My first day as a vegetarian?

Question

I have decided to become a vegetarian after watching some pretty gruesome videos about the animals we eat. I have taken the 30 Day Veg Pledge soon after seeing the videos. Does anyone have any tips for me? This is new to me. I can't ask anyone I know because I am now the only veggie in my family and I have no veggie friends.

Answer 1

There is a Japanese analogy/proverb that goes like this, "The nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down". People are like this everywhere. When you tell your family that it is your personal belief that animals should not be eaten, they take a look at themselves and it can be subconsciously translated into, "What you do is wrong and I choose to be right."

Your parents have probably been taught a huge amount of misinformation by their parents and their teachers while growing up. You really need to research vegetarian diets and health before you even think about saying the "V-word" in front of your parents or anyone else.

When you have gathered enough information and feel confident in a vegetarian diet's ability to maintain or even improve health, you may mention to them that you have made the decision. They may be shocked, angry, worried, curious or many other things, but you must NEVER react to their behavior and always stay calm. If they are able to speak to you and respect your choice, please tell them everything and answer all questions. If they are rude, inconsiderate, judgmental, violent, or verbally abusive, refuse to continue any conversation until they can speak to you with respect.

The best advice is to study everything that you can about a healthy vegetarian diet and keep yourself in good shape (better than most people your age or than your friends/family if possible). If nobody that you know shows a genuine, positive interest in your choice, don't give them the privilege of the knowledge that you have gathered. Work your way around any attempts they make to trivialize your beliefs and if possible, go shopping with your parents and buy things that aren't obvious veggie fare. Instead of trying to sneak fake meat into the cart, toss in lentil soup, peanut butter, pasta, fruits & veggies or anything else that you have learned is needed to fill any gaps in your diet.

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

Here are some more veg people:
http://www.mikemahler.com/index.html
http://www.vegetarianbodybuilder.com/index2.html
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=bios
http://www.andreascahling.com/andreas-about
http://www.billpearl.com/career.asp
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-23-27/Salim-Stoudamire-Runs-on-Broccoli.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Danzig
http://www.scottjurek.com/career.php
http://www.nfl.com/players/rickywilliams/profile?id=WIL271115
http://www.brendanbrazier.com/raceresults/index.html

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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.

Snack: BRUSSEL SPROUTS =) no joke

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: homemade veggie burgers, 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, baked tofu, BBQ homemade seitan (tastes like BBQ'd ribs), kabobs

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

Answer 2

The main tip is this; even tho' you're going veggie for ethical reasons, you'll want to attend to your nutrition.

And you'll no doubt want to take a look at other animal products you use. Shoe leather, after all, is a byproduct of the slaughterhouse.

But back to nutrition. If you're going to be an ovo-lactic veg. (one who eats dairy products and eggs) then you will have less nutritional concerns than if you're going full vegan. Ovo-lactics only need to worry about consuming enough iron--raisins, green leafies, and other sources will provide.

If vegan, then you need to look for a full range of amino acids for complete protein. There are four main sources of amino acids in a vegan diet; whole grains, nuts, seeds, and beans. Consume some of each of those sources daily and your protein will not have gaps.

Finally, vegans need to ensure they're getting folic acid. Happily, the main source for that is also leafy green vegetables.

Now, as for relating to others; many vegetarians turn people against them by assuming an air of superiority. If you just present it when it's appropriate and in a "no big deal" kind of way, then you'll probably be OK--and if anyone insists on being offended, then you may have valuable evidence about what kind of friend that person really is.

Answer 3

hey congrats! you may have no veggie friends that you know personally, but you can always come and mingle with us crazies in this forum :)

just take it easy, one day at a time. keep in mind that it's a lifestyle and not just some fad diet. don't think of all the things you cannot eat (which is pretty small, if you think about it) and focus on all the yummy stuff you have yet to try: lots of veggies, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, tofu, and "meat" subs!

may i recommend some good books? "the food revolution" and "diet for a new america" by john robbins, "the china study" by t. colin campbell, and "skinny b i t c h" by rori freedmain & kim barnouin are all great reads and give you tons of information.

last, be cautious about letting people know you are a vegetarian. in my personal experience, most people tend to get very defensive and riled up about living a meat-free lifestyle, simply because it's not considered "normal" in our carnivorous world. and no matter what, don't get discouraged by anyone who tells you vegetarianism is dumb.

feel free to email me anytime if you have any questions or concerns.
best wishes! :)

Answer 4

I will have been a strict vegetarian for 12 years this December. I think that you are right to be concerned about going into this lifestyle without support from other vegetarians. Feel free to find me on Yahoo IM. I would be glad to chat with you and answer any questions you may have. My handle is xandra242002.

Good luck with your pledge.

Answer 5

Good for you! I second what mookie said and will remind you to ignore the haters.

Get yourself a vegetarian starter guide from www.cok.net, and it will give you tips on great vegan eating (they also have a tiny booklet of recipes you can order).

www.happycow.net and www.vegdining.com will help you find restaurants in your area. Happy Cow also lists health food stores.

For shopping: www.veganstore.com, www.veganessentials.com, www.alternativeoutfitters.com, and www.mooshoes.com

For even more recipes: www.vegweb.com

Do contact those of us who give GOOD answers should you have any questions.

Answer 6

omg..i took that same pledge..ya i have a tip...and people reading this i no im bad for it..Everytime you think about eating meat..Lets say pig..bacon/ham/pork/ whatever..when ever you really want it..imagine a baby pig getting beaten to death and no that if you eat that ur supporting animal cruelty...i no its real bad..But Iv been vegetarian for 2 months and feel great!! Good luck!
GOD bless

Answer 7

Wonderful, you will feel so much healthier. All I would suggest is that you make sure you are getting all your vitamins and minerals. Take a vegan supplement if you need, but you should not if you do things right.

Answer 8

Quit why your ahead! Go get a big juicy steak!