New vegetarian w/ questions!?!
- I've been eating a ton of salads, piled with beans, walnuts, tomatoes and fat free cheese.
- I've also been eating a lot of fruit.
Does this sound pretty good? I've bought a lot of faux meat products but haven't tried them yet. Any advice would be great!!
Answers: I have decided to be a vegetarian a few days ago due to the awful and cruel way animals are slaughtered. Can an "experienced" veggie tell me if I'm eating the right things??
- I've been eating a ton of salads, piled with beans, walnuts, tomatoes and fat free cheese.
- I've also been eating a lot of fruit.
Does this sound pretty good? I've bought a lot of faux meat products but haven't tried them yet. Any advice would be great!!
Well, you're going to want more variety, but eating lots of veggies and fruit isn't necessarily a bad thing. But do watch the nuts, as they can be high in fat. If you make your own salad dressings, you can use flax oil, which are rich in omega 3 fatty acids.
Incorporate some grains into your diet--brown rice, bulgur, millet, etc. Some vegetable soups and stews would also be good. You could have, for example, mushroom barley soup with your salad.
I have tips in my profile to prepare tofu to avoid mushiness. I think tofuphobia is what keeps many people from going veg. But prepared right, tofu is just awesome!
Tempeh is an Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans and has a nutty, chewy taste. It's good in stir fries, you can marinate and grill or pan fry it, and it's a great sub for meat in chilis. You can also cube it and toss it in stews.
Seitan is also called "wheat meat" and made from wheat gluten. Get the Vital Wheat Gluten, check out Sarah Kramer's "La Dolce Vegan" for recipes, and make your own seitan. The pre-made packaged stuff in the store is just AWFUL.
There's nothing wrong with having meat analogues, as long as you don't base your diet on them.
If you haven't done so yet, you might want to get a vegetarian starter guide which will help you figure out a basic meal plan. And check out www.vegweb.com; it has tons of recipes.
Oaky, well congrats on becoming a vegetarian.
It will be a big difference with all the meat substitues and stuff.
Not the same as the real stuff, but way healthier.
Okay, becoming a vegetarian you don't just eat salads and stuff.
All a vegetarian is not eating meat or seafood.
Everything else is good.
Try putting, rice in your diet, and other stuff.
I eat all kinds of casseroles, salads, legumes, tofu, vegetables.
Experiment alittle.
But remember being a vegetarian costs a little more than being a meat eater.
But which is better, spending a little more on you so your health is good, or spending less on yourself and you die or get sick quicker?
Ask yourself that if you get tempted to eat meat.
Hope that helps.
Answer to "psychiatrist_in"
It seems you're still "shallow". This statement is often made by people trying to rationalize that since plants feel pain, it must be okay to kill animals. They usually never make the similar leap of saying that since plants feel pain it must be okay to kill humans- Egotism.
For plants to feel physical pain, they must have some sort of organized tissue which, upon stimulation, would activate a structure in the plant that is conscious and could perceive the stimulation as painful. There are no structures within plants that are analogs to the pain receptors, neurons, and pain-perceiving portions of the brains of vertebrate animals. Animals, being mobile, benefit from their ability to sense pain; but plants simply have no biological or evolutionary need for the experience of pain. Even if, contrary to all evidence, plants did feel pain, it would still be preferable to be vegan. More plants are killed in non-vegan diets, as more plants must be harvested to feed animals.
However, if you still persist that killing plants is wrong and paradigm shift to a fruitorian is necessary, then only the vegetarians are “there” to follow you! Such diet evolution is clearly defined in ethical and spiritual manner, i.e Paleolithic diet, Omnivorous, Lacto-Ovo, Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw Vegan (RVAW), Fruitorian, Microbial, and finally Breatharian.
Not bad, but no matter how creative you get with salads, you'll need more in your diet besides..
Basically look at the food pyramid.. in the "meat section" notice that there are other protien alternatives (beans, nuts, soy meats) Using the "non meat" options from the "protien section, the pyramid should give you a good idea of how to get a balanced diet
1. Easy on the junk food.. It's easy for a vegetarian to live on cheese pizza LOL
2. Soy meats, junk food, cheese and eggs, should be used in moderation. It's easy for new veggies to eat too much of this stuff..
3. Get your carbs.. enjoy bread, pasta (prego makes several sauces without any meat)
Focus your diet on whole grains, legumes, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables.. using the items in #2 in moderation. You'll be fine!! Balance and variety!! DOn't always eat the SAME legumes, the SAME whole grains..
You'll be fine, and healthy!!!!
A good starter book is "Vegetarian for Dummies" It highlights a lot of the foods and vegetables that you will have to eat to get the vitamins and minerals that you lose from not eating meat or foods that come from animals. All vitamins and minerals can be had without eating meat you just have to be sure to eat the right foods. Good luck. I thought about becoming vegetarian once, and researched it before jumping in. but I couldn't give up a nice steak. Nothing against it, just wasn't for me.
I just want to add a little reminder about cheese, dairy, eggs, and other animal products you may eat, since you mentioned that the reason you are becoming vegetarian is due to animal cruelty.
Be careful in purchasing dairy and eggs. Look for information about how the animals are kept on the package (no info means they probably don't want you to know), or get them locally from a small family farm or source you can trust. At this point, many of the cows and hens are maintained in cramped, filthy, factory farm conditions without access to fresh air and sunshine. Also, in the US, synthetic growth hormones are injected into some cows to increase their milk production at no benefit to the cows at all, only potential health risks for them, such as mastitis and early death.
you can always eat a vegetarian meal...
Faux meat products usually disappoint many vegetarians. Learn to flavor them the way you like and watch the salt in them. Spinach is great for vegetarians when they can get it fresh. Lentil soup is very good, if you have the time to soak the lentils and remove the little rocks. Whole grain bread is an important part of a healthy vegetarian diet. Humus is a kind of vegetarian spread made from garbanzo beans, some people have a taste for it and some don't. A tortilla with grilled vegetables is a very popular vegetarian course. Some types of mushrooms are excellent sources of protein. Tofu is a good source of soy protein. You need to cut it into small pieces, add vegetables and seasonings, and fry or grill it. Steaming is good too. Cheese, legumes, or some types of nuts will make a complete protein if combined with a grain. To do well with a vegetarian diet you need to eat a variety of foods and try new things.
I'm not "experienced" pretty new myself, but there are no "right things" to eat. This is your life hon, you get to eat what YOU want. You can chose not to eat animal flesh or stay away from all products made with or use animals. It's all up to you. I started for the same reasons and mainly try to stay away from flesh at this point. Do your best and what FEELS right to you. That is what it's really about right?
"satter chuhe kha ke billi chali haz ko". Still you are eating livings, they also feel pain and pleasure, but they can't speak, express their pain. plants, fruits, milk [white blood] all are dead livings.