SxyRican said:

Hiya Gigi

A veggie needs the same amount of protein as anyone else Well they say around 2000 calories of energy is required per day for a typical adult (if I remember correctly). The trick in being a healthy vegetarian is not to drop meat and just replace it with french fries and pasta I know so many "new veggies" who failed because they were just not getting a balanced vegetarian diet, they were just getting a carnivore's diet without the meat If you know what I meant!

My diet is quite balanced, I do seem to get everything I need in terms of protein, fat, carbs etc from from stuff like tofu, rice, fresh vegetables, fruit, beans, lentils etc. I eat a lot of Indian food, Japanese food, Chinese food... and I get lots of fruit, rice.

Favourite veggie recipe anyone? I love Indian food so my favourite dishes are probably dal tarka, bombay aloo, aloo gobi. My wife is Japanese so we do eat a lot of Japanese dishes, udon noodles dishes, miso soup, yasai yakisoba etc.

Damn I'm getting hungry now

Natsume said:

Me too!

I quit eating meat for Morrissey/The Smiths

believe me...these days, if my diet was in any way tied to Prince, I'd go sit in the lot of Paisley Park and eat a steak...or roast a pig...

endorphin74 said:

Proving my old school credentials... I was a veggy long before Prince ever was dammit, he copied my style! Almost 18 years now...

When I have kids, they'll be veggy from day 1 of course.

ian said:

My daughter, who just turned 4, has been a vegetarian from day one!

She is very healthy too!

ian said:

I am a vegetarian in the house.

wellbeyond said:

Just had the Lauren's Portobello Burger tonight (from Red Robins), my love. "Delicious"... , venture back over there...and this time order the Portobello Burger. ]


LaVisHh, ..., I thought about sharing half. (I truly did).

Beautiful Night...

ian said:

The other thing Gigi, is that it needs to be a
complete protein.

Plant products by themselves do not provide the
essential amino acids to form complete proteins
as do animal products, so you need to combine
plant products like legumes and rice, pasta
and beans, oats and milk/yogurt, etc.

It gets trickier if you're a vegan. Study up!

I'm neither vegan nor vegetarian, however I do not agree
with the Food Gluttony Pyramid's connotation of how
much meat should be consumed on a daily basis, either.

Now I'll excuse myself from this thread before
Ian bops me with a fish!

Natsume said:

Thanks, girl! Hopefully, we'll bump into eachother
again soon! I'm going to see Mr. E perform again in
LA Thanksgiving Weekend! No mention of Sheila, but
unless she's on tour, I have a good feeling she'll
be there!

As for the protein guide, I'm about a size 5, short,
but definitely not skinny. I weigh about 125, so if
I multiply that by 0.28 that only equals 35 grams
of protein. I can get 24 grams by eating my new
favorite Power Bar (Protein Plus), so another 11 grams
and I've gotten all the protein I need for the day?
It just doesn't seem like it's enough, but if you're
right, that's cool.

I'm not much into Tofu and I try to stay away from
rice and pasta, so I'm not left with many choices
besides vegetables. I love Thai, Chinese, and
Japanese food, but they're very heavy in carbs and
fat, so I don't eat it very often. It gets difficult,
but it's a discipline. I can only imagine how hard
it must be for the Vegans.

Thanks for the 411, ya'll!
Gi

i'm TRYING 2 eat StrickLy Vegetarian but my Wife cooks Meat 4 her kids... she only buys Turkey, Chicken & Fish which is cool but... No More FAST FOOD please!!!

when i'm a TRUE Vegetarian... i'll b a skinny little brotha

PurpleLove7 said:

I have a question for everyone...how important is it
for your significant other to be Vegetarian? My friends
tend to gravitate towards Vegetarian eating (atleast
around me), but it doesn't seem to phase men I've dated.

2nd question...is it easier for women to become/maintain
being a Vege than it is for men? By nature, I believe
men need alot more protein in their diets simply because
they are generally physically bigger than women.

~Gi

wellbeyond said:

Does Baskin Robbins count?

I dunno, I don't see what the big insult is to animals. Every vegetarian..lol..and I mean *every* vegetarian has had an ancestor who hunted animals and ate them and it's no different now. The animals are still here.

So just because now we have enough alternatives to meat, it is now taboo to eat meat? Or morally wrong? Don't get it.

Is it only morally OK to eat it when you're primitive?

ItalianToy said:

It's a personal choice, Italian Toy. (everyone has their reason to why they choose a Vegetarian diet, being from health related, religion, animal rights... etc.) You can say for me... that befriending animals as I have my whole life (((don't laugh))), but it is true. I even nursed a baby chicken back to life about five years ago (and many others has I was growing up) , anyways the chicken was similar to a dog... until it started to cockle-doodle. I then took him back to my hometown so he can live with other chickens. I just couldn't personally do it anymore..., I felt too close to it's living being and to see it's compassion and it's friendliness just broke my . Again, it's a personal choice... that has everything to do with my inner-soul and my personal . I do not judge others for their choices, it's not my place.

Beautiful day...truly.

ItalianToy said:

I did hear they have meat-flavored ice cream now...


It's prolly that the more "aware" we become as humans, the more we realize (or percieve) the "good" and "bad" behind certain actions and decisions...and the more informed and aware we become, the more choices we, by default, give ourselves...so our "primitive ancestors" eating meat can be seen as "ok" by many people simply because they didn't have the knowledge and awareness that we have today...I personally have no problem with the concept and reality of us eating meat, though...like I said, I'm nowhere near being a vegetarian...lol...(trust me there)

SxyRican said:

For me - it is essential. I could never be serious about a woman who wasn't vegetarian, or at least interested and open-minded about converting I couldn't live with a meat-eater, end of story. Luckily my wife is vegetarian so we get along fine.

ItalianToy said:

This looks like an attempt to troll for flames, but I'll respond anyway (what the hey).

You'll find that most vegetarians who became vegetarian for moral / ethical / religious reasons and not purely out of health concerns etc believe that murdering animals and consuming their flesh is morally wrong. That's pretty much it, summed up. That's the whole point of it.

Just because someone's ancestors hunted animals and ate them doesn't change the matter. Humans have conscience, we have morality, and have values of right and wrong. Also (certainly in my part of the world thank goodness) we are lucky enough to be in a position to choose our diet. Since consuming meat is not necessary, and since we believe it is an immoral act, we don't do it.

It isn't that complicated really

So, the protein thing. If you get enough calories to maintain your body weight, you get enough protein. Only malnourished people have to worry about protein. The average American consumes twice as much protein as the upper end of the reccomended amount (which is bad for you), so you can cut your intake in half and still get plenty. Also, it's not true that you have to do the protein combining thing, that is outdated info.

Feel free to orgnote me w/any questions, I'm pretty well read on this stuff, both from an ethical and health perspective.

Doves,
Mel!ssa