How do you become a vegitarian and get pass the cravings for sweets and such?

Question

I have really wanted to change my diet and turn to being a vegitarian. I have struggled with my weight all my life and I have a tendancy to turn to food when I am lonely or bored. I can't get pass the cravings of sweets and stuff that is bad for you. HELP!!!

Answer 1

Being vegetarian and eating sweets are two completely different things. My family is vegetarian and they all eat more sweets than anyboy I have ever known.

The only way to lose weight is to decrease the intake and increase the output. Basically: eat less, exercise more.

Answer 2

If you can give up sweets and meat for 21 days without cheating, you will find you dont crave them anymore. Also drink only water during this time(I still drank coffee though) There are very tasty substitutes made with soy, try Morningstar chicken nuggets(not meat at all). Yesterday we found soy ice cream sandwiches in our grocery store and they were yummy! I eat veggies and fruit and have lost 12 pounds and eat a lot more than I did, and I feel more energy. Best to you!

Answer 3

Just learn to find and make good sweets. Homemade is best. But you have to know how...

There are secrets...

I eat all the Burgers, Pizza, Chocolate and deserts I want now, and I am fine. I eat a lot and I love to eat.

...the worst part is that these secrets have been published for centurys. Now that's a well kept secret.


After trying for 10 years. I finally lost 150+ lbs (12 stone) and kept it off for over 4 years now. I am now in amazing health, all around, not just thinner.

I did it without medicine, workouts, religion, going hungry or hating my food and without an operation or secret formula. I had tried counting: calories; carbs; fat; etc. I had tried jogging, swimming, weights, aerobics, crazy medicines and starving! But nothing ever worked well or lasted very long.

I also had Hypertension, High Blood Pressure, Chronic Asthma, vision and hearing loss. constant colds and ills, annual flu or pneumonia and more. I was approved for bypass surgery and taking usually between 16 and 20 pills a day.

take a look at my before and after pictures...
---------------------------------------------------------------
I'm Chris...
http://www.fromsadtoraw.com/Journals/Chris/Pictures/RawPictures.htm

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/personalgrowthnow/album?.dir=/bfa5&.src=ph&.tok=ph1YNpEBJB8qTLBg

more info:
http://www.thelighthousewebworld.com/raw.htm

http://www.rawguru.com/rawgurus.html

Answer 4

I was a vegan and vegetarian bodybuilder for years and after I learned to eat, it was no problem.

The sugar cravings come from depriving your body of calories and other vital nutrients. The survival mechanisms kick in and these little neurotransmitters are released that tell your brain to EAT SUGAR and EAT FAT..because that is where it KNOWS it can get calories to keep you alive.

Solution: Learn to eat supportively!

That means every 3 - 4 hours you eat a small meal with:
A lean protein plus
A starchy carb plus
A fibrous carb

Avoid simple sugars, minimize saturated fats, eliminate hydrogenated fats, avoid processed foods...

Add organic flax seed and try using a teaspoon of organic flax oil 2 times a day (AM and mid day)

Don't worry, this is also how I help people LOSE weight!

Put it all together!
Supportive Nutrition
A moderate amount of cardio exercise (not excessive)
Challenge your muscles (muscle is where fat is burned!!!)

I know that mose vegetarians don't know what a veggie protein is!!!

Vegan sources of protein
Cereals and grains - quinoa (<--this one is a complete protein), amaranth, rice, wheat, rye, corn...
Leafy green vegetables, including spinach
Legumes - beans, lentils, peas, peanuts
Nuts - almonds, walnuts, cashews...
Seaweed - kelp, spirulina...
Seeds - sesame, sunflower...
Soy products - tofu, tempeh, soy milk... (the healthiest are fermented sources!!)
Vegetables - Brussel sprouts, potatoes, yucca
Wheat Gluten products - seitan, various fake meat products

Ovo-lacto sources of protein
Eggs
Cheese
Milk
Yogurt
Cottage Cheese
Dried Cottage Cheese

If you want to be absolutely certain that you are getting enough complete protein, you should eat food combinations which form a complete protein, such as:
Legumes + seeds
Legumes + nuts
Legumes + dairy
Grains + legumes
Grains + dairy

Here are some tasty and healthy complete protein combinations:
Beans on toast
Cereal/muesli with milk
Corn and beans
Granola with yogurt
Hummus and pita bread
Nut butter with milk or whole grain bread
Rice with beans
Pasta with cheese (e.g., lasagna, macaroni and cheese)
Rice and beans, peas, or lentils
Rice with milk (rice pudding)
Split pea soup with whole grain or seeded crackers or bread
Tortillas with refried beans
Veggie burgers on bread

I could go into some of the more esoteric complete food combinations...but I encourage you to learn about this on your own...read about how to be a healthy vegetarian!

Answer 5

So you don't want meat or sweets.. be careful because carbs turn to sugar in your system and can put on weight quickly!! If you leave out meat and want to cut back on sugar the only thing left is veggies, and fish, unless you want to be a vegan.

Answer 6

I'm a vegetarian, I can help. I've been a vegetarian for 8 years. I'm 12. You see I went on this diet with my sis where we couldn't eat meat or drink milk. My sis still eats meat but I don't.

-no meat AT ALL( replace it with water, it'll make you feel as full as meat would)

that's basically it. I have more to tell you but you need to e-mail me cuz it won't fit on this page.
[e-mail]

Answer 7

i was same like you to so i didnot allowed mys`elf to be bored i started puttin a bellydancing `cd and danced hip hop `h`ip drop and` `it is helping me being vegitarian is not solution to stop the cra`vings for sweets. The best way`` is to stop stress `ea``ting` ``a`nd` learn to relax. pr`otien die`t a``can`b e ``good `to` `lose wei`ght when u see `urself being smarter u will `eventually` be `a`ble to c`o`n`trol ur` `c`ravings ```````````````````````````````
all t`he best

Answer 8

the desire to be a vegetarian is usually in the interest of avoiding hurting animals, but trying to eat healthy can contribute, certainly. The best way to avoid eating sweets and stuff is to not buy them or have them around.

Answer 9

vegitarians only don't eat meat, so if you don't want to eat sweets eat a fruit instead, eat a fruit as like your dessert.

Answer 10

i turned vegetarian in february.i feel healthier but no change seen in my weight as such.
i love sweets and cant do without them.
i work out daily and have learnt to love my body.
10 Steps to Freedom from Emotional Eating
1. Love yourself
I learned to love myself even when I binge; to love the overweight me. This was hard!

When we embrace our negativity (shame, guilt, fear, anger and grief and fat), we are in essence creating for ourselves a new reality. It doesn't matter how much shame, guilt, or fear we experience. It doesn't matter what we've done. We know that we are lovable deep down underneath all the 'garbage'.

2. Give up perfectionism
Welcome to an 'imperfect world'. What is an ideal body or weight? Who is to say? I learned to see life more as a spiral or zig-zag, not a straight line. Life is more fluid now. Sometimes I still binge, although rarely, and I accept this part of me that binges. I focus more on becoming aware of my hopes and dreams.

3. Break out of the "Being-Nice" trap
Oooh. This was a 'big' one. How many 'jolly' fat people are crying inside? I used to be the 'nicest' person you would ever encounter. You could be violating my boundaries, stepping on my shoes and insulting me, but I would always be sweetly smiling. Afterwards I might binge. I am learning the difference between being nice and genuine caring. It's a fine line. If any of the following feelings are familiar you may be caught in the snares of "the being-nice trap":

"Feeling extraordinarily dry, fatigued, frail, depressed, confused, gagged, muzzled, unaroused... Feeling frightened, halt or weak, without inspiration, without animation, without soulfulness, without meaning, shame-bearing, chronically fuming, volatile, stuck, uncreative, compressed, crazed... not insistent on one's own tempo, to be self-conscious...

A healthy woman is much like a wolf: robust, chock-full, strong life force, life-giving, territorially aware, inventive, loyal, roving..." Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

4. Find alternative means of coping
Sharing problems, dialoguing, journal writing, communicating with Self, dreamwork, reflecting and meditating. I drive near a forest nearby and tune into nature, let my mind rest from dwelling on problems, try to feel some joy...

5. Nurture yourself in new ways
I give myself what I need. I sleep when I am tired, eat when I am hungry, love when I feel empty. I enjoy my solitude when I need to be alone and I share with others when I need to express myself.

6. Be open to Intimacy
I allowed others into my life. I trusted. This is what I really 'craved'. It's much more fulfilling that the extra cupcake. Yes, it's scary sometimes. But I meditate more, keep a journal, dialogue with the scared part of me, experiment. I did grief work. I became more sensitive to people. I became more aware of who was capable of being 'there' for me.

7. Find your Boundaries
Flamenco dancers... True Boundaries exist as we learn to "focus" our awareness on our core. We learn to protect our core from outside influence and distraction, we grow our boundaries. Don't think of a boundary as a "line" around you defining your space. Think of it as a field of power.

To help you understand this concept, think of the image of the flamenco dancer. Think of the kind of intense, deep passion that flamenco dancers express and how "contained" the flamenco dancer is. That containment allows for the direct focusing of her passion. It isn't loosely falling all over the place. It isn't scattered and directionless. It isn't being nice and pretty. It isn't, what Clarissa Pinkola Estes calls, sanitized. The dancer doesn't stop in the middle to answer an irrelevant question, or become distracted by the details of who is in the audience and who isn't. She is utterly self-contained and focused.

8. Connect
We learn to disconnect in a number of ways. The most popular and acceptable way is we live from our heads, not our hearts. We learn to put our feelings aside and relate through our mental functioning. We numb out. We become "nice." We focus on others for the purpose of losing touch with ourselves. We sabotage our truth in order to be accepted and fit in.

Today I notice when I am disconnecting. I also know how I connect: Meditation, going into the woods and nature, being kind to myself and others.

9. "Fall into Heart"
Instead of binging, find your safety resources, (a safe place, people you can trust and call when you feed bad ) and begin to FEEL the feelings instead of stuffing them with food. Fragmentation is the experience of our disconnected, disjointed and splintered selves. It's an out-of-control feeling, the feelings underneath the binging. It's difficult but a blessing. This is where the raw stuff is, where the work is. Journal, dialogue, begin to work with the feelings. I was taught techniques to navigate fragmentation.

10. Stop thinking about Food and LIVE!
As we heal, we are less obsessed with food and calorie counting. We take small steps to begin to feel our passions, what excites us and we begin to follow our inner callings. Food compulsions fall away as an issue, naturally and we move into our fierce aliveness.

EXERCISE
What will true recovery look like?

This exercise will help you get in touch with what you want out of recovery.

With pen and paper in hand, sit in a comfortable chair. Relax, be still and quiet. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply and continue to do so until you are very relaxed. While in this deep and quiet space, feel into a typical day of your present life. What activities occupy your time? What thoughts? What feelings? What is the general pace of your life? The overall feeling?

Now get specific. Ask yourself the following questions and jot the answers down. It is very important to remain in a passive, serene state of mind while you do this. Do not lose your connection with this deep place.

How much time to I spend on enjoyable activities?
What are these activities?
What feelings occupy most of my time?
What thoughts occupy most of my time?
What activities occupy most of my time?
How much time is spent binging?
What types of activities do I now do to help me cope with stress, conflicts, difficult emotions?
How much time is allotted for growth and development?
How much time do I spend alone, with others?
Is this time enjoyable? Fulfilling?
How much time is spent on activities that challenge and excite?
What are these activities?
How many of my day's activities would I rather not be doing?
When you've finished answering the above questions, again be still and quiet and let yourself feel into the quality of your life at present.