# I'm Thinking of Becoming Vegetarian or Pescatarian



## mf2014 (Jul 4, 2013)

does anyone have any good recipes or advice as to which path I should choose. (I have no allergies)

:happy:


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## will-o'-wisp (Feb 11, 2013)

* *


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## rosegeranium (Apr 1, 2013)

Start Pescatarian, go Veg later if you feel ok with it. One good vegetarian recipe that is very simple...Just mash up firm tofu with vegetables and seasonings, then fry up in a pan as if you were making scrambled eggs. You can put it on toast or just eat it plain.
Or make vegetable sushi!


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## Zombie Devil Duckie (Apr 11, 2012)

Never even heard of Pescatarian before this thread... had to go look it up, lol.

Interesting. I could probably do that before giving up on all meat. I really love my animal flesh though. Especially BBQ'd.

Good luck on your dietary journey. Any particular reason you want to abandon bacon?

Just curious is all.


-ZDD


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## bologna (Jul 2, 2013)

Seafood is tasty and healthy. I rarely eat other meat. I serve up some fish and shrimp in stir fry and tacos.

Recipes for those? Well, there's no wrong way to fix stir fry or tacos.


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## rosegeranium (Apr 1, 2013)

I just had a grilled cheese sandwich with green onions, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, avocado and garlic bar-b-que sauce, fried in olive oil! It was good and took no time at all. But you could add fish to it, or tofu!

Iceberg rolls. Stirfry vegetables and/or fish sliced up thinly and let cool a little bit, then put in iceberg lettuce leaves and eat like a taco. You could probably buy frozen chopped veggies and cube up some tofu or fish, then stirfry with sesame oil and stirfry sauce.

You could make dip by putting tofu, avocado, garlic, shredded cheese and your choice of seasoning(curry, french onion, taco) in a blender and processing til smooth. Then eat with chips or on toast!


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## 59465 (May 31, 2013)

If you go Veggie, dont forget Vitamin B12. :happy:


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## Philosophaser Song Boy (Jan 16, 2011)

tobbe628 said:


> If you go Veggie, dont forget Vitamin B12. :happy:


AND your iron! :happy: 

You may have to double or triple your intake through veggies if you give up meat, since iron from non-meat sources (non-heme iron) is adsorbed less effectively than iron from meats (heme iron).


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## Lacrimosa (Jan 5, 2013)

Yes, be sure to stock up on vitamin essentials, especially B12 and Iron. Those are vitamins you lack once you become vegetarian or pescatarian. Try going for pescatarian first, since you're not giving up on meat cold turkey and still have some essential vitamins intact when you eat fish.

There's some good frozen vegetarian food such as Black bean burgers or spicy (fake) buffalo wings. There's also good oriental vegetarian alternatives such as vegan miso soup. Oh, and quinoa is wonderful too, it has vitamin B12 i and iron n it and it tastes really good when made into a patty. Herbs and spices can flavor up your food as well so it won't taste bland.


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## WhiteTulips (Sep 28, 2012)

B12 is in milk, so that's a vegan problem. But yes, watch your iron. If you are eating a wide range of veggies it shouldn't be hard.

what I recomend to new vegetarians are pasta dishes, stir fries and burritos. Easy/quick to make, healthy as you want it to be, and endlessly customizable. Good luck!


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## William I am (May 20, 2011)

mf2014 said:


> does anyone have any good recipes or advice as to which path I should choose. (I have no allergies)
> 
> :happy:


There are tons of free recipes online - allrecipes.com is nice because you can exclude ingredients. They might even have a vege option.
I'm pescaterian, and it's great. I don't eat fish often, but I do love me some sushi. The only benefit of pesce over vege is that since you're still eating meat, you don't have difficulty digesting meat if you transition back to a mainstream diet or if you have only the options of going hungry or eating meat. Don't let anybody tell you that you need x amount of protein a day because they're all talking out of their butts or that you can't get enough iron eating non-heme iron. The human body adapts to extract more iron when it needs more. A multivitamin daily wouldn't hurt to make sure you get what you need either. (The adaptation is an increase in the Iron absorption factor). Raw broccoli and cooked spinach are excellent sources of iron, and so is cooking with a cast iron skillet. I got into this in detail when I was anemic last year (probably due to ulcers I didn't know I had and made worse by low testosterone).

My one huge piece of advice is - if you're giving up meat, give up meat entirely. Don't keep cooking substitutes as though they are meat because they aren't, and you'll be disappointed and frustrated.

Asian dishes are excellent because they often don't include meats in the first place. Thai food in particular is AWESOME.
For dinner tonight, I had yellow curry that I made from a store-bought paste with coconut milk, lemon juice, sugar, and I ate it with brown rice, tofu, broccoli (that I grew myself!), cabbage, some onion (I also grew!), zucchini, and carrots (grew some of those too). It was delicious.


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## aflowerchild (Jun 25, 2013)

I've been a vegetarian for a few months now, but I'd been a pescetarian for almost three years prior to that. I would suggest doing something similar to what I did. It's much more difficult to give up all meat at once than it is to give up a little bit at a time. I tried going full on vegetarian awhile back before I became a pescetarian, and I didn't last a week! Maybe start off as a semi-vegetarian then become a pescetarian, and once you're comfortable with that, try becoming a vegetarian. Best of luck!


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## Philosophaser Song Boy (Jan 16, 2011)

foodgawker.com and then let your creativity alter the recipes at it's leisure.


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## mf2014 (Jul 4, 2013)

Thanks guys! Pescatarian! I've decided :laughing:


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## Devrim (Jan 26, 2013)

Pescatarian and then move on to being vegetarian.
It gives you the lee way of being able to consume meat,
Once you've come to see you don't want meat,
Then move on to becoming a full out vegetarian.

Good Luck!


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## Cantarella (Sep 3, 2010)

rosegeranium said:


> I just had a grilled cheese sandwich with green onions, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, avocado and garlic bar-b-que sauce, fried in olive oil! It was good and took no time at all. But you could add fish to it, or tofu!
> 
> Iceberg rolls. Stirfry vegetables and/or fish sliced up thinly and let cool a little bit, then put in iceberg lettuce leaves and eat like a taco. You could probably buy frozen chopped veggies and cube up some tofu or fish, then stirfry with sesame oil and stirfry sauce.
> 
> You could make dip by putting tofu, avocado, garlic, shredded cheese and your choice of seasoning(curry, french onion, taco) in a blender and processing til smooth. Then eat with chips or on toast!


Please get over here and make me a sandwich... lol. Hold the BBQ but I have sriracha.


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## Cantarella (Sep 3, 2010)

I am a big fan of avocado sandwiches. Use any spread you like and add vegetables. You can also make pasta with pesto, olive oil and a little cheese, throw in some other grape tomatoes and cooked shrimp. Of course you don't NEED the shrimp but I bet it'd be awesome. I'm thinking of trying that out tonight. Throw in some fresh basil once it's done and cooled off a bit to make it fancy and more nutritious.

What The Fuck Should I Make For Dinner? <-- This site is useful and hilarious.

I used to be pescatarian and it's easier than you'd think. I rocked it for three years. I started eating a hell of a lot more veggies during that time. A bonus is that the vegetarian options at restaurants are cheaper and usually taste just as good. The seafood options are more expensive, just don't order seafood when you go out unless it's reasonable.


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## EmileeArsenic (Jun 8, 2012)

I watched a string of documentaries while making my choice. Forks Over Knives and Frankensteer gave me all the information I needed to fully commit. They really changed my life, and after watching them, I never have the desire to eat meat again - and best of all, they did it without showing animals being killed, so no emotional pandering or vegan propaganda - just stuff about cancer and heart disease rates, studies about how they relate to meat consumption and information about how conventional farm animals are kept, fed and medicated and how easy it would be to accidentally cross-contaminate animal feed and feed cattle to cattle, pigs to pigs etc.


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## William I am (May 20, 2011)

EmileeArsenic said:


> I watched a string of documentaries while making my choice. Forks Over Knives and Frankensteer gave me all the information I needed to fully commit. They really changed my life, and after watching them, I never have the desire to eat meat again - and best of all, they did it without showing animals being killed, so no emotional pandering or vegan propaganda - just stuff about cancer and heart disease rates, studies about how they relate to meat consumption and information about how conventional farm animals are kept, fed and medicated and how easy it would be to accidentally cross-contaminate animal feed and feed cattle to cattle, pigs to pigs etc.


Feeding cattle to cattle is what scientists think caused mad cow (creutzfeldt-jakob) disease.


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## ParetoCaretheStare (Jan 18, 2012)

I'm a lacto-ovo-pescaterian. Red meat makes me want to bury myself in pepto bismol.


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## EmileeArsenic (Jun 8, 2012)

William I am said:


> Feeding cattle to cattle is what scientists think caused mad cow (creutzfeldt-jakob) disease.


Whether it did or not - I believe it did. Cannibalism in cattle isn't exactly part of their natural diet, and even if it didn't, prions are pretty terrifying, and the fact that they're able to jump species (and almost nothing kills them, not chemicals, nor irradiation, nor cooking) is enough right there to put me off beef, and since they're feeding beef to all the other food animals, it's enough to put me off all meat, entirely - I know my skin's gotten clearer and brighter, hair's gotten shinier, and my migraines which used to get me hospitalized and sometimes sedated for fear of me going into shock or having a stroke are gone. In the eight months I've gone since stopping eating meat, I've had one migraine (and that was two months in, and I believe residual from the two decades of meat consumption I'd done. I believe I'll still have one every so often as things leave my system, and then they may largely, if not completely be gone), down from one a month to sometimes once a week. That, right there, is enough for me - never mind how filthy slaughterhouses are known to be and how pitifully lax North American standards are because this is 'Merika, and money is what gets decisions made in the good ol' U.S of A., and when the beef and other animal meat industries carry as many subsidies as they do, they have the money, and I have no faith in them to do what is best for the people if it's also not what's best for their bottom line.


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## Philosophaser Song Boy (Jan 16, 2011)

EmileeArsenic said:


> I believe residual from the two decades of meat consumption I'd done. I believe I'll still have one every so often as things leave my system, and then they may largely, if not completely be gone), down from one a month to sometimes once a week. That, right there, is enough for me - never mind how filthy slaughterhouses are known to be and how pitifully lax North American standards are because this is 'Merika, and money is what gets decisions made in the good ol' U.S of A.,


If you have a healthy liver, all food and nutrients should be through your body within a day or so.

As a Food Scientist who has taken a class in meat processing, requiring me to not only kill animals but to learn the legal requirements and functionality behind those procedures as well as marketing, I would say that this is my biggest pet peeve from vegetarians. Even the most progressive and budgeted documentaries cannot make any significant claim about the majority of processing plants. FSIS would have a plant shut down the instant they found something remotely illegal and inhumane, and they don't just mosey around to random sites every year or so. These documentaries you see are sensationalized, so that they can get their decisions made and make money. The plants they depict are probably ones that are well on their way to being shut down, if not already.

On a side note, processed cheese is actually real cheese. 

Oh, and vegetarian rennet (used in "mindful" cheese manufacturing) is a GMO.


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## EmileeArsenic (Jun 8, 2012)

Philosophaser Song Boy said:


> If you have a healthy liver, all food and nutrients should be through your body within a day or so.
> 
> As a Food Scientist who has taken a class in meat processing, requiring me to not only kill animals but to learn the legal requirements and functionality behind those procedures as well as marketing, I would say that this is my biggest pet peeve from vegetarians. Even the most progressive and budgeted documentaries cannot make any significant claim about the majority of processing plants. FSIS would have a plant shut down the instant they found something remotely illegal and inhumane, and they don't just mosey around to random sites every year or so. These documentaries you see are sensationalized, so that they can get their decisions made and make money. The plants they depict are probably ones that are well on their way to being shut down, if not already.
> 
> ...


Sorry to have sparked your pet peeve! 

My decision is well past made, however, because in the last six months, I've had zero migraines, and as said, it's down from one to four+ a month. Perhaps that last one wasn't residual - I'll never know for certain, but they haven't happened again and all I changed was removing meat (and cheese because what's the point of taking meat out of your diet if rennet is still in it? If something has to die to make it, I don't eat it, and I'm working on going vegan because milk leaves an awful coating in my mouth anyway and I've never been fond of it). My cholesterol's dropped significantly and a ton of my other health problems just pretty much evaporated. My grandmother's experiencing similar results as we speak, and her doctors were pretty much telling her to get used to taking prednisone and get her affairs in order and prepare for death. Her doctor's taken her off of eight of the 14 medications she was on and her horrific medical conditions are clearing up, and lowered her doses of those. He said she'll be off all of them soon if her tests keep improving like they are. 

And my migraines weren't something which could be dealt with by an OTC medicine, either. Excedrine Migraine wouldn't even make a dent in the pain. They'd have me on the floor shaking from the pain, and praying not to vomit again because the effort of the exertion just made my head hurt more, unable to speak and often partially or completely blind, incoherent and unable to recall words. Loss of feeling in my face and sometimes half or most of my body wasn't uncommon. There were multiple times when I honestly thought that that was it and I wasn't going to make it through this one - not being dramatic at all. I didn't say anything (mostly because I couldn't), but there were multiple times when I went to sleep during one, and I was sure that it was going to be for the last time and that I wasn't going to be waking up. At one point a paramedic asked me for my address and phone number and I couldn't remember either, so I pushed my wallet towards her and she had to take my info from my I.D. They were in the "extreme" category, and I had prescriptions for some pretty heavy pain killers because of them. I still keep them around just in case, but they've sat in my medicine cabinet, purse and locker at work untouched for six months. I can't even put into words how amazing just that one simple thing is to me.

I didn't say they were illegal or inhumane anywhere in there, nor was it implied. The practices I disapprove of are perfectly legal in the U.S, but that doesn't mean it's something I want to support nor does it mean that the product of the practices I disapprove of is something I want in my body. Filthy, yes, I said that. You and I would probably have different opinions of the application of and requirements for labeling something "filthy," but all of what I've seen and heard from family members who've worked for meat processing plants just turns my stomach to think about. Even on a cold day in Hell I wouldn't put meat in my mouth again simply because of the benefits I've noticed in my own body after not having eaten it. Call it placebo if you like, but I've never seen a placebo for a pill or anything else that has had as dramatic results as I've had or those which I'm currently watching happen in my grandmother. That's enough to sell me for the long haul.

Also... it cut my food expenses in a year almost in half...


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## Philosophaser Song Boy (Jan 16, 2011)

EmileeArsenic said:


> Sorry to have sparked your pet peeve!
> 
> Also... it cut my food expenses in a year almost in half...


Yeah, it's all good! I just jumped on a local CSA and it is SOOOO inexpensive for so much local produce!


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## Dauntless (Nov 3, 2010)

rosegeranium said:


> I just had a grilled chees:laughing:e sandwich with green onions, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, avocado and garlic bar-b-que sauce, fried in olive oil! It was good and took no time at all. But you could add fish to it, or tofu!
> 
> Iceberg rolls. Stirfry vegetables and/or fish sliced up thinly and let cool a little bit, then put in iceberg lettuce leaves and eat like a taco. You could probably buy frozen chopped veggies and cube up some tofu or fish, then stirfry with sesame oil and stirfry sauce.
> 
> You could make dip by putting tofu, avocado, garlic, shredded cheese and your choice of seasoning(curry, french onion, taco) in a blender and processing til smooth. Then eat with chips or on toast!


I WANT *ALL *OF THIS, YOU MUST COME AND MAKE IT FOR ME. RIGHT NOW....nom nom nom 

:laughing:


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