Life Without Meat

May 2, 2013 By Amy Leave a Comment

Becoming a vegetarian is about a lot more than just a change to your diet. It is a lifestyle choice that influences many aspects of your life separate from just what you put into your body for food. This is why the path from when you first considered taking on the life of a vegetarian to when you are finally ready to make that transition may be several weeks or months. The journey to that moment when you are ready must not be rushed. Because not only is it a physical journey toward a physical change of diet, it is a spiritual, ethical and emotional journey as well.

Life without meat will mean a new approach to meal preparation that means new recipes and new ways to shop for the foods you need. This becomes additionally complex if you are living with those who have not made the choice to become vegetarians. If you are charged with meal preparation, that means two menus per night. If someone else is the primary cook of the house, that means you will need some accommodation so you can have a vegetarian meal while others are eating meat. That is going to take some relationship building and some tolerance by you and by the meat lovers in your home so everybody can dine in peace.

Being a vegetarian in a world of meat eaters may be one of the biggest adjustments you may have to make. But be prepared for some cravings for meat as well. At first, it might be wise to ease into vegetarianism so you still get some protein from meat while your body gets used to a lowered intake of that food group. This is also important because it will take a few weeks or longer to find a diet that has adequate substitutes for the nutrients and vitamins you are taking out of your body because of your new diet. By leaving meat in your eating schedule for a short time, you are less prone to feel run down or endure vitamin deficiencies during the transition to a full vegetarian eating regimen.

Many times a vegetarian lifestyle is part of a larger change of life which may also incorporate yoga, meditation or other spiritual activities. If your sole reason for becoming a vegetarian is related to health, this may not be as much of an issue. But if you are feeling drawn to a vegetarian life without meat because of ethical, moral or spiritual reasons, your desire to embrace vegetarianism is no doubt part of a larger spiritual quest or renewal that you are going though. This is healthy and the more you fully embrace your new interest in this side of your personality and soul, the more your desire to be a vegetarian will fit a total change of life.

But one of the most delightful surprises you will enjoy when you embrace the lifestyle of a vegetarian will be the number of others who will join you in your quest for a cleaner and more spiritual way to treat your body. The vegetarian community is a large one and it will welcome you warmly with community, support and all the help they can provide. But even from the community of those who are not vegetarians, you will often find friends and loved ones very supportive of the change of life you are going through and they will seek to help you all they can.

Filed Under Vegetarian Tips Tagged With Adequate Substitutes, Cravings, Eating Meat, Emotional Journey, Food Group, Lifestyle Choice, Meal Preparation, Meat Eaters, Meat Lovers, New Approach, New Ways, Nutrients, Physical Journey, Regimen, Vegetarian Lifestyle, Vegetarian Meal, Vegetarianism, Vegetarians, Vitamin Deficiencies, Yoga Meditation

It’s a Diet AND a Community

April 30, 2013 By Amy Leave a Comment

Becoming a vegetarian is about a lot more than just changing what you eat. That said, there is no question that making the transition to vegetarian eating is one of the most positive things you can do for your body from a diet perspective. It will take some adjustments to make sure your vegetarian diet includes items that provide replacements for the proteins and vitamins that will no longer be part of your food intake when you stop eating meat. But there is an abundance of help in the vegetarian community that can help you tailor your diet to meet all your vitamin and nutritional needs and taste good too.

The community aspect of the vegetarian lifestyle is one of the things that sets your decision to become a vegetarian apart from any other “diet” decision you could have made. That is because vegetarianism is about more than just diet, it is about community and it is about lifestyle. Its good for you to be aware that as you begin to explore your new life as a vegetarian, you are by far not alone and there is an entire subculture all around you that can be of help in what you are trying to do.

It is appropriate to call the community of vegetarians a subculture because, like any culture, there are various levels and “tribes” of vegetarians usually organized around the motivation for being a vegetarian in the first place. Naturally, we know that many people start living a vegetarian lifestyle because of the health benefits. But even without a lot of teaching or group activities to reinforce it, this one change to your diet is very likely going to change lots of aspects of your life that you might not ordinarily associate with diet.

There is a purity and a naturalness to the vegetarian way of life that generates health from the inside out. Not long after you have gone completely vegetarian and you no longer are eating meat of any kind you will notice your sleep is deeper, you are more alert during the day and your digestion and elimination systems are far more effective and untroublesome. It is well known that the physical body and that side of you known as the soul are linking so as you purify your body, you will find your ability to focus on spiritual or intellectual things more powerful as well.

When you find your life changing for the better in such unexpected ways, you will have joined millions who have discovered the “hidden benefits” of a vegetarian life. And that huge subculture is one of the most encouraging and nurturing cultures in the world. As you strive to perfect your vegetarian program, you don’t have to work on it alone. By simply reaching out to the large vegetarian population locally, you will find encouragement, help, advice and support to help you “make it” through the transition from a life of eating meat to the purer approach to diet that is what being a vegetarian is all about.

The vegetarian community and culture is a rich one where you can enhance your new lifestyle with an amazing library of reading material, with an constantly expanding supply or recipes and with a address book full of phone numbers of new friends and groups who meet regularly to be together in their quest for a better physical, mental and spiritual life through vegetarianism. It will be a natural thing to seek out new friendships in these communities. And you should feel free to explore and enjoy them fully. These cultures will help you, encourage you and make your commitment to a vegetarian diet a lifelong one.

Filed Under Vegetarian Tips Tagged With Abundance, Community Aspect, Digestion, Eating Meat, Elimination Systems, Food Intake, Group Activities, Health Benefits, Motivation, Naturalness, Proteins, Purity, Replacements, Subculture, Tribes, Vegetarian Community, Vegetarian Diet, Vegetarian Lifestyle, Vegetarians, Way Of Life

Is It Time for an Intervention?

April 25, 2013 By Amy Leave a Comment

“Guess what mom and dad, I’m a vegetarian!”

If those words would strike terror in your heart if it came from your child, this article is for you. While we all are aware that vegetarians walk amongst us, when someone we love becomes a vegetarian, its easy to fear they have fallen in with some strange eastern cult and that we should start looking into organizing an intervention before they go off the deep end and go to South America to disappear forever into a commune or follow some cult leader to doom because.

But before mom goes into hysterics or dad puts the kid in a padded room, lets have a reasonable discussion about what it means when your loved one becomes a vegetarian and what you can do to make sure they are safe and still the same person you always have known and loved. And the heart of being able to cope with the conversion of a child or a loved one to vegetarianism is knowledge and understanding.

The truth is you have not lost your child to a cult or to another religion if they become a vegetarian. In fact, you can still take them to church and they can be the same religion they always were and also be a devout vegetarian at the same time. That is because their decision to not eat meat is primarily a dietary decision and it doesn’t have to mean anything severe or odd about the one you love.

More and more normal and healthy people you already know have made the move to a vegetarian lifestyle and it doesn’t change who they are. There are primarily three reasons the one you love may have decided to become a vegetarian or a vegan.

1. For health reasons. Eliminating meat from your diet is good for you and it is an outstanding way to diet. If your loved one just wants to eat more healthy, there is no reason to organize an intervention to put a stop to that.
2. For ethical reasons because your loved one is upset about the cruel and unethical treatment of animals who are raised for slaughter to provide the meat industry with food to feed us. Even if you disagree with this ethical position, eliminating meat from the diet is not a radical thing to do. It is just a different lifestyle and a healthy one at that.
3. for spiritual reasons. Most religions encourage some form of fasting or limitation of excess in eating. Perhaps your loved one is going through a time of greater religious devotion and not eating meat helps with times of contemplation and prayer. Anyone would see that as a good thing to be encouraged and supported.

Notice before the list we used the word “vegan”. Don’t be afraid of that word. If your child calls from college to say, “Guess what mom and dad, I’m a vegan”, that just means your child has become a vegetarian but is following a culture of vegetarianism that is more extreme than others.

Instead of overreacting and putting your loved one into an intervention, the best response to learning he or she has become a vegetarian is to learn more about it and encourage the move. Your loved one can be a life long vegetarian and have nothing bad come of it. If fact, he or she will live better and longer because of the decision. Do some reading about what it means to live a vegetarian lifestyle and be supportive in how you prepare meals or in what restaurants you chose when spending time with your loved one.

Then be open to hear why your friend or family member made this change in their life. Will they try to “convert” you to become a vegetarian also. Perhaps. But by engaging in an open discussion of what it means to be a vegetarian, you can express support for your loved one without becoming a vegetarian yourself. And when you make their decision normal and approved of as part of your family life, it can enrich your loved ones life and yours too. Because becoming a vegetarian is a very healthy step for anyone.

Filed Under Vegetarian Tips Tagged With Conversion, Cult Leader, Diet, Health Diet, Health Reasons, Heart, Hysterics, Lifestyle Change, Love, Meat Diet, Meat Industry, Mom And Dad, Religion, Slaughter, South America, Terror, Treatment Of Animals, Truth, Unethical Treatment, Vegan, Vegetarian Lifestyle, Vegetarianism, Vegetarians

How to Not Miss Meat

April 22, 2013 By Amy Leave a Comment

Even if your reasons for turning toward a vegetarian lifestyle are moral, ethical or religious, it is common to miss the taste of meat especially when you first start your walk as a vegetarian. The first rule to enforce is not to feel guilty about that. Just loving meat doesn’t make you a bad thing. After all, most of us are raised eating pork, chicken, beef and other meats and if our parents did not have scruples about meat consumption, you have that as part of your upbringing.

The good news is there are lots of substitutes for meat and wonderful recipes you can use so you can eliminate meat from your diet and not feel like you are “going without”. The added benefit is that vegetarian eating is much healthier for your body than a diet where meat is a common ingredient. Meat carries such a higher incidence of calories and fats that are harder for your body to digest and assimilate that you are doing your body a big favor switching to a meatless lifestyle.

One way to still enjoy some of the aspects of meat but eliminate the actual animal part is to go with meat substitutes in traditional meat meals. Many restaurants serve veggie burgers where you get the good taste and familiar meal that we all like about hamburgers but you are still staying totally vegetarian. By shopping at markets and groceries that are supportive of the vegetarian lifestyle, you can often find other traditional meat meals prepared entirely without actual meat to help you get past missing that source of protein.

A staple of vegetarian diet planning is Tofu. Tofu is made from Soya beans so it is totally natural and a good fit to your vegetarian meal planning. But it is full of proteins and it is a very flexible ingredient for vegetarian recipes because it reflects the flavors of other foods and herbs and it works well in dishes that use sauces so it can almost be mistaken for a meat dish.

As you set about building your library of vegetarian recipes that are designed to take meat out of the equation, you will often find Tofu as one of the ingredients. That is because it works so well in lots of different recipes and responds well to grilling, baking or any other preparation method. Just be sure you take the time to dry your Tofu by putting it on a towel and removing the excess moisture before using it.

If your commitment to vegetarian living also meals the elimination of animal products such as milk and cheese, soy milk has become increasingly popular in the last few years with vegetarians and meat eaters alike because if its health and diet benefits. Not only is it delicious to drink as a beverage, it can replace milk in recipes just as successfully.

To eliminate animal based cheese from your diet, you might try a product called Tofutti. They offer many varieties of vegan chesses including cheddar and mozzarella so you can enjoy that flavor with a clear conscience. You can even find good substitutes for yogurt that is made from tofu or soy milk so you don’t have to cut popular tastes from your diet entirely.

Tofu is such a great meat substitute and an outstanding nutritional source that you can even use it in traditional egg dishes such as quiches, custard, omelets or any other meals that would emphasize an egg taste. If you mix pureed tofu with your recipe, you could virtually serve an egg dish even to a meat lover and they would not be able to tell that you had them eating vegetarian.

As you continue to explore vegetarian cooking, there are a number of other meat replacements that do well in various cooking contexts. Tempah comes from a soy bean that has been fermented. Tempah works well once you braise it in a sauce for about an hour. Once prepared it can be fried in flower and served with a sauce for flavor and be very satisfying.

One of the big projects of making the change to a vegetarian lifestyle is learning ways to substitute healthy alternatives such as we have discussed to take meat and meat products out of your diet. It will take some learning but that learning can be fun as you reinvent cooking and shopping to fit your new passion for vegetarian eating.

Filed Under Vegetarian Tips Tagged With Added Benefit, Flavors, Good Taste, Groceries, Hamburgers, Meal Planning, Meat Consumption, Meat Dish, Meat Meals, Meat Substitutes, Sauces, Soya Beans, Staple, Tofu, Upbringing, Vegetarian Diet, Vegetarian Lifestyle, Vegetarian Meal, Vegetarian Recipes, Veggie Burgers

Getting Restaurants in on the Act

April 19, 2013 By Amy Leave a Comment

Its one thing to move into a vegetarian discipline when it comes to preparing your meals at home. But things get more complicated when you go out to eat because you must be prepared to order appropriately at a restaurant so you get good foods but foods that are in line with your vegetarian way of life.

The first order of business that should rank high on your priorities early in your vegetarian career is to find and try all of the vegetarian restaurants in town. This list will come in handy when enjoying some social time with like minded vegetarians or to eat on the run or from work. Also these will be the kinds of restaurants where you can learn what kinds of recipes to look for and what you like in a vegetarian order.

But you won’t take all your meals with other vegetarians. If you are like most of us, you share your life with friends, loved ones and coworkers who are not part of the vegetarian lifestyle. So learning to find good vegetarian alternatives in all of the restaurants is one of the skills you will become adept at the longer you remain a vegetarian which is hopefully for life. One trick is that if you have a vote in the kind of restaurant to choose, go for Chinese or Italian. Chinese restaurants often have some great meatless offerings already on their menu so you can order vegetarian and not even raise anyone suspicions.

Similarly because you find so many dishes in an Italian restaurant that are pasta only, you can order a veggie pizza or just pasta with a nice sauce or maybe some broccoli and enjoy a fine dinner that is totally in step with your vegetarian rules. Any restaurant that already has a good selection of meatless dishes that are not set apart as vegetarian are a good choice because you can dine with your non-vegetarian friends and family members and not call attention to the differences between you and them. And since most restaurants have a good salad menu, that is always a fall back in any restaurant situation.

If your vegetarian regimen is vegan so you must also avoid milk, eggs, cheese or anything cooked in chicken or meat stock, you will have to kick your vigilance up a notch. The good news is that the vegetarian movement has become so large and wide spread that many restaurants want to accommodate their vegetarian customers.

By letting your waiter know of your diet restrictions, he or she can guide you to the items on the menu that fit your requirements. It is not uncommon to see the manager or chef of the restaurant come to the table to help you make a choice. Restaurants are in the business of satisfying customers so they want to make sure you are happy with their menu offerings. And by enlisting the aid of your restaurant staff in a cooperative and friendly way, you send a positive message to your dining companions that you can live a vegetarian lifestyle and still be a happy member of the community in which you live.

Most of us have a short list of restaurants that we frequent often. But every restaurant you go to wants to be on that short list and make you a valued customer. So network with your vegetarian friends and do your homework up front to find out which restaurants do well at accommodating the lifestyle of their vegetarian or vegan customers. Then develop your strategy for handling any situation where you find yourself eating out so you can come out of that experience with a good meal that fits your lifestyle and not miss out on the great social times that we associate with the eating out experience.

Filed Under Vegetarian Tips Tagged With Broccoli, Chinese Restaurants, Coworkers, Family Members, Fine Dinner, Italian Pasta, Italian Restaurant, Meatless Dishes, Offerings, Order Of Business, Pasta, Priorities, Social Time, Suspicions, Vegetarian Alternatives, Vegetarian Friends, Vegetarian Lifestyle, Vegetarian Restaurants, Vegetarians, Veggie Pizza, Way Of Life

But What if Your Sweetheart Loves Meat?

April 15, 2013 By Amy Leave a Comment

The vegetarian culture is one that fosters a certain “snootiness” because of our insistence on pure foods. It is also easy to get a superior attitude because vegetarian living is clearly a superior way to live from a health perspective and because so often our reasons for becoming a vegetarian is grounded in moral, ethical or religious values. And this is all well and good as long as you are functioning within the vegetarian community exclusively.

But what if your sweetheart is a meat eater? If the one you are dating, engaged to or even married to is not a vegetarian, that can lead to some pretty delicate moments. The last thing the vegetarian movement is about is hostility. So we have to have some guidelines on how to live in peace and harmony if your romantic partner has not joined you in your the vegetarian lifestyle.

Of course, one resolution is for your sweetheart to become a vegetarian with you. You could go with the argument of, “well if you loved me you would give up meat.” But forcing someone to join the vegetarian community out of guilt is a terrible reason to make that change of life. Your sweetheart will just resent giving up a food he or she loves and will probably cheat and eat meat when not around you. That kind of tension, resentment and deception is no grounds for a long term love affair.

A better way is to come to terms with your differences, find ways to live with them and then see if down the road, your sweetheart might convert of his own free will. The first step, as is true of any conflict in an intimate relationship, is to talk about your differences openly. Sit down and talk about where each of you is on this issue. Agree to disagree. But also agree to find compromises and not to hold the other in contempt or to mock the other for the life choices he or she has made. By reaching a loving agreement, each of you can allow the other to be who he or she is and the romance can continue as the dietary dispute is resolved peacefully.

Together you can look for restaurants that offer both vegetarian dishes and meat dishes so each of you can get what you want. Now you don’t have to go to a restaurant that shouts in its advertising “We Serve Vegetarians!” All a good restaurant needs is a few good menu entries that are meatless and you can find what you want while your sweetheart enjoys a meat dish. Most good restaurants offer a tempting salad offering that you can customize so any meat, bacon bits, boiled eggs or even cheese are left out. By working together to build a good list of restaurants both of you can enjoy, you have a compromise for date nights that will last a long time.

Finding ways for both of you to enjoy your diet of choice is a good long term step. But your loved one may have a misconception that vegetarian food can’t taste good. So make a deal that he or she might try it one night. Then you can put your best foot forward by preparing a sumptuous vegetarian meal that nobody can resist. But be aware that if you do try to make such a deal, you might have to agree to let your sweetheart try to convert you back to the meat eating world with a sumptuous home made meat based meal. If that is not ok with you, don’t make the deal.

Above all, don’t mock or look upon your sweetheart’s choice of diet with distain or disgust. Don’t make the “eww” face each time your date has a hamburger or a hot dog. Come to the point that you can live with meat eaters and not feel repulsed when others eat the foods you don’t approve of. After all, you would not your date to make the “eww” face when you had a tofu burger or a big plate of steaming vegetables instead of meat. So treat each other with respect and love. Over time that approach will result in the best long term love affair and maybe even see you come to a time when he or she sees the light and joins you in the joys of vegetarianism.

Filed Under Vegetarian Tips Tagged With Compromises, Contempt, Delicate Moments, Health Perspective, Hostility, Insistence, Intimate Relationship, Life Choices, Love Affair, Meat Eater, Peace And Harmony, Religious Values, Resentment, Romantic Partner, Superior Attitude, Sweetheart, Vegetarian Community, Vegetarian Culture, Vegetarian Lifestyle, Vegetarian Movement

Be a Good House Guest and a Good Vegetarian

April 13, 2013 By Amy Leave a Comment

When you are learning the ropes of your new lifestyle of being a vegetarian, every aspect of life will be affected. From work to home life to eating out, you have to have a strategy for how to maintain your vegetarian discipline and still enjoy these different situations of life that are important to you. One of the situations we all find ourselves in, albeit perhaps infrequently, is when you are a house guest of a friend or relative. In that situation, you are going to find yourself under the hospitality perhaps of a person who is not a vegetarian. So you have to find a way to keep your diet healthy and proper and still be a good house guest.

While your desire to live a life free of the eating of meat and perhaps a meat byproducts like eggs and milk is not a eating disability, it is an eating limitation. If you had a food allergy, perhaps to shell fish and you were going to stay as a house guest with someone, you would not feel any guilt letting them know your problem. If you can put your vegetarian lifestyle in that context and prepare for your visit accordingly, there doesn’t have to be any “stigma” or guilt or problems bringing up your dietary needs with your host.

Your host, after all, naturally wants you to enjoy your stay in their home. Anyone who is hosting has a natural instinct to make your stay comfortable and perfect. You can capitalize on that instinct and be polite about the desire your host has to make your stay go well but working with your host to let him or her know about your vegetarian diet and how it might impact food planning.

When you get the invitation to come for a stay, that is the time to discuss what you can and cannot eat in your vegetarian discipline. If you just avoid meat and not dairy and meat byproducts, it is very likely your host or hostess can prepare their regular meals but also put together a small main dish that fits your diet needs. And you can enjoy the vegetable side dishes all you want so by working with your hosts, you can easily integrate how you eat into their meal planning and not disrupt the visit.

But also be aware that there are items that your host may not supply that you may wish to bring with you or go get after your arrival. If you need soy milk because cows milk is not part of your diet regimen, by all means bring that in so your hosts are aware you are taking care of your own needs. Just let them know what you are providing for yourself and if the communication goes well, you can be accommodated and your hosts will be grateful that you did not see it as their job to provide for every aspect of your vegetarian program.

The other side of being a good house guest and not letting your vegetarian way of life be a problem is to be both open about your discipline and not judgmental or “preachy” to others about the fact that they have not made the same diet decisions you have made. In fact, you might even offer to prepare an entirely vegetarian meal for the host family and your own one night just to demonstrate to them just how delightful and tasty meat free eating can be. You may be surprised just how interested and fascinated your friends and family are about your diet and why you are a vegetarian. And by being friendly, open, loving and easy to talk to, you make the visit more interesting, fun and warm and you may even be able to educate your hosts and maybe your own family about why your vegetarian way of life is a good one.

Filed Under Vegetarian Tips Tagged With Be a Good House Guest and a Good Vegetarian, Desire, Diet Healthy, Disability, Discipline, Dish, Eggs, Food Allergy, Guilt, Hospitality, Hostess, House Guest, Invitation, Learning The Ropes, Meat Byproducts, Natural Instinct, Shell Fish, Stigma, Vegetable Side Dishes, Vegetarian Diet, Vegetarian Lifestyle

Become a Vegetarian

March 4, 2013 By Amy Leave a Comment

If you think becoming a vegetarian is hard, think again. The steps to becoming a vegetarian are simple, only that you need to have the motivation and perseverance to keep you going. When you do this, you can be on your road towards a healthier and happier you.

Before getting into a vegetarian diet, you should first seek medical advice before getting into a vegetarian diet so you can be evaluated for possible nutritional deficiencies or health problems that you may have.

It is helpful for you to do your own research about vegetarian diet and its other aspects. Read on nutritional information, the type of food to avoid as well as other factors that make up the vegetarian lifestyle. Getting a detailed information on vegetarianism can help you devise a diet plan that will suit you best. Also, an understanding of vegetarianism can prepare you for the new lifestyle that you will be taking.

You also need to observe the type of food that is usually available in your area. Look around local food stores and supermarkets and see the range of food that they have. Know the food that you like, what you do not and also be familiar with those that you have not tasted before. This way, you can be able to determine if a vegetarian diet really is for you and know how much type of veggie food you find appealing.

If you are unsure how to whip up vegetarian recipes, getting a vegetarian cookbook can help. There are a lot of vegetarian cookbooks that feature new and exciting vegetarian dishes that are not only nutritious, but also delicious and mouthwatering all the same. You may want to try Rose Elliot’s ‘The New Sijmoly6 Delicious’, a vegetarian cookbook that is excellent for new vegetarians and those who want to try vegetarian cooking. You can also get Claire Criscuolo’s ‘Claire’s Corner Copia Cookbook’ or ‘Claire’s Classic American Vegetarian Cooking’. Read and try out the recipes that you like.

Especially for new vegetarians, your body may have to adjust with your shift to vegetarianism. It is recommended that you take your vegetarian meals gradually. You can start doing so once a week and then build it up twice, thrice until your body will have adjusted to it, depending on your preference.

Just be sure though, that the food that you are eating are classified as vegetarian. Make sure that you check food labels and ingredients so you will know that you are eating the right stuff. You can also check for the Vegetarian Society of UK’s approval seal to guarantee that the food is vegetarian.

Filed Under Beginner Vegetarian Tagged With Claire Criscuolo, Corner Copia, Diet Plan, Food Stores, Health Problems, Local Food, Medical Advice, Nutritional Deficiencies, Nutritional Information, Perseverance, Shif, Type Of Food, Vegetarian Cookbook, Vegetarian Cookbooks, Vegetarian Cooking, Vegetarian Diet, Vegetarian Dishes, Vegetarian Lifestyle, Vegetarian Recipes, Vegetarians

A Star Is Born: Vegetarian Meets Low Carb

March 19, 2010 By Amy Leave a Comment

I grew up in a vegetarian family. As a child, I had more grains,
vegetables, and soy products than most people will eat in a
lifetime. When I was about 16 years old, I had had enough–I
wanted to eat meat! At first, it was strange cooking with real
meat. After all, I had never touched meat before, so I was a
little repulsed by it at the beginning. But over time, I learned
how to cook meat and found that I really loved cooking. But, I
never really felt quite right about eating meat. Since my
formative years were spent living a healthy vegetarian
lifestyle, the new meat-eating me felt sluggish and unhealthy.
Sluggish or not, I continued to eat meat into my adult years. I
knew I needed to make a change in my diet, but I wasn’t sure
exactly how to go about it. How could I have ever guessed that
my daughter would be that catalyst for a change that I’d needed
since I was a teen myself?

One of the unique joys of motherhood has been nurturing a mutual
relationship with my children: I inspire them, and they inspire
me. As they grow into their own personalities and pursuits, I am
constantly amazed–and sometimes caught entirely off guard–by
their independence and self-declarations. For example, a short
while ago, my eldest daughter stood up at the dinner table,
after stirring her food around on her plate for a while, and
announced that she wanted to be a vegetarian. I was surprised at
her announcement. I was not surprised at all, however,
when–without any arguments–the rest of the kids and I decided
that we would all “go vegetarian” together as a family. I’d been
considering it for quite some time, but wanted the kids to
decide for themselves.

The impact of that decision was bigger and better than I could
have ever imagined. I quickly realized that, not only was I
reducing injury to the health of our planetary body and our
animal friends, I was also starting to see an amazing difference
in my own body. Within weeks, my digestion improved; I had more
energy; and, the insomnia I had suffered from for so many years
was suddenly gone! But, with all this positive affirmation, I
was quite surprised to find that I wasn’t experiencing the kind
of weight loss I had anticipated when I returned to my
vegetarian ways. Frankly, I was disappointed because–health
aside–I wanted to lose weight.

I began my search for the perfect, veggie-friendly weight loss
solution. As have so many others, I read extensively on the most
popular low carb diets on the marketplace today, including the
Atkins Nutritional Approach™, the South Beach Diet, The Zone,
and other low-carb diet plans. Although I could readily see the
benefits of living the low carb lifestyle, I found no low carb
diet plans available in the marketplace that would be acceptable
to vegetarians. Meat is at the center of each and every low carb
plan.

If I wanted to lose weight by using a low carb diet, I would
have to either be A) willing to eat meat, or B) put my research,
cooking, and vegetarian skills to good use and develop a plan
that allows vegetarians to successfully lose weight without
compromising their food and lifestyle ideals. Since eating meat
was not an option for me or my family, I chose Plan B!

To those ends, I was particularly interested in the G.I. Diet, a
book by Rick Gallop, which emphasizes a healthy, low carb diet
plan that doesn’t completely exclude carbohydrates from the
daily meals. The diet is more focused on the process of reducing
and/or eliminating foods in the diet that increase blood sugar
while increasing foods that are low on the Glycemic Index scale.
This combination leads to effective and healthy weight loss.

The G.I. Diet asks people to consider changing the way they
think about themselves, the foods they eat, and dieting in
general. As such, if the commitment is made, the diet is
sustainable and nutritionally-viable so one could reasonably
maintain it long after the weight has come off. However, the
G.I. Diet is not vegetarian.

So, with research in hand, I began thinking about how I could
merge the valuable contributions of Gallop and a low carb diet
together with a vegetarian lifestyle. After extensive trial and
error in the kitchen–some things just don’t taste right no
matter how good they are for you–I created a series of fun,
easy, and amazing ways to re-design some of the most delicious
recipes to make them both low carb and vegetarian. I’d finally
found a way that I could lose weight, be healthy, and live well
as a vegetarian.

When my family and friends saw me lose over 20 pounds in less
than 3 months, the questions started pouring in:

How did you do that?

What are you eating?

How do you make vegetarian chicken parmesan and vegetarian beef
stroganoff?

Where’s the meat?

Where do you get your protein?

How can you eat low carb when you aren’t eating meat?

My answers to those questions and the countless recipes that I
scribbled down for my friends and families became the backbone
of this FREE book, Living La Vida Low Carb: The Vegetarian Way,
which can be found for free at
http://www.VegetarianLowCarb.com,that I share with you now. I
can’t tell you that you’ll experience the same results as I did.
I can tell you–with pride and honesty–that these recipes can
help you achieve a healthier, more balanced diet. And,
thankfully, the book demonstrates that losing weight as a low
carb vegetarian no longer means peanut butter and tofu at every
meal! Good luck and good health!

Ready to learn more about this revolutionary way to eat healthy,
without sacrificing taste? Visit

http://www.VegetarianLowCarb.com/Article_Vegetarian-Meets-Low-Car

b.html

============================= GET 400 MORE FREE TIPS AND RECIPES
=============================

GET 400 MORE FREE TIPS AND RECIPES: Incorporate health-filled,
self affirming tips and ideas into your daily routine.

http://www.VegetarianLowCarb.co

Sylvie Charrier is a busy work-at-home mom, and she discovered
simple ways to get more results from her low carb diet. She
shares her recipe makeovers, fitness and health tips on her
website http://www.VegetarianLowCarb.com

Filed Under Vegetarian Tips Tagged With Animal Friends, Born, Carb, Catalyst, Declarations, Diet, Digestion, Dinner Table, Eating Meat, Eldest Daughter, Formative Years, Grains, Healthy Lifestyle, Joys Of Motherhood, Lifetime, Meets, Mutual Relationship, Personalities, Planetary Body, Soy Products, Star, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Family, Vegetarian Lifestyle

Start A Vegetarian Lifestyle

March 19, 2010 By Amy Leave a Comment

Health is wealth is a well known phrase if you are reading this article then you probably already know all the benefits of starting a vegetarian lifestyle. Many people have a very good reason to turn to vegetarianism but they are procrastinating because they are unsure how to do it.

Well, guess what?

You just found out how to do it.

The best way to do it is to just bite the bullet, and go for it.

You must be thinking there will be so much temptations and distractions and you are right. There will be a lot of temptations and there will be a lot of distractions, but it will be all worth it in the end. It’s your health that is more important than anything else that may look tempting.

In fact, it is quite easy to start a vegetarian lifestyle if you know how to go about it. Here are a few tips that will help you on the way.

A. You must be think about made you decide to adopt vegetarianism .

B. You should minimize meat consumption gradually day by day. You will never be able to turn vegetarian in matter of week or two. It would take at least few months to completely  adapt to the vegetarian way of life. You should first start by becoming a semi vegetarian.

C. You would need to try out different vegetable  dishes. You should learn to prepare and eat  tasty vegetarian meals. Your new menu should be full of fresh fruits and juices of vegetables and fruits, soups, pasta, whole grain breads, spices and herbs etc. You should try to make your meal complete by adding tasty items like  spices, cheese, various sauces to add flavour.

D. Another thing which can help you in your quest of turning a veggie is encourage your family also  start the vegetarian life along with you.

E. You can also join some diet classes which will have professional people who will help you in your goal of turning vegetarian.  You could get over your temptation of eating meat through mediataion.

F. Buy cookbooks and learn new vegetarian dishes from different resources like magazines, internet websites etc. The possibilities are limitless, you just have to find them.

G. If at any point you feel like you want to give up, just ask yourself this basic question. Why did you want to turn vegetarian in the first place? The answer will keep you on track and will give you enough motivation and will power to continue.

Be persistent  and before you know it, you will be a vegetarian.

Remember, your health is your real wealth you . Do it justice and do it right by turning to a healthy, wealthy and wise life style that is Vegetarianism.

To get more

Filed Under Vegetarian Tips Tagged With Cookbooks, Distractions, Eating Meat, Flavour, Fresh Fruits, Good Reason, Grain Breads, Internet Webs, Juices, Lifestyle, Lifestyle Health, Magazines Internet, Meat Consumption, New Menu, Sauces, Spices, Start, Tasty Vegetarian Meals, Temptations, Vegetable Dishes, Vegetables And Fruits, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Dishes, Vegetarian Life, Vegetarian Lifestyle, Whole Grain
« Older Posts