Vegetarians

Any vegetarians here?

Yeppers!

One here. Lacto Ovo.
Used to be strict vegan - no white flour / no sugar etc...

Yeppers!
How long have you been one and why?

Originally posted by ma1939
How long have you been one and why?

When I was 17 I met a guy who was a vegetarian musician in Vista California. We spent time together, played music(REM/Janes Addiction/Frank Zappa/Captain Beefheart/etc) and I ended up pregnant right before my 18th birthday.

I was NOT a vegetarian and used to make fun of the bland food he used to eat.. I mean we are talking just plain baked tempeh on a piece of bread with sprouts etc...

So we moved to Oregon right after finding out I was pregnant. I knew NOONE. He knew one person so we were totally making a fresh start for the most part. His friend and his then girlfriend were vegetarians so it was 3 to 1. They were totally radical and "preachy" about the whole thing too, and were appauled I would eat meat while pregnant. HAHA

When I think back on it now, it must have been kind of comical how all our conversations went, but I got tired of always eating different especially because we were pretty poor so vegetarian food lends itself to our budget more anyway.

So I cut out beef and pork and ate chicken til I was about 5 months pregnant and then I went totally vegan.

That was in 1990. I have been in Oregon ever since and I have lots of pictures of the food we were making in the country way back when. Hot Springs - Vegan Food - Homebrew - Good Friends! We ground our own grain, brewed our own beer, I made my own tofu raviolis and canned fruits and vegetables from the garden.

We were living the lifestyle... Thanksgiving was lentil loaf with fresh homemade bread, 3 types of salad, mashed potatoes and gravy etc...
Back then there was only one or two types of soymilk you could purchase and vanilla hadn't even come out yet, it was just plain. Gross Nasty Stuff. No such thing as Veggie Ham/Bacon/Tofurky/Ribs/Chicken/Corndogs etc...

Then the variety became so much greater and I started going more with convenience type foods as I got busier and busier.

My son is now 13 and he has chosen to eat some chicken this past year and I support that decision although I won't touch the stuff myself. I told him long ago that I CHOSE to raise him vegan (we began doing dairy about 3 years ago) and that if he ever wanted to do something different I would support him, and I have. I can cook about 3 different dishes and he seems satisfied w/ those 3.

His dad and I split up a couple years after Stephen was born, however he remains close and we still have many dinners together and its like things have not really changed in that regard.

I am not an animal activist although I must admit it makes me disgusted to think of how vile the meat industry is and how poorly animals are treated.
I do not hold meat eating against anyone because well quite frankly I grew up on it and I now cook it for my son.

So that's my condensed story.

How bout yourself? Why the thread and what is your story in that regards?

:)

Moderators, is it possible for you to move this thread to "Health Chat?" I meant to post it there originally.

Yo Ma... (not yo yo ma... just Yo Ma!) I was getting paranoid..

You gonna answer the question or did I give away my vegetarianism for no reason ;)

*wink

Originally posted by First Love
Yo Ma... (not yo yo ma... just Yo Ma!)

Did i hear yo yo ma?
http://www.allstarz.org/yoyoma/010.jpg
:D

could've been worse...you could've said yo ma ma:cool:

Originally posted by manofmisteree
Did i hear yo yo ma?
http://www.allstarz.org/yoyoma/010.jpg
:D

could've been worse...you could've said yo ma ma:cool:

Ok Mano...

You know how I feel about Yo Yo (dont you?)

He is like the stud of studs.. he is like the coolest of coolest..he brings me to tears...

Much respect

Moi!

I have been a vegetarian for 34 years. Of course, the term vegetarian is arbitrary. I take it to mean no meat, no fish, no fowl, no reptile, no human (well, uh, never mind), no insect, etc. nor any extract thereof. I eat milk products, but only cheese produced without rennet or any other animal enzyme. I occasionally eat eggs from vegetarian, cage- and hormone- and antibiotic-free chickens.

Yo, I agree that Ma (the ma-estro one) is incredible. So, how about our Ageless ma? Is he a vegetarian?

No, I'm not a vegetarian. I say that only because I still occasionally eat fish and eggs. I've cut all other forms of meat out of my diet. I've been trying to adopt a complete vegetarian diet since I was in high school. My original reasons for wanting to do so were health-related.

In college, I was a member of the Animal Defense League. During one of their meetings, they showed a documentary about factory farming in the U.S. It was absolutely the most grusome film I had ever seen (I actually felt nauseous after watching it), and it made me vow to adopt a vegan diet. I'm still working on it.

Originally posted by ma1939
I've been trying to adopt a complete vegetarian diet since I was in high school. My original reasons for wanting to do so were health-related.

In college, I was a member of the Animal Defense League. During one of their meetings, they showed a documentary about factory farming in the U.S. It was absolutely the most grusome film I had ever seen (I actually felt nauseous after watching it), and it made me vow to adopt a vegan diet. I'm still working on it.
Apart from the health concerns that led you to adopt a vegetarian diet, would you eat meat if it did not come from a factory farm? Depending on where you live, you could get meat that is organically grown, from animals raised under humane conditions, and not fed antibiotics, hormones, etc.

Of course, this kind of meat may cost more, and it is not so easy to get; you would have to go to a health-food store and even then, not all health-food stores may have it.

My daughter is VEGAN. I wish I had her discipline.

Any vegetarians here?

Yes me have always been one

was for many years until I got pregant and had very strange cravings for red meat..but now I rarely eat it... :)

35 years for me, now! :)

How about raw foodists? I just started on that last year. I was/am a weight lifter (just enough to keep me lean, no competitive stuff) and used to consume large amounts of protien in various forms. I thought I had a fairly healthy diet.... and couldn't understand why I was so lathargic, tired and even getting signs of some serious health issues. So I read some alarming things about the "American diet" and flipped out and went raw. I have never felt better! I keep hearing warnings about not getting enough protien. From some research, some say this is an over rated myth that we need so much.... I have heard up to 1 gram of protien per pond of body weight! How do you make sure you are getting enough? And what RAW foods have the most of what aminos are needed? And if anyone could possibly tell me..... how much does a person REALLY need?

I had a friend who did the raw diet (she didnt stick with it though) and loved it. She was a very healthy but large women to start and the amount of weight she lost was unreal in the short amount of time she did it. She also felt better then she had in years.


For me, Im not a vegitarian, but I do watch what we eat. I buy for the most part all organicly raised meats, stay away from processed foods, and ANY fillers....

This was mandatory for me as Im the mother of a child who is autistic, and his diet directly related to his own physical and mental health. When we changed over the effects were dramatic. He now works for the organic grocery in town and loves it.

Oddly this weekend we had a huge party at my house for valentines day. Someone brought some "Granny Goose" hummus.......it was disgusting! As far as in comparions to an organic, freshly prepared hummus. After awhile you definetly can tell the difference in the foods you eat.

I would someday though like to see how I would like becoming completely vegitarian. Right now, the kids like there burgers too much :D