<p>We have been inching our way toward it through the years. It helped move along when D became a vegetarian several years ago and we had to cook for her. I am looking forward to a total transition soon- I figure retirement and more interest and time in experimentation will help, along with time for a better vegetable garden will help.</p>
<p>Current vegetarian, since I was six. Had a teacher show us videos of chickens with their heads cut off running around. </p>
<p>Been twenty years since, and I would never consider eating meat.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Absolutely not. </p>
<p>I think it is difficult to get enough fat and protein and keep carbs low enough for a healthy vegetarian/vegan diet. I would be particularly concerned about the negative impact on blood lipids and coronary risk.</p>
<p>I like tofu, but I’d get sick of it if I had to eat it every day. Ditto mushrooms. Other than that, there aren’t that many soruces of protein-rich plant-derived foods. I’ll stick with my fish, chicken and occasional steak.</p>
<p>It would probably be do-able if you ate dairy and got protein from eggs, milk, cream, cheese and so forth. But, without any animal protein, it’s tough. Even eating meat, it’s not easy to get protein intake up.</p>
<p>It my understanding that cardiac disease and embolic stroke potential go way down with both, except for in vegans their hemorrhagic stroke risk increases. Research is definitely needed in risk areas and the ideal healthy diet has yet to emerge.</p>
<p>Interestingly, choosing what we eat has many layers of issues- ethical, medical, cultural, emotional, financial, religious, biological, etc.</p>
<p>I am personally waiting for a coffee and chocolate study that shows lowering of all risks.</p>
<p>I admit that as much as I love animals, it’d be tough for me to cut out meat and fish completely. </p>
<p>I hear soy is really bad for you now. At least, that’s the new “wisdom.”</p>
<p>This vegetarian hates tofu. And mushrooms. </p>
<p>Never been low in protein or anything else (except for iron- but my anemia was from long before my vegetarian days).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Iron is better absorbed from vegetable sources if eaten with vitamin C containing foods.</p>
<p>There’s tofu, tempeh, seitan, fake meats, etc. for vegetarians. It’s not all just tofu.</p>
<p>Nuts, legumes, seeds, and quinoa all have protein as well. Most foods have some. For example, a cup of uncooked kale has 2.5 grams of protein. If I cook it (it cooks down), I tend to eat two of those cups at a time, which is 10% of my recommended daily protein intake. So it shouldn’t be all I eat for protein in a day, but when I’m eating it next to a pile of beans or tofu, it certainly adds to the total.</p>
<p>I’ve ben vegan for about three years and vegetarian for about 12 years before that. I actually had a physical about two months ago and pretty much all of my numbers including iron and B12 were normal to high. I do make sure that I pay attention to those things (I don’t supplement right now but I do pay attention to bloodwork results in case I should be supplementing).</p>
<p>I probably eat more carbs than some people do, but I’m not trying for an extreme low carb diet, and if you are, it can certainly take more effort. Brendan Brazier is an example of somebody who is an elite athlete on a vegan diet and says that switching his diet improved his athletic performance. I think that eating the way he does would certainly take some getting used to, though – in the interview below he’s rattling off foods like hemp seeds and chlorella.</p>
<p>[One-on-One</a> with Brendan Brazier | Vegetarian Times](<a href=“http://www.vegetariantimes.com/article/one-on-one-with-brendan-brazier/]One-on-One”>One-on-One with Brendan Brazier - Vegetarian Times)</p>
<p>nope. > 10 characters :)</p>
<p>I’m inching closer. Seems better for the planet. No judgement of others though and I’m inching.</p>
<p>I haven’t eaten red meat in 20 years, cut out poultry about 5 years later… still eat fish and dairy and don’t ever plan to go completely vegan. It works for me, but the rest of my family does not follow…</p>
<p>I’ve never really eaten meat, I was so young when I stopped that I don’t remember ever actually eating it. No fish and no fowl, either.</p>
<p>Romani, I don’t eat tofu or mushrooms, either. Remarkable how much we have in common.</p>
<p>I am almost there! All I eat right now is fish and oysters/clams/mussels - no other seafood (and no meat, obviously). I wanted to become a vegetarian for a while, because of my love for animals, and I tried on and off for a while in college, but it was really hard to stick with it (I am a big meat-lover). What really pushed me over and made it stick is trying to help someone else stay on course. One of my friends decided to stop eating meat, and I didn’t want my meals to be a temptation (this is someone who really liked meat, much like me). After a few weeks, I realized that I was doing it, and I haven’t looked back since. It’s been three years :)</p>
<p>Give up a nice steak on the grill?..not a chance…and no Turkey on T-giving? Couldn’t even imagine that agony.</p>
<p>Interesteddad’s comment about vegetarian diet being bad for your heart surprises me. Runs counter to everything I’ve read and everything my doctor says.</p>
<p>I am not a full-time vegetarian, but only eat meat maybe 1x a week, less when my veg D is home. The carbs I eat are mainly whole grains (oats, quinoa, etc) and I eat tons of veggies, plus nuts and oils like olive oil. </p>
<p>Since I shifted to this way of eating, I have lost 10 lbs without dieting and have never felt healthier.</p>
<p>ps I do agree with geeps, I like the occasional burger on the grill, Turkey on thanksgiving–I just use meat as a once-in-a-while thing now.
And I love an egg now and then too…I’d have problems with being vegan but vegetarian with eggs and a bit of diary (plain greek yogurt, a bit of cheese)–that’s easy enough.</p>
<p>I believe in moving the protein out of the center of the plate and incorporating it into the entirety of the dish. That leads to not very much meat, more vegetables, more grain, wider variety of cooking techniques. I think I eat red meat about once a month on average - sometimes not, sometimes 2 or 3 times, usually when we go out. Chicken is more common because my wife likes to make chicken. But the goal is to eat a meal where the rest of the plate is what matters.</p>
<p>This, btw, is what bothers me about Top Chef and particularly their vegetarian challenges. The show still revolves too much around the proper cooking of proteins. It shouldn’t be animal or no animal but the integration of animal with no animal. It bothers me that plates have a protein and then some highly transformed bit of beet or sliver of potato or a little puree of peas. That reduces the non-meats to elaborate garnishes.</p>