Going VegetarianFollow

Something I've been considering doing for a while. Not because I'm against eating animals - they're pretty much a cornerstone of society and humans have evolved to eat meat and plants - but more for health reasons than anything.

Now, doing it just to have a healthier diet, I realize that there's a lot of meats out there that are actually good for you; mainly white meats like poultry and fish. But I think that I want to try vegetarianism, at least to try it out and see how it fits me. I can always go back to eating the healthier options, but I'm pretty sure I want to cut out red meat entirely.

Before you ask, I would likely be going ovo-lacto, meaning that eggs and dairy products would be fine with me.

How many of you guys are vegetarians/pescetarians? Any tips for beginners? If you were vegetarian in college, did you have any trouble? The school cafeteria doesn't exactly have the best vegetarian options...

Isn't Ugly a vegetarian? I thought I heard him complaining about filthy meat eaters stinking up his public restrooms with their colons full of rotting animal flesh.

I just filled my freezers with 1 and a half cows and a pig. I don't think I'll be going vegetarian any time soon.

Edited, Nov 6th 2011 8:22pm by TirithRR

I have a mostly vegetarian room mate. (Technically she is piscatarean, but only certain fish because she's picky.)

Aside from the protein issue, you also have to break yourself of the habit of making the meat the "main star" of any given dish. It's not just excluding the meat entirely, it's learning a whole new way of cooking and meal planning. Sure, there are meat substitutes out there that allow you to avoid having to make every dish without a protein centerpiece, but those can be quite expensive and only a few of them are really any good. (I like the Gardein mycoprotein stuff myself, and some of the Morningstar burgers are okay.)

If you're not picky it's not that hard to be vegetarian. Meat's pretty expensive so you'll be saving money, anyway.

Getting protein as a vegetarian isn't that hard, just eat a variety of legumes and other things (soy, chickpeas, and quinoa are excellent protein sources) and you'll be fine. Most Americans overshoot the recommended daily amount of protein by an assload, anyway.

I don't know if this is just a vegan thing, but B12 supplements are important.

Also, get this. Sure, it's a vegan cookbook, but the recipes are delicious and don't rely on expensive (and nasty, IMO) processed meat substitutes

Edited, Nov 6th 2011 11:06pm by Sweetums

This was my exact reaction, and made me REALLY question myself. I'm happy that I'm not alone...

As for the topic, I'm pretty much eating vegetarian right now. To be fair, it's pretty much limited to food I prepare myself (and I don't have the money to get take-out or go to a restaurant). If I'm at my parents' or a sibling's house, I'll still eat meat if they make it.

I haven't found it that hard really. Once you start looking into recipes, there are some really awesome things you can do without meat. They are almost always faster and easier to prepare too (though I REALLY hate trimming meat, which is part of it).

Learn how to make Hummus. It's SO CHEAP when made at home, and you can tailor it to the flavors you want. Plus, it's pretty versatile--very useful for sandwiches and salad. Plus, if you add a few ingredients to it, you can lightly fry it (or bake in the oven) to make falafel.

Roasting peppers is also ridiculously easy to do for how flavorful the outcome is.

Learning how to make a good pasta sauce will be extremely useful for the rest of your life, even if you decide to pick up meat again. And a simple one is super easy to make. Can of crushed tomatoes, some sauteed onion, some garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, salt, pepper. Tomato paste if you want it bolder. I sometimes add a little bit of rosemary. I might add peppers to it (usually after lightly roasting so I can remove their skins). You can also toss in some mushrooms, some zucchini, etc.

Though aren't you at school now? I suppose you'll just be switching to a dining hall's vegetarian options.

One last thing--it's easier (and healthier) to slowly cut meat out of a diet (or reintroduce it into one). If you generally eat meat at dinner right now, then maybe try only eating it 3 or 4 times a week. Increase the gap between those meals as you feel comfortable (which will actually be easier, as you discover more meatless dishes you like).

Thanks guys, awesome suggestions so far. Especially frogsalad.



Yes, but the meal plan only goes so far. My dorm has a fully stocked kitchen for us to use, so I'm more than willing to make meals of my own.

Plus, I'm worried that if I just used the cafeteria's vegetarian options for all my meals, I wouldn't be getting the required nutrients. This mainly spring from the fact that we've had mashed potatoes and carrots with the past three meals in a row.

I was a pescatarian for close to a year, and I enjoyed it for the most part. The only reason I chose to go vegetarian was because yoga made me lose my appetite for meat. Like I flat out didn't want to eat it. The idea of eating flesh made me sick to my stomach. I'm still not sure why, but apparently it isn't THAT uncommon. Once I started slacking off with doing my yoga, my appetite for meat came back. I still don't eat much pork though.

Anyways, one of the easiest ways I found to transition to being a vegetarian is to purchase a tofu cookbook. Tofu is incredibly versatile, and if you cook it right, it can be really tasty. If you like spicy food, I can share a chipotle tofu recipe with you that's really good. Plus tofu is pretty cheap. It's a little bit cheaper than boneless skinless chicken breasts out here, about $2.50 a lb for organic depending on which brand you get. A really easy way to supplement nutrients is to buy some nutritional yeast at a whole foods store or someplace similar, and use it with your tofu. I know it sounds weird, but nutritional yeast has very little flavoring to it, so it isn't noticeable. If you need any more specific tips, let me know.

I do sympathize with you trying to go vegetarian at a college campus in Texas though. =/ Vegetarians here are so lucky. UO has a great dorm food system to begin with (2 different cafeterias plus 2 specialty restaurants, 2 cafes and a grocery store), and veggies have some pretty good options. My sister used to be a vegetarian as well, and goes to a CC about 2 hours from here. She ate a lot of scrambled eggs while she was living in the dorms.

Vegetarians taste good?

Perhaps I should try it out. They live mostly off of greens anyway, so I suppose the meat is lean and healthy, if slightly tough.

Seriously, though, I don't mind vegetarians. The vegans, however... gotta be careful of those.

How do you find a vegan at a dinner party?

Don't worry, they'll let you know.

Vegitarians smell different from people that eat meat. I remember working with one at a bicycle shop he walked around me sniffing and then asked me if I was a Vegetarian because I didn;t stink like everyone else. I had to say no I just was not eating much meat at the time.

Maybe but its something that really happened. And Yes he really did try to get me to become a Vegitarian also.

Definitely wasn't Nobby. He liked his beef 'n' ale pie too much.

Paul? I'll get it right one of these guesses!

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=4&mid=1298396866268974427#9