help please =(
Posted by sammie on Jul 05, 2006 · Member since Apr 2005 · 1 posts
well guys I'm 15 and i became a vegetarian a couple of years ago, but i am now realizing i rushed into the decision a little too fast; by just cutting meat out of my diet & not replacing it; so just eating what i did before (excluding the meat), and my mom being a big worrier about my health & not really trusting a vegetarian diet brought me to the family Doctor; and apparently I'm not gettin everything i need out of my diet; but I don't want to goo back to eating meat!!! which if i don't figure something out i will have too do :'( ;
so does anybody have some suggestions!! with simple & healthy things i could eat?
Beans, beans, and more beans! LOL. Tofu is an excellent source for making up for the protein. Stir-fry's are great! Just throw in a whole bunch of veggies, some tofu, sauce, and bam! There you go! If your mom is worried about your health, have her take you to a nutritionist. Explain to the nutritionist that you want to be on a vegetarian diet and for her to give you an insite into what you need. That way, your mom is seeing that you're being responsible about it, and the nutritionist can help you with what you need and such. Good luck!
this sort of thing seems to happen to a lot of people now :-\
my friend very recently went vegan, not from vegetarianism, but on a whim more or less ^^;
her parents were not terribly thrilled about having to go out and purchase a bunch of new food, and were equally unwilling to give up their meat, milk, and eggs for the sake of saving refrigerator space.
their solution?
why, they took her to the family doctor of course. well, apperantly this doctor still believed in the myth that a vegan diet cannot provide all of the essential nutrients and the like, so her family, realizing this, hoped to end this so-called "phase" of hers, and to do so at the advise of a professional.
well, my friend is quite stubborn, thankfully.
three second-opinions later, the final consensus was:
as long as you eat a varied diet, with lots of dark-colored veggies and fruits and the like, you are most likely quite safe, if not in a better position health wise on a veggie diet--and if youre into soy, you should have even less trouble, as tofu is packed with protein, and most soy-milks are fortified with a bounty of other nutrients (dont know how strict a veggie you are, but hey, why not)
i would certainly recommend seeing a nutritionist as your second opinion, as they tend to be more willing to recognize the benefits of vegetarian diets, and therefore more willing to help you find ways to improve your diet rather than simply condemning it.
best of luck!