Becoming a vegetarian?!

Kinds of vegetarians:

semi-vegetarian/ flexitarian: A person who eats a vegetarian diet, but will indulge in meat sometimes

Ovo-lacto vegetarian: A veg who eats eggs and milk

Ovo-vegetarian: a veg who eats eggs, but not milk

Lacto-vegetarian: a person who drinks/eats milk/dairy, but not eggs

Strict Vegetarian: a person that doesn't eat dairy/milk or eggs

Vegan: a person that tries to stay away from all animal products such as milk, eggs, honey, leather, ect.


I recommend eating lots of beans, grains (whole), and nuts for protein. Also (if you don't cut out eggs and dairy) eggs, milk, and yogurt are good sources. I have a protein powder made with veggie proteins, I mix it in chocolate milk, soy milk, ect. Oatmeal has protein and iron, so it's and awesome choice.

My tips are to transition slowly if you were an avid meat eater. Replace hot dogs with tofu dogs, lunch meat with vegetarian lunch meat (Lite Life brand is good), stuff like that. And get a book on going veg. When I went veg I read Living Vegetarian for Dummies and The Idiots Guide to Living Vegetarian, they both helped a lot.

Good Luck, and welcome my budding vegetarian friend. :)

Pescetarian: someone who eats no meat, but they do eat dairy and fish
Flexitarian: Someone who tries to avoid meat, and only eats it on occasion
Lacto-ovo vegetarian: someone who eats eggs and dairy, but no fish or meat
Lacto vegetarian: someone who eats dairy, but no eggs, meat, or fish.
Ovo vegetarian: someone who eats eggs, but no dairy, meat, or fish
vegan: someone who eats no dairy, eggs, meat, or fish, (this also includes gelatin, honey, and most alcohol).

I'm intolerant to soy, so my favorite ways to get protein are through peanut butter, (sandwiches, straight from the jar), I like hummus, tinned beans (theres a lot of great recipes out there). But there also is tofu, seitan, and tempeh which are all loaded with protein. If you need lots, protein bars are good. Also what I like to do is toast sunflower seeds and sprinkle them on salads for extra crunch and protein. Nuts and seeds are great:)

Tips? Get cookbooks. Don't be a lazy vegetarian. Check out blogs, mine too! Kitchensincarne.blogspot.com

2 year vegan!

"And to the idiot who said God gave us teeth to eat meat, he also expresses in the bible the need for us to keep our bodies healthy, and vegetarianism does that."
Since when did eating meat automatically equal eating unhealthily? How is staying healthy relevant to the teeth? And he's right, we have canines, we are omnivores, we are designed to eat vegetables AND MEAT!

2) You can get your protein from beans, nuts or tofu.
3) There is not much to prepare for, just give yourself a little trial period, say quit eating meat for 3 days. Then you will naturally keep the vegetarian diet. Contrary to what people say, it is actually VERY easy!

Vegetarians won't eat the flesh of animals. Vegans won't eat anything that came from an animal. For example, vegetarians will eat milk and eggs while vegans won't.

Why would you want to do that? Man has teeth that prove he is a natural Omnivore. There is a place on this earth for all God's creatures; right next to the potatoes and gravy.

I had that moment a few years ago, it really is awakening!

1) Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians - Don't eat meat but still consume animal products like dairy and eggs (as long as your diet is balanced you *generally* shouldn't need supplements)
Lacto Vegetarians- Don't eat eggs, but consume dairy
Ovo Vegetarians- Don't consume dairy, but eat eggs
(Some people choose one or the other for dietary reasons, allergies, etc).

2) Vegans - No meat and no animal bi-products, rather than milk there would be soy milk, and other substitutes for other types of food, etc. (Should take supplements such as vitamin B-12, etc).

3) There are also pescetarians they consume dairy and eggs however they also eat fish (and only fish) though this is not technically vegetarianism they are a part of a branch of it.

4) As well, flexitarian's who try to avoid meat, though they eat it on occasion


As for protein nearly everything in Western countries contains protein of some sort: beans, legumes, etc are awesome sources as is dairy, eggs, grains (ie. pasta, breads, etc). Though some of these options were not vegan, of course. Protein really isn't an issue in a balanced diet, people who eat meat are generally getting far too much and though it is a good source of protein it is also high in things that are very bad for you, much less healthy to consume meats than it is on a herbivorous diet but everyone is afraid of protein since it is so important, however just eat well rather than all junk foods and you won't have a problem. Plus, tofu and other things like this are good sources of protein as well!

If you really like meat, take it step by step. I personally detested meat by the time I cut it out of my diet and I just quit and never looked back. Make sure you have lots of fresh fruits and veggies in your house if you need a quick snack or something so you aren't tempted for meat and such, and remember that there are a lot of hidden animal products in foods you really need to read labels! :) When you quit meat you will feel better physically and mentally, I couldn't imagine eating meat anymore simply because of how great I feel without it.

Good luck!

1. The first answer gave they types of vegetarian, so I'm not going to repeat it again.

2. Good protein sources are milk/eggs (if you choose to consume those), nuts, beans/legumes/lentils WITH whole grains (otherwise it's not a complete protein, soy counts as a bean, quinoa counts as a whole grain, and no, neither are a complete protein by itself).

3. Tips: Check out www.vegweb.com for recipes (and they have good forums that will give you better information). Oh She Glows has some pretty awesome recipes also.

-B12: if you go vegan, learn to love fortified foods and nutritional yeast

-YOU HAVE TO EAT LENTILS. When I stopped eating lentils, I became dizzy, even though I made sure to drink milk and eat beans. Lentils are your friend.

-Eat lots of green leafy vegetables, they have lots of calcium, iron and other goodies

-Speaking of iron, you'll want lots of these. Go to the red cross for a list of high iron foods

-Take a multi-vitamin. No, it's not a good alternative to food, but it'll fill in any gaps you may have.

-Every meal should have protein, otherwise you'll starve after only a couple of hours. Ditto with fat (olive oil, nuts, avocado are good sources of fat, and coconuts are good sources of saturated fats).

-I'm veg, was lacto-only for a few years, but switched to lacto-ovo since I felt that eggs were a better source of b12 than fortified foods, which are full of icky fillers, and I hate milk.