Ok so i have been trying ot be a vegetarian now for a month...?!
Answers: ok like i said about a month. i can stand not eating meat fine, but im not getting the protein and vitamins i need. and i feel sick to the stomach, tired, weak, and even somthimes dizzy. so my mom says i need to start eating meat again and i rerally dont want to but i have to! we are low on money and as many of you vegetarians know the vegetarian meals are noth all that cheap (morning star farms is what i usually get) and we cant continue to buy all this healthy vege food. so what im asking is can i eat meat then when i get my job, (lke in 1 year) i can pay to buy it begin to be a vegetarian again? or if i give up being one can i never be a true vegetrian again ? please seriosu answers this is a major problem.
Id love to answer this question but im too busy eating this DELICIOUS piece of veal!
OJ you stay strong!! people are vegetarians for years and years! maybe you need to eat a wider range of food!
actually that sounds very unhealthy, the sway of your diet could cause your system to reject food badly durring the transition. have a vegan eat a cheeseburger and you will have a very ill indavidual.
you need to choose a diet and stay with it. and just buy vegtables, not all that processed nonsence.
beans and nuts can give you protein so there really isn't a reason.
This is not like being a virgin where once you do it, you can never get it back. do what you need to do and stop worrying about it.
work out exactly what you need and then eat veg*n foods that give you great health. Increase your iron: eggplant, spinach, nuts etc..
You need to buy beans and grains and that is not expensive!
for free and easy recipes go to:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com
Your mom can buy most things at your local large food store. buy the ingredience for the meals.
make dinner, and save some for the next day's lunch.
Veg*n Nutrition: Veg*n Food: How to be a Healthy Veg*n.
http://vegannutrition.net/
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/vegan-nutriti...
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/
http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info
good luck.
Beans, grains, vegetables and tofu are CHEAP. You can afford to be vegetarian if you stop eating processed foods and learn to cook properly.
Get yourself to the library and check-out some books about vegetarian nutrition and some vegetarian cookbooks.
Best of luck!
It does take a little extra work to eat a well-balanced diet when you're a vegetarian on a budget. Beans and lentils are your friends. Try making a big pot of vegetarian chili, lentil or split pea soup, or a big pan of pasta with garbanzo beans (chick peas) and assorted veggies. Be sure you eat plenty of dark green and other colorful veggies, not just pale salady stuff. Buy fresh veggies sale, or get frozen green veggies.
If you eat dairy, try making your own burritos or quesadillas with canned veg refried beans, cheese and salsa. Eat plenty of dairy at other times as well (cottage cheese, yogurt, cereal with milk)
For lunch or snacks, try baby carrots dipped in hummus, or use hummus in a sandwich wrap with lots of veggies and some cheese (optional).
Don't forget about peanut butter. It's pretty high in protein and can fill you up. Try it on apple slices.
The cheapest way to eat is vegetarian! beans and grains are the cheapest thing in the store. Meat and convenience food is the most expensive way to eat.
Beans:
1 crock pot (can get used from a thrift store if you don't have one or ask a grandmother or something)
1 lb beans (appx .50 for pinto or lentils)
3 cups water (a few cents from the tap)
some salt
mix together and turn on low, put lid on and go to bed. You will have beans to go with your flour or corn tortillas, scrambled eggs (from real eggs, not the mix stuff), cheese and salsa for a high protein, vegetarian breakfast.
yes, if you give up, you can be a true vegetarian in the future. but why dont you just stop bying the morningstar food, and buy nuts. also, you can eat cereal...it has vitamins and minerals and isnt expensive...just a suggestion
First off, forget about buying morning star and other fake meats. They are expensive, supply very little nutrient wise, and are not necessary.
I know what is like to be a vegetarian on a budget. When I shop look for sales, coupons, etc. To save money I stay away from product that are not on sale. I rarely buy meat substitutes as they are overpriced and not particularly healthy anyway. When things are on sale for a good price I buy in bulk(several packages) to last me until they are on sale again. I only buy for myself, so buying 10 cases of soda(when they go on sale for $2 a case), last me all year, the same with buying 8 boxes of cereal.
The only food I buy weekly are fruits(in season) and veggies(which are not that much $ anyway). This week I purchased broccoli, carrots(3lbs), 5 jars of pasta sauce, 5 cans of soup, 2 cans of black beans, grapes(3lbs), mushrooms, 3 bottles of soy sauce, etc and only spent $25. Everything I bought was on sale and a great price. Smart shopping is the key to saving money, there are some good sites that will show you how to shop smart.
http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ I used the $1 trial on this site to give me an idea on how to smart shop, it really works great. I later found http://www.couponmom.com/ which is the same idea, but without the fee. Vegetarian food can be very cheap, compared to meat, if you shop smart.
You'll do fine, but it sounds like your diet needs some adjustment. When I first tried to go vegetarian when I was a teen, I got sick too because I just took out the meat and didn't replace it (except for some extra peanut butter-- on empty calorie white bread, no doubt). Good intentions-- poor planning. Ten plus years later... I have now been a vegan for almost a year and have only had trouble once. (The rest of the time my health has been better than it was pre-vegan.) I was super busy and got lazy about my diet, eating too many processed and nutrient-poor foods, and not nearly enough food in general. (A lot of the getting sick had to do with that, since I'm a hypoglycemic and really can't go too long without food.) Same symptoms as you-- very weak, tired, dizzy, stomachaches. My doctor said I had simply burned through my body's nutrient reserves, plus I was exhausted. Once I corrected my diet and built up those reserves again, I was better within a couple of days. Learned my lesson there!
Those processed foods you are describing won't cut it and really aren't that great for you to eat every day. Good for a treat, yes-- but it's better to stick with unprocessed food as much as possible. Cheaper, too! Take the advice of others here and go for lentils, whole grains, beans and a variety of vegetables instead. Tofu is good. I eat a lot of lentil soup and lentils with brown rice. I'd also recommend eating a sprouted grain bread like Ezekiel bread, which has good protein, rather than a lot of sugars and starch like white bread.
Are you taking a multi-vitamin? I know some people are against supplements, but I think a vegan multi-vitamin could help protect you against any nutritional gaps. I take a multi-vitamin with iron and a B vitamin complex with zinc. You could ask your doctor about this.
Bottom line-- vegetarian and vegan diets are healthy, but they do take some planning. Actually, any diet should have planning! Visit the sites people already listed. It would even be a good idea, if you can, to visit with a nutritionist to help plan your diet.
You can become a true vegetarian whenever you want, as long as you stop eating meat. No one is keeping track of what you ate last year.
And it's not necessarily true that vegetarian food is more expensive. Many vegetarian things are available in normal supermarkets, like pastas, veggie burgers, rice dishes, potatoes, etc.
There's no reason why vegetarianism has to be expensive. If you're living off convenience foods like faux meats, it will be. If you're eating a variety of whole foods, not only is it cheaper, it's healthier. Grains and legumes can be bought in bulk and I assume your mom is buying veggies and fruits anyway, right? Rather than going back to eating meat, maybe you should learn how to cook. Check the library for a copy of "The New Becoming Vegetarian" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina for good information on vegetarian nutrition (if you're eating properly there is NO reason for a veg diet to make you feel weak, tired or dizzy!) Also look for a couple of cookbooks and try out some recipes. Some cheap meal ideas include veggie and brown rice (or noodle) stir fries, and veggie and bean chilis.
If you decide to eat meat again for now, you can always go back to veg later. Lots of people take a few tries before it sticks.