Vegetarians: Did you struggle with the change in diet? Going from meat to all vegetables.

Not in the least. No difference at all. I just posed the same question to a bunch of my vegetarian friends a couple of weeks ago, and they all had the same response.

I should add that I’m not vegan, so it’s not really a matter of “just vegetables”, as you say. I eat eggs and dairy products as well.

I struggled a little. Like Harp, I eat eggs and dairy and I also eat fish. There were some yummy foods I missed (meatballs and gyros mostly) and still do a little. I stay educated about animal abuses, and knowing the torture animals go through makes it much easier to not support the industry. There are some great soy products out there that don’t substitute for meat, but they do open up my diet to more than veggies, dairy, and fish.
I never experienced any problems with gas or anything like that. I feel pretty much the same, except it makes me happy to know I’m not financially contributing to animal abuse the way I was before.

I didn’t really struggle with the change in diet. I never ate meat that much to begin with, so not eating it wasn’t a great leap for me. Every once in a while I will miss meat, during a bbq for example, but other than that I enjoy the multitude of soy alternatives that are available.

@Lynne- Are you thinking about going veg?

@Likeradar There are other ways to stop contributing to the abuse in commercial meat processing. Raise or hunt your own.

When I made the decision to go veg I didn’t give up fish and seafood right away. This made the transition easier I think, because I was still living at home, and it didn’t inconvenience the fam too much. Also, there are plenty of yummy meat substitutes available which make things easier. After a while though I no longer felt the need to eat fake hamburger patties and such, as I had never really loved red meat to begin with. I still enjoy a good “Chik’un” nugget from time to time, and I used to go crazy for the Morning Star corn dogs, though I’ve gotten over that as well. Eventually I learned to love tofu——it’s a very malleable meat substitute!

As far as gas and body changes, I only remember a little of that. You just want to make sure you get enough protein, and it might be a good time to start taking a supplement or something if you’re really concerned with that. The only people I’ve heard that have really experience foul bathroom and body issues were vegans, and these were basically junk food vegans, so big surprise there.

@ru2bz46 I’m well aware. I’m not a hunter, nor do I have much desire to be.

I do eat some meat when I eat at my boyfriend’s parents’ house. His dad is a hunter with a great respect for nature and I feel morally ok about eating the meat they prepare on accasion

Funny seeing this question show up, I just turned vegetarian recently :)

@Likeradar Good for you!

I’m about to start a 40-day program at my yoga studio, which in addition to other things, involves a vegetarian diet. I am quite curious how it will turn out in the end since I really like meat. Will I go veg? Will I thumb my nose and tear into a big chunk of beaver meat? Will I find a pleasing balance and simply cut back on my carnal consumption? I guess I’ll find out in June…

I am a casual vegetarian. I mostly don’t eat meat, but I don’t pitch a fit when I go to someone’s house and they’ve made soup out of meat broth and so on. And if I’m craving meat, I assume that I may not have been getting enough protein and will eat fish or sometimes chicken.

When I first stopped eating meat, I would crave it, but that faded with time. It still smells good to me, but I don’t particularly want to eat it. And I find more and more that it looks like muscle to me, not food, like a surgery patient (veterinary). Pretty much a turn off.

As to the result, I find that my body chemistry has changed. I mostly don’t need deodorant (except for major work-out days or August, for example). I feel less lethargic after a meal, and healthier in general (on the few occasions that I fallen badly off the wagon, it’s like I’ve lost the ability to digest meat and I’m stunned – practically comatose – while trying to digest it). My skin has improved. I don’t have problems with gas, but then I’ve never been a flatulent sort of person. And my grocery bill is a lot lower without meat on it.

@Likeradar yes i am… I have started to reduce the meat in my diet and am having serious issues… but then I’m not particularly well at the moment anyway!

i didn’t notice any immediate changes. i think i’ve lost a lot of weight since i stopped eating meat (not too much, but a considerable amount) though.
it was kind of difficult because i used to eat meat in almost every meal, but i got over it pretty quickly. i’ve been a vegetarian for about 5 years, maybe going on 6. i haven’t had any ‘relapses’. i don’t eat fish or chicken (i know there are some ‘vegetarians’ who do).

I went vegetarian for a few months, then I went vegan, and now I eat fish or chicken one or times a month or so, but still don’t eat any dairy, eggs, or red meat.

I did not notice any negative side effects. I am hungrier, though. I eat several small meals a day now instead of three big ones.

That’s funny @eadinad. I cut out the carbs for a while and always felt hungry. I also dropped 35 pounds in five weeks. I’m back to a regular diet, now, and I am maintaining. I’m curious how my upcoming program will affect me when I go mostly veg for 6 weeks…

does it make you lose a good amount of weight.
i am thinking about cutting out meat. i love vegtables, and i need to shed some pounds, do you think it will help me lose?

@Rayvin14 I gained weight… substituted cheese and bread for meat. :( Like any other way of eating, it’s all about calories in v. calories out.

crappppp! i need to lose weight and fast, i have banquet th 16 of may, and i want to look half way decent. lol

I became vegetarian 12 years ago, and the day I decided to go vegetarian, I stopped eating meat right there and then. I never looked back, I feel healthier than ever and love vegetarian food.

@ru2bz46 What’s the result of your yoga/veg program?

Oh, I forgot to report here. Turns out, they didn’t really push much to go veg. The push was more toward whole foods; I continued to eat a good amount of meat.

For instance, one breakfast I made was a cheese omelet with sausage links. It was perfect for the program because the eggs were laid by my free-range pet hens, the feta cheese was made from goat milk hand squeezed from my sister’s goats and made in her kitchen sink, and I made the sausage links from beaver meat that I hunted on the Delta with my bow and arrow and stuffed into casings from my sister’s sheep.

Results:
1. Changing to mostly whole foods, eliminating all fast food, and reducing the amount of fatty meats (sausage, bacon, hot dogs, etc,), in addition to regular exercise, helped me to lose an additional 14 pounds, 2 inches off my waist, and 53 points off my cholesterol.

2. I began a daily yoga practice: Classes are 75 minutes each. I started with one each day, but quickly moved to two/day.