I would like to have a Vegetarian life style where do I start.?!
I would like to have a Vegetarian life style where do I start.?
Additional Details
2 months ago
The only meat I will have trouble giving up is fish.
Answers:
2 months ago
The only meat I will have trouble giving up is fish.
Depending on where you live, you may have more options than you think. The major reasons people become vegetarian are due to the health benefits and animal rights issues. I have been vegetarian for a while now, with the exception that I do still eat some fish if I can verify the source of the fish, aka not from abusive sources. Farm-raised fish, certain geographical areas (Alaska, Southeast Asia, etc.) are all no-no's, known for abusive harvestnig practices, overfishing, etc. I happen to live near the Ocean with an abundance of local seafood available to me. I can eat somwhat normally with a clean conscience, while assisting the fragile local economy of my town.
Same can be said for dairy. If you live near a Whole Foods, I highly recommend shopping there often. Their dairy products are verified to not be form farms that mutilate, abuse, or mistreat their animals (don't go for the "organic" thing, a cow can be organically fed and still be mutilated and abused to maximize milk production, for example).
It's each person's choice and I saw a lot of hardcore vegetarian answers and I noticed your comment about fish, so I wanted to throw out an opinion from someone in the same shoes as yourself.
The hard part is when you're out to eat and you just can't tell where the seafood comes from. If you don't live near the water, it's going to be much harder.
I've been vegetarian for 10 years, and my advice is to just jump into it. I went cold-turkey (or cold-tofurky I guess I should say), and that made it easier because it was easy to just forget what meat tasted like, rather than try to wean off of it.
I suggest hitting up your local library, many have excellent collections of vegetarian/vegan cookbooks.
Also, there are plenty of meat-analogues available today, so you likely don't have to give up the types of food you like: Bolognese Sauce or Chili with TVP instead of ground beef, for example, is quite excellent.
Also check out online recipe sources like vegweb.com, goveg.com. The British Vegetarian Society has some good info too at vegsoc.org.
Hope that helps.
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I would highly recommend checking out the Dr. McDougall website. Although he really focuses on heart healthy stuff, I think he has lots of information for beginners. There is no reason to "wean" yourself from meat, you can stop it all at once. I would be careful what you use to replace it so that you can be sure to get the proper nutrients. Some key things to remember:
1. Make sure you also switch to whole wheat carbs. Some newbies start with highly processed white flour (white breads and pastas). These do not have the proteins that the whole wheat has so they miss out. Also, they are pretty fattening and next thing you know, you are a vegetarian that has gained weight! Remember Whole wheat pasta, corn, potatoes, brown rice have all the proteins a body needs!
2. Don't over-do the vege oils - oil in any form is stil liquid fat :-)
3. Take a B12 supplement. This is the only vitamin/mineral that is not fully supplied by a vegetarian lifestyle. All others are in abundance.
4. Don't forget the leafy greens - gotta get the iron!
Good luck - I imagine in 2 weeks or so, you will feel a ton healthier!
Good for you! Just start by eliminating meat, poultry and fish from your diet. Add in some beans, legumes, pulses, leafy greens, and whole grains such as quinoa, milliet, rice, etc. If you want to start slowly, just add in a couple of vegetarian meals a week to start. If you have family, dont even mention the term vegetarian or point out the lack of meat, and they likely wont even notice! Something like a tasty vegerarian lasagna, with portabello mushrooms, zuchini, etc. Brocolli alfredo pasta is nice, too. I have meat eaters at my house all of the time for meals, and no one has ever asked about meat-they always comment on how good the food it, ask for seconds, and have never realized that I never serve meat!! Its easy if you get the right mindset. Also, educate yourself about hidden sources of animal products, such as gelatine (jello) rennet, etc. Its hidden everywhere! Google is a great research tool. Good luck!
Arianna had some good points. I've been vegetarian for a little over 10 years too. A good thing to keep you motivated is to actually figure out why you want to be vegetarian. Write it down and put it on your refrigerator. Cook a lot because you'll feel good about your reasons and there is nothing more satisfying than eating food that you put time and effort into. Also, checkout yahoo meetup groups in your area. Most cities have vegetarian/vegan meetup groups. I know it can be intimidating to show up for something like that if you don't know anyone, but I've been doing it for a while and its great fun and you get to meet people with similar interests. The internet is full of info. Just type in vegetarian living in a search engine and you'll have a plethora of info. I like vrg.com - vegetarian resource group. Good Luck and Stick with it!
Yes and also have cow, pig, and tortured baby cow aka veal
Robert, I am in the same boat...I am having a hard time giving up fish...but I am one week into my vegetarian lifestyle....So next week is getting whole wheats
well it is a process. Don't give up if you feel tempted. This is a process. Habits are hard to break. After years of eating meat, you will find it difficult when you go out and can't find nothing to order because it seems like the whole world is carnivorous. Get a vegetarian cookbook for great ideas. there are many recipes available to help you start. I wish you the best of luck.
Hm, well, start with... cooking some new things. Get some recipes or just start mixing and matching. Soon your cupboards will be filled with all sorts of ingredients you formerly never knew existed and there you go. I'd say half of my ingredients come from Asian sources (lots of Asians around where I am). I have 50 cookbooks and rarely look at then now since I now know what goes with what and when you know the basics, you can just wing it every time and it always turns out great. There are all sorts of great Asian foods that I never knew existed. I look to Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Indian, and Japanese stores mostly. But, most countries are actually nearly vegetarian anyway. Lots to choose from. You can make jelly from like 10 different things in Asia, but here, maybe two. In Asia you can find 20 different kinds of thickeners, here, maybe only corn starch. In Asian, at any market there are a good 2000 different vegetables, here, maybe 100 tops, if you are lucky. Hell, there are 100 different varieties of wheat where I live in Canada, but at the store they sell "flour" -- what the hell is that? I want spelt, or kamut (the best), or some more flavourful and interesting organic whole grain flour.
So, my wife has all sorts of seed catalogues and we have a big garden full of all of these kinds of worldly foods that there literally are no words for in English. It's great. There are literally 100 varieties of beets out there. We found a really colourful beet that tastes... wow, so good, we just gobble it up -- nothing like the regular purple store bought ones. It's the same for carrots, chard, kale, grapes, strawberries, blueberries... one variety tastes great but different from the next. There are endless things to choose from when it comes to food, so get to it. Here a small book for you to read: The One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. It's short, but great. Don't worry about all that hard work you see your neighbour putting into their garden... meticulously weeding, always watering, fertilizing... etc. not needed. Read the book. Read every book you can get your hands on for organic gardening (but just remember, you want to do less work, not more, right? Anything that requires more work, is wrong; anthng that requires less, is correct). I've been vegan since 1991 and to this day I'm still in wonder with food and every week I'm still trying new things -- it never ends and it really keeps me happy trying all these new-to-me foods.
i also agree that the best way to do it is cold turkey. i tried doing it gradually but that just makes it harder. i say just go for it. go to the store and stock up on veggie meats and stuff like that. you can get more creative as you become more used to it. good luck!