I want to be vegetarian,but...

I want to be vegetarian, but I don't think my mom will go for it.  I'm 21, but I'm still living at home and don't plan to move out anytime soon.  I've been researching vegetarianism for about 10 months now and I at least want to try it even if I don't stick with it.  I will continue to wear leather,but only my shoes considering that there aren't many alternatives to them.  I also have no intrest in going vegan, while I fully respect vegans it's just not for me.  I'm  afraid my mom will think it's a phase or tell me no/assume I won't be able to do it.  I've seen her and my other family members reactions to someone who recently became a vegetarian and I don't think I'm up for the criticism.  I avoid meat when I can and I've started checking labels for geletin etc. but I haven't told my mom that I want to do this yet and I'm just afraid she'll say no.  Any ideas?

Can your mom really stop you?  You're 21.  You may be living under her roof but you are an adult.  And if you are buying your own vegetarian food she can't really prevent you from doing it can she?  There may be no way around the criticism, but she shouldn't be able to stop you from living how you want to live right?

My mom thought it was a teenage rebellion phase when I told her I wanted to become a vegetarian 5 years ago... But here I am, still a veghead.
((I did start off as a pescatarian for four years, but made the switch to a lacto-ovov eg last September... And my mom wasn't happy. I've been cooking for myself ever since lol))

If it's something -you- want to do (or at least try) why should what she thinks matters? You're an adult. It's your mind and body, you decide what you do with it.

I went veggie about 6 months ago and I feel so much better about myself.  I have had to deal with all kinds of critisism from family, especially my husband's family.  They love to tell me that I am traumatising my children, even though I still cook meat for them and my husband.  When I eat meals at home or at family member's homes, I just skip the meat or make an alternative for myself.  The snide comments are always going to happen because they do not understand it.  I look at it as their own ignorance. 

Bottom line is, opinions are like @$$holes, everyone has one.  You have to do what is right for yourself!

Maybe you could start by inviting your mom to join you in eating healthier by moving toward a plant-based diet, and start with 2 no-meat days a week, then 3, etc.  There are SO many great meatless ways to get protein, and SO many great meat analogs out there now (my faves are the Quorn "naked" chicken products) with only a fraction of the fat and calories of "real" meat products that you really can't argue that it's a healthier way to eat!

On a personal note, one of my sons (now 21) announced he was vegetarian when he was 16, and I supported him but reluctantly (he was raised on a beef cattle ranch!).  But as I began to prepare meatless meals for him, I discovered how much better I felt!  Now I'm the vegetarian in the household, so we do learn from our chidren!

Good luck to you - and thanks for caring about what your mom will think :-)

I tried mid-winter. I decided to eat fish in my diet because i wanted to cut it out slowly. As of may I'm no longer a veghead (and I'm upset about it) My mom can no longer afford it, every time we went out I annoyed the waitress and whatnot. I'm trying again when my mom gets the raise.  Just tell her you want to try, and if she stays with meat and you become a vegetarian it will raise the bill, it raised ours by about 20 dollars. This site has good recipes though, so defiantly go for it.   

Actually, if you eat beans and rice as a protein source it's much cheaper than meat.  The fake tofu meats are expensive, but there's really no reason that you have to have those.  Veggie patties are more expensive, but again, you can make your own or just skip them.

At 21 you are an adult and your mom has no say in what you do or what you don't do. If you are purchasing your own food or contributing your share to the groceries then she needs to butt out. Also why even tell your mom or anyone in your family about it to begin with? This is a personal decision on how you are choosing live your life.

I recently decided to change my diet considerably to live a healthier lifestyle for my own health. The only thing I mentioned to my family and friends is that I was cutting out sugar and saturated fat and if they wanted any of the food I was going to get rid of, to come and get it. I'm glad I did it but still don't feel the need to announce it to the whole world that I'm almost a vegetarian.

If you really want to make this change for a healthier lifestyle or for moral reasons then by all means do it. However based on the information you provided it sounds like you are doing it to rebel against your mom and family to exert your independence.  If you really want to be independent from your mom and family then save up money to move out of your family home. Then you can eat whatever you want without criticism from your family since they aren't there.

Hey Aspiring,

Firstly, I gotta say -- congratulations!!! I'm so proud of you for considering taking up vegetarianism; it's a path of love. 

Secondly, I feel you! I was in the exact same boat as you. I started a vegetarian diet back in February. I was lucky because I lived on campus, away from my family. That gave me the opportunity to cook my own food. But once school ended in April, I had to face the exact same problem as you - how do I confront my family about your new diet? 

A lot of replies here are saying 'you're 21, you're old enough' but it's easy to misunderstand how difficult it is to be a vegetarian when you are a still a student, dependent on your parents. We're still kids (at heart) and its so easy to accept the food that is served in front of your face... especially when you're hungry -- you don't ask for much, you just take what you can get, right?

What I did was tell my mother that my doctor advised me to stay away from red meats and to take up a pescetarian diet.  Luckily for me, my parents aren't very knowledgeable about food and nutrition so they had no idea it was just bogus. I made the transition to becoming a full vegetarian slowly, when I just told them I didn't 'feel like eating fish today,' until it became a long term thing. 

You probably know that if your mom is against you being a vegetarian, it's because she cares about you and is worried that your new diet could harm your health -- and she's not exactly wrong, it's easy to eat unhealthily under a vegetarian diet. So it's up to you to prove to her that you can stay off meat and still be healthy. 

Good luck :) 

If she buys the groceries I can see it being a problem, but if you buy your own food then just buy what you want.  Search the internet and find recipes that you think she'd like and "surprise" her w/dinner once in a while.  Don't mention it's vegetarian.  I'm not saying hide the fact that it's vegetarian just say "oh, it's a spinach lasagna" or "These black bean burgers have no saturated fat but just as much protein".  A lot of italian, latino, asian, and mid eastern foods are already vegetarian or VERY easy to convert.  Will she notice if the spaghetti doesn't have meatballs?  You can try a tofu stir fry and tell her you heard that soy is supose to be healthy for you (which it is), so you wanted to try it to see if it's good (which it is).

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