Posts by valerie_jane

Yeah, do some research, gather resources and ask your parents to sit down w/you and have a serious talk about why you are choosing to become a vegetarian. Make sure to stress that a vegetarian diet is actually better for your health and have information on hand to back yourself up. Don't hide it though. It may be hard at first, but they'll let up with the teasing after they realize that you're not gonna budge.

You know, a good book that I'm finishing right now is Mad Cowboy by Howard Lyman. It's been VERY eye-opening for me. "A former cattle rancher-turned-vegetarian and food safety activist, in 1996, Lyman revealed, to a national television audience, how the cattle industry potentially exposed Americans to Mad Cow Disese by feeding cows the remains of live animals - including other cows. In this shocking and powerful book, Lyman uncovers the dangerous and potentially deadly practices of the cattle and dairy industry. Mad Cowboy is a passionate manifesto for change from an industry insider whose firsthand experiences will alter the way you think about your food, and the people who produce it, forever. "Sure, I used to enjoy my steaks as much as the next guy," writes Lyman. "But if you knew what I know about what goes into them and what they can do to you, you'd probably be a vegetarian like me."" 

Go pick up the book, read it, and talk about it with your parents.

These kind of stories make me so sad. We have been brainwashed by the meat/dairy industries to think that the only way to get protein is from meat, calcium only comes from milk and if you don't drink it you will get osteoporosis, you're missing out on vital nutrients if you don't consume the flesh of animals, bla bla bla..

Just stay true to yourself, and good luck.

Original Post by calvinator:

Thank you all... after a lot of research, talks with a couple friends and some serious soul searching, I'm officially Vegan as of yesterday. This is a nice fun experiment that I hope to turn into a major lifestyle. Thanks for all your insights as I start this journey!

congratulations!! I've been vegan for about 2 months now, and I was surprised at how easy it was, with all the substitutes there are out there..

good luck!

I wish we knew more, scientifically. But I pretty much try and live my life by the "everything in moderation" rule and I think that works just fine.

...although when I first became a veggie, I seriously gobbled fake meat (soy) products all the time just because they're so quick and simple and they made it easier to make the switch from meat to no meat. Now I try to incorporate other sources of protein like legumes, nuts and my new favorite, quinoa. It's all about variety. I also switched from soy milk in the morning to (bonus: lower calorie) almond milk. So basically, now when I eat soy, I'm not going overboard.

Original Post by brighteyes82:

I love the Gimme Lean sausage, it is indeed vegan-friendly...though they are more either patties or crumbles and not links.

You can also have some soy yogurt and protein powder smoothies with fruit which are really yummy :)

I also like pan frying tofu slices in a teeny bit of olive oil or Pam spray and putting between toast for a "fried egg"-like sandwich

I like the egg sandwich idea ;)

I was a pescetarian for about 2 years and gradually started feeling more and more conflicted until I started forcing myself to research the seafood industry and all the harm it does to the environment. It's nasty. Our sea floors are being clearcut. And most don't realize that we simply don't have enough fish in the sea to be supporting the demand that's out there. People think they are fine as long as they eat wild caught fish because farmed fish is bad.. well, if they didn't farm fish then there wouldn't BE any wild fish left for you to eat.