Vegetarians/Vegans?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Just wondering if there were any other veggies around here. With the lack of Apple topics I figured a few more AppleOutsider posts could pass away the time till the next big show.



I'm going on my 10th year as a vegan. Any other veggies care to share recipes or stories?

How did your family/friends react when you made the switch? Do you find it hard to go out and eat?



My coworkers often ask me to go out to lunch and most of the time they want to go to a fast food place where the options for vegans is really limited. I usually end up with a potato at Wendys.

Other than that I usually don't have a problem finding a vegan dish on a menu.



Anyone have experiences they'd like to share?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 81
    Nope. We all eat meat here.
  • Reply 2 of 81
    I am vegetarian. Wendys baked potatoes are good.
  • Reply 3 of 81
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    I used to be a vegaterian (ovo-lacto) when I was 16-20 but gave it up when I got sick often. But it's a lifestyle I'd like to get back into when I read up more on it and make better decisions on the proper veg diet. Sadly almost all my friends that were vegan have stopped being so (like me).
  • Reply 4 of 81
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    No, I'm an omnivore.



    But to the vegetarians: why? Is it more for moral reasons or health reasons, or what?
  • Reply 5 of 81
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    [quote]Originally posted by Scott H.:

    <strong>Nope. We all eat meat here.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Hehe. A classic Scott H.



    I´m not vegetarian but just a couple of month ago I got a friend who is vegan. She is a really interesting person so unlike other vegans I have met in the past I am not just shaking my head at her eating habits. I have tried to understand her, to make vegan food and eat less fish, cheese, butter, milk aso. but I still don´t get it. Normally I don´t eat meat but a lot of fish and that makes my food more interesting because you can vary your food a lot. But with vegan food :eek: I get up in the morning and cook some oatmeal...ops can´t do that because I can´t eat it without it got milk in it. I bake some muffin...ops can´t eat those without butter. I cook some tomato soup and eat it just like it with sour cream in it...oops can´t do that...



    When I ask her what she do when she wants something that normally have diary products in it the answer always have something to do with soya (Soya milk, tofu etc.). Its not like a whole new world with interesting flavors opens up for you but its all about substitute products. And the biggest problem is desserts: I LOVE ice cream, chocolate mousse and could not live without it. The only ice recepie I know that is vegan demands so much chocolate that it is scary.



    If you have some references to reciepies(sp?) online I would be most grateful. Especially desserts.
  • Reply 6 of 81
    I'm a meat-a-saurus.



    But I hear Steve Jobs is vegan.
  • Reply 7 of 81
    I'm not a vegitarian either.



    I'm curious, why did you become vegitarian? It doesn't make sense to me why someone wouldn't eat meat.
  • Reply 8 of 81
    I go for days eating just veggies but when I want meat it's because it's something I really enjoy. There's a place near here that makes the best cheeseburgers (really!) and another breakfast place that makes their own corned beel hash. They also make this truly amzing cajun omelette that's made with a jambalaya that has some bacon in it. I love corned beef and cabbage as much for all the veggies but I really like the corned beef too. It's healthier eating vegetarian and I like the veggie meals that I have. But I couldn't do it 100% of the time.
  • Reply 9 of 81
    Personally I don't eat meat for a few reasons:



    1. I find it much healthier to not eat meat. With all the antibiotics, nitrates and other weird stuff they're injecting in beef, I'd rather stick to natural stuff. Plus, there's a lot less fat in ToFu than in a cheesesteak.



    2. I have no desire to eat meat. Thinking about biting into flesh just grosses me out. So its not hard to pass up Black Angus Steak House.



    3. Animals feel pain and I can live perfectly without an animal having to die. So if I don't need to kill an animal, than why do it? I don't need meat to survive. So its all good.



    However, I respect everyone's opinion and I'm not an "activist". I don't go to rallys, I don't protest, I don't throw red paint on people who wear fur. Thats not cool. To each his own. Eating meat just isn't for me.



    Anders, its hard to call Soy Milk a substitue for cow's milk. Have you tried it? You'll probably hate the taste! Most people who like cow's milk hate soy milk because the taste is so different. If you really want a flavorful alternative to milk, try Almond or Rice milk. I think they taste much better.



    I feel like there are new flavors in vegan foods. Sure if you're looking for soy pizza and tofu hot dogs you're not going to find that. But if you can whip up a good seitan stir fry, it tastes nothing like meat. Especially if you combine a lot of different spices and vegetables you wouldn't have thought of before. There's more to stir fries than just peppers, mushrooms and fake beef.



    Just do a search on google for "vegan recipes". There's so many great websites I can't even list them all.



    If you want me to share some really good recipes with you that I use all the time, just let me know and I'll either email them to you or post them here.
  • Reply 10 of 81
    Outsider, When I was 15-16 I became a vegetarian and all I ate was grilled cheese and french fries. I would constantly get bad colds and flus. Eating that stuff was probably worse for me because I wasn't getting the protein and vitamins I needed.



    Than I bought a few books on healthy eating and everything changed. I started buying rice milk enriched with B12 and other essential vitamins and I started feeling much better. I also started to eat more beans, carbohydrates and soy instead of just all that greasy fried food.



    It wasn't easy at first but I'm glad I made the choice.



    I can give you some good book titles if you're looking to eat healthier. Let me know
  • Reply 11 of 81
    I was a vegetarian for about 6-7 years, but about 6 months ago or so I started eating fish again. I still don't eat beef/chicken/pork, just fish... My girlfriend is basically the same, though she eats even less fish than I do.



    I have several friends that are vegetarian or vegan (for some reason, the electronic music scene is full of veggie people), and even those that AREN'T mostly eat pretty healthy, which all makes it a lot easier to avoid unpleasant situations like the one described in the first post.



    I stopped eating meat as a reaction to the fact that I was eating way, way too much meat. Every meal had meat, and some meals were JUST meat. There's a lot of history of lifestyle-related illness (heart disease & digestive tract cancers) in my family, and I made the switch in a sort of fear-based desire to eat healthier after several of my older relatives dropped dead prematurely due to problems their doctors felt could have been prevented with better diet and exercise.



    If that had been all there was to it, I probably would have drifted back to my carnivorous ways pretty quickly, since these sort of panic reactions tend to subside right away. But what I noticed was that I felt a lot better, sort of "lighter" (not just weight-loss related, but there was some of that). I felt much less tired & lethargic after meals, more clear-headed and energetic. I didn't feel stuffed full for as long after eating. I felt like my body "liked" the new diet better. For a while I missed steaks & stuff, but I felt so much better that I wasn't willing to go back.



    I know some "moral" vegetarians who think killing animals is wrong, and I don't really feel that way, though I do have some problems with certain aspects of factory farming. I think the meat & dairy industry has some real problems with overuse of chemicals, both hormones and anti-biotics, but you can avoid both these things by buying organic milk, for example. Still, my dietary choices have zero to do with the whole "it's wrong to kill an animal" argument. I still wear leather sometimes.



    After a while of not eating animal flesh, you DO start to think about it differently. It starts to seem less like "food" and more like "dead body" when you look at meat on a plate. This change in perspective has diminished a bit, so that I can eat fish without feeling "yick, dead flesh" about it.



    In a very real way, I think of my conversion from "meat eater" to "vegetarian" as being similar to my conversion from "Windows zealot" to "Mac enthusiast." In fact, both changes happened at around the same time, though the first was sudden and the other was gradual (and ongoing). But I feel that many Windows users just use Windows because that's what they were brought up doing, that's what their friends or family or teachers or co-workers did, and they don't question it. They think there's something kooky and a little pathetic about Mac users.



    It's the same way with meat eaters and their unquestioning assumption that "of course humans are meant to eat meat, because they always have, and they wouldn't have such sharp teeth if they were meant to be herbivores." Meat eaters assume that vegetarians are kooky and slightly pathetic, in general, too.



    There are further similarities in that these assumptions are based on misinformation. Most meat-eaters assume that vegetarians eat nothing but salads and little plates of apple slices, and don't really enjoy their food. But if you meet and hang around with a "real" vegetarian you'll find that they (we) have a real love of food, and enjoy a really diverse diet. I remember going to a CD release party in Bellingham Washington -- one of my electronic music buddies and his wife were vegans, and they & all their B-ham hippy friends made an amazing vegan feast. This really opened my eyes that you can have a really exciting, varied, tasty diet without meat, and even without eggs/dairy (though I wouldn't or couldn't make this last change myself).



    I eat all kinds of really great Asian food, especially Thai food, various kinds of pizza, and tons of Mexican food. There are lots of options, many great restaurants even in a mid-sized city like Portland, and (especially since I started eating fish again sometimes) very rarely do I ever wish I had more restaurants or dishes to choose from.



    When a meat eater acts condescending about my dietary choices, I feel exactly the way I do when a PC zealot acts condescending about my use of a Mac. I want to say "I've been there, brotha. I've been where you are, so I understand your side, and I'm telling you there's another way!"



    The funny thing is, a year before I "switched" if you'd asked me if I'd ever change, I would've said "No way, never." But in both cases (quitting meat and getting involved with the Mac) I ended up surprising myself by changing, and being happy I did.
  • Reply 12 of 81
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    I've never been a Vegatarian. I eat alot of chicken and rice. I love vegatable however. I think that if my Cholest level rises I could see myself as cutting back on some meats. I avoid hamburgers and prefer chicken breast sandwiches. But I do love a great Prime Steak and I don't feel guilty because that some expensive stuff! I don't really buy into the moral aspect as well. Humans have long considered themselves exempt and outsiders to the food chain but that is nothing but folly. I would entertain any more humane ways of treating animals but for now I gotta get my protein.



    Question to all the former Vegatarians....how did you system react when you resumed eating meat. I assume fish has a low impact but red meat may cause some side effects.
  • Reply 13 of 81
    I'm a pescatarian....basically a vegetarian but I eat Fish.

    to all people that wonder why someone would ever be a vegetarian other than for health reasons....go find yourself a copy of "diet for a new america" and watch it...that video has convinced at least 100 people I know to be vegetarian :eek:



    jobs Probably is vegan....****ing yuppie
  • Reply 14 of 81
    Wrong Robot, that's the book that pushed me over the edge. Holy crap, even if you LOVE meat it will change the way you think about it. I've loaned that book to three other people.... net result, three converted vegetarians (two of whom have ended up eating fish eventually too).
  • Reply 15 of 81
    [quote]Originally posted by hmurchison:

    <strong>Question to all the former Vegatarians....how did you system react when you resumed eating meat. I assume fish has a low impact but red meat may cause some side effects.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Fish wasn't realy a problem for me to digest when I started eating it again, but after your tastes get used to non-animal tastes, the oils in fish taste really "fishy" and fatty.



    I had a few relapses in my first year being a vegetarian.... one chicken burrito and two carne asada burritos. All three times, the same result: I felt REALLY full, and that feeling remained from lunch time until about midnight. It seems like your stomach acid output changes when you stop eating meat. You don't need to produce as much acid to digest a vegetarian diet so eventually your body doesn't produce as much. Throw a bunch of beef down, and you'll have a hard time digesting it.



    Another thing is that meat eaters always complain that after a "light" meal (one without a ton of meat) they're hungry again right away.... this is the reverse of the same thing. A person with a meat-eaters digestive trace will eat a salad and digest it in 20 seconds, and feel hungry right away. The stomach acid will be gurglin' and they'll be craving a QPC. But if you're a vegetarian for a while, a big plate of Thai food with grilled tofu will feel like a feast, and even a veggie stir fry or a salad will seem like an actual meal.



    To summarize... Not only do your tastes change to accomodate a different diet, but your body changes too.
  • Reply 16 of 81
    In the Orthodox Church we are not supposed to eat meat during lent for all of the 40 days.



    I wouldnt mind being a vegan but eating like a vegan can be unhealthy and lead to obesity because of starch.



    I am a vegan in 4 weeks, when lent starts for the Orthodox. Our church calendar is different from the eastern calendar where as the catholic is western doctrine.



    The Orthodox have easter according to the east when the catholics have easter according to the west.



    Easter vs Wester. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />



    (I will explain more if I am confusing you)
  • Reply 17 of 81
    [quote]Originally posted by Wrong Robot:

    <strong>I'm a pescatarian....basically a vegetarian but I eat Fish.

    to all people that wonder why someone would ever be a vegetarian other than for health reasons....go find yourself a copy of "diet for a new america" and watch it...that video has convinced at least 100 people I know to be vegetarian :eek:



    jobs Probably is vegan....****ing yuppie </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Jobs is a vegan.
  • Reply 18 of 81
    [quote]Originally posted by Macintosh:

    <strong>I wouldnt mind being a vegan but eating like a vegan can be unhealthy and lead to obesity because of starch. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    I really don't know any obese vegans. I've never even heard of one! A much, much higher percentage of meat eaters are obese than vegetarians and ESPECIALLY vegans. In fact statistically there is a nearly direct correlation between the amount of meat (and even animal products like eggs and dairy) consumed, and the propensity to obesity. More meat, more likely to be obese. Less meat, less likely. No meat, very unlikely to be obese.



    Vegans, and I mean true vegans and not people whose diet is nothing but Doritos and Coke, are virtually never obese. Many vegans have a hard time eating enough food (due to the fact that vegan foods are greater in bulk per calorie) to give them enough calories to maintain weight.



    One misconception is that vegetarians eat like meat eaters do, but with the meat simply removed from their diet. There are usually other things added or emphasized (especially beans, rice, pasta), so a vegetarian does not eat exactly what you eat but without the meat. Vegetarians who eat a normal "American" diet but with the meat removed, will have health problems and dietary deficiencies (which is one of the main reasons for the vegetarian "defections" I've heard about).
  • Reply 19 of 81
    Anybody want a hotdog??
  • Reply 20 of 81
    [quote]Originally posted by sizzle chest:

    <strong>Wrong Robot, that's the book that pushed me over the edge. Holy crap, even if you LOVE meat it will change the way you think about it. I've loaned that book to three other people.... net result, three converted vegetarians (two of whom have ended up eating fish eventually too).</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I never read the book...I only saw the video...My old Science teacher(totally cool environmentalist guy) used to have all his classes watch that video...I ended up seeing it twice....though it didn't directly lead to me giving up beef and poultry, it helped greatly.
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