Becoming A Vegetarian

Hey, I'm new and I am considering becoming a vegetarian. Recently I have found an irony within myself. I hold to the Janist belief that I shall not commit any purposeful harm to any living creature (quite an interesting story as to how I came to this conclusion, but that's for a different discussion). The irony of course is that I eat meat.

For those who haven't read my intro thread I'll give you a summary: Earlier today I watched a short movie put out by PETA outlining why I should become a vegetarian. Previously to that I had thought about becoming a vegetarian but never took myself too seriously; I thought it would be a something that I would do later in life. But the movie clinched it for me. It wasn't the fact that meat contributes to heart disease or other health risks pointed out by the video that finally put me over the edge, it was the one scene of a pig hanging by its tail spazzing and writhing in pain. However, I have many questions (which I'm sure have been answered many many times before), but hopefully you all will still help me out.

I'll start off with a biggie. I see switching to vegetarianism as a huge change in my eating habits. How do I do it? That might have been a poor way to word my question, but do I just choose a day and drop all meat products? Is there any sort of method of transition I can make?

Secondly, I have to admit that I love meat. I'm sure that I'm going to miss everything from BBQ ribs to fried chicken. Therefore I feel like I'm giving up something that I really enjoy and I'm afraid that I won't really find vegetarian foods that quench the same culinary desires. Whenever I think of vegetarian food I think mostly of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. And since I'm only fond of 2 vegetables (carrots and corn) and 1 type of nut (peanuts), what else is there for me to eat? Where do I get my protein from?

And the third main question I have is what exactly is prohibited by vegetarianism. Obviously meats and fish, but what about eggs, milk, cheese, etc.?

I might have more questions later on, but these are the main ones on my mind. Thanks for any help.

paz

 

congratulations on making this descision!


personally when i went veggi i just dropped meat altogether in a day. it probably wasn't the best or easiest way to go about it though. the easiest way i could think of would be to start by dropping one kind of meat and then move on from there. there's also a lot of really realistic meat replacers out there that help a lot. yves is a good company, and boca makes realistic burgers (although i'm not so sure they're a great company from what i've read)

I really loved meat too back in the day, the meat replacers really helped with that and so did peta videos. if you keep in mind why you're doing it then you should be fine! as for things to eat, there's -tons- of good food for vegetarians. you should try to pick up a vegetarian cookbook at some point or get one from the library and photocopy it because often times vegetarianism can involve a lot of experimenting... you should try falafel too because it is awesome.

you don't really need to worry about protein too much either, as long as you eat some kind of food you'll get enough. if you're worried about other vitamins though (like b12) then you should probably take a multi vitamin. they just kinda fix everything...

vegetarians generally don't eat any meat. so no chicken or fish or anything like that. some vegetarians won't eat cheese because it contains rennet which comes from cows, but i know a lot of vegetarians who still eat it. most vegetarians try to avoid any product that comes from a dead animal like gelatin and rennet and all that good stuff.

hope that helps, and if you have any more questions then just post them! good luck with the vegginess!

 

First of all, That is AWESOME that you are becoming vegetarian, somewhere out there, a cow is smiling

To answer you're first Concern....If you are still going to eat Dairy Products, Boca and Morningstar have you covered, they have everything from Meatless Burgers to Meatless Hot Wings To Meatless Chicken Potpies, they have everything your heart desires. If you DO NOT want to eat dairy, buy GardenBurger Products, some of their stuff has a little dairy in it, but most of their stuff is completely vegan, and they have Hot Wings, and Riblets, and Burgers, etc. Also, try out Light Life, who's products usually have "Smart" whatever they are selling, they have "Smart Burgers", "Smart Dogs", and they also have chicken cutlets, and chopped up beef, as you can tell, your eating habits don't change TOO much. Try eating lots of this stuff and then eventually you will probably begin to turn away from eating lots of meat replacements and start to Eat Tofu and Fruits and Veggies, that is what happened to me. I used to be a Vegetarian and then i started to realize that animals go through just as much suffering on a dairy farm then a Slaughter house, so I became a Vegan and began to start eating more raw veggies and fruits, and only meat replacements every once in a while. Hopefully that helped you...

For your second question, as I said before, many companies can re-create all the great tasting meat that you are so used to. Garden Burger has Meatless Ribs, and to me, they taste EXACTLY like real ribs, except there is no bones (Which is a plus to me) and they are smothered in good tasting BBQ sauce . Also, you and I BOTH like fried Chicken, GardenBurger can also help you out on this, GardenBurger has "Southern Country Fried Chicken" Which is EXACTLY like the original Fried Chicken, It is still bad for you so I don't eat it except for an every once in a while Treat, but If you REALLY want to eat Fried Chicken without hurting those beautiful animals, this is what you can turn to.

You can ALWAYS get your protein from Meat Replacements because they are almost ALWAYS made from Texturized Soy Protein, which feels and tastes a lot like meat. All the GardenBurger and Boca and Morningstar Products contain high levels of protein. In ONE BOCA burger, there is about 12 grams of protein, and the MAXIMUM amount of protein you need in a day is 46 grams, the Minimum is 20 grams, so eating 2 Boca Burgers in a Day is enough protein to get by. ALso, Peanuts and Peanut Butter are a great source of protein, in fact, Peanuts have more protein than Soybeans, so eating a nice tasy peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich will definitly help you out. Truthfully, I am a vegan and Usually Don't even get enough protein each day, But i feel and am (According to the doctors) perfectly healthy, and I think the protein issue of vegetarianism is totally blown out of proportion, it is perfectly easy to get a good amount of protein being a Vegetarian or Vegan.

To answer you're third question...To ME Vegetarians are people who do not eat Meat, and do not buy leather and do not purchase any animal FLESH from companies, but do eat Dairy like Cheese and Milk. A Vegan, consists of people who do not buy leather, eat Flash of an animal, OR eat any dairy of any kind, or eat anything from Any Living Animal. Also, they try their best not to support companies who use Animal Testing for their products, although a lot of Vegetarians also try and stay away from Animal Testing Companies, a List of Companies who use animal testing can be found here, if you are interested....
http://www.caringconsumer.com/page/CompaniesDont.pdf

I hope I helped, and again, I applaud your decision to become Vegetarian because the majority of the country do not realize the horrors and the atrocities that our earth's beautiful animals go through just to please humans and our taste buds.

Peace and Love,
Dan

 

Awesome! Welcome to vegetarianism.

The advice you got above is good, I don't know what more to add. I just do searches on the internet to find tasty recipes. If I don't have time to cook though I'll get Morningstar or Boca frozen foods, they're pretty good.
Good luck!

 

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm looking right now at Boca's website where the closest place I can buy their products....and luckily it's right down the street! I guess I'll give it a shot.

 

Good Job that's great you're doing this. Becoming a vegetarian was tough at first but it got easier and easier. Try to visit a local organic foods market, they will probably have vegetarian foods. I was a big meat eater too, but now I have no reason to even go near the stuff! Stay with it and be proud.

 

Congrats on the enlightenment

cok.net do a fantastic starter kit. Do check it out, full of loads of helpful information on every aspect of starting out.

I personally dropped meat in one blow, just couldn't face it anymore. You can slowly phase out or go cold turkey (or rather cold tofu). Whatever feels best, same result eithier way.

I used to love meat, couldn't imagine life without bacon sandwiches. Now I actually feel queasy writing this. It's a change in the mind set, the knowledge and mental image of suffering animals. I don't even really consider meat anymore. It's just not part of my life.
There are fake meats, which are always good to fall back on. To start with I just ate vegetarian versions of what I had previously; quorn sausages with roast dinners, pasta dishes, soya mince instead of minced beef (with plenty of sauce you won't know the diffrence).
Eventually you will develop a taste for vegetables and try out diffrent foods. I don't rely on fake meats so much anymore.

My explanation of vegetarianism is "I don't eat anything that could have got away."
That's the basics others wise you can go as far as you like. Apart from meat and fish I don't eat slaughter house byproducts (gelatin, rennet etc), honey (bees have feelings too).
I still eat cheeses, just without rennet.
Eggs too (free range), but only when concealed in a cake or something. I've really gone off then lately.
Oh and I don't wear leather, wool or silk. And avoid products tested on animals.

Hope that helps, feel free to ask more questions.