# Being a Vegetarian



## rmlhhd (May 3, 2015)

Hello All,


From tomorrow I'm going to try and become a vegetarian because of the health benefits linked to being one.


The past week or so I've been successful at being meat-free while at work and feel that I could do this all the time although we'll have to see how that works out.


Are any of you vegetarian? If so when did you decide to change and did you find it hard?


If your not vegetarian have you considered becoming one? If so why didn't you?


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## mitgib (May 3, 2015)

After watching forks over knives I really try to avoid eating animal products, but cheese is my devil to avoid, I just love it so much.

I turned 51 this year, so I'd really like to keep waking up each morning is my driving factor


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## MannDude (May 3, 2015)

I've not got the willpower to change my diet that drastically but did live in a house with a bunch of vegan and vegetarian room mates in the past. That was pretty cool, because they wouldn't eat my meat product food but also because they'd always cook amazing vegetarian or vegan meals that were really tasty and share some. I _like_ the food, but I'm not certain I could eat like that all the time... lot of food preparation and cooking and to be honest that is something I'm neither good at or have the time to do. I do cook a lot more than I used to but my meal preparations are stupid simple and usually contain meat of some kind.

I do however try to get locally sourced meat and eggs though. I've got a lot of deer meat in my fridge, try to buy farm fresh eggs (Though have store bought ones now...) and would always rather purchase meat from non-factory farm sources and without added nitrates and additives. That is why I like fresh meat that was hunted (like the deer I have in the freezer).

While I understand some will disagree, I do believe that every man should know not only how to hunt an animal, but also how to clean, prepare and cook one. I believe that is something every man should know how to do just like I believe everyone should know how to make an emergency shelter or fire if need be.


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## drmike (May 3, 2015)

I've been vegetarian for a quarter of a century.

I got off meat to control health, internal distress, etc.  Had good results eliminating meat from diet and were quickly realized.  I also recalled all those years - at a young age going to a butcher shop where they prepared whole animals around Passover time and the disgusting smell of death.  

Remember most edible things out there aren't made out of creatures with eyeballs.

Big population chunk of India is and has been vegetarian for a long long time (they do consume butter - ghee and milk byproducts).

If you take up vegetarian eating, you have to supplement.  There are some necessary things your diet will be absent that come from flesh-only.

Going vegan is really hard.  I did that for 5 years.  No pizza, no cheese on this and that.   There are alternative cheeses today that are pretty good, but they cost.



mitgib said:


> After watching forks over knives I really try to avoid eating animal products, but cheese is my devil to avoid, I just love it so much.


Good movie  Glad to see it mentioned somewhere more mainstream. Shows up in circles of already-converted mainly.


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## KeithVP (May 4, 2015)

I've tried being a vegetarian on so many occasions and have been unsuccessful thus far. Any tips?


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## MannDude (May 4, 2015)

KeithVP said:


> I've tried being a vegetarian on so many occasions and have been unsuccessful thus far. Any tips?



Go read "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. 

That almost did it for me in High School


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## MartinD (May 4, 2015)

Personally, I don't think it's natural.

I'm not saying people should be clamping their jaws on a carcass every meal time but an element of meat in your diet (be it red, white or fish) is a good thing.. and what we were designed to consume.


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## HalfEatenPie (May 4, 2015)

mitgib said:


> After watching forks over knives I really try to avoid eating animal products, but cheese is my devil to avoid, I just love it so much.
> 
> I turned 51 this year, so I'd really like to keep waking up each morning is my driving factor


I thought...  Jimmy Johns!!!


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## drmike (May 4, 2015)

KeithVP said:


> I've tried being a vegetarian on so many occasions and have been unsuccessful thus far. Any tips?


Usually people fail quick due to meat-centric up bringing and idea that nutrition revolves solely around meat. The concept is pretty common in the upper income world where the luxury of meat is apparent (often with alarmingly poor and poisoned meat at that).

Meat focus needs adjusted to make transition work.  Definitely looking at more prep / cooking time.    

So I'd go check the grocer for meat-transition foods.  Meat like patties, fake chicken, etc.  There is nearly every imitation meat one could imagine.  They however are mostly not so great for you foods.  Lots of GMO soy and lots of grain filler in these products (eat all those grains and you too could become a cow fattened for slaughter).

PS: plant a garden.

Buy a crockpot / slow cooker.  Start making simple and lazy stews, soups, sauces.  That's my response to the mass laziness of most meat cooking from the veg side.  Pick up an Indian cookbook on the cheap for veg ideas that aren't bland veg that one really can say flavor wise don't suck.

I highly recommend juicing too.   Juice is much easier to get mass nutrition down the throat, without chomping apples all day like a horse.

Finally get a steamer for veg.  They make all sorts - simplest is a basket that goes inside stove top pot.  Steamed veg can be really simple and effective with some sides of quality WHOLE GRAIN rice spiced up and some random sauces one has made and stashed in the fridge.


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## drmike (May 4, 2015)

HalfEatenPie said:


> I thought...  Jimmy Johns!!!


Jimmy John's the sandwich place right?  Been a decade since I've been in one.  They make a really respectable veggie sandwich with avocado and sprouts on it. Was reasonably priced back then and good quality.

We need more veg options in the US chains.  Options aren't so great still and there are quite a few people on alterna diets these days (Keto, organic, gluten free, vegheads, vegans, etc.)


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## tk-hassan (May 5, 2015)

I don't see myself being a vegetarian for more than couple of days. I love to eat meat which is the king of food. Eating vegetables is no doubt great for health but you should also add some meat in your food as well at least couple of times a week.


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## HalfEatenPie (May 5, 2015)

drmike said:


> Jimmy John's the sandwich place right?  Been a decade since I've been in one.  They make a really respectable veggie sandwich with avocado and sprouts on it. Was reasonably priced back then and good quality.
> 
> We need more veg options in the US chains.  Options aren't so great still and there are quite a few people on alterna diets these days (Keto, organic, gluten free, vegheads, vegans, etc.)


Haha yeah.  I remember their Beach Club sub they had.  Alfalfa, Turkey, Avocado, cheese, lettuce, the whole deal.  I love that shop.


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## SentinelTower (May 8, 2015)

I have seen a documentary the other day about vegans.

While some aspects seems appealing, it seems that you have to be really cautious about getting enough vitamins that you naturally get from meat. That's too much of a hassle for me.


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## drmike (May 8, 2015)

SentinelTower said:


> I have seen a documentary the other day about vegans.
> 
> While some aspects seems appealing, it seems that you have to be really cautious about getting enough vitamins that you naturally get from meat. That's too much of a hassle for me.


Well, it's a false deficiency perception.

Like 'normal' diets, you have folks that eat very poorly (junk food, too much filler, sugar, etc.).

Vegans I've known have mainly been uber health focused.  Think diverse eating and lots of veg, juicing, actual food preparation, etc.

Vitamin and nutrient deficiency is an epidemic in the US, even though lousy animal feed most eat is 'fortified'.  Read they dump mainly waste byproduct into food stuffs to add nutrients since the core ingredients are cheap, inferior and waste streams suitable for animal food in fattening farms rather than humans.

That said, there is a B vitamin or two absent in a vegan diet. 

Benefits of vegan diet when done in conjunction with properly grown veg and fruits is pretty superior though.

Regardless of which diet you adhere to in the "industrialized nations" you need to be on nutrition supplementation.  Humans like all animals eat for nutrition, not for stomach fullness.  Problem is lying arse mega corps have messed eating all up.  Turned it into another entertainment experience and stripped all understanding and education from it.

A hungry stomach is not an indication of a lack of food unless you haven't eaten.   If you eat and need to always eat more, odds are you are eating food that is lacking nutrients.  Plants can grown with three main nutrients N-P-K.  Doesn't mean they grow complete or properly.  Means to your eyeballs they look alright.

Since farmers don't grow these days on glacial washed and spring flooded valleys, there isn't any nutrition (well VERY little traces at best) in most fields.  That's why they N-P-K dump on fields in the spring.  They may dump powdered lime also... Beyond that, average farm isn't bringing in nutrient pools for the batch of crops.

Therefore what you and the geniuses in government think is the nutrient breakdown of a tomato is very different from what you are actually buying in the average market.  I am constantly surprised at how many folks hate vegetables and are amazed at what such actually tastes like when grown in a better way.


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## SentinelTower (May 9, 2015)

drmike said:


> Well, it's a false deficiency perception.
> 
> Like 'normal' diets, you have folks that eat very poorly (junk food, too much filler, sugar, etc.).
> 
> ...



In the documentary they were getting the B vitamin from toothpaste.

And this is exactly the point, the vegans are really aware about what they eat, what they get from each type of vegetable and fruit, etc. While with a "normal" diet, by eating diversely you get pretty much all you need (and probably too much of some) without thinking too hard.

You are probably right for the empty vegetable shells. Besides the way they are grown, there is also the problem of storage; some apples are bathed in chemicals to make them look good for months while the inside is loosing all the nutrients by the time you eat them.

It's always the same triangle : Cost - Quality - Delivery


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## raindog308 (May 10, 2015)

drmike said:


> Vegans I've known have mainly been uber health focused.


There are vegan bodybuilders and they are ripped.  

(Then again, bodybuilders are already obsessed and the ones I've known are generally eating 90% of their calories from super-scientific formulas anyway.  I read an interview with Jay Cutler and for months all he ate was orange roughy, steel cut oats, and lots of whey/casein protein shakes.  Well and steroids...)

I will probably never be a vegetarian...I mean, vegetables are what food eats, right?


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## stim (May 12, 2015)

I've mostly stopped eating meat, not out of any health consideration, but because of quality concerns. I refuse to buy meat in the supermarket, or touch any meat that has been processed. It's off-the-bone or not at all for me. 

Last year, a range of products in UK/Ireland were tested and lots of them turned out to contain horse DNA. A guy was just convicted in Holland of knowingly supplied 'knackers-yard' horses from Romania, and selling them to food producers as beef. Funny thing is, the name of his company - Draap - is the Dutch word for horse spelled backwards.

I've moved to eating fish. Much healthier, and I've found some tasty varieties.


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## drmike (May 12, 2015)

stim said:


> I've mostly stopped eating meat, not out of any health consideration, but because of quality concerns. I refuse to buy meat in the supermarket, or touch any meat that has been processed. It's off-the-bone or not at all for me.
> 
> Last year, a range of products in UK/Ireland were tested and lots of them turned out to contain horse DNA. A guy was just convicted in Holland of knowingly supplied 'knackers-yard' horses from Romania, and selling them to food producers as beef. Funny thing is, the name of his company - Draap - is the Dutch word for horse spelled backwards.
> 
> I've moved to eating fish. Much healthier, and I've found some tasty varieties.


As I recall, Aldi was proven to have used horse meat in some of their premade foods.  They blamed it on their supplier, claiming they outsource such and clearly have no quality controls or inspection protocols.

Horse meat is fairly common in much of the world.

If you aren't buying meat from a butcher processing whole animals on-site you are subject to be eating who knows what.  Those of you eating hot dogs and sausages likely won't be happy with what you are getting in such.   A local butcher is part of a sustainable local community, as is a local baker, local grain mill, etc.  Perhaps we can bring these things back instead of corporate who knows what fun in a plastic wrapper.

Fish is better perhaps.  Depends on where you are and local/regional industrial waste and run off.  I wouldn't be eating such in Japan or much of the northern Pacific.  I stopped buying sea vegetables from such waters and many health companies who source from there have switched to supplies from the Northern Atlantic.


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## iWF-Jacob (May 19, 2015)

I was raised pescatarian, however mostly vegetarian. My SO has been slowly building chicken and other poultry products in to our meals, however for the most part I still remain vegetarian -- chicken is rather bland, nothing excites me about it.


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