I want to be a vegetarian, but how and why?

Question

Tell me the gross things of meat, like people say that a hotdog has pigs azz in it, tell me those kinds of things that would make me gross out of eating meat and making me a vegitarian, :), what can i eat if im a vegitarian? i would also like some links to websites, thank you

Answer 1

This is what I watched the night that I gave up eating ALL animals and decided to work towards living without eating any animals products.
http://meat.org

There have been vegan Olympic gold medalists and a vegan woman can create an ENTIRELY NEW,HEALTHY HUMAN BEING INSIDE OF HER. Many of these children stay vegan and grow up to be perfectly healthy adults. So just keep yourself educated about what you eat and don't let anyone tell you that a veg diet is lacking anything essential.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Lewis
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/advocacy_933_ENU_HTML_(Draft).htm

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If you want to become a lacto-ovo vegetarian, the transition should be quite simple. Almost all meats have widely available commercial replacements. All that you have to do is replace any flesh in your diet (beef, pork, poultry, seafood) with meat analogs or just leave it out altogether.

You should keep in mind that a journey such as this can be quite short but should just be the beginning of a longer one to a plant-based diet with no animal products. This is because of the reality of factory farming in which animals that are kept alive to produce milk, eggs, etc suffer much more and longer than animals that are raised to a certain weight and then slaughtered.http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/
http://meat.org
Some people use the word "vegan" in reference to this idea, but be aware that applying that label to yourself should always come with the inclusion of wise activism and advocacy.http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/index.html
Two extremely important examples of this are that you should never speak to someone about vegetarianism/veganism without their consent and genuine interest or as a comment on what they are eating AND your dietary beliefs should never be used as an introduction or explanation of who you are as a person. Veg*ism should be something that comes up AFTER people get to know you and they offer you a situation that makes it confusing to withhold the information/discussion. Also, if you are presented something that you choose not to eat or you are
ordering food/eating together somewhere/picking the best place to eat.

When you you hold off on the subject until it's necessary and then act like it isn't a big deal at all, people are usually surprised and WAY more interested and curious than if you were to bring it up when someone's eating or just using it as a conversation starter.

A responsible vegan ALWAYS studies the subject of their own health and how to keep their body completely provided for in every sense. http://www.veganhealth.org/sh
To neglect their body is to define a plant-based diet as unhealthy and is the opposite of helping the animals.

Just to clear things up, the vegetarian/vegan diet is not composed of salads, vegetables, fruit and fake meat. Fruits and vegetables are always important but they DO NOT make up the largest portion of any healthy diet.
A balanced plant-based diet includes grains(breads, pasta, rice,cereal), legumes(soy, beans, peas, lentils), fruit and vegetables.
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/food_groups.html
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/
http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/eating.html
Being vegan can be an art, one whose challenge is to take things that involve the suffering of the innocent and change them into something free of cruelty.

A vegan woman can create an ENTIRELY NEW,HEALTHY HUMAN BEING INSIDE OF HER. Many of these children stay vegan and grow up to be perfectly healthy adults. So just keep yourself educated about what you eat and don't let anyone tell you that a veg diet is lacking anything essential.

Technically the term "vegetarian" does imply that you don't consume anything that comes from the body of an animal that requires killing it. Many ingredients such as gelatin and glycerin are found in many candies, Fig-Newtons, and many of other foods as well as rennet found in many cheeses.
http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-ingredients.html
The best thing to remember is to take your time so that for example: when you are comfortable not eating beef and pork you can then give up chicken when you are sure you can make the commitment permanently.
Depending on your age or reliance on parents or regional options, it may not be best to give yourself a label. The important thing is to do your best to make progress and be committed to your compassion towards animals. Never put your focus onto what you or other people use to describe yourself.

If you meet someone that talks down to people for eating meat, dairy, etc or to you because they think they are "more veg" than you, laugh in their face and tell them they are a disgrace to the entire philosophy. People like this only hurt the idea of veg*ism AND the animals. The point of all of this is to live compassionately and and as free from cruelty as you can, all the while maintaining your health and a positive attitude. People who don't maintain either, need not open their mouths and represent our beliefs.

If you actually choose to read all of this, I hope it helps. If not, feel free to e-mail me if you have questions.

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I'm vegan and these are some of my favorite things to eat:

Breakfast: bananas, cream of wheat with brown sugar and soy butter, cereal, pancakes or french toast with real maple syrup, vegan "sausage" patties, smoothies.

Lunch: VEGAN "SAUSAGE" SANDWICHES, sandwiches with vegan deli slices(Tofurkey is the only one that's kinda funky), fruit, dinner leftovers, couscous salad, vegan sushi, potato or pasta salad.

Dinner: sloppy joes, "sausage" and gravy with homemade biscuits, Spaghetti and Trader Joe's "meatballs" or TVP, lasagna, Thai pad see ew, pad khi mao(drunkard's noodles), pad prig king, tofu+eggplant with basil sauce, yellow thai curry with tofu or vegan chikn and veggies and jasmine rice, Indian dal with homemade roti or dosai, channa masala, aloo gobi, vegetable or minestrone soup, pizza, STEAMED "PORK" BUNS with potstickers or spring rolls, sweet&sour/orange/lemon chikn, vegan pho or wonton soup

I use these sites to find recipes:
http://www.foodnetwork.com
http://vegweb.com
http://www.recipezaar.com

Answer 2

Eating veggies and soy products is very fulfilling to me, and I've been a very healthy vegetarian for 4 years now and would never go back to meat. I do miss it and love a good Wendy's hamburger ;) but still won't touch it because of my love of animals. I think we can get everything we need from veggies, soy, etc without animals being raised to be tortured and lose their lives for us. Even when I did eat mea, all I could think of the whole time is what this beautiful animal used to look like, and how it just died to provide food for me.....doesn't make for a very enjoyable meal, so I decided I was done with meat. What makes me even more sick is when meat is wasted and thrown out. My husband isn't a vegetarian, nor is anyone else in my family, but I don't preach to them about it. They make their choices just as I do, but having said that, I don't cook meat for my hubby so the only time he gets it is at restaurants and he LOVES the menus that I come up with. I got a dry erase board and write up meals for the whole week on there and hang it on the fridge, and he loves looking at what I come up with each week. :)

Do searches on Google for vegetarian recipes and you'll find some awesome ones (I've listed some below)...I now make up my own because it's so much more challenging and fun to create an interesting vegetarian meal with sides, since the main course pretty much is a side to carnivores, lol!

Good luck to you!

Answer 3

The protein scare is the biggest misconception about vegetarian diets. There are quite a bit of misconceptions so here are some web sites I think will help. The first is a list of vegetables with protein and how much the second are calcium sources in raw veggies. The third is an article about B12. It is actually a microbe found in soil and is abundant in seaweed, tempeh, miso, and root veggies. The last one is a list of foods with iron and how much.

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm

http://health.rutgers.edu/factsheets/iron.htm

http://www.carrotcafe.com/f/calevel.html

http://www.pamrotella.com/health/b12.html

Here is a web site about famous athletes that are vegan.

http://www.veganathlete.com/vegan_vegetarian_athletes.php
http://www.alphaomegafood.com/vegetarian_athletes.htm

Some video's about where your meat comes from and such.

http://www.petatv.com/veg.html

My new favorite food is Seitan because it is filling and provides a good texture and you can treat is like meat to make vegetarian meals. Tofu is okay depending on what you use it in. I only eat it in yakisoba, smooties, and chocolate mousse. Soy products taste great. Also, plenty of greens and lots of fruits, veggies, nuts, legumes, and water.

Answer 4

You said YOU want to be a vegetarian--you should be telling us why you want to be one. I honestly don't know why. I hear people saying it's because meat causes high cholesterol, and that it's cruel to kill animals. If you are a vegetarian you cannot eat the meat of any animal (mammal, fish, or bird). If you are a vegan, on the other hand, you cannot eat meat or the products they produce or are produced from animals products (eggs, milk, cheese, etc.).

Answer 5

You can eat everything that hasn't got dead animals in it. It's as simple as that. If you're looking for recipes, try vegweb.com.

But if you need to be convinced by other people about going vegetarian, you're clearly not ready to cut meat out of your diet. It should be your own decision, and it shouldn't be a hard one.

Answer 6

Hun, how do you want to be a vegetarian, but not know why? Just ask yourself why you want to be a vegetarian, and there you go.
I'm a vegetarian, so i know lots of reasons, but you have to find them for yourself. it has to be something YOU want to do.

I am glad you're interested though. So good luck, and if you want to see something gross, go to Peta's website, for the "meet your meat" section.

Answer 7

Words can't do justice... watch these videos:

Meet Your Meat:
http://www.meat.org

Goriest video:
http://www.peta2.com/OUTTHERE/o-goriestvideo.asp?c=p2_0601v

"Limbs and guts removed from pigs’ writhing bodies, cows struggling to stand up in pools of their own blood, fish cut up and dismembered while they’re still alive, heads ripped off frantic, helpless chickens..."

More videos:
http://www.petatv.com/veg.html

Some goods sites about going vegetarian are:
http://www.tryveg.com
http://www.vegcooking.com/makingthetransition.asp
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/

Recipes:
http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-recipes.asp
http://www.cok.net/lit/recipes/
http://vegcooking.com/searchRecipes.asp

Basically you can eat fruits, veggies, nuts, beans, grains, and mock meats like veggie burgers, veg chicken, etc. Here's a list of the best faux meat products: http://vegcooking.com/guide-favs.asp

Good luck!

Answer 8

If you want to be a vegitarian, why do you need us to convince you? You can eat everything but meat honey, thats not a hard one. If you need a reason, just say you either don't like meat or love animals to much to eat them. It will not last long if you are only doing this because we told you to.

Answer 9

it depends on what kind of vegetarian you want to be. there are 4 different kinds of vegetarians:

1) lacto-ovo (these ppl eat plant food, milk, dairy & eggs)
2) lacto (same as above, but they don't eat eggs)
3) vegans (plant sources only. protein usually derived from beans, tofu or chickpeas)
4) semi-vegetarian (no red meat, plant products, small amt of dairy, may eat either fish or poultry)

btw: it takes 21 lbs of plant feed to make 1lb of meat, it takes 5 lbs of plant feed for a cow to make 1lb of cheese and it takes 8 lbs of plant feed for a pig to produce 1lb of pork!

so i hope this advice helps you choose wisely. =)

p.s.: i love being bugged with food questions..i go to chef school and i plan to specialize in food & nutrition, so ask away!

Answer 10

http://www.meat.org

http://www.petakids.com

http://dumpdairy.com

http://www.goveg.com

http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com

http://www.fishinghurts.com

http://www.vegcooking.com

http://www.peta.com

OK, I looked through these websites and after that I felt good about going vegetarian and vegan. I hope you go vegetarian and vegan, too!I dont eat any animals.

Answer 11

This video will break your heart;
http://www.meat.org/

Also, read a book like "Vegan The New Ethics for Eating"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0935526870/ref=nosim/vegancom/

Also this book is what made me go vegan "Skinny Bit ch"
http://www.amazon.com/Skinny-*****-Kim-Barnouin/dp/0762424931/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-9962304-1812902?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186240726&sr=1-1