Vegetarian

[kork13]

it seems that vegetarians have to keep a much closer eye on these things than those that consume good quality meat.

In my limited experience with friends who are vegetarian, it's not that they have to monitor what they eat more than "the rest", but rather that they do. As Steve mentioned, there are alot of people who SHOULD be paying more attention to what they eat. It's simply a matter of keeping yourself healthy. Knowing my body's needs, I try to make sure I get certain foods in my diet (and scimp on others) so that I stay healthy.

Honestly, for all of the friends I have who are vegetarian (I dunno, 5-6 maybe?), I'm aware of none of them who have to keep track of what they eat extremely closely. It's natural anyway. What do they want to snack on? Nuts, not beef jerky. What's in their dinner? Beans, not ground beef. In the end, I see being a vegetarian simply as a health-related choice. For many people, keeping a vegetarian diet is healthier for them, and so it's a perfectly respectable choice. Heck, it's for that reason that I've considered it myself on occasion--just knowing that it could be healthy for me.

One final thought, I promise.... People in general tend to eat far TOO MUCH meat in their diets. There's no official recommendation on it, but I've generally heard you need 50-60g of protein each day. I read a study once that stated people tend to double, triple, or even quadruple this amount in an average day, and at the same time skimp on fruits or vegetables in their diets. In most people (since they don't have a regular fitness regimen which requires it), the extra protein becomes excess stored body fat.

[whitestripe]

How come us meat eaters don't have to monitor our calcium, Iron, protein, etc., etc,. Pretty obvious answer there. Not an ethical challenge, just an observation.

my iron is fine, my protein is fine. my calcium is low because i dont drink enough milk - it has nothing to do with my intake of meat. i don't 'monitor' my intake of anything really, i don't 'make sure' i eat this much of that, or a certain amount of this - and i only got blood tests because i do them yearly.
i am at a loss as to what kind of reply you want from your 'observation'? you said it was not an ethical challenge, but that there was a 'pretty obvious answer'. what exactly is your point? i am just interested in your wording, is all.

from personal experience, everyone needs a varied and balanced diet, not just vegetarians. if you become vegatarian or vegan and don't have a varied diet, it's probably going to do you about as good as a meat eater who eats steak and chips for every meal.

and, it's probably a good idea for everyone to monitor their iron, protein and calcium levels. not JUST vegetarians.

[GREENBACK]

To clear the air; I don't disagree with those who choose to go vegetarian but was curious about personal experinces. For some reason everyone I've met that goes this way looks pasty and ill but perhaps they haven't figured out how to do it right.

[disneysteve]

In my limited experience with friends who are vegetarian, it's not that they have to monitor what they eat more than "the rest", but rather that they do.

Good point. Since many people choose to be vegetarians for health reasons, it would make sense that they pay more attention to their nutritional needs.

For some reason everyone I've met that goes this way looks pasty and ill but perhaps they haven't figured out how to do it right.

I know quite a few vegetarians who eat very poorly. While a large order of fries and a milkshake from McDonald's is vegetarian (though not vegan), it certainly isn't a healthy thing to be eating. Giving up meat but living on high calorie, high fat vegetarian foods isn't any healthier than eating a Big Mac and large fries every day.

[Johnstone]

For some reason everyone I've met that goes this way looks pasty and ill but perhaps they haven't figured out how to do it right.

If anything, I've found that most vegetarians I know are very responsible with their diet and knowledgeable of the importance of a varied diet as opposed to the typical carnivore. For many, the choice of going vegetarian is a health choice in its own right. On the other hand, I know a huge amount of carnivores that have high BMIs, skyrocketing cholesterol, and are grossly overweight. One in particular refuses to touch vegetables and has now gained 50lbs in the past two years while eating high-fat meats. My diet is extremely easy to maintain and instead of eating meat for my protein I eat eggs, soy protein products, and whey isolate protein powder.

[nanamom]

I am also a vegetarian. No meat or fish but we do eat eggs and milk products. I am wondering if anyone has any dehydrator recipes that I could use. All the ones I have found use ingredients i just can't find around here, and a few I'm not sure what are! Anyway in an effort to eat healthier I have a dehydrator and a food processor. I am just not sure what to do with them! I am curious what all you other vegetarians eat during the day. I guess I am not very creative. We eat a lot of brown rice, soups, cheese and eggs. I don't like tofu and my DH is allergic to tomatoes. We also can't have onions, squash or peas due to allergies and my DS2 hate potatoes.

[MamaBird06]

I am not veggetarian, but we primarily eat non-meat diets. We will not eat beef, or pork, i did growing up, but since marrying dh i have given that up. We rarely eat seafood or poultry, but do eat eggs and dairy, I would like to give up dairy, but it is in everything. I just love eggs too much to completely give them up though...I would eventually like to completely give up seafood, poultry and dairy and just be ovo-vegetarian, but it is difficult. We eat a lot of bean dishes here. And since dh is Indian, I learned to cook indian curries which are primarily vegetarian and very filling with rice or roti(although mine are not round, but they still taste good)

[Kittylover]

For lots of info to help you be a healthy vegan you should check out Theveganrd.com and veganhealth.org . Also the book Becoming Vegan is very good!

[landon.bruno]

I’ve been a vegetarian for a year and recently became Vegan for a really strange reason. Without realizing it, I had started smothering my meat cravings by consuming copious amounts of dairy; cheese, yogurt, milk-you name it. Next thing I knew, I had packed on some serious pounds, and the obvious solution was to become even healthier and do away with dairy. The first couple of weeks are hard but your body feels really good once you get used to it.

[alac1980]

hi there!

i'm not currently a vegetarian, nor are my husband and children.

about two years ago, my husband and i were lamenting over how to cut our food expenses (we were both in university at the time, and money was ultra tight).

we decided to eat a semi-vegetarian diet (keeping dairy and eggs), with a heavy focus on beans, lentils and pulses.

we didn't buy any premade vegetarian products like burger patties or dips/spreads. we made everything from scratch.

because the cost of base ingredients was SO low (pennies, really, for beans and lentils), i was able to put the bulk of my money toward fresh fruit and vegetables and fresh dairy.

let me tell you. it was by far the best way to lower my food expenses. i went from paying $400 a month for a man, woman, and two little daughters to a mere $150, often much less (because beans and lentils can be bought bulk and stored for long periods of time).

the only drawback for me was that opting to cook my meals from scratch was incredibly time consuming for two full time students with part time jobs and two babies to raise.

we lasted almost a year, and then went back to incorporating meats into our meals.

now that we are finished school, i am highly considering giving it another go. i could batch cook on my days off, and spend my free time (which was non existent before!) researching quick and easy vegetarian meals.

i highly suggest giving it a whirl. now only was my food budget dramatically affected, i'd never felt better physically in my life. going vegetarian is well worth it in my ways, in my opinion.

[markjason]

I like only fried potatoes and not anything else.

[Archiba]

Vegetable play a very important role to lose the weight. I always prefer to eat green vegetable in lunch. It helps me to reduce the weight of the body and useful to increase the ratio of red blood cell.

[Casper]

Hi dear,
I like the vegetarian foods these are ful of protein and very healthy.
My favorite vegetarian foods are fries coli flower and potatoes, vegetables fried rice, and pumpkin soup.

[Revend]

Vegetables are best food for health and fitness. Vegetables are low calories food which are best for fitness. I am also a vegetarian and i always prefer to eat vegetables. I am a great lover of vegetables.

[Percival]

Vegetarian foods are more healthy as compare to fast foods. These foods are good for controlling the cholesterol level and maintain our health and weight. These foods have all the elements of healthy and balanced foods.