Going Vetetarian!! And calling on hippies to keep me in shape ;)

meat.com you'll never eat another animal again

 

Day Three

Tisha, I forgot to reply to:

Well for some reason my mum is being a lot more lenient with my diet. For awhile there (last year) she was extremely concerned about my health and about cooking two serperate meals, but perhaps that's because I hadn't done enough research on it, and my argument wasn't strong enough to sway her. Or, maybe it's just because I'm soon an adult

She's actually quite proud of me, I think

My dad, on the other hand, is the biggest carnivore I know. He doesn't have any imput though, since he lives in another country and all haha. I haven't spoken to him in awhile anyway.

My 16 year old sister is eating less meat. I reckon she'd turn veg if it wasn't for her meat-eating boyfriend and hang-over fast food.

Step-dad is pretty quiet on the issue. I don't think it bothers him at all. As long as I don't turn the house into a mess xD

And thanks for the advice! I did that today at uni. Almonds and fruit, and a vegetarian roll from the cafe. And water of course.

You got any ideas for other easy snacks?

And Jerry - meat.com? Please elaborate. I'm on it right now and have no idea what it's about.

 

My favourite is trail mix. I have to have it at work because the boss is always buying pizza and burgers for everyone. Very nice of her, but it sucks for me. So I always make sure that I have trail mix right there with me.
Another good thing that I learned from a diet that I was on a while ago, if you're going to eat with friends who don't eat the same as you, eat before you go. You won't be too hungry and you can get by on even a tiny fast food house salad. It saved my ass a bunch of times.

That's cool about your family. My mom is okay with it, but she's also always telling me not to be too strict with it. She wants me to merge slowly, eat meat every now and then. I think she's mostly worried about nutrients, but I get plenty. She also really doesn't understand and thinks it's a fad. My brother thinks I'm insane and talks about how happy his rare steak is making him. I haven't talked to my dad since, so I'm not sure how he'll be. It's much easier when you have the support of family, eh?

 

Oh, btw, I checked out meat.com too. I don't get it.

 

"Trail mix (also gorp) is a combination of dried fruit, grains, nuts, and sometimes chocolate, developed as a snack food to be taken along on outdoor hikes..." - Thought I'd make sure I love Trail Mix!! I'll have to grab a few ingredients at the supermarket tomorrow And thanks for the eating-before-you-go thing, too. I'm sure it's gonna be verrrry helpful in the coming months!! I seem to always be tugging an apple around everywhere I go nowdays, too.

Much easier with a supportive family. How old is your brother? He sounds like a younger brother Any vegetarians at your work? I've found two other waitresses at mine (and it's a pretty small staff, so I'm lucky!). It helps to know that they're healthy and happy and get completely disgusted by the sight of meat. It's motivating

Then it's official, We don't get meat.com!!

 

27 years here.

I'm not so picky. I forage and graze mostly. Numbers bug me. I use intuition more than anything else. Compulsive label reader though. If you're serious about becoming a vegetarian, that kind of goes with the territory. Lots of crap in food these days. Read all about it.

I balance that diet with lots of physical activity. I exhaust people half my age.

My only biking partner is the 9 year old granddaughter of my best friends here.

She's the only one that can keep up with me.

One must figure I'm doing something right.

Some wise person once said that the only true wealth is good health.

I couldn't agree more.


x

 

Drumminmama, I try to eat food with the smallest amount of 'changing', if that makes sense. Foods which come from the ground or trees are great - 'no changing'. Then, like you said, whole grains.

I drink some coffee, but other than that it's all water. 'no changing'

I do know that fruit + veg has some chemicals and shit in it nowadays if you don't grow it yourself.

What's this world coming to?

 

When you've got 6 billion mouths to feed...can't always worry about what makes the food grow.

Most people are not educated to the dangers in food, but they're becoming more aware all the time.

Put the heat on your representatives and watch change happen. The law of the land belongs to you if you choose to exercise that power. You should, because otherwise "they" will do it for you.



x

 

Great job Laura! Way to make a commitment!! I'm really impressed!

Do you have any tips for me? I'm going vegetarian, but my mom is a huge carnivore, so she's totally against it. But I've permanently deleted red meat from my diet, and I'm going to take out poultry next week, then eventually seafood. (but I don't eat much of that anyway)

Oh, and I think Jerry means meat.org...

 

This week, red meat once again catches the attention of the medical profession.

http://news.google.com/news?pz=1&ned=us&hl=en&q=red+meat

Why don't you sit down with her at the computer and explore these links together?

Need help, bring her here.


x

 

Congratulations on your decision to go veg! I've been meat free for about 4 years now, and to be honest, I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to consume flesh. Have you seen "meet your meat"? It changed my life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIjanhKqVC4

 

Aww thank you! That means a lot to me

Well, how old are you? My own opinion is parents can't control what their kids eat. But that's debatable.. What if the son/daughter wants to eat McDonalds and only McDonalds?
I think that once someone turns 16 they definately have the right to choose to be a vegetarian. Just be like "Yo mom, I'm almost an adult. I'll do what I want" But I know that doesn't work.

Firstly, do some research. That's what I did. I reseached all about animal cruelty, etc, so at least if she tried to argue my decision I'd have a rebuttle. Next do some research about a 'healthy vegetarian diet', and show her you CAN get all your dietry requirements from a vegetarian diet. Your mom should be impressed that you're looking to keep healthy, and it could help her realise it's not going to be a fad.

And then what I did with my mum was compromise with a 'trial'. Like I said, sixty days. She said to me, "You're probably not getting enough iron."
So I said, "Do I look unhealthy to you?"
And she said, "No... Actually you look really good and really healthy."

She couldn't lie about that, and it made her more comfortable with the idea of me being a vegetarian indefinately.

You should also look into cool, easy vegetarian meals you can whip up. I don't think your mom would be happy with you just taking the meat off the plate and eating the rest of your dinner - that's not enough food. Tofu, beans, a few more grains, dark leavy vegetables... I'm not exactly a dietition, but I believe in eating what your body is telling you it wants. You have to reeeally listen though

Perhaps after you do all this your mom will see you're serious about it, and that you're taking the right steps to ensure you're healthy. Not just becoming a vegetarian to 'be cool' or 'loose weight'.

I hope this long ass comment helps you in the slightest way!

Oh! Makes sense now. Yes, Jerry, already been there. That video motivated me. Also made me shed a few tears...

Night Owl - Thanks and good luck sweetie

 

I have indeed seen the video. I was researching "reasons to go vegetarian" on google, and a PETA video came up "Ten Reasons To Become A Vegetarian." From there, a whole lot of related links, including "Meet Your Meet" came up and I spent about an hour balling my eyes out

 

Thanks heaps for your advice, xexon. Its reassuring to have such a long-term vegetarian giving us tips and tricks and motivation

It's much appreciated.

 

xexon- thanks!! I'll definitely take a look into these. May be I can show some to my mom.

tree hugger- yes, I have seen "meet your meat", and that was the final bit that convinced me to go vegetarian!! It made me cry, and I NEVER cry....

LauraMay- I am 15, so I guess thats a little young, but I can't take it much longer!! Everytime I eat meat it just makes me think of all the pain that went into my food. I rarely finish my meat anymore because it makes me sick to my stomach. X( I've done alot of research on my own about what you mentioned, but I haven't ever shown it to my mom. I think I'm definitely going to now.

 

You're never too young to start rejecting the system

Eat meat. Why? Because we've been taught it's the healthy way to go? Just because our mums and dads brought us up on the old "a serving of meat, a serving of vegies and a serving of carbs" dinner, doesn't mean it's the right thing for us. We do have control over what we put in our bodies.

Heaps of people who look at my meals go, "wow! That looks nice! Kind of makes me want to go vegetarian." Of course, they don't. Out of "convenience".

And yeah, show your mum Hopefully it'll help her understand there are more ways than one to live a life.

 

My brother is younger than me by a few years. I don't have anybody that I know of in this town that is also vegan or veggie. I live in a place that loves it's hunting. You can't even get people to care about their own pets around here, let alone other animals out there. When I talk to people about it I tend to stick to the health and environmental reasons, if I mention animal cruelty, they just blow me off as some crazy liberal from up north. Most people try to talk me out of it, but none have said that it's a good idea. I'm the weird hippie girl, so they kind of expect it from me. Meat.org make a lot more sense. I've been to a bunch of different sites and ordered the free vegan starter kits, they're very helpful. So heartbreaking.

 

Day Ten

Well. I'm past my previous trial
Aaand. Sticking to it.

Tisha, doesn't that suck? Some people are so ignorant and arrogant. I have no problems whatsoever with people who eat meat. After all, I'm ten days in I don't consider veggies any better than omnivores, but why should omnivores consider themselves better than veggies? I hate it. I'm willing to listen to anyone's views on eating meat, pro or con.

I really don't like it when they turn their noses up and turn away as if we belong in the mental ward

Agreed.

 

Around here, eating meat is like a religious experience, so if you don't do it, there has got to be somthing wrong with you. And hunting is a big thing, not hunting is un-American to them. So I'm really on a lot of people's shit lists. I get their attitudes, but I wish they could see that I'm not attacking them, that's what they seem to think.