I was invited over for dinner the other day at the house of people who run a cooperative organic farm (CSA) They are vegetarians, and eat only fresh local produce-- the stuff they grow themselves.

A bunch of things really struck me.

1. They were some of the prettiest people I've ever seen. The whole family was noticeably thin and very fit and toned and just bright-eyed. It's rare to see people that thin and toned unless they are hard-core athletes, but these guys work out by farming, which seems to be very good exercise. The kids were also very slim, and ate exactly the same food everyone else ate.

2. My friend who is sixty, looks like her daughter's sister. She is also very thin and toned and looks my age (I'm twelve years younger.)

3. The food was delicious!!!! The food they served was eight different vegetable dishes-- high on deliciousness but no heavy bean, or egg, or cheese-laden dishes. I realized that I never serve a dinner that is just veggies-- I would always serve beans, or eggs, or cheese with a vegetarian meal. The meal was very satisfying and unlike most places I go, I did not hesitate at all to eat every single bite that was served.

So I started thinking about how our diets are different:
I eat a lot of veggies but they eat even more.
I eat stuff like jello sugar free mousse, they eat nothing artificial
I eat a LOT more animal protein (mostly chicken and fish, rarely red meat) they eat only dairy and eggs, and sparingly.
I avoid rice, bread, pasta, etc. they eat some-- they served bread with the meal.

Lots of food for thought.

That is really interesting! I have been curious about going veg, but wondered if I'd be able to get enough protein that way. So if there were not beans, no meat, cheese, etc in the meal, did the bread + vegs make some kind of "complete protein"? Sounds VERY yummy to me!

I've been eating as little artificial stuff as possible. I'm a big believe in all things natural, to a degree. For me that means no sweeteners, only raw sugar, as little refinement as possible in today's age, sea salt sparingly and things like that.

I'm not hard core though...we had pizza from Dominoes last night! But that's a once every couple months event.

I have some vegetarian friends that eat that way and they have a knack for cooking for sure! Sounds like you had a great time!!!

I don't think I would want to totally give up meat but I definitely think there is something to a vegan diet!

The majority of my meals are entirely vegetable in nature, and they make me feel great. I do eat beans, lentils, yogurt, etc., but I don't feel the need to have a specifically protein component to each meal at all. I am really, really happy with the meals I make that are pretty much just creatively prepared vegetables.

"They were some of the prettiest people I've ever seen. The whole family was noticeably thin and very fit and toned and just bright-eyed."

You know what some of this is? It's the minerals and vitamins stuff that you can only get by eating veggies---and using spices!

Because veggies taste really good with a lot of different sorts of spices: ginger, cumin, allspice, tumeric, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, rosemary, paprika, you name it---ground up or for a lot of it you can buy seeds and roast them----and all the little bits of goodness that are in spices added to the veggies really makes a difference to skin and hair and general bright-eyed look.

So---eat your vegs..and try something other than salt and pepper....

I was thinking about eating more organic veggies myself since I haven't been eating much meat lately and the weight is flying off. I checked some nutrition facts on veggies and you do get a good amount of protein from them, like broccoli and spinach. But I will continue drinking milk since I want the calcium and the vitamin D, I read that they help you burn more fat when you exercise.

Interesting.

I dream of more veggies, but get lost in trying to be creative with them Guess I have some learning to do!

Look up some Asian recipes findingfawn, there are some really, really good ways of cooking them and they are amazingly tasty.

Yeah-- this sounds like my friends...

They're not vegans-- they eat a little fish, dairy, eggs, beans... they eat rice and pasta and the very very occaisional sweet, but guess I just have an OLD way of thinking-- to me, a meal is a starch, a protein, and a veggie, so I think I'm getting creative when I do a protein and two non-starchy veggies.

I know they had eggplant, stewed tricolor peppers, mushrooms stuffed with basil, broccoli rabe, cooked carrots, and I'm forgetting some of the other dishes-- there was a salad that included chickpeas-- I mean it was just a variety of delicious foods.... I really think I could eat that way and be happy. I eat a lot of chicken and sometimes it almost starts to gross me out.

Heh, chicken got old and kind of gross to me, too, back in the day. It's really easy to get reliant on it, because it's such a lean protein, and you can eat a pretty good-sized portion of it and stay within a tight calorie budget, unlike the fattier meats, but, wow, it gets dull. I'm really convinced half the reason I like my veggies so much is the sheer variety on offer. I try to eat seasonally, as much as I can, so for example, right now, asparagus is just on the verge of going into glut, and the prices have already dropped substantially from the first, very early, stuff to hit the shops and markets, so I am eating a LOT of asparagus. By the time I'm sick of it, the season will be over, and I'll be onto the next big thing. It also helps a lot that, other than a few old favourites, I've pretty much abandoned the kind of boiled or steamed or, heaven help us, cheese-smothered vegetable recipes I grew up on, and moved into primarily Indian and SE Asian cuisines, and there's so much vegetarianism in that part of the world that there are virtually unlimited recipes to try, and it's very hard to get bored, assuming you like those cuisines in the first place, which, clearly, I very much do.

We need far less protein than the meat industry would like you to think we do.

I am gettnig 83 grams of protein today, (I'm veggie) (On the VERY high side, I need at least 60 but that is me.) a lot of veggies I know eat 34-45 and do great.

I eat a lot of beans (black beans/chickpeas prepared in a variety of ways), and honestly I eat a lot of tvp and seitan. (texturized vegetable protein and "wheat meat"......it's a homemade 'fake meat' made out of the protein part of the wheat plant) it has the same amount of protein as chicken, ounce for ounce. (about 24 grams of protein in 4 oz)

I am not vegan, but I eat a lot of vegan food. I eat cheese, but drink soy milk, and I eat eggs, but only for breakfast, I need a high protein breakfast....I use egg replacments (flax and water) in all my baking.

anyhow, I get plenty of protein and since I"ve stopped eating meat my skin is very nice, it was always nice but now it's like it glows. haha.

also I find eating whole foods that I don't really feel the need to pig out the way I do on junk, even if its the most amazing vegan meal evar, I will still not gorge myself. I feel satisfied I think, on whole foods (because they are nutritious) while junk has like, no nutritional value.

just my .02

I'm vegan and I get plenty of protein. I don't even really try other than eating a good variety of legumes, veggies, fruit, etc.

I really can see myself going this way-- except that I love fish. I love veggies and am good at preparing them-- but for some reason, I have a hard time reimagining meals so that they don't include meat, cheese or beans.