Thinking about becoming vegetarian.

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Rebecca1122

Rebecca1122

Charged By Chins.
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
335
Location
New York, NY
Hi,

I have recently been thinking about becoming a vegetarian for a variety of reasons. I am just 14, and none of my family is a vegetarian or vegan, so I wanted to post this to get some advice from some vegetarians/vegans out there.

I have thought seriously about this and I have wanted to do this for some time, and now seems like a good time.

I am thinking of becoming a lacto vegetarian. Any ups or downs of this?

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
It is perfectly healthy for a teen to be a vegetarian as long as you educate yourself. If you want to keep dairy in your diet that helps, especially at first. My niece became a vegetarian at 11 after reading a Jane Goodall book and having it click that meat=dead animals- she decided on her own. She is now 17 and a high school athlete. It really helps to have the support of your mom or whomever makes meals.

If you look online, there are many resources to help. Liking vegetables and being willing to learn to cook for yourself really helps as well, salads become old really quickly.

http://www.vrg.org/

http://www.vegsoc.org/health/

Also, if you have any health issues, check in with your doctor, he/she may recommend a nutritionist to get you started.
 
Ditto to all that Nikki said. I spent many hours with my dr when I first became a vegetarian. I'm anemic and have been since I was a child. After many trails we found the right supplements that worked for my anemia. I read Skinny ***** when I became a vegetarian. It's a small book but a heavy read (even with all comedy they try to infuse).

Good luck. Do your homework.
 
Thanks to both of you.
I will keep researching and finding more info on this.
I think starting off with keeping diary in this diet will probably help me start of as a vegetarian.
I love to cook, and it would be fun to try out some good tasting and good for you vegetarian options.
I am hoping that my family does support my decision. It's not like they are meat-crazed, but I'm not sure how thrilled they would be with my decision of not eating meat. But I'm sure they will be once they understand more of my reasoning.
 
Do you think I should become a vegetarian over a period of time or by overnight?
I was thinking of doing it gradually.
 
I suggest doing it gradually. Remove red meat, then white and finally your fish and eggs (should you decide to stop eating eggs). Space it out to your comfort level.
 
Okay, thanks. Can you clarify specifically what meat is red meat and what meat is white meat? I think I know, but just to make sure.
Also, I already don't eat eggs and fish because I've just never liked it, so those parts are already done.
 
Red meat = beef. White = pork and chicken. I went vegetarian in college when I finally had some options for protein that weren't animal products (humus was a big one), but it still wasn't enough to keep me healthy. :( I love cooking vegetarian, though, and like to adapt recipes w/ meat for meatless eaters. (No reason you can't have some old favorites just b/c of an ethical choice.)

What I would do would be to start introducing vegetarian dishes gradually and find the ones you like as you remove meat options slowly. One of my favorites is still Portabella mushroom tops grilled w/ onions like a cheeseburger, and pizza is always good with veggie toppings. If your family sees that you're not just going to live on french fries and ketchup, they'll probably be more supportive.

I use a lot of Kashi Pilaf as the base for meals: http://www.kashi.com/products/category/Pilaf and then add seasonings and other veggies to change it up. It fills you up, and has a surprising amount of protein in it. Anything you make like that for yourself would also work as a side dish for the rest of your family that's still eating chicken or whatever too.
 
Okay, thanks. I think I will start looking for some vegetarian dishes that are easy to cook and that I might like. Can anyone recommend some recipies/cooking websites?
And I also think I might start out by removing red meat and then white meat, and then I will be a vegetarian! How long would you suggest the time periods of each be?

My family does eat beef, but not too often. The meat I mostly eat is chicken. And also a turkey sandwich for lunch at school when the options are not to my liking. I've never eaten pork, and I don't really intend to either. My dad was raised as never eating pork, and so was I, so that's not a problem.

Another problem that can occur is that I don't really like salad. I don't know why, I've never really eaten it, and when I do, I just don't like it. I think it's the lettuce that I don't like.
But I'm sure if I stay healthy, it won't be a problem if I eat lots of other vegetables, which I will have to try.
 
From a medical point of view being vegetarian/vegan can be healthy,but you must research and make certain that you are eating enough and properly use supplements/vitamins as necessary,esp at your age.Not only are you still growing and maturing but you are also laying down stores that will be needed later in life.Plus in later years if/when you decide you are ready to have children, you need to work with a nutritionist before you get pregnant.After you realize you are pregnant it's too late in many cases.Most fetal formation/development occurs within the first weeks/months of conception.The biggest problem I have seen with vegans/vegetarians has been poor iron/anemia and not enough protein. I have watched many drs trying to get stitches to hold in the tissues.The suture/staples pull right through as they are trying to get cuts/incisions back together.:)
 
Okay, thanks. I'm pretty sure that my parents will be concerned about me getting enough iron and protein, and I will probably end up taking supplements.
But for now, I'm going to start off with no red meat. But I might want to cut out something else first. I don't really eat red meat that often - maybe once when my mom cooks it, but the meat I usually have it chicken and turkey.
So if I start by removing red meat, I wouldn't really be doing anything because I don't eat it often.

So should I just go to red and white meat?

I also want to open my appetite to adding in more fruits and vegetables with each meal and trying easy vegetarian dishes.

Does anyone recommend any easy, simple dishes that I might like that are also easy to cook?
 
Rebecca1122 said:
Okay, thanks. I'm pretty sure that my parents will be concerned about me getting enough iron and protein, and I will probably end up taking supplements.
But for now, I'm going to start off with no red meat. But I might want to cut out something else first. I don't really eat red meat that often - maybe once when my mom cooks it, but the meat I usually have it chicken and turkey.
So if I start by removing red meat, I wouldn't really be doing anything because I don't eat it often.

So should I just go to red and white meat?

I also want to open my appetite to adding in more fruits and vegetables with each meal and trying easy vegetarian dishes.

Does anyone recommend any easy, simple dishes that I might like that are also easy to cook?
Click to expand...

Cutting out red and white meat pretty much cuts out everything that is not a chicken leg or wing. My cousin is in her process of going vegetarian, and she cut out everything with legs first. She eats fish and is slowly cutting it out.
 
GorillaJTA said:
Cutting out red and white meat pretty much cuts out everything that is not a chicken leg or wing. My cousin is in her process of going vegetarian, and she cut out everything with legs first. She eats fish and is slowly cutting it out.
Click to expand...

Okay. When I said red and white meat, I was thinking more of the animal as a whole, I was also implying those other parts.
I would do what your cousin is doing, but I don't eat fish. Not because of this, but because I just never liked it.

But do you think I should just cut out red and white meat because I don't eat much red meat? And start adding more fruits and vegetables and more vegetarian dishes? I guess that's pretty much cutting out everything that I would remove because I don't eat fish and seafood or pork. And I don't eat red meat that often.
 
Rebecca1122 said:
Okay. When I said red and white meat, I was thinking more of the animal as a whole, I was also implying those other parts.
I would do what your cousin is doing, but I don't eat fish. Not because of this, but because I just never liked it.

But do you think I should just cut out red and white meat because I don't eat much red meat? And start adding more fruits and vegetables and more vegetarian dishes? I guess that's pretty much cutting out everything that I would remove because I don't eat fish and seafood or pork. And I don't eat red meat that often.
Click to expand...

I am probably not the best person to ask about this since I am an avowed carnivore. Vegetable only cross my plate to keep my vitamin balance correct.

However, I have taken several nutrition classes. You could try combining protein sources- tofu, hummus, etc- into your meals alongside real meat and dairy to ease your palate into the transition.
 
GorillaJTA said:
I am probably not the best person to ask about this since I am an avowed carnivore. Vegetable only cross my plate to keep my vitamin balance correct.

However, I have taken several nutrition classes. You could try combining protein sources- tofu, hummus, etc- into your meals alongside real meat and dairy to ease your palate into the transition.
Click to expand...

Okay, gotcha. I think I am going to just eat white meat for the time being and remove red meat, fish, etc. and then gradually bring in more vegetarian foods.

Do you think that's a good idea? Any other suggestions?
 
Sounds like a plan Rebecca. Try a bunch of different vegetarian dishes. As you find those that you like, just keep making them more often and slowly stop making any with meat in them. You'll probably find yourself really enjoying the new dishes and not even notice that you stopped with the meat.
 
Kalandra said:
Sounds like a plan Rebecca. Try a bunch of different vegetarian dishes. As you find those that you like, just keep making them more often and slowly stop making any with meat in them. You'll probably find yourself really enjoying the new dishes and not even notice that you stopped with the meat.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will definitely do that.
Do you think I should just remove all meat? Because if I just remove red meat, it won't make much of a difference because I don't eat it much, and I don't eat fish or seafood. The only meat I really eat is white meat. So should I just go for it and remove all meat?
 
:D

I think I'm going to remove all direct meat from my diet but I will allow myself to eat things with white meat indirectly, if you understand.
 
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