Going Vegetarian - mentors needed for 30-day trial

[Cielemel]

I was inspired from talking with vegetarians at CGW#5 and learning the heath benefits thy believe the vegetarian diet has enabled for them.

I am now on day three of my new vegetarian diet, though I know very little about vegetarianism except the disregard of meats (and animal products, like eggs? is that right?).

I was inspired at CGW to give myself a 30-day vegetarian trial. Are any of you vegetarians (or anyone, really) willing to be a mentor for me in this experience? I think need two things from a mentor right now:
1) support via texting, and
2) confirmation/recommendations regarding the vegetarian diet as I go through my 30-day trial, to make sure I am eating appropriate foods.

I have two goals:
1) to discover general health and energy benefits of a non-meat diet, and
2) to make a concerted effort to eat more cancer-preventative foods, and avoid foods that encourage cancer recurrence.

If you are willing to assist me on this 30-day journey, feel free to reply in the thread, or send me a direct message with your text address, or text me at 409-835-4782.

My thanks in advance!
Cynthia

[Lakshyayidhi Lakshmihi]

I'm not a vegetarian, though I don't eat much meat on a regular basis - but I really love this website and this vegan cooking show, these are recipes that I actually enjoy eating and I'm not a vegan!
Christina Cooks - Top Selling Vegan Author and Vegan Chef, Vegan Cooking, Vegetarian Cooking, Vegan recipes, Vegetarian Recipes

[36burrows]

Hey Cielemel,

That's great you want to try being vegetarian, I think if you stick it out the full 30 days you will see positive results. I made the switch, and it really is worth it.

You can still eat eggs, yogurt, cheese and the like, only vegans don't eat those items. Vegetarians however, do.

If you're interested, I have a few articles and vegetarian recipes on my website that I think will assist and motivate you. Good luck!

[Weena]

What does your diet look like in general? Do you eat meat on a daily basis? Do you like cooking or are you looking for very quick recipes? Do you like spicy meals or more traditional ones?

I'm a vegetarian but not the kind who wants to convert everyone...however if you are looking for nice recipes I'd be more than happy to share some (based on the kind of cuisine you prefer).

[Gris108]

Hey Cynthia! I too was inspired to begin a 30-day vegetarian trial! Trying a vegetarian diet was something I had been thinking about even before attending CGW. My diet in the past few months have been about 60 percent vegetarian. While in Vegas I didnt not eat any meat and tried vegetarian foods when eating out. I had planned on officially beginning this trial next week just to give me a little time to research recipes.

I have always been a bit underweight for most of my life. I can lose weight very easily but its very difficult to gain. However, for the last couple of years I have been able to maintain my ideal weight. When I left for Vegas I was about 120lbs and when I returned home I weighed in at 115 I am now feeling a bit discouraged to begin this trial. Maybe I will start having protein shakes...

[Dezarae]

I'm a vegan, but currently on a 30 day healing fast, so don't want to get too deep into the food topic, but a GREAT resource for vegan and vegetarian recipies is vegweb.com

I've found a lot of delicious recipies there that you should really enjoy!! I've been vegetarian most of my life, but felt AMAZING after the switch to veganism. Not surprising as most people have some trouble with dairy/bloating. I wish you success on your vegetarian trial.

[aelle]

I am a vegan and a foodie. I'd love to suggest recipes if you let me know what kinds of food you are interested in (and your cooking skills and equipment, your time constraints etc.)

[votoshka]

Actually aelle I could do with some good vegan recipes... I consider myself "vegetarian" but ultimately I don't want to eat dairy or eggs... but sometimes I find myself eating some because I'm not quite satisfied by the other stuff I'm eating (I even get to the point of feeling sort of faint and not with it...which I think may come from not eating enough!)

[aelle]

Originally Posted by votoshka

Actually aelle I could do with some good vegan recipes... I consider myself "vegetarian" but ultimately I don't want to eat dairy or eggs... but sometimes I find myself eating some because I'm not quite satisfied by the other stuff I'm eating (I even get to the point of feeling sort of faint and not with it...which I think may come from not eating enough!)

Sweet! What kinds of foods would you like that you can't figure out how to make vegan? Baked goods? Cheezy spreads? Quick fatty filling things that could replace an omelette?

Oh by the way, November is the international vegan month of food, and plenty of food bloggers are sharing recipes daily. Check it out! Vegan MoFo Headquarters International

[votoshka]

Originally Posted by aelle

Sweet! What kinds of foods would you like that you can't figure out how to make vegan? Baked goods? Cheezy spreads? Quick fatty filling things that could replace an omelette?

Oh by the way, November is the international vegan month of food, and plenty of food bloggers are sharing recipes daily. Check it out! Vegan MoFo Headquarters International

Oh gosh, I'm just looking for anything tasty and filling! I am trying to eat as much raw as possible, but I also have a hankering for quick filling things that are tasty, and the occasional baked good!

[irunthereforeiam]

Hello Cynthia,
I can share my insights and help you in your journey. I'm about 80-90% raw on any given day. Would love to help you in some aspects of this journey.
Drop a private message and we can chat about this - if you are interested.
Thanks

[Dezarae]

If you're feeling tired on a vegan diet, make sure you're including lots of beans and legumes into your diet. Man I love a good pot of chili full of all different kinds of beans and spices. Yum!

[Andrew Gubb]

I'd be glad to help you out. The only thing is I can't do texts cause I'm not in USA, but I can do any other means of communication. (Skype, chat etc).

To be honest I think it's not hard - there's very little you need to know - but having someone to assuage your doubts can be helpful.

Love and light

Andrew

[Kosmos]

Originally Posted by Dezarae

, but a GREAT resource for vegan and vegetarian recipies is vegweb.com

I second this. I think vegweb.com is the best on line source for vegan recipes. You can find there a great variety of delicious vegan food, with ingredients that are easy to find and instructions that are easy to follow. And you can also read the reviews for most of the recipes. I know you're only trying to eat vegetarian but you can enjoy vegan food without too much change. Give it a shot!!

Good luck, Cielemel! And please tell us how is your trial going.

[AndrewJen]

I did the 30 day trial after I read Steve's post a couple years ago, the 30 days actually turned into 90 days without much thought, and then very limited meat consumption thereafter.

Lately I've been eating meat regularly again, but I did abstained for about 3 weeks in October and the benefits were soon remembered, so I'm transitioning back.

So don't be surprised if you feel so great after the 30 days you'd like to keep going, I really encourage you too, I think personally I will continue eating fish, though.

[pou]

From experience I can tell you that based on your regular diet, you should find out what nutrients you will be lacking after you give up meat.

When I went vegetarian year and a half ago, I didn't give it that much thought, I just didn't eat meat. After a month or so I started to become very tired for no apparent reason.

Looking back I was probably lacking protein, vitamins and minerals that I had gotten from meat before.

So you should be packing legumes, nuts and seeds.

Avocado, pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds go well with salads. They add quality protein. Especially hemp is rich of nutrients.

It's good to add new things gradually to your diet.

[Cielemel]

Wow, awesome link, Lakshyayidhi. Christina Pirello became an expert in cooking with whole foods to recover from an advanced stage of cancer. Exactly what I need to be reading, and with recipes to boot! Thanks!

[Cielemel]

Cool website, Sean, thanks!

[Cielemel]

Originally Posted by Weena

What does your diet look like in general? Do you eat meat on a daily basis? Do you like cooking or are you looking for very quick recipes? Do you like spicy meals or more traditional ones?

Ahhhh, good questions.

Yes, I ate meat pretty much every day, so this is quitting cold-turkey (even I have to roll my eyes at that pun).

My diet and cooking vary tremendously depending on my location. I spend a lot of time with my parents, and my mom loves to cook good hearty midwest meals (key elements being a meat, a vegetable, and some type of potatoes), which my dad loves to eat. It is going to be exceedingly difficult to maintain the vegetarian thing at their house for Thanksgiving. I'm a bit afraid of telling my mom I'm trying vegetarianism, actually, because she'll get all stressed out wondering what the heck to cook if I'm not eating meat.

Other than with my parents, I'm pretty much an on-the-go person, always working or doing something, cooking not being one of the somethings I make much time to do. I don't think there's a single meal I prepare for myself that involves more than 30 minutes of effort.

So, though all the recipes and stuff people are recommending seem really useful, I'm wondering if I shouldn't find a more simple focus, since converting to spending any significant amount of time cooking involves a much more complicated 30-day trial adjusting all kinds of points of time-consumption that I would surely fail from trying to change too many things at once.

Darn. You would not think this would be a difficult trial, but it's only been what, six days, and I'm definitely having difficulty with what has turned out to actually be a pretty massive diet shift. I may have to break this down into baby steps. I didn't put a lot of thought into the "how" on this one, I was mostly acting on inspiration in the moment.

[aelle]

Originally Posted by Cielemel

My diet and cooking vary tremendously depending on my location. I spend a lot of time with my parents, and my mom loves to cook good hearty midwest meals (key elements being a meat, a vegetable, and some type of potatoes), which my dad loves to eat. It is going to be exceedingly difficult to maintain the vegetarian thing at their house for Thanksgiving. I'm a bit afraid of telling my mom I'm trying vegetarianism, actually, because she'll get all stressed out wondering what the heck to cook if I'm not eating meat.

Alright, Cielmel, now we can get to work! If you were a big meat person, using some substitution products every now and then will probably help you get through your cravings and reproduce comfort food the way you know them.

You can buy them ready made, or if you want to know what goes into your food you can make them from scratch.

Some homemade "fake meats" (I'm not a fan of the word, for me they are foods on their own!) I enjoy:

- bean balls, to use in spagghetti or subs
- chickpea cutlets
- tofu steak

The first 2, I like to make big batches on a Sunday afternoon and then freeze. This way when I have no time to cook on a busy week night I can simply pop them in the oven and be ready in 10 minutes.

Other than with my parents, I'm pretty much an on-the-go person, always working or doing something, cooking not being one of the somethings I make much time to do. I don't think there's a single meal I prepare for myself that involves more than 30 minutes of effort.

Then I would recommend making spreads like hummus, guacamole, refried beans, bean dip and nut cheeses because they are so easy to make healthy sandwiches with. Hummus is definitely one of my staple foods!

But you're right that there is a learning curve, and you shouldn't take too much on your plate (ha) during your first month. Don't put yourself off of cooking and veg food by taking on more work than you can achieve. What I would do if i were you is find 2 or 3 staple foods that fit your criteria - easy and quick, that you enjoy eating - and rely on these on a regular basis while you learn about the rest at your own rhythm. Something that's both rich in protein and iron would probably work best, so I'd recommend something based on lentils or kidney beans.

Good luck!

[Andrew Gubb]

I would mention my own view here a moment - i believe that humans are not made to be carnivores and so, we don't need to imitate meat in what we eat. aiming to get high levels of iron, protein etc isn't necessary. meat has too much protein for humans and as for minerals and so on, vegetable foods have as much or more.

this philosophy works for me, I never ate anything special to counter percieved nutritional deficiencies in the vegan diet, not even B12, and i feel great, much better than before. i wouldn't recommend people copy me without thinking but i think it's worth challenging the idea that our diets need to be so much like meat eating diets in the first place - perhaps a good book to start with if you want to explore what i've been suggesting is "the china study" or "the 80/10/10 diet".

[Cielemel]

Originally Posted by aelle

Alright, Cielmel, now we can get to work! If you were a big meat person, using some substitution products every now and then will probably help you get through your cravings and reproduce comfort food the way you know them.

Wow, Aelle, thanks so much! I think your specific suggestions will be very helpful. I have definitely had cravings for meat multiple times in this first week of my vegetarian trial, so for me it is good to know what kind of things I can "substitute" for meat to alleviate the craving.

I never smoked, but I'm pretty sure this experience is, on a smaller scale, very much like overcoming nicotine addiction and quitting smoking. So, Aelle, thank you for giving me a patch!

[Cielemel]

Originally Posted by Andrew Gubb

I think it's worth challenging the idea that our diets need to be so much like meat eating diets in the first place.

I expect to think very much like you in the long term, actually.

[moonrambler]

Originally Posted by Cielemel

My diet and cooking vary tremendously depending on my location. I spend a lot of time with my parents, and my mom loves to cook good hearty midwest meals (key elements being a meat, a vegetable, and some type of potatoes), which my dad loves to eat. It is going to be exceedingly difficult to maintain the vegetarian thing at their house for Thanksgiving. I'm a bit afraid of telling my mom I'm trying vegetarianism, actually, because she'll get all stressed out wondering what the heck to cook if I'm not eating meat.

When I quit eating meat, it was right before Thanksgiving, and my mom pitched a fit about how my grandma would be so hurt if I didn't eat any turkey and stuffing. I decided that to prevent that, I would be stuffing myself with all the other food on the table, as there was always a ton of other stuff. (stuff!) I do not know how it is at your parents' place, but Thanksgiving everywhere I go seems to have abundant vegetable dishes, plus I always bring something as well.

Oh, and I don't think my grandma gave a rip that I didn't eat any turkey at Thanksgiving anymore. She appeared to think that I was a complete moron for making such a decision

[theorique]

I'd be interested in getting involved with you on this project.

I've been vegetarian for a total of about 6 years, vegan for the last two years. Send me a message at my web site describing what you'd like and I can send you some encouraging texts over the next month.

[JTP]

I'n not a full vegetarian though, as the environment is quite hard for me to go for full veg, since everywhere is meat. But I'll always try to eat less meat.

It's better for health though, also for the Earth and the livings.

[Cielemel]

OK, So! The vegetarian thing went to a raw thing yesterday, though today I want something more substantial than fruit so I'm going to go back to just vegetarian.

BUT! Yesterday morning and today I've been so energized I'm bouncing off the walls like I've had eight cups of tea in ten minutes. Besides the vegetarian thing, I've been doing both morning and evening meditation (I got a taste for it with the morning meditation group at CGW5, which was my first real meditation experience), and I think that's helping my energy and enthusiasm a lot too, I feel like I'm just radiating love into the cosmos, and everyone I see and smile at seems energized by it. Strangers come to talk to me when I'm looking at artwork or a fountain, instead of me initiating friendliness. Almost always it's because I offer to take their photo, at least here in Vegas.

But it's cool, I'm starting to feel healthier too with the revised diet, and feeling healthier is going to make it a lot easier to get through the whole 30-day trial! Which includes Thanksgiving, maybe. Probably. My mom will get over it if I don't eat the turkey.

"To infinity, and beyond!" - Buck Rogers, Toy Story