Have any of you tried switching to a vegetarian diet late in life? If so were you successful in making the switch and how long did it take? Any tips on bow to do it? I've been trying to cut out meat from my diet but I'm finding it very difficult to do.
but.....think of all the bacon that you'll be missing out on :(
I tried the vegetarian thing once. I liked meat too much so it only lasted about three or four months. I'd consider doing it again just to try it out, but I live in a house with 3 other meat eaters and that makes it harder.
Quote from: "PapaSmurf34"Have any of you tried switching to a vegetarian diet late in life? If so were you successful in making the switch and how long did it take? Any tips on bow to do it? I've been trying to cut out meat from my diet but I'm finding it very difficult to do.
I type it in every thread where the subject of meat comes up:
Quiona//http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/basic-quinoa.php
Quick steam stir chopped fresh veggies- red pepper, green pepper, yellow pepper, onion - pick veggies you like.
Prepare Quiona (pronounced Keen-waa) - One cup quiona to two cups water.
quick cook veggies in a pan while quiona cooks - toss together with seasonings of your choice.
You can change what you mix quinoa with and be as creative as you like. If you need something fast and easy a can of soup can jazz up a couple cups of cooked quiona quick.
Major source of protein - especially for people who are eliminating meat from their diet. If your body's been used to meat a strong direct source of protein is usually advised. *no I am not a vegetarian - but very little of my protein comes from meat. I have meat once a day and only about 6 ounces generally.
There's no reason that one can't do both.
I don't eat meat everday, and indeed, some vegetarian meals can be really awesome (lentil curry anyone? With lemon, mint, yoghurt, lots of chillli....mmmm). why not spend a few days each week swapping between the two and getting the best of both worlds?
All it takes is motivation. One day, after eating meat all my life, I suddenly went cold turkey(Pun intended) vegetarian in a house with 4 meat-eaters on a low budget. I've been meat-free for over a year now.
Just think about the lives you'll be saving.
And for those who have a snide comeback to my above comment, you can call me names, but sticks and stones can't hurt me because this is the internet. So haha.
I have. I didn't find it very hard at all. Right now I am sorta a 3/4 vegetarian, most days I don't eat any meat, but am not strict about things like chicken broth and stuff. I just prefer lentils, beans, eggs and PEANUT BUTTERRRRRR!
(ahem. Sorry, I get emotional sometimes).
Fish is big, too, and isn't vegetarian, but it's not red meat. I don't believe there has ever been a time in my life where I've given that up.
You need to pay close attention to the amount of protein you are getting and take at least a B12 supplement if you are going to eliminate all meat.
Damn it, I thought this thread was going to be about lipstick lesbian porn.
The faux meat products have gotten pretty good. Veggie burgers, hotdogs, and the like are actually tasty. I'm not totally vegetarian, but my wife is. I eat meat maybe once a week. Do it gradually, replace meat with a substitute once a day then twice, etc. My cholesterol dropped 20 points in a year just by cutting back. I'm 54, so if I'm not "late" in life, I'm getting there.
A couple of years ago my wife was working second shift and I had the task of feeding the kids supper every night. One night we went to the store to get something for supper and, thinking of my wife and how proud of me she would be, I told the kids we had to come up with a vegetable to go with supper. After about a half hour of looking the vegetable we finally settled on was....sausage. No, I've never tried to eliminate meat from my diet and I'm pretty sure any attempt to do so would bring about the apocalypse.
My uncle switched to a vegetarian diet. He has started losing a lot of weight, and his cholesterol has lowered quite a bit. He eats 2-3 cups of veggies at a meal because veggies last longer and don't add too many calories. I myself can't do it, I prefer to eat wild game as it is lower in fats and heathier than farmed meat. You don't even have to hunt to get it anymore, they have places that raise the venison in a natural way so you can still enjoy it. it is less gamey too.
Quote from: "Jmpty"The faux meat products have gotten pretty good. Veggie burgers, hotdogs, and the like are actually tasty. I'm not totally vegetarian, but my wife is. I eat meat maybe once a week. Do it gradually, replace meat with a substitute once a day then twice, etc. My cholesterol dropped 20 points in a year just by cutting back. I'm 54, so if I'm not "late" in life, I'm getting there.
Don't touch faux turkey bacon. Don't. Run, flee. You have been warned. Not even remotely bacon - nope- not even close. Prepare your gag reflex if you don't believe me and buy it anyway. I will weep for you.
Black bean burgers are pretty good - but buy the more expensive ones. The cheaper ones are just horseshit.
(*giggle* I said horse)
Quote from: "Farroc"All it takes is motivation. One day, after eating meat all my life, I suddenly went cold turkey(Pun intended) vegetarian in a house with 4 meat-eaters on a low budget. I've been meat-free for over a year now.
Just think about the lives you'll be saving.
And for those who have a snide comeback to my above comment, you can call me names, but sticks and stones can't hurt me because this is the internet. So haha.
You're like 12. It's a little different for you :P
Quote from: "WitchSabrina"Quote from: "Jmpty"The faux meat products have gotten pretty good. Veggie burgers, hotdogs, and the like are actually tasty. I'm not totally vegetarian, but my wife is. I eat meat maybe once a week. Do it gradually, replace meat with a substitute once a day then twice, etc. My cholesterol dropped 20 points in a year just by cutting back. I'm 54, so if I'm not "late" in life, I'm getting there.
Don't touch faux turkey bacon. Don't. Run, flee. You have been warned. Not even remotely bacon - nope- not even close. Prepare your gag reflex if you don't believe me and buy it anyway. I will weep for you.
Black bean burgers are pretty good - but buy the more expensive ones. The cheaper ones are just horseshit.
(*giggle* I said horse)
I love turkey bacon! Not faux turkey, actual turkey bacon. Yum! And portabello spinach mushroom burgers are the best veggie burgers. Double yum!
Quote from: "Brian37"Damn it, I thought this thread was going to be about lipstick lesbian porn.
and I thought it was Skeletal going straight...
Quote from: "Surrogate"but.....think of all the bacon that you'll be missing out on :(
I do think about it, that's the problem!
Quote from: "Farroc"All it takes is motivation. One day, after eating meat all my life, I suddenly went cold turkey(Pun intended) vegetarian in a house with 4 meat-eaters on a low budget. I've been meat-free for over a year now.
Just think about the lives you'll be saving.
And for those who have a snide comeback to my above comment, you can call me names, but sticks and stones can't hurt me because this is the internet. So haha.
That must have took an amazing amount of willpower on your part. Congrats on doing that. If you guys are wondering I'm not doing it for health reasons. I'm already in pretty good shape and I'm actually worried switching to a vegetarian diet will actually negatively affect my health. I work out a lot and I'm worried it's going to be hard to get the protein I need. I'm mostly doing it for moral reasons. I don't really have a problem with other people doing it and realize it's natural and a necessary source of nutrition for lots of people but since I do have the time and resources for a vegetarian diet I've been having trouble justifying eating meat to myself.
Quote from: "Plu"Quote from: "Farroc"All it takes is motivation. One day, after eating meat all my life, I suddenly went cold turkey(Pun intended) vegetarian in a house with 4 meat-eaters on a low budget. I've been meat-free for over a year now.
Just think about the lives you'll be saving.
And for those who have a snide comeback to my above comment, you can call me names, but sticks and stones can't hurt me because this is the internet. So haha.
You're like 12. It's a little different for you :P
13! And, yes, I suppose that it is a little different for me. But it's not impossible. Albert Einstein became a vegetarian very late in his life.
Quote from: "Plu"Quote from: "Farroc"All it takes is motivation. One day, after eating meat all my life, I suddenly went cold turkey(Pun intended) vegetarian in a house with 4 meat-eaters on a low budget. I've been meat-free for over a year now.
Just think about the lives you'll be saving.
And for those who have a snide comeback to my above comment, you can call me names, but sticks and stones can't hurt me because this is the internet. So haha.
You're like 12. It's a little different for you :P
13! And, yes, I suppose that it is a little different for me. But it's not impossible. Albert Einstein became a vegetarian very late in his life.
I do love me some tofu. But no, I'm almost scared to go veggie. For all the cholesterol and such in some meats, I just bet there's something that's harmful about going full veg for a lifetime.
Quote from: "aitm"Quote from: "Brian37"Damn it, I thought this thread was going to be about lipstick lesbian porn.
and I thought it was Skeletal going straight...
If I went straight then would would all the heteros live their gay lives vicariously through? I have an important duty, dammit.
I'm interested in becoming more veg over time, perhaps going all the way, but it's not high on my priorities list at this time. But definitely interested in this thread to hear any tips and experiences from those who've tried it.
When I was with my vegan ex he tried to get me to go vegan as well (good luck on that ever happening). I tried just about every type of meat substitute there is, and I came to this conclusion: NONE OF THEM TASTE LIKE MEAT!
He even tried tricking me by telling me it was meat, still didn't taste like meat. So yeah, if you're going veg and are very familiar with the taste of meat, I don't suggest using the meat substitutes until you went a while without meat. I could see how, from the flavor, a long time vegetarian might assume it tastes like meat, but to one who has the memory of meat fresh in his/her mind it's not going to taste like meat.
As per things I like: I do like tofu, as long as it's marketed as tofu and cooked as such. I don't want "imitation meat" when looking for tofu, I want fucking tofu.
Yeah. I like fake meat but I don't expect it to taste like meat. I expect it to taste like fake meat. I kind of like it sometimes but I'd rather eat beans or something.
A trap that people on veg diets fall into is eating tons of carbs and dairy. I was veg for 2 years and gained quite a bit of weight.
QuoteI want fucking tofu.
I gotta admit, in over 50 years...thats the first time I have ever heard that.
Quote from: "aitm"QuoteI want fucking tofu.
I gotta admit, in over 50 years...thats the first time I have ever heard that.
Well, tofu can be quite delicious if prepared correctly. You gotta think of it as a "base" food for you to add flavoring to. Cubed, fried, and flavored/seasoned it's really tasty.
Quote from: "The Skeletal Atheist"Quote from: "aitm"QuoteI want fucking tofu.
I gotta admit, in over 50 years...thats the first time I have ever heard that.
Well, tofu can be quite delicious if prepared correctly. You gotta think of it as a "base" food for you to add flavoring to. Cubed, fried, and flavored/seasoned it's really tasty.
yeah, I don't fuckin think so...
:rollin:
I like it baked in orange juice and ginger until it's browned and crispy. It's yummy!
I've thought about doing trial vegetarianism sometime, maybe about a week or a month or so to see if I can survive without sweet, savory murdered animal.
It's not really that bad. You can still eat spaghetti, bean burritos, pizza, french fries. Plenty of salty, greasy food that you can still gobble down if you like.
I think the "fake meat" is really delicious-- but no, it's not that much like meat. It does, however, have a high protein level and adds some texture to your foods.
I've been vegetarian 20 years now, and I have to exercise my ass off to keep my weight down. This year, I've gone from about 210 lbs down to 190, hoping at 170 I'll finally get that 6-pack I've always wanted. But I really don't think being vegetarian helps very much.
Tofu can be tasty if prepared properly, and "fake meat" is the biggest cop-out ever. If you go vegetarian, don't go for fake meat, just make actual vegetarian dishes. If you're a meat eater (like I am) then fake meat will taste just as it's called: fake. And you'll be wondering what made you buy it instead of meat all the time, which is stupid.
Just make dishes that are actually 100% vegetarian. They'll taste better. You'll probably need to pick up a few new recipes, though.
I have the occasional veggie meal as my gf is a vegetarian. However, I'm into a lot of sports, so I need the protein from meat. That said, I tend to go for chicken, fish and eggs rather than red meat - no real issue with red meat, I just prefer the other sources.
I agree with the sentiment about fake meat. Tofu on its own isn't fake anything. It's tofu and it is a damn good thing. But tofurkey? I've never even seen it and the mere thought nauseates me.
The one exception to this is that I love black bean veggie burgers. I had one today, in fact. I think it was from Burger Lounge. And for breakfast, nothing fills me up better than a veggie sausage patty on a biscuit.
Worst veggie thing I've ever had is some sort of mock bacon strips at breakfast one day.
Quote from: "C172"I agree with the sentiment about fake meat. Tofu on its own isn't fake anything. It's tofu and it is a damn good thing. But tofurkey? I've never even seen it and the mere thought nauseates me.
The one exception to this is that I love black bean veggie burgers. I had one today, in fact. I think it was from Burger Lounge. And for breakfast, nothing fills me up better than a veggie sausage patty on a biscuit.
Worst veggie thing I've ever had is some sort of mock bacon strips at breakfast one day.
My ex tried to get me to eat that mock bacon. It's fucking horrible.
Quote from: "C172"Worst veggie thing I've ever had is some sort of mock bacon strips at breakfast one day.
Sacrilege indeed. :x
I like them Mexican-style chilli bean burgers with loads of onions in a big fat granary bun. Yeahh... 8-)
I've tried going meatless. I think I made it for three days once.
Quote from: "C172"Worst veggie thing I've ever had is some sort of mock bacon strips at breakfast one day.
Yeah, I tried that fake bacon stuff one day. It looks, and tastes like that bacon dog food with the stupid commercials. You know, with the hyperactive talking dog. Other than that, all of the vegetarian meats I eat are pretty good to me. Probably just because I haven't had meet in over a year. But, it's the logical thing to do. :)
Beggin' Strips! Ha!!! :rollin: