Posts by soph1984

1. favorite leafy green

Mmm..spinach

2. favorite veggie meat product

Don't really eat them so I don't know...  I like nut cutlets I suppose or cauliflower cheese grills.

3. favorite veggie breakfast food

Good old egg on toast!  Or nut muesli.

4. favorite veggie appetizer

Either houmous and pitta or indian vegetable pakoras

5. favorite way to have tofu

Try not to eat it anymore BUT when I occassionally have it, it's best in a thai green curry.

6. favorite beans?

butter beans, chickpeas, kidney beans

7. milk preference

organic cows milk

8. favorite veggie recipe

Any kind of vegetable indian curry.

9. have you ever had meat?

Yep - only turned 'veggie' 6 months ago and going strong!

10. do you occasionally eat meat? Yes - I love meat and fish but the reason I have given it up is because of the way animals are treated in industrial farming, the ecological impact of fishing, the enviornmental impact of mass production of livestock including it's transportation, the economical/environmental disaster of mass farming (not just meat - veg, fruit, wheat, corn, soya) in many countries, the way that mass production of food has funded forced labour of migrant workers, and the impact that eating a lot of meat has on my health.  SO, on special occassions, I will get some meat from my local organic farmer's market where I know the meat has come from no further than 100 miles from where I live and I can chat directly to the farmer who has reared the animals.

11. if you were a prior meat eater, what food would make you most likely to go back...not saying you ever would actually do it, so i guess your favorite meat.

I love lamb and beef.  Nothing makes my mouth water like the smell of a beautiful roast dinner!!  Or tandoori lamb chops.  I wouldn't go back to eating meat the way I used to though.  The thought of eating THAT kind of meat ever again makes me feel sick.

12. does your romantic partner [if applicable] meat? if so does it make it hard

Yep he eats a lot of meat but generally when we cook together at home we have veggie stuff and if we go out, then I don't really mind.  It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would.

Original Post by flonklar:

Perhaps someone here can educate me.

I am happily omniverous, but I have no problem with people not wanting to eat meat, or even animal products.  I'm assuming that people choose to be vegetarian for various and particular reasons (unknown to me).  However, I also see many posts like this where the "vegetarian" is apparently (for lack of a better grasp on the subject) "relapsing," as if an alcoholic has been unable to resist having a drink or a recovering substance abuser found himself snorting lines at a party. 

My question then is: Why is it such a problem for a "vegetarian" to "slip" and eat some meat?  Obviously, if meat is knowingly being eaten by the "vegetarian," it is his choice to do so, but I don't understand the "guilt" that accompanies these "relapses."  It's not a crime, it's not an addiction or illness, and as far as I can tell, it's not a morality issue (or is it?).  He just feels the need or desire to eat meat at that point in time (which of course negates his self-imposed status as a true vegetarian). 

For example:  I'm on a quest to lose some weight.  I am a self-proclaimed "dieter."  I have sworn off Krispy Kreme in an effort to improve my general health and facilitate my goal of weight loss.  But once in 4 months, someone brings donuts into the office, and I eat one.  I choose to do so.  I don't feel bad about it, or walk around with a guilty conscience all day.  I simply have decided that 5 minutes of a favorable taste sensation is a reasonable trade-off for introducing a few extra calories into my diet.  It doesn't ruin my disposition for the day, I don't immediately get on the CC forums and lament my lack of self-control.

In my mind, a vegetarian just DOESN'T desire to eat meat, regardless of his level of intoxication.  If the temptation remains to eat meat after proclaiming vegetarianism, how (or even WHY?) can the person claim to be vegetarian?        

Could some knowing vegetarian please help to put this in terms that I can relate to?

Thanks. 

 Well I can't speak for other people, but the reason I have turned vegetarian is not because I don't like meat (I love it!) or because I think there is anything wrong with eating meat.  Fundamentally, I don't have a problem with eating meat at all, I think it is something that we as humans naturally do.  BUT my problem is with the meat industry.  It is wholly unethical, animals are kept in horrific conditions and treated in a tortuous way.  That just doesn't sit right on my conscience and if I buy that meat I am directly funding the industry and therefore condoning it.  I have a friend who lives on a farm and his cattle are all out in the fields living a happy life and when they slaughter them they keep the meat for the family.  I'd eat that and the same for other meat where the animals had been kept humanely.  But you can't really guarantee that unless you buy direct from source (I live in London so the free range ahppy farms are a little thin on the ground!!) and it can be so expensive, so for that reason I'm a vegetarian.  And that is why I could see myself slipping if I had had too much to drink but I would feel guilty the next day because I would have contributed to an industry that I am against and therefore gone completely against my morals.

Does that make any sense?

This is one I struggle with too.  I've only just become veggie and am actually really enjoying it (coming from a life-long meat eater).  I live in London - needless to say there isn't a plethora of happy organic farms within easy reach!  My mum keeps her own chickens though - they're about as free range as you can get (short of being wild!) and they pop out eggs like there's no tomorrow so everytime I go to see her she gives me about 20.  Because they are so fresh they keep for ages.

Milk is a difficult one for me though - I have soya milk on my cereal but from time to time you just need/want plain old fashioned MILK.  The best I can do is to buy organic milk - there are some brands here that are quite well known for looking after their livestock (although, yes I do realise they artificially induce lactation) so I just try to stick to them.  It can get a bit pricey though

Well I'm glad that I'm not alone in my thinking then!  Hmmm...now how to get this suggestions put into place.  Will see what I can do! x

All work and no poo makes kcnae a dull girl!

Just from looking at what you're eating, you're not eating enough fruit and veg.  The Dept. of Health in the UK says you should eat at least 5 different 80g portions of fruit and vegetables a day - a banana and a bit of celery just ain't guna cut the mustard m'dear!  I guess you probably have something with your dinner too - but you need to have enough of each. Eggs and milk can also make you constipated I have found in the past but not generallu if you're getting enough fibre. 

Maybe it is also worth making your deficit a bit smaller for a while, 1000 cals seems really high to me - if you change things around a bit then maybe it will wake your body up a bit.

Thank you everyone!  I told my boyfriend last night that I was going to be a veggie and he laughed.  Typical.  He just can't get his head around it but that's fine.  I'm not going to preach to him about it, he's able to make his own choices!!

Everyone's advice has been really helpful.  I love lentils and beans anyway and tend to put them in a lot of my food.  I also don't know if I actually need to replace meat with faux-meat! Tofuballs rather than meatalls sounds pretty good though :-) I do like quorn from time to time but things like lasagne and bolognese and chili are things that I already make veggie versions of anyway.  I actually prefer veggie pizzas to meat and always have.  I made an absolutely GORGEOUS thai green curry a couple of weeks ago completely from scratch (thai green paste and everything - thoroughly recommend it, it tastes 1000 times better!) and I put some chicken in it, more out of habit than anything and to be honest, it really didn't need the chicken because I put so many vegtables in it anyway.  I could have used tofu instead or just had it with vegetables.  (If anyone wants the recipe by the way, I'm happy to share).

I think what I am going to find hardest about this is eating with other people - particularly my boyfriend - who really won't take it seriously.  His and my parents won't be able to get their head around it either!

Thank you both for your helpful replies.  I've just been on the goveg website and ordered myself a vegetarian starter kit!  Just reading a little bit of the information they had on their website just hammered it home to me even more.  I honestly think I could do it by myself if it weren't for friends, boyfriend and family all being meaty people!  When I was living in Geneva for 6 weeks, I didn't eat any meat because it was so expensive and I was just fine but coming back to England I was loaded up with meat once again!

The only thing is that I don't want to go vegan (which I felt a bit like PETA were preaching at me to do!) - I grew up with lots of animals at my house and we had loads of chickens that would just run around the garden and had a very happy life!  My mum still has chickens and every time I go home she gives me a big bag of fresh eggs.  I am very conscience-free eating them because I know they're coming from happy hens!  I always buy free-range eggs too if I'm all out of the ones from my mum.  I just need to make sure the dairy I eat is organic...

Another reason I want to become vegetarian is so that I can eat correctly for my ayurvedic dosha - which is Kapha-Pitta.  In ayurveda, milk, ghee and honey are all essential components of the diet - another reason I can't do vegan!

Does anyone else follow an ayurvedic diet?  I find it so hard to get my head around!

I love dried apricots as a snack and raw babyleaf spinach with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on it.  Eat loads of fish.  I love salmon with a bit of cajun spice on the top put it under the grill. 

As a general rule of thumb, I don't buy anything that is pre-prepared.  I make my own pesto, salad dressings (there is always so much sugar in salad dressings - why?!), I even made my own Thai green curry paste from scratch this weekend and tandoori marinade - not only is the taste 100 times as good, you can see what you're putitng into it and you don't need to load it with preservatives!  I'm happy to share my recipes if you want :-)

I also try to avoid low fat/low calorie versions of things because they tend to put a load of sugar/aspartame (respectively) in it instead (aspartame is not good for you at all but it's in so much stuff these days).  Just eat those foods less often or just eat slightly smaller portions if you do eat them.

I love plain yoghurt with grapes in it (although fruit and yoghurt eaten together in ayurveda is considered a big no no but I'm assuming you're not following a strict ayurvedic diet)

Houmous and tzatziki are both very tastey and healthy and don't need to be loaded with calories.  Houmous does tend to be quite high in calories but if it's made right it should have the healthy kind of calories in.

Use wholemeal and brown staple foods (eg, pasta rice and bread etc).

I've rambled a bit but are any of these helpful???

Well it sounds like pretty normal dog-like behaviour to me!  I wouldn't worry.  As for worrying about your cat, you'd be surprised at how good they are at looking after themselves!  Cats are pretty hard and from what I've heard (and seen) if your dog tries to go for your cat, the dog will probably come off worse!!

How's everyone feeling about the dreaded weigh-in tomorrow?  Despite my ambitions last Friday, I think I might not have actually lost anything this week.  Tut.   Fingers crossed I haven't put on! Good luck everyone! :-) x

Oh my god!  894 calories for a salad??!!!  I hate things like that, when you get completely caught out.  What kind of salad was it?  I remember a while back, I really used to like these noodles and I ate them ALL the time as a snack.  Tey were only small packets and I thought they would be low calorie, because it's only a bit of paasta...600 calories per packet!  I realised this long after I'd been eating them for ages and wondering why I wasn't loosing any weight!  Tut.

Don't get too worked up about it, from the looks of what you ate during the day anyway, you didn't eat a crazy amount of calories.  One day won't do you any harm...just be happy you enjoyed the best salad ever eaten! ;-)

Stick with it and keep up the hard work! x

I'm gald you had a great time - if you had turned it all down, you wouldnt have enjoyed yourself as much and you would have resented your diet.  Everyone needs to have a good old blow out from time to time.  It is encouraging to hear that it didn't have a massive effect :-)

From my point of view, that is no way to speak to a person that you love and is certainly not the kind of behaviour to be expected from a healthy relationship.  That is a thoroughly disresepctful and spiteful way to speak to ANY person, let alone your spouse.  You have done a fantastic job of loosing all that weight - 36lbs!!  That is a very big deal, and you have done a great job - excuse me for saying so but scr*w him if he can't celebrate your achievements with you!!  By my calculations (and maths is not my strong point, so I could be wrong) if you are 5'9" and currently at 210lbs, then if you were to loose a further 100lbs you would be way below your healthy weight.

Seek your encouragement and motivation from the people on this site and from your supportive friends and try not to let your husband's unhelpful comments get you down.  Perhaps don't even raise the subject of your weight loss with him.  You have done really very well so far.  Keep up the good work - loose the weight for yourself and your own health, not to make him happy.

Count me in on the weekend nightmares!  I am exactly the same.  Rather than the football, it's going out on Friday and Saturday nights that does it for me.  I try to drink G & slim Ts instead of beer, not that they are the same when you're watching sport! ;-)

As for grilling and barbeque, that doesn't have to be bad for you at all, and they're certainly better for you than frying, for example.  I find that the best way to keep the calories down when you're at BBQs or grills is to NOT buy pre-made items.  Don't buy pre-made burgers.  Buy lean beef mince and make then yourself.  I find they actually taste better anyway (they taste like beef, for a start!).  Also, you can get really nice marinades with fresh lean chicken, stick them on skewers with peppers and onion and you have yourself a taste sensation!  Again, for the marinades, make them yourself, don't buy the pre-made ones.  They tend to put so much sugar in them and the low-cal ones seem to have a lot of wierd ingredients.  I have a great marinade for BBQs that I make, and I can give you my recipe for burgers, message me if you want me to pass it on...

Also, throw some corn on the cob on the BBQ, probably the best thing ever eaten.

I think the biggest problem is how much you eat at BBQs, I don't know about anyone else, but I tend to find that I'll be eating little bits all day, rather than having one sit-down meal.  As a result I end up eating twice as much!  Remember:  little pickers wear bigger knickers.  Get loads of salads and veggies in as side dishes too.  I think I'm repeating what everyone else has said now.  Haha!  Anyway, let me know if you want those recipes :-)

Ha!  Yeah, that is a whole other challenge in itself!  I'm going to cross that bridge when I come to it.  If I figure it out I'll let you know ;-) 

Thanks!