Going vegetarian need some advice from the Pro's lol

Hi, thanks for viewing my topic I hope you can find the time to answer some of my Q's.

I've decided today that I would like to become a vegetarian. It's not so much a moral dilemma but something I'd rather pursue to benefit my health and weight. Personally, I never really cared for many meat products, so I'm cutting those out of my diet, and I'm also cutting out the junk food as well. My metabolism sucks and it seems every time I lose a good amount of weight it ends up coming back slowly & surely, lol.

Anyway, I am aware that meats do contain certain vitamins (?) and minerals that are beneficial, so that brings me to my first question - Is there any dietary supplements I should be using to fill in the gaps now that I won't be eating meat? And what exactly are the vitamins and minerals I wouldn't be having now that I'm excluding meat from my diet? (Are they all possible to replace?)

What's a good way to boost my metabolism?

Not so sure that I want to cut out milk, (it seems to me it's the one dairy product that's somewhat worth my while), but if somebody knows anything contrary to this I'd be happy to hear about it.

Thanks in advance
:cheers2:

 

I'm a vegan and take b-complex and multi-minerals supplements. If you do dairy you don't need them so much but not bad to take anyway. In general just make sure you get a lot of whole grains like whole wheat, rye, millet, brown rice (short grain is more nutritious), barley, oats, and then there's all kinds of beans for balanced protein and of course lots of vegies of all kinds although avacadoes are high in fat. Fruit has a place but it's still sugar which is easy to go overboard on. Nuts and seed are good for protein but also have high fat so should be used in small amounts. Oils should also be used sparingly and fried foods are not all that great for you.

 

I've been vegan and vegetarian on and off for about 10 years now and honestly, I don't find it hard at all to get what I need nutritionally. Just make sure your diet includes whole grains, fruit, veggies, nuts, beans, and soy, and you should be fine.

 

First of all, funny sig picture

Anyway... I'm vegan, and I personally don't take supplements. They never did much for me besides turn my pee bright green and cause my stomach to churn. Besides from my foods, I get some of my vitamins (like B12) from soymilk.

Now...since you just said you're going vegetarian, and not vegan, I don't really think there's a whole lot you can get wrong. Maybe some other vegetarians and vegans would disagree, but I've never had to put much thought or effort into staying healthy and getting all my vitamins on a vegetarian diet...

If you're going to still be eating milk and eggs, you probably won't have to get too worried about B-12, but B-12 is a vitamin to look out for and make sure you're getting enough of... if you're NOT going to be eating milk and eggs, then make sure you pay attention to that...
(and like I said, I personally get it from Soymilk...and there are other fortified foods too)

Whether or not you want to cut out milk is a personal choice, no more no less. You can live a healthy vegan lifestyle...but there's nothing wrong with not going that route either. Vegan nor vegetarianism is not better than the other (contrary to some peoples' personal and moral belief on this)

You said you're doing it mainly for health and weight though, which is where I would say that veganism probably promotes that more so, but so long as you pay close attention to what you're putting in your body, vegetarianism can be just as beneficial.

Mainly, even though it's pretty much unrelated to vegetarianism and veganism, if I were in your position of wanting to be healthy and losing weight, I'd keep an eye out for hydrogenated oils. (I'm HIGHLY against them)

If you want to know more about that, here's a link: http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/PartiallyHydrogenatedOils.html

As for boosting metabolism I do not believe in taking a pill, or drinking apple cider vinegar or any of that other bullcrap that people try to do as a quicker and easier way to lose some weight... it isn't a practical lifestyle change, and aside from the vinegar thing, pills and supplements for that aren't necessarily good for you.

Instead, if you don't already exercise, I would start there... eating little things throughout the day is said to keep your metabolism going too...don't smoke...

Anyway, I hope I helped and I wish you the best. :cheers2: