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| Vegetarian | Teen Veg*ns: How did you tell your parents? | Jun 20 2008 00:00 (UTC) |
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When I became a teen vegetarian, years ago, my mom was kind of annoyed, although she could see it coming. Good thing she was open minded. The thing is parents don't want to have to make two meals, and they are concerned about their kids having a balanced diet. I think the best way to get around this is to try to make your family dinner or at least your own dinner as much as possible. You just need to prove that you're mature enough to monitor your diet (don't become a carb-junkie vegetarian, or a junk food vegetarian) and you're not selfishly expecting someone else to go out of their way to make you a special dinner. It ended up being a great experience for my mom and I because we got to learn how to cook vegetarian together. She actually ended up going vegetarian a couple of years after I did for her cancer treatment. Try to talk to your parents about all the health benefits too: lower cancer rate in vegetarians, fewer heart problems, vegetarians are more likely to be in a healthy weight range, plus its great for the environment |
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| Vegetarian | Is it hard to become a Vegetarian?? | Jun 19 2008 23:37 (UTC) |
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I went vegetarian at the age of 12. I started by cutting out all red meat (meaning meat from mammals), then about a half a year later I cut out all animals from my diet. What really helped me stay with it was becoming reading up on the conditions of factory farms and the whole impact the meat industry has on our health, environment and what the animals have to go through (Fast Food Nation was a good but, but there are lots out there). Once you read up on that stuff, you won't want to eat meat again. Other things that help: meat substitutes for when you're feeling deprived, my favorite is Quorn. Getting a subscription to Vegetarian Times, so you can stay up on Vegetarian and cook healthy recipes. Find some vegetarian restaurants in your area. It can get really boring when the Veggie burger is the only option, it's great when you get a whole menu to chose from. Don't be too worried about the small stuff either, like gelatin, rennet, and foods with small amounts of fish/clam sauce. I think it's too much for a new vegetarian to look out for all that stuff without getting burned out. The only time I got sick from being a vegetarian was when I moved out of the dorms and had to cook for myself for the first time. Anyways, too many carbs and not enough protein and fresh fruit and veggies made me really anemic, but it was easy to solve by eating a balanced diet and taking a muli vitamin with iron. Good Luck. The world needs more Vegetarians (BTW, eating a vegetarian diet does more good for the environment than giving up your car) |
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