I became a vegetarian on January 6th. Seven days later and I'm going strong!
:bobo:
My parents bought me some TV pasta dinners, frozen peas (because I cannot STAND canned peas, besides, they have almost no nutritional value), EasyMac (I looked at the ingredients, and there was NO rennet! (Is it still safe)), Garden Burgers, and Garden Burger Wraps. I hve eaten a couple of the pasta dinners, the EasyMac (I REALLY hope it is vegetarian), and the Garden Burger Wraps. A couple nights ago I made my parents and I some spaghetti with olive oil + garlic sauce (and shrimp for them) and some canned green beans with canned tomatoes + garlic. That was one yummy meal.
I would like to experiment with tofu and vegetables that I've never (or rarely) had, like lentils.
On my fourth day (Monday) I woke up felling VERY hungry and actually "got sick" a couple of times. (I knew it was from the lack of protein and nutrition) I almost gave in to eating Campbell's chicken noodle soup to feel good. (Ironically enough, I found out that evening that Campbel's and Starbucks support rodeos: http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=47609&highlight=rodeo (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=47609&highlight=rodeo)) I ended up not eating the soup (after opening it and heating it), but instead eating toast with peanut butter. The good thing about that day was not having to go to school.
Three days after that, here I am. I still sometimes feel hungry, but never sick.
I'm sooooo glad I made the change!

I actually think that you feeling sick might be the effects of a detox from abstaining from meat. Considering that you are probably eating cheese, I doubt that you were protein deficient at all, and even if you were, a week is too short of a time to notice any effects from that other than maybe being slightly tired or hungry.

I'm not sure if Easy Mac is vegetarian. There's been discussion that Kraft regular macaroni and cheese is not, so I don't know about the instant. What I DO know, is that it's very unhealthy, and that dairy contributes to the suffering of animals a lot more than rennet does.

With that having been said, congratulations!! I am so proud of you. :) You have already started making a big impact on the world!! Good job. I'm here 24/7 so if you need me, PM me!

Thanks CeilingofStars!
Yeah, I don't know about the getting sick part. I did eat cheese.
I know that eating dairy products contributes to the cruelty of animals, but my goal is to become vegan sooner or later (probably in a couple years once I go to college).
Thanks for your support!

Thanks CeilingofStars!
Yeah, I don't know about the getting sick part. I did eat cheese.
I know that eating dairy products contributes to the cruelty of animals, but my goal is to become vegan sooner or later (probably in a couple years once I go to college).
Thanks for your support!

Of course!!
Oh and don't forget also that people jsut plain get sick sometimes. A lot of times when I'm sick, people are like, "It's because you're vegan!" But when they get heart disease and cancer, they don't take it too well when I say, "Well...you might want to cut back on your meat intake." Le sigh. But yeah if you need any help with veg*nism you always have it here! :)

What was weird is that I rarely get sick. (vomit once every 2 years, maybe one and a half, or so).
No kidding about the heart diseases and cancer.
BTW, I love that you used a lillte French in (((Le Sigh))). I love speaking it. It's my third year of taking it in high school.

Again, thanks for yours and everyone else's support!

~Sara~

Hehe French is my fave subject! I plan to double major in linguistics and French...I want to be an interpreter. :)

Congrats on your 1st week! The first week is always the hardest.

Congrats on 1 week! That's awesome! :)

How much are you eating? From your description it doesn't seem like you are eating a lot of food. That could and will cause you to feel "sick" or "off". Also, lots of processed food upsets my stomach.

Yep the first week is always the hardest. Iv made it 1 whole day without meat, and im not craving it. go me! anyway kepp at it.

Congratulations Rockiegirl!!! How wonderful that your parents are supportive of your decision. I definitely agree with CeilingOf Stars -- you felt sick because of detoxification.

Now that you're not eating meat, your liver is working overtime trying to purge your system of the toxins that built up over the years.

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During the detox, toxins will be released that were previously lodged in your fat cells and they'll be shuttled into your bloodstream for filtration and transport through your body's elimination channels. But without proper liver and colon support to help these toxins clear your system, the poisons may simply get relocated within the body, settling into any number of sensitive organs and making you feel tired, anxious, headachy and more fatigued than when you started. So if you want to avoid feeling unnecessarily lousy, add these three things to your diet.

1. Each day, for seven days, choose at least one serving from each group of the following Liver-Loving Foods:


Crucifers, such as cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, broccoli sprouts

Green leafy vegetables and herbs, like parsley, kale, watercress, chard, cilantro, beet greens, escarole, dandelion greens and mustard greens

Citrus, like oranges, lemons and limes (avoid grapefruit and grapefruit juice, which contain a compound called naringen that can interfere with the liver-cleansing process)

Sulfur-rich foods, like garlic, onions and daikon radish

Liver healers, such as artichoke, asparagus, beets, celery, dandelion-root tea, whey and nutritional yeast flakes

2. Each day, choose at least two of the following Colon-Caring foods:

powdered psyllium husks, milled or ground flaxseeds, carrots, apple, pear or berries.

3. Each day, drink half your body weight in ounces of filtered or purified water.

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There are some great recipes on this site and also on http://vegweb.com
Good luck. Congrats again.
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Blueberry06 I'm proud of you too!!! Congratulations!!

Congratulations!

For some reason I may never understand, switching to a vegetarian diet was amazingly simple for me. What makes it even stranger is that, prior to making that decision, I'd been eating a TON of meat--I grew up on a cattle farm, so my parents cooked us steak almost every night. But I made an abrupt decision to stop, and I had no problems at all.

Congratulations! Getting through that first week is a major step!

Thanks everyone for your support! I went grocery shopping today and got TONS of vegetariany foods.

Rainbow Clouds, I have been eating more than enough for the past few days. Thanks for your concern. On the weekends it's a lot easier to get the proper nutrition than it is on school days.

Again, thank you everyone!