Considering becoming a vegetarian, tips and advice?!
I have concerns though, because I've heard that people without meat in their diet look sickly and they never really feel full. Recently I've simply cut down on eating meat so I would love to hear more ideas about any great tasting vegetarian foods. Though I wouldn't be going entirely "vegan", I don't like the taste of eggs, nor do I drink much milk unless its in cereal or blended with a fruit smoothie. I do like cheeses, pastas, and breads, but I know I can't exactly have a salad and spaghetti for dinner every night.
So if any of you out there have any advice or good tasting recipes, I'll be glad to hear it :)
Answers:
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
I'm a 22 year old female as well.
I heard that you get new taste buds every seven years. I don't know if thats true, and I asked my bio prof. and he wasn't sure either...but that could explain it haha. But...perception is only in the brain so it still doesn't really make sense..anyways...
I follow a vegan diet.
The best advice I can give you...is to eat foods that are naturally vegetarian/vegan. Fruits, veggies, whole grains, rice, beans.
Stay away from 'fake meat' and substitutes that are completely processed and composed of chemicals. I know a lot of vegetarians that eat fake meat everyday...which I think is just as detrimental as eating real meat.
Steaming, grilling, boiling, or pan frying foods in olive oil are all cooking methods that veggie and vegan friendly.
It's also important to follow a well balanced diet. And eating small amounts constantly will help supress your appetite.
Dry pasta, and most breads vegan friendly.
I make myself a meal plan every week (mon-fri only) and buy groceries accordingly.
Breakfast...is always a smoothie.
-Bananas, oranges, strawberries and soymilk is my fave.
-Oatmeal, pancakes (veggie friendly, but can be made vegan friendly), toast with natural peanut butter, cereal with soy milk
Lunch...I usually have a vegan wrap and a salad.
-whole grain tortilla...stuff with tons of veggies...I like spinach, roasted red peppers, hummus, olives, pickles, banana peppers, green peppers, onions...(add in cheese if you like)
-salad...any greens with olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper. Have a huge salad...throw in pieces of fruit, nuts, chunks of cheese for little 'treasures'
Dinner...I always have a hot dinner with salad.
-brown rice and beans
-pasta with marinara sauce
-potatoes...very versatile
-veggie soup
-veggie risotto
Hope this helps, good luck =)
i'm a herbivore=)
Just a small edit to what The_dreamingInsomniac said.
You actually can't change your DNA. LOL
To answer your question, I would buy a vegetarian recipe book. There are a lot of good ones :)
Vegan
I am a vegetarian as well, since age 9, and here is what I can offer you:
In all honesty, being a vegetarian is a terrible idea. The fact that you're 22 and -just- starting out as a vegetarian is also very troublesome.
The vegetarian diet consists of a low-protien intake, which leads to problems with gout, arthritist, extreme weight loss problems, heart problems and joint inflammation.
This is how it works... You know DNA, right? Well, DNA has these "tails" that, the longer these tails are, the longer you will live. Every day, a piece of one of it's tails breaks off and replaces itself with a newer, shorter ending.
Being a vegetarian forces your DNA to completely change itself, dramatically shortening the tails.
The founder of the vegetarian diet died at age 4-something from a heartattack, and the founder of the vegan diet died at 20-something from the same cause.
Your cells aren't created to live off of a vegetarian or vegan diet: cells form tissue, tissue form organs. Organs like your intestines, that digest foods. The small intestine is used to ingest only meat. Without eating meat, it sits there gathering desieses like E-COLI, etc.
BUT. If meat makes you ill, very ill-- not fake ill, then check with your doctor to make sure you don't have any stomach infections.
You may be asking "then why are you a vegetarian?".
BECAUSE. I was nine years old and loved horses and still do. I was eating a sandwich made with this special Italian salami made from horse.
I asked my mom "what is the meat made of?" She said it was made from horse. From that day forward, I never ate meat again. It's a personal thing, I can deal with the side effects.
But at your age, I wouldn't try vegetarianism.
BUT VEGETARIAN BACON IS DELICIOUUUUUUUUUUSSEEE. :D
Donald Watson, founder of the Vegan Society and the man who coined the word 'vegan', died age 95 after a healthy, vigorous life.
Get a good book on becoming vegetarian from a bookstore or library.
Eat nuts and legumes for your protein if you don't like eggs.Eat some cheese, not much as it is a concentrated fat, if you like.
Go on-line for Greek lenten recipies.
Eat lots of veggies, raw and cooked, and lots of greens in salad.
If you eat pasta, make it either whole wheat or brown rice pasta.
healthy senior citizen vegan