Good way to start a vegetarian diet for a beginner, I’m only 14 years old.?

8 responses so far ↓

• 1 Lulu // Jul 10, 2009

  being a vegan is where you stop consuming dairy products. Vegetarian is where you still drink milk. When I became a vegetarian, I just gave up meat, I have never looked back, eat loads of fruits and veggies

• 2 Farrah // Jul 10, 2009

  i think when i became a vegetarian i first cut out steak, pork, chicken, etc. but still ate a little fish. Then i cut that out after a while and most of my dairy to and mainly ate and drank soy products. Remember though to have tons of protein in your diet like, power bars, beans, tofu, rice, and the morning star veggie products are amazing, be sure to try some of those! but to begin with i would just be a vegetarian and later on if you really want to you can be a vegan, but remember that doesn’t just mean cutting out milk, its also, cheese, eggs, yogurt, ice cream, and even honey. unless those products are soy of course

• 3 Kim N // Jul 10, 2009

  Get the Vegetarian Starter Kit from -
  Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
  http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/

  Vegetarian Nutrition for Teenagers
  http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/teennutrition.htm

  Get yourself a vegetarian cookbook. There are a few written just

  for teens like:
  The Teen’s Vegetarian Cookbook - Judy Krizmanic
  A Teen’s Guide to Going Vegetarian - Judy Krizmanic
  Student’s Vegetarian Cookbook - Carole Raymond
  Vegetables Rock!: A Complete Guide for Teenage Vegetarians -

  Stephanie Pierson
  The Starving Students’ Vegetarian Cookbook - Dede Hall
  The Vegetarian Kids’ Cookbook - Roz Denny
  Better Than Peanut Butter & Jelly - Marty Mattare & Wendy

  Muldawer

• 4 Stranger In Maryland™ -R.I.P. MJ // Jul 10, 2009

  After seeing a video on a vegetarian website on how they really treated the farm animals, I’m working on the same goal. (Seriously, one of the farmers had a pig dangling upside down on a rope, and he stuck a knife in it. Blood spilled everywhere. It sickened me)

  I’ve been gradually reducing the amount of meat and dairy products I consume. Every time I go to the grocery store with a relative, I try new fruits, vegetables, salads, etc., and ways they can be made into meals. Don’t immediately take meat out of your food; Do it slowly so that your body can become used to the change of diet. It works well for controlling yourself, also.

  -Slowly take meat out of your diet
  -Keep your mind focused and determined to reach your goal
  -Try to prevent being around meat as often as possible. It will be very tempting to you if you are struggling with your new diet.
  -Have your relatives help and encourage you. Mine have helped me, even though they sometimes eat meat around me.

  I know I didn’t help much; sorry. I’m new to this, too.

  Good luck!

• 5 mel_strum@yahoo.com // Jul 10, 2009

  Before you make such a drastic change, think. Yes, that video was one hundred percent real, but from which meat producer(s) was the footage? Even if the footage was from ten different meat producers, there are way more than ten in the whole United States, and of course, the world. Research the video, find out which meat farms were in the video, and don’t buy meat from them. Otherwise, you’re making a naive decision.

  If you just don’t like how meat gets from the farm to your plate, or don’t like eating animals, that’s reasonable.

• 6 HeartBeat. // Jul 10, 2009

  I’m 14 & I became a vegetarian at 13. Basically, I just cut down on eating meat little by little; gradually. I never liked pork or beef as a child so that was pretty easy. Never automatically wake up one morning & decide to be a vegetarian. That’s not the smart way to do it. I gave up chicken first & the next week I gave up fish. I believed that vegetarians eat fish but turns out I was wrong so I gave it up. This kind of thing takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight. By ‘controlling’ your craving, try meat substitutions like:

  Morning Star
  Boca
  Quorn imitation poultry
  Lightlife Gimme Lean Vegetarian Ground Sausage.
  Fillo Factory hors d’euvres (appetizers]

  They’ll fix your craving. Plus foods like Tofu can really fill you up so you won’t cave into eating meat. You’ll learn self-control while being a vegetarian if you always liked meat. Also, you have to watch out for some foods when becoming a vegetarian/vegan. Many candies & foods contain animal products. Here’s a list of some candies that don’t contain gelatin, etc. & some tofu recipes.

  http://www.petakids.com/candy.html
  http://www.fatfree.com/recipes/tofu/

  Don’t listen to anyone who says you shouldn’t become a veggie. It’s your decision, not theirs. It’s very healthy, you’ll feel so much healthier, & you’re reducing your risk for many illnesses you get from eating meat. Plus after you watch videos about how those animals are treated in slaughterhouses, how could anybody eat it?

• 7 Horse_victory // Jul 10, 2009

  well vegitarians eat eggs and drink milk. what i did was i started to eat a lot of my fav nuts. Here is good tip Imagine that meat as if it where a live animal starting at u.

• 8 Miley // Jul 10, 2009

  Get this Vegetarian Starter Kit. I gave up meat for lent this yaer and never went back to eating it -
  Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
  http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/

You must log in to post a comment.