I am going to commit a sin against manhood

[Sera]

ugh do not want

[Antithesis]

Mootsfox hits it on the nail. Also, take some multi-vitamins. They are great for getting in vitamins and minerals that you should get on a daily basis.

[Kiarax]

Lol @ people that have to take vitamins.

[Howard Roark]

I think that after my metabolism slows down, i am going to stop eating meat, or at least red meat.

Howie, begin my training.

step 1 - don't be lazy and eat like me lol, I eat way too much take out

step 2 - figure out what vegetables and 'better meats'/meat alternatives you can tolerate and enjoy -- be realistic, if you don't like it you won't eat it

step 3 - cutting out red meat is always a great idea, chicken and fish are very affordable and eventually easy enough to cut out of your diet altogether


meat/protein alternatives:
- soy products: don't go overboard on these, it'll make you gassy and uncomfortable
- avocado: so so awesome, I really hope you enjoy avocado
- nuts: cashews and pumpkin seeds and of course almonds, these are your prime targets, butter form is fine, all of which are awesome

fish oils:
- don't forget these, if you cut out fish you should be having nuts (again) for naturally occuring oils but you also need Omega 3, 6, and 9 -- these can be found for the most part in quality flax seed oil if I'm not mistaken
- I forget where acidophilus [sp?] fits in but many of my vegetarian friends were taking this, but I think this was moreso for begans who weren't getting the healthy bacterias from yogurt

veggies:
the more color the better:
kale: probably the #1 choice, kinda boring to eat, it's very dark and leafy, has a minor bitter taste but it's nice steamed although raw is of course best
broccoli, decent substitute but again, avoid steaming all your veggies as you lose a ton of nutrients
tomatoes and certain fruits have anti-oxidants and these should be eaten by carnivores and vegetarians alike, pomegranates are amazing, although annoying to eat due to ridiculous seed content

fruits:
apples and bananas are good, the acids in apples can help to clean you out and the bananas can help soothe any overly acidic content in your stomach, for example after a fast, should you choose to go full blown and adopt yoga and the related monthly fasting


eggs & eating in restaurants:
I also chose to rule out eggs, but this is more for principles rather than health. I ate nachos all the time; they're tasty, have no eggs, and only have dairy in the cheese barrign any meat chili toppings.
If you do choose to rule out eggs, be sure to read labels all the time, most breads and deserts have eggs unless specifically stated otherwise -- rice bread is always safe from this afaik


lastly, 2 things: casein is an animal product as well as gelatin (if you care) and finally, look into various artificial sweeteners and preservatives; maltodextrin is a sweetener, and a vegan friend of mine, vegan for 8 years straight, said that he would rather eat meat than maltodextrin -- it's that bad



in any case, take small steps, and listen to your body. You're slim like I was when I started being vegetarian, do not do not do not let yourself lose more than 10 lbs, that is not good at all. I was able to make a smooth transition and lost maybe 5 tops before regaining my normal weight.

oh and drink lots of water, but hey, everyone should be doing that

[Howard Roark]

Lol @ people that have to take vitamins.

mostly this, and I never did, but in all honesty, the sheer lack of vitamin D and Iron you will experience at least at first.. I'd say buy a month's supply and use it transition over


I was eventually able to figure out what I needed

oh -- sugar is not a bad thing, but naturally occurring sugars are best (fruits etc)


you'll get a feel for what your body needs, whether it be fiber, protein, sugars, oils, greens etc -- this is mostly done by paying attention to your stomach and your boewel movements (both the ease and the end result)

ideally you will have 1 move in relation to each meal, your system is not meant to take huge craps every day and a halflike most meat eaters

[Atreides]

Some notes on what howie said

A) you forgot peanuts and peanut butter

B) Chick peas are an excellent source of protein, as are beans

C) Steaming your vegetables is fine, as is roasting. You don't lose that many nutrients

D) broccoli and brussels sprouts are both excellent vegetables, as is spinach if you're afraid of not having enough iron. You don't have to eat ONLY kale lol

E) Casein supplements are very expensive and made from milk. The protein in cottage cheese is 80% casein, save some money and get that instead.

edit: oh and take a multivitamin, preferably one without iron. Be careful with iron supplements, if you take them

[Howard Roark]

peanuts are boring, I assumed he was familiar with peanut butter lol


I did forget beans and chick peas, I haven't actually been veg for... 5 years? I actually miss it.

In any case most of the knowledge I picked up was 2nd hand from trusted and respected coworkers, so plase do double check any specifics, like science crap and the nutrients or whatnot

the steaming example, atreides is probably correct but I had thought you lose more than is worth to steam it

[Atreides]

nah, from what I understand steaming actually loses the least amount of nutrients of all the ways you could cook them, you might be thinking of boiling them and pouring off the water.

Personally, I roast my veggies since it's so easy, I use very little olive oil and the taste comes out great, and nutrient loss is negligible compared with steaming.

[BRP]

kuya if you dont eat the cows who will?

[Howard Roark]

nah, from what I understand steaming actually loses the least amount of nutrients of all the ways you could cook them, you might be thinking of boiling them and pouring off the water.

Personally, I roast my veggies since it's so easy, I use very little olive oil and the taste comes out great, and nutrient loss is negligible compared with steaming.

oops lol, I meant boiling when I was thinking of losing nutrients


listen to atreides :3

[Linliel]

You forgot mushies as a protein replacement too!
Mushrooms are also very delicious.

If you learn to cook tofu right it can be really tasty, too. Mostly what tofu does is soak up the sauces you use to cook it in

I've been sort of going along much the same path recently, but mostly because I'm lazy about buying meat (generally I buy meat when I know what I want to make with it) but efficient at buying vegies (last for a while if I buy them fresh from the market and a lot more versatile). I just have to find a good tofu supplier and I'll be set

[mootsfox]

Did I mention chicken is absolutely delicious?

Also, Kuya, humans are actually quite stronger than most people think. We can tolerate a lot of crap (smoking for a lifetime, horrible diets on sugar and meat, etc) as well as other shit and still live much longer than most species. There's other factors that add to that, but humans are still quite strong.

Did you know a few grapes can kill a dog? Or that if a cat doesn't eat for a few days it will die. Humans can go over a month without food, and about a week without water.

[Shiroikage]

Take a multivitamin.
Most vegetarians are so poorly fed that the actual benefits with regard to lifepsan are either equal to occasional meateaters or equivalent to regular meateaters.

[Kuya]

This seems like it would be easy for me.

- i love steamed broccoli, and thank god i don't have to give up having it steamed.

- i love nuts (shut up), but can it be any kind of nut? Like a nut you can play with, outside?

- for something that tastes like nothing, essentially, avocado is great, assuming avocado is the same thing as aguacate.

- do i have to give up eggs? Would it be counterproductive to eat them if you don't want to keep eating red meat?

- BRP, i'm sure texas can have all the cows.

* also love fish

[Mistress Stowastiq]

You'll be healthier if you eat some meat. Fish/chicken 2-3 times a week is usually enough. Humans aren't vegetarians, and we can't digest plant material very well.

^ Vegetarian diets = gas

Say hello to bottles of peppermint oil to add to water, gas-x, beano or phasyme caps.

I love veg food but I love meat also, best of both worlds I suppose.

[Colenzo]

peppermints are good

[Howard Roark]

gassy vegetarian diet means you're eating too much of one type of things, typically soy or beans, the former which people like to replace all meat with it

veggie dogs and veggie burgers etc should not be your new source of meat, you need to diversify


as for ruling out eggs, I wouldn't worry about it -- it is not counterproductive to eat eggs when your initial intent is to cut out red meat

what you need to be concerned about is triglycerides with eggs, but this is only when you are eating 3-4 eggs in 1 sitting; you should really only eat 2 for breakfast, I suppose 4 in one day would be alright but not every day, and personally I wouldn't have 2 eggs every single day


if you can get your meat intake down to chicken and fish that is a great step, see how your body feels after that, but be sure to replace whatever you cut out

[Colenzo]

I want to try a vegetarian diet pretty badly I just dont have the money to change my own diet around atm.

[Linliel]

Oh yeah also cheese is good for protein too!

[Atreides]

what you need to be concerned about is triglycerides with eggs, but this is only when you are eating 3-4 eggs in 1 sitting; you should really only eat 2 for breakfast, I suppose 4 in one day would be alright but not every day, and personally I wouldn't have 2 eggs every single day


if you can get your meat intake down to chicken and fish that is a great step, see how your body feels after that, but be sure to replace whatever you cut out

one trick a lot of people do with eggs is to use less yolks but keep the egg whites, that way you keep the yolky flavor of the egg, get lots of protein, and save yourself a LOT of cholesterol/triglycerides.

Personally, for breakfast every morning (as part of the 800 calories I eat for breakfast, lol) I have 1 yolk with 3 whites, it still has a great flavor and is loaded with protein.

As to what howie said, I agree that you shouldn't use veggie dogs/burgers as your main meat replacement. A lot of vegetarians shy away from meat because they want to eat a "cleaner" diet but end up eating shitloads of frozen and processed foods, loaded with more unnecessary ingredients/fillers (and sodium!) than they'd ever eat on a diet that includes meat.

Honestly, eating chicken/fish isn't that bad, in fact most people who eat light meat and make sure whatever else they eat is clean/healthy will probably end up living a lot longer than a vegetarian who just eats whatever the hell they want. There are arguably even health benefits to eating red meat every once in a while.