Is vegetarian lifestyle healthy?

I Started eating more healthy right after I got pregnant. I'll eat 5 a day everyday and a variety of fruit, vegetables, meats and dairy everyday.

I had a very healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. I breastfeed for 5 months (It was very hard doing it while working). And I was loosing weight.

After I stopped breastfeeding, I started getting weight.  I went from 150 Lbs.(before pregnant) to 182Lbs(right before delivery) to 142Lbs(during breastfeeding) to 154(3 weeks ago).

I'm 5'2", and I've been eating a vegetarian diet for the past 3 weeks and dropped almost 7 Lbs.

I feel great, but sometimes I feel like it's too little, I was used to meat as my biggest source of energy.

am I going to far? Is it healthy to not eat meat? where do I get my vitamins and energy from?

HELP!

You need to get protien somehow, whether its through beans, soy, or protein shakes. 

You need to do some research and read some books to become more informed.  The biggest problem with inexperienced vegetarians is the lack of protien.  Some tips:

Soy is a complete protien, as is meat, meaning that tofu, tempeh, and  other soy products can be a direct replacement for meat.  After some trian and errors, you will probably learn to love tofu, or tempeh.

Bean are not a complete protein,  but if you combine beans with rice then the two together make a complete protein. 

So eat things like beans and rice (Bush's black beans has a excellent recipie), stir fry with tofu. 

Nuts are also an excellent source of protein and fiber.  You need to get a book and read, do some research to be a healthy vegetarian.  A vegetarian diet, when done properly, is WAY more healthy than a omnivore diet.

Good luck.

Thanks for the help!

I guess I need LOTS of information. I've staying away from eggs because of the Cholesterol, but are eggs and milk consider "meat products"?

Also, would a daily vitamin work? I feel good, but very tired sometimes...

Eggs and milk are not meat in the sense that they are from an animal's flesh, or byproduct of slaugher.  However they do come from animals, so they contain cholesterol and saturated fats which most people who are veg*n for health reason try to avoid.   You can be a vegetarian and still eat them; many people do - "ovo lacto vegetarians".  Vegans don't eat any animal products including eggs, dairy, honey, etc.

Maybe the fact that you have a newborn is why you are tired, more so than your diet?  Assuming you are eating a healthy balanced diet (a lot of people try to eat vegetarain but just end up eating junk foods) you shouldn't need a multivitamin.

The best thing you can do is talk to your doctor about going vegetarian. My friend was a vegetarian for 3 years and had to start eating meat again because her immune system couldnt fight anything.

Yes, a vegetarian lifestyle is very healthy.

You really don't need to worry too much about your nutrition as long as you eat a variety of different foods and eat enough calories to meet your energy requirements.  Forget about "complete proteins," unless you are literally eating nothing but beans or nothing but rice you will get enough amino acids from different sources to meet your protein needs.  Eat lots of whole foods - grains, beans, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables.  A lot of vegetarians fall into the trap of eating tons of carbs - bread, pasta, cereal, etc., and get very little nutritional variety.  That can be a problem.

It's always good to talk to your doctor and have some bloodwork done if you're concerned about your health.  But bear in mind that a well-balanced vegetarian diet will not only provide all of your nutritional requirements (indeed, it may very well exceed them), it will do so without the cholesterols and (generally) the saturated fats that come along with animal proteins.  I recommend nutritiondata.com as a great place to look up the vitamin and mineral contents of your foods and compare different options.  A good vegetarian food pyramid can also give you some good guidelines.

Good luck!

"My friend was a vegetarian for 3 years and had to start eating meat again because her immune system couldnt fight anything."

I was vegetarian for 12 months when I became pregnant.  My son was born 100% healthy and I was the only mum in my ward of 6 that wasn't iron deficient (I was the only vegetarian!)  He is a lifelong vegetarian, 6'1" and never in the Doctors surgery.  My other three children are the same (my youngest - a daughter - is 14, lifelong vegetarian - really fit and healthy and preparing for her first competition in kickboxing).  I have gone on to have 23 fit and healthy years as a vegetarian and now 2 years as a vegan.  I hardly ever have immune system problems (in fact a middle ear disorder I had since age 7 has virtually cleared up I believe, due to the elimination of dairy).  I am now 47 and the only reason I have to watch my weight now is because I put on about 14lbs when I was chronically depressed following the death of my dad and my husband's stroke.  You can be fit and healthy as a vegetarian and a mum just make sure you are eating a balanced diet of pulses, grains, nuts/seeds etc etc - there are loads of good books out there (I also have never needed protein shakes!)

There are a lot of misconceptions about the difference between a vegetarian diet that consists of cheez-its and beer, and one that is actually healthy.  It's no surprise if someone attempts to subsist on junk food only, just with no meat, they will begin to have health problems.  However following a proper, healthy veg*n diet will not harm your immune system.

A word of reassurance on eggs.... they do contain a large amount of cholesterol but eating them doesn't necessarily raise our blood cholesterol.  Prawns and other shellfish are also high in cholesterol but they don't raise blood cholesterol either.  So do enjoy eggs as often as you like.  They aren't harmful.