I want to become a vegetarian, any tips or advice?!

I tried going vegetarian a few weeks back, after going to the fish markets and seeing the poor little mud crabs tied up. I suppose you could say I failed. Don't allow any one to convince you to have a 'last meal' with meat, because it will make you second guess your decision. Try and remind yourself that you've gone vegetarian, or otherwise you might forget, and begin to knaw on a chicken wing. Most importantly, every time you feel like you want to eat some meat, picture those poor little animals. Hope this was useful!

A week of being a vegetarian

well, when you see something tasty don't go off and eat it...It can have meat in it and you don't even know, varies of foods can have hidden lard or meat flavorings, so be looking at the ingredients carefully of what you ever you are about to eat. When ever you see something with meat in it and you can't to take being a vegetarian anymore imagine those animals, and you will realize that being a vegetarian is good for you. When you are a vegetarian your body looses protein and you become weaker and you will have to take some pills that keep you strong and healthy, and you can also replace those foods like BBQ wings with fake BBQ wings (BBQ wings made out of soy) every thing a meat eater could eat you could also eat by buying FAKE veggie patty's like chicken patties hamburgers and lots of other things. My recommendations for the brand of patties and soy meat would be Boca and Morning Star! good luck with vegetarianism! oh and don't let people make fun of you for being one. you'll loose wait as well

veggie people (my sister!)

There are no nutrients that a plant based diet cannot provide. Vegetarians are healthier and tend to live longer than meateaters. Get onto the vegetarian website for loads of advise on nutrition and recepie ideas. There are a large variety of mea substites, you can buy bacon, burgers, sausage and nuggets that taste nicer and are healthier than animal flesh products. Eat beans, pulses, soya, nuts, tofu, wholegrains and green vegetables for protein and you will get most of your essential vitamins and minerals from eating a wide range of fruit and vegetables. Get your carbs from pasta,rice, cereal, bread and potatoes. Humans are not designed to digest meat, people eat meat because they are not educated in healthy eating and are ignorant or not aware of the cruelty that goes on in the meat industry.

Watch out for hidden meat.. A lot of things contain meat but you can't really tell. Also, there's a lot of biproducts of slaughterhouse animals (like gelatin, which is in jello, marshmallows, gummies, etc) that are used, so keep an eye out for that. Tell your family you're serious. If they don't believe you and try to feed you meat, walk away. Also, you might want to consider vitamins, if you're worried about getting enough nutrients, although you should be fine. I personally still eat fish, eggs, and milk, so I kinda cheat, but whatever. Oh, and think about looking into the ingredients and the nutrients in foods. Most vegetarians and vegans end up knowing a lot more about what they eat than the average human does. All around, it's a healthier lifestyle, since you'll be cutting out a lot of cholesterol and fats, but don't freak out that you wont be getting enough protein or anything, since most people get too much protein when they eat meat. Also, if you consider becoming vegan, you really will need to take supplements for calcium, omega 6 (i think) and vitamin B6. Hope i helped(:


PS- Bella's stupid, don't listen to her. She's just full of common misconceptions about vegetarians(:

experience

Course its natural for parents to think it is a phase as many do fall out of their vegetarian practices after a while.
Just be aware firstly that depending on where you live not all farming methods that you saw may be employed, many of them are from what is called factory farming practices & this is big in the US.
Anyways two of the best tips i can give you is to 1) research yourself both from YA & other sources
2) watch the enclosed video i have ''gary yourofsky, best sppech you will ever hear'' this will explain further beyond the emotional response you experienced watching Meet Your Meat of the ethics of vegetarianism/veganism. It will question WHY you eat meat more so than show horror videos
3) if you have room download the following podcast ''vegetarian food for thought'' this will deal with a large variety of topics from meals/vegetarian responses to questions/ethics/stories/myths of vegetarinism etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00LMm…
''Vegetarian food for thought Podcast''

vegetarian

Wow, I really wish contributors like "Bella" wouldn't contribute unless they had viable information to share. The less meat consumers purchase the less meat the suppliers will produce...it's common sense.

Anyway, I think it's great that you are giving vegetarianism a try. I highly recommend you find some fun and easy cookbooks to experiment with (libraries usually have a bunch of them) and stay strong in your decision, no matter how many people will try to argue against what you are doing.
One of the most helpful books i've come across on how to deal with a meat eating society/family/friend is "Vegan Freak"...you don't have to be vegan to enjoy/benefit from it. =)
Have fun and stay strong!?

experience...16 years worth!

Learn as much as you can about it, it will really help you! It's hard starting out because a lot of wierd things have animal parts and other things in them.

Just have confidence and know that you are helping save the earth and the animals.

Tips: Learn what foods are not vegetarian (e.i. Frosted Mini Wheats actually have gelatin) and maybe get a book for vegetarian recipes. Talk to you doctor about vegetarian vitamin supplements.

If you really like meat, then start out by taking away meat gradually. Say, go a week without beef, then a week without beef and pork, so on and so forth.

Visit the PETA website, get a vegetarian cookbook and read through it. I bought vegan cookbooks that gave me a list of groceries to buy. Look up the list of animal ingredients, to find out what hygiene products contain them. Vegan hygiene products seem expensive at first, but they last longer.

You put your food mainly concentrated in fruits and vegetables, you often do not eat meat. You can make your family remind you, every meal should eat vegetarian food.

Eat vegetables and fruit that contain much nutrition.

avoid non vegetariens

just do it

stop eating those animals.
DOn't support that industry. The video will stay with you- so don't eat them.

It's very easy to not support that horrible industry- eat soymilk, soycheese, almond cheese.
PEanut butter/peanuts, and almond butter/nuts are good protein.
ALso, tofu, seitan, gluten, some really good tofu recipes and go to a Chinese/Thai or Korean supermarket to get your tofu , because they'll have fresh tofu, not that nasty supermarket stuff in white tubs.

Eat healthy stuff- sunflower spread, no processed foods ( they all have crap and milk and cheese powder in them)
eat seeds- pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, flax, in wholegrain bread and granola.
Only eat 100% wholegrain bread ad pasta.
Eat brown rice, and lots of green vegetables- spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts.
Mushrooms and avocados are good fro protein too.
Eat good food, not crappy white junk food.
Hummous, all chickpeas, lentils, pinto beans, black beans, lime beans, fava beans are full of calciu, protein and iron, eat a lot of them with nuts, corn, swet peas, apples in a big salad.

Remember that the dairy industry is just as bad- cows are chained 247 to give milk, they can't stand up or lie down comfortably, they have shackles and are not allowed to graze or roam freely.
CHickens have their toes and beaks snapped off to make eggs as well as be chicken meat.

So, eat a REALLY healthy diet, it doesn't need to be expensive and you don't need to buy fake meats either. ALl the protein, calcium iron, fibre, fats, and vitamins you need are in plant foods.

My family thought i was 'just going through a phase' too--i've been a vegetarian for over a year now.

Great beginning veg cook books/ advice books: Laurel's Kitchen, The Accidental Vegan, and Moosewood--see links below.

You could also see a nutritionist/dietitian to get professional advice/tips.

multivitamin- (be sure to take one with calcium, iron, vitamin D, and the bottle specifies its vegetarian, alot of vitamins have either fish oil or chicken byproducts. grose!! I buy mine at Whole Foods.

non vegetarian foods are any meat or fish products. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetariani…

meals with nuts, legumes, whole grains, fruits and veg, and heathy fats are filling and healthy.

Be sure to not count calories, if you want a guideline on how much to eat, look at the food pyramid below. Counting calories usually leads to eating disorders, self depravation, or bingeing. I can't tell you how many people went crazy from doing that.

Other words of wisdom: Watch out for animal ingredients in foods that you least expect it: anchovies in pizza sauce and dressing, cows stomach lining in cheese, crushed beetles in red food coloring, gelatin in marshmallows, fish oil in some medications ect.


Good luck being veggie, you will be just fine as long as you follow the food pyramid and listen to your body. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns!

great food pyramid: http://vegan.uchicago.edu/nutrition/01.h…

By the way, if you do it right--eating healthily and following a balenced vegie diet, you will feel better, get sick less, and be happier. I've been unbelievably healthier since!

Cookbooks: Laurel's Kitchen: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/p…

The Accidental Vegan: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Acciden…

Moosewood Cookbook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-New…
For further advice and more specific answers to questions, you could also see a nutritionist/dietitian to get professional advice/tips.

1. Eat your vegetables. They have most of the nutrients you need, and the right ones have iron and protein.
2. Nuts are awesome. High in protein!
3. Make sure that this is what you want to do. Do some research, find out the truth about factory farming and think about whether you want to give up meat altogether or just factory farmed meat. There should be free-range/farm-grown meat in your area - it's just hard to find.
4. Justify. EVERYONE will ask why you became veggie. Tell them about cruelty of animals, the effect on the environment, the mistreatment of workers, the fact that a creature's life and well-being shouldn't be controlled by a corporate industry and tell them that you feel healthier!
5. Don't get crazy. Other people have a right to eat meat, and no matter how wrong you think it is, you probably won't be able to convert them on the spot. Nothing is more irritating than someone who judges me by what I eat. (I'm vegan, too!) Learn to accept the choices of others.

Good luck on your vegetarian lifestyle!!

You not eating meat will never change the fact that other people still will always will and nothing is ever going to change that. Yes it's sad so are a lot of things that can't be changed but not eating meat is really unhealthy unless you eat a bunch of vitamins to make up for the missing nutrients and who wants to do that? Just keep eating meat animals rights activists are freaks.