Vegitarian?

[thetsakid]

I hate meat. I think it taste horrible but I still live at home until I get married and even then I'm not home enought to cook, if I could cook. I usually just heat up whatever my mom made for dinner since I'm nver home. (I usually work about 60hrs in 2 weeks and volunteer about 20 hours a week) I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions, I'm a horrible cook and I try different things but I can't even make Oatmeal! I also was told if I gave up meat that I would loose weight which would be nice but I'm not to worried about that. I think not eating meat would be healthy but I have no clue on were to start...if you dont eat meat then you have to cool alot it seems but is there other items out there and wear could I get them. I can microwave! if they have meatless microwaveable stuff but i've never seen anything like that? Help i'm so sick of eating it and not liking it! Also is there a vitamin or something I should be taking since I wouldn't be eating meat? I also don't eat eggs or drink milk? Is a multivitamin okay?

thanks!
sorry its so long...

[twu]

PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN


This is the problem vegetarians generally run into, so don't worry as much about vitamins and minerals. Most plant proteins are not complete proteins, so if you're going to go vegetarian, you need to find out which plant proteins complement each other so that you get the full range of amino acids that you need. For example, you could eat corn all day (which has some protein in it), but you will still be malnourished because corn only has certain amino acids in its protein and lacks others.

Flax seed & wheat germ complement each other and provide all the amino acids/proteins you need. You can buy these in powder/grainy forms and just throw them in a breakfast smoothie. Use yogurt too for added protein.

Also, beans. Lots of beans. And tofu/soybeans, lentils, rice. If you can eat an egg, those are almost entirely protein.

Here is a webpage that lists some vitamins/minerals if you are concerned about those (scroll to the bottom). It also has lots of other useful info: http://www.nutritionresource.com/article.cfm?ID=AR00009

[StarCoveter]

You could totally be a vegetarian (like me :smile:)!!

As far as microwave stuff goes: there are a lot of different brands out there that make meatless substitutes... Boca, Morningstar, and Quorn are just a few brands, but there are so many more. And they make a lot of products (that provide a lot of nutrients and protein), from "bacon" to "burgers" to "corndogs" to... pretty much anything.

If you have a whole foods store, or a store with a lot of natural or organic foods, you'll probably have a good chance of finding meat substitutes there too.

Don't forget about easy salads, rice, and TONS of different pastas.

But don't think that becoming vegetarian will necessarily make you lose weight. I have been veggie for almost 5 and a half years now, and I weigh more now than I did when I ate meat. You just have to be careful about what you eat, and be conscious of how much pasta and chips you down. :smile:

You can always PM me with any veggie questions... I'll be glad to help you out however I can!!!

[StarCoveter]

I just googled "Illinois whole foods store" and found a list (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/list_IL.html) of whole foods markets in Illinois.

And here (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/list_IL.html)'s a list of of natural food stores in Illinois also.

[KMS]

I'll add Amy's brand vegetarian products to StarCoveter's list. I love that brand of meatless foods. The frozen lasagna is mmm mmm good. You need to be careful about sodium content if you plan on eating a lot of any frozen/canned foods though. Regardless of being a meat eater or not, having a diet consisting of a lot of highly processed foods like meals that you can microwave isn't going to be all that healthy.

I have to say that I haven't had a problem with protein levels being a vegetarian. Most meat eaters get far too much meat. For example, 4 oz of chicken breast has a whopping 24 grams of protein. At my weight, I only need about 38 grams of protein. That definitely adds up through the day. But like twu said you need to get a wide variety of foods to get all of the amino acids that you need for your protein stores. I eat a lot of whole grains, legumes, and veggies. I also eat eggs and consume soy products like soy milk. I also didn't lose any weight after becoming a veggie.

I don't know exactly what you're eating, but if you feel like you should be taking a multivitamin then I say go ahead and do it.

[JuneBride24]

I suggest supplementing with a good multivitamin with iron (Add foods with vitamin C to help absorption), magnesium (400mg/ day), Vitamin D (1000-2000 IU/ day), and MOST importantly concentrated fish oil-EPA/DHA (1.2-2.4 mg/day). Not all vitamins are the same, ask around for a reputable brand that has what they say they do, I use Anabolic Labs, but I get a discount, its a little pricey otherwise.

Try protein shakes for a quick meal, cookies and cream muscle milk isn't bad! Calcium enriched tofu, fake meat products (almost all grocery stores have it), nuts, beans. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Bring fruit like bananas and apples with you as snacks. Also, try not to make the mistake of loading up on grain products!

This website includes a basic protein counter, although I have to say I don't know anything about their product. It will tell you how many grams you need for your height and weight and how to meet that. http://www.unjury.com/reg/calculator.shtml

I really suggest adding (omega-3) eggs and milk products like yogurt to your diet if you can.

Good Luck!