How do i tell my parents i want to become vegetarian?

Question

I'm 14 and have decided i want to become a lacto ova vegetarian, because i want to do my part against animal cruelty, but i don't know how to tell my parents because i don't think they'll accept it (especially seeing my dad is a manager of kfc)
Has anyone done this before? How did you tell them?
Also, is it ok to eat fish, or is that not vegetarian?

thnku evry1, the answers were helpful :) I am not going to be a pescotarian, i won't eat fish, and my parents were fine with it :)

Answer 1

No, fish isn't vegetarian.

I would suggest you mention what foods you plan to eat (e.g. beans) and volunteer to cook for yourself (if you don't already), and stress the point that vegetarian food is actually cheaper than meat if you stay away from the processed stuff.

But you might have your work cut out for you if you're explaining this to a KFC manager LOOOOOL.

Answer 2

Most People think Vegetarians are living unhealthy but thats not true. There are alot of recipes exclusive for vegetarians, so you can live with all the vitamines and other stuffs that you need !! Its important that you eat the right things example tofu is a nice meat alternative. A big Recipes Book for Vegetarians is on the sorce that i added.

Answer 3

I think that you should say it plainly just like you told us. Tell them that it can be healthy and provide them with books on what you can eat as a vege, and most importantly prove that you can be healthy! I did it by saying to my Mom:
"I'm going to be a vegetarian". Before then I had showed her lots of books about it and recipes to help out. Offer to cook a few vege meals and that will make it easier.
If you eat fish you will be a pescotarian.

Answer 4

If you want to eat fish and call yourself a vegetarian, real vegetarians will call you a phony. They will never agree with you no matter how many times you say it. Is that what you want?

Maybe you could sell the idea to your parents if you can show proof that it can be a very healthy choice. You could try showing them this website:
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/advocacy_933_ENU_HTML.htm

I wanted to be vegetarian when I was a kid but my mother wouldn't allow it. I wasn't able to put it into practice until several years later. I still believed it was not good for me until I met a bunch of vegetarians when I was in my twenties. They didn't look "sick" to me; so I decided my mom must have been wrong.

Now my wife and I are both vegetarian. She has a Master's Degree and is a Registered Dieitian who provides diet counseling to mentally ill people in a state hospital. Anybody who says "you can't get enough protein" or whatever, is wrong.

Answer 5

fish is meat....no fish and if your in it for animal cruelty then why would you eat fish? i became a vegetarian about 1 week ago. Im 17 and i just told my mom and she isnt supportive of it but hey...they cant make you eat what you dont want to eat right? my parents are not supportive but stay strong they just will have to accept it

Answer 6

I just told my parents ( i was 15) they were kinda upset. I think i just said, "i don't want to eat meat anymore."
My parents are hardcore meateaters, they were very upset for a few weeks to a month, but when they saw i was committed, they calmed down and let me do my own thing. I would suggest reading up on nutrition and stuff. Just google vegetarian nutrition and go to some sites. Make sure you know how to get enough iron and that you aren't getting all your protein from dairy products. If you are, you can be having too much calcium intake and that affects your iron absorption.
If you feel comfortable eating fish, go to it. But please don't call yourself a vegetarian. I think the word might be lacto ovo pesco vegetarian (you eat fish dairy and eggs).

Answer 7

Yay vegetarian! Yeah telling my parents was probably the hardest part of me becoming a vegetarian. First I told my sister so she and I did lots of research and became very informed about how it wasn't unhealthy and it wouldn't make me die or anything. Then we presented it to them at dinner and I told them I wanted to be a vegetarian, and after a small debate they agreed and let me.
If you come prepared, they'll respect your decision even more because they'll realize you're actually committed to this. www.peta2.com has lots of good information. But about your dad being a manager at kfc....peta is VERY anti-KFC, so try not to bomb him with (somewhat biased but true) facts about how KFC is terrible. Be sensible and try to see it from their point of view too. If you want to be a lacto-ovo vegetarian, then you don't eat fish, but if you want to be a pescatarian (i think i spelled that wrong), you could eat fish, eggs, and dairy. Hope this helps!

.peace.

Answer 8

A vegetarian who eats fish is called a pescatarian(sp?). Just stop eating meat, and they'll eventually accept because they care about your health. ARG! KFC IS EVIL!

Answer 9

Are you sickening seeing animal bodies butchered??

Are you terrified eating corpses & carcases (Worst than those zombies and draculas)??

Horrified seeing bloody and filthy??

Intolerable with illusion of animal crying, screaming and strangled??

Condemn slain, imprisonment and caging of the weakest??

Use the above excuses (in fact it is the fact). You are absolutely NORMAL if concerned for the above. Otherwise for people "delusion by societal NORM".

About me, I was really had illusion that animal crying & screaming whenever saw animal body parts hang, or served on plates. But the psychologist said I was absolutely normal!

Answer 10

Fish isn't vegetarian, but some people eat fish and call themselves "semi-vegetarian".

I suggest you just tell your parents honestly. If they have doubts, offer to talk to your doctor about it with them.