I think I could for awhile but...then again not sure I am a meat eater.

I'm sure I could but I wouldn't. I'm not a huge fan of meat and I can go days without it but I still eat it. I would not care for the "inflexibility" that very strict diets impose in social situations. If I'm going to someone's home for dinner for example I want to graciously eat whatever is served. I wouldn't want people to make special arrangements for my dietary needs or feel awkward if they don't.

I try to eat heart healthy, low sodium diet now and even that's a challenge.

Do you mean "vegan" by "strict vegetarian?" In other words, no meat of any kind, no fish, no milk, no cheese, not even honey. That would be extreme, and you would have to plan your meals carefully so you get all the nutrients you need to stay healthy.

Would two meals have to be cooked--one for you and one for DH?

I would not want to do it, but I often have days where I eat little or no meat.

One of the most important things to find out is how to make sure you are getting protein; usually this means combining legumes with grains. There is lots to read on the subject online as well as in books. Indians have been doing this for millennia with no ill-effects.

I still eat dairy but no meat products. Yep...I cook two meals and really it hasn't been that hard. Tonight I made spaghetti...while I cooked the hamburger for DH, I heated my Morning Star crumbles which is soy then I added the sauce and noodles.
I have never been a big meat eater and can go for months without eating meat so this hasn't been that hard. Plus I have a dozen vegetarian books because I have been interested in it for a while now.

I have been a vegetarian for 30 years now. I eat seafood sometimes. I have been much healthier since I became a vegetarian. This is my fifth winter in Iowa and I have only had one cold in all that time, it was about 2 or 3 years ago. I have been a regular blood donor for over 25 years.

Been there, done that. I became a vegetarian 3 years ago. Like the people above, I didnÂt eat much meat anyway, so it wasnÂt a huge change. IÂm single & live alone, so my eating habits didnÂt affect anyone directly.

Honestly, the "vegetarian" thing is confusing, even to those of us who are. A Vegan is the most strict and do not eat anything animal or with animal byproducts (like Beano, made with fish oil). If you eat fish then youÂre a Pescatarian. If you donÂt eat meat (fish, pork, beef, chicken, turkey etc.) then youÂre a Vegetarian. IÂm bringing this up now because you will be asked over and over in your life as a Vege.

Personally, I believe itÂs no big deal, I just donÂt eat meat. But my family freaks out at holidays because they serve a lot of meat dishes. Next my co-workers make a big deal out of it because every pot-luck has some sort of meat dish. Really, people just want us to feel involved, so it takes getting used to.

Also, be careful when eating food prepared by others. IÂve had a few surprises finding meat in a dish I wouldnÂt have expected!

Now for the sensitive subject! Get ready for the gas. Without meat you will have to get protein from other areas. Lentils/beans are a great source of protein but sometimes cause gas. I mentioned Beano above, works great, but yes, made with fish oil, so you need to decide. It took about a year for my body to moderate and adjust completely to the vegetarian diet and gas has decreased.

Good luck and let me know how youÂre doing! IÂm always excited to hear about another recruit!

Here is a link that might be useful: Go Veg

I thought it was overwhelming, when my daughter returned from Korea, and had turned vegan.

But, in the big scheme of life, it is really rather easy to fix vegan food.

We eat it a lot here now. But when she isn't here (she lives about 8 miles away), at our house, we tend to put a bit of chicken breast, or cheese in our meals. We also drink milk.

My daughter tells people that don't grasp the vegan thing, that she doesn't eat anything that "poops".

:)

Moni

Low B12 is an issue with some vegetarians, so make sure you supplement. If you are low, sublingual B12 is a good option.

I've been a vegetarian/pescatarian for several years. I've also gone gluten free. Not by choice, but by necessity. It's been rather difficult, escpecially eating out. Plus it's hidden in so many foods.

Good luck!

I was vegetarian for about 5 years, but had to give it up recently -- I've been put on an extremely restrictive diet due to medical reasons, and it was frankly too hard to eat this restrictive diet and be vegetarian at the same time; I just wouldn't be able to get the nutrients I need (at this point, I'm happy to find _anything_ I can eat!). I try to limit my meat-eating to only a couple of times a week, though.

Make sure you get a good mix of proteins -- beans are your friend :) If you haven't tried seitan yet, I'd recommend checking it out -- you can buy it, or make it yourself. If you have a Whole Foods or Trader Joes near you, there's lots of interesting vegetarian products you can buy from there. Also, if you're not familiar with the forums at veggieboards.com, it's a great site for vegetarians to meet online, support each other, get recipe ideas, etc. That forum is also immensely helpful in figuring what is and isn't vegetarian -- you'd be surprised by how many things you might think are okay to eat, but they're actually not!

My only other two pieces of advice are: 1) Don't get arrogant/judgmental about your choice. You don't say specifically why you're making the decision to become vegetarian, but if it's for ethical reasons, be careful not to push your decision on to others, or judge others for eating meat. Which I'm sure you wouldn't do, but everybody and their brother has a story about "the judgmental vegetarian" who told them they were morally wrong for eating meat. This seems to hold true for some people who have recently changed to being vegetarian, and are...zealous in their newfound belief. So don't be that person.

2) Which brings me to...get used to being judged by others for making your choice, in return. If you're lucky, most of it will be relatively lighthearted ribbing along the lines of "Mmm...this barbecue chicken tastes great. Don't you wish you could have some?" while waving it in your face. On the more frustrating side are the people who will try to convince you that you're wrong and/or that you're a freak for not eating meat. Or the people who will immediately assume you're judging them, and pronounce "Well, I like meat. You got a problem with that?" when you've said absolutely nothing other than "Oh, sorry, I can't eat ____. (Why?) I'm vegetarian." The majority of people you will have no issues with (thankfully, vegetarianism is becoming more mainstream), but there's always the handful that can be bothersome. Unfortunately for me, they were mostly in my family!

Good luck, and happy eating :)

I probably could be a vegetarian. As a child I hated meat, and mymother would fix vegetable meals for me. However, I drank a lot of milk and ate lots of cheese and eggs, so I was getting plenty of protein. There are still days on end when I go w/o meat.

I went vegetarian for 10 months. The only animal product I ate was skim milk. My cholesterol level went up 10 points! I could be a vegetarian I think. I was under a doctor's supervision for this.

Sue

I actually eat very vegetarian. I say 'very' because it's 90% of the time. I add chicken to my diet a couple of times a month but don't miss it if I don't have it. Being Cuban, I grew up eating lots of meat and pork. I still cook beef for my dh and dd (although she won't eat pork and eats very little beef but does eat chicken). I stick to Morning Star and Worthington products available in our local super market and Whole Foods. These include veggie burgers and other soy products. I eat carrots, asparagus and any squash and lotsa beans/legumes. Also brown and wild rice. I eat yogurt with Uncle Sam cereal. I don't like milk, never have, and don't like soy milk. I'll eat salmon and also egg beaters. So, you see, although I consider myself vegetarian, I do eat fish and some eggs. I mostly just stick to the vegetarian products, though. No, I don't find it difficult at all but my dh could never do what I do although he loves Kung Pao Tofu!!

I might be able to handle that for about one day. I eat meat every day...usually beef. I don't drink milk, eat very little cheese and don't eat eggs unless they are in something like potato salad. I have very good cholesterol. I think things like that are mostly inherited. My husband recently went to the doctor...he is overweight and they just knew his cholesterol, etc. would be bad. Heck, his was even lower than mine!

We eat mostly vegetarian, but we are not strict vegetarians. I do eat non-fat yogurt. DH is allergic to all dairy, so we don't buy milk or cheese. Luckily, the local pizza place makes their pizza from scratch - it is great even without the cheese. We never buy meat for at home, but will use chicken broth if the recipe calls for it. DH doesn't like scrambled eggs, so we nearly always have oatmeal for breakfast. We eat a lot of veggies and fruit, and whole grains. Tofu gives me too much gas, so I don't buy it.

In our circle of friends, we usually go out to eat. Finding a vegetarian dish on the menu is not usually a problem, perhaps because we are at the edge of a big city with a lot of transplants from all over the world.

It was a big problem when we went to the midwest to see relatives. It has only been in the last five years that they have more restaurants that are not just "meat and potatoes."

I eat very little meat and DH has stopped all together. Now we just eat veggies, but no beans. I don't know how healthy it is but we know meat & chicken is bad nowadays with all the chemicals. We've done this off an on many times over the years.

I have not eaten meat for over twenty years, but I do sometimes have seafood. I'm not malnourished and I don't have gas - this is the first time I have ever heard that non meat eaters are gaseous. TG and I have been together for ten years and while he eats less eat than he would on his own, he regularly eats meat.
I don't eat foods with marshmallows, gelatin, lard or other meat products - I have been reading labels for a long time, but I'm always surprised when people ask "but what do you eat?". I eat pretty much everything, except meat.
Everyone is having pizza? I'll have vegetable pizza. Pasta? marinara sauce or a variety of other choices. Burgers? I'll have a garden burger. I love grilled veggies- try a grilled portabella mushroom. I'm perfectly happy with a big baked potato and broccoli for dinner. I make a variety of bean dishes. Mexican and asian dishes are easy to prepare without meat.
I've certainly witnessed, but never understood the sort of judgment against vegetarians that rivkadr describes. I don't care what any one else eats (including people in my own house), so I don't understand why people care what I eat or don't eat.
Do what works for you and good luck!

I have "dabbled" with being a vegetarian for many many years for mostly ethical reason; now days more health and safety issues. I don't like meat! The taste of it today, reminds me of living in the smelly dairy, egg and chicken producing areas of California. I find friends and family more concerned about it than they need be. If I have a green salad (at home I can add kidney beans garbanzo, lentils etc.) and a baked potato (without the extras) I am a happy camper....and I try to be discreet (?) about passing up the meat selection (or take a small serving and pass it on to hubby or leave it). I try to not make a big deal of it!
Nanny

My daughter became a vegetarian over 20 years ago and at that time my husband and I gave up red meat. Although we still eat some small amount of chicken every now and then, we've found that we love to eat the Quorn line of products. They make fake chicken nuggets which are fantastic. I usually make a Quorn 'roast' instead of a turkey for holidays. Much, much better than Tofurkey. Quorn also has the crumbles and several other products. They're hard to find, though - I can get most of their line in Wegmans and in some Foodtowns in New Jersey.

Helene

Like Marilyn C I have to have my red meat. I haven't drunk milk since the age of 2 or 3. I do like cheese and eggs but don't eat them daily. My cholesterol is also good despite being hypothyroid.

I will go sit next to Marilyn and eat meat. I could probably last a day as a vegetarian but I would feel ill and malnourished at the end of that day.

My friends who are vegetarian seem to have a lot more negative health issues.

I don't eat meat daily that's for sure but I will never be a vegetarian. I do have some family members who are vegetarian but not vegan. Actually, it's not hard finding things they'll eat if they are not vegan. We don't usually try to accomodate their lifestyle/eating habits at family gatherings but somehow about 3/4's of the dishes have no meat. I'm not sure if others plan it for them or what.

Anyway, nope, I'm not a vegatarian and never will be but I don't have a problem with those who are. I work with one who says he "doesn't eat anything with a face."

I'm not saying vegetarians are gassy.

But, when you make any kind of major dietary change, your digestion takes years to adapt. When it's used to meat, then all of a sudden you're throwing beans down the hatch, your tummy protests: "Ack! Alien food. Does not compute!"

Also, when you become vegetarian, you're usually eating a lot more fiber, and fiber cleans out the years of accumulated garbage from your former carnivorous diet, tending to make you a public nuisance.

But it doesn't last long and there are things you can do, if it happens.

Here is a link that might be useful: Savvy Vegetarian

I am a vegetarian - but not a Vegan. I couldn't live
without my cheese - and need the calcium. Basically,
I never cared one way or the other for meat, so it
hasn't been hard. Just kind of evolved.

When she was about 16, my older daughter became a vegan. She stuck with that a while, then began eating vegetarian (included dairy,eggs,etc). then she started adding fish and chicken. Along the way, over a period of 6 years, she lost 35 pounds. She has beautiful hair and skin, and has a gorgeous , full yet slim figure. If you become bvegetarian, ask a doctor about taking certain vitamins and possibly iron to prevent yourself from becoming malnourished.

I love meat!

I have been vegetarian off and on over the years. Most recently I went vegan for about a year. I have to admit, vegetarian is easier, especially if you allow eggs and dairy products.

I still eat several vegetarian/vegan dishes because I liked them. I use soy milk because I prefer it to milk, but I do use other dairy products. And I really really really missed cheese ROFL.