How could I ever become a vegetarian and not starve?

How does someone like me do this? The only dang vegetables I eat are french fries and corn chips. I eat meat for every meal. Sometimes I eat sausage, bacon and ham sandwiches for breakfast. I even ate monkey once. Someone told me not long ago that I would live a lot longer if I became a vegetairan but after thinking about I really am afraid I would starve. I hate stuff like eggplant and squash and beets and lima beans -- yuk! I can't help it, I just don't like it at all. I do drink lots and lots of beer, which is made from some sort of grains and hops and stuff. Does that count at all? I have a friend that just had a triple bypass and he ate lots better than I do, (but he didn't drink near as much beer). Could I really be on to something? I don't want to drop dead but I know I would waste away with out pork chops, hamburger, bacon, deer, fried catfish, etc. Any answers for me? P.S. I smoke quite a bit too.

What if I fried vegetables like corn and potatoes? I do like fried onions and I guess froed tomatoes are OK. I suppose a cheese pizza would be OK but I would get really tired of it every day. What about fruit pie? Or pecan pie? I like ice cream too. I guess hushpuppies are some sort of vegetable. And bread! I eat bread with sandwiches.

well come the world of vegetarian because of you more and more animals will, be able to live thanks here is the list for complete diet :-
Proteins: Body's protein needs can be provided by either animal or plant sources. Mixed protein diet obtained from various plant sources is better than animal protein and is recommended in diabetes, renal diseases and liver diseases. Mixed protein diet from different plant sources has been the pattern of diet in India for all vegetarians.

Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are mainly found in plant foods; like cereals, grains, fresh and dry fruits, legumes, vegetable, greens, nuts etc. plant carbohydrates include' large amounts of starches, sugar and fibers which are important for gut functions. The body is better suited to a high carbohydrate diet than a low carbohydrate diet. In fact 55% of the food intake should be carbohydrate. All animal products do not contain carbohydrate which is essential for body.

Fat: Plant fats differ from animal fats in two different ways 1) they are cholesterol free 2) they generally contain more polyunsaturated fat and less saturated fats. Plant fats usually have higher polyunsaturated fat value than animal fats.

A diet which is low in cholesterol and which contains fat of a high PIS value is associated with a lower incident of coronary health disease.

Vitamins and Minerals: plant foods are rich in many vitamins and minerals.

Vitamin D: Vitamin D is obtained by exposure of skin to sun light and this is not a problem in India.

Calcium: The vegetarians can meet their needs for calcium from dairy products. Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) Dark green vegetables are good sources of Riboflavin as are legumes and whole grain cereal.

Iron: The problem of iron deficiency is relatively common but vitamin C significantly enhances absorption of iron hence it is advisable for vegetarians to include with each meal a food high in vitamin C which as lime, citrus fruits or juices.

Zinc: Zinc is found in large number of plant foods.

Fiber: Fiber is found only in vegetarian food like whole grain cereals, legumes, greens, fruits, vegetable etc.

Thus in vegetarian foods all requirement of nutrition for body growth and maintenance is fulfilled. One can have a complete and balanced diet provided we take enough food which is as close to nature as possible in maintaining sturdy and disease free body. It is equally helpful in curing many diseases.

ADVANTAGES OF VEGETARIAN DIET:
More & more evidence is surfacing that directly links a prolonged non- vegetarian diet to diseases as cancers, heart diseases, diabetes, asthma just to name a few.

1. LOGEVITY: Vegetarian can expect to live 4-10 years longer then the non-vegetarians.

" Source: Seventh day Adventists study

2. LESS HEART DISEASE: Because of low fat, saturated fat and cholesterol content of the vegetarian diet the risk of heart disease is lowered. High blood cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk of heart disease.

3. LESS CANCER: Up to 40% of all cancers are diet related. Cancer death rates have been associated with obesity and high fat / low fiber diet. Vitamin A & C are thought to be protective against colon cancer. Low fat diets protect against prostrate and breast cancer. Indoles, lignans, isoflavones, protease inhibitors which are present in plant foods and shown to be potent anti carcinogens.

4. LESS BOWEL DISEASE: Diverticular disease and appendicitis occur more frequently with low fiber intake as in meat diet.

5. LEES OBESITY & LESS INCIDENCE OF DIABETES: It is easier to plan a low fat diet for a vegetarian then for a meat eater. The fiber in plant food dilutes the energy & provides a satisfying meal without all the calories. Diabetes over the age of 40 seems to be related to obesity.

Hi. Maybe if you are starving and had only vegetables to eat, you will not starve! But if you are a carnivore, you have to unlearn your eating habits. I think maybe, quitting cold turkey is best (pardon the pun) and try to be creative in choosing veggie recipes. Be kind to yourself if you backslide now and again. Just keep trying until you have more and more vegetables included in your diet. You already have the desire, all you need is to keep trying!

well originally man was herbivorous right?so it is not difficult for anyone to become a vegetarian.As there are more plant species than animal species in the world there are lot more vegetarian dishes than nonvegetarian. you can substitutes some vegetables like corm in nonveg dishes andalmost all vegetables can be fried . come and see in India how many varieties of vegetarian dishes are there to suit everyone's palate. so don't think vegetarians are starving.

I am a vegetarian, and I'm not starving. Truthfully, though, my most favorite food was hamburgers, and I thought I would die when I first made the switch. I would dream about hamburgers!! But I have been vegan now for over 6 years. Don't miss meat at all. I also run two miles a day, gave up smoking and drinking. I feel great.(Look pretty good, too.) Good luck!!

ok first eat veggies and fruit and u could eat fish 2.if u wanna become a veggie that doesn't eat anything with a face then all u have 2 do is make regular food and take the meat out like the hamburger help and veggie lasgana.trust me its good

Okay. first of all, i work in health care and see the effects of poor diet in my patients. My diet over the past few years hasnt been great and Ive been very interested in becoming veggie. so recently Ive started taking steps to become a veg. i am taking it slow, at first only cutting out red meat, then after a couple of weeks, poulltry and pork, then in a couple more weeks fish, all while introducing myself to veggies and fruits.you need to take it slow. you can eat pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, cheese pizza, at a bar instead of wings get fried cauliflowr or mushrooms. First you need to focus on not eating meat and learning about fruits veggies and grains, then you need to make a conscious effort to start eating healthier IE salads, grilled veggies, less fried stuff, etc. and you need to cut out some of the alcohol. I had to, too! trust me, i've lost some weight and feel sooo much better. people will notice a change in your physical appearance. I know its sooo hard but if i can do it so can you. Good luck!!!

Yes, i've tested the "block user" function and it works

thank goodness for that.

Well you can make things like baked potatoes, salads, pizza(without meat), or a penut butter sandwhich. You can also look for vegetarian recipies on websites. Try not to temp yourself, and get rid of all the meat in your house.

Have you tried mock meats? It sounds like you should get into the habit of trying different things first. Try experimenting once a week and broaden your horizons. This will make it easier to transition. I get morningstar farms and Amy's brand foods from the freezer section at walmart. I actually left a Vegan Amy's meal in the freezer at work one day and someone ate it. I wan't even mad just happy that someone ate a vegan meal who isn't vegan. A lot of the mock meats are made of soy and are a bit spicier than regular meat so you may actually like it more in some meals.

Hello.

To answer your question about living longer, yes, vegetarians live, on average, 6-8 YEARS longer than the average meat eater.

If you are a meat eater, you have about DOUBLE the risk of heart disease, stroke, Diabetes Type 2, and many forms of cancer, studies are now also showing that the prevalence of Alzheimer's Disease is drastically lower in vegetarians.

Being overweight is three times less likely if you are a vegetarian, and obesity is eight times less likely, morbid obesity is practically unheard of.

Now for the recipes....

The good news is that it's probably a lot easier to be a vegetarian than you think, modern food science has graced us with meat alternatives such as Boca/Morningstar Farms/Gardenburger replacements for bacon, sausages, bratwurst, hot dogs, hamburgers, barbecued ribs, chicken nuggets, chicken patties, and so on.

There is veggie cheese that melts and tastes just like the real thing, but has half the calories.

There are alternatives to lunch meat like turkey and bologna.

Silk Soy Milk is a delicious alternative to cow's milk.

There are a wide variety of other food choices too, cereal grains, granola, any kind of raw fruits and veggies you care to eat, and breads.

I was actually surprised to find out how easy it is to stop eating meat and not feel like you're missing anything at all, the best part about becoming a vegetarian, for me, is the fact that I just feel so much better, my weight is down (by 32 pounds and counting), my cholesterol and triglyceride levels are plummeting, my blood pressure dropped dramatically to where my doctor says I no longer have "chronic hypertension", and I believe it's also helped quite a bit with my bipolar disorder (who knows what kind of psychological/physiological effects the hormones and antibiotics those cows are pumped full of has on us?)

The short list is that the food may be a little different than what you're used to, but with all the health benefits, and especially not huffing and puffing when I have to take a flight of stairs anymore, bring on the veggie burgers!

To make it easy for you, I'll give of my favorite "fast food" choices:

Burger King has a Veggie Burger, I like to order those with fries and a diet coke.

Subway has a DELICIOUS Veggie Delite sub, have them pile on lettuce, tomato, onions, green peppers, jalepenos, bell peppers, black and green olives, and any other veggies you like, and put it on whole wheat with brown mustard, a FOOT LONG has less than 500 calories!

At the supermarket:

Tofu makes a great substitute in "egg salad".

Kroger has a "Natural Grocery" section that has a lot of vegetarian products, including veggie taquitos, which are great with salsa.

I also love making veggie kabobs.

Boca and Morningstar both make "recipe starters" which you can substitute hamburger for in chili, lasagna, etc.

For some more recipes, you can take a look at:

http://www.vegcooking.com/

I hope this was helpful, good luck to you!

I think you need to take it one step at a time Quit smoking then quit drinking try cutting out pork maybe eat more fish..Leave the potatoes alone thats just alot of carbs.. Do things slowly.. If you say tommorrow I will be a vegan and I'm done with meat. and all the other things I do.. The day after you will be at mc donald's Pace yourself.