The Vegetarian & Vegan Thread

[leeyone]

well, since the only meat i really eat is chicken, and the occasional pepperoni pizza, i don't think it would be hard for me to become vegetarian. i just gotta use my will power to get me through this! but i don't think i can be vegan. i like cheese and chocolate milk too much.

edit: oops i pressed submit before i was even finished.

anyway, this thread really got me excited. i hope i see a change in my health and body and energy and mind when i do this. i'm doing this to lose weight, but also i've been really tired and my skin breaks out from fried chickien a lot. no more fast food chicken burgers for me!

Even just quitting on fastfood is good enough. Lol. I ate cheese today and I forgot how wonderful it really tastes. Maybe i'll stay vegetarian for a while. I really love cheese on my lettuce. lol!

 

[adi]

Also, look for vegetarian recipe books. There are LOTS of 'em around.

i'm actually making my mom to buy few

 

[FrockRadar8]

Leeyone is exactly right. Cutting fast fodo out makes a world of a difference. I remember losing 20 lbs from quitting taco bell for a summer, moderate exercise, and eating healthier vegetarian foods, not just "stuff with no meat"

 

[Erin]

Wet 'n Wild used to have this awesome body bronzing gel...I think it was discontinued a year or two back, because they had a bunch of them on clearance... but that stuff was so cheap and effective.

 

[fashionista-ta]

marisaidwhat, I was just reading today about how non-organic chicken feed includes arsenic, and when 90 fast food chicken items were tested, every last one had arsenic. You may find this tidbit encouraging as you give it up

 

[Erin]

^ Ugh... that made my stomach turn....

 

[funkyflamingo]

i am vegetarian, and trying to get food in some resturants its hard suh as mcdonalds, or applebees. But tacobell is awesome

 

[lostinemotion]

i just made a salad, and strangely, i cut everything really thin. i used cucumber, radish, carrots, tomato etc and basically used a carrot peeler for those veggies and then used a lettuce mix. i could def taste the vegetables more and i didn't have to use as many. sometimes i think i over do it. lol.

 

[marisaidwhat]

thanks for the responses guys.

leeyone - lol, cheese is great isn't it? yeah, my mom said something similar about fast food... that giving it up will make a difference alone.

frockradar8 - i'm glad you said that, about "eating healthier vegetarian foods, not just "stuff with no meat"" because i think that's where i mess up. meat is out of my diet, but things like heavy pastas and pastries are still in it, which doesn't really help out much.

fashionista-ta - that's gross. i don't even know what arsenic is but i know its a chemical on the periodic table that's darn close to being toxic like mercury. and then my chem teacher told me today that a lot of fast foods are injected with hormones. double .

does anyone know any websites that have veg recipes? i want to try some free recipes out before i splurge on a book, lol.

 

[Bonchic]

i just made a salad, and strangely, i cut everything really thin. i used cucumber, radish, carrots, tomato etc and basically used a carrot peeler for those veggies and then used a lettuce mix. i could def taste the vegetables more and i didn't have to use as many. sometimes i think i over do it. lol.

my mom likes eating a chopped salad because the regular salads are hard for her to eat. She just chops everything in her salad up small. I like the idea of using a vegetable peeler though! I will have to try that

 

[leeyone]

Marisaidwhat and to other people who are interested, here are some websites with vegetarian recipes:

www.vegetarian.allrecipes.com
www.recipesource.com/special-diets/vegetarian
www.vrg.org/recipes
www.ivu.org/recipes
www.vegweb.com

Really great selections there!!!

I'll hunt for more.

 

[adi]

wow thanks for those leeyone!

 

[Sweets]

there was some discussion about this a few pages back... i thought this was interesting, found on www.vegsource.com (i'm not saying this is my exact opinion, but i'm always up for healthy debate)


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What If Plants Feel Pain?[/FONT]

I was a vegetarian for years and finally went vegan earlier this year. My roommate and boyfriend did also. We all share the same beliefs and are very supportive of each other. I am a bit more active when it comes to discussing the issue of veganism and the reasons behind it with others. My question is this -- many people have been responding to what I say with questions about plants, such as What if plants feel pain? This seems far fetched to me, but these people seem to see this as a justification for eating meat, dairy, and products containing animal ingredients. Is there anything I can say with proof to back me up on this? I see it as an excuse to make them feel better, but I just don't see the logic there.

All living creatures consume other living things in order to survive. This is a basic fact of life. Unlike many other animals, however, human beings have a choice about what they eat. For vegans, this choice hinges on the issue of sentience, which is easily ascertained by using plain observation and common sense.
There is no scientific reason to believe that plants bring a consciousness or psychological presence to the world. Plants do not have a brain or central nervous system. Therefore, they lack the fundamental mechanisms to experience pleasure, pain, and suffering. Fear and pain would serve no purpose in plants because they are unable to escape any threat.
Any rational person understands the striking difference between slitting the throat of a sentient animal and plucking a fruit or vegetable. Conscionable people are repulsed by animal slaughter; no one is revolted by gleaning crops. Even if there were grounds for acknowledging a sensate component of plants, vegans consume far fewer resources, including plants, than either people on a meat-based diet or vegetarians who eat eggs and dairy products.
Although vegans could theoretically consume just the fruit of plants instead of whole plants, minute life in the soil, air, and water would still be destroyed. In fact, merely by participating in most activities of modern life we inadvertently harm others -- by walking on the Earth, building roads, using resources found below the Earth's surface, driving cars, erecting buildings, burning wood, or planting flowers, among many, many others. Even the acts of breathing, blinking, and swallowing can decimate tiny life forms.
So, do we just give up? No, of course not. Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that vegan perfection is not only unattainable and impractical but that striving for it detracts from the true purpose of "ahimsa" -- alleviating suffering by doing the least harm and the most good. The unfounded rationalization that plants may feel pain would be an absurd justification for the needless killing of obviously sentient beings.
On the other hand, this does not mean that vegans should wantonly destroy plant life. The intention to injure, damage, or kill violates basic vegan principles. Plants are an essential component of staying alive and remaining healthy. Knowing this, vegans are obliged to grow and use food responsibly, restore and replenish the Earth (through composting, recycling, and other environmentally-caring ways), buy sustainably produced commodities, and take only what is needed.
Meat eaters often like to goad vegans with "the plant question." It is a convenient way to deflect attention and guilt about their own violent eating habits and transfer the focus onto the person who has chosen a more peaceful, if less conventional, path. By putting the vegan on the defensive, meat eaters can feel less pressure to justify their own indefensible behavior.
In general, people who pose this type of question are trying to rile the vegan more than they are seeking to understand vegan ethics. Maintaining a clear understanding of the significance of vegan practice and being aware of the person's underlying motives will help you to formulate an appropriate response.

 

[tott]

Well... I don't think we need a debate about the moral aspects, but at the same time I'm biting your bait...

I avoid eating meat and dairies. I love fish, I'm not about to give that up. I am obviously not a true vegetarian, but I could eat vegan and be happy.

I buy and wear leather/fur shoes, accessories, bags, jackets... Call me callous if you like...

 

[Sweets]

haha i loved how the pun of "biting your bait" tied in with your love of fish, twas cute... my post mainly had to do with meat eaters, and their relentless "plants have feelings too!" comments.. which i'm pretty sure are purely to annoy

 

[kisa]

I'm a meat eater, and I don't make "plants have feelings too" comments.

I don't know much about vegan foods, but I have one friend who has been vegan for a year or two and is switching to vegetarianism. BUT the BEST vegetarian food is ....

FAKE-BEEF BURRITOS!!!!

 

[ShuggaStiletto]

I have been very sick lately, diagnosis is migraines and vocal chord disorder, but that doesn't explain how sick I am! Sucks being out of high school for months on end. Buut they put me on a dairy free diet to see if that helps (sore throats caused from acid reflux..or protein deficiency or something in the actual lining of esophagus) soo I can't eat any any ANYTHING with dairy! So I figured if I'm thinking of going vegan this could be a good step. I have to start no dairy, cold turkey tomorrow and see if it works for 2 wks. If it works or if I feel better w/o eating dairy, I'll slowly cut out meat. I hate to think of how horrible the dairy/meat industries are, and I think I"ll do more research before I actually do it all, but I think that's the way I'm going!


I"m actually kind of thankful I have to go on this diet for medical reasons..because it's monitered by doctors and I have to follow through, so I'm much less likely to cheat!

 

[tott]

my post mainly had to do with meat eaters, and their relentless "plants have feelings too!" comments.. which i'm pretty sure are purely to annoy

I just skimmed your original post, sorry...

Absolutely true, purely to annoy. Animals are clearly alive and obviously feel pain, but plants...? It has been shown that they react to stimulus, but what that reaction *means* to plants is not known afaik...

Hope it works for you so you get better Shugga!

 

[Sweets]

good luck shugga, on topic of dairy... i always find it funny when people are grossed out by soy milk "whats that made of?? soybeans?! shocking!", just think about where dairy comes from, thats right a cows udder... soybeans-moojuice?-soybeans-secreted from a cow? which one seems more disgusting?

 

[chanelnumber5]

ive been vegetarian since i was 7, so 8 years now . i dont even remember the taste of meat at all! my mums vegetarian and i think that helps she is an amazing cook too, and has loads of vegetarian recpie books so shes never short of ideas. In the UK i think were quite lucky as there is quite alot of choice in meat alternatives e.g. there is quorn, linda McCartney stuff, caludron etc. i sometimes have trouble eating abrord, like when i went with school to france, all i got was bread and brie for lunch and pasta with vegetables for dinner, which for 3 days in a row is pretty repetetive. i would like to be vegan but my mum wouldnt let me, i get little calcium anyway without cutting out milk. and (this may sound really bad) but i like cheese and chocolate and eggs to much!!i only eat free range eggs, so i geuss that doesnt make it as bad and i try to eat fairtrade organic chocolate.