Any tips?

[PandaCub3]

Okay, so I am recently a vegetarian, and I keep hearing I am going to have mineral and vitamin deficiencies, and I was wondering if anybody had any tips for me on keeping good health, while still not eating meat. (Even though I can't seem to give up pepperoni... Too freaking addicted to it!)

 

[PandaCub3]

**Side Note:

It is mainly my mom who is telling me this. And some people at school. But mainly my mom.

 

[Taeryyn]

The vegetarians I know who have unhealthy diets also tend to be the picky eaters, or had unhealthy diets before they cut out meat.

You just need to consider what nutrients you would normally be getting from meat, and find other ways to incorporate them into your diet. Specifically, ways that aren't french fries. razz (I'm thinking of one of my veggie friends who has an atrocious diet.)

Some areas of concern are iron, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and calcium. Protein shouldn't be much of a concern unless your diet is really restrictive or really poor.

• Iron is found in a lot of plant sources, providing you're willing to eat a variety of foods. It's true that we absorb iron better from meats, but as long as you're getting enough vitamin C (which helps your body absorb the iron), you should be fine. Think dark leafy greens, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds.
  
  
• Vitamin B12 can be an issue for vegans, since it's only available from animal sources. However, this can be found in milk and eggs, as well as in products like fortified soy milk.
  
  
• If you aren't cutting out milk (and are getting sunshine), you shouldn't be too short on vitamin D. Again, this is often added to other foods to make it easier to get. Same goes for calcium, which is also found in broccoli and kale, which brings us back to the dark green veggies that you should be eating anyway... biggrin
  
  
• Variety is pretty key, since there's no single food that provides you with everything you need. This is true for omnivores, too, of course, but it becomes more important as you eliminate things from your diet.
  

Something I found helpful was keeping a food journal. You can keep track of what you're eating, and plan meals and snacks ahead of time. It can also be a good place to collect new recipes (or new, meatless versions of your favourites) and meal ideas. 3nodding

As my own side note, I first became a vegetarian when I was 12, and remained so until I was about 23, when I made a point to reintroduce meat into my diet. Presently, my diet is primarily veg, but I do eat meat from time to time.

And, to finish my rambling post: It wasn't until I started eating meat again that I developed a taste for tofu. I spent 10 years absolutely hating the stuff, but my non-veggie friend makes ******** delicious stuff with tofu, and it really grew on me. I still hate fake meats, but firm tofu, in all it's economical, squishy goodness, has finally found a place on my plate. <3  

[PandaCub3]

Taeryyn

The vegetarians I know who have unhealthy diets also tend to be the picky eaters, or had unhealthy diets before they cut out meat.

You just need to consider what nutrients you would normally be getting from meat, and find other ways to incorporate them into your diet. Specifically, ways that aren't french fries. razz (I'm thinking of one of my veggie friends who has an atrocious diet.)

Some areas of concern are iron, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and calcium. Protein shouldn't be much of a concern unless your diet is really restrictive or really poor.

• Iron is found in a lot of plant sources, providing you're willing to eat a variety of foods. It's true that we absorb iron better from meats, but as long as you're getting enough vitamin C (which helps your body absorb the iron), you should be fine. Think dark leafy greens, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds.
  
  
• Vitamin B12 can be an issue for vegans, since it's only available from animal sources. However, this can be found in milk and eggs, as well as in products like fortified soy milk.
  
  
• If you aren't cutting out milk (and are getting sunshine), you shouldn't be too short on vitamin D. Again, this is often added to other foods to make it easier to get. Same goes for calcium, which is also found in broccoli and kale, which brings us back to the dark green veggies that you should be eating anyway... biggrin
  
  
• Variety is pretty key, since there's no single food that provides you with everything you need. This is true for omnivores, too, of course, but it becomes more important as you eliminate things from your diet.
  

Something I found helpful was keeping a food journal. You can keep track of what you're eating, and plan meals and snacks ahead of time. It can also be a good place to collect new recipes (or new, meatless versions of your favourites) and meal ideas. 3nodding

As my own side note, I first became a vegetarian when I was 12, and remained so until I was about 23, when I made a point to reintroduce meat into my diet. Presently, my diet is primarily veg, but I do eat meat from time to time.

And, to finish my rambling post: It wasn't until I started eating meat again that I developed a taste for tofu. I spent 10 years absolutely hating the stuff, but my non-veggie friend makes ******** delicious stuff with tofu, and it really grew on me. I still hate fake meats, but firm tofu, in all it's economical, squishy goodness, has finally found a place on my plate. <3

Wow, this is REALLY helpful. (DEFINITELY glad I joined this guild.) Do you think you could possibly tell me more on the food journal? I have heard about them, but I never really understood them fully.

 

[Taeryyn]

I'm sure there are as many styles of journal as there are people that kept them. x3

What I did was to write down everything I'd eaten each day, usually just before bed. Every couple of days (maybe once a week, or so), I'd look back on my diet, and see if I was missing out on anything important. Maybe one week I'd notice that I hadn't really been getting much vitamin C, or I'd notice that I was consuming way more sugar than I'd meant to. Just stuff like that.

When I first started living on my own, I would plan out meals about a week in advance, and shop for groceries accordingly. This was multi-purpose, since it made sure I wasn't buying things that I didn't need, I was able to make sure I was eating a balanced diet, and it often saved me time.

It could just be as simple as a small note-pad to help you remember everything, or you could keep a full-blown diary, and include entries about how you're feeling and what you've been up to. Or a mix.

Edit: I bought "The Student's Vegetarian Cookbook" awhile back, and I still love it. The focus was on nutritious, simple, (and most importantly) inexpensive vegetarian recipes, and it included an example meal plan and shopping list. There are undoubtedly similar resources online. Even if you don't need or want to follow them closely, I've still found them to be good inspiration.  

[Saint Sims]

Pretty much way Tae said.

c:

I might add, however, that don't really supplement your lack of mineral and vitamin deficiency with tablets. Generally speaking, buying straight up vitamins and the sort is especially hard on your liver and some people don't absorb them very well and expel most of their value. Plus, they're expensive and just watching what you eat and knowing what will give you what you need is much easier.

Lastly, color. Deep colorful foods, like dark green veggies, and vibrant fruits, they all carry a lot of vitamins in them. The deeper the color the more potent their nutritional value. That's kind of a no-brainer but people really take it for granted. If your food and/or meals are pretty bleek looking; lacking vibrancy, seemingly grey, or very beige, you're not getting a lot of nutritional value.

All in all, going vegetarian should be fairly easy. Meat is something a lot of people eat far too much of, in fact it should really only be eaten sporadically, like once a week at most. Too much meat is bad for the people's cholesterol, blood pressure, heart health, arteries, kidneys, liver, etc. Going almost entirely meatless should be fairly easy c:

I wish you luck!

And definitely listen to what Tae is telling you c;

 

[ForeverDreamWithinADream]

I myself not a vegetarian or vegan (I can't do it as my doctor wants me to eat meat and veggies and I am really picky and hate most food or can't handle it), but you really have to know what you are doing and study in order to make sure you have a healthy diet and proper nutrition.

If you know how to have a healthy diet, I think you would be alright.

Food journals is mainly writing down and keeping track of what you eat. They help you in case you might not be eating enough, too much, may be allergic to something or just have an unhealthy diet. It keeps track of calories, nutrients, etc...and bring it with you to doctors appointments to make sure.

Such as say you had something like this
Morning-ate two scrambled eggs and a piece of toast
snack- a cookie
lunch-a sandwich
dinner-steak

basically like that. And no, I don't really eat that stuff.  

[Taeryyn]

I just found a recipe for curried cornflakes while searching for "student vegetarian recipes".

I'm not sure if this will be disgusting or surprisingly delicious, but I feel the need to try it out. Some of my favourite meatless meals originally started out as "That can't possibly go well with that...", so who knows?  

[PandaCub3]

Thank you guys soooo much! This is really all very helpful. (Is it weird that my grandparents are more supportive of me than my parents?) And I will definitely keep a food journal. (Extra notebooks coming in handy once more!)

 

[PandaCub3]

Taeryyn

I just found a recipe for curried cornflakes while searching for "student vegetarian recipes".

I'm not sure if this will be disgusting or surprisingly delicious, but I feel the need to try it out. Some of my favourite meatless meals originally started out as "That can't possibly go well with that...", so who knows?

If I could actually cook, (I burn things) I would definitely give that a shot. (Maybe I should take a cooking class sometime in the future....)

 

[Symptom_of_Society]

Hey, I recently went vegetarian too!!!

The main thing is to make sure that you are getting enough protein.. Good sources of protein include beans, milk, cheese, peanuts, soy, etc..

Collard greens also provide important nutrients.

umm, its definitely a good idea to gather recipies that are vegetarian, easy to make, and provide those nutrients.

If you fry tofu right, its actually not that bad XD.

Good luck!  

[Favourit3]

You could take the easy way out and take multi vitamins!
I know some people would rather get them through foods they eat but it's much simpler this way smile  

[gothicchibee]

Multi vitamins are good. But sometimes a pain to remember to take. So if you do go with that I suggest trying to remind yourself to take them or maybe ask your mother or something smile  

[PandaCub3]

I have no clue where to get tofu and if it's expensive, there is no way I would be able to get it.

 

[Favourit3]

I don't know where you live but I'm in Asia and its everywhere. Try to get the silken variety. Those are sooo good in seaweed soups