question ^.^

I'm only 18 & I've been a vegetarian for about 8 months now, but honestly  I haven't been that healthy about it because I'm still learning.  I've found out the hard way that things I thought were "veggie friendly" had meat in them (like several "vegtable" soups; causing me guilt and the sinking feeling after realizing when I ate something). Now I'm getting much better at reading labels ANYWAY do people have any suggestions on things to stay away from, that otherwise most people wouldn't know animals were involved? (i.e. gelatin)

It is a learning process, unfortunately, and you will accidentally ingest animal products, from not knowing what some of ingredients actually are (rennet, gelatin) to annoying "friends" who think it is smart to trick you into eating something with meat in.

Ex-boyfriend, I am looking at YOU. What a plonker.

At Mexican restaurants, the rice is made with chicken broth and the beans are done in animal fats.  When you order somethign off ANY menu, specify "I am a vegetarian... are there any animal products in what I am wanting to order?"  I just went to a restaurant last night that had grilled eggplant pasta dish that I assumed would be vegetarian.  When I asked, they said that they add ground crab meat to the sauce.  Ahhhh! Just ask... and stay away from gelatin.  :)

How disgusting!  Why would anyone put ground crab meat in an eggplant dish!?!

There's definitely a learning curve when you're a new vegetarian.  I've been veggie for 18 years, and I'm still occasionally surprised. 

Here's a thread where people listed things that were unexpectedly not vegetarian:

http://caloriecount.about.com/suprise-vegetar ian-ft38622

label reading is the best way to go.

and be careful at resturuants....waiters never seem to know what's in anything. I just stick to salads, personally. -_-'

Label reading is the best way.

As for eating out in restaurants, as some of the other posters said, ask. Be aware that many restaurant owners don't understand what vegetarians eat (thanks to all the people who call themselves vegetarian, but still eat chicken and fish). I went to a lovely local italian restaurant the other day, the vegetarian option had shrimps tails in it. Lovely, NOT .

But, if you do eat something that has meat/poulty/fish in, or stock made from,and don't realise until after,  don't beat yourself up about it. We're vegetarians, not perfect.

It takes some time and practice. When I first started full veggie 5 years ago, I gained tons of weight. I replaced chicken and turkey with pasta and french fries!

I agree with read the labels to everything. I am a servers nightmare when I go out to eat. I ask questions about EVERYTHING and modify the crap out of my dishes lol. I don't eat fried food, especially when I go out to a restaurant. I worked at Applebee's for 2 years, and I can tell you that the same fryers they cook their boneless wings in, is the same one the fries go in. Yuck. I get so grossed out about that one! So maybe fried food is something to avoid too lol.

Make sure you get protein and vitamins like B and iron to keep you healthy. It gets easier with practice

I also agree with getting into the habit of being an avid label reader...You learn pretty quickly what you like and I tend to use the same brands...

When going out to eat, I'll often call the restaurant ahead of time, or check the nutritional info on their website...just to save myself from having to ask at the restaurant.

I found this website to be very helpful when I first became vegan in giving me the heads up about products that are already out there and vegan as well...Good luck!

http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/