Wellness

[fab50]

Hi there! Congratulations on this lifestyle change. If you google Vegetarian recipes, a few thousand will come up. There are also magazines such as Vegetarian Times, and so many wonderful books. Just type Vegetarian Cookbooks on Amazon or ebay. Many have excellent explanations of dietary needs. Just remember that three-quarters of the world eats vegetarian, and lots of animals as well!

A good health food store often provides cookbooks and recipes, and the Seventh Day Adventist faith publishes cook books and advice.

Just experiment, and start slowly! When I began, I brought home about twenty different grains but had no idea what to do with them! Remember that pasta, Quinoa, and brown rice can be the foundation of any meal; just add lots of roasted veggies! I use Rice Dream or Almond milk now, and love it. I do eat organic eggs because I need the protein, and I love eggs. No other meat or dairy. Make lots of soups, too!

Good luck to you! You will feel better!

[Fitzallen]

Try Veggie Patch products...faux chicken cutlets and meat balls are particularly good!

[bullyluv]

For those who are vegetarians what are your thoughts about the wheat belly craze?

[Cookie777]

I'm a vegetarian, but I did not grow up that way. I use morning star a lot ( meat substitute), and pretty much eat the same as if I did eat meat. Also loma Linda has meat sub. Qvc has one called neat that is good.

[ahoymate]

Yes. It's not an easy way to live. Takes time, commitment, creativity, kitchen skills. Without, it gets very tedious and boring

Good luck

[glmama]

I've been a pescaterian for going on 20 years now. I eat fish sometimes 2x/week, sometimes not at all. No other meat, or meat products, including stocks of course and other meat items (I mention stocks b/c I have found that some people still don't realize that there's beef broth or chicken stock in almost every store-bought soup unless it says otherwise).

While I started eating this way to try to avoid some heart issues that run in my family, I continued eating lower on the food chain for ethical reasons. No, I am not perfect. The fishing industry is awful, too. But something about eating the higher animals sorta spurred me to eat lower and lower until most stuff was eliminated.

My DH was a vegetarian for many years (about 15) and now eats meat. I don't cook it in my home and he eats fish and all the other yummy veg stuff I cook.

There are loads of meat alternatives out there, but if you want to stay away from those, eating a primarily plant based diet is a great way to approach your food, IMO.

So many great resources out there now that weren't available when I started eliminating certain things from my diet. Some of my fave cookbooks include: All the Moosewood ones, anything by Mollie Katzen, Deborah Madison, Mark Bittmans (How to Cook Everything Vegetarian), Isa Moskowitz (vegan), etc., etc. I could go on all day. I think it is a GREAT time to really start thinking about what goes in your body and what you WANT to consume. We are so fortunate to be able to have the ability to choose in this country, we suffer from over-abundance, not under (and that's an entirely different thread).

I should also share that making different choices won't KEEP you healthy. MY DH and I have known a few overweight and unhealthy vegans. My point is that being aware of what you're consuming and where it comes from is a good step to better health, IMO. But it doesn't make you immune to poor health. By NO means has eating this way for so long improved my weight (I'm actually overweight now--working on that). But I making the decision to eat lower on the food chain and open myself up to other choices, alternatives, etc., was/is a major key in my awareness of what goes into my body.

All the best to you!

[kzjohnson]

Me and the DH transitioned from meat eaters to pescaterians about 6 months ago, so we are new to this. I did get a few vegetarian cookbooks but then quickly realized that I could change up any recipe to be vegetarian. We us a lot of soy based substitutes like Morningstar, Boca and Lightlife. I have even found textured vegetable protein for things like soups and stews (Harmony House Foods dot com).

We do eat diary but very light on that as I have found many soy substitutes there as well that work for us. We do have fish or shellfish about 1 - 2 times a week. And on occasion we still have some scrambled eggs for a Sunday morning breakfast.

In general I have not found it too difficult to make the transition which we did for several reasons.

A Boca burger sounds good right about now!

[redtabby]

On 4/9/2014 glmama said:

I've been a pescaterian for going on 20 years now. I eat fish sometimes 2x/week, sometimes not at all. No other meat, or meat products, including stocks of course and other meat items (I mention stocks b/c I have found that some people still don't realize that there's beef broth or chicken stock in almost every store-bought soup unless it says otherwise).

While I started eating this way to try to avoid some heart issues that run in my family, I continued eating lower on the food chain for ethical reasons. No, I am not perfect. The fishing industry is awful, too. But something about eating the higher animals sorta spurred me to eat lower and lower until most stuff was eliminated.

My DH was a vegetarian for many years (about 15) and now eats meat. I don't cook it in my home and he eats fish and all the other yummy veg stuff I cook.

There are loads of meat alternatives out there, but if you want to stay away from those, eating a primarily plant based diet is a great way to approach your food, IMO.

So many great resources out there now that weren't available when I started eliminating certain things from my diet. Some of my fave cookbooks include: All the Moosewood ones, anything by Mollie Katzen, Deborah Madison, Mark Bittmans (How to Cook Everything Vegetarian), Isa Moskowitz (vegan), etc., etc. I could go on all day. I think it is a GREAT time to really start thinking about what goes in your body and what you WANT to consume. We are so fortunate to be able to have the ability to choose in this country, we suffer from over-abundance, not under (and that's an entirely different thread).

I should also share that making different choices won't KEEP you healthy. MY DH and I have known a few overweight and unhealthy vegans. My point is that being aware of what you're consuming and where it comes from is a good step to better health, IMO. But it doesn't make you immune to poor health. By NO means has eating this way for so long improved my weight (I'm actually overweight now--working on that). But I making the decision to eat lower on the food chain and open myself up to other choices, alternatives, etc., was/is a major key in my awareness of what goes into my body.

All the best to you!

What Glamma says is very true, just because someone is a vegan or vegetarian does not mean they eat healthy. I often like to point out that Oreos are vegan, so are most potato chips and french fries (depending on the oil used for cooking), cashew cheese cheesecakes, you get the idea. My food choices are pretty good most of the time but I am still overweight because I still eat too much.

If you are choosing this path for health reasons, to get your numbers like glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure in line without medicine please investigate Dr. Esselstyn, PCRM, Dr. MacDougall, and the Happy Herbivore. They are proponents of no or little added fat and a strict plant based diet, grains are allowed. They all have studies and research that back up their claims for successful health turnarounds.

As far as meat substitutes go, I do not eat those very often. If I do have the urge for something meaty I do like the new product called Beyond Meat, sold at Whole Foods. They have a chicken that is great in a chicken salad, you would never know it is not the real deal. Recently they released a beef crumble that I am eager to try in Sloppy Joes. Beyond Meat was originally developed to serve the protein needs of the world without increasing livestock production. Especially since livestock uses lots of land and food that could be better utilized on produce.

I will step off my soapbox now. Thank you for listening.

[redtabby]

On 4/9/2014 bullyluv said: For those who are vegetarians what are your thoughts about the wheat belly craze?

I do not know all the ins and outs of the wheat belly diet, I have noticed that I feel better when I avoid flour products. That was hard, I love pasta but I know it is not the best option for me. You can easily eliminate flour and/or gluten from a vegan diet. You still can eat rice and quinoa.

[glmama]

Hi redtabby-

The meat alternatives our family eats the most are veggie burgers, for a quick meal (I also make a black bean burger-but these are even faster), and I like a few different brands of the veggie crumbles. I love a "meat" sauce done with the crumbles over pasta. And when made with your own red sauce recipe, with the crumbles thrown in, I'm sure you could trick a meat eater!