New Vegetarian - Suggestions from Veterans?

I have always been fairly indifferent to meat with a strong dislike for certain kinds.  I simply don't care for it.  I especially dislike cooking it, as raw meat of all kinds is deeply repellent to me.  I cook a lot, so this has always been something of a problem for me.

After much careful consideration, I have decided to become vegetarian.  I would like to keep eggs and cheeses in my diet.  I lived in the vegetarian dorm for a year in college, everything served in our dining hall was vegetarian, and frankly I felt the best I've ever felt, physically, that year.

I have a significant amount of weight to lose (about 80lb.) and I thought, since I would be watching my intake carefully anyway, now was the time to make the switch since I would not be neglecting my nutrition through laziness or carelessness as I made the change.  I figure that my nutritional habits will be in place by the time I step into maintenance mode, which will be almost a year.

Do any of you who have been vegetarians for a long time have any nutrition tips or suggestions for me in general, or special recipes that you would like to share?  I am pretty good in the kitchen, a lot of this weight comes from tasting my own creations too much.

Thanks!  :-)

the main thing to be careful about is getting enough protein. luckily there's lots of soy products out there that are very healthy, lo-cal, and tasty---like the gimme lean "sausage", which i put in my pasta sauces, and the bocca stuff and morning star and qorn (is that how you spell it? they have GREAT fake chicken in any case!).

also, finding a good protein powder at gnc or a local health food store can be good--especially in the summer. throw in some fruit and ice and milk and its a good way to start your day.

also: oatmeal, oatmeal, oatmeal! i live off of that stuff and it's so good for you!

Hehe, that link is a scream.  A biologist I know refuses to eat anything that nurses its young. 

I'm not doing it out of any ethical need, although a part of me is pleased by that aspect as well.  I'm mainly doing it because 1) I don't care for meat, and 2) I felt better when I wasn't eating it.  It's nothing deep or complex in my case.

I have a plan for protein, and it mostly involves nuts and eggs.   I think I'll be able to satisfy that need pretty easily since I'll probably be cooking most of my own food and I am fond of using milk/eggs/nuts in my recipes already.

I'll look into that protein powder.  I'm not a smoothie fan but I think it has a lot to do with hating coconut and pineapple, which people just can't seem to keep out of em.  I think if I made my own I might like them a great deal.

I am a big oatmeal fan.  I eat it pretty much every day.  I prefer steel cut oats, but my puppy chewed a hole in the side of the can and ate a bunch of them once and MY GOD, WALL TO WALL POOP.  I can barely look steel cut oats in the face without recalling that mess.

hahahha! that's funny about your pup. and his poop. :)

yeah, steel cut oats are awesome.  and i sometimes add my protein powder to it as well. pretty tasty. i eat lots of eggs and nuts also, as well as a ton of dairy. i go through a gallon of milk a week. love the stuff--crave it instead of water, ususally.

good luck! i like being a veggie.  it makes me eat healhtier (no fast food, etc.).

Hi, I have been a veggie for 6 months now.  I did it for health reasons as meat does not agree with my digestive system.  A few things Ive learned with much reading and research... watch out for your bad carb intake; pasta, grain, potatos, bread.  (oh how I love bread & pasta but dont eat it often!)

I also eat oatmeal everyday, love steel cut oats and they are the BEST kind of oats to eat, but take longer to cook.  I always add soy protein powder.  I also add 1/2 cup of thawed frozen blueberries.  YUM!

Start learning to cook with lentils and beans.  I just discovered Adzuki beans, one of the hightest protein content among beans (25%).

Nuts are great for protein but also have tons of fat, I like a mix of almonds and dried cranberries/raisins.

I live in the UK and we have loads of Quorn products (fake meat), we eat it several times a week with some sort of steamed veg and sometimes cous cous.  I dont know where you live, but start looking at labels in the store and try out a few products until you find some you like.  We love the frozen "chicken" pieces, use them in stir frys or in sauce for pasta.    TOFU TOFU TOFU!!!  Try some marinated tofu, see if you like it.

I would also suggest buying a vegetarian cookbook, try browsing Amazon and see what are best sellers.  There are many out there but lots of them are for very fatty recipes, just not involving meat!!

Also, water water water!  :)

Good luck, its not so hard once you get started.

I love Morningstar farms Tomato & Basil Pizza veggie burgers!  I put a tiny bit of part skim mozzarella cheese and tiny bit of Tomato sauce on a 100 calorie English muffin?yummy!!  Quick easy lunch! 

Make sure you don't replace meat with tons of dairy! Go for a balanced diet. Since you'll be cooking a lot, you can make sure that you get tons of veggies & good whole foods instead of a lot of processed things which'll be awesome for your health and your weight loss. And I definitely agree with whoever said "water, water water"!

I already use a lot of whole foods, I love them.  And as for water, well, if you look at my posts those are the first words out of my mouth all the time.

I don't have any delicate way to broach this, but uh... my diet has been richer in beans and cabbage so um... I got the farts!  Not the quiet ladylike toots either.  Does your body get used to the new intake and get over that or do I need to just invest stock in Beano?

Haha, yes your body will get used to it to an extent. But let me just say, veg folk are known for their farts.

I make lots of one pot meals (saves on washing up!) like curries and chillis. Just cook up lots of vegetables, mushrooms, beans (aduki, flageolet, chick peas or what have you) or lentils, a can of tomatoes, spices...cook it all up till it's tasty and serve with rice.
I also make a mean Thai curry with vegetables, chillis, thai curry paste and tofu. Add noodles towards the end of cooking. Really hot and tasty!
Hope this gives you some ideas. The great thing about these meals is t hey are really filling and 
you can make a big pot to last for a few days. Great for students and singles.

I was raised vegetarian (as were my parents) and still have 80lbs to lose myself.  Simply becoming vegetarian won't help you lose weight.  I would say that the number 1 tip for you will be to watch the grains and carbs - pay attention to your proteins and make sure you're getting enough of them, either through dairy or meat substitutes. Protein is part of what makes you feel satisfied, and if you don't get enough of it you'll find yourself o.d.'ing on carbs!

eventually your body adjusts and you get less gas. i'm waaaay less gassy than my meat eating husband.

I agree I've felt way better since giving up meat a few years back.  I do cheat once in a blue moon and have a bite of chicken or something if the mood strikes but I usually end up not liking it and not finishing it lol it's funny that's the only meat that actually smells good to me when it is cooking but once I taste it it's like bleh!

I eat a lot of low fat dairy, beans, whole grains, and plenty of raw fresh fruits/veggies everyday. 

The gas thing does go away in time.  I believe its an issue for some because of the sudden increase in fiber comsumption that occurs when you go vegetarian (or simply eat healthy in general) Once the body adjusts to the healthy daily dose of fiber life is all good again ;)

I find as a vegetarian I have done better by eating several small meals over the course of the day.  I'll have a smoothie in the morning (1 banana,  1/2 cup mixed berries frozen, and a splash of juice) Those are quite filling and good.  I make mine in the magic bullet thing which I love! smoothies are very quick and easy and you can throw in any kind of fruit combination.

I also usually eat egg whites regularly (high protein low cal) and salads almost daily. 

Fortunately these days if you like to eat out periodically as I do you can find a lot more vegetarian fare in many restaraunts than you could even a couple of years ago.  It helps :)

Good Luck!

hehe thanks for all the encouragement!  I'd glad to hear the farts get better, I actually ran my dog off this evening. :..(  I've been avoiding pretty much all pasta and white rice so far, I don't much care for whole wheat pasta but I DO love brown rice.  I also love to bake and so I tend to eat very wholesome and fancy bread (rarely).  I'm especially pleased to hear that oatmeal is so important because I love it and eat it a lot.

cinemama - I know it won't lose me weight by itself.  The reason I decided to finally take the plunge (which I've been considering a long time) is BECAUSE I was dieting and watching intake closely and it seemed like a good time to change safely.  I've always been kind of hesitant to start because I was afraid I would screw up my nutrition.

One of my best friends is the most unhealthy vegetarian you'll ever see.  The man lives off of cheese pizza and Jack Daniels.  :(  I just want to make sure I don't end up like that!

one, no,  two small bits of advice . . .

1) if you haven't, have your triglycerides & cholesterol checked.  with all of the added carbs you may be eating now, your triglycerides might go up . . .  [Editor's Note:  I am a veg with high triglycerides!  :-)  :-(  ]

2) get "New Vegetarian Cooking"  Every recipe is great.

Goji Berries are actully really good ( dont know if i spelt it right ether.) Also, theres a website that you can go to. You can get a general idea or order stuff from there and it can delieverd right to your door. Im in the Army and currently in Iraq and the Cafe here doesnt really serve to vegatarians much, So i usually order it and make stuff in my room. Its www.shopnatural.com Its has organics and natural food, also shampoos, soaps, face wash etc. Hopefully that helped alittle  

These have all been really great suggestions, and I'm so grateful for all of them.  Thanks everyone!

I happen to live near a great farmer's market and orchard (I know I'm lucky), so I don't really have to order things online as long as I cook within in-season fruits and vegetables, but that website will be useful if I get tired of what's in season for sure!  I like how the changing fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market forces me to try out different things.  It will be a challenge to cook such a wide variety of things in ways that I like.

Just as a small update, I've been vegetarian since Jan 22 and there has been an incredible change in how I feel.  It's easier to concentrate, it's easier to fall asleep at night, I don't sleep for as long (maybe because I'm sleeping better), and I have this huge boost of energy.  I'm not tired and dragging when I get home from work, I'm hopping into the kitchen to cook something nutritious and yummy for dinner.  It's amazing.  I don't miss meat in the SLIGHTEST.  I did this for health, and I expected to feel a little deprived for awhile - but I don't.  :)  I should have done this years ago.

Ellybell,

Your question was kind of difficult for me to answer.  I've been a vegetarian for a really long time.  I went lacto-vegetarian at age 15, which was 33 years ago, and then I went vegan about 12 years ago.  The reason the question is difficult for me to answer is that my best nutritional advice right now would be to tell you to drop the eggs and cheese, but you said you didn't want to do that !    Anyway.... aside from that the best thing is to stick to a whole foods plant based diet as muich as you can, eating lots of fruits and vegetables, and avoiding processed convenience foods and junk foods.

As far as triglycerides go, mine are quite low on the diet I am eating right now, and this has occurred due to the fact that I avoid the refined or processed carbs, and stick to whole foods from wihich fiber or moisture has not been removed.  For example, when it comes to fruit, I eat whole fresh fruit, and do not drink glasses of fiberless fruit juices, or eat dried fruits from which the water has been removed.  (If I use juice or dried fruit, it is done very sparingly as a sweetener in recipes in place of less healthy sweeteners).  When the natural fillers of fiber and water are removed you end up with foods that are more concentrated in sugar and effect the body differently.  I also do not eat refined grains such as white rice, quick oats, or any type of flour products (breads and pastas).  Furthermore, I do not eat any of those boxed cereals which they cook at very high temperatures (which kills nutrients and causes the formation of acrylamides), and then shoot out of cannons to make into pretty shapes.  These refined carbs effect the triglycerides in a way that eating things like brown rice, steel-cut oats, or other whole grains does not.

As far as the cheese goes, the big health and diet concern is that it is a very calorie dense food, and is also the most highly concentrated form of saturated fat that can be found in any food.  One of the nationally known vegetarian doctors (can't remember which one now, but I'm thinking it might have been Caldwell Esselstyn) once said that if he could wave a magic wand and remove one food from the american diet, which would result in the greatest health benefit to the most people, that food would be cheese.  He considered cheese to be one of the most unhealthy foods, and was aware that americans have been getting a pretty good chunk of the total saturated fat in their diet from cheese consumption.   As for myself, in becoming a vegan, the dairy was the last thing to go, and I was pretty addicted to cheese.  After giving up cheese and other dairy products, my cholesterol plummeted from borderline high down to a very favorable range.  While the rest of my family is plagued with heart disease, I now consider myself heart-attack proof.  At last check, my total cholesterol was 134, LDL was 58, and triglycerides were 53.      

cbullock,

Frankly, while I felt three weeks ago that I didn't want to give up eggs and dairy, I wasn't expecting how much better I would feel.  I'm seriously considering dropping those out of my diet too after I have been clear of meat for a month.  Please don't hesitate to give me advice you think I don't want to hear, I'm not here to pick a fight, I'm here for the serious opinion of people with more experience than I have.  I have two siblings and a fiancee if I need to pick a fight, why do it anonymously!  ;)  Anyway, thank you for your honest input, I appreciate it.

Mainly, I am an expert baker and I really enjoy my breads and derive a lot of nutrition from them.  I make a lot of nutty whole grain breads and many of them call for milk or eggs.  Also, I've been told for so long that milk is good for me that it is hard to shake off, despite slowly mounting evidence to the contrary.  I think I will probably go egg and dairy free for at least a month and see how I feel.  I don't really eat very much cheese, but I have drunk 8oz of milk with breakfast every day since I was very small.  I cannot tolerate soy milk, I think it might be the grossest thing ever made.  (No offense, I know many of you like it, I just can't stand the stuff.  Too used to cow milk.)

However, the general sense of well-being I have received in the last three weeks has led me to re-think that position - really, it's led me to re-think just about everything I thought I knew about nutrition.  I don't mean that in a creepy pseudo-religious way, I mean it in a scientific, empirical evidence sort of way.  I can, after all, adapt recipes.  And I'm not so married to the idea that milk is good for me that I'm unwilling to consider that it's not.  Especially not if I'm going to feel so much better when I'm not consuming it.  I thought meat was good for me too.

I'm only 25, so I haven't had any problems with triglycerides, cholesterol, etc.  I've always been healthy as a horse according to my doctor (other than being fat).  I'm ready and willing to do some preventative maintenance here - mainly with my diet - but there's no actual problem to correct yet, so I probably won't see any particular change for the better - I just WON'T see a change for the worse later.

If you're considering switching to a vegan diet, I recommend you try it out for a week before deciding.  You will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find vegan-friendly foods when you are "out in the community."  True, there are salads without dressing and the occasional piece of fruit, but how many times do you want that for dinner?  So being satisfied with your diet may require you to carry your daily food around with you.

Also, you want to be very careful that you don't revert to eating too many carbs.  I think the idea that vegetarians and vegans don't get enough protein in general is a myth, but I've also discovered from experience that it is fairly difficult to get 25-30% of your total calories from protein as a vegetarian.  Eggs and cheese, eaten moderately, have been very important to me in keeping my diet balanced.

That said, while I don't intend to eliminate eggs or cheese completely, I think it's perfectly possible to be healthy on a well-balanced vegan diet.  It just requires some planning.

Oh, and if the beans are still giving you trouble . . . cook them with a little baking soda and/or asafaetida (sometimes called hing in indian groceries).  Makes them much easier to digest.

lysistrata -

I kind of had a month or so in mind for my egg/dairy free trial period.  I don't eat out much, and I cook for myself a lot, so I don't think a lack of variety will really be all that much of an issue for me.  I don't expect it to be convenient.  Convenient would be non-vegetarian.

Is the inconvenience level from vegetarian to vegan more than the inconvenience level from non-vegetarian to vegetarian?

edit: the bean problem sorted itself out, thank goodness.  I can't decide who was going to disown me first, my fiancee or my dog.