i want to be

i want very much to become a vegetarian but its so hard when im not the one who has time to cook and prepare meals or who buys the food... my parents think im just going through a "phase" but thats not true... i believe that animals have just as much right to live as us... anyone have any suggestions on how to be a vegitarian under the conditions i have?

 

Yeah I'm kinda dealing with a similar situation. I still live with my parents and have stopped eating meat (really it just happened, not even really a choice) so I don't know what to eat for dinner.. My dad says he'll make vegetarian meals for me but I don't even know what to eat.

Just make sure you get the protein and fats you need.. Eat a lot of nuts, fruit, substitutes.
And I dunno, talk to your parents about your decision, tell them you need to eat and ask them if you can go grocery shopping together and get some vegetarian meals.

 

Just do it! I went veggie around your age.
What you need to do is get nutritional information (your parents are not supportive probbaly because they are worried about your health. My mother asked when I was going to get of my "vegetarian kick"......6 years ago).

After you prove to your parents that you won't die w/o steak, offer to cook. Chili is one thing that many people like that can easily be vegetarian.

Ask your mom and dad to get some soy burgers, etc. Yes it is harder when you don't buy the food, but let them know you are serious and that it is hurtful to you when they don't take you seriously. I didn't research enough when I first went veg. I also didn't know how to cook. If I had had someone help me I wouldn't have gone back to eating fish for the short time I did. (god that seems so long ago! I can't picture eating any meat whatsoever now...vegan 3 years)

go to vegcooking.com vegweb.com, cok.net, or the recipes on this site. Many sites (including Peta.org and cok.net) offer absolutely free veggie starter kits.

Start by making things you are familiar with vegetarian- chili, burgers. pizza, etc.

You can PM me to ask questions and there are a lot of intelligent and full-of-information veggies on this site.

Good luck! you are making the best decision you can. You won't regret it.

 

Check out the sites here: http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122068
That just helped me out a lot.

 

I went veggie around 12. My mom was already one - since she was 16, so it wasn't hard.

And don't worry about health. I know some people are gonna be on my ass about this, but really. Just don't eat meat. I don't eat anything special. I don't eat substitutes, don't eat nuts or peanut butter or eggs except once in a blue moon... really. It makes no difference. Your body's just an illusion anyway. If people disconnect from this prison enough to never eat at all (and many have), you can certainly not worry too much over not eating meat.

It's much healthier anyway. Lemme dig up a couple of forwards form awhil ago... here they are.

 

It is my opinion that if you want it bad enough, and your parents won't cooperate, you WILL take the initiative to learn to prepare your own meals and such. There are many simple options that won't leave you spending hours in the kitchen.

When I first decided to go vegetarian, and really go at it... I did with what I could. I got a small after school job for a couple hours, bought my own food, and made myself peanut butter sandwiches, mac 'n cheese [clearly if youre just going plain veggie], lettuce for salads, veggies, etc. All really reasonably priced and EASY to prepare items. As long as it was my decision, I took the initiative to do it by myself, because my parents WOULDN'T cooperate. And as long as I bought my own food and made my own food, my parents left me alone about it.

You can have time to prepare your own meals and stuff...you just have to want it. it doesn't take that much time.

Also, I'd take a multi-vitamin since you're young, and you most likely won't get a balanced diet no matter how you eat, omni or not.

 

I've just become a vegetarian. I live with my Dad, told him that I don't want to eat meat anymore and he didn't have a problem with it. He too has switched over.

Don't miss meat at all either.

 

Whoa whoa.. The people that disconnect themselves from their bodies and can go without eating at all have incredible mind strength, which is not easy at all to obtain. Your body still needs those proteins and fats and those foods, unless you are magical like buddha! I can't imagine you are very healthy.. (Unless of course you are magical). Don't be telling people not to eat the things they need to eat! Food is important!

 

I agree. Unfortunately, the body isn't an illusion. It's a big, and sometimes cruel, tangible reality. You do need to eat.

 

Maybe it doesn't make a difference for you... some people are more tolerant to a lack of a certain food/nutrient than others and what not, but you SHOULD NOT be recommending this to just anyone!

And maybe you're healthy because you are eating things that contain the nutrients you need without REALIZING it.... but that doesn't mean that anyone else should just disregard what they are putting into their bodies!

Being a vegetarian I would think that you WOULD pay more attention to what you're putting into your body and not putting into your body...

And, you can think that all you want, but take it from someone who started getting insanely weak and sick 24/7, because I wasn't getting any B12.

The body is NOT an illusion.... the body is like a machine, things go wrong, and certain things will ruin the materials our bodies are made of, and lacking in a certain thing can do the same as well....

I understand that everyone has different beliefs, but that's not a healthy way to think! You could become very ill living life that way, and whether it seems important or not to you now, I can assure you that if you did fall severely ill, you would be regretting every second of not watching yourself more carefully.

I don't think that anyone should spend their whole life constantly worrying about things, and avoiding things to NOT become ill, you'd be living in a bubble in that case.... but that doesn't mean you should just let the only body you are given go to complete shit before its time is supposed to be up!

ok, and sorry for the rant.

 

When I went vegan I grew like 7 inches in a year, so don't worry about your health. You will be just as healthy, if not healthier, than your fellow meat-eating humans.

P.S. I haven't gotten sick for like 4 years, Vitamin C is magical