Seriously Considering Becoming a Vegetarian

Definitely watch the documentary Forks vs Knives. Some interesting stuff on the benefits of a plant based diet! You can still get plenty of protein in other foods than meat, animal protein isn't that great for you anyways.

My whole family is vegetarian, including my 250 lb football-playing husband and 11 year old daughter. I would check out some books from the library to get you started. It used to be considered so complicated, having to get 'complete proteins' by combining certain foods. Anymore, this has been found to not really be necessary. If you eat protein rich foods and a variety of protein/carbs/veggies/fruits/grains, it all ends up benefitting you just fine. So find a good starting book and then a good vegetarian cookbook. There is a book I like called Being Vegetarian, and I think one of those 'vegetarian for dummies' kind of books. All good.

My one piece of advice is don't substitute cheese for everything or just rely on the substitute/fake meat products. Cheese will make you gain weight and bind you up. And the fake meat things are really tasty and we love them, but you don't want to just rely on those, get some other recipes that include legumes, pastas, and veggies under your belt first. Good luck!

Complete Proteins.

This is the single most important thing in ANYONE'S diet, but vegetarians and vegans have to be especially aware of them.

Complete Proteins come ONLY from:

- Muscle (land or sea, if it has muscle, it has complete proteins... but you do have to eat the muscle ;)
- Baby Almost Anything (nuts, eggs, but NOT grain seeds)
- Milk/ some dairy products
- Grain + (PLUS!!!) Legume (any combo; beans and rice, hummus and pita, bread and lentils... ANY combo of a grain + legume).

If you eat milk & eggs... you won't have to worry much / if at all (as long as you're having them daily). If not... or if you're going pure vegetarian/ vegan you need to be reeeeeeally sure you're getting the grain+legume combo daily.

Protein is found in a LOT of vegetable matter... COMPLETE proteins are different. Proteins are incrediably complex molecules, and they vary from species to species (animals and plants). Complete proteins are what *we* as a species need to survive and flourish. They have all the amino acids that our body needs to repair itself and to make new cells to replace old one (or to grow if you're talking kids or pregnancy). They DO have to be eaten together. Grain one day, and legumes the next, doesn't cut it. Ideally, they should be on the same plate.

A person can live a long and healthy life on NOTHING but tortillas, beans, and peppers. They provide absolutely everything your body needs (if you're an adult... kids need added fat for brain development). You may die of boredom... but you'll be very healthy. The grain is in the tortilla, the bean is the legume, the peppers provide minerals and vitamins. Whole socieities have lived on nothing but in certain areas (although most people try to supplement their diets).

Since we live in a land with grocery stores... you'll be ANYTHING but bored! A gazillion and one options from dozens of ethnicities.
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If you become a vegetarian for a while, however, your body will STOP producing the enzymes to digest animal proteins. Once you lose those enzymes eating animal proteins will make you very, very, very sick. MANY of the vegetarians I know intentionally keep animal proteins in their diet (in soups, mostly) so that they can TRAVEL with impunity and not worry about getting sick. This is big in my crowd, since about half my friends are anthropologists or military types. A good friend forgot to up her animal protein consumption before digging in Israel one summer, and she spent a solid month sick as a dog. When you're back of beyond for 3 months... you don't have a choice in what foods are readily available. EVERYTHING either was meat, had meat in it, or had been cooked with or in the same pan and meat set out of it.

I'd look at one book: DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA. The first half examines the meat industry (how chickens are raised, etc.), but the second half painstakingly shows AMA studies about the health effects. Really helped me when my husband and I went vegan. We are now pescatarian (after nearly 14 years of switching to various kinds of vegetarian), so we do eat fish once in a while (probably 3 times a week at most). Most of our meals are still vegan, though we also consume cheese and eggs on occasion (about the same as fish--our kids eat a bit more cheese! lol).

I am also type O, and vegetarian is the best thing that ever happened to me. I weigh a good 60 lbs. less than I did when I quit meat. However, that is not just because of diet. I joined WW about 6 years ago, and I also exercise much more. I lost weight at first because I didn't know how to eat vegan!

You will likely find your tastebuds changing over time. We adored Boca burgers when we first went vegan, and now we doing even like the smell of them cooking (too similar to meat). I absolutely HATE the raw meat smell in the grocery store, and my appetite for vegetables has really broadened.

One caution: While your body is making the adjustment, GAS will not be your friend. Beans are fantastic for protein--and really tasty--but it will take your digestive system about three months to adjust. And then the gas will be gone entirely.

I made the switch for health reasons, switching two days after I discovered my mom had been diagnosed with diabetes. She is now blind and can hardly walk (nearly had her feet removed), and my father passed away from colon cancer four years ago. I can't imagine ever going back.

Even if you don't go vegetarian, cutting down meat consumption can really help. Do what you feel comfortable with. Try it. Experiment with your food until you find the meals that work best for you.

Good luck!

Be aware that not every person can be a successful vegetarian. For those who are, it's fabulous, healthy, and a great way to lose weight, if you need to.

I wish I were one of those people. But I tried it for 2.5 years, and I was always cold (even in summer), hungry, tired and weak, and I gained a tremendous amount of weight (40+ pounds). It took me a long time, and a couple of medical checkups, to realize it was the diet and not some new illness. Even with a careful balancing of proteins from vegetable sources, I had a difficult experience.

Once I added a modest amount of meat back in, I felt good, lost some of the weight, and had more energy. I later learned of a book called Eat Right for Your Type, and found that people with my blood type, O, often need more animal protein. Not sure about that, but it's at least one investigator's opinion.

It's easy to be a vegetarian provided you eat the right amount of foods to keep up your protein level. Definitely look into what type of vegetarian diet would fit you best, there are many. Also, please know it isn't so simple as to solely eat fruits & vegetables. Definitely look into meat alternatives as there are many tasty options out there, as well as eat lots of various legumes and be sure to consult with your physician about your new way of eating as they will be able to recommend any other dietary supplements you may need.

A major concern is that going vegatarian will make you vitamin B-12. B-12 is only naturally found in meats. It helps your circulatory system. You dont need alot of it and a simple fix is to buy a supplement at any store.

A vegetarian friend of mine had alot of little health concerns that were totally misdiagous or dismissed by her doctor. I did alittle research and after a week of B12 supplements she was back to normal. No more losing feelign in fingers or loss of blood circulation to said fingers, no more always cold, metally fog gone, and more. Just google or go to ask.com and type in Vegetarin and vitamin B12 deficiency. That's what i did.
Also, Eggland's best eggs have on the package that the vitamin can be found in their eggs and they taste WAY better than others.

Talk to your doctor first about this new lifestyle.

Do it!

Cold Turkey...hahahaha no pun intended....

I have been on and off again for years. I started when I was dancing. Meat was my enemy.

Now I do it mainly because I high MEAT protein diet is hard on my system. I have to get my protein is easier forms to digest.

There are many different types of vegetarians. I still eat fish...only sometimes....but that makes me a certain type.....

I have no easy way to ease you into this. I started ''cold turkey''...I just started eating more veggies and different beans and lentils. Now it is just a way of life I do not even think about eating meat....and when I do I give myself that little taste...

Talk to your doctor and do research, perhaps see a nutritionist to make sure you get a balance of protein that you need in your diet. If you're going to do fish, etc., it'll be easier. The greater the variety of vegetables you like, obviously, the better off you'll be. There are a lot of "pseudo-meat" things out now - even Target carries them at reasonable prices and my husband likes them a lot. Cook them right and you can't even tell it's not "real".

Good luck!

I recommend watching the documentary, "Forks over knives". You can get it through Netflix. It was very informative for me when considering the same thing. Also, eat a lot of green (leafy veggies) as they contain most of the nutrients you need, (even protein)! Do your research on what nutrients you need, as I don't believe that the whole push on protein is as true as the government or whoever say it is. Getting enough calories is important as veggies don't have much. Nuts have wonderful protein and calories, so I added them to my diet. Beans are good, but not necessary as I have digestion issues and sometimes they make it worse :) Good Luck!

Go to this web site, it is very informative.

http://www.kimberlysnyder.net/blog/

If you go vegetarian you may want to include some superfoods, like hemp and chia seeds, spirulina and wheat grass, bee pollen, etc., to make sure you get all the minerals, amino acids, and essential fatty acids you need. That's especially true if you go vegan and don't use eggs. Otherwise just enjoy the vast variety of vegetarian foods that are around. Much of humanity has lived on vegetarian or nearly vegetarian diets for thousands of years with no problem. Feel good about how your choice can benefit your health and the environment, read vegetarian cookbooks, and stick with unprocessed foods [avoid things like white bread and white rice, fried and hydrogenated oils, excess sugars, etc., as a vegetarian diet can be unhealthy if it's full of those processed foods].

http://www.westonaprice.org/vegetarianism-and-plant-foods...