Hey guys. :]

So, I've always been a big animal-rights person (I've volunteered at a rescue stable since the 7th grade.) I've also always been overweight (I weigh as much now as I did in the 6th grade.) Simple solution... Go veg?

I know eating healthy vegetarian would be hard around my meat-chomping family, but I believe I'm up for the challenge. My only concern is that (in the absence of meat) I'll end up binging on high-calorie starches, like pasta overloads. Self-control never was my specialty.

And for what it's worth, I won't be committing to meat-less until Lent. I think it's a good time and place to start, no?

Well I wouldn't say going veg means automatic weight loss, its difficult whether you give up meat or not.

What I will say is I think it is awesome. You get to explore foods a lot more than you might otherwise.

Personally, I don't eat much pasta but mostly focus on a whole foods diet with lots of veggies, fruit, legumes, some whole grains, etc.

What Nelie said.
I went veg at Christmas and I don't ever see myself going back to eating meat.

Oh and I did forget to mention that part? Do I ever want to eat meat again? No way. I have so much better things to eat. Although one of my favorite parts is in regards to cooking/prepping food, I don't worry about meat contamination.

I didn't find that my carbs went up all that much. I actually started being more generous with the fats (good stuff like olive oil, avocado, and nuts) in place of some of the meat. Plus I was having even more beans than before (I always loved beans, and even before I was vegetarian, I didn't have meat at every meal).

I focus on making most of my carbs come from fruits/veggies and beans, plus whole grains (actual whole grains, like brown rice, not whole grain flour products, like bread and pasta). I do still have breads (and less often pasta, it's just not my favorite), but I keep that to 1 or 2 servings a day (because what they call "one" serving can be pretty small).

Still, I'm no 20% or 30% carb ratio kinda girl. I usually get about 175-250g carbs, with 30-45g of that being fiber.

I think it's easy to eat breads / pasta in large quantities (and if they're whole-grain, they are still full of nutrients, fiber and even protein), but it's also easy to load up on veggies instead

I didn't lose weight automatically by going Veg. Just because I didn't eat meat, didn't mean I didn't indulge in too many Oreo's and other bad things.

BUT, I did make me very aware what I was eating. After accidentally finding bits of bacon in my Black Bean Soup, I started paying attention what was in my food. From there I started looking at calories and learning what they mean along with fats, proteins, sugars, etc. So, I started realizing that I had a VERY bad diet and decided to take control.

Becoming Veg has given me a LOT of discipline. I love it.

Meat free is the way to be!

thanks for all the great feedback!! :] it's really appreciated.

and one last question- did anyone get negative feedback from friends/family once they decided not to eat meat? i'm a tad worried about that one...

Not too much. My sister likes to fret over whether I'll have anything to eat when she cooks or we go out, which is just weird. There's always plenty to eat.

YES! I've heard it all I think. These are my two favorites though.

You won't get enough protein and you'll end up in the hospital. (I get more than the recommended daily unlike your friend in college who was a junk food vegetarian)


You'll end up diabetic from all the carbs. (I no longer waste my calories on empty white stuff. My carbs come from whole grains like oatmeal and lots of fruits and veggies)

Honestly,

I've gotten a lot of positive feedback. I get some good natured harrassment from major meat eaters that my husband works with as they think I'm depriving him of baconators or something although even if he ate meat, he wouldn't eat a baconator.

My mom has even tried to cut back on meat because I did.

thanks a bunch!!! :]