vegeterianism

If you're completely meat-addicted and not willing to open up your mind a bit don't bother reading what I'm going to write.



I'm currently 5'6 and ~110.
I used to weight about 125 when I was around 5'5.

A year ago I decided to become a Vegeterian. That's Vegeterian not Vegan.
I don't eat Meat.
I don't eat Fish(Yes, fish IS meat. I don't know why some people even get the idea that it isn't.)
I don't eat Eggs.(That's just because I don't like Eggs.)
I don't drink cow's milk. I only drink Soy Milk now. However I still eat stuff that might contain regular cow milk and whatnot. I'm not strict about that at all. There's nothing I can do about that :P

In about 3 months...
I went form 5'5 and 125 to 5'5 and ~112.
Now 3 months might seem like a long time but the thing is, I HAVE NEVER GAINED BACK THE WEIGHT. I can stuff my face with the unhealthiest crap in the world (a tub of ice cream, smoothies, fries, etc.) and I never went back to my original weight.

In a year of being Veg I have actually lost more weight and even grew an inch :P Of course everyone's weight fluctuates a bit but the most mine ever budged was from 112 to 115. That was probably mostly water weight anyway.

Now I know I'm going to get this response so I'm dealing with it now.
PROTEIN IS NOT LIMITED TO MEAT.
YOU CAN GET A CRAPLOAD OF PROTEIN FROM SOY PRODUCTS/Tofu/many types of nuts.
Not only can you get just as much Protein from those products as you do with meat but the protein you recieve is BETTER for you.
Meat is high in fat and cholesterol which is bad for your body and horrible for your heart
Proteins from meats do not get absorbed as quickly or as much as Soy Protein. In face you're probably getting more protein from Soy whatever than you do from meat because of this.

If you're finding it hard to lose weight you might want to try this even if only for a couple months. Do some good for your body and animals.

yay for vegetarians!  =)

amen whoo hoo!!

*sits back and to enjoy the ensuing ruckus*

I have no comment on whether a vegetarian diet will help you lose weight or not.  For some people that may work; others may find that they are replacing meat with higher-calorie foods and weight loss will not come naturally.

I do agree, however, that a diet without meat is healthier than a diet with meat.

I know losing weight can happen on ANY diet, Veg or not.

However I can GUARANTEE you 3 things:
On a Veg diet the weight WILL come off.
A huge percentage of that weight will be pure FAT.
In addition to the weight loss you'll be healthier.

Last I got tested in school, 110 lbs my body fat percentage is around 4-5%

though i don't eat meat, i think there is much to be said about some of the leaner meats...i don't think ALL meat is bad for you.  i bet even if people tried to cut down on fattier meat or red meat they would probably lose some weight too.

i think some ppl just cannot live without meat in their meals, and for them a better option would be to opt for lean ground turkey or something.

Yeah I agree.
Leaner meats might be a better option for your waistline however they have none to hardly any less cholesterol than "regular" meat.

In my opinion
Health > Weight

Even though they pretty much overlap.

1) I agree that a diet without meat might be healthier and have given up most of it myself. I don't agree so much about  leaving out occasional fish but that's from a health perspective, not a "fish aren't meat" one.

2) I don't agree that knocking off meat from your diet will necessarily keep you slim. Maybe it might knock off a couple of pounds, but I think for most people there has to be other changes. I have two vegetarian friends who are struggling with their weights. Nor do I think that most people would be able to stuff their face with the most unhealthy crap and stay slim just because they're vegetarian - that almost seems irresponsible to put out there.

3) What's with the defensive and argumentative tone in your email right off the bat before anyone says a word in respone? I think that's the sort of tone that makes a lot of people think vegetarians are raving, self-righteous loonies.

chunk lard that concerns me. A young woman is supposed to have 18% body fat in order to have a normal menstrual cycle...

I typed in your stats to check your bmi: it's 17.8 which considered underweight. Just saying. ( I used the 5'6 and the 110) 

Also, I don't think you'll convince anyone to become a veggie by being aggro.

4-5% bodyfat is not healthy, especially if you're female.

and FWIW, i gained weight when i became vegetarian years ago. i replaced meats with fried foods, full fat dairy, lots of pasta, desserts, etc. so a vegetarian diet never guarantees anyone will lose weight or fat.

Well thankfully I'm not a female.
:D

Also I do some light excercise. Swimming in the pool, push ups, sit ups, walking daily, stuff like that.

oh my bad, lol

but still... i think for males supposed to have 13% or something.... might want to look that up just to make sure

aggro? kiwi confused

I'm not aggro in the least.
But a lot of people are ready to shoot Veggies down because of that one single argument.

"NO PROTEIN. YOU'LL BE EMACIATED!"
Not only do Veggies receive most of the Protein they need and then some but being low on protein won't make you look sickly thin or anything like that. It may make you lose a bit of muscle mass. It's really not that tragic if you don't get enough Protein.

I am a new vegetarian--about 4 months now.  I am still learning to try new things--ie soy and tofu and such, but I do find it hard to get enough protein.  I have started taking suppliments because I think lack of protein was making me lathargic.

lorilie you can try soy protein shakes

beans and rice is a good source of protein, peanut butter as well =)

B12 is limited to meat (in that we don't have the bacteria to produce B12 in the appropriate area of our intestinal tract). However, as long as you are either eating fortified cereal or taking supplements (preferably both) then all power to you.

I was vegetarian for years. However, I like meat, I'm losing weight while eating meat and I don't advocate meat eating for people who don't want to eat meat. Each to their own I say.

Also, if your body fat is that low I am assuming you are an athlete rather than someone who "works out occasionally" as you suggest. When you work out that much and are still young, losing weight is somewhat easier.Whatever works for you I reckon, I won't be changing my diet but good luck to you.

lorilie, it could be lack of iron.  I find it's harder to get enough iron then it is is to get enough protein.

You can get B12 from dairy and egg yolks, if you are ovo-lacto-vegetarian.  Vegans need to supplement though.

i agree, iron is tough to get.  i've been taking supplements which are helping but i don't know what other foods have iron!!