Attempting Vegetarianism!

Hello,

I have just recently ontaken the vegetarian lifestyle! I would like some advice, because I'm not fully knowledgeable on vegetarianism. Although my first veggie day at school was GREAT! My friends were over eating their chicken nuggets, and I didn't even URGE for one tincy bite! I think that I'm doing well , but I'm LACTO-OVO vegetarian! But I hope my progress with make you JUMP like I did! lol _ LOVE YA ALL BRE!_

 

what kind of advice are you lookin' for??? nutritional, how-to-stickwith it, what to eat, recipes, whats so bad about meat+animal products or what?/?

 

i would advise that you check the label and ask about items you wouldn't even consider not to be vegetarian. I have to do this for every product now, but luckily most the places I shop are either very clearly labelled or from a vegetarian shop. But also ask or check just in case...
peace x

 

Would be happy to give any advice I can but also, if you like to read, there are so many good books out there on vegetarianism (depending on what you're looking for). It is nice to talk to other veggies (especially if most of your friends are still eating meat) so feel free to chat anytime.

 

i decided to become a vegetarian about 4 months ago. my dad bought me a book called "A Teens Guide to Going Vegetarian" by Judy Krizmanic. i read the whole thing in two days and it was really helpful. it covered everything. it even has some recipes in the back. i suggest checking it or some other book out.

 

I thank you all for replying to my thread, but I would like to know, how to get the protein I need to stay healthy

 

I've been vegetarian for 11 years and mostly vegan for at least one year and as you can see from my pic below, I'm definitely not lacking in the healthy department. First of all, don't worry. So many veggies suffer from this...not from their lack of protein, but from all the people asking how we get our protein. I honestly don't know too many vegetarians that have protein deficiencies (sp?). Anyway, if you are a lacto-ovo vegetarian, milk and eggs have alot of protein...I'd rather stick with the non animal types of protein like nuts, beans and brown rice, tofu, tempeh and various other soy products. There are many other types of proteins other than animal proteins so look around a bit and see what you like. Also, as I said before there are lots of books out there...and most will tell you that protein is overrated anyway. Sure you need it, but in this low carb, heavy protein driven society, there is too much emphasis on protein and it tends to be a favorite argument of meat eaters towards vegetarians. I'm sure if you eat even any of the things I listed above, on a daily basis, you'll be fine!

 

I am lacto-ovo veggie, and so eggs are a good sorce of protien?

 

Just to let you all know, this is my 5th day without eating ANY meat!

 

I think some proper explanation is in order, because there are so many people who don't understand what our protein needs are. This isn't your fault; it's just that you were conditioned to believe this. To answer your question, "how to get the protein I need to stay healthy" I would first like to explain how much protein you actually need.

Many people are surprised to find out that our protein needs are actually much lower than believed to be. It's funny how the biggest mammals to walk the earth are all vegans, and manage to get all of the protein they need from plants, but we puny humans think we need tons of the stuff. Look at big, strong animals such as the horse, bull, rhino, hippo, giraffe, gorilla and elephant. There's plenty of protein in plant foods, and it's important to realize this.

So now you might be wondering, how much protein do humans need? How much protein is in the plants that we eat? To address the question of our protein needs, the scientific evidence is pretty clear that while protein is important, excess protein is harmful. Studies done in the late 1940 to early 1950 have shown that a healthy protein intake should be 2.5% of calories. The World Health Organization looked at the scientific data and made a recommended amount of 5% calories from protein (6% for pregnant women). Recommended amounts are a lot of times doubled as to be on the safe side, so they don't exclude anyone such as people recovering from injury, who would have increased needs. These recommendations were made in 1974 and are still the recommended amounts today.

Now that we have established how much protein we actually need, lets look at the protein content of the foods we eat.

Oatmeal = 15% protein
Potatoes = 11% protein
Corn = 12% protein
Beans = 26% protein
Oranges = 8% protein
Bread = 16% protein
Rice = 8% protein
Peas = 28% protein
Spaghetti = 14% protein
Lentils = 28% protein
Cauliflower = 40% protein

It is impossible to design a protein deficient diet, unless you decide to become a breathaterian. By the way, these are all "complete proteins", meaning they contain all of the essential amino acids. If that guy at the gym tries to tell you different, (you know, that guy with the muscle pants and bandanna on his head, doing dumbbell curls in front of the mirror and hogging the squat rack), you just tell him that he's wrong and needs to have a little discussion with your friend Dr. 59, I'll set him straight.

Eggs are high in protein, but they are not a good source of protein because of the health risks involved with their consumption. Eggs are about 70% fat and contain over 200mg of cholesterol per egg. The egg shells themselves being of a porous and fragile nature, combined with dirty living conditions of the chickens makes them a perfect host for dangerous microbes like salmonella. Just so you know, salmonella poisoning is the most common cause of food poisoning in the United States.

Lol, I haven't even gotten to the protein yet. The protein in eggs, like the protein in meat and dairy products are very high in sulfur-containing amino acids, and deficient of fiber to regulate absorption. These amino acids become sulfuric acids inside the body, and as the name implies, they make the body acidic. Because the body needs to remain slightly alkaline in order for the many biochemical processes to take place, the body guards it's pH carefully and takes action to neutralize the heavy acid load. To do this, the body dissolves bone material to release calcium and phosphates to buffer the acid. Excess animal protein consumption is the cause of osteoporosis. Not only that, but because animal foods are very high in this acidic protein (along with fat and cholesterol), and our bodies have no way of storing protein we do not use, all of it must be eliminated. This puts a terrible strain on our kidneys and liver, along with depositing the dissolved calcium in our kidneys, which sets the foundation for kidney stones.

The average American eats about seven to eight X more protein then they need, most of which comes from animal sources. In today's world, we don't see diseases of deficiency, but instead diseases of excess.

Congratulations. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

Mmmm burritos! I just had a yummy burrito with whole pinto beans, soy cheese, and avocado. I guess my body was screaming for it!

 

Congrats! I am proud of you, veggiegrl!
Here are some sites:
www.goveg.com
www.vegweb.com

Eggs aren't very good for you, to be honest. They're pretty high in cholesterol. I get my protein from beans, nuts, tofu, seeds, soymilk, etc.

 

"Oh my gosh! I CRACKED... I ate meat! I'm sooo mad at myself, I ate it and didn't even notice it! I promise to get back on my vegetarian diet as soon as I get the food digested through my system."

 

Uhm, Fifty9, I have a problem. My problem is that my friends are NOT very supportive of my new life. One even put MEAT in my salad. I blew up in her face, and she thought that is was really funny to make me blow up in her face. I wanted to shove a fork down her throat! lol^ but yes, they are NOT supportive at ALL!

 

It doesn't sound like you have very good friends. I never had this problem, but in that sort of situation I would not "blow up" or anything like that. It's important to lead by example, and eventually your friends will come around (your true friends anyway). A lot of my friends first thought that what I was doing was weird, but it didn't take them long to be cool with it. They eat with me all the time, and a lot of them love coming to vegan potlucks with me.

 

Well it just mad me really really mad

 

I'm sorry that your friends did that to you. Maybe they don't understand that you're serious, and maybe blowing up at them is not the way to handle it. Calmly explain to them that starting a vegetarian diet is a big deal to you and that you would greatly appreciate their support. If they still don't get it, then maybe you need new friends. Many of my friends are not veggies but they are very supportive even though a few still think I'm weird (I guess they're just not at that level of understanding). There might be a lesson to learn from this though. A little story: My husband and I used to get cravings for Taco Bell (the only fast food place I will ever enter). We would get a bean burrito and drive away and sure enough, they would put beef in it (guess they thought we said beef burrito). Anyway, we even started spelling it sometimes, and also checking before we drove away from the window but we would still occasionally have this problem. We eventually learned the lesson to stop going to Taco Bell. Moral of the story: If you don't want to get new friends, at least have them stop cooking for you or don't eat with them.