Should I become a vegetarian?

Julie - posted on 12/05/2012

I am a vegan who lives a vegetarian lifestyle. If you have the desire to stop digesting animals then you should give it a try. It is perfectly safe, and can be even healthier for you if done properly. I suggest cutting one animal out of your diet at a time. I started with beef & pork. Then a few years later it was poultry, then years after that fish, egg, dairy and cheese. Take your time, do what is right for you. Listen to your heart and your body...For me personally, it was the best thing I have ever done. The cleaner I eat the better I feel. good luck!

Genevieve - posted on 11/13/2012

So many more vegetarian options in stores now! I would just suggest staying away from Soy. Seitan is one thing because it is made the proper way. But just eating soy and soy beverages in replacement of protein is a bad way to go. Make sure you are getting complete proteins and allow yourself to cheat here and there with meats. Many of my veggie friends have a fine time finding protein sources, its actually the fatty acids and iron that they have a harder time with. I'm not a vegetarian. But my hubby and me are firm believers in eating local. If you want to make an impact I suggest eating as local as possible. Getting to know your farmers. If you can shop at the farmers markets and get to know who is organic, free range... Those things make a huge difference. We get invited out to farms and learn so much from the farmers and producers we buy from. We know the animals we are eating are treated so well and that they are not just another way to make money. The meat we buy doesn't spend hours on slaughter trucks and in slaughterhouses. They never go to a feed lot. Even our eggs come from some very happy hens! This way of eating has changed our lives so much that we are planning on getting our own backyard chickens this year as well as a couple bee hives. We are also learning to make our own cheese and cured meats. And our own veggie garden seems to get bigger and bigger every year. These choices are also wonderful for our daughter. She is so excited to get the bees and chickens next year and loves to garden. She also gets to learn where her food comes from. She knows if I ask her how Jareds chicken breasts are who that is personally or that Owen makes her bread. It takes about 2hrs out of our entire weekend to drive to the market, shop and drive home. Its worth it and we feel great as a family.

Toni - posted on 11/02/2012

If you can make it easy for whoever is preparing your meals then go for it. You can go hard and stop eating meat right now or phase out, just having vego breakfast lunch/snacks. Then change dinners a few nights a week.

Just remember being a vegetarian (vegan) is not a competitive sport, if you slip up don't worry keep trying, and you can always learn more as you go along. Keep your "converting" to yourself until you have a few years of healthful eating behind you or you will really find it hard with people giving you a hard time.

I have been vegetarian for 20 years, with 2 born veg kids and a carnivore husband. He loves that I'm vego - he gets an awesome meal most nights then gets to hide out in his man cave cooking his meat on his bbq to complete his meal. I think he loves that bbq more than me sometimes!!!

Cass - posted on 10/19/2012

Absolutely! If you have woken up to the truth of the meat industry, and don't like what you see, then for sure adjust your lifestyle. Just be sure to get your nutrition in other ways. In the past I was an avid junk food meat eater with maybe 2% of my intake fruits and veggies - absolutely terrible. My mood and clarity was totally out of whack too, always irritated and cloudy head. Now 90% of what I consume is vegetables & fruit, and sometimes things like rice, quinoa or wild fish. Once in awhile I'll have a junk treat, but I never fully enjoy it because I feel gross afterward. Junk food hangover. Since this dietary lifestyle adjustment, I seem to realize and understand things, improved memory, calm in stressful situations, and in a great mood. Anyways, back to the point, yes - stand up for what is right :P

Lorrie - posted on 09/30/2012

Yes, go for it! I became vegetarian for animal compassion many years ago. I now have become "mostly vegan" in the last 3 years. It's not difficult at all. When you stop thinking of meat as your main part of the meal, and focus on rice, potatoes, pasta along with lots of fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts....read The Starch Revolution, a really good plant based diet how-to. Once you know how our animals are treated in the factory farms, the horrible abuse that goes on, the pain we inflict on them, the life they live restricted to tiny filthy cages, you will not want to eat meat again. I simply said I will not contribute to that industry that treats animals that way, and I have no desire for meat and don't miss it at all. We need more people like you, with compassionate hearts!!

Carli - posted on 09/15/2012

If you substitute with junk food, no. But as others mentioned if you learn how to do it right then by all means. Good luck!

Beth - posted on 09/02/2012

The question is to ask, can you substitute the protein and vitamins that you get from meat in a vegetarian diet.



My cousin is a vegetarian, although the rest of us are very much carnivores. She makes sure that she sets a good eating standard for her girls, although she is now eating more fish and I think some other meats to help encourage her daughters to eat meat. Her husband is a carnivore and can't see him becoming a full time vegetarian in the near future.



It basically boils down to - what is your reason for wanting to become full time vegetarian (ethical, medical etc) and then could you make sure that you can keep to a healthy well balanced diet on a vegetarian diet. You could also look at going semi-vegetarian (not eating red/white meat, but eating fish for example). Also have to think about when you go out for a meal, do the places that you normally go cater for vegetarians and have a reasonable choice. Certainly worth thinking about regardless of what you do. Also have to make sure that you get enough vitamins etc. in your diet if you go vegetarian (e.g. source of iron, that you get from red meat, other sources of iron like spinach for example).

Ashley - posted on 08/30/2012

I have cut back on meats but I still eat meat here and there. I also added more veggies to my diet. Whatever you decide, just make sure you get all the nutrients you need.

Jamie - posted on 08/25/2012

It's a different life for sure! ask your doc!

Chaya - posted on 08/20/2012

Go for it, but learn how to do it healthfully, don't simply exclude meats. You should cut out red meats gradually, then go only to poultry for a time, then cut out poultry if you choose to. Fish is a good source of healthy fats, as is some poultry. so you may wish to keep those in your diet, be careful to get enough protein