I have wanted to be at least vegetarian for years. My problem has always been that everytime I try I am ridiculed/what-have-you by my family. My husband doesn't do it, but doesn't seem very supportive. Example, if I cook up a vegan meal he will eat it - but complain that it would taste better with meat everytime. We are both overweight and could really do with this kind of change! My other family members just act like I am inconveniencing or insulting them by not cooking meat for my meals or eating meat that others have prepared. I guess they feel like I am a hypocrite because I was just eating meat the other day. My reasons for not wanting to eat meat are simple enough. I feel like it wastes a HUGE amount of resources to raise it, it is more healthy not to eat it, and in all honestly - i've never really enjoyed eating meat. I was brought up eating it and just always have. Anyway, I wanted to know if anyone else is/has been in this type of situation but still was able to be veggie. (And if you could share your awesome tips with me.) Thanks and love!
So chuck him the finger and do it anyway!! Tell him to stop whining, or to start cooking his own meals. If he wants to weigh less, but complains about taste or meat, he's just being a moron, and you need to convince him that eating healthier, less-better-tasting food, can help him stay thin. Tell him that life isn't all about taste! No, they are inconveniencing and insulting YOU by complaining about the food that YOU cook for THEM. If they don't like it, tell them they can cook their own food. As far as being a hypocrite goes -- you will be a hypocrite unless, one day, you just stand up and tell them all, "I am now a vegetarian, and I won't cook anything with meat in it. If you want meat, cook it yourself." From that day on, you can't really be considered a hypocrite. They might not like it, but that's their problem, not yours. True, true, and true! =) Well, I am still a young'un, but ... I was born and raised a heavy meat-eater and a hunter. I never liked hunting (but I did like eating meat), and one day I realized I was being a serious jackass to these animals, and I decided to go vegan. I made the decision without telling anyone else, until after I went vegan. When I told my family, they were at first VERY unsupportive. My younger sister thought it was just going to be a passing fad, and my dad and I had a LOT of arguments about eating meat being healthy. (Needless to say, I didn't win them all, but now that I've done my research, I can disprove him on almost any aspect -- so do some research! It is true that meat is not healthy and that the American Dietetic Association says that a well-planned vegetarian/vegan diet is "appropriate for all stages of life, including pregnancy") My mom was at first reluctant to buy and cook vegan food, but we had an argument and I started buying my own food from thereonout. I stopped eating with the family (not really out of protest, just because I hate eating with my family), and I stopped eating the food they cooked, even if it was vegan (that was out of protest lol), and eventually they kind of realized, I was serious about my decision, and became more open to it. It took a month or a little more though. My sister decided to try vegetarianism for a month, about a year later. =) And my dad is now moving towards less meat and more vegetables. Stick to your guns! That's the only way you can help those who won't help themselves.
we have a lively thread here on parents and family: http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157377 I cook occasionally in a dual mode: I make my food and then either I or they (spouse, 14 y/o son) add some corpse to it. Check out a book called the Gradual Vegetarian by Lisa Tracey. She has a chapter on "living with bologna lovers." where she discusses the lentil burger principle of most of the meal being the same but the main dish (or in my modified form, one ingredient of the dish) being veg for the vegetarian. She has only a spouse, but I have had 10 years of dual cooking in a triangle. One thing I do is the dual night is once a week or less. Also, I reserve dining out for their meat nights to keep it out of "my air." I became veg at 13 in north central Texas, many, many years ago. You can do it, too! Tell me where you are and i can find some resources for you.
my sister and my one brother gives me shit for not eatting meat all the time. My sister waves hamburgers in my face all the time. makes me want to puke. Cook what you want to cook. if they don't like it, then tell them to cook their own food. I have to cook my own food because i'm the only veg in my family. Every meal that my mom cooks consists of meat.
Good for you! Welcome to the veggie family! I would suggest gettting a cookbook or ...20 (i love cookbooks). Vegetarian and vegan food is not compromised in taste! Ask anyone who has eaten at my house! I am really sorry you are going through this. It is unfair that you are doing the right thing and getting shit for it. Indeed, tell your man to eat and shut up or learn to cook. God forbid he HELP you or encourage you. This is never easy when people, the ones you love most, aren't supportive. I will tell you something though. I went veg when I was a teenager for ethical reasons. I really didn't know what I was doing at the time and my mom was not supportive (because she was just being a mom and worried about my nutrition) and thought it was a "phase" thing. 6 years later I am vegan (3 yrs vegan) and my mother cooks vegan when I come over, and eats a lot of vegetarain dishes herself and reads articles on animal issues! Let people know you are serious, understand that they have no clue what they are talking about (my grandma still fusses that SHE would never cook two different meals, etc. ...like she ever had to for me, understands nothing about vegetarianism yet refuses to educate herself on it) but be nice to them to a certain extent. Read up on nutrition and learn new recipes. Vegetarian food tastes just as good as omni food. My choices for food actually increased with going vegetarian. I learned about a lot more food from different cultures, etc and I would never go back. The thought of it makes me sick. You are a human being. You deserve respect and love. It sounds maybe like your family is jealous you have decided to change yourself for the better? I don't know the details of the situation, but how you treated should not be compromised, epsecially since you are helong yourself, the planet, and 80-100 animals a year! Good luck and please don't become so discouraged that you quit.
I also recommend the cookbooks, and second the congrats!!! I cook seperately for spouse. I always have. If it's vegan-based, I'll take my potion out first, and then, as drumminmamma said, lob some corpse into it. Just let him get used to *you* not eating meat. He may/may not come around. If he doesn't, it won't be that big of a deal from the work standpoint. If he doesn't like vegan meals, and you don't want to hear him whine, though, you should probably put some meat in there for him. As far as family, I have one *good* granma and one *bad* one, as I have mentioned before. The bad one teases and just really goes on and on about how unhealthy it is for me and the kids. I humour her, however, and just reflect on how great it makes *ME* feel to not depend on animals as a food source-not even that I am not killing them, but that I am an independant dining agent, if you will. Good luck!!!
I refuse to have meat in my house. I sure as hell don't cook it or even touch it. This isn't an option for everyone, I know. I would suggest making him ook his own meat though. Not fair you havingto prepare something you aren't going to eat.
i would absolutely loooooose it if someone did that to me. I would smack that burger right out of her hands. My brother too for a long time said it was just a fad and whatever.....he still treats me like shit about it but whatever, i don't care....let his ass lard up some more in that stuffy basement he lives in and i'll continue going on feeling great physically and not dying of a heart attack at 29. Anyways.....i'd say if you're family is treating you this way about it, start telling them to make and buy their own food. Though i like drumminmama's idea better......if they're going to treat you like shit about it you shouldn't stand for it.
Thank you very much for all of the supportive posts! They've motivated me a lot!! I'm afraid I may have painted my husband in a poor light, he really is a very understanding and supportive guy - just not all of the time and at all the times I would really like him to be (like, in front of the family...) But he tries very hard to do what pleases me. Today we went out and he actually helped me pick out a new veggie cookbook. Then we sat down and picked out things that looked good to the both of us and bookmarked them. Tonight or tomorrow we'll go out and get whatever we don't already have (this is a low-fat and fast book, so the recipies are simple and we have most of the things needed) for cooking. I'm so excited!! You've really helped put a fire under my tush! No more meat as of today, and i'm going to do my best to stick to my own morals. Love you guys!
