So... I Just Became a Vegetarian

[latenightapplepie]

... why make a forum topic about it though? This is what your DOCTOR is for ... why the fuck would you trust what the random person online has to say about what YOU need nutritionally....

He was just looking for general help/support on attempting to change his diet. He wasn't looking to bash others for their diets, or be bashed about his own diet choice. I'm fairly sure he wasn't using the forums as a source of specific, minute-detail dietary requirements. He knows he won't get that here.

Also: doctors cost money. Posting a thread on the Escapist is free.

To which my usual retort is "Well then ... screw eating most things at all and lets just take everything in pill form and eat nothing but oats to fill our stomachs so we don't feel too hungry."

I'd take that option, by the way. Eating is boring, and I don't care for it. Give me the nutritional requirements, fill me up (or trick my mind into thinking it is) and then I'm done.

 

[James Cassidy]

I really don't care if someone becomes a vegetarian or not. In fact, I don't really care what a person does so long as they have a good reason for doing it.

As for being a vegetarian or a vegan, I have heard my share of "stupid reasons."

I talked to a women one time who wouldn't eat a slice of bread because the bread itself was in the same area as the meat. Key words: "In the same area." By that I mean, if there was a counter. The bread would be on the left side and the meat on the right. Anyway, I asked her why she hates meat because this even "exposure" of meat in the air made her "sick" as she said. She told me she doesn't eat mean because the meat is "unnatural." She said it is chalk full of steroids and growth hormones that it is unnatural meat because of this. She also said she won't eat anything made in a laboratory. I also told her that just because meat and bread are in the same "location" doesn't mean they are infectious to each other.

I protested. I said "Well,you do know that the plants you eat also have some sort of growth hormones added to them. Special nutrients, both nature and laboratory made, to help the plants grow bigger and better and even sometimes out of seasons."

She told me and this is not joking. "That's different, but plants need nutrients to grow."

I decided to not argue that matter, but then asked her. "The human body needs protein that is not in plant products. How do you get those nutrients? As you know, the human body is designed to digest meat and plants."

She replied. "I take pills for that. So I don't need meat." Again she emphasized that she only eats "natural" foods.

I again protested. "Umm hello, protein pills are NOT natural. Nature doesn't make pills for people to digest. Scientist take the things that contain such nutrients and pound them into pills to give you that stuff. That's NOT natural. You say you only eat what nature gives you, but you say you eat laboratory made pills? For heaven's sakes, that is being the biggest hypocrite I have ever fucking heard of. In fact," I continued being a little sarcastic, "why don't you take off all your clothes since they are not natural either, run around and hunt for your food? Since you don't eat meat, then I guess you have to learn what plants are healthy or not and eat them. You can't get much more natural than that. Also eventually, your body will reject the pills because it craves the real thing. Ever heard of people in the hospital who live off artificial food? They don't survive long and their bodies break down after a while because body desires the real good stuff."

I finally told her that eating meat is more natural than eating the said pills she takes and she just snorted at me.

So if anyone says to you that they don't meat because it is unnatural, tell them they "are full of crap"

 

[Magnalian]

Maybe going cold turkey (no pun intended) isn't the best solution. Just try cutting down on your meat intake and try to stay away from the greasebombs as much as you can. It's not very hard to eat healthy while still eating meat.

 

[samstewiefisher]

Giving up meat is a bit extreme in my view,but good luck to you sir, tyring to become healthier is commendable. If you like meat a lot, I'd try avoiding it where possible.

 

[Tharwen]

Vegetarianism is the single most effective way a person can reduce his/her energy consumption.

You cut out one link in the food chain by eating plants rather than eating animals that eat plants, which is a hell of a lot more efficient (the energy loss between food chain levels is about 70%).

 

[Samurai Goomba]

After all the crap I've learned about what goes on in big industrial agribusiness, I'm leaning towards eating as little processed meat as possible.

Say what you will in defense of the industry, but feces is and will continue to get into the meat until better regulations are put in place or gut lines are slowed down. Not to mention we're eating corn and washing it down with more corn.

I still love meat and think it absolutely has a place in one's diet, just not processed meat from big factories.

 

[latenightapplepie]

snip

Did she, at any point, attack you for not being a vegetarian? I ask because you don't seem to mention her doing so. Because if she didn't then you were being very rude and inconsiderate. Just sayin'. You seemed to me to start the line of inquiry about her vegetarianism with the clear purpose of undermining her beliefs. She may have seemed misinformed, stubborn or "full of crap" to you, but does it really justify how much you attacked her?

Omnivores should really try and do their best not to assume that all vegetarians are out to attack them and their dietary habits, just as all vegetarians should not assume that omnivores all hate animals (and vegetarians/vegans) with a burning rage and wish to enslave them all for human profit.

Tolerance on this whole issue would be excellent. From both sides.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

I really don't care if someone becomes a vegetarian or not. In fact, I don't really care what a person does so long as they have a good reason for doing it.

As for being a vegetarian or a vegan, I have heard my share of "stupid reasons."

I talked to a women one time who wouldn't eat a slice of bread because the bread itself was in the same area as the meat. Key words: "In the same area." By that I mean, if there was a counter. The bread would be on the left side and the meat on the right. Anyway, I asked her why she hates meat because this even "exposure" of meat in the air made her "sick" as she said. She told me she doesn't eat mean because the meat is "unnatural." She said it is chalk full of steroids and growth hormones that it is unnatural meat because of this. She also said she won't eat anything made in a laboratory. I also told her that just because meat and bread are in the same "location" doesn't mean they are infectious to each other.

I protested. I said "Well,you do know that the plants you eat also have some sort of growth hormones added to them. Special nutrients, both nature and laboratory made, to help the plants grow bigger and better and even sometimes out of seasons."

She told me and this is not joking. "That's different, but plants need nutrients to grow."

I decided to not argue that matter, but then asked her. "The human body needs protein that is not in plant products. How do you get those nutrients? As you know, the human body is designed to digest meat and plants."

She replied. "I take pills for that. So I don't need meat." Again she emphasized that she only eats "natural" foods.

I again protested. "Umm hello, protein pills are NOT natural. Nature doesn't make pills for people to digest. Scientist take the things that contain such nutrients and pound them into pills to give you that stuff. That's NOT natural. You say you only eat what nature gives you, but you say you eat laboratory made pills? For heaven's sakes, that is being the biggest hypocrite I have ever fucking heard of. In fact," I continued being a little sarcastic, "why don't you take off all your clothes since they are not natural either, run around and hunt for your food? Since you don't eat meat, then I guess you have to learn what plants are healthy or not and eat them. You can't get much more natural than that. Also eventually, your body will reject the pills because it craves the real thing. Ever heard of people in the hospital who live off artificial food? They don't survive long and their bodies break down after a while because body desires the real good stuff."

I finally told her that eating meat is more natural than eating the said pills she takes and she just snorted at me.

So if anyone says to you that they don't meat because it is unnatural, tell them they "are full of crap"

I agree that hypocrisy is not something to be condoned. I would probably feel the need to point it out if I am specifically arguing or debating a point to be made. Having said that, I don't actually prefer the way you handled yourself. Based on your paraphrasing, you took it a level too far. It really isn't impressive when a person flat out attacks someone who isn't even arguing in the first place. Yes, there was hypocrisy in her statements, but you did a poor job at relating your personal opinion on her lifestyle, resulting in unnecessary humiliation for the sake of an ego boost.

 

[WolfThomas]

My only reason for addressing it (as well as immediately ending it) was due to the fact that it was used as reasoning for specifically living an omnivorous lifestyle. Sorry if I'm being cold, but I just want you to know why I'm not answering. Another time, another day.

Sorry that's fair enough. I just found your statement piqued my curiosity .

Anyway evolution can be flipped most ways to prove a point. I mean according to evolution we evolved to become reliant on vitamin C containing fruits, being one of the few creatures (aside from Apes and like some sort of mole I think) that can't just make it. So if it came down to a choice between no meat or no fruit (say fruit magically became sentient), we can work around meat, but not fruit.

 

[Lunar Shadow]

I am not a vegetarian, thought I do try to eat mostly veggies in my meals. I usually only have meat for one meal a day, and sometimes I eat pure vegetarian for a day. It is mostly religious (Buddhist) but I also have family history of diabetes and heart disease so I have to watch what I eat.

 

[Mumblesbot]

Like many college students, I went vegetarian for about three years. Did not last. I still like tofu buffalo wings, though.

 

[Lord George]

I don't trust eating vegetables after seeing what they do to them, the amount of chemicals they have to continually pump and spray into them is ridiculous, and unlike animal processing nearly every farmer chemically alter their crops as its the only way to compete with all the other suppliers and meet the demand needed by the companies.

So if you reason for not eating meat is the whole "Just what am I eating?" then you can probably apply that to just about every food product nowadays.

The only way to know for sure if something is completely safe and naturally made is to grow or hunt it yourself, and even then unless you make sure to chemically process it then it could have any number of diseases or parasites inhabiting it. So either way your taking your chances of getting something horrible in your meal.

 

[Acaroid]

even so its not exactly healthy to ONLY eat vegtables there are some nutriens that are ONLY found in meats

I'm fairly sure this claim is wrong. You might be thinking of vitamin B12, which only naturally occurs in meat and animal-products.

Besides, the OP is talking about being a vegetarian, not a vegan.

Vitamin B12 use to be present in vegetables but due to farming methods it eventual got breed out(by accident). You can still find it in seaweeds and some "grasses" (like wheat grass)

 

[Silva]

Snip.

I was a vegetarian until I was about 15. So I understand. Of course, I was one for moral reasons, which held true for my family at the time as well. Either way, you're doing your part, and I respect that, even if you don't do it for that reason.

Myself, I branched out from vegetarian eating because ultimately, I felt some desire to taste meat and see what it was like. Then I found out that I really liked it. Of course, I could go off it, and I do avoid most meats still (I hardly ever eat white meats). But since it was my starting point and I sat there for so long, it's harder to go back to full vegetarianism.

Becoming a vegetarian is a healthy choice. I certainly agree with that. It's a lot harder to lose weight when you have steak and bacon regularly. So I think that you made a good choice, avoiding the fatty and greasy way that we eat many meat foods. Vegetarians can get plenty of protein by eating soy and other protein sources that aren't meat.

However, I see that you refuse to eat tofu. That could be a problem for you. It is the prominent source of protein for vegetarians. If you don't eat it, you will have some degree of difficulty maintaining balanced health, and likely get serious protein cravings. Of course, there are other soy products that you might enjoy. "Not Bacon" is one that I remember viewing favourably, though don't expect it to be too much like real bacon.

You should at least try tofu from a few different cultures before turning off completely, if you haven't already. Tofu in Japan's sushi style, say, can be virtually like eating lettuce, you don't taste it except for the sweet flavours it absorbs from wasabi and the like. Meanwhile the big chunks that you can get in the supermarket are generally horrible. I don't like them at all, they're flavourless chunks of boring. It's just about how you cook it.

I don't trust eating vegetables after seeing what they do to them, the amount of chemicals they have to continually pump and spray into them is ridiculous, and unlike animal processing nearly every farmer chemically alter their crops as its the only way to compete with all the other suppliers and meet the demand needed by the companies.

So if you reason for not eating meat is the whole "Just what am I eating?" then you can probably apply that to just about every food product nowadays.

The only way to know for sure if something is completely safe and naturally made is to grow or hunt it yourself, and even then unless you make sure to chemically process it then it could have any number of diseases or parasites inhabiting it. So either way your taking your chances of getting something horrible in your meal.

The difference here is that a lot more people can grow their own vegetables than can provide their own meat products. Sure, not most people, but it's important to consider that it's possible to grow and eat them without artificial chemicals being involved.

 

[House_Vet]

Just a quick addition, I will not, nor will I ever, eat tofu.

Jeez, maybe this is just the whole "being Asian" thing, but what is with the tofu hate? You can make tofu taste delicious (assuming you're not completely inept in the kitchen, of course).

Anyways. If you really start missing meat, it's possible to get your burger on without raping the planet. I eat almost exclusively vegetarian when I'm at restaurants, then buy grass-fed beef or cage-free chicken for cooking.

In terms of making not totally bland and boring vegetarian food, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Indian cuisine are good places to start. In a lot of Korean and Chinese dishes meat is the main thing the way it is in European food, but rather one of many ingredients, so it's pretty easy to modify a recipe. Also, you can often replace the meat with tofu :V (seriously, hie thee to a Chinese restaurant and try deep fried tofu with some appropriately spicy sauce. You'll thank me for it later).

I don't know what your kitchen skillz are, but Cook Food [http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781604860733-0] has some cooking tips and tricks in the front and bunch of vegan recipes in the back, with a little bit of politics here and there. Other than that, places like Whole Foods have recipe finders that you can search a squajillion different ways, or just try Google.

ETA: Oh, and make sure you get enough iron. Eat lots of dark leafy green vegetables like spinach, kale, and collard greens.

This - you can marinade Tofu in soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic and it tastes incredible. I'm not veggie, but I only eat meat if I know where it cam from and how well it lived. (I realize that's not an option for most people though).