No fish damn it!!

[Yuki_onna]

Hey, I've been a vegetarian for a little over a year now. I'm new to this thread, and it's been suprisingly easy for me to become a vegetarian. It just came to me...kind of like an enlightenment. Well I watched the movie Earthlings. <_< I cried throughout the whoooole thing. So after a few months..I was like...what the hell?
Anyways, the only problem is my mom makes me eat fish. Mostly dolphin friendly cans of tuna. But still! I do lack iron, but that's what my iron suppliment is for. I know she already sacrificed a lot to make changes for me, and supported be with my vegetarianism, but she insists on me eating fish once in a while (esp. when she temps me by buying me sushi >_<). I really don't want to make her feel bad, so I try to avoid fish as much as I can.
So, I think I'm gonna wait till I move out to not eat fishie, what do you think?

Also, has anyone else found it harder to go eat out at friends houses who aren't vegetarian(which are all my friends lol)?:-/

[Wishuponastar]

This is not a Pescetarian forum

[isowish]

This is not a Pescetarian forum

The OP is trying to become vegetarian, and as such is welcome here. I think that response was a little harsh considering she (?) is looking for our help. :-/

Yuki_onna - if you are eating fish, please don't call yourself vegetarian. As wishuponastar pointed out, vegetarians don't eat fish, the correct word for a fish eater is 'pescatarian'.
I sympathise re: the parentals and eating fish. Went I first wanted to go veg, aged 12, me and my mum had a similar 'compromise', and I adopted a similar tactic of eating fish as little as possible. And trust me, it completely ate away at me. :-/ It's just no fun doing something you're ethically opposed to. I didn't grow the bollocks to stand up for myself and stop eating fish until I was 15, and those years of pescatarianism even though I knew better are one of my few regrets. You obviously know your situation better than I do, and ultimately will make your decision, and if the best you can do is eat fish until you move out, that's your call. But if you are ethically opposed to eating fish (which it sounds like you are) I would urge you to reconsider. Have you had a frank discussion with your mum about how you don't want to eat fish any more? Including more sources of iron (http://www.vegansociety.com/food/nutrition/iron.php) in your diet might persuade her to lay-off pushing the tuna. And you two can still enjoy sushi together, there's loads of yummy veg*n sushi available!

Yes, eating at friend's houses is harder. Back when I was in school and ending up at friend's houses unexpectedly a lot I would always make sure to have snacks on me when I was out the house, so that if we stopped at someone's home for a quick bite I was able to be eating when they were :) That said, if I was invited over in advance for food, my friends were very good for always making sure there was something I could eat. If your friends aren't already aware you are veg, you should tell them plenty of time in advance, and maybe ask if there will be food for you, or whether you should bring something. :)

[Wishuponastar]

I mis-read your post. I thought when you said "what do you think" you were asking if we think you should stop eating fish when you move out. The obvious answer to that would be yes, but I now think you meant it as "is it okay if I eat fish until I move out to appease my mom". I would try to do as much research as possible on Vegetarianism before you call yourself a Vegetarian. I'm sure the recipe and vegetarian discussion forums will help you out a lot.

Also, I noticed that you are 18 years old. By that age, I think that you should be able to make your own decisions about what you would like to eat. Do your research and present your mom with the facts. Maybe that will change her mind.

[veggiemeggie]

I would sit her down and tell her that you love her and appreciate her concern, but that there is no nutritional need for you to eat fish (then load her down w/nutrition facts that you have on hand). Furthermore, eating seafood is terrible for the environment (lay down some more research here). Lastly, I'd say that fish eating is against my morals and that as an adult I need to stand up for what I believe in... hopefully she'll get it?

But yeah, to echo what others have already said, please don't call yourself a vegetarian if you eat sea creatures. If you are looking for support/help in order to stop eating fish this is the perfect forum for you. If you are planning on continuing to eat fish then you should probably look for another forum, since promoting the consumption of animals is against the rules here.

[Yuki_onna]

This is not a Pescetarian forum

ah? I'm new to the forum sorry.:confused:

[Yuki_onna]

The OP is trying to become vegetarian, and as such is welcome here. I think that response was a little harsh considering she (?) is looking for our help. :-/

Yuki_onna - if you are eating fish, please don't call yourself vegetarian. As wishuponastar pointed out, vegetarians don't eat fish, the correct word for a fish eater is 'pescatarian'.
I sympathise re: the parentals and eating fish. Went I first wanted to go veg, aged 12, me and my mum had a similar 'compromise', and I adopted a similar tactic of eating fish as little as possible. And trust me, it completely ate away at me. :-/ It's just no fun doing something you're ethically opposed to. I didn't grow the bollocks to stand up for myself and stop eating fish until I was 15, and those years of pescatarianism even though I knew better are one of my few regrets. You obviously know your situation better than I do, and ultimately will make your decision, and if the best you can do is eat fish until you move out, that's your call. But if you are ethically opposed to eating fish (which it sounds like you are) I would urge you to reconsider. Have you had a frank discussion with your mum about how you don't want to eat fish any more? Including more sources of iron (http://www.vegansociety.com/food/nutrition/iron.php) in your diet might persuade her to lay-off pushing the tuna. And you two can still enjoy sushi together, there's loads of yummy veg*n sushi available!

Yes, eating at friend's houses is harder. Back when I was in school and ending up at friend's houses unexpectedly a lot I would always make sure to have snacks on me when I was out the house, so that if we stopped at someone's home for a quick bite I was able to be eating when they were :) That said, if I was invited over in advance for food, my friends were very good for always making sure there was something I could eat. If your friends aren't already aware you are veg, you should tell them plenty of time in advance, and maybe ask if there will be food for you, or whether you should bring something. :)

ah good idea about the food bringing instead. :o never thought of that! and I think I will have a talk with my mom, ugh, hope it works.

[Mrs. Skittles]

Do some research on the impact of fishing to sea life, specifically bycatch and pollutants in water (which are in the fish).

When you talk to her, showing her that you are making an educated decision will help a lot. She won't just think you are doing it on a whim. Show her that you put real thought into it. Stick to your guns and what you believe in. Eventually she will come around. My parents did.

http://www.drfuhrman.com/faq/question.aspx?sid=16&qindex=6

[kuhliloach]

She can't force you to do anything! Physical force feeding I think is against the law. Also, what's more important: your mothers cooking or the thousands of fish and other sea lifes lives being ended every day that you don't have to support?
Make your own food to eat and if what the rest of the family is having is veggie then you can eat it. Don't force yourself to do anything against your beliefs. Please don't eat the fish!

[Yuki_onna]

ah that's a great link, thank you! I knew that mass fishing did harm their ecosystem, which was the major reason. but I didn't know about the mercury. :D

[Michael]

As someone asked earlier in the thread... Why is your mom telling you what you can and can not eat at 18 years old?