New here...considering vegetarianism

[Guest guest]

Hello

 

I am considering moving into a vegetarian diet. I have had a years long

struggle to lose weight. After many diets, Atkins being my most recent,

I have started to read into vegetarianism, and realize that is may be

the way to go for an overall healthful diet.

 

I did have a few questions:

- How did you all make the move to a vegetarian diet? Was it slow, or

overnight? I am finding I am having a hard time giving up meat, being

that I have been eating this way all my life. I just find I

automatically eat it.

- Are there any folks here who are part-time vegetarians? My whole

family eats meat, so this may be an option for me.

 

Thanks, and I look forward to learning more

 

Robin

[Guest guest]

I will answer you in full tomorrow because my eyes hurt, but before I

forget:

 

I instantly moved into vegetarianism. I got food poisoning, my third time,

from a local restaurant( not at the same place each time). I just said, " Hey

Mom I want to be a vegetarian. " My dad didn't really care. Well,he cared,

but not in a negative way. My mom freaked about nutrition. I have always

been healthy. I love vegetables and have never hated them as a child. Ok,

more tomottow!

Coco the loco.

Robin H. [robinbebe]

Monday, September 06, 2004 10:12 PM

New here...considering vegetarianism

 

 

Hello

 

I am considering moving into a vegetarian diet. I have had a years long

struggle to lose weight. After many diets, Atkins being my most recent,

I have started to read into vegetarianism, and realize that is may be

the way to go for an overall healthful diet.

 

I did have a few questions:

- How did you all make the move to a vegetarian diet? Was it slow, or

overnight? I am finding I am having a hard time giving up meat, being

that I have been eating this way all my life. I just find I

automatically eat it.

- Are there any folks here who are part-time vegetarians? My whole

family eats meat, so this may be an option for me.

 

Thanks, and I look forward to learning more

 

Robin

 

[Guest guest]

I did it overnight. It was my new year's resolution almost 16 years ago I

was still a kid. I found it easier to do it that way, but that might not be the

way for everyone. If you find yourself automatically eating it, though, that

might be the best way for you. Think of it as a habit that you are giving up.

Eating meat has been, for you, an unconscious choice; make a conscious choice to

stop.

 

Some people choose to dramatically cut down their meat intake rather than go

completely vegetarian. One of my friends made the move to vegetarianism this

way. Awhile back someone made a post about " Meatless Mondays " - you can search

through the archives for that. Even cutting your meat consumption can have a

large effect on your health.

 

What is it exactly that you want to change about your health? If you are

concerned about heart disease, you may look into pescevegetarianism, or

pescetarianism. Pescevegetarians eat vegetables and fish. They also have lower

rates of ischemic heart failure than either vegetarians or omnivores.

 

- Priscilla

 

" Robin H. " <robinbebe wrote:

I did have a few questions:

- How did you all make the move to a vegetarian diet? Was it slow, or

overnight? I am finding I am having a hard time giving up meat, being

that I have been eating this way all my life. I just find I

automatically eat it.

- Are there any folks here who are part-time vegetarians? My whole

family eats meat, so this may be an option for me.

 

Thanks, and I look forward to learning more

 

 

 

 

 

Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Enter now.

 

 

[Guest guest]

" Robin H. " <robinbebe@s...> wrote:

 

> - How did you all make the move to a vegetarian diet? Was it slow,

or

 

> overnight? I am finding I am having a hard time giving up meat, being

 

> that I have been eating this way all my life. I just find I

 

> automatically eat it.

 

 

 

I’ve been an on and off vegetarian for a good portion of my life,

probably since I was about 10 or 12 years old. I simply didn’t like the

taste of a lot of meat (or perhaps it was the way it was prepared), so I

often skipped that portion of meals. As a teenager, a couple of times I

decided to “be a vegetarian” and skipped the meat portion of ALL meals.

That wasn’t a good way for me to do things. I ended up with a very

unbalanced diet and health issues.

 

 

 

This time (3+ years), I actually did it “right”, or at least right for

me. When I decided that I wanted to cut meat out of my diet I did some

research and actively replaced proteins, iron sources, etc. This was a

MUCH better way for me to do things. I make sure I eat a varied diet,

including a variety of protein sources and iron rich foods, and my

health has significantly improved because of it. Jumping right into it,

consciously, was a healthier way for me to convert to vegetarianism.

 

 

 

If you do decide to do it “part time”, please don’t make the mistakes I

made and think you can simply skip the meat portion of most meals.

Instead, make sure you’re getting a variety of good nutritious foods

that cover all your dietary needs. Serve beans or other protein rich

foods as a side dish; snack on seeds/nuts; add molasses to things you

bake; use spinach for salads instead of lettuce; explore the wonderful

world of soy; learn about various ethnic cuisines that are more

vegetarian friendly than our traditional North American fare (Indian,

Mexican, Japanese, etc). There are lots of wonderful, delicious things

to make, and the meat substitutes available these days are much more

plentiful than they used to be.

 

 

 

Once you get used to planning meals without focusing on the meat, you

likely won’t even miss it. The BF always comments that he doesn’t even

notice that there’s no meat when I cook (though he always complains that

he can’t figure out how to plan a meal on his own without it – he just

copies my menus instead).

 

 

 

Make use of the files section here. There are tons of absolutely

fabulous recipes shared by the members of this group. Whenever I’m

stumped about what to cook, I spend 10 or 15 minutes just perusing the

recipes in our files and I’m full of ideas and inspiration.

 

 

 

--

Sherri

 

If you are going through hell, keep going - Sir Winston Churchill

 

The Karma of Literature: Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:

http://bookcrossing.com/friend/Sherria

 

_____

 

 

 

 

---

Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).

Version: 6.0.752 / Virus Database: 503 - Release 9/3/2004

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I did it overnight. Was enlightened by the Hare Krishna's at Venice Beach over

25 yrs ago. They were having their Festival of the Chariots yearly festivity

and gave everyone free vegetarian food to try. I ended up spending the day with

them and when they gave me a cookbook I decided to try a vegeratian diet for one

month, and I never turned back.

Donna

" Robin H. " <robinbebe wrote:Hello

 

I am considering moving into a vegetarian diet. I have had a years long

struggle to lose weight. After many diets, Atkins being my most recent,

I have started to read into vegetarianism, and realize that is may be

the way to go for an overall healthful diet.

 

I did have a few questions:

- How did you all make the move to a vegetarian diet? Was it slow, or

overnight? I am finding I am having a hard time giving up meat, being

that I have been eating this way all my life. I just find I

automatically eat it.

- Are there any folks here who are part-time vegetarians? My whole

family eats meat, so this may be an option for me.

 

Thanks, and I look forward to learning more

 

Robin

 

 

[Guest guest]

hari bol!!!!!!!!!

-

" GeminiDragon " <thelilacflower

 

Tuesday, September 07, 2004 1:01 PM

Re: New here...considering vegetarianism

 

 

> I did it overnight. Was enlightened by the Hare Krishna's at Venice Beach

over 25 yrs ago. They were having their Festival of the Chariots yearly

festivity and gave everyone free vegetarian food to try. I ended up

spending the day with them and when they gave me a cookbook I decided to try

a vegeratian diet for one month, and I never turned back.

> Donna

> " Robin H. " <robinbebe wrote:Hello

>

> I am considering moving into a vegetarian diet. I have had a years long

> struggle to lose weight. After many diets, Atkins being my most recent,

> I have started to read into vegetarianism, and realize that is may be

> the way to go for an overall healthful diet.

>

> I did have a few questions:

> - How did you all make the move to a vegetarian diet? Was it slow, or

> overnight? I am finding I am having a hard time giving up meat, being

> that I have been eating this way all my life. I just find I

> automatically eat it.

> - Are there any folks here who are part-time vegetarians? My whole

> family eats meat, so this may be an option for me.

>

> Thanks, and I look forward to learning more

>

> Robin

>

>

[Guest guest]

My story is a little different than most. My years spent at Tyson's

slaughter plants pretty much cured me of having ANY desire to EVER

eat a bite of chicken again. I guess it was a month or two later (?)

that I found out that the cows and pigs were treated in the same

way. So, that made it easy for me to give up eating meat. I didn't

do it primarily for health reasons, but I did lose quite a bit of

weight and brought my blood pressure down to normal (they were about

to put me on medication for it!), as well as improving my energy

levels. So, even if I were to change my mind about how animals are

treated (not likely!), I would still stay vegetarian for health

reasons. Recently I have given up dairy and all store-bought eggs.

I only eat eggs from our own chickens here, and then not that many.

 

Like someone else said, with all the new meat substitutess, you

really don't miss it. We eat similar to the way we always have, with

the addition of many new recipes from here and other places.

Although we have bought the Morningstar and Boca burgers and stuff

and liked them, what we really have enjoyed the most is a product

called Not! Beef (they also make " chicken " and other " meats " ). It

tastes similar to meat and has the right texture. It is dehydrated,

so it stores easily and produces more " meat " once you add water.

Here is the link for it if you want to try it:

 

http://www.dixiediner.com/cgi-bin/WebShop.cgi?

config=/usr/www/users/rstevens/dixie/config.txt & uid=166.102.162.140108

6790263 & command=link--meat_replacement_foods

 

This should make it easier for you. I know it did for us! Good luck!

 

Virgil Butler

http://cyberactivist.blogspot.com/

activistsagainstfactoryfarming/

http://www.care2.com/c2cAgainstFactoryFarming

 

" Be the change you want to see in the world. "

----Gandhi

 

" Since compassion for animals is so intimately associated with

goodness of

character, it may be confidently asserted that whoever is cruel to

animals

cannot be a good man. "

---A. Schopenhauer

 

Cree Prophecy

After the last Tree has been cut down,

After the last River has been poisoned,

After the last fish has been caught,

Only then will you find

That money cannot be eaten.

 

 

, " Robin H. "

<robinbebe@s...> wrote:

> Hello

>

> I am considering moving into a vegetarian diet. I have had a years

long

> struggle to lose weight. After many diets, Atkins being my most

recent,

> I have started to read into vegetarianism, and realize that is may

be

> the way to go for an overall healthful diet.

>

> I did have a few questions:

> - How did you all make the move to a vegetarian diet? Was it

slow, or

> overnight? I am finding I am having a hard time giving up meat,

being

> that I have been eating this way all my life. I just find I

> automatically eat it.

> - Are there any folks here who are part-time vegetarians? My

whole

> family eats meat, so this may be an option for me.

>

> Thanks, and I look forward to learning more

>

> Robin

[Guest guest]

Hi Robin. Welcome to the group.

 

You asked: How did you all make the move to a

vegetarian diet? Was it slow, or overnight?

 

i started out sort of slow i guess. i didn't know

much about vegetarianism at the time. i was

15 years old and my boyfriend's sister had come

home to NY to visit from California. She was a

" vegetarian " , or so she claimed; but she still ate

fish and chicken. *lol* i didn't know much better,

but i thought it sounded cool since i didn't like red

meat anyway, so i announced to my folks that i

wanted to be her sort of vegetarian. They were

alright with that. Technically i was a pesca-pollo

vegetarian or rather a red-meat abstainer. i did this

for a while. Then when i moved out on my own i

became a pescatarian [i still ate fish on occasion].

Then i went to lacto-ovo vegetarian. i feel comfortable

where i am now.

 

You asked: Are there any folks here who are part-time

vegetarians?

 

Oh sure. We have many members that aren't vegetarians

but that enjoy the recipes on the list, using them to

incorporate meat-free menus into their diets.

 

~ pt ~

 

Yesterday is a dream, tomorrow but a vision.Ê But today well

lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every

tomorrow a vision of hope.Ê Look well therefore to this day.

~ Sanskrit proverb

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~~~>

, " Robin H. "

<robinbebe@s...>

wrote:

> Hello

>

> I am considering moving into a vegetarian diet. I have had a years

long

> struggle to lose weight. After many diets, Atkins being my most

recent,

> I have started to read into vegetarianism, and realize that is may

be

> the way to go for an overall healthful diet.

>

> I did have a few questions:

[Guest guest]

I have not had the shock of seeing the meat packing plants/slaughter

houses, but I can only imagine. I am looking at it for more of a

health solution, but that is a consideration too. I will have to check

into the soy products.

 

Robin

 

Virgil wrote:

 

> My story is a little different than most. My years spent at Tyson's

> slaughter plants pretty much cured me of having ANY desire to EVER

> eat a bite of chicken again. I guess it was a month or two later (?)

> that I found out that the cows and pigs were treated in the same

> way. So, that made it easy for me to give up eating meat. I didn't

> do it primarily for health reasons, but I did lose quite a bit of

> weight and brought my blood pressure down to normal (they were about

> to put me on medication for it!), as well as improving my energy

> levels. So, even if I were to change my mind about how animals are

> treated (not likely!), I would still stay vegetarian for health

> reasons. Recently I have given up dairy and all store-bought eggs.

> I only eat eggs from our own chickens here, and then not that many.

>

> Like someone else said, with all the new meat substitutess, you

> really don't miss it. We eat similar to the way we always have, with

> the addition of many new recipes from here and other places.

> Although we have bought the Morningstar and Boca burgers and stuff

> and liked them, what we really have enjoyed the most is a product

> called Not! Beef (they also make " chicken " and other " meats " ). It

> tastes similar to meat and has the right texture. It is dehydrated,

> so it stores easily and produces more " meat " once you add water.

> Here is the link for it if you want to try it:

>

> http://www.dixiediner.com/cgi-bin/WebShop.cgi?

> config=/usr/www/users/rstevens/dixie/config.txt & uid=166.102.162.140108

> 6790263 & command=link--meat_replacement_foods

>

> This should make it easier for you. I know it did for us! Good luck!

>

> Virgil Butler

> http://cyberactivist.blogspot.com/

> activistsagainstfactoryfarming/

> http://www.care2.com/c2cAgainstFactoryFarming

>

> " Be the change you want to see in the world. "

> ----Gandhi

>

> " Since compassion for animals is so intimately associated with

> goodness of

> character, it may be confidently asserted that whoever is cruel to

> animals

> cannot be a good man. "

> ---A. Schopenhauer

>

> Cree Prophecy

> After the last Tree has been cut down,

> After the last River has been poisoned,

> After the last fish has been caught,

> Only then will you find

> That money cannot be eaten.

>

>

> , " Robin H. "

> <robinbebe@s...> wrote:

> > Hello

> >

> > I am considering moving into a vegetarian diet. I have had a years

> long

> > struggle to lose weight. After many diets, Atkins being my most

> recent,

> > I have started to read into vegetarianism, and realize that is may

> be

> > the way to go for an overall healthful diet.

> >

> > I did have a few questions:

> > - How did you all make the move to a vegetarian diet? Was it

> slow, or

> > overnight? I am finding I am having a hard time giving up meat,

> being

> > that I have been eating this way all my life. I just find I

> > automatically eat it.

> > - Are there any folks here who are part-time vegetarians? My

> whole

> > family eats meat, so this may be an option for me.

> >

> > Thanks, and I look forward to learning more

> >

> > Robin

>

>

> *