Hello Everybody,

I want to kick start a discussion on what can one achieve by being a vegetarian. I was a non-veg earlier and after realizing the benefits of being a veg, turned to a vegetarian diet. I have to say, I was surprised initially, to see how effective a vegetarian diet can be to maintain our health. Compared to a non-vegetarian diet, a vegetarian diet has lots of benefits. You will be more healthy and agile if you follow a vegetarian diet.

You also will not have any kind of problems related with digestion or constipation. Apart from this, your heart and other organs will perform more effectively and will maintain their health for a longer period. Fat reduction is not the only issue, there are many other reasons for choosing a vegetarian diet. I hope this discussion will help many to make the transition from a non-vegetarian diet to a vegetarian diet.

Thanks in advance.

Hey Jennifer I agree completely. I recently discovered a lot of the benefits of a vegetarian/vegan diet! It's really awesome. I'm SOOOO happy I made the switch in my lifestyle. Cutting our dairy and meat was so much easier than I realized. I don't feel deprived at all!! Which is so crazy, you can eat anything it's just a little different than what you were previously use to. (Ex. regular cheese = soy cheese, animal meat= soy meat, etc.)

Well, I know that going vegetarian in and of itself isn't going to cause weight loss. There are plenty of delicious, but high calorie vegan and vegetarian foods out there, so that is something to consider (the Alternative Baking Company makes AMAZING vegan cookies...they always make me drool...but one of those giant cookies has 400-500 calories!)

I personally tried going vegetarian for 2 weeks, to see if I would feel better, stronger, etc. Again, personally, I felt weaker, tired, etc, even on a balanced vegetarian diet. This was similar to the experience Jillian Michaels (who is one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser, and hosts a radio show on KFI...you can download her podcasts, they're really good!) had when going vegan. It just didn't work well for her body chemistry. That isn't to say that one who didn't feel as strong/lean/etc on a vegetarian diet wouldn't still decide to stick with that, for moral/ethical reasons...only to say that not everyone feels better without animal products in their diet. I'm glad you do, though, because it sounds like it is really working for you!

One of my FAVORITE things about 3FC is that we have support and forums for all kinds of plans that work well for different people. And we have a GREAT forum for Vegetarians/Vegans here to get ideas, so I hope you stick around.

I have to disagree with the original post - or at least QUALIFY it some.

Vegetarianism is not the be-all, end-all of healthy eating. I lived and ate veggie for nearly 6 years in college (my roommate was veggie and it was just easier) and it was fine, but it didn't change my life. Now I eat much more healthily than I ever did when I was in college - and I still eat meat and meat products.

It's disingenuous to make a blanket statement that eating veggie will remove all digestion related problems w/out qualifying it that you need to eat a HEALTHY veggie diet.

If you eat a HEALTHY veggie diet - lots of veggies, lots of whole grains, etc., yes, it can be a great way of life. But it is entirely possible to eat a very unhealthy veggie diet as well; one with a lot of fat content, a lot of processed sugars and carbs, and so forth.

And eating a HEALTHY non veggie diet will also help eliminate digestive problems and constipation and other issues.

I'm all for promoting whatever healthy way of eating works for each individual, but let's do it with full disclosure, not with hyperbole.

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Please check out our Vegetarian forum at http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=121 You'll find a lot of great information and support from mutual vegetarians, and even non-veggies that still want to lean this way part of the time