All Vegi

I am wondering how many people on here are vegitarians and what people think about going all vegi. I know I need more iron as it is now, but I don't really like meat to start with so it would't be a big change. What do you eat for protein besides peanut butter and beans? Would love some advice and opinions. Thanks!

[Grog]

I'm not a full vegetarian. For one thing, I LOVE red meat (rare or blue, please), but I really don't mind chicken, turkey, pork, etc. And I only like high-quality (read: expensive) red meat.

So, I eat vegetarian on most meals, and have one really nice meat meal every week.

I happen to be spared from cooking right now (I live in a university college and we have a chef!!!) but most of my protein comes from tofu and other soy-based products, lentils, nuts (including peanut butter and other nut butters when available), dairy products, and eggs. I sometimes have fish. I do quite a bit of sports and I need lots of protein. Iron is more of a challenge, but it's not a big problem because due to unlucky genetics I have very high iron. One way to make sure it doesn't leave me with liver damage is to exercise it off. This web site should be of some use though: http://www.mcgill.ca/studenthealth/info ... egetarian/

[Grog]

There are also green vegetables that are surprisingly high in protein -- broccoli has more of its calories from protein than does steak!

Broccoli is the perfect food, it's also full of calcium!

I am a full vegetarian, I maybe eat fish 4 times a year but that's basically it. I never ate much meat to begin with, so it was easy for me to become vegetarian. I can't remember exactly how I phased into it, but I stopped eating meat altogether in 2003. I haven't experienced any problems with it. I don't feel tired and although I probably am not getting enough of certain nutrients, I haven't seen evidence of this in my physical functioning. I don't necessarily think being vegetarian is necessarily healthier though. I eat a lot of fats--and I'm trying to cut down. Such as: healthy salads with ranch dressing; lots of sour cream in veggie chilis, cheese on a lot of things, etc. I do admit that I find cooking vegetarian a bit boring compared to when I used to eat meat. Now I find myself making a lot of pasta and I get tired of that.