Haha. Sorry, guys. Well. My name is Chelse and I'm 14 years old. I'm an african-american and a meat eater. In the back of my mind, I've always admired vegetarians. Yesterday, I attended a circus called 'The UniverSoul Circus';. From the minute the first animals performed (how sad), I wanted to leave. Throughout the night, I watched elephants dance in circles out of fear and be fed store bought marshmallows. The tigers were tired and several had thrown up in front of the audience. I found that to be very disturbing. It got me thinking of how so many animals are killed everyday for human entertainment, clothing and pleasure. This is going to be extremely hard, but I feel it's something I must do. I was going through other questions. Hate to say it, but some vegetarians are mean-spirited. Like they look down on others and are fighting to be the most ';meat educated';. This is what scares me the most. I don't really know what I'm doing or how to start. I just need help from experienced vegetarians and vegan. I have some questions that maybe you could answer or refer me to a website.
-What are the health risks of not eating meat, such as protein deprivation, for my age?
-How and why did you become a vegetarian?
-Are there guides to help me through this?
-What would you say is a good transition time?
-What should I eat, keeping in mind my age?
Any help whatsoever would be great! Also, does anybody want to maybe leave their e-mails and we can be ';no-meat'; buddies?
Chelse.
cool_bird25@sbcglobal.netCan anyone give a young teenagers advice on beginning her journey into vegetarianism?
Hi Chelse :D Congrats on wanting to go veg! I'm 15 and have been a vegan for a few months now, but before that I was a vegetarian for a year. Going veg was one of the best experiences I've ever had, and I hope it will be the same for you :) Alright well let's answer some of your questions!
1) What are the health risks of not eating meat?
Fortunately, there really aren't any. As long as you eat a balanced diet full of fruits, veggies and protein packed foods, you will be fine :) Meat is not necessary in our diets and we can live just fine without it. Us veg-heads get our protein elsewhere, like from tofu, nuts, beans, rice and milk and soy products. I have not talked to (online or in real life) or met any vegetarian or vegan who is or was ever protein deprived. The chances of having protein deprivation are slim, especially since the average American gets way too much protein anyways. With a vegetarian diet, you will get plenty from the foods I mentioned earlier :)
2) How and why did you become a vegetarian?
I became a vegetarian when I was 14 years old because I loved animals and didn't want to contribute to their suffering. I went vegetarian cold turkey; I basically did it overnight. It was not hard for me at all, and there are lots of meat replacers to help you through it :) For example they have veggie burgers, veggie hot dogs, chickenless-chicken nuggets, veggie corn dogs and tons of other stuff!
I decided to go vegan over the summer ('08) because I wanted to take it one step further. I felt that the dairy industry and egg industry were extremely harmful to animals and decided to stop eating eggs and dairy products. It was a tad bit more difficult then becoming a vegetarian, but I wouldn't say it was hard. It just takes motivation and you got to go your own pace and take it slow. So I definetly didn't go vegan over night, I spent about 2 months transitioning :P
3) Are there guides to help me through this?
Sure, there are plenty of websites that can help you out :) They talk about steps to become a vegetarian, what to eat when you are a vegetarian and how you are helping out your body, animals and the enviornment. Here are some helpful websites:
-www.goveg.com
-www.chooseveg.com
-www.tryveg.com
My personal favorite is 'chooseveg.com' :D
4) What would you say is a good transition time?
If we are discussing age, then I think any and every age is a wonderful time to switch to vegetarianism. As long as you feel supported, or feel mature enough, or even if you have a buddy doing it with you, you should make the transition go really well.
5) What should I eat, keeping in mind my age?
You can eat anything! Just without meat, of course :D For breakfast you can have bagels, toast, fruit salads, cereal, pancakes, waffles, veggie breakfast sausages, english muffins or oatmeal.
For lunch and dinner you can have sandwiches, salads, pizza, pasta, macaroni, veggie dogs, veggie burgers, meatless chilli (sp?), lasagna, soup and so much more.
Well I know I wrote a lot, so I hope some of it was useful :D And I would LOVE to be your 'no meat' buddy :) I emailed you so be sure to write back :D :D
-Mutt.Can anyone give a young teenagers advice on beginning her journey into vegetarianism?
Im 14 as well and an aspiring veggie-kinary :] Chelse Go to marscandykills.com thatll help Im sure :]
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The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has a Vegetarian Starter Kit which should answer most of your questions-
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/i鈥?/a>
And VegSource is a great site for information, advice, etc.-
http://www.vegsource.com/
VegWeb is the best recipe site-
http://www.vegweb.com/
And Vegetarian Teen is a fun, entertaining and informative site-
http://www.vegetarianteen.com/
Congratulations!
What, you're going to eat elephants and tigers????
Here's my advice on becoming a vegetarian: DON'T!!!
You'll be a far healthier, happier person if you enjoy regular meaty goodness.
well if i were you i would just eat meat... just not as much as normal, a burger ever now and then isn't gonna get tigers out of circuses... also people are gonna kill just as much animals regardess if you eat meat or not... you should really think things through before you make this decisions and don't listen to some of these other answers people gave you... also think about this.... cow droppings release a gas in the atmosphere which turns to carbon dioxide which is a problem... plants change carbon dioxide to oxygen.... so vegetarians are eating the solution and meat eaters are eating the problem.... just eat meat that was how this world was planned out. eat small amounts every now and then and you'll be fine and healthy :)
if you eat right, there are no risks. you can subtute beans spinach andy green vegatables nuts. a lot of things you wouldnt expect to have protien in them do. any tranition time s good, as loong as your willing to not eat meat, its up to you on how long it takes. you can fully just stop or you can do a gradual change like not eat chicken one week, then the next no beef, then the next no fish. and and you also have to watch out for soups, they contain chicken fat and beef fats sometimes. which is no vegetrian. look for soups that say vegetarian. they are actully very good. i became a vegetarian just because i didnt like the sight of meat. the first couple montha i just didnt eat beef, then i just said why not be a vegetarian. im practally there. so i was for like 4 or five months, and now i love it so much the fact that im saving animals and its good for my body, now i plan on becomming vegan. being a vegan can prevent cancer. and also i have lots of cancer that runs in my family. so it is very benifical for me. i hope ive helped you feel free to ask me anyother questions.
Hi Chelse. Congratulations on your moral decision. You are to be applauded...and at such a young age, I feel good that there's hope for the future after all! :) Anyway, It's important to recognize that vegetarians have unique dietary needs, and that simply avoiding meat does not guarantee that you're eating healthy. Quite the opposite, in fact. This is because you might assume that simply avoiding the ';bad stuff'; means that you're getting everything your body needs. That's often not the case. You might want to consider adding vitamins made just for vegetarians into your diet. Note, however, that NOT all vitamins and supplements are created equal. You definitely want to be looking for a vitamin formula that's been specially made for vegetarians, and I've seen a few good ones out there. The one I like is available at www.vegetarianvitaminsguide.com which also provides articles on dietary tips and and advice for vegetarians. For instance, whichever vitamin you choose, you should make sure you're getting the right form of Vitamin D! Many vitamin formulas are made with ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) which recent research shows is not as effective as cholecalciferol (vitamin D3). I know that the one I take contains vitamin D3 (cholecaliferol). Again congratulations, and good luck on your new life decision!
Hey i'm Jess, i'm 14 too and i've been vegetarian for about six months now. I'm not a mean-spirited vegetarian though haha! I think it's great when others become veggie too but i respect that everyone has their own opinions.
I became vegetarian because of a horrible video we got shown in biology. Ever since i haven't touched meat! I found it quite hard at first but after while you kind of just get used to it. It's quite easy to be vegetarian if you just replace the meat in your diet with meat alternatives such as quorn and tofu, but you need to watch out for hidden animal products like gelatin in some sweets.
If you go on http://www.vegsoc.org/ - the vegetarian society they have loads of information and help for going vegetarian and they also have recipes too.
A lot of people seem to worry about if they will get a deficiency of something when they go vegetarian but all of the vitamins and minerals you need can be obtained from a vegetarian diet. If your still worried you could take supplements.
Anyway you can email me on jezicarose27@yahoo.co.uk
Don't worry, we don't have to email you, we just click the button that says answer.
Anyways, vegetarians are generally healthier than meat-eaters. Whole grains,fruits,and veggies should be the base of your diet. Followed by beans,nuts,seeds,veggie burgers,dairy,and dairy alternatives(like soy milk and almond milk)
The only supplements I would take would be flaxseed oil.
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