[saree]

hi hi!
okay. i am a healthy 14 year old meat loving girl.
so i have two vegetarian friends that i just met this school year.
one of them has been a vegetarian for 1 month now and the other has been one
since 3rd grade! amazing isnt it?
so i was watching clips with my friend about how they kill animals for meat and fur!
it was really sad.
so i decided to become a vegetarian too!
since yesterday.
but im trying. but the thing is, i dont really eat vegetables so
thats the bad thing.
so i think that if i told my mom, she would still force me to eat meat :[
okay so for all you other vegetarions on soompi, hopefully a few,
does your parents support your vegetarianism
or no? can you get protien from other foods?
**btw. sorry if this has been posted before.

[xosjd]

HIII!! ^^

wow, since 3rd grade? That's pretty long! I have a couple of friends who are like that too LOL:)
I am also a macrobiotic vegetarian. I'm soon going to be a FULL vegetarian.
Because macrobiotic means you consume fish too, but I consume VERY little ^^
My dad and mom knows i'm vegetarian and my family kinda likes that i am one but they worry that i might pass out or not be very healthy since i don't eat meat i argue back with them saying i don't like it ^^ I don't know where i get my proteins from though..LOL I think eggs is a source but that's about it!
CONGRATZ! Continue to be vegetarian! LOL!

[Balloon]

I'm not a vegetarian (I honestly think that eating meat is fine & those animals were raised to be killed anyways, even if the way that they're treated is horrible :<), but if I was serious about it, my mom would support me 100% and try to make food that I'm willing to eat. She's chill like that :) As long as I'm staying healthy - and being a vegetarian is REALLY healthy.

Protein is available from fish - but unless you're not going to eat any byproducts from animals and anything that has a face, you probably won't like to eat fish.. (I honestly think they're the stupidest animals on the planet [not whales or dolphins, just normal fish. like tuna.]).
If you feel that you're not getting enough protein, ask your doctor for a dietary supplement or some vitamins (they work wonders!).

Fruits, salads, carbs, etc. I'd start eating more salads and fruits, and get a good taste for vegetables. You don't need to eat them raw - steamed or boiled vegetables are awesome too :]

[obezag8]

I've been a vegetarian for about 15 years and the most important thing to do is take vitamins- especially if you are female. Find a good multi or B12 vitamin and you will be good to go.

[makesnap]

i've only been a vegetarian for 2 years, and honestly it's not that hard, just stick with it, and after a while you don't even think about it. i was actually a lot like you, i never ate vegetables, i like them, but my parents never really ate veggies or salads so i mostly ate junk food. which i guess is worse for you then eating meat is, but i didn't become vegetarian for health reasons so i was fine with it.
and to be honest, people dont' need as much protein as eating meat provides. eat some nuts or something that has protein and you'll be all set. my dad was okay with me being vegetarian, i think it was because he didn't think that i would last that long. my mom on the other hand was kinda annoyed. she has this whole conspiracy theory that the peta group is run by the kkk, i have no idea where she got that from, but she thinks i've been manipulated. other than that, she's fine. like if she's making kalbi for dinner, she'll make me some kind of soup or make sure there's some meatless banchan out.
anyway, good luck with it!

[lilangelstar]

I don't think my mom will support me being a vegetarian..I'm skinny enough as it is..But I think that you should have a little meat to balance nutrition. My aunt is a semi-vegetarian. She eats lots of vegertables and fruits..And of coruse vitamins are good too.

[butterflyeffect]

i've been a vegetarian for three months now.. and it's really not that bad
my mom actually wanted me to not eat meat because she thought i ate too much of it. lol and i don't give a flying john tesh what my stepdad says so it's all good. you can get protein from various sources like nuts, tofu, eggs and such. ^^

[Malice_Kaiser]

I've been a vegetarian since fourth grade, so for about 8 years now.
Honestly I think it's the best descision I've made (it was for moral reasons).

At first my mum really didn't support it, she thought I was too young. But now it's all good. We've got two vegetarians in the family so most meals are really vegetarian-friendly. It's a really healthy habit.

Acquiring a taste for vegetables really isn't that bad. Try preparing them in different ways. Back when I started out there were only a few veggies I really liked, but since then I've grown to love sooo many more.

If you want you can buy soy meat subsitutes. I reccomend the brand Morning Star, though be warned that fake hamburgers are generally really gross. Everything else (especially spicy "chicken" patties") are sooo good. But yeah, that'll help provide you with a source of protein too.

Most Americans have a horrifically skewed view of how much meat one needs to consume. I mean, the people on earth who are living longest are in Asia and are eating rice, veggies, and seafood. Hardly any red meat, which can be VERY unhealthy.
Meat isn't always bad for your health, don't get me wrong. I'm just saying... don't let anyone tell you becoming a vegetarian is an unhealthy descision.


Congrats on your descision and good luck! It takes a bit of will-power in the beginning, but I promise that all that stuff you'll be missing and craving at first... you'll quickly get over it. ^___^

[sixth.]

i turned vegetarian earlier this year and recently went completely vegan.
at first it takes a lot of determination, cos it's so easy to be tempted (my friends weren't much help for me )
i used to HATE vegies, i never ate them. or fruits.
you can definitely get enough nutrients, as long as you're careful with what you eat.
and it depends what sort of vegetarian you become.
some still eat seafood and some eat dairy + eggs.
substitutes will help a lot with your nutrition needs, too

my mum wasn't too happy with me becoming vegetarian but i'm old enough to make my own decisions and i prepare my own meals, so there's nothing she can do about it anymore.

[dazzleanddestroy]

i agree with the supports here, as what Malice_Kaiser said, don't let anyone tell you becoming a vegetarian is an unhealthy descision.

many meat lovers always get the wrong impression of vegetarians.
MANY vegetarians and vegans have heard this statement OVER AND OVER; "if you don't eat meat(etc), where do you get your protein?", "you know you're not getting enough protein!" or from others who tried it, "i felt weak" "got sick" "felt more tired"

first off, you don't need so much protein intake(all depends on your weight, research "calculating protein requirements") , in my opinion, meat isn't a great source of protein.
secondly, you can get your protein in these form, which is a great source!
-tofu
-nuts/seeds
-grains/whole grains
-beans
-vegetables(yes, there's protein in some vegetables)
-fruits
-tempeh
-soy products
-meat analogue/meat substitute/mock meat/fake meat/etc

people who felt weak trying a vegetarian lifestyle may be because you weren't eating healthy and getting enough nutritions. please do ton of research before starting anything!
to avoid living an unhealthy vegetarian lifestyle, be sure to consume a variety of whole foods, such as what i listed above.

vegetarian starters do have a tough time at first, but i assure you that you'll adapt to it soon! it didn't take me that long at all, you just need to know what to eat and how much. and even though you don't eat vegetables, you'll learn to love them soon! just go slowly. if you have the willpower, i'm sure you'll be fine! honestly, becoming a vegetarian isn't that hard. my friends who were meat lovers stopped eating meat slowly because of the foods i make. XD they started not liking meat and just simply became vegetarian without knowing it.

as for your parents, tell them you're serious about this, and that you've done research on how to get all the nutritions you need.

good luck!
you'll find sooo many delicious dishes you can make~ XD
if you need any recipes, feel free to pm me and i'll give you a few sites i love to check out.

[saysjessi]

i used to be a yo-yo vegetarian...after my grandma died, nobody in the family ate meat for religious reasons, but then after the mourning period was over i went back to eating meat for a few years. then my aunt passed away and i sort of was thrown back into vegetarianism because [a] another mourning period of no meat, [b] meat stopped tasting good to me anyway, and [c] my mom didn't cook meat anymore hahaha.

spinach is good for iron, and soy/legumes are good for protein.

the truth is, sometimes i feel like "oh, some chicken with this dish will go nicely" but then i feel so terrible for the animals that i can't bring myself to order it. i think it's hard if you weren't vegetarian all your life, because you KNOW what meat tastes like, so you'll miss it sometimes.

[esc11]

I was yoyo veggie for four years. The first time I tried, I lasted two weeks because I wasn't eating any protein (smart, I know).

but now, I've been a lacto-vegetarian for almost two years. (I eat dairy products.)

If you're trouble with the diet, then I'd recommend phasing out meat becasue it might be too much of a shock for youtocut it all out at once, , (you're probably gonna have crazy cravings and it'd be hard to be around meat-eaters, and it'll give you time to try out meat alternatives.

vitamins are a must: a multivitamin, calcium, and especially iron supplements.

if you don't want your parents to worry, let them see you eating dinner, breakfast, whatever.. or, get your mom to prepare your meals or something.

good luck with it!

---edit---
ps. there are tons of awesome vegetarian recipes on the web, just google!

[MangoStar]

Ever since I came back from my summer college program, I told my mother that I wanted to slowly progress into being a pescatarian (one step short from being full vegatarian). Pescatarian is where one mainly eats fish and vegetables. Oddly, my mother is totally supportive. Which I thought she wouldn't be.

[--=WinGz=--]

hehe i've been a vegetarian since i can remember lol
i think it's already 14/15 years or something ^^
My mom supports me of course because she's also vegetarian ^^
actually she got started with being vegetarian and then me and my sis and later my dad too ^^ kekek~

Don't listen to the people saying it's not healthy and that kind of bull
if it was really that bad, then i would have been very ill now lol =w=
but instead i'm very healthy and i've never been very sick before ^^

And don't think you can only eat vegetables and tofu when u're vegetarian =w=
my mom makes very delicious food with like wheatgluten (or whatever it's called hahah) XD
my mom makes vegetarian meat and stuff and my dad makes vegetarian dim sum too ^^
and another thing called 腐皮 it's made from beans? very delicious too ^^

anyway, my point is, being a vegetarian is not as bad as people think ^^ lol
Good luck~
<3