gfunkdave

I have noticed that I feel better when I eat less meat, and I'm planning on going meat-free for a week starting now, and seeing how I feel in a week. I think I will still eat fish from time to time, and I require dairy in my life.

Is anyone out there a vegetarian/vegan? What kinds of things do you like to eat? What resources do you use? Any tips on making the change?

DHSGemini

I have been a vegetarian for about forty years now. I am healthy and am told that I look young for my age. When I first became a vegetarian it was often difficult to go to a restaurant and find more than a salad and baked potato. Now there are many more choices . I always have some food that I can eat when I fly because you can't always count on catering to load your meal. Good luck with the conversion, hope it goes well for you.

beachmouse

I'm no longer a vegetarian, but still eat a fair number of veggie meals. Developing a fondness for Indian food helps open up options, and a lot of the Tasty Bite shelf stable meals (or similar companies) served over your flatbread of choice aren't bad when you really don't feel like cooking.

N965VJ

Personally, I'd recommend trying an eating lifestyle change for 30 days. After that, then experiment with things like fish to see how you feel.

chgoeditor

I've eaten various vegetarian diets over the years (lacto-/ovo-, pescetarian, etc.). Last year summer I started to feel sluggish, and first cut out all forms of dairy, then decided to do what I called the "vegan when I'm not eating pork belly" diet. In other words, at home, I was a vegan. When dining out, I ate whatever I felt like. And since pork belly seemed to be a huge restaurant trend last year, that often meant pork belly while dining out.

Frankly, I found the vegan thing to be pretty easy, though I'll admit that I wasn't so strict as to cut out things like gelatin & honey.

I always struggle with getting enough protein, so during my vegan days I ate a lot of soy protein powder (breakfast "green" smoothies), tofu, Trader Joe's meatless meatballs (I think...these may just be vegetarian) and "complete protein" foods (or close to complete protein foods) such as beans, high-protein tortillas & breads and nuts.

Gradually I moved back to eating a non-vegan diet, though even today I find myself having unintentionally vegan days.

MSchott

I'm a carnivore but my wife is a vegetarian. She eats a lot of whole wheat pasta and various sauces, cheese, fish, shellfish, houmus, salads, soy etc. It's important to get enough protein when you give up meat and you can get that from beans, dairy and fish (if you don't go 100% vegetarian). Indian and Middle Eastern food offer a lot of options. There are plenty of canned foods that come vegetarian like chili, baked beans, etc. Eggs are a good staple of a vegetarian diet. Unfortunately my wife hates eggs. I'm the breakfast maker so I add a lot of cheese and she drowns them in green Tabasco in order to get the protein.

printingray

Yeah I'm, I eat vegetables only, day, night, noon, in super every time ) and i love it.

gfunkdave

I made a really easy vegetable stew in the slow cooker yesterday that was pretty good.

2 carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
half a medium/large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 14-oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups tomato juice
2 cups vegetable stock
2/3 cup (dry) uncooked quinoa
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
a little Tabasco sauce to taste

Combine everything in a 3 or 4 qt slow cooker and cook on low for 10 hours.

The quinoa will give is more of a stewy consistency. Leaving the quinoa out will result in a soup.

serioustraveler

I'm a carnivore and am perfectly healthy. It's more about eating in moderation than it is about cutting out entire groups of food out of your diet...

Like another poster said learn to love Indian food and vegetarianism isn't so bad... But in my opinion nothing comes close to a warm Juicy bacon wrapped filet mignon.

I like to enjoy life and have a balanced diet, I'm as healthy as most vegans and vegetarians I know, without sacrificing my taste buds in the process...

Also just because you're eating vegetables instead of meat doesn't mean you're safe from getting food borne issues such as ecoli...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...8rL_story.html

nerd

How does it work when you still eat meat (fish, shellfish) and they say you're a vegetarian?

I have never understood this.

Starwood Lurker

I believe this is more correctly described as a pescetarian diet rather than a vegetarian diet.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

dwanger

I am a vegetarian, do not eat eggs, except that I sometimes eat baked goods with eggs. I also eat cheese without regard to rennet unless I have a choice. My favorite meat substitutes are the Chicken Scallopini's, beef tips and hamburgers by Gardein, http://www.gardein.com/index.php. Great just cooked with a little oil and red pepper flakes. Also, eggplant meatballs by Dominex http://www.dominexeggplant.com/products-meatballs.html, easy to microwave with a little balsamic vinegar, a favorite breakfast.

Sweet Willie

a thread that might be of interest to vegetarians: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/dinin...nus-world.html
-

Sweet Willie

not all vegetarians are so for health reasons.@:-)

DHSGemini

Correct you are, Sweet Willie. I do so because I'm an animal lover. I really don't care for the soy products that try to taste like meat for this reason. They are probably very helpful to those that are "forced" into a vegetarian diet for health reasons. I count myself lucky to live in a time and place where we all have so many choices. I'm sure there are a lot of places in the world where you eat what is available to you even if you don't particularly like it.