Newbie Vegetarian here, looking for guidance.?

Question

I am new (haven't even started yet) being a vegetarian.

I am seeking free, informative websites that cater to the newbie like myself, a google search pulls up far too many to weed through.

Can anyone give me one or two or so to help get me going?

I need the very basics.

Thanks!

Answer 1

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

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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

Answer 2

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

For information on the benifits of a vegetarian diet try here.

http://www.goveg.com/

They have a great two week menu.

Answer 3

i dont know any websites, why not pick up a vegetarian cook book? my first was a teen veg one, and it had a bunch of easy and quick breakfast lunches and dinners. having easy and fast recipes on hand made it much easier to stick with it, and it will guide you to new foods to meet your vitamin intake. my suggestion would be to take a multi vitamin if you arent sure you can get all the daily requirements from beans and such. if you have specific questions, I can help you out. Good luck in your choices!

Answer 4

The Vegetarian Times is a great magazine, and they have a good website as well. I'm also a fan of vegweb, they have great recipes that are easy to look through

Answer 5

I run a vegetarian message board with over 25,000 registered members, it's a great place to find guidance and support. The url is http://www.veggieboards.com

Answer 6

Try goveg.com
they have all kinds of stuff on there and great recipes!

Good Luck on You becomeing a Veg!

Answer 7

www.cok.net for the animal rights aspect
www.vrg.org for nutritional information
www.vegweb.com for recipes

Answer 8

http://www.peaceful-organic-planet.com/vegetarianism.html

Answer 9

just watch this clip it will put you off eating meat.

http://www.petatv.com/downloads/chew_on_this_med.wmv

Answer 10

well, you dont need a website for that. here, i'll tell you everything you need to know:

DON'T EAT MEAT!!!!!!!!!

there you go.

headstrong