Vegan/Vegetarian

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.

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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:



becomes this:



and gets eaten by this:



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! 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.

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

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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.

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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.

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 and hilarious

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.

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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.