Becoming a Vegetarian

Hey gang

Well, the doctor has told me that I should just eat vegetables.
That is a big problem for me because I hardly eat any vegetables. He told me to look at the Vegetarian pyramid to eat healthier.



For my health mainly, for the past week now, I have tried to follow this pyramid and I must say that I sure feel a difference in my body in just those few days. I have only eaten chicken 1 time, just a little, I have included a lot of green and try to get used to a new vegetable. Surprisingly it has not been so hard and on the plus side I liked that I don't get that "heavy" feeling I used to get after eating junk food.

I don't know if I will become a vegetarian but I sure have cut out meat a lot. Is anyone here a vegetarian?

Rhonda wrote:

Cutting back on meat is ok, especially, the red meat, but I don't feel you have to get rid of it completely. Chicken, pork and fish are good sources of white meat, just eat in moderation.......but mostly Carol.....EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!!!

I'm in 100% agreement with you Rhonda...it's all about lean meats, not the fatty ones. Becoming a vegetarian is pretty extreme...I think it's too extreme to go straight to that from not eating healthy to begin with...it's better to ease into that first. Like anything (for me, South Beach was my diet plan of choice), you feel fabulous in the beginning because your body is like, "Whoa, what are we doing here? SWEET!" I felt like a brand new person. My sister has stuck to it for 4 years now and has kept the weight off. She was never that overweight to begin with though, and isn't an 'emotional' eater like I am, so it's more difficult for me to stick to anything. Eventually I started craving the things I was missing though; I'd cheat here and there in little amounts, and then eventually I felt like I could sneak bigger amounts in, and eventually the weight found its way back on. Check out all the grains on that pyramid...chances are you're going to be eating a lot of those (carb city!) and that's not good either. That's about the same as the 'regular' food pyramid which is grossly outdated, most nutritional experts agree. No one needs 6-11 sources of breads/grains per day!! Personally, the people I've known who have been vegetarians were healthy health-nuts anyway, LOL! I don't want to be discouraging Carol, because I'm not an expert. But if you're looking for advice from someone who has been a yo-yo dieter (not my whole life, but with this South Beach thing anyway), then I would have to guide you to looking into something that is more doable for the long haul. I have an excellent book, called "Living the low carb life", by Dr. Johnnny Bowden. He rates all the low carb diets out there and it's REALLY good. I've been following him for a long, LONG time now and he really knows his stuff.

But yep, I do believe every diet plan out there contains TONS of veggies! Gotta do it!

By the way, Rhonda...my friend had trouble with hair loss. Heck, even I do to some degree...I 'shed' more than I should in the shower. My friend found out that she was deficient in Iodine, of all things. She started taking that as a supplement and has had no more hair loss issues.


And Carol, one more thing...and I feel like I HAVE to say this. Doctors know very little about nutrition. Seriously, most doctors even admit to this. Personally, I think your doctor is WAY off base suggesting this to you, a patient who he knows doesn't even LIKE veggies. That should have been a red flag to him that perhaps he should have suggested something else. Your best bet, if you can't come up with a great diet plan from a book written by a highly respected nutritionist, is to go to one. I don't think you'll be sorry. IMHO, doctors are for going to for the big stuff, like diagnosing conditions, that kind of thing. But not nutrition expertise. (Again, JMO ).

This is the old pyramid from years ago....they have a new one now, revamped it.....it is below this one........

Oh cool....I haven't even seen that Rhonda! That is better---it's weird, they make it look like the whole grains are a lot, but they're 'saying' only 6 oz. Most of that pyramid is much better. And I like the little guy going up the stairs...smart that they include the exercise guidelines. I know half of my problem was not following an exercise program faithfully enough, to kind of keep myself 'in check' when I would want to cheat. It's hard to cheat if you know you just walked around the neighborhood!

You guys are right. I will just choose healthier meat and dishes and eat my veggies (I will try my best).

Maybe I could not go vegetarian after all... I just remembered the salvadoran chicken sandwich I make... lol

I think you'll be happier in the long run, Carol. And less hungry.

I never used to be a 'veggie girl' either...I am SO much better now. I have experimented with more veggies than I used to, and I have discovered that I actually like and enjoy most fresh veggies. I grew up on canned and frozen, so that was all I was ever accustomed to. Now I buy everything and steam it all. For example, I can't stand canned green beans, but I LOVE steamed fresh green beans, sauteed in olive oil and a few slivered almonds or pine nuts. Good stuff! So it's just about experimenting and 'doctoring up', and I'll bet you'll eventually get to the point where they won't taste so 'blah' anymore.

We don't eat a lot of red meat, but we do eat chicken, fish, and pork. We'll never cut meat out of our diet entirely, but I could stand to use more vegetables in my diet...unless candy is now considered a vegetable, then I'm fine. LOL!

Well Cheryl.....you just happen to be in luck.....meet candy CORN....

See, I knew candy could be qualified as vegetables. Thanks Rhonda!

Vegetable

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Chocolate is derived from cacao beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived from either sugar CANE or sugar BEETS. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable.

To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is dairy. So candy bars are a health food.

Chocolate-covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.

If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.

The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite, and you'll eat less.

If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves. (We're testing this with other snack foods as well.)

If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a balanced diet? Don't they actually counteract each other?

Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger. Therefore, you need to eat more chocolate.

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Now, isn't that handy?

If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can't eat all your chocolate, what's wrong with you?

If not for chocolate, there would be no need for control top pantyhose. An entire garment industry would be devastated. You can't let that happen, can you?

Marilyn!

I love it Marilyn!!

Well, I'm a pesco-vegetarian (I eat fish, but not meat). I honestly don't miss meat and I get my protein from other sources so I am never tired or hungry and have enough energy to run marathons.
I also don't trust the meat industry in the States...

I don't think the human body needs meat to have a well rounded diet. For eons many cultures/countries subsisted on a low meat or no meat diet, because of the high cost of meat...and suffered no consequences to their health.

While I don't think that one "needs" to eat meat, I think many people still do because they like the taste...nothing wrong with that. Some people crave the taste of chicken or beef...and other's don't.

For me, there are so many things that I like the taste of better than meat...grains...fish...vegetables....and yes chocolate!

So, I say do what works for you....and just be aware of how certain foods can affect your
body.

Rhonda wrote:

My oldest son, BJ is a vegetarian. His girlfriend felt she needed to not eat meat when she was with him, and after a while, she noticed that her hair was falling out and getting thin. She went back to eating meat and it quit....BJ's hair has gotten real thin as well, and we don't know if it for the same reason, or because he wears bandanas all the time. Cutting back on meat is ok, especially, the red meat, but I don't feel you have to get rid of it completely. Chicken, pork and fish are good sources of white meat, just eat in moderation.......but mostly Carol.....EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!!!

I believe that hair loss/thinning does happen to some people when they give up meat (although it didn't happen to me!)
I imagine that she wasn't finding alternate sources of B12,iron, zinc etc...that are found in meat....

Way to go, Marilyn!!!