
Both “sides” some can take this a bit far. It is a personal choice whichever way you choose.
The majority of my friends are meat-eaters and they have no problem with what I might cook and vice versa.
I got no problem with eating either…I’m 6’1" and 210…a healthy strapping young man! The myth that oyu need meat for protein is outdated, as is the whole “got milk?” thing. These are just marketing schemes and nothing else.
And I don’t have 7 pounds of undigested red meat in my bowels, either!
Frutarians are don’t consume anything but fruit. There is also a “raw” diet, where they eat nothing cooked. I couldn’t hang. I guess you could say i’m not a strict vegan, I eat honey, just no meat, dairy or anything with animal products in it (other than honey) and there is non-dairy whey. And yes, there is a high fat content in tofu, as it is made from soy, which does have fat. There is lowfat tofu and soymilk though, which I eat. That is another reason for my veganism, it really helps keep my weight down. I went from being about 30 lbs overweight to being perfectly within my weight class with minimal effort. That was enough for my mom to convert.
I’ve been vegetarian (I’m now kinda hanging in the mysterious limbo between lactovegetarianism and veganism) since about March of 2001, and I did it because I wanted to try it - it quickly grew on me. Eventually, I did pick up the idea that there’s no real difference between eating designated food animals and beloved not-supposed-to-be-eaten animals, so it’s stuck with me with minimal conflict.
I do almost nothing special for protein - I don’t need much anyways, being generally inactive, and it’s almost impossible to be deficient on a normal diet.
I eat a lot of vegan food, like tofu burgers and rice milk, but only as a way to balance the other things I like, such as regular cheeseburgers and ice cream. There’s heart disease in my family, and I don’t want to need a bypass when I’m older.
I’ll go YEARS without eating any meat products, eggs included, and then out of the blue I’ll eat some seafood or fish. Dunno - it’s just me. The reason I eat like this is actually because I just don’t crave meat very often.
However, I’m the worlds greatest living shwank when it comes to cheese, so there’s no way I could ever go vegan. Actually, I’m particularly fond of honey, ice cream, milk and leather as well, so I just don’t think my heart is in it.
Also, my friend raises phesants, and sometimes I’ll have phesant eggs, provided that I don’t think about it too much - if I do I get really grossed out and can’t eat ANYTHING
Thinking of the animals doesn’t really bother me (yes, I’m a heartless swine–forgive the pun). I’m more like Ozz, sometimes I go on non-meat periods basically to keep the health thing “level” (if that’s possible at all!).
Alice, stay away from my cheese! I can’t imagine a life without it either.
We (as in Mr, me and the kids) have given up meat since the mad cow scare. Mr started reading books, and came to the conclusion that all animals have diseases which could eventually mutate into something which humans can get. YMMV.
But I have lost 4kgs since starting this (and that’s since I got pregnant, too). I’m still about 10kg over my ideal weight, and that’s not including the baby’s weight.
I love meat, I love the taste of meat, and I have no problem with eating flesh. But at the moment, I can’t trust that it would be good for me and my family.
We eat eggs and milk, though. And being Japanese, we can’t get enough of fish!
I’m vegetarian, but not vegan. I don’t eat a great deal of dairy products, and I eat almost no eggs, but this mostly just personal preference. I don’t like eggs (I don’t mind them in cakes, etc. I just don’t like them when they’re the bulk of the food), and don’t generally have too much desire for dairy products.
I originally became vegetarian for health reasons, and a very mild ick-factor associated with meat. For the first month I had meat cravings, and gave up after almost exactly a month (turkey dinner for thanksgiving. :)), ate almost no meat for the next month or so, and then vegetarianism began reasserting itself. I had christmas dinner with some meat (I didn’t actually eat any of the turkey I think, but I did have some stuffing and gravy). At that point I decided to become vegetarian again, the ick-factor was definitely beginning to become stronger.
Haven’t had any desire to eat meat since. I don’t have any moral problems with it, I just find the idea of eating meat to be somewhat distasteful, and the smell of it puts me off - Since becoming vegetarian I’ve started really disliking the smell of meat.
I sometimes eat fish, more often other types of sea food, but recently I’ve been going off that as well. Somewhat unfortunate - My mother cooked tiger prawns for my sister’s and my birthday dinner (Our birthdays are only 5 days apart) and I’d told her that yes, I did eat seafood. Come to actually eating them, I took one look, smelled them and thought “Umm… No. I’m not eating that”.
The salad and rice were nice though.
This was all somewhat rambling, sorry for that. I think I had a point buried in there somewhere.
I know a lot of people like that. They get a serious craving for seafood every so often. I think it is a way that your body is telling you:
“Yo, I NEED some good fat. STAT!”
I never get that hankering, though, but I grew up in Charleston, S.C. where fresh seafood was abundant. Perhaps I got my fair share.
It’s been so long I can’t remember why I went that route-either health or animal reasons. I think it was for animals. I remember reading the foreward of a book called ‘Laurels Kitchen’, about a cow about to go off to slaughter and I think that’s what made me think and go that route.
I could never be a vegan, I live in ‘Americas Dairyland’ and look at my user name for crissakes! I eat cereal, cheese, fozen custard, and yogurt. Love pancakes every weekend which calls for an egg and an egg white in the batter.
I am very active, so carbs are just as important to me. If I had to guess I’d say I don’t eat enough protein. I only eat tofu when it’s in a stir-fry, or a dessert I make. I eat a lot of bean burritos, and throw some beans in my pasta. Also eat a lot of spinach in the summer for iron(?). After lifting weights, I’ll grab a protein bar, but who knows how good that is.
Yesterday mountain biking I was just dragging, trailing the other guys badly, felt like eating a chicken burger or hamburger or something because my diet just sucks. But, stopped at Taco Hell instead and avoided it.
My parents live in Myrtle Beach, when I visit them I did eat seafood, but never besides that. THe only time I miss meat is on cookouts and the smell of a hamburger…the only meat I really enjoyed eating. But veggie burgers are becoming tastier these days. I could never go back to eating meat, the guilt(Yes, I was Catholic too), the texture, and my conscience would eat away at me.
I’ve been an ovo-lacto vegetarian since I was thirteen—mostly, I started because I was very into environmentalism. However, my family also has a history of being overweight, high blood pressure, etc. so I figure it’s a preventative measure as well.
I don’t eat any animal flesh but do eat dairy. However, I’m pretty strict about “hidden” animal products—I buy rennet-less cheese and don’t eat gelatin (which pops up in a surprising number of products).
Most of my protein comes from legumes (beans), dairy, and soy products.
Just want to throw out a disclaimer that any diet that is not well balanced can leave you weak and sick. I just hate it when people blame a vegetarian diet for weakness/illness when it’s really just an unbalanced diet. I’ve seen plenty of meat-eaters who are very sick and unhealthy due to the unhealthiness of their individual food choices.
I’ve been a vegetarian for about 6 years now (I’m 22). Now it’s pretty much out of habit, but as for why I started – well, several reasons. First, I started to read about the meat industry, and it bothered me to have animals suffer for my enjoyment. After all, I didn’t NEED to eat meat. Second, I was beginning to think more about my religious choices in life, and I knew then that I hold life in high esteem. Thus, as I live a life where eating meat is not necessary for survival or good health, I see no point to kill animals (even through more humane means than above). Eating meat is also, in my opinion, not compatible with my environmental convictions and it is a way to bring about positive change through a good example (and through the vote my dollar has). Also, in no small part was it due to the fact that my parents strongly disapproved and tried to forbid me, as well as said that I was incapable of doing so in any case.
I dislike that a lot of folks blame the fact that I am overweight on vegetarianism. I have been overweight my entire life and it had nothing to do with the change. These sorts of comments usually come from people who don’t eat healthy, either – but somehow they “know” that my diet (which isn’t perfect by any means, but I try) with its occasional junk food is so much less healthy than theirs, with fatty red meat in regular supply.
I became vegetarian about 6 1/2 years ago. My mom is something of a hippie, and she got into vegetarianism and animal rights when I was 12. Seeing as how she was the one who cooked our meals, the rest of my family became vegetarian also.
I went vegan about 18 months ago. A couple of friends were vegan, and they were very kind people, but I wasn’t sure it was healthy, and I’d had a few bad experiences with militant vegans. I was working with one of my friends, and a guy was questioning him about veganism, being really rude and confrontational. I listened to their conversation, and what my vegan friend said made alot of sense, especially the animal rights bits. Almost every vegan I’d met before then had been confrontational themselves, but he was very calm and nice, and actually tried to explain his reasons without seeming rude or judgemental. It made a huge impression on me, and I thought about becoming vegan for a couple of months before finally making the decision. No more dairy, honey, or leather, but I honestly don’t miss it, and dairy doesn’t even seem like a viable food source for me anymore.
I’ve found that protein is pretty easy to come by, even complete proteins. It’s not hard to get more than enough, if you watch your diet. The trickiest part for me is B12 and Iron. My brother is obsessed with fitness and nutrition, though, so he keeps me mostly on track
I’m not a vegetarian - and don’t intend to become one - but I have recently been cutting out some red meat, and fatty foods in general to try to lose a few pounds. I’m not huge, but just wanted to be a little bit more fit.
I recently had an experience with vegetarians and tried to learn what I could from them. A friend and his wife - who is Hindu - came to stay with me for three days. Since sharing food is such a wonderful part of hospitality, I was nervous before their arrival that I would serve something that was unacceptable for their diet. I became even more confused when I looked up vegetarian diets on the web and found so many diverse requirements from different groups.
As it turns out it was quite easy to cook for them. The general rule for them is “No food with a face.” So dairy was no problem, and even eggs are acceptable to them. I guess the eggs are considered to be “given” to us by our friends the chicken, just as milk is “given” to us by the sacred cow. Of course, chickens also “give” us other chickens, but let’s not go there. Even leather is no problem as long as it is harvested from a cow who has died naturally. Fish was out, but pasta and cheese and bread and wine and fruit and vegetables were all O.K. It was no problem. I never asked about shellfish, they don’t really have a face, but I suspect they are not O.K.
I’m sure this argument has been hashed over many times in the debate over vegetarianism, but I don’t know the result - If a primary reason for vegetarianism is a respect for life, how is consuming plants less disrespectful than consuming animals? I love plants and I know that my plants respond to stimulus just like animals do. They need nutrients and water, they bear fruit, they can be injured, they seem to suffer if not well tended, and I know that my plants respond to the kindness that I show them (Yes, I talk to my plants, just like I talk to my dog). I am capable of making a distinction between plants and animals that are grown for food, and plants and animals that serve other purposes in our world. I wouldn’t eat my houseplants and flowers any sooner than I would eat my dog. The houseplants are grown for their beauty and my dog is grown to provide love and companionship. Corn and tomatoes are grown and harvested for food as are some pigs and cows. They all serve a purpose and in doing so they are a part of the cycle of life. In my mind, there is no disrespect shown to them by consuming them. Gluttony seems disrespectful to me, or at least wasteful, but consuming food-life does not seem inherently disrespectful, if it is done in the knowledge that we then owe the world to strive to serve our own purpose, whatever that may be.
Probably shouldn’t have opened this bag of worms, but I’m curious.
I eat cereal, cheese, fozen custard, and yogurt. Love pancakes every weekend which calls for an egg and an egg white in the batter.