Going vegetarian for 30 days?

I was thinking about this last night, and I'm thinking of trying it out. I'm a heavy meat eater, and I have horrible eating habits. I typically eat pork 3-4 times a week, beef once or twice, and one night of chicken (fried hot wings of course).

I absolutely HATE most vegetables - outside of taters in various forms - I'll eat peas and sometimes corn. I'll eat more beans if I do this, I just don't plan around having them anywhere in the house (except for baked beans).

I'm thinking of doing this 1) for my health 2) to test my willpower to see if I can really do it.

Could you do it? Any pitfalls I'm not thinking of?

Well, I could probably do it, but I probably wouldn't.

I don't eat as well as I'd like. But I'd probably switch to eating turkey or chicken or fish more, and less pork and beef, and lower the ratio to about half of what I'd normally eat, rather than go cold turkey, er bean...

But I like veggies, and not a big fruit person. I could eat half a plate of steamed broccoli, or zucchini and enjoy it.

Can and have.

More importantly than the veggies is replacing the proteins you wont be eating.

Soy, nuts, legumes are important part of a vegetarian diet.

I did it for 9 years..

I plan on eating plenty of nuts (peanuts/cashews) and peanut butter + various beans for extra proteins.

I was an anti-vegetarian for 26 odd years. Even as an infant, my mom says I refused (the best a child can) to eat fruits/veggies.

I had no idea what being constipated ment, but I was. allways. I would poop once a week, sometimes 3 times a month. I couldn't sleep, was pissed off all the time, etc. But I was unaware that it was food related.

in my mid 20's, I realized I had to make a change. But what? I hate veggies/fruits. I started by eliminated one thing from my diet. That thing was cow. It's been nearly 10 years now and I've probably had cow less then 3 times.

One problem I had was, eating fresh greens/veggies would make me sick. As in, throw up sick. Not long term, just once or twice to expell the food from my stomach.

I now am dating a lady who's been a vegetarian for 20 some years. That helps some, but I still don't like many veggies. (even though I've never tasted them, it's a serious mental issue with me)

for me, it was health. not pooping and pooping blood isn't healthy.

I'm sure you could do it. Try grilling your veggies on the grill(not in the oven, they suck).

We make these taco's that kick ass.

Shredded Red Cabbage
Shredded Carrots
Roasted peppers (jalapenos, poblano, anahiem, etc)
onions
cheese
extra firm tofu, marinated and grilled, then tossed back into the marinade
corn tortillias, also grilled.

It's a great way to eat veggies.

chumprock said:

More importantly than the veggies is replacing the proteins you wont be eating.

Soy, nuts, legumes are important part of a vegetarian diet.

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A very important point!

Healthy eating is all about a balanced diet, and the same applies to adopting a vegetarian diet. If you're eating fresh salads, don't undo the good by loading on a crap-ton of processed cheese products, fatty salad dressings, etc. Just eat sensibly.

Oh, I might add - a list of things I will NOT eat:

Salad (ie: lettuce)
Cabbage
Onion
Tomato
Pepper
Tofu

Yeah, so pretty much that whole taco thing except for the shells and carrot.

Besides, I'm not going to be a veggie head - I'm just replacing meat as the mainstay of the meal with other protiens and starches.

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool omnivore, but when my cholesterol got high I went vegi for about 6 months to bring it down fast. Found lots of things that helped. The main thing is to try not to pretend. If you're going to have a garden burger, don't try to pretend it's hamburger. Don't try to trick yourself into thinking tofu is chicken. Just accept things for what they are and you'll do better. Some of the garden burger like products are actually better the less like meat they are. They have one that's kind of a potato and mushroom patty that I still like to have regularly even though I'm eating meat again.

Oh, and portabella mushrooms are amazing on the grill.

Go to some vegitarian/vegan restaurants to get some ideas. Those folks can take veggies and actually make them taste good!

Hummus is great for snacking. It's basically just greek bean drip. It's also good added to a sandwich. Comes in lots of different flavors from plain to hot and spicy styles.

Extra-virgin olive oil makes everything better.

Don't just take side-dish veggie recipes and try to make a meal out of it. Research some good meatless main dishes and you'll be happier with the results.

ChshreCat said:

Don't just take side-dish veggie recipes and try to make a meal out of it. Research some good meatless main dishes and you'll be happier with the results.

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See, that's where I'm headed. I don't eat MOST veggies, and all those veggie dishes are all loaded with stuff I wont eat.

I just want to replace the main meat portion with something else - being pasta, bean something or other, potatos, whatevs.

You may just have to expand what you'll eat if you're wanting to do this.

The best advice I can give as someone that has a lot of vegan family members is vegan/vegetarian junk food is no better than regular junk food. Dont try to sub fake meat products for regular meat. You wont be happy or healthy simply trying to adjust your favorite dishes to be meat free, vegetarian ingredients have a different balance sort of like trying to make gluten free beer you cant just sub barley for sorghum. Investing in a decent cookbook is worthwhile, I can make suggestions if you want.

Yeah, this isn't going to work unless you open up to different things. I don't understand why you're so against all of these vegetables. Grow to like and love them. That sounds like a better goal to set then anything else first.

I married a vegetarian so I probably eat meat maybe once a week or so although I do eat salmon sandwiches for lunch several times a week.

Morning Star Farms Sausage: Make an egg sandwich on an english muffin with some cheese. I actually prefer this to the real deal.

Boca burgers: You can substitute ground round in your tacos with this. The taco seasoning does a decent job of covering it up.

Quorn: Makes some decent chicken tasting tofu. Sure it does not beat the real deal, but it is pretty good.

Chili: A home made vegetarian chili with beans, squash, onions, peppers, etc.. could be very awesome.

Casserole: You can make many different types of casseroles which incorporate vegetables: Squash casserole, bean casserole, etc...

Pizza: You can make many different types of vegetarian pizza. Eggplant parm, etc...

We've cut back on our meat intake and now mostly use it as a flavor component to the main dish instead of THE main dish.

A little goes a long way in some styles of cooking, like oriental/asian.

I got big in my 30's and a friend got Protein Power and gave me the guidelines. I ate balanced meals, never snacked, didn't drink hi carb beer then, but the carbs were making me use them for metabolism, and I stored the fats. I cut all starches, drank only miller lite, and lost 30 pounds in one month. After about 5 months I was down to less than HS weight and I never felt better. I could eat all the meat, eggs, cheese, milk, etc I wanted. Just avoided carbs. Adkins Diet like but not so strict.

I still ate Whoppers, remove the bottom bun and eat open face but avoided fries. I would do taco lunch special, and get a medium deluxe pizza once a week each for lunch, but mostly just ate banana, nuts, sunflower seeds, munched salsa and pork rinds. Dinner was meat and veggies. I ate no rice or potatoes or bread-if I sometimes did, it was minuscule.

I ate very often, but never that much at one time.

Since then I try to just eat more like that when I get 'big', like after holidays and such, but I don't go all out anymore.

I don't see the point if it is only for 30 days, except for maybe the challenge to see if you can do it. Have fun with that. You are better off IMO slowing reducing your meat intake and if you want to go full veggie then continue until you are at like once a week then quit. Since you don't like veggies much seems like you are really better off just cutting back unless you somehow begin to like them. Some suggest fish and eggs in your diet which would make it way easier but you say full vegetarian, right?

When I try and cut back or eat better I kind of go into a mental survival mode and think of how it would be if I were homeless or on a really small budget. That or think about how monks do it and such. I am curious how you make out.

BTW, I eat meat every day and poop every day.

A few years back I looked into vegetarianism and found out that women who are pregnant and vegetarians must take vitamin B capsules or their child would have developmental issues. Since meat is the main source of B vitamins and your giving it up, I'd look into whether or not you'll need to supplement. I myself take B complex for three reasons;
1. Alcohol consumption depletes B vitamins.
2. B vitamins help maintain good mental health.
3. B vitamins boost your energy.

I think it probably would be good for you to follow mmb's suggestion.

Meat in itself it is not a bad thing, it's the quantity. Chicken, Beef, Pork, etc... is loaded with all sorts of nasty chemicals, which are bound to f*ck up your system. I'm sure vegetables have some of that crap too, but not to the extent of meat products.

Oh, and if you do go cold turkey on meats expect to dream about eating every night at least in the begining until MAYBE you get used to it. No more sex dreams, it will be all about eating.

I did try eating all veggies a day or two many years ago but I just got extremely hungry and no amount of veggies would fill me up. I also always felt weak but then again I have had meat in my diet all my life.

njnear76 said:

I think it probably would be good for you to follow mmb's suggestion.

Meat in itself it is not a bad thing, it's the quantity. Chicken, Beef, Pork, etc... is loaded with all sorts of nasty chemicals, which are bound to f*ck up your system. I'm sure vegetables have some of that crap too, but not to the extent of meat products.

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I agree, just cut back.

My daughter and SWMBO's son are both vegetarians. SWMOBO and I do the veg thing for short stretches also. I've done the total veg thing for 30 days, years back.
I can tell you that as a man, eating a lot of soy can be detrimental, as it raises the estrogen levels.
Eating a lot of beans (SWMBO has an excellent, and easy, recipe for black bean and brown rice burgers, btw!) and eggs will substitue a lot of the protien that you'll need. Portabellos are great on the grill, and I've come to enjoy falafel a lot, too. There's a Jordanian-owned restaurant near me that makes a great falafel and eggplant sandwich !

My wife is a vegetarian and I do most of the cooking, so I come up with lots of ideas...
Buy yourself some Vegetable Crumbles (soy product). It is a great ground beef substitute for tacos, pasta sauce, etc - even has the texture and looks, it just doesn't brown the same way. And you can do all kinds of stuff with tofu - thin sliced and fried, breaded, cubed in broth with noodles. And vegetables can really taste good if they are cooked right and with a little imagination. Go on Recipezaar or another recipe site and get some simple veggie recipes.

I could never give up meat - but I have severely cut down on the beef I eat. I eat more chicken now (not fried chicken) and I find my digestive tract is much healthier. I rarely ever eat pork.

One simple food to try and incorporate into your diet is edamame. It's just pure, clean protein. I buy them frozen in those steam-bags, toss them in the microwave for five minutes, add a little kosher salt. I personally think they taste great; soybeans but it's not at all like eating tofu, it's more like eating peas with protein. You can basically live on them indefinately.

Clean protein where I can; more fish, more chicken breasts, etc. Makes me feel energetic and enthusiastic, I can literally feel a difference in my attitude when I've been eating well and when I've been eating too much crap.

Still love bacon, though.

If you don't like salads and most veggies, how can you do this anyway?

Hell, boredom with my available choices would be the deal killer for me.

Potatoes and corn don't really count as veggies, anyway (starches). If you're going to make these kinds of changes, you've got to think about how you're going to maintain an appropriate balance. No need to go all the way to the dark side, anyway, just keep things in better balance.

The biggest question is: does sheetz have a vegitarian menu?

No. One word: Bacon!

the_bird said:

One simple food to try and incorporate into your diet is edamame. It's just pure, clean protein.

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+1 This is how I stretch/reduce our meat consumption. We buy the already shelled edamame, and boil it for 5 minutes. Throw some kosher salt on there, and you've got an almost no-fat, high protein dish (and it only takes like 1/2 cup to equal ~12-15 grams of protein).

I went veggie for about a month when I was in grad school. It was a huge challenge because you've got to find interesting, tasty ways to incorporate a greater variety of foods to make sure you get the protein and vitamins you need. I learned to love stir-fry.

And my standard fall-back meal is brown rice, black beans, and a can of seasoned diced/stewed tomatoes. Throw all that with some water into a pot, put the lid on, and in 20 minutes, done.

You are a much stronger dude then me if you succeed.



Sorry, hot out of the smoker, I just had to.

My wife doesn't like red meat or pork so I end up going without either of them for a long time. I think I might eat pork once a month and red meat even less than that. For a while we were eating too much chicken, but we've been cutting that back to once or twice a weak also.

dataz722 said:

The biggest question is: does sheetz have a vegitarian menu?

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Surprisingly the answer is yes (sort of). They have a lot of salads on their menu and other ways that you can basically order anything that has meat without meat.

adx said:

Surprisingly the answer is yes (sort of). They have a lot of salads on their menu and other ways that you can basically order anything that has meat without meat.

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But you know he won't be able to do that.

My problem was iron uptake. Did vegan for about 18 months, GF had been doing it for a decade. At 16 months I was so anemic, when I tried to donate blood, the sample almost bounced out of the tube! So, I went on iron supplements, which made me ill. So, I gave it up. The chronic diarrhea stopped when I went back to being an omnivore.

Dude, if you're giving up on tomatoes, you have obviously never had a good tomato. It's too late to try to grow your own, but they are in season now. If you're serious about going vegetarian, get some beefsteak (or heirloom) tomatoes. They call them beefsteak for a reason.

Seriously, the tomatoes that you get in the supermarket are crap. They're like the bud light of tomatoes. real tomatoes have an amazing complexity of flavor. Don't hate tomatoes, they are your friend.

sorry for the rant, but I LOVE tomatoes

Fresh tomatoes and peppers are great for you and taste great, also they can be incorperated to make sauces which can help flavor things other than meat. Learn to love onions too as they can make any dish outstanding. To add protien eat more eggs, also stir fry is your friend it takes litterally 5 to 10 min to make and is great for you. If you don't like cabbage or lettuce try spinach, also artichokes can be verry hearty when made right.

I am a big meat eater too, but I lost almost 30 lbs this summer by riding my bike instead of driving and also eating less meat and very little beef. Also if you are going to be eatting lots of potatoes a nice trick which is better for you is to replace sour cream with plain yougurt, near same consistancy and zing plus it helps with digestion. Also avacados can be a good replacement to a sandwich opposed to lunch meat.

here is a link to my favorite vegan/vegiterian place in Milwaukee click on the menu to get some ideas. I swear by anything on this menu. I will eat it just as readily as I will eat a meal that has meat. Riverwest Co-Op Grocery & Cafe » The Co-op Cafe

Papinquack said:

A few years back I looked into vegetarianism and found out that women who are pregnant and vegetarians must take vitamin B capsules or their child would have developmental issues. Since meat is the main source of B vitamins and your giving it up, I'd look into whether or not you'll need to supplement. I myself take B complex for three reasons;
1. Alcohol consumption depletes B vitamins.
2. B vitamins help maintain good mental health.
3. B vitamins boost your energy.

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You're not consuming the right kind of alcohol. Brewer's yeast (psst - the kind you find in the beer we all make) is one of the only sources that contain all the B vitamins you need.

Vitamin Facts: vitamin B group

I've been an ovo-lacto vegetarian for over 15 years. You can do it. It's a lot easier than it was a decade ago. There is a wide variety of protein alternatives available in just about every grocery store. In most major cities you can find vegetarian restaurants.

I think the biggest hurdle for most is that Americans are brought up believing that every meal is meat plus side dishes. If you look at many International foods you'll find that many have a great variety of vegetarian choices.

+1 to edamame Grew it in my garden for the first time this year and it was awesome. My family has already requested that I plant at least twice as much next year.

+1 to ground round protein crumbles - Put them in tacos, chili, sloppy joes, hamburger helper... all good stuff.

Good luck.

Wife is vegan and I am vegitarian, so hopefuly we can be helpful, feel free to pm me if you've got specifics. Veggie crumbles are awesome! They are teriffic in pasta to give it a meat texture. Someone had mentioned Qorn, also an excellent product. I haven't seen any suggestions for seitan or tempeh, which are wonderful sources of protein. Seitan (say-tan) can be cooked up many different ways to give it all sorts of texture or flavors. Look in to it. Temphen is good for grilling. Others have made the suggestion of getting a cookbook, I highly agree! You will be surprised with what you'll find, and I garuntee you'll discover something you love. Start off by just doing some online searches for recipes.
It is important to remember that "imitation" animal meat is not going to taste like animal. Nor should it. It's different food. Oh yeah, and grilled portobellas. Yum!

Instead of turning this into an exercise of abstinence, use it as a way to permanently change your eating habits.

I agree with beerkrump. Its all about a mindset. You might not need to go vegetarian. I know I never could. I usually eat meat once or twice a week. Even then, its usually not a steak, porkchop etc. I'd consider my diet more "Italian". The problem with America is that being a rich country, we can afford to eat meat every day. A long time ago, especially in Italy, they couldn't. Thats why a lot of dishes, like meatballs, were created to stretch meat over more than one meal.

There are plenty of non-meat options for meals. Don't eat any meat at breakfast. I guess bacon on the weekend is ok. Eat sandwiches with avacado or hummus instead of deli meat. Get an Italian cookbook. There are plenty of dishes that don't involve meat. LIke I said above, a lot of Italian dishes either strech meat, or emulate it. Instead of Veal Parmesean, make Eggplant Parmesean. Italian cuisine presents a plethora of meatless pasta dishes. If you are used to the Americanized Spagetti with store bought sauce and ground beef, get ready for an awakening!

Also, remember that you don't need a bunch of side dishes. With huge serving sizes in America, we are used to eating until we are full. If you are full, you really just ate too much.

srm775 said:

You're not consuming the right kind of alcohol. Brewer's yeast (psst - the kind you find in the beer we all make) is one of the only sources that contain all the B vitamins you need.

Vitamin Facts: vitamin B group

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I'm really overdosing on B vitamins then :rockin: