Vegan/Vegetarian
 

I have decided to go complete vegan with the help of my doctor and a nutritionist. I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian for many years then I fell back into eating chicken and fish occationally and some beef once in a blue moon.

Last semester in school I heard daily in my moral philosophy class about the treatment of animals. It disturbed me! Though I bet any moral being would be disturbed.

You can buy meat, eggs and dairy nowadays where the animal who contributed to your meal (isn't) mistreated, but I still feel that I need to go vegan.

There are more reasons why I feel this is right for me...animal rights is number one, then health....and the psychological bloody taste in my mouth.

Are there any other vegan or vegetarian MoFos? What made you become a vegetarian/vegan?

If you are not a vegetarian/vegan what are your thoughts on this? Have you thought about becoming one yourself?

No rude comments or animal eating jokes, please, lol.

I was a vegetarian for 6 years due to the fact that I had some Veil in France. Now I'm not saying all Veil in France is bad but this particular Veil wouldn't stop moving on my plate. I hence lived on carrots for the duration of my stay and became a vegetarian for 6 years.

My girlfriend has been one all her life and has never been tempted to eat meat. I'm sorry say the smell of Bacon and an unhealthy diet brought me back to the dark side.

Good luck with it, I find it very hard to be restricted.

I would like to hear from the families of the vegetables...their side of the story now. Just because they are in a deep sleep, impaired mentally and physically and can not make choices for themselves does not mean anyone should eat them. Even if you pour all kinds of French dressing on them...

Sheesh!

So long as you stay healthy, i'd say do what makes you happy. Altho there are some good reasons to keep eating humanely-raised animals etc...

I was a 'fishaterian' for many years, but these days i'll eat meat so long as its 'free range' and organically raised. Which means i eat it veeerrry infrequently (coz it's pricey). On a social-contribution front, the useful side to that is that you're not giving money to the hormone/antibiotic-using, water/land-over-consuming, animal-abusing factory-farmers - and you're also supporting guys who raise animals the positive way. Given that meat-eating is never gonna stop, it makes sense to support the eco/humane meat-producers where possible.

There is a problem in walking this middle-line tho, in that you can get a bit sloppy about checking the provenance of your food. I can get a bit careless about checking where my fish has come from - but i'm getting better.

There are also slight issues in consuming lots of veggie soya products, coz if you live in europe you're basically funding the deforestation of South American rainforests via mass soya-planting (altho the Euro cattle-factory-farmers are the biggest soya-buyers on that front - for animal feed). If you're in the US, you're just contributing to soya mono-cultures etc, which ain't so bad ;).

Overall, i'd say occasionally eating meat-products with decent provenance is a positive way to go :)

Baboom tsk
 

Salad dressing is wrong! Especially the French-style stuff.

Golgot, Oh dear god.

Everytime you rant, you make me feel so damn guilty. I had some chicken thighs from Asda today. :(

You monster! Do you spend your spare time crushing kittens?

;) <--- don't press

I've been a vegetarian since 1998. I don't think I could ever go vegan: I love cheese waaaaaaaaay too much.

But vegetarianism was definitely an ethical decision more than a dietary one for me.

I'm not, and I never will be. I don't support cruelty to animals, but I don't believe in "animal rights". But my aversion to strict veganism is this, and it's admittedly anecdotal, but decisive for me: my ex's brother was a very strict vegan for 31 years, from the age of 18. He was in great shape, ran and played basketball daily and he payed close attention to nutrition. He died at 49 of a heart attack, and it was attributed by the autopsy reporter to his diet. It had weakened his heart.

I have another friend who is strict vegan and has been for about 25 years. She has a million health problems, one of which could easily be hypochondria, but I can't help wondering if she ate a more varied diet, if she might not be healthier.

If you make this choice for yourself, I'd urge you strongly to be as vigilant about dietary supplements and your own nutrition as you are about the "rights" of animals.

On the other hand, I have a friend who has been an incredibly strict vegetarian for close to fifty years now, and she has never had a single health issue in her life.

I eat meat, all kinds. I would not say I am in great health, but my checkups show I am in acceptable levels, whatever that means. I rarely get sick, but I have had a kidney stone. Although I think that has more to do with beverages than food. I do not think I could ever become any kind of veg/fish/etc -atarian, but I do love vegetarian meals sometimes, spinach and cheese casseroles are great with a steak :D .

I was a vegetarian for two years, around two years ago. I became one because my sister and mother said I could never do it.

I found not eating meat quite easy after a week or so. I got a great vegetarian cook book, the food was so simple and tasted real good.

I felt better in myself and began to talk to the animals.

Did you start eating meat again when the animals began to talk back?

I think Sammy was talking about a Vegan.

I know two(vegans), they are absolute fascists with the stuff, and are VERY condescending about it, so I don't associate with them anymore.

I don't miss them, at all. ;)

One of them actually stated he thought he was more evolved than all of us, hence the will to be a vegan.

what.an.ass.

I say, to each his own, just don't try filling out my dinner order for me. ;)

Their tongues were too tantalising.

No dipping sauce?

You mean sir won't be ordering the grass-fed beef tonight? For shame. It's utterly bereft of antibiotic-tolerant E-coli, of factory-farming fame. ;)

(Well, actually, the CTX-M-15 E-coli strains ain't that famous yet, but give them time ;))

Sorry to preach, but well... wait, no i'm not :)


And yes, i know i know, you can't feed grass to beef ;)

Saliva?

I have been a vegetarian for 40yrs now, I never liked meat, i stopped eating lamb when i was eight years old after a visit to a farm :(

About the health issue, not all vegetarians are healthy, over the years i have had blood problems related to my choice of food, I have had blood transfusions, Iron in ejection's, Iron tablets and B
12 injections for many years due to anaemia, i am well now but it takes an effort as my blood levels have to be checked regularly and I have to make sure i eat enough protein. Just wanted to share that as just eating Veggies is not good for everyones health and does take some effort as in my case. :yup:

I know a few people like this Sedai and believe me I will not become one of those people. I also think that people have the right to eat and live the lifestyle they want. And i don't want people to think, or I hope people don't think that I am a total fascist.

I am seeing a nutritionist and she is setting me up with the proper vitamin supplements and all that. I plan to eat a variety of foods just removing the dairy and meat. I have come to like Soy milk, Soy ice cream, soy cheese etc. nuts, beans....

Yep, for sure I will be.



I am sure this life style is going to be difficult to keep up, especially around holidays when my family will expect me to eat turkey or ham. I know I have the strength to not eat it, but my biggest concern is offending people by refusing the meal they serve. But this decision to be vegan has been something I have wanted to do for awhile and it is more important than comments others may have about my choice in lifestyle. I certainly don't want me mom to be upset that I don't want to eat her meals anymore, but that is something she will have to deal with herself. I don't expect my family or my partner's family to totally change their menus and try cooking foods they are unfamiliar with. But how does one sit down to a table and say no thank you on everything they serve? And bringing your own meal to the dinner table is even worse, lol. I guess there is going to have to be some compromizes with the family thing...

I have gone through the 'separate meals' scene - for quite the opposite reason, I was on the Atkins diet. If you explain to people ahead of time what your deal is, and eat before you go, but join them at the table and otherwise participate, they should be able to look past what is actually on your fork or not on it.

It's tricky when it comes to picking restaraunts, but once you are familiar with the diet you're on, you can usually figure out something you can order, even if it means you have a snack then and go home for a real meal.

I brought this thread back because I'm wondering if I should stop eating meat. My reason seems kind of silly to me, but I think it makes sense: Last night, I watched a show on Animal Planet and it wasn't something about animal cruelty, it was just a chicken show contest, like what they do for dogs. I never realized how pretty chickens could be. I've always liked birds, but never thought of chickens as comparable to birds like parrots, toucans, cockatiels, flamingos - you know, exotic birds. Chickens actually seem just as amazing - so do turkeys. Can you imagine how many of these divine creatures get chowed down by human teeth day after day, year after year? I mean this:

http://www.thechickenstore.com/pictu...es/chicken.jpg

becomes this:

http://www.quickpita.com/images/menu...ro.chicken.jpg

and gets eaten by this:

http://hummellstudios.com/Clark/fat_lady.jpg

I just feel terrible because like the woman above, I've ate so many chickens in my life - a half hour ago, in fact! I ate chicken and beef - went to the worst possible restaurant, MCDONALD'S! Just cause I was hungry and it was cheap.

I don't know how to stop eating meat, though, and if I can. For the most part, I probably could - on Saturday, I went to Baja Fresh and ordered the vegetable quesadillas. This was BEFORE I even saw the chicken contest show, so I've naturally got a vegetable love in me. I love onions, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, the works. But you know, eating vegetable quesadillas, although they're tasty - it just feels kinda weird. I've bought vegetarian pizza before - mmmm - but there's always a bossy, bitchy voice in my head that sighs and says, "Um, there's like, no meat in this! This isn't food! I will make you order something with meat later!" I have vegetarian schizophrenia.

I most definitely was not raised to be vegetarian, either. My relatives, in particular the ones on my mom's side, are all about FOOD, FOOD, FOOD. Many of them have got something on them to show for this - and if you happen to get something on you to show for it, you're on the cover of my family's own version of The National Enquirer - "JASON GAINS 20 POUNDS! FATTY PICTURES INSIDE! INCLUDES CLOSEUP OF HIM EATING 2ND HELPING OF HAM."

But then, you know, I'm also afraid of what might happen if I did go completely vegetarian for a long time. Will I have health problems or will I become healthier than before - and stay that way? And am I going to be able to stick to this diet? Will I lose my big appetite or am I just going to be constantly hungry? And then what is best to eat when you're a vegetarian?

It's just something I'm thinking about... I'd like for vegetarianism to be really easy.

Vegetarianism has gotten a lot easier. Restaurants (even fast food restaurants) usually have a vegetarian menu. So vegetarianism is now an "acceptable" choice by the fast food industry...

As for "replacing" the meat, try tofu, or Soy, or nature burgers. Man, Nature burgers are by far the best burgers out there!!!! If you can find Lick's Nature burgers GET THEM!!!! You will not be sorry! :licklips: They are filling too! I live off nature burgers!

Try adding some texturized vegetable protein (TVP) to any pasta sauce, it replaces ground beef (but DO NOT attempt to make a burger out of it) eeew! You must have some sort of sauce with it. I use it in spaghetti sauce all the time!

I used to get cravings like mad for meat until I got used to tofu and soy and all those protein meat replacers...it didn't take too long until I didn't miss meat at all.

As for health, vitamins vitamins vitamins. You need protein and if you don't get it through food (tofu, soy) then make sure you take vitamins. Hell just take a mutivitamin daily anyway, it won't hurt ya.

good luck with your vegetarian effort!!

Well, I already take a multivitamin... but TOFU??? What exactly does that taste like? I've seen it and it looks gross. What exactly is it?!

I've never heard of nature burgers either... I've heard of some type of burger that's not really meat, can't remember the exact name for it. I need to try one, though.

By the way, I just discovered something that could keep my mind off of meat -- Doublemint has just come out with a coffee flavor gum. I just tried a piece... mmmmmmmmmmm!

well tofu is gross by itself but you add it to dishes. Make sure you cut it up REALLY well or you will think you're eating brains or something. (I wonder if Hannibal Lector should have eaten tofu to replace brains) I would explain what tofu is but you would be grossed out by it! lol lets just say that it is similar to making cheese from milk, but you make tofu from soy. So if you know how they make cheese, this is how they make tofu.

Several years ago I had some oral surgery and I was on a soft diet for a few weeks. I thought "This is a great time to quit eating meat and go vegetarian." And I did, for the time I couldn't eat meat. When I was able to eat meat again, I ran to my local burger joint, ordered a double cheeseburger and it was the best thing I ever ate in my life.

Kudos to those who can do it. I'm too weak or too much of a hedonist or both.

I am a vegetarian and I hate Tofu, it tastes like a sponge to me :p

Yours truly failed tonight.... had steak tacos.

I eat tofu all the time. What it tastes like depends entirely on how it is prepared. Usually people who say they hate it is because they had it once prepared by somebody or some restaurant that didn't know how to cook it well. Raw, unflavored tofu is, well, flavorless. But what kind of moron eats it like that? Not any vegetarian.

Order tofu as your "meat" at a good Thai restaurant (and not some craphole in a mall, but a real Thai place) and you'll find out how delicious tofu can be.

In fact, I'm about to have some in a few minutes for my dinner.

I have tried it various ways cooked by good and bad chefs, I love Thai food (real, as we have a very large Thai population in my town) and still don't like it, sorry :( I have tried to eat it as I have a few mwdical problems over the years due to lack of protien, I know it is a good source of that, but still haven't been able to warm to it. :nope:

I like meat so much I wish I could use it as bread to hold the meat I'm already eating. And I wish I could drink meat to wash down the meat I'm using as bread to hold that meat.

Meat.

That is disgusting :eek: and hilarious :laugh:

I'll do that next time I go to a Thai restaurant, which may not be long from now. There's so many around.

Ewwww, see, if I had the option of either only eating for the rest of my life, or drinking, I'd probably pick drinking. I doubt you could drink meat. I've seen people try on reality shows for competitions. They usually throw up.

Now that sounds like something to shred.

All is right with the world. :)

Well, congratulate me - I've taken a small step. I had a veggie burger wrap for lunch from a place called Juice Zone(http://www.juicezone.com), a healthy cafe at the mall across the street - there's not many of these stores around. I also had a tropical colada smoothie (with an energy boost they put in). I guess that's not bad for $8... although, I did think about how I could have had a footlong sub from Subway with a drink and chips for less than what I spent. The wrap was good, the burger was made out of black beans and something else. Tasted kind of like chili, which I love.

This is the only place I know of at that mall to get healthy, vegetarian food, and I think the veggie burger is actually the only vegetarian item! Everywhere I looked as I rode the escalator down to the food court, there was meat. People eating meat. Lots of tantalizing meat... I somehow managed to make it to Juice Zone and order the veggie burger wrap without hesistation.

But what am I gonna eat from now on???

Sexy,

If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding.

Love,

Mr. Last

I could care less about pudding. Pudding is something my grandparents eat every night after dinner (well, at least I know they used to). I have real teeth, I'll take key lime pie.

(Sorry)....and here I recklessly thought that you were my cherry pie...extended version.

It's no longer secret, and it was never safe....but, ultimately, he makes me feel more like me than any other fruit-based delicacy ever could.


Not even a Puddin' pop?

Are you eating special brownies? What in the world are you talking about? Puddin' pop...

If I had one of those pudding pops, I'd throw it at ya!

Of course, it would just hit the monitor, ricochet back and probably hit me in the face.

No, he is just a sweet Last person :laugh:

Holy tapdancing merciful Jebus!







Thanks Nebbs!

OK, confession time...

I did eat vegetarian for lunch again yesterday. I had a veggie wrap with cheese from Great Wraps - this was cheaper than the Veggie Burger, and I also got fries! It was delicious, and everyone in my office wanted it until I told them it was all veggies, then they were sickened.

But all of you vegetarians and vegans are going to be sickened by this...

Maybe it was just my mind... but I thought I was feeling weak/tired from not having any meat...

So for dinner, I pigged out at an American all you can eat buffet. I had chicken wings, ham, shrimp... felt terrible because I left one shrimp on my plate. That poor thing died for no reason. I had some other type of chicken.

I'm sorry but there is just too much meat out there! I was reading a menu for a Thai restaurant on my way to the buffet because I was going through the mail. I saw the tofu items and they sounded pretty good... but could I really get tofu instead of chicken or beef? There were so many other options.

There's just SO MUCH MEAT!

lol, I found that kinda funny actually. I can understand the problem you are having because I struggle with trying not to eat junk food, there seems to be SO MUCH JUNK FOOD out there!
When we are low on cash and can't afford to go grocery shopping we end up going to the corner store for potato chips and live off that for a few days instead of buying a loaf of bread and peanut butter. It is funny because when I have no money I am grossed out by peanut butter sandwiches, and when I just got paid, I dive right into peanut butter sandwiches. hmmm

I would be a hypocrite if I were to give any pointers on how to avoid eating meat since I can't stay away from my addiction with junk food. But what I can say is to not give up on this. It takes awhile to get used to a whole lifestyle change. And don't beat yourself up for slipping up once in awhile.

I can't call myself vegan because I slip up and eat dairy once every few weeks. I beat myself up once in awhile but then I take a step back and say, hey, I bought this cheese organic!

Maybe you could buy organic meats? I mean they will be VERY expensive. But if you are concerned about how animals are treated but you find it hard to cut meat out of your diet all together, then this is what I suggest. You could some chicken legs and eat one peice to satisfy your craving.

A few days?? A few hours maybe.

I think I'm just gonna not bother anymore. There is so much meat out there...

i wish i could believe in all this but i don't...while i'm not much of a meat eater, (i tend to fish and chicken, although chicken is considered meat) i tend to believe that everything is living and breathing....including plants...

i will have a vegetarian meal from time to time, but i usually don't make a habit of it

It is easy for me, I HATE MEAT :blush: I never liked the taste of Meat, ever, :yup: Mt Hsb eats meat, he thinks I am a food crank, he still loves me,......... I think :laugh:
I think it is ok to eat meat if you want to, just be careful how it is cooked so you don't clog up your arteries. :yup:

I don't hate most meats... there are some things I can't stand. Ribs, pork chops, any kind of pork or chicken that's dressed up in a gross way. Meat with BBQ sauce on it, BBQ sauce ruins everything. Hamburgers, chicken, steaks, ham - I like those. I've tried duck and lamb, don't really care for those. Shrimp, some fish, they're OK. I tried baby octopusses once, didn't care for that.

So what are you saying....what don't you believe in? Are you saying you don't eat meat aside from fish and chicken and you don't eat plants?

It doesn't really bother me if other people eat or use animal products. I just try not to myself. But I encourage people to eat organic foods and use non-animal based products so that we know that the animal isn't mistreated on factory farms and actually lived a good life. I am just very disturbed by the videos I've seen of all the mistreatment in factories. People don't have to treat the animals this way.

I have donated money to PETA and I support them to an extent...some tactics they use to get their point across is VERY bad, like comparing the abuse in factory farms to the holocaust. That is just wrong to do that! But they have helped many animals.

I think PETA's crazy, and there have been incidents where PETA people pick up dogs from kennels, kill them and dump them into dumpsters. Plus, I've read some quotes that the PETA founder has said, and she sounds very looney tunes.

whaaaaaat? why would PETA do that to poor little dogs??? :eek: :suspicious: :bawling: I haven't heard that! I must look into that. Thanks for the heads up!!! I must go do a little more research on my buddies the PETAs If they do bad things like this than I best put my donations to a better organization. Holy Shyt I really hope it's not true!

Here's something:

http://www.peoplekillinganimals.com/antipeta.htm

I don't think it mentions the stuff about them killing dogs, but I know that information is out there. I've read it. Just didn't save the links.

Sexy that is a terrible site :p

Sexy- I found some stuff on it and now I am embarassed to have supported PETA for as long as I did without acknowledging the bastards they are! Thank you for opening my eyes!

7 things you didn't know about PETA

PETA kills animals

puppy killers

That's awful :bawling:. I'm not a vegetarian or intend to become one but I do try to avoid eating meat from mistreated animals when I can. I've never heard of Peta but I've seen some excellent reporting on what KFC have been doing with their chickens in Australia and it's so disgusting; chickens abnormally large because they are kept in tiny cages and fed weight inducing supplements. I am totally against that :mad:

But the reporting was done in a 'expose the truth' kind of way rather than a 'lets break in and free all the chickens' kind of way. Extremist activity no matter for what cause will likely be dismissed by most people and whats more there are much more effective ways.

PETA has done wonderful things for animals, that's true! If you go to their website you can see their videos But I must warn you, I can't watch them and I am all into gore ;)