Becoming a vegetarian

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Yeah yeah 

But I've never really eaten a lot of red meat, the of steak and bacon sarnie really. 

As part of a doctor induced getting myself healthy I've given up booze, caffiene most dairy (lactose anyway) and bread. I seem to have inadvertently become a vegetarian in amongst this.

I know it's a healthier way to live - the science is is there to support it.

Any advice from any long term forum veggies on maintaining this. It seems pretty easy so far with the exception of the slightly er, explosive side effects of dropping a big chunk of protien out of my diet.............
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  • merlinmerlin Frets: 6597
    I won't proselytise for or against vegetarianism or veganism but unless we're building muscle or really active, we need a surprisingly small amount of protein. 
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  • jonnyburgojonnyburgo Frets: 12258
    edited October 2018
    20 yrs veggie here. Hugh fernley wittingstall River cottage veg book is good. There are a lot of very good meat substitutes out there now, not just quorn. It may be a bit of trial and error to suit your palette at first. Try not to fall back on Greggs cheese n onion pasties though! Its easy once you get into it.

    Goes without saying that eating healthily should be twinned with regular vigorous excercise, being veggie or vegan by itself isnt a panacea

    Bro in law is a teacher and was very stressed and had lots of skin problems eczema and the like. He was also a massive meat eater, always drained and knackered. He went veggie about 18 months ago and got into his road biking big time, no skin problems at all now, he dropped 3 stone and has much more focus and energy, has home made green juices every day. We couldnt believe it when he switched as he had always been mega cynical. Hes healthier than hes ever been now.
    "OUR TOSSPOT"
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    This year we've changed from omnivore to a plant-based diet and I feel and look better than I have done in at least 10 years.
    I'm down 15 lbs from where I was with no extra exercise or really thinking about dieting and I have loads of energy.

    Also don't want to be a proselytising vegetarian and I won't tell anyone else what I think they should or shouldn't do but there is no question it was the right decision for me.

    I try to fit in with other people though so if we go to dinner at someone's house then I'll have whatever is put in front of me, up to a point. 
    I have a very small amount of dairy- just a dash of milk in a coffee- I just can't do black coffee and soy/almond milk ruins it.

    I'm also cooking more creatively than I ever have.
    Last night's dinner was a roasted cauliflower and pumpkin burrito with green lentils.
    The previous night I made 'deconstructed felafel salad'.

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  • menamestommenamestom Frets: 4641
    It seems pretty easy so far with the exception of the slightly er, explosive side effects of dropping a big chunk of protein out of my diet.............
    Make sure you get it from other sources then.  Whey, Greek Yoghurt, Soy, eggs etc.

    Also legumes and beans but they are not all complete proteins so you need to eat variety.


    I kind of fell into being a vegetarian about 20 years ago.  No idea if it has had a benefit as I've not much to compare it to.
    Except of course, my ever fat, unfit  spotty, grotesque identical twin menamesjon.  But he died of the meat sweats at an all-you can-eat buffalo wing competition at the age of 30.  
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    20 yrs veggie here. Hugh fernley wittingstall River cottage veg book is good. There are a lot of very good meat substitutes out there now, not just quorn. It may be a bit of trial and error to suit your palette at first. Try not to fall back on Greggs cheese n onion pasties though! Its easy once you get into it.

    Goes without saying that eating healthily should be twinned with regular vigorous excercise, being veggie or vegan by itself isnt a panacea

    Bro in law is a teacher and was very stressed and had lots of skin problems eczema and the like. He was also a massive meat eater, always drained and knackered. He went veggie about 18 months ago and got into his road biking big time, no skin problems at all now, he dropped 3 stone and has much more focus and energy, has home made green juices every day. We couldnt believe it when he switched as he had always been mega cynical. Hes healthier than hes ever been now.

    That's probably the bigger reason for the energy boost.  15 years ago I was a fat unfit blob, and I started cycling to work.  Far more energy as a result - and I'm still a huge carnivore.

    I'm sure the diet has helped with the eczema but the energy is probably more about the exercise.

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  • jonnyburgojonnyburgo Frets: 12258
    crunchman said:

    That's probably the bigger reason for the energy boost.  15 years ago I was a fat unfit blob, and I started cycling to work.  Far more energy as a result - and I'm still a huge carnivore.

    I'm sure the diet has helped with the eczema but the energy is probably more about the exercise.

    Maybe, he did work out before, did cardio he was a gym bunny for many years, muscly as fuck in a bulldog kind of way, but he always had a shitty meat filled diet, the gym just about stopped him from blobbing out. 

    Fact is though you can have a shit diet whether you are veggie or meaty. Its easy to fall into those addictive high salt and fat foods.
    "OUR TOSSPOT"
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  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256
    Yeah yeah 

    But I've never really eaten a lot of red meat, the of steak and bacon sarnie really. 

    As part of a doctor induced getting myself healthy I've given up booze, caffiene most dairy (lactose anyway) and bread. I seem to have inadvertently become a vegetarian in amongst this.

    I know it's a healthier way to live - the science is is there to support it.

    Any advice from any long term forum veggies on maintaining this. It seems pretty easy so far with the exception of the slightly er, explosive side effects of dropping a big chunk of protien out of my diet.............


    Hi, I've been vegetarian for about 25 years. I do eat eggs and dairy though, but not a lot.

    Key to it - just eat fresh and cook it yourself. Tbh, that goes for any sort of food doesn't it?

    People get all hooked up about protein: I get most of my protein from pulses. You only need 0.8g of protein (per day) per kilo body weight. So, for me that's 56g. That is naff all. For example, there is a yoghurt Lidl do that contains 22g protein per pot. Well filling actually. If you are worried about protein, get a bag of pea protein supplement and put a bit in your food, more or less tasteless.

    Possibly the only thing I find tiresome about being veggie is other people who believe they have the right to question your reasons behind it. Well boring, to the point where I now answer the question with "I just am", or "why do you eat meat?" It's no-one else's business tbh, don't see why it#s so interesting for some people. Usually they are after challenging your reasons for it, but as I say, gets tiresome and can't be arsed with it.



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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    I like the idea of being vegetarian but it would be impossible for me. I'm virtually a carnivore! I literally can't eat any veg, I would throw up. I seem to have a severe mental reaction to it which I have had all my life. Add to that, I love the taste of meat. I do feel not great about the killing of animals to eat though, it is something that has come on in old age for me. I'd be happy to go with 'artificial' meat grown in a lab if that ever becomes a thing. 
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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    Variously vegetarian, vegan and pescatarian over the last 30+ years and I’m living proof that it’s possible for it to be a poor diet...although I have so far avoided the family history of high blood pressure and being the non meat eater might have helped with that. 

    Amongst other things ( being a lazy arse primarily ) fitting in with other people's diets is the hardest thing so mountains of cheese is often the compromise. However, on a good day it's something you can treat as an opportunity to explore new foods - going to Indian, Polish and Chinese supermarkets,etc. It's very difficult for picky eaters but turning vegetarian is often an opportunity to expand horizons. If I talk about food with my sister, for example, her tastes are incredibly conservative, we had the same meat and three veg background and she's better travelled than I am but I think I've almost been forced into trying stuff. Anecdotally I'd say my kids ( who eat meat) have a much broader palette than most of their contemporaries who struggle to grow out of the ' that's yucky' stage because there has been a broad range of stuff in the house or we have tried new stuff on holiday  - indeed they've taken a perverse delight in eating things like goat and kangaroo because we don't eat meat.  

    The trend now is flexitarian which is pretty much as Octatonic described it. That rather nasty woman who appears as a critic on MasterChef is vegan all week but then eats dog brains or whatever as part of her job. I have thought about that ( eating rose veal might be an ethical thing to do of you drink milk for example) but I think it would be the thin end of the wedge and I'd be living on big Mac's within a week. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • Mrs M has been veggie for virtually all her life, I'm a non committed carnivore food is for refuelling. so eat we eat mainly veggie withe the odd horse disappearing from the landscape when I have to cook for myself. 

    My observation of it is vegetarian cooking is far more creative and interesting than meat dishes when cooked by a committed veggie, if its done by a meat eater whith no imagination or thought and effort its bland boring and tasteless.

    Don't bother with Quorn go for Seitan idas here http://templeofseitan.co.uk
    www.maltingsaudio.co.uk
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    edited October 2018
    I'm moving the same way but need the taste of the stuff I'm familiar with and I do like the taste of meat.

    Loving Seitan, Tofish and the vegan pulled pork (Jackfruit) is amazing. I'm trying to lay off of dairy and wheat, too but I'm not a fan of Almond or Oat Milk and so prefer to go without.

    The Linda McCartney Rosemary and Onion sausages are fabulous and also gluten-free

    Another plus one here to Hugh Fearnley-W's vegan cook book.

    I already take high dosage Vit D & B12
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  • Bygone_TonesBygone_Tones Frets: 1528
    edited October 2018
    If you want to check that you are eating all the right vitamins and amino acids in your diet this website is pretty good:


    On a vegan diet you will probably find you are low on vitamin D, and B12, so might want to supplement those, especially in the winter.

    I've been trying to wean myself off meat, dairy, and fish for the last 6 months and get fit at the same time. I found these youtubers to be good resources for info and motivation:






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  • TTBZTTBZ Frets: 2873
    edited October 2018
    I did it for a while and found it very easy, just try not to over do the cheese! I'll probably go back to veggie soon as Ive noticed I'm putting on some pounds again plus it saves money. Thug Kitchen cook book is good if you want vegan recipes, the roasted chickpea and brocolli burritos are great I didn't really bother with the meat substitute, if I wanted something to taste like meat I'd just eat the real thing. Quorn gives me stomach cramps too. Although saying that the Cauldron sausages are tasty, I actually might prefer them to proper ones as they're not so greasy and way healthier.
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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4028

    I know it's a healthier way to live - the science is is there to support it....

    Any advice from any long term forum veggies on maintaining this
    40+ years of being vegetarian, occasionally vegan without the capital V.  Sometimes fishaterian but not often. 
    Maintaining it:  just keep going!
    But vegetarian healthier?  Not necessarily -- I've had spells of really unhealthy eating albeit not involving eating animals.
    As it happens I'm eating pretty healthily at the moment and enjoying it. 
    Basically healthy eating involves a bit of planning and a bit of preparation.  (I imagine that's the same for healthy diets which have meat too). 
    Junk food tends to be processed crap with high levels of sugars.  Fresh food makes that much easier to avoid -- but you've still got to be aware because you can have stupid amounts of sugar from fresh food too. 
    You just get into a routine and then it's second nature. 
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  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256

    Here's another thing that gets on my nerves - when people give you stick for eating meat substitutes, as in "why do you have stuff that tastes like meat, if you are a veggie??"

    The answer is chuffing simple: I didn't stop eating meat cos I didn't like it.

    Seitan - hmm, its alright, but I don't think its better or worse than quorn.

    I'm interested in the new stuff that's coming out, like the impossible burger and all that. Also interested in the lab grown meat, which presents me with a new dilemma: is it flesh, and if it is, how do I feel about it, given that it hasn't come from a slaughtered animal? Answer - dunno yet.

    Cookbooks: someone on here, I think it was Grunfeld, recommended Thug Kitchen. Brilliant recipes in it. All vegan. Easy, great tasting stuff. Hairy BIkers go Veggie is a good one too. There are plenty of "fancy faffy" veggie books too, for doing what you could call fine dining style stuff. The Modern Vegetarian is a good one, though it can be a bit of a faff sometimes.


    Tofu - tip, dry fry it first, no oil, bit of salt. Before you fry it, put it under a plate with weights on it, over a drainer, to get the water out. Takes a couple of hours really, then you can dry fry and it gets more texture.

    Aubergine - cut  it up, sprinkle in salt, leeches the water out, so when you cook it, its not slimy.

    Roasted cauliflower - 20- 25 mins in oven, sprinkled in salt, pepper, paprika, sage. You can slice it up into large thick slices, or have smaller chunks. Its a totally different veg to the one that is steamed - v tasty.

    Must be lunchtime.



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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4028
    Snap said:
    Cookbooks: someone on here, I think it was Grunfeld, recommended Thug Kitchen. Brilliant recipes in it. All vegan. Easy, great tasting stuff.
    It was indeed!  I love this book. 
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  • Just ordered it!!
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  • exocetexocet Frets: 1948
    My wifes been a Vegetarian for 40 years. I like vegetarian food and will look to eat more of it, however I will never claim to be a vegetarian myself because even if I reduce / eliminate meat from my diet, I'm sure that I'll be eating products that contain ingredients  derived from animals / fish e.g. Beer!
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  • TheMarlinTheMarlin Frets: 7744
    I've been a vegetarian for about 36 years.  I won't eat Quorn, it's just processed and bleached mold, and it ruins my stomach.

    Being a vegetarian now is super simple.  Plus lots of millennials are vegan, so your choices when out and about are much better than they used to be.  If you can cook, you're laughing.  if not, buy a cookbook, and get started.
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  • SnagsSnags Frets: 5326
    To avoid getting stuck in a rut, get some cook books. There's all kinds of good stuff out there.  Thug Kitchen is good, albeit unnecessarily sweary (and not in a particularly well-written way - their swears are just poor, like a badly timed punch .... line).

    "Bosh" seems to be quite good too, as well as the aforementioned Huge Firmly WitheringFool.

    I always thought I couldn't hack it as a veggie, but Mrs Snags is now entirely "plant based" at home, and I am by default, apart from the odd block of cheese.  Out and about she goes vegan where possible, and I go veggie unless the choices are rubbish, in which case something dies.

    Biggest thing is to spend a bit of time reading up on what you need to do in order to have a balanced diet. I find myself eating all kinds of things I used to get sniffy about, and loving the (various beans, pulses and wotnot).




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