Vegans/Vegetarians. Do u think it's hard to eat that way?!
I am a meat eater, and respectfully asking about ur decision.
Answers: I mean, when u first switched was it a hard decision? Do u think of going back or not caring about being a vegetarian/vegan anymore? If given the chance, would u quit?
I am a meat eater, and respectfully asking about ur decision.
I became a vegetarian about 2 years ago. I like it. It wasn't that hard but it was a little more expensive to begin with. I bought a lot of the fake meat products at first because it is easier. I have since learned to make some of them at home. I have a lot more recipe's now than I started with.
If you become vegetarian, you should either take a flax seed oil supplement or put ground flax seed in many of the things you make. It doesn't alter the flavor but it contains omega 3's which you won't get if you don't eat fish.
I do have to say that I miss Arby's roast beef sandwiches but it isn't enough to make me want to go back to it. Because I know that Alzheimer's, Cancer, and parasites can all be linked to meat consumption, (The rates for these things increase dramatically in meat eaters than non-meat eaters) I prefer to stay vegetarian.
Any vegetarian can quit being one at any time. Most will have to eat small amounts of meat and gradually build back up to it because the body stops producing the enzyme used to digest the meat. (You don't want to start off with a steak) If you eat a big amount of meat and you are not used to it, you can get a stomach ache for 2 days. It feels like a rock sitting in the stomach. ( I did this only once)
EDIT: I am vegetarian and I watch soups very closely. It has to be made with vegetable stock and not meat stock. I am also very careful with bacon. If I ever went back to eating meat, I would still not eat pork. It is the nastiest animal food product around.
EDIT: I believe that Adam and Eve were originally vegetarian. When the flood happened, man had to start eating meat because there was no vegetation after the flood. Also, if you look at our teeth vs. the teeth of a real carnivore, you will notice that human teeth are more like a vegetarian animals teeth. The flat surfaces are made for chewing plants, not meat.
Being vegetarian/vegan is a CHOICE. We can choose to stop anytime.
No, it's not hard.
Easy in San Francisco
Much Harder in Lagos, Nigeria.
like the gays, i didnt have a choice, i was born not really liking meat and it really doesnt bother me a bit, i dont wish i could eat it, sometimes it makes me sick to even eat it, especially beef, ive tried but im just not attracted to meat products.
i am partially vegan. the only type of meat i eat is chicken.
its not hard. i wouldnt want to go back to eating other meats bc id feel really bad about eating an innocent animal.
i'm not a vegitarian but i have a few friends who are and they said it was a very hard decision. I have one friend who actually stopped it. I don't knnow how anyone could go without eating meat. It would get kinda boreing after a while.
I know a lot of vegetarians who are hypocrites! Like they say they don't eat meat but wtf is soup? its animal broth, and they even know it has bacon pieces. GRRR..
I will never sacrafice meat, I LOVE IT!!!
I love meat but what I have heard from some of my vegan/vegetarian friends is that when they do accidentally eat something with meat, they get extremely ill for some reason, something about not eating meat for so long and then eating it again makes the body go in shock?
So for some it is hard to quit I guess. But them eating meat is their choice, so Im sure they can quit if they wanted to.
Yeah I did not like meat either. but I had to eat it because my family would not eat any vegetables but they are all over 200LBs. I am now the only member of my 45+ memeber family who is actualy under 150LBs.
And my health is better too. I dont think its hard but I do miss tuna salad sandwiches the most. But I find I am starting to like tofu. I love soymilk and I think it is better tasting than cows milk and there is more protein to it to.
People who eat meat are fatter. and our society is balking at obesity. Well get of the bandwagon and go veg! try it for one week and see the results. It is overwelming and you can feel like giving up but when you are forced to become creative and cook healthy, you realise you dont need meat or junk food. It even crosses over to drinks as well.
i think it's just a matter of will power. It has to do with how much you believe in it, how badly you want it, and how much of a desire for a change you have.
I'm sure not all people just decided that one day they were going to stop eating meat, fowl, and things like that. a lot of people were raised that way and started out not eating meat from birth and substituting their needs with other things, like supliments, or tofu, or soymilk...etc.
I'll share a story with you...
I went to the Dr's back in november because I was feeling dizzy all the time and real winded. she told me that my cholesterol was 280 and my blood pressure was 152 over 88. this was caused by me eating a lot of soup and packaged foods (i.e. healthy choice stuff). here I thought I was doing something good for myself, when i was really slowly killing myself with salt and fat.
So, i was just told to watch my sodium and fat intake. since then, i've been mindful of labels, and no longer use salt when i cook, and things like that. i tell people that it's not a diet, it's changing my way of eating. now i eat and drink a lot of natural things (i.e. fruit, veggies, water, tea, whole wheat/grain items...etc.)
Sure, there are times when i crave some ice cream or something like that, but then i tell myself, "how badly do you want to save your life?" It only makes me want to try harder and do better.
So, for vegans or vegetarians, they've made that choice. some of them are disgusted with the idea of eating a living thing, others have eaten meat before and have committed to changing the way they eat. Some of them, i'm sure, have cravings for a nice, juicy burger, but I'm sure they tell themselves, "how badly do you want to commit to this change?"
so you see, it's only hard for people who don't have the will power, that's why you see so many people with unaccomplished tasks, and so many obese people. these people have either given up or are not trying hard enough. or in a lot of people's cases, they've had a slip or a roadblock that they couldn't figure out how to fix or overcome.
changing my way of eating has given me more energy, and i can feel my body working better. i feel more envigorated and healthy. this is the best thing I've ever done.
anything is possible if you put your mind to it, you just have to want it bad enough, and believe in yourself enough to never give up.
No, I couldn't have made the decision soon enough. Since making the decision, it feels like I've done it my entire life, it feels completely natural and normal and I would never go back.
If you are determined, you can recreate any dish with just as much flavor as the non-vegan version.
It wasn't really hard for me... although, I have become a non-veg*an after becoming a vegetarian before. I think I'm at a point where i can consider myself a permanent vegan though.
I went vegetarian without much advance preparation... I read a book about it, it really clicked and I never ate meat again. That was 21 years ago and the only craving I ever had was about a year later. It passed and other than that, I have never even had an inkling of going back to eating meat. In fact, I have the chance to quit every time I eat something, but it's not something I will ever do.
I felt for most of those 21 years that veganism would be much harder than vegetarianism. But this summer I started thinking about it very seriously and decided to try it out. I'm three months in and it has been every bit as easy (though perhaps somewhat less convenient sometimes) as vegetarianism. Again, I do have the chance to quit - the only thing stopping me is my principles. I don't see going back to vegetarianism any more than I see going back to eating meat. I don't feel in any way that my diet is limited; I actually eat a wider variety of foods now than I did a few years ago. It's been said than most people make the same 6-8 dinners over and over again, but I have probably tried 6-8 new things in the last month alone.
Long answer short, it hasn't been hard at all. I'm completely content with my choices.
i wouldn't really know because i have been a vegetarian for basically my whole life but i can imagine that it would be hard to eat meat for say, 20 years and then all of a sudden quit. it would not be impossible though, and if one has enough willpower and self-control it could even be easy.
It is not hard at all, I thought it would be but it has surprised the hell out of me. I couldn't eat meat, it really disgusts me now. Even some of the fake meats (mostly the fake pork rib) taste so much like real meat that I can't even eat it.
To your additional details:
You do not have to eat meat to survive, there has been plenty of known vegetarians throughout history that lived long lives. And I dont really believe in God, and if he is there I highly doubt he is happy with the way humans treat animals and the way some humans harrass the ones trying to help his animals.
It wasn't a hard decision to make for me, but I do find other peoples attitude to my decision not to eat meat quite annoying.
I stopped eating meat two years ago, when I was 20, I do miss it now and again.
I don't disagree with killing animals for the purpose of food, but I don't agree that the current slaughter house procedures in place today are ethical (Animals being shipped for hundreds of miles with no water, beaing beaten in the abottoirs and then having their throats cut in front of each other etc)
This is the reason why I decided to stop eating meat.
I don't preach at other people to stop eating meat, because at the end of the day, I ate it myself for 20 years, so it kind of annoyed me when other people start trying to get me to eat meat again.
It really depends. Some people (like me) just stopped liking meat and decided not to eat it, so the transition was very easy. Others, who are animal-rights activists, may have had a hard decision with a lot of fanfare and pressure.
It amazed me how easy it was when I went vegetarian
so easy that I am not working towards Vegan
I don't think I could quit, I think I would probably be physically unable to eat meat , as in it throw up or something.
you mentioned Gods purpose in your additional details. This often is talked about in the Vegetarian debate.
I would argue that God wanted us to be vegetarian.
The first thing God tells man about his diet in the Bible is Genesis 1.29, right after he has made man.
Genesis 1.29 : "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."
Meat here in its original meaning of "food".
He only allows man to start killing and eating other animals after sin has entered the world when he has expelled them from eden and given them free will.
So I would argue that according to the Bible- God wanted us to be Vegetarians, if not Vegan
well i was born a vegetarian and i recently became vegan.
it wasn't all that hard for me to eliminate animal products from my diet, but i would sometimes feel the desire to eat chocolate or something sweet i had a huge sweet tooth, and chocolate was like my favorite junk food ever (lol i even considered it to be real food :)). but i eventually got over that craving and i felt proud of myself.
i never had problems with meat, because i was born a vegetarian, but i have looked at it before and wondered how it would taste and why everyone liked it so much. There were times when i actually wanted to try it, but i guess it was just curiosity, because i dont want to try it anymore (thank god).
ummm i dont think i would quit, if i were given the chance, i mean i have gone this far without eating meat or animal products, so i think I'll stick with it.
-by the way, thanks for respecting our decisions; i enjoy meeting people who are open minded and understanding.
No. I didn't decide to become a so-called vegan.
What I wanted to be was a "normal human". A natural human. A herbivore. I wanted to increase my athletic performance and decided to find out what humans should be naturally eating... Looking at humans as a human would study an animal. See, humans are basically animals living in self captivity. We are living in a totally unnatural environment as zoo animals do and thus our diet reflects this. It's not hard to eat this way, more naturally, at all. In fact, it's really easy. As I've said before, it's only difficult for others -- meaning, that others may give you a more difficult time such as one's own family. Otherwise, if your family is cool with it, then no probs. If you already live on your own and buy your own food etc. jeeze, simple, really simple and easy. Although I'm not a rawfoodist, I believe that raw food it really the most natural, for obvious reasons. The more removed a food is from it's natural form, the less of it we should be eating.
i am a vegitarian but it is by my choice and no it is not hard i wanted to become one and i feel much healthier and everything its great there are so many things to eat i think that there are more choices as a vegitarian than eating meat and you know that there is always boca burgers if that u missed eating burgers and thing but you could come a semi vegitarian which means that u can have chicken and seafood but that u dont eat red meat!
well
hope that i helped
and please vote me best answer