Vegetarians

[Hikari]

Are there many on CB?
Have you tried Vegetarianism?
What made you go veggo?
Are there any tips you have for other/things to keep in mind?

Just discuss. :)

[doucheasaurus]

I an herbal, veggie and meat eater, including both domestic and tropical fruits, and grains. I try the entire Food Pyramid, not just sticking to one variety, kind or type of food product.

[Hikari]

Ever tried going vegetarian though? Or are you saying you try keep your diet varied and fresh (which is a good idea!)?

[Evanesque]

I tried going veggie once but phailed, the carnivore in me took over >.>
Huzzah for dedicated vegetarians *pats j00 on the back*

Personally though, I think it's better eating a variety of foods rather than sticking to one particular diet. Having meaty meals alone is bad for you just as completely excluding them.

Both ends have some vitamins and nutrients that the other does not have, hence you need to balance both and eat in moderation in order to stay fit and maintain your body.

[Hikari]

I'm not exactly a dedicated vegetarian. I only started this diet a few months ago.

Meat does contain a lot of vitamins/minerals that are necessary, but every one of them has a vegetarian/vegan substitute.

[Evanesque]

There might substitutes and alternatives but nothing's better than the real thing, ne? :3
What does your current diet consist of?

[Askand]

I decided to go half vegetarian a year ago. I the only meat I eat is fish and sea food. Its been a bit hard since I was a carnivore at full extend. But basically I relly on cotage cheese for protein as well as soy milk. I try to balance the fish with other protein food. The worst part is to go to a fast food and order food without a meat. Since the election is hard to do. When I go to MacDonald's I usually ask for sandwich without meat and they give me this look. But now I smile when people ask who order the McChicken sandwich without meat. Its preiceless at some extend. LOL

[Xkavanger]

I'm with Eva on this one. :x

A movie called "Chicken Run" xDDDDD made me turn vego at some point. I actually lasted for months. I was proud of myself. xD

But then, when I had family over for dinner... I gave in to temptation. :P

I also pat you vego's on the back. It takes guts and determination to stand up for your rights.

I have a few bits to criticise on, but I'll save it for the debates. :p

[Hikari]

There might substitutes and alternatives but nothing's better than the real thing, ne? :3
What does your current diet consist of?

Right now I'm attempting to keep my diet varied and make sure I get lots of protein. I always make sure to have at least one piece of fruit per day (bananas are great for B12). Green leafy vegetables I also have often, as they have vitamin A, B, B12, iron and lots of anti-oxidants in them, so that's all good. :) Mushrooms are also great for protein. Calcium is fairly easy to get, as I will eat dairy products.

Right now, i'm still sussing out what my body specifically needs as their is no by-the-book diet to eat. What i've figured out so far is I need lots of protein (especially for a teenager), Vit A and fiber.

I decided to go half vegetarian a year ago. I the only meat I eat is fish and sea food. Its been a bit hard since I was a carnivore at full extend. But basically I relly on cotage cheese for protein as well as soy milk. I try to balance the fish with other protein food. The worst part is to go to a fast food and order food without a meat. Since the election is hard to do. When I go to MacDonald's I usually ask for sandwich without meat and they give me this look. But now I smile when people ask who order the McChicken sandwich without meat. Its preiceless at some extend. LOL

I know what you mean. :P I always go into restaurants and have to ask if a certain thing is vegetarian. I spent about half an hour trying to find out if Mee Gee Sauce was veggo before I would eat it. XD

A great idea if your getting sick of cottage cheese and soy milk is a stir-fry containing chopped mushrooms (keep them small) and spinach leaves. Then the rest is whatever you want as the other two won't be tasted much if you dislike them.]

EDIT: @ Xkavanger - Critiscise away. I'm happy to hear your thoughts. :) After all, it is open for discussion.

[Xkavanger]

Huhu!

Well, may I ask why go vego? I mean... plants are living, breathing, eating things as well. I mean, hell, they have zygotes, as animals and humans do. Yes, the reproductive system. It may not be the same form or structure to humans, but it is somewhat the same cycle.

Basically, plants live, breathe and even reproduce! Animals were put on this planet for a reason. They're not just there for us to look at, ride on and play with. >_>

I guess that's why in some countries, they eat cats and in OUR country: Kangaroos. xD

Correct me if I'm wrong here, people.

The zygote may just be contained within a few types of algae, but I'm referring to the general population of plants. :P

[Lelouch]

Meat is not murder, murder is murder, meat is just what happens after the murder, so why waste it?

Just my opinion :-)

[Seff vi Britannia]

Vegetarians are hippies.

Yes, i'm stereotyping, yes, it's also true.

/me can't comprehend how anyone can live off vegetables alone.

Oh, and the MOST annoying thing is when you're sitting down for dinner at dos and such, and someone calls over the waiter and whispers "erm, i'm a vegetarian."

(Thus wasting the chefs time, as he cooks 120 normal meals and one stupid veggie meal.)

Seriously, if you don't like whats on the menu, go and eat grass in a field.

: /

[Hikari]

Well, may I ask why go vego? I mean... plants are living, breathing, eating things as well. I mean, hell, they have zygotes, as animals and humans do. Yes, the reproductive system. It may not be the same form or structure to humans, but it is somewhat the same cycle.

Basically, plants live, breathe and even reproduce! Animals were put on this planet for a reason. They're not just there for us to look at, ride on and play with. >_>

I guess that's why in some countries, they eat cats and in OUR country: Kangaroos. xD

Yeah, why DO we eat our national animals? :S :P

But, yeah, you do raise a great point. I've heard this question before, and I always have difficulty answering. I rarely come up with a good point either. :/

To the best of my knowledge, plants feel no pain, and have no cognitive thought or emotions. I don't feel I have caused anything harm or suffering by eating a plant.

[Shiro-Taicho]

I'm vegetarian!
But not because I think the animals suffer pain or something like that O_o
I simply don't like meat. That's all.

[Pierrot]

I could probably manage to stay vegetarian for a couple of months but I know I'd give into temptation. There are times when I've had meat and then felt sick and asked myself why I don't just stick to vegetables, But having a good balance is important and I don't think I could go on without having a good bacon barm every so often.

[Askand]

I basically seek vegetarian patties to balance. About the cravings well I get them but I tried to shut them up. ITs hard when your own family sabotage you. I might fail sometimes but I only gave in temptation only once while during this year. But I fell sick when I ate it so I basically stopped.

[Pierrot]

I basically seek vegetarian patties to balance. About the cravings well I get them but I tried to shut them up. ITs hard when your own family sabotage you. I might fail sometimes but I only gave in temptation only once while during this year. But I fell sick when I ate it so I basically stopped.

It should be noted that it takes a lot of discipline and will power to go from someone who will eat meat and veg to just a veggie, it's not like being raised as a veggie where it's all you know, you've grown up eating meat etc and it therefore makes the temptation that much greater. I think people who go from one extreme to the other are admirable individuals, but at the same time I wouldn't wanna cut myself off from so many different experiences.

[doobiesnacks]

Vegetarians are hippies.

Yes, i'm stereotyping, yes, it's also true.

/me can't comprehend how anyone can live off vegetables alone.

Oh, and the MOST annoying thing is when you're sitting down for dinner at dos and such, and someone calls over the waiter and whispers "erm, i'm a vegetarian."

(Thus wasting the chefs time, as he cooks 120 normal meals and one stupid veggie meal.)

Seriously, if you don't like whats on the menu, go and eat grass in a field.

: /
basically.. everything you just thought up to say right here was thoughtless ignorant bull shit. Having an opinion is fine, but you have to have one first.
You are ostracizing someone for having different convictions as yourself. Conformation without thought is the first step to fascism. Dude, seriously you have no clue how empty, stupid and ignorant your statements just were. Reminded me of the red necks in the back hills here. Basically you are saying anyone who does not eat meat is not normal?
How about we take that a step further and say anyone who is not white is not normal. Or anyone who does not speak english is not normal. Or how about everyone who does not have black hair is not normal.

Your an idiot!



Yeah i have been vegetarian for almost 2 years. Before that time period my favorite meal was meat loaf and mashed potatoes. Even the worst possible for your health, pork, was and still is my favorite tasting meat.
Obviously we were meant to live off of animal flesh, as well as veggies, just as they are meant to live off of ours. Balance is what keeps good health.

My only problem with this whole meat industries is the fact that life is treated as two different entities. On one side we have the human and on the other the animal. My problem is the distinction between the two. For some reason we as humans have a superior attitude to every other thing on this earth, while in reality we are one of the most feeble fragile beings on this planet.
There is absolutely no second thought in hunting a deer, yet if I were to go out to main street and shoot a man and hang him on my wall i am barbaric and sentenced to life behind bars. The distinction of moral wright from wrong and permission to live or kill is my issue. - a total lack of respect for life!
This earth is a gift, not a privilege and we should have respect for each entity on its surface.

Until we the human race understand this and treat animals with the same respect and love as we treat each other, or we start treating each other like we do animals (with no importance of life) then i will not be eating meat that comes packaged or on a hamburger.

i am not saying killing animals is cruel and wrong, but to have a respect for life and not loose sight of this as we have in todays society!
Humans are THE most barbaric, ruthless, hating, selfish and blind creation on this planet and yet or because of that we still think ourselves as superior to the things that grant us life in the first place.


Now this is not even mentioning the modern day diseases in meat or our food produce in general. All of the steroids and additives that are in all of our food production is only harming and weakening our bodies.
And if you disagree, it is only out of lack of information of evidence. It is all out there for you to prove it to yourself, only hidden. Out of sight out of mind = ignorance.

So before you start calling me a hippy and tree hugger and exaggerator and all that bull, study up on the subject first. You will find that i am not really speaking so far out my ass as you believe!
The fact that ignorance is speaking out on this issue is only proof to the blindness of humanity!

[doucheasaurus]

Ever tried going vegetarian though? Or are you saying you try keep your diet varied and fresh (which is a good idea!)?
^Precisely. I only go straight veggies (combined with raisans and water), when fasting. I do that periodically, for the clearing of the colon (...a colonic). ;)

[Greggle]

I choose not to go vegetarian for several reasons; first of all is that I firmly believe we were meant to eat meat. Canines and bicuspids are proof of that.

Furthermore part of the reasons humans evolved so skillfully is that we consumed lots of cooked meat. Cooked meat provided us with lots more protein and nutrients which caused humans to develop faster. Before we had fire we ate mostly plants, then we gained fire, started cooking meat (which is waaaaaaay better than raw meat due to being easier to digest and safer) and boom, humans started evolving faster and faster, especially once we hit homo habilis which gained more extensive use of tools.

So basically, eating meat is what got us this far, and as far as I'm concerned we should honor what was a large factor in making us so leet.

In addition being a vegetarian is a ton of extra work. You have to get special recipes, have special menus, special order food, and you become a burden on your friends. You go out with your friends and you are all hungry. Everyone wants to go to restaurant X, but they don't have a vegetarian menu. Looks like everyone has to settle for a different restaurant and you feel like an ass for making them. I choose not to be that guy, because quite frankly, that guy sucks.

All that for no reward whatsoever. Peace of mind because you saved an animal's life? Nah, everything in nature kills each other and while dominant, we are still a part of that. It is the way the world has always worked and theres no reason to try and change it.

I also believe plants are just as much a living thing as animals. Plants have all 5 qualities of living things, they undergo metabolism, possess a capacity to grow, respond to stimuli, reproduce and, through natural selection, adapt to their environment in successive generation. They also possess senses of touch, and hearing in some form. Plants are able to move themselves to face sunlight by producing more cells on one part of their body, rather than with muscles. In order for plants to know where the sunlight is they must have some way of sensing where the light is coming from, and that is their pseudo sense of touch. Furthermore plants respond to music and other sounds, perhaps not truly hearing, but reacting to the sound waves in some form.

And then theres the fact that vegetarians often go ahead and kill bugs and other small creatures, just because they are "icky". This isn't all of them, but theres a good majority that will squish a spider or swat a mosquito.

And if you wanna be so loving of life why should it stop with animals or insects? How about the 99.99% of millions of bacteria you kill each time you wash your hands? These are living things too. It is really a double standard to protect only the animals.

So where do you draw the line? Which of these groups is worthy of living? Just animals because some are cute and furry? I don't accept the double standard. The life of one bacteria is equal to the life of one bear. 1 life = 1 life by the reflexive property.

So who gets to live? Who dies? My answer: whoever can't survive, the way its always been, and always will be. 1 or 2% of the population not eating meat isn't going to change that.

[Hikari]

I didn't mean for this thread to turn into a debate/argument.

All I wanted was to hear from other vegetarians who had tips, or some who had tried or didn't feel the compulsion too. I didn't want to start a debate on the ethics or reasons of vegetarianism. My bad.

[Greggle]

Reasons for being vegetarian leads to reasons not to :P

[Hikari]

^ Screw logic!

Oh, and the reason we don't feel bad about destroying bacteria, or eating yeast and plants and such is because, like I said before, they aren't sentient beings. They're alive, but not sentient.

Oh, and I won't kill insects either. I hate mosquito (D:<) but I usually either ignore them or trap them outside.

[doobiesnacks]

In addition being a vegetarian is a ton of extra work. You have to get special recipes, have special menus, special order food, and you become a burden on your friends. You go out with your friends and you are all hungry. Everyone wants to go to restaurant X, but they don't have a vegetarian menu. Looks like everyone has to settle for a different restaurant and you feel like an ass for making them. I choose not to be that guy, because quite frankly, that guy sucks.
Actually it is not that much work. I think we have all gotten so used to eating out and not having to cook our own meals that this has become work in our eyes. You actually cook much faster without meat because it takes so long to prepare.
Cooking your own meals used to be a day to day life thing which has now been replaced by consumer mentality eating out. I have no problems finding variety in my meals and cooking is essential to your knowledge of nourishment and we would be healthier if we actually did eat at home most the time. But point being, i have no troubles finding things to eat.

To your other point. Yes, you are right. It is hard to find things on a restaurants menu for a vegetarian to eat. BUT, there is always something, and if not you can simply order vegetables. I have never had problems filling my stomach in a restaurant.

But considering this, i have a hard time believing you would not agree that this is a bit biased. To have, lets say 30 meals on a menu, and only having 2 without meat. If more people were open to the idea of not consuming meat then there would be more meal plans on the menu for those people. It is not the vegetarians fault that few restaurants serve food minus the meat. So please dont blame that friend for being who he/she is.

Just as i am willing to compromise and eat a god damn ceasar salad every single time we go out to eat, my friends are cool with going to a health food place every now and then. We are all different and should respect each others ways of life.



So where do you draw the line? Which of these groups is worthy of living? Just animals because some are cute and furry? I don't accept the double standard. The life of one bacteria is equal to the life of one bear. 1 life = 1 life by the reflexive property.
i agree. The standpoint of we will not hurt/eat a living thing is quite fairy tail thinking. What are you going to do, eat ashes?
as you said, living organisms are everywhere. For me, ending a life is not the issue, but in the lack of respect it entails. These days it is no longer a fight with elements and beast. Animals are farmed and cloned and juiced up. Veil, calf's meat.. their legs are repeatedly broken until slaughtered so that they do not move and toughen up the meat. Chickens are kept in a foot by foot cage their entire existence. Tell me this is respectful!

Your right, it is a dog eat dog world. But there is absolutely no respect for our fellow living organisms. You said yourself: 1 life = 1 life by the reflexive property.. but i see none of this equality. There are respectful ways of using resources of this planet, which we today just simply fail to see.

[raisins]

erm, fyi you know in science we have the five kingdoms? bacteria is considered to be under protista as it is a prokaryote, not animalia. when we are talking vegetarian, i believe it means refrain from eating animals. Bactarias just don't come into the picture, though they might be moving and reproducing they don't have receptors.

first of all, salutes to all vegetarians :p i have yet to have the will power to become one, can't resist with the meat in front of me because i love delicious food. But i've tried before, for a few days continuously or once in a while and it's not that hard. It's made even more easy when you just have no access to meat and somehow you'll get use to it.
What i'm trying to say is i won't die without meat but my desire for tasty food is stronger that my conscience.

it's not much of a problem being a vegetarian here since there are plenty of indian and chinese vegetarian shop, and it's quite common to know a few vegetarians. worse come to worse, you can just take the vege eventhough it have been cooked with meat if you are not too strict on yourself. Vege is like part of our daily food.

if i ever become one it's because of the killing of sentient beings too, it's indirectly and probably not as bad as killing animals ourselves but they say if the buying stops, the killing will too. so uh, i'll try to eat more vege and less meat since i can't avoid it completely, it's more healthy too!

so vegetarians ftw! that reminds me, i accidently drown an insect while bathing today. may that insect rest in peace... lolx XD

[Askand]

Well tbh when I became half vegetarian people thought even my own family that it was a bluff. I was the most carnivore person on my family. But I managed to stand my ground. About being the one who suck on the group I dont think is necessaryly true. When my friends do a BBQ I pay for my own food and veggie patties. And in some ocassions people even ask to taste my patties to see if they are good.
If people dont learn to accept others then is their loss not mine. I change that. I no longer think what people want me to do but what I want to do so if they dont respect my believes I just ignore them plain and simple.

One Five : I use the brand Morning Star and Boca Burgers to buy the patties. Since I still eat meat like fish I just buy Tilapia filets and made them with a bit of butter. I also found a cooking book that explains the different types of vegetarian and also got delicous recepies. I need to retrieved it from a friend if I get a hold on it I will send you some recepies for you. Plus when I get the opportunity I like to cook for my enjoyment. I dont too much lately cause Ive been lazy. But being able to experiement on the kitchen is awesome and to make a dish so you can share with people also cool^^.

[Hikari]

Thanks for the tips with the patties Askand! :) I've been looking for some good faux-meat. All i've found is Nut-meat. O.O Yerk.
Nice job on standing your ground. :) I'm still worried i'll give in to temptation soon, but I haven't really been craving meat at all, i've found some great foods!

How long have you been half-veggo?

@ Doobiesnacks
I definitely agree with your point about disrespecting others. If the animals killed for food, or other reasons were treated with respect, humane living conditions among a few other things, I would probably never have become vegetarian.

[Askand]

On August I will have my first anniversary. The only reason I didnt became full veggo is because I love sushi. *blushes* And well I really didnt wanted to give up that.
Yw if I get more tips and stuff I will let you know.