I just went vegetarian and my mom...?

Question

Thinks i'm not getting enough protein. She thinks that a vegetarian diet is lacking in protiens and calcium. She believes that my bones are becoming week. I know there are many people out there who are just fine. I haven't eaten meat in a month and a half. I am fine. I make sure everything i eat has protien in it and i still eat cheese occasionally. I even drink soy milk.

How can i convince my mom that this is safe and get her to stop trying to get me to eat meat?

Answer 1

Educate her on the amounts of protien and calcium in different foods that you will be eating. Educate yourself as well about the nutritional values of food that way when these issues come up you can explain them.

Answer 2

Print out some research and present it to your mom.
There is a point at which if you overeat protein it turns into fat. Many people over emphasize how much protein one actually needs. You need to eat more fruit and veg than protein. Look it up on the internet by googling, "How much protein do I need in a day?" and it will give you the answer.
There are plenty of products out there that also are supplimented with calcium, soy milks included. Silk is a good one and they make chocolate and vanilla. Also you can eat some greens like Kale and Chard and get calcium from those too.

Answer 3

As long as you're eating enough food, it's practically impossible *not* to get enough protein. Unfortunately a lot of people have the idea that we have to eat flesh in order to keep our own flesh healthy & that's not only untrue but there seems to be something rather superstitious about that idea.
I'm a college student & for a couple different classes have had to keep track of my food intake in order to see what nutrients if any I was needing & what was ok. I was surprised each time to discover that my protein intake was considerably more than necessary, as were most of my vitamins & minerals.
I agree with the advice about letting your mom go to the Dr. or dietician with you (none of my Dr.s has ever tried to get me to go back to meat). She might need to hear (or read) the facts herself, especially if she is so convinced that your health is in trouble that she is sceptical about what you tell her.
You'll probably be healthier & feel better by being vegetarian as long as you're reasonably careful about what you eat (meat-eaters have to be just as careful if not more).

Answer 4

okay, I had the exact same problem with my mom. She said that she was worried about me. She said that she was afraid I wasn't getting the nutrients I needed. If you just show her that you're eating than that's a step. What i did, was I researched the nutrients needed in a vegetarian diet. And than i emailed the results and before I copied and pasted the results I wrote her and told her how important it was to me. I told her that I cared about animals. And if she doesn't support that than it's perfectly fine. and I told her to Just know that I would keep up my nutrition. Than i copied and pasted the info i researched and sent it. That's what I did. And after i sent that email she stopped bugging me about the health benefits. It worked for me. You should email your mom. And tell her that your serious about it. And tell her that you plan on being healthy. If you do this I guaranteed that she may think otherwise....Go to the store and buy a good brand of multivitamins. If you do this than it will prove to her that you are serious about keeping your health positive. For a while there my mom kept teasing me about it and told me that it's annoying. But I told her that i'm old enough to know what i want. (i'm 17 now) And being a vegetarian is what I want. And if she didn't want to accept it than there was nothing i could do about it. If you keep yourself healthy than sooner or later she'll get over it. It took my mom almost 4 months to get used to it. And I still don't think she's used to it. Just show her that you're responsible. than maybe she'll lay off. Don't give up. You can do it. I've been a vegetarian for 9 months. And I'm perfectly healthy. Good luck,
You can email me for more info
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Answer 5

I say forget it. Don't bother. It's a waste of your energy.
Basically, I tried showing my parents, and so have many others, all the evidence, books, videos, famous and not so famous life long vegans, gold medal olympic athletes, actors, have them meet other vegans, etc. etc. and it doesn't work. Why? Because she they already know the answer. My parents bothered me to no end, but that girl in my class at school who never ate meat her whole life just because she didn't like the taste (so she said)... they knew her and her family, but.. that didn't make any difference. Why? Because it's not about your diet. It's about you growing up and making your own choices and doing your own thing. And it's an insult to all that food they've been feeding you all those years... you just threw it all in their face -- that's the way they see it.

So, she has other issues. Just tell her, this is a good one:

"Hey, do your own thing, and I'll do mine. If you want to really know about it, go to the library, I'm not going to stand here and try to teach an old dog new tricks"

Well, you could say, "...try to educate you" instead. Ha ha. OK OK, that's a bad one.

Please see this link for some good info:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApLSyrssOd9eBR4AmPdIJOjty6IX?qid=20070715203202AAqQlG0&show=7#profile-info-Sy2ztZFZaa

Answer 6

There is protein in everything. Depending on your age, etc you only need about 40-50 grams per day, perhaps even less than that. If you have cheese and soymilk, neither protein nor calcium will be an issue. And there is protein in everything you eat. Even a carrot has 1 gram of protein.

Answer 7

Try some textured vegetable protein like Morningstar Farms products, they're good. Tofu has protein and you can always eat broccoli and more green vegetables because they have calcium too and you can actually absorb more of the net calcium out of vegetables than out of dairy products, so as long as you eat lots of them and keep up with your soy milk, you'll be good.

There's also protein powders you can mix with soy milk to get your protein. I swear by Spiru-tein vanilla, it makes the BEST smoothies.

Great reference is "Back to Eden" By Jethro Kloss, have your mom look at it.

Answer 8

If you think she won't listen to you, ask your doctor if it is safe, and then tell her what he says (even better if she is present at the time). If she still won't listen to that, then you can set up an appointment with a dietician to go over your blood tests. But that's really not necessary.

As long as you're eating beans and nuts, you'll be perfectly healthy, in some ways healthier than meat-eaters.

Answer 9

If you're still eating dairy, then you're probably getting enough protein. I rarely eat meat (I don't like it), and I've never had any health problems from it.

Also, peanut butter is a good source of protein. And you can always take a calcium supplement if you think you're not getting enough.

Answer 10

You and your mother should meet with a registered dietician. Ask your family doctor for a referral. A dietician can tell you exactly what you should eat. Lots of people eat vegetarian. A dietician will also set your mom's mind at ease that you can be vegetarian and still be very healthy and not compromise your growth.