Veg*n Today's the Day

If anyone could suggest anything I can buy at the store I'm going shopping tomorrow. Maybe like a veggie shopping list. I think I'm going to get some Boca burgers and/or Morning Star products. Some fresh veggies and some silk milk (even thoug I'm not shooting for vegan yet, I might as well see if I can cut that out too.) Any other suggestions are welcome.

Woohoo!! Congratulations! Wow - I am so impressed and happy that I feel almost giddy! You have now joined "The Dark Side" (at least, according to my husband.)

I'm sure there will be moments that are hard. I'm sure there will be moments when you wish you had never heard of the idea of vegetarianism and that you were still ignorant about the cruelty to animals. I'm sure there will be times when you have to wrestle with yourself over what you know is right versus what you know is easy.

But you will survive - you will do well. And you WILL save lives. And you will feel good about youself physically and morally.

As far as what to buy at the store, I'd start out with easy stuff. Pasta is always good; you can have veggie sauce and your husband can add meat if he wants. The meat substitutes are good, if you can stand them (I can't, personally).

Get ready - you're in for a hell of an adventure.

Whoohooo! Congrats! I do find it hard. If you mess up, just forget it and keep on going.

One interesting thing I've found is, definitely talk about it, don't be afraid to tell people you are a vegetarian at various functions. You might be surprised to learn of others that are vegetarians that you wouldn't suspect! You might become the catalyst for someone else. The more veggies in the world, the easier it gets. Supply and demand. Remind your husband that's what it's about.

Congrats again.

I went cold turkey at 13 and never went back. It was hard then because veggie substitute products were not main stream. You will do great-I do not doubt it. The longer you go without eating meat, the easier it becomes. It actually becomes quite repulsive because you uncondition yourself to see it as food. Now all I see it as is muscle, tendons and bone. Not very yummy. I like Morning star a million times better then the boca burgers. The spicy black bean burgers are very good cut up and placed in a tortilla with rice/sour cream/ cheese or with lettuce/tomato/guacamole.....pasta is a good one because you can cook it for two or more and just make sauces seperate-one with meat or without. I eat alot of sides too. Big baked potatoes with cooked brocolli and fat free chedder cheese melted on top. There are alot of good vegatarian cook books too. Walden's book store and Barnes and Nobles always have them on sale. I even purchased one at Marshalls before. Good luck and keep in mind that you have us supporting you!!! Three cheers for your supportive husband too.

Thanks everyone. I'm going shopping in a bit and I think I'm going to buy a cookbook. My husband will love it because I never cook. The hardest part for me is fast food. I'm a college student and it's a staple in my diet. Most of the salads even come with meat. Burger Kind does have a veggie burger, but I've never tried it. There's always Subway, I love their veggie subs.

Burger King makes the best veggie burgers IMHO! It tastes just right, what with the lettuce, ketchup, mayo and cheese. Yum!

Now I want one! And the nearest Burger King is very far from here.

I worked at Burger King for almost three years, so I don't eat there often anymore. Everything tastes like grease to me there.

Well my first full day as a vegetarian went very smoothly. I had a veggie sub at subway for dinner. I went to the store and bought a whole bunch of Morning Star and Boca products to see if I like any of them. I also bought a brick of firm tofu and some soy lunch meat. I couldn't find a Vegetarian cook book at the store, and we don't have a book store in town, so I think I'm going to order one online.

Have you tried either veggie burger brands yet?

No we just got home from the store and I put them in the freezer. Since we went shopping we ate out, as we tend to do. I'll probably try them sometime next week since I'll be on the run the rest of the weekend rescuing pigs.

Congrats, PiggieMom! I'm am also a new vegetarian. I am working on my 3rd week right now. This forum is also what made me decide to take the plunge. I've considered it since my teen years, but reading people's posts on here and especially seeing the videos mentioned...the Meet Your Meat one especially....something just "clicked" for me and I went cold turkey. After seeing the videos, I just couldn't eat meat anymore. It wasn't planned or anything...I just couldn't do it.

I won't lie...there have been times where I have been so tempted these past few weeks, but I have just gotten back on this forum for motivation. Just reading other peoples' posts and watching videos has REALLY helped me stick to this when the going gets tough...so that's the best advice I can give you...just keep coming back here.

As for foods...I've pretty much been eating a lot of beans, cheese, and pasta. I just wanted to keep it easy while I get used to this. Since you're a college student, you probably don't cook much...bean burritos are very easy. You can get salads without the chicken at fast food restaurants, and if they won't take the chicken off, you can do it. Jack in the Box has an awesome new salad...the Alcapulco salad. Yum! Oh, and cheese pizza and nachos are always good. Granted, none of these are healthy and you shouldn't stick to this type of food for the long run, but if it helps you to get started, I think it's worth it.

Good luck!!!

Yeah, definately diversify what you are eating or you will gain weight. You will need to increase your veggie intake to balance everything out. A lot of new vegatarians live on bread and carbs and then get frustrated when they gain weight.

If places refuse to take the meat off of anything, then I refuse to buy it. Even if I don't eat it I am still supporting the meat industry with my money, and that is all that really matters to them anyway.

Sounds like youre off to a great start! And I just have to say I think veggie "ham" lunch meat tastes exactly like vomit. It is HORRIBLE! But the "turkey" is good.

Well I'm super glad I bought the turkery! I'm trying to make myself eat a salad with fat free dressing for at least one of my meals a day. One of my other meals always has to be shredded wheat cereal because I have irritable bowel syndrom and if I don't my digestive tract gets all messed up. I am trying to cook more anyway. I'm wasting my money on fast food. So I'm hoping this will help encourage me to quit eating out as much.

I think the low fat dressings are so much better then the fat free. I ate the fat free for years and I just cannot do it anymore. I just use less of the low fat on my salads.

Congrats! I am glad you have, as Susans husband said, come to the dark side!!

You can get salads without the chicken at fast food restaurants, and if they won't take the chicken off, you can do it.

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This still will support the meat industry. I wouldn't even be able to eat the salad if I took the chicken off. It disgusts me to even look at meat, touching it yuck.

Congrats! I'm so glad that you've decided to do this. I would agree with you that stopping cold tofurkey(yes, tofurkey.) is the way to go. I've been vegetarian since I was 10, I went veg cold tofurkey. If you go slowly, it's easier to make exceptions, and eat more meat than you are supposed to, which makes it harder to actually be vegetarian.

I have never heard of shreaded wheat helping IBS so much. Is it the cereal kind? Like mini wheats? Do you have milk with it, and if so does that not cancel out the wheat's helpful properties?

Going veg had helped my IBS a ton. It has gone from severe (daily problems) to moderate (still and issue but not all the time).

Cutting down on fast food helps too. All that grease! It makes my gut hurt just thinking about it!

The high fiber in the shredded wheat (mini wheats, any kind of wheat cereal) helps keep my regular. As long as I used a little bit of skim milk I find it helps me a lot.

Yeah cutting down on fast food will help a lot with the IBS. Gah. I went to Burger King today and had a BK Veggie. It was pretty good. They've changed the brand since I worked there. It's a lot bigger now and has mushrooms in it. Before it was just a soy patty with carrots in it. I almost got my husband to take a bite!

*Shudders* skim milk! I'll take flavoured soy anyday. My family still to this day drinks homogenous, so any milk I drink has to be nice and thick.

I know fiber is good, just didn't think normal breakfast cereal would cut it.

I guess I'm picking up some mini-wheats today. I'm shifting gears at work and I don't think my gut is gonna like that (the amount of math I'll have to relearn is gonna do me in for sure) Maybe adding some roughage would help.

I'm really bad about not eating whole grains. But I guess a pinch of sugar on top and good old soy milk should make it not so bad.

Why can't I be like my husband who can eat *anything* and be fine. I am so surprised he has not gotten food poisioning in the 4 years we've been together!

I find veggie burgers have a ton less grease. I know a lot of people who prefer the veg burgers at Harvey's and BK for that reason alone.

Well I'm off to the grocery store. Today is one of those "bad" days and I'd like to nip it in the bed before the holiday.