What's with all the talk about Vegans/Vegetarians being skinny and pale?

Question

Every time I look and any vegan/vegetarian questions someone who doesn't support it is saying all the people they know who are are skinny and pale, and it's kinda ticking me off.

I'm skinny and pale.

I also eat meat of all sorts regularly. I live in the country, in a farming community so our freezer will have everything from beef to chicken to wild turkey to elk and venison, pork, etc. I'm far from being a vegetarian or vegan.

Skinny comes from my genetics and the fact that I eat decent portions and exercise unlike a lot of my fellow fat @ss Americans.The palepart is because I'm German/Irish in heritage and not a fan of tanning beds or skin cancer.

Why don't people understand that that is genetics at work, not diet? Vegan/Vegetarian isn't synonomous with malnutrition, and a lack of protein doesn't make you skinny and pale anyway, it gives you a giant distended stomache like all the starving kwashiorkor afflicted kids in Africa.

Answer 1

You got me. I am veg with average weight and a mighty fine booty. Seriously... I got back.
:)
I am also German-Irish pale.
I know lots of shapes of people for all diets.
Besides, look at our Hollywood icons, skinny and pale is practically synonymous with being sexy.

Some people just like to find ways to put others down.
_____________
Edit- It just happened again.
Someone felt the need to say:
"Most vegans I've seen look so frail and emaciated. I find them hard to look at, like they are about to die or something."

A.) I am sure he has never actually met a vegan because vegans don't actually look like that ridiculous stereotype.

B.) I am definitely sure he doesn't know "many" vegans that are all walking around like they are on their deathbeds.

So I refused to take it seriously because it was so obviously ridiculous and made up.
Instead of admitting he didn't know tons of pale and dying vegans, he decided to use the copout of saying I give vegans a bad name for not taking him seriously.

:)
What can you do.

Answer 2

I am really pale, cus I don't bath in sunshine enough. However, I don't like it as much. Sure I look younger. Gas stop attendants asking me for an ID when I buy lottery tickets even though I am 22 years old. I have gotten skinnier since I went on a diet to build muscle, but didn't follow the diet properly. Because building muscle means eating more calories, I am gonna get fatter before I can make any muscle. Some people are such hypocrits. They like the end result but not the process. Good luck with what you are doing. Search for diets on google. Remember, just eating too less is not going to make you skinnier. You just won't lose any fat. You should consume 1500 calories every day. Your metabolism will get faster, since you ask it to operate more times by eating frequently to get those calories in your stomach. Do some researh. There is tons of information on the web.

Answer 3

Diet can affect the way you look, and genetics are not the main factor in your weight. Some one with an obese mom/dad could grow up to eat healthy and be thin. And vegetarians aren't any paler than than meat eaters, although they do tend top weigh less because they eat less fat. It isn't because we get less protein, it is because meat is very high in fat and we don't eat it, so we weigh less.
And when people say that vegetarians are pale and skinny, they mean that they are sickly and frail, not they they have radiant skin and are fit. And they aren't saying that only vegetarians are pale and skinny. So, in conclusion, I would like to say that being a vegetarian does not make you pale, and though you will probably lose weight on a vegetarian diet.

Answer 4

Well, I'm vegetarian, and I can say that not all vegetarians are pale OR skinny! I'm 5'7" 1/2 and I weigh about 135 lbs. That's within the "normal" range, but I've known a couple of vegetarians who weren't exactly skinny. Also, I was thin even when I used to eat meat, but I think I mainly have my father to thank for that.

Answer 5

thank you, you make perfect sense

like a vegetarian can be fat, if he just turned vegg last month, there no need to discourage him, let him eat vegg for a year, then he'll be skinny and pale (maybe)

and i'm skinny and pale, but i've always been this way, even when i used to eat meat in the past., and i look and weight about the same, so my conclusion is people are ingorent

Answer 6

It depends on how well balanced you are on your diet. I'm a vegan for all my life and I don't have any problem with being skinny and pale. Plus I eat only 2 meals a day. Oh, by the way alot of people comment about my complexion that it is so nice and pink.

Our family eat very simple yet nutritious and we don't have any problems with being underweight. We don't add excess oil, salt or sugar to our food. If you eat judiciously from the four food group which God has given us you won't have any problem with being overweight or underweight.

Answer 7

I am vegetarian and onthe verge of being over weight. :P It has a lot to do with metabolism but people don't understand this because 1. they don't bother doning any research, they believe whatever the tv and their friend tells them.
or 2. becasue they want to look for any excuse to put down people they don't agree with and make excuses to support their behavior.

Answer 8

There is more than one kind of pale. There is pale like I'm pale, from my heritage, and pale from nutrient deficiencies. People who are anemic don't have enough iron in their blood and their complexion is sometimes noticeably pale. Because red meat is a key source of iron, vegans and vegetarians can be affected by anemia.

On the other hand I've know meat eaters who have been diagnosed with anemia. And there are other ways of having iron in your diet. Spinach, for example, is also a source of iron.

Answer 9

It gets even more funny.

I'm Hispanic. Built in tan. However, when I was a meat eater I was skinny and pale. Simply because I can't process meat. But of course the docs are all - you need more meant you need more meat you need more meat.

If I had continued to listen to them, I'm quite certain I would have died very young.

But in my late 20's I went veg. I began gaining weight. I stopped getting sick all the time. Now I'm UBER healthy.

Answer 10

LMAO at this one! I've been a vegetarian for 15 years and would love to be able to call myself "skinny." Alas, two pregnancies back-to-back did me in haha.

Pale? OK, ya got me there. My husband says my skin is actually green-tinged. I keep telling him we prefer the term "sallow."