# Vegetarians (may offend meat-eaters..)



## michaelg (Jan 29, 2005)

Do you find after a few months or years of vegetarianism, you became seriously disgusted with meat?

I mean I was disgusted with it when I started. Unhealthy, dead flesh, whatever.. but now it's like deeply ingrained. I can't smell the difference between steak and pot roast and that cat food with the meat in the gravy. 

It's actually worrying me. I don't think I can go back to meat now. This might be a problem with the faroff possibility of potential marriage, kids.. not too huge but I'd like some options. 

Am I alone in this, or has not eating meat changed your view of it?


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## Melusine (Jun 19, 2004)

I know what you mean. I can't eat rare meats because it turns me off. I know that it's not exactly healthy either. But i've given up on it because vegetarianism just wasn't working for me.


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## Catarina (May 3, 2006)

Well, I've been disgusted with meat my entire life, so I've never known it any other way. I used to eat chicken on occasions, but for the last year I've cut out everything.


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## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

Yes, I was never too disgusted but now I am. Even milk and cheese I am finding a bit repulsive, which is partly why I am going vegan.


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## KimberlyK (Nov 11, 2004)

I've been a vegetarian for about 9 years now. Meat does gross me out a bit but I don't have to be around it too often. What grosses me out are people that make fun of my diet or tell me stories about hunting trips when they killed "Bambi". I don't see how vegetarianism should interfere with marriage and children. If you meet someone you really "click" with either she will be a vegetarian or will be excepting of your lifestyle.

If you are looking for other vegetarians and vegans and want to learn more, this is good site:

http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/


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## Prodigal Son (Dec 11, 2005)

Kimberly69 said:


> I What grosses me out are people that make fun of my diet or tell me stories about hunting trips when they killed "Bambi".


I must say it is very difficult for me not to make fun of vegeterians. (even in this topic, which probably would have been rude) I have a lot of growing up to do, I know.


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## allalone9863 (May 25, 2006)

I've been a vegetarian for about half a year now. Well it got to the point where I had bruises everywhere and my hair was falling out so I was told to just suck it up and eat some meat. I tried! I ate meat two days this past weekend, _I just can't do it!!_ It's so fleshy and sad. I wouldn't eat my dog, why should I eat other animals? :stu


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## Melusine (Jun 19, 2004)

I sort of have problems eating certain kinds of meat, like, i could never eat lamb, or veal... 
When i was veg. i was totally turned off by meat, didn't see it as food. I still am not eating much meat, but i will sometimes eat turkey, fish, chicken, otherwise, try to eat mainly non meat things and eat almonds and chickpeas, fruits and veggies. But i think it's perfectly fine to eat meat, it'd be a shame and disrespectful to waste it...


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## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

allalone9863 said:


> I've been a vegetarian for about half a year now. Well it got to the point where I had bruises everywhere and my hair was falling out so I was told to just suck it up and eat some meat. I tried! I ate meat two days this past weekend, _I just can't do it!!_ It's so fleshy and sad. I wouldn't eat my dog, why should I eat other animals? :stu


Maybe try other options until turning back to meat - i.e. iron supplement (if it's iron that you're lacking), eat more leafy greens and lentils. :stu


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## allalone9863 (May 25, 2006)

nothing_to_fear said:


> Maybe try other options until turning back to meat - i.e. iron supplement (if it's iron that you're lacking), eat more leafy greens and lentils. :stu


I take a multivitamin, shouldn't that take care of the iron? Hmm... leafy greens, no problem. I don't like lentils though. Or tofu. Or any fake meat problems. I pretty much rely on milk/cheese/nuts/veggies for my protein. Although do veggies even have protein? Shows you how much I know...


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## archaic (Jan 16, 2006)

I'm not so much disgusted as I am uninterested. I have no desire to ever eat it.


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## Jinnix (Jul 6, 2006)

It's called the food chain people.


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## kikachuck (Nov 10, 2003)

There are basically two types of vegitarians. The ones who do it for health reasons and the ones who do it for animal rights reasons (religious ones fall under here). I can totally respect those who do it for animal rights reasons and to a certain extent, can see where you are coming from. I don't get the health ones though as meat is perfectly healthy for you and is a great source of protien and other stuff like that. But as with anything, you just have to watch how much you eat.

If you don't eat it because you just don't like it, well, I suppose that's a good reason too.


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## ScottishSamurai (Jun 29, 2006)

The mere thought of chewing on and ultimately digesting the flesh and innards of a once-living animal truly repulses me now. I will never eat meat again in my life.


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## Prodigal Son (Dec 11, 2005)

Eating parts of plants buried in the dirt where other insects or animals poop and munch on is cool with you though?


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## allalone9863 (May 25, 2006)

Prodigal_Son said:


> Eating parts of plants buried in the dirt where other insects or animals poop and munch on is cool with you though?


That's why I wash these things thoroughly before I eat them!


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## My_Shrink (Jun 27, 2006)

I love meat.
Love beef, love chicken, not to crazy about fish. 

I really can't see myself sitting around gnawing carrots
for dinner and enjoying it.


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## Thunder (Nov 5, 2003)

Troll somewhere else. This is a Vegetarian thread.


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## nesteroff (Nov 14, 2003)

...


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## katelyn (Jul 11, 2006)

I have been a vegetarian since I was 8. I never liked meat or fish much, but after I stopped eating it, after a while I began to be totally disgusted by it. Now, I have to always keep my food separate and seeing/smelling/being next to meat totally repulses me. I just see it as eating a corpse, basically.


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

allalone9863 said:


> nothing_to_fear said:
> 
> 
> > Maybe try other options until turning back to meat - i.e. iron supplement (if it's iron that you're lacking), eat more leafy greens and lentils. :stu
> ...


Goodness madam, I hope you feel better soon! Re: your question on multivitamins: maybe. Everyone has differing nutritional needs however. Did you establish the nutritional deficiency with a doctor? There are extra iron supplements available. I wonder about B12 too. I need to check my resources and see about nutrition and alopecia.

Fish and eggs are good sources of protein, some vegetarians will include these in their diets.

Legumes have good amounts of protein and other nutrients. E.g. lentils, peas, beans, etc.


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

I wonder if the repulsion to meat is a way of psychologically distancing oneself from it. I've noticed that many people who abstain from controversial things such as meat, sugar, sex, alcohol, cannabis, etc often have uncomplimentary personal views of those things. But, which came first, the chicken breast or the egg, I don't know.


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## mystica24 (Jun 15, 2006)

Kimberly69 said:


> I've been a vegetarian for about 9 years now. Meat does gross me out a bit but I don't have to be around it too often. What grosses me out are people that make fun of my diet or tell me stories about hunting trips when they killed "Bambi". I don't see how vegetarianism should interfere with marriage and children. If you meet someone you really "click" with either she will be a vegetarian or will be excepting of your lifestyle.
> 
> I'm not a vegetarian and probably never will be as I love to eat meat (and love the smell of it...sorry to gross u out LOL), but I've met ppl that are vegan and it doesn't bother me one bit. And for someone to make fun of it is stupid and rude. To each their own is my philosophy. I don't have to agree but I don't need to judge either.


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## mystica24 (Jun 15, 2006)

nesteroff said:


> Well I totally stopped eating beef and most pork after driving by an enormous slaughterhouse in Colorado two years ago. The cows were lined up in tiny pens, waiting their turns. I don't mean to sound irritating to meat eaters but I literally broke into tears. It was so horrifying to see. Now beef doesn't taste good at all to me. It is very tough and I find that if I eat a little, something doesn't taste/feel right. I can still eat chicken, however, but I do want to stop eating all meat that has been raised and killed cruelly (fish and deer meat being an exception). I used to love hamburgers but I find that it is so heavy if I eat it now, it tastes bad.


I felt the same way after reading a book back in highschool I think was called The Jungle where it was very graphic about the way they kill cows in the slaughterhouse. Anyone with a heart would want to reconsider eating meat (which I have been contemplating trying tofu foods). I think if there were even MORE awareness than there is, more ppl would follow. Hearing about it from celebs once in a while or knowing a website is out there that depicts what really goes on doesn't seem to impact enough ppl.


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## thecurerules (May 31, 2004)

kikachuck said:


> There are basically two types of vegitarians. The ones who do it for health reasons and the ones who do it for animal rights reasons (religious ones fall under here)


There's also the vegetarians who do it for environmental reasons, which is why everyone should consider a vegetarian diet.


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## kikachuck (Nov 10, 2003)

thecurerules said:


> kikachuck said:
> 
> 
> > There are basically two types of vegitarians. The ones who do it for health reasons and the ones who do it for animal rights reasons (religious ones fall under here)
> ...


Well, I believe cows release a lot of methane (a greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere, so wouldn't eating the cows be technically better for it? :lol

yes, this was a ron white inspired reply :b


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

Caedmon said:


> I need to check my resources and see about nutrition and alopecia.


Iron, Vitamin E, folate, and B12 may be involved, and may be low in vegetarian diets. Iron is *usually* well absorbed, but not always; in some cases of anemia or with vegetarian diets one might require more. Most people will benefit from slightly extra Vitamin E, and at the very worst, it is still heart-healthy.

Folate (folic acid) and B12 go hand-in-hand; B12 is required in order to absorb folate. These two B vitamins are used to lower homocysteine levels which are implicated in many depressions; depressed patients often (maybe, usually?) have a deficiency of folate. A deficiency may also cause anemias and some neurological symptoms. Most people can benefit from relatively inexpensive supplementation, just anyway. 800-1600mcg of folate and 50-1200mcg of B12 could be helpful. Some people cannot absorb B12 well when it is taken orally; an injection or sublingual B12 (or very large amounts of oral B12, roughly 100:1 ratio) will work. Many B-complex vitamins will not have enough folate or B12 for these purposes, even though a B-complex is good to take as well.

Ideas of things to try OTC is not a substitution for seeing a doctor, ofcourseweknowblahblah.


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## allalone9863 (May 25, 2006)

Chris- I don't eat fish or eggs... but I _am_ learning to stuff some lentils down my throat. I talked to my doctor about the hairloss and excessive bruising and all he said was it was stress and did some really awkward "hair test" where he rubbed little bits of my scalp and pulled out hairs. Your advice sounds better  I don't know if I followed everything you said, but I'll definitely try folate, B12 and Vitamin E supplements. They won't have any negative effects, will they? :afr I'm just scared I'm not getting enough protein although I drink milk and eat cheese so...? Who knows. Thanks for your help!! Maybe I won't go bald after all


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## Sendia (Jul 14, 2006)

Yeah, absolutely. I'm not a hardcore animal rights enthusiast, but after a few years, the idea of eating an animal (and even drinking milk) seems really _weird_. I eased into vegetarianism pretty slowly, and over time, meat just became less and less desirable. I'd eat fruits and grains for snacks and have pasta in meals, and then a piece of pepperoni pizza... which made me feel really bloated and odd. Fish wasn't bad, though.


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

Sorry! I just tend to ramble. Anyway those things are sometimes missing from vegetarian diets.

Homocysteine is regulated by B-vitamins among other things and increases with stress. It is implicated in mood disorders. There are mounds of research concerning this latter point: http://www.neurotransmitter.net/b12folate.html Anemia has iron, B12 and folate as implicated deficiencies, from what I've read. Vitamin E is sometimes low in meat-free diets and has anti-inflammatory properties. That's why I suggested those.

Anti-inflammatory is not insignificant. There are extensive lines of research connecting inflammation to anxious, depressive, and bipolar disorders. http://www.biopsychiatry.com/inflamdepres.htm

The evidence connecting folic acid/B12 and mood and anxiety disorders is just too overwhelming to me, I would rank it with omega-3 fatty acids from algae or fish as the best _researched_ dietary intervention, with zinc as third place.

Can you have whey? There are whey protein supplements out there. You could mix it with some milk and get a lot of good protein.

I would add zinc as a possible, this is a good supplement IMO.

There are really a buttload of things you _can_ try but by then, you end up with a gigantic pill organizer and taking 17 vitamins a day. I've been there. Maybe try adding a B-complex, iron, zinc, and vitamin E to take along with breakfast. Have some dairy. Moo.

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0078.html

Maybe unrelated, but peas are not only healthy, and good sources of iron and protein, they are also delicious. Have you ever had fresh peas from the garden? My GOD they are tasty.


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

Oh, how could i forget?! Lamictal is another reason to supplement folate... it inhibits dihydrofolate reductase and therefore may reduce folic acid levels.


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## allalone9863 (May 25, 2006)

Caedmon said:


> Can you have whey? There are whey protein supplements out there. You could mix it with some milk and get a lot of good protein.


Milk + whey is absolutely disgusting (to me). I almost threw up after I tried it. But I do try to mix whey into smoothies, which is always tasty.



Caedmon said:


> Maybe unrelated, but peas are not only healthy, and good sources of iron and protein, they are also delicious. Have you ever had fresh peas from the garden? My GOD they are tasty.


I'm trying to learn to eat beans and peas... I had red beans and rice last night. My problem is the grainy mushy texture.

Ok. So folate for the lamictal because of some reason I don't understand. But I need to take b12 for the folate to work? I think we're (you're) getting some where.


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

I don't know if this makes any sense or not:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrofolate_reductase

Basically, tetrahydrofolic acid is (apparently, I'm still learning too) is the active form of folate in the body, used for red blood cell health and junk like that.

folate --> dihydrofolic acid --> tetrahydrofolic acid
^
|
dihydrofolate reductase (between steps 2 and 3)

If you're on Lamictal it can be like this:

folate --> dihydrofolic acid --> tetrahydrofolic acid
^
|
dihydrofolate reductase

... which means that there is less ability to make the last step, to the bioactive form. If you take more folate than the RDA however, you'd probably overcome this deficiency.

As for B12 I am still not sure the exact pathway/mechanism by which it affects folate. Here is a mysterious and very technical looking image:









says that "Several forms of folate are shown here, all of which must pass thru tetrahydrofolate (THF), the central intermediate. The form trapped by a B12 deficiency is N5-methyl THF, for the following two reasons: i) without B12, N5-methyl THF cannot donate its methyl group to make methyl-B12; ii) this is the only way N5-methyl THF can be converted back to THF for recycling. So, sooner or later, a significant portion of the body's folate winds up in this dead end and becomes useless."
- http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemi ... 2/01q.html


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## allalone9863 (May 25, 2006)

Chris you sound so smart I feel like a complete idiot. Soo basically this tetrahydrofolic acid is necessary for my hair to stay in. But dihydrofolate reductase, a result of lamictal, is causing it to... mess up, (technically speaking, of course). But folate will help with the dihydrofolate reductase issue. As you can probably tell, I have no idea what you or I am talking about. But I will talk to my doctor about taking folic acid. Although taking it without talking to him probably couldn't hurt.


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

Well I don't _know _if folate will have anything to do with the hair or not, but I don't see it hurting. I just wonder if there aren't multiple reason to try it, basically, because (a) it may be low in vegetarian diets, (b) it plays a role in anemia and endocrine function and so on (so, maybe hair loss), (c) it plays a role in mood, anxiety, and stress; and (d) it is reduced already by Lamictal. Somehow. Maybe, we don't know why Lamictal reduces it, lol.

A lot of meds interact with vitamins. E.g. tetracycline antibiotics interact with a lot of minerals, thyroid meds w/ iron, Nardil and Depakote w/ vitamin B6, Neurontin with magnesium, etc.; you just have to adjust accordingly.

I hope that is clearer! :fall Yeah, talking to the doc never hurts!


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## allalone9863 (May 25, 2006)

OK! I got it so I did some reading of my own and even though I'm not quite as smart (or actually not near as smart) I have come to the conclusion that you are quite right and lamictal is indeed lowering my folate level and because it is necessary for healthy hair all I need to do is take and BAM my hair will be back to normal! And it will be a wonderful thing because I will no longer have to sweep 400000 gallons of hair off my bathroom floor everyday so thank you for helping me that was very nice of you I'm going to be folate ok have a good trip I'm really pretty manic right now sorry if this makes no sense but folic acid here I come woooo hoo!


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## dazeerae (Apr 29, 2006)

Thunder said:


> Troll somewhere else. This is a Vegetarian thread.


Thanks *Thunder*! Nice to know that vegetarians have a place here at SAS.com

*AllAlone*, You're a fellow SASer, vegetarian, Arkansan. Woo-hoo! _What are the odds??_


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## Blue Bird (Jun 28, 2004)

Sometimes after I eat a salad I feel empty, adding little pieces of chicken make it a little more filling. I would like to be semi-vegetarian. I find it hard to talk my mom into buying lots of fruits (which I love) and vegetables. I've never fround meat gross, but I would like to eat meat from animals that are treated respectfully. They don't offer things like that in the regular supermarkets, they probably have the option in whole food stores. Maybe if I saw the slaughter houses, I might feel the same way some of you guys do.


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## KimberlyK (Nov 11, 2004)

Blue Bird said:


> Sometimes after I eat a salad I feel empty, adding little pieces of chicken make it a little more filling. I would like to be semi-vegetarian. I find it hard to talk my mom into buying lots of fruits (which I love) and vegetables. I've never fround meat gross, but I would like to eat meat from animals that are treated respectfully. They don't offer things like that in the regular supermarkets, they probably have the option in whole food stores. Maybe if I saw the slaughter houses, I might feel the same way some of you guys do.


Bits of baked tofu or beans added to a salad make it more filling without harming animals.


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## nakedshrew (Dec 5, 2004)

:lurk Totally not getting involved in another veggy debate, not even reading this stuff.. it's actually very triggering for some reason. I'm moving to india or something :|


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## Blue Bird (Jun 28, 2004)

Kimberly69 said:


> Blue Bird said:
> 
> 
> > Sometimes after I eat a salad I feel empty, adding little pieces of chicken make it a little more filling. I would like to be semi-vegetarian. I find it hard to talk my mom into buying lots of fruits (which I love) and vegetables. I've never fround meat gross, but I would like to eat meat from animals that are treated respectfully. They don't offer things like that in the regular supermarkets, they probably have the option in whole food stores. Maybe if I saw the slaughter houses, I might feel the same way some of you guys do.
> ...


Oh, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try something else. I'm not a big fan of beans. What does tofu taste like? Did becoming a vegetarian ever seem scary and complicated to anyone?


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## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

Blue Bird said:


> Kimberly69 said:
> 
> 
> > [quote="Blue Bird":8cf25]Sometimes after I eat a salad I feel empty, adding little pieces of chicken make it a little more filling. I would like to be semi-vegetarian. I find it hard to talk my mom into buying lots of fruits (which I love) and vegetables. I've never fround meat gross, but I would like to eat meat from animals that are treated respectfully. They don't offer things like that in the regular supermarkets, they probably have the option in whole food stores. Maybe if I saw the slaughter houses, I might feel the same way some of you guys do.
> ...


Oh, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try something else. I'm not a big fan of beans. What does tofu taste like? Did becoming a vegetarian ever seem scary and complicated to anyone?[/quote:8cf25]

Apparently tofu doesn't really have a taste when raw. It can be really delicious though with the right stuff, it all depends what sauces you marinate it with and how you prepare it and such.

And no, going vegetarian was okay for me. The switch to veganism was pretty easy too. I think the best thing to do is read up a lot on it, I have a good book called "Becoming Vegetarian" and it has probably everything you would need to know, it is very useful and I still look stuff up every so often.  But obviously I'm sure you could find plenty of good sites on the 'net.


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## KimberlyK (Nov 11, 2004)

Blue Bird said:


> Kimberly69 said:
> 
> 
> > [quote="Blue Bird":383a4]Sometimes after I eat a salad I feel empty, adding little pieces of chicken make it a little more filling. I would like to be semi-vegetarian. I find it hard to talk my mom into buying lots of fruits (which I love) and vegetables. I've never fround meat gross, but I would like to eat meat from animals that are treated respectfully. They don't offer things like that in the regular supermarkets, they probably have the option in whole food stores. Maybe if I saw the slaughter houses, I might feel the same way some of you guys do.
> ...


Oh, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try something else. I'm not a big fan of beans. What does tofu taste like? Did becoming a vegetarian ever seem scary and complicated to anyone?[/quote:383a4]

The tofu I buy has been marinated and then baked so it is firm with a bit of flavor like Honey Sesame. Sometimes I shred it and use it like tuna in a sandwich or chunks as a substitute for chicken in stir-fry If you want something else that makes you satisfied try potatoes or sweet potatoes. You still need protein so give beans a chance and don't forget nuts and seeds.

No, becoming vegetarian wasn't scary at all but you do have to do some reading to make sure you are healthy.


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## michaelg (Jan 29, 2005)

nothing_to_fear said:


> I think the best thing to do is read up a lot on it, I have a good book called "Becoming Vegetarian" and it has probably everything you would need to know, it is very useful and I still look stuff up every so often.


yeah! that's the only book I used - it's "The New Becoming Vegetarian" though, a later edition, dunno which one you've got.. but it's so amazingly great with helping you be a healthy vegetarian or vegan.



Blue Bird said:


> Sometimes after I eat a salad I feel empty, adding little pieces of chicken make it a little more filling.


On that note.. I find with being vegetarian, even when eating more filling food like beans, i'm never "full" the way I was after a few pieces of a chicken. I'm still, technically, hungry.. but it's a good hungry. It's not an I-need-food-this-is-uncomfortable feeling, just a weirdly different way of living. I like it. In fact, I'm actually eating more than I did as a meat-eater. I always ate too little but never felt like eating more, I'm as skinny as death, but now I feel more like eating more in a healthier way.

oh yeah :banana thanks Thunder for defending us!


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## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

m56 said:


> Blue Bird said:
> 
> 
> > Sometimes after I eat a salad I feel empty, adding little pieces of chicken make it a little more filling.
> ...


I still get full, but it's not that really full and bloated feeling, it's more satisfying and I don't feel like "blah I just need to sit for a while". But maybe that has something to do with the fact that I eat smaller portions, more often throughout the day (instead of three bigger meals, four/five smaller meals).


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## xLonewolf (Aug 15, 2006)

I practically never eat red meat, but I do eat poultry. Meat in moderation is healthy for you, you know. However I can see myself being a vegetarian but eating meat occasionally. I buy vegetarian dishes but I dont think I can take away meat COMPLETELY. However I can go for a few months without meat. Maybe even a year, but not my whole life unless I really get used to that. The poultry I eat is from Whole Foods by the way, who treat them humanely and dont put them in cages and all that stuff.

But one question to vegetarians who are concerned with harming animals, what do you do when you have say, a cat? They need to eat canned meat so you would buy the dead animal for them?


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