Want to be a vegetarian, but dad says no.?!
Want to be a vegetarian, but dad says no.?
My dad always tells me I want to lose weight, and me, being the animal lover that I am, wants to be a vegetarian, but he won't let me. He tells me that meat holds tons of vitamins...bla bla bla..
He is seriously against letting me be a vegetarian. What should I do?
Answers:
Do the research and determine the exact areas that may be of concern to your father. Also, try to avoid the special identity or desire to judge others that too often is the foundation of many people's decision to become vegetarian. As an example, my friend stopped being a vegetarain when he became a serious zen buddhist student. It may seem ironic but he discovered that his vegetarianism was all about his ego and his identity and had some judgement of others in it. It's helpful to keep in mind that love for animals includes the human animal and one should avoid the temptation to feel better than others or as if you're doing something special.
Do what you feel is right. If you are old enough you could get a job and buy your own vegetarian food. That way it will not cost him anything.
Refuse meat. he's a caveman if he thinks meat is the only source of vitamins, protein or amino acids.
You should not eat meat if you don't wont to. tell him to buy you some vitamins or better still buy some on your on, show him how fruits and vegetables have sufficient nutrition
I would not listen to him because he is doing exactly what you want to do. ITS YOUR LIFE!!!! YOU DECIDE!
Get some cookbooks and show him the recipes. Offer to cook. A balanced vegetarian diet contains all the nutrients you need, protein and all, and is better for you than eating red meat. Just a note, you can still get fat on vegetarian food, there are lots of oils and butters, nuts, dried fruits and things that have high calories.
he is right.. dont become a vegetarian..
protein found in meat is essential to the brain and all the bodies workings and chemicals
it is partly linked to the reason of our evolution to larger brains
we are made to eat meats... if we weren't our teeth would be flat like a cows
We have been eating meat for all human existance
Vegetarianism is looked at as an immature teenage phase
grow up
you don't want to have to take vitamins forever.. and then you risk taking to much vitimins which can be very, very bad...
just eat a well rounded diet.....
please ............GROW UP
JESUS ATE MEAT
Do your research. There are many nutrients that meat provides, but you can find it elsewhere. If you come to him with the information and show that you've made a mature, informed decision, he may listen. You can even visit a vitamin store near you and speak to them about the herbal supplements you can get. Also, try to find some recipes that your family will eat with you. Offering to cook sometimes may also help your cause!
Good luck!!!!
He is not sitting on your chest forcing meat down your throat is he? Just start eating the foods you want to eat and let him deal with it. If he is worried about nutrition, start taking a mulitvitamin while he watches. At a certain point, you are going to have to start making decisions whether he likes it or not. Be a big girl and just do it.
my friend also wants to be a vegetarian (and i'm thinking about it after this kid told me how cows are killed, but anyways,) but her mom won't let her, and for the same reasons. But once she turns 18 shes gonna become a vegetarian, because then her mom can't do anything about it. I think you should wait too, unless he approves of you become all ''meat is murder''. Or, secretly try your best to stay away from meat, like when you go out to dinner, order something meat-free, and request for something like homemade cheese pizza for dinner when your eating at home. you can also get tons of vitamins from vegetables, but don't become like a strict vegetarian where you don't eat anything, ANYTHING, from animals, like milk. A friend of mine was one, and her hair started to fall out, so don't put protein completely out of your diet. Good luck, and let me know how it goes! have a happy turkey day!
I stopped eating meat in middle school. My parents didn't like it and said it was just a stage I was going through. I am 21 and still a vegatarian and very happy I made that decision. I am also very healthy.
I think that so long as you are eating healthily, what's his gripe? You can actually get a lot more necessary minerals and vitamins with a vegetarian diet. And if is still worried about, ask him if you can supplement your diet with vitamins. This is an old book, but has a lot of good recipes for you to start with:
http://www.amazon.com/diet-small-planet-...
My daughter watched the movie "Babe" when she was about four and never touched meat since..it was surprisingly her decision..even at that age. I have just been very careful to make sure she gets proteins through other means. Good luck!
"If you want a friend, feed any animal.."
do it anyways. if you feel strongly about this, than do it! what a great lifestyle change! and it is totally not hard. just get some multivitamins and youll be good to go
I don't know how old you are but try giving your father some resources about vegetarian life. There are plenty of other sources of protein. Tofu, Nuts, Cheese, and eggs. Then there is the Vegan Market-which has no animal bi-products whatsoever. Perhaps if you spoke with your doctor or logged onto your health facility site, you could pull some information there.
Vegetarian diets are backed by many health organizations, but for a variety of reasons.
Check out www.vrg.org
and since you are under age, here is a link explaining the pro's and cons to vegetarian diets in children http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/nutrition...
Additionaly, you might want to try to research mideast religions and several middle eastern religions think that it is inhumane to eat animals.
Also, FYI: Meat doesn't contain tons of vitamins-vitamins mainly come from fruits and veggies.
Bottom line, I'm not going to tell you to disregard your fathers concerns, but perhaps a different approach would be through educating your father and then having a heart to heart.
Good Luck!
I had the same problem but my presence payed off
I have been a vegitarian since I was 3 years old, becuase I have always been very stong willed! But I aquired a lot of health problems a few years ago simply because I was eating a normal diet minus the meat. Recently, due to all these problems I was getting, I went to a nutritionist and she found that I was dificient In a lot of things including Protien, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, Essential Fats and Magnesium. This just shows how important meat in your diet is really. Anyway I haven't given up vegetarianism! My bad diet has been replaced with a healthy one, and I am now eating things such as nuts and seads, salads with olive oil instaid of Salad Cream, Natural Yoghurt, Kidney Beans...The list goes on! My diet is now roughly 60% raw fruit and veg!
If you become a vegetarian I think you should learn how to prepare your own meals because processed foods loose a lot of their goodness; and cook meals with the night amount of nutrients in so that you are not deficient because I found out that you really do need them!
Maybe to demonstate that you can be mature about the whole vegetarian diet, you should ask him if you could try it for a month and then demonstrate to him that you can cook healthy meals for yourself. For the best Ideas get a vegetarian or Vegan cookbook, which can cost as little as a few measly pounds (or dollars, i'm in the uk!) as the meals in there obviously have to have the right amount of nutrients in. If not, explain to him why you want to try it and how strongly you feel about it. Also explain how you are growing up now and maybe he should let you have a little bit of responsability for yourself.
If your dad does not allow you to do this still then ask him why he doesn't allow you and explain calmly how you would resolve this problem.
If however, he just will not give in, then I'm really sorry and although it's not fair, he is your parent and you need to respect him, you can always become one when your older though! Good Luck!
i think the reason he doesnt want you to be a vegan is because he cares about your health, not because he wants to be bossy. It is possible to get all the protein you need from a vegan diet but you have to be prepared to make a life long habit of taking certain vitamins like B12 and iron which are found only in meat. dont forget: although some vitamins are found in veggies and meat, in meat they are in a form that is better absorbed by your body. do your homework if your serious about this and learn that you MUST combine your foods very carefully to get complete proteins when on a vegan diet. are you also giving up all dairy products and eggs? i hope not because eggs are natures most perfectly balanced protein and chock full of vitamins. i personally know several vegans and in my opinion they lack the vigor of meat eaters, they are mostly underweight, nearly always sick, tend to have a poorer immunity system, and look slightly anemic. remember, human beings are designed to eat meat. but if you feel very strongly about you decision, you CAN make it work, but it will require effort on your part. i personally think you should continue to eat some meat until you are well past your complete growth cycle. How old are you? it doesnt have to be a lot--a bit of fish, a bit of poultry, and red meat just a couple times a month to boost your iron levels. especially as a female it is important for you to receive adequate iron. do your homework on this subject, show dad that you are mature enough to understand what its all about and convince him that your ready to be responsible and make the effort neccessary to make sure your health wont suffer. i think that if he understands how important it is to you and he believes your welfare will not suffer, then he will eventually let you try. but be an adult about it! dont just whine that your not getting your own way--show him your ready and mature enough to make responsible decisions for yourself and that he doesnt need to make all your choices for you anymore PS: be patient with him, this is very hard for a dad to do(i know because i am one) PSS: its WRONG that someone said meats dont contain tons of vitamins and minerals, in fact the ONLY vitamin not found in an all meat diet is vitamin C
I don't know how old you are but my son became a vegetarian ten years ago he was sixteen. You have to take a lot of responsibility in this matter to make sure you get the right nutrition in your diet It can be hard some times. The last few years he has gone vegan. And he really has to work at what he eats. He is 27 now has no body fat and very healthy. I am a meat cutter watch what I eat pretty good but still have high blood pressure and other problems that could be corrected just with diet alone and that would include a lot less meat
Wha?
Do it anyway!
you can get a complete protien
sources in other ways!!
Just google
Complete protien sorces for vegitiarians
talk 2 your dad calmy & rationally...and if that doesnt work just refuse meat
talk 2 him about getting vitamins and making sure you get plenty of protein
i had the same situation with my mom. go to www.goveg.com and take a look around. pick out as many facts as you can, make a list, and present them to your dad.
it convinced my mom to let me go vegie....and i've noticed she's eating less and less meat each day.
luck!
tell him that vegitarian meat that you can get at the stores, have just as much protein as regular meat, without all the fats and diseases that are in the animals people are eating.
Vegans (no animal products) do have to be very careful about making sure they get all the nutrients they need.
Vegetarians, ova-lacto vegetarians (eggs and milk) specifically will have absolutely NO PROBLEM getting all their "animal nutrients" from eggs and milk products.
It's your choice. Don't eat meat if you don't want to. I know someone who's parents didn't want them to be a vegetarian and they would even put meat in the food without telling them. My friend just stopped eating what his mom gave him. I know that it's not healthy to do that, but it will prove how serious you are about not eating meat...
You need to explain to your dad that you feel like you have an ethical responsibility to obstain from eating the flesh from a living thing. Tell him that your moral beliefs make you feel terrible about having to put any kind of meat in your mouth. Also, ask him if he wants you to have a hight chance of getting cancer because eating meat increases your risks for certain types of cancer. One of the things you can do is gather nutritioin information to show him, that way he sees how commited you are to becoming vegetarian. Go to vegsource.com and peta.com to get a vegetarian food pyramid and other info. Peta has a vegetarian starter kit that they'll mail to you for free. I went vegetarian when I was about 12 years old. My parents thought I was going through a phase so they let me do it. OOps, it stuck and now I'm Vegan! Buy a vegetarian cookbook, or go online for recipies. Offer to help cook so that he doesn't feel like he has to cook you a totally seperate meal. My dad used to get upset when he thought that he'd have to go out of his way too much for my meal choices. There's lots of things you can do to make the transition easy on the rest of the family. For instance, if your family is having pasta, ask them to take some sauce out for you before they add the meat to it. You can keep veggie burgers or "chicken" patties in the freezer to eat if they are having steak or something that can't accomidate a vegetarian. Be persistent but in a mature way. It hard for parents to see their children forming beliefs that are different than theirs. My mother used to be that way and now when she tells her friends how long I've been a vegetarian she seems proud. You can do it!
There are supplements out there that will give you certain vitamins that you do need in certain meats.
I can't imagine that they'd be hard to find, so try mentioning them to him.
If not, then just don't eat meat, and if you can afford your own job, try buying some.
Show him some literature that explains the benefits of being a vegetarian and how vegetarians can have a healthy diet. Also try to cook vegetarian food that doesn't look too 'strange' and he might try it and like it.