I started one, on a bet from a friend, and have been doing it for about a 2 weeks now, and some observations of mine.

1) I have a desk job during the day, but I also own a small farm. At the desk it is fine, but once I start doing some heavy physical work, or at the gym, I seem to struggle to maintain endurance.

I am using mostly brown rice, beans (pinto, kidney, etc) some type of green vege, green beans usually, leafy salads, nuts, some fruits (I eat a lot of fruit anyways) etc..

I was feeling rather iffy tonight, sort of fuzzy, and added some chicken to my stir fry (a whole breast cut up) and it seemed to really help a lot.

Any thoughts on this, even though I doubt i make this a regular diet, I thought I would try it and see if it fit me

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They are really cool, nice people. I highly recommend their site.

...and delicious too, but they always get stuck in my teeth.

Veg won't replace protien. Switch rice for quinoa or farro.

Tofu is the best thing. Also Field Roast.

are nutsand beans not protein replacements, or is my research all wrong?

I am never going to eat TOFU again, i tried it 3 times, and hated it 3 times. I can try this diet without TOFU. As Golem said "you keeps your nasty TOFU, gives em to me raw and wriggling"

I like tofu. I also like New York strip type steak.

Did you try it fried? It's best fried.

Also, definitely try Field Roast if you can find some (it's based here, so I don't know how widespread it is). It's a meat replacement that doesn't bother to attempt to taste like the meat.

Bo Sox, I love a lot of red meat (maybe all of them) but I dont eat much of it, although I have severe weakness for Lamb Chops (it is my main livestock on my farm, soI can indulge this bad habit more often than I should...lol)

I am an avid trout fisherman, and you will find me in the Cherokee National forest 4 or 5 days a WEEk during trout season here, wearing the poor trout out, and I enjoy eating the little bastards also.

Tennessee does a very very good job of stocking here, and we have begun to get a nice native populaton of Rainbows and Browns, which is why anything over 12 inches, I throw back after august, so it can breed. This pat year, I think i caught about 5 or 6 natives, which is 5 or 6 more than I ever caught before here.

I love most poultry also, and am always making chicken stock in the crock pot, as I use it for EVERYTHING.

I dont think i can be a vegetariarn, but I eat little red meat now days anyways, and mostly just fish.

I'm not a huge fan of eating tofu, but it's great fun hunting it. They can be found in fairly large numbers in the highlands of Scotland where they prey on haggis eggs, though it's usually the poorer quality Chinese farmed tofu you find in the shops.

I live in the South, we fry everything, but I guess no local redneck has thought of frying that...lol btw, I HATE most fried foods, other that catfish.

What type of oil you using?

In response to the first post, my sister is a vegetarian, and whenever she works out, she has to take at least two supplements to get through it. She doesn't have much energy, and while it sounds nice looking outside on vegetarianism, it would certainly be difficult to maintain any energy (protein) at all. I'm not surprised that chicken made you feel better.

Whenever I fish, I have to have some kind of meat sandwich (ham and cheese usually) with me or else I get hungry really quickly. It's always been kind of funny... my dad eats lots of red meat and he's pretty big. I eat most any meat and I'm big but I work out every day and have my fair share of everything I supposedly need, so I'm not worried. Every guy in my family is big and doctors say it's more hereditary lack of a strong metabolism than anything else.

I don't think the trout mind being fished... the first thing they feel is your teeth, and at that point, it's all over ;)

Generally I stir fry it with some veggies (broccoli, peppers, carrots, mushrooms, onions) in olive or canola oil, season with sesame oil and soy sauce, and serve over rice or rice noodles. Occasionally I'll buy fried tofu (deep fried in small chunks before sale), do the same thing, and serve with peanut sauce. Both are excellent.

I've been a vegetarian for close to five years or so, and I'm a broadish, fairly muscley fellow who doesn't really believe in exercise. My suggestions:

-I agree with replacing the rice for something with more protein. Nuts and beans will replace protein, but it sounds like you need more. In my experience, getting enough protein is the only real dietary challenge of a vegetarian lifestyle (limited options while dining out is the other biggest problem, but that's a different sort of issue). If you're not going full vegan, cheese and yogurt helps, too.

-What do you eat for breakfast? I would suggest oatmeal (not the instant kind) with some flax seed or nuts and Greek yogurt, maybe with a dollop of honey. I have a big bowl of chopped fruit, oatmeal, yogurt or Greek yogurt, and flax or crushed nuts every morning, and it will keep you going.

-It's also possible that you aren't getting enough fat. Eat a peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole wheat bread as an afternoon snack.

-Fruit is good. Keep eating that. What kind of fruits? Bananas and apples have a different effect on me than do strawberries and melons, and it might the same for you. Variety is extra important for vegetarians.

-If you absolutely can't stand having no meat, get either the fake sausage or the fake sloppy joes. I do not really care for them, but of the fake meat I have tried, they're the closest thing to meaty.

I also live in the South! Where do you live? Leaving behind barbecue has been the hardest part.

I have been a vegetarian for about 10 years. Not a vegan, although I wish I had the self-discipline to do that. I go to the gym and work out almost daily and do not lack in any energy -- in fact, it's just the opposite.

Any kind of protein bar or drink is going to be vegetarian, except for a few types that contain fish oil. But the whey and soy blends of protein taste great and along with a daily vitamin you can make sure you are getting the nutrients you need.

My cholesterol was stuck at 202 for a long time and once I took meat out of my diet it went down to its current level of 140.

So I am happy and healthy, I can feel better about not contributing as much to the factory farming conditions for these poor animals, and the environment is better off.

Vegetarianism is something that I've experienced my entire life (a long time). In response to ckroberts, I can specify the following:

-go with brown rice, because white rice has more simple carbohydrates and it isn't as healthy as brown rice.

-oatmeal with cut bananas is always a good choice for breakfast. I've had it on numerous occasions and would recommend it.

-Eat lentils to get your protein.

-Yes, variety is key because being vegetarian almost prerequisites it.

-Try eating soy or tofu...they're both good substitutes for people who can't stand the immoral temptation of meat.

I'm actually dabbling in vegetarianism, or at least attempting to integrate more vegetarian meals into my usual rotation to supplement my running diet. I make a mean ratatouille and vegetarian chili. However, I still like meat too much to let it go, so I'm trying to slowly get rid of red meat in favor of chicken, turkey, pork, and a more fish. I roasted a turkey last night and made a big pot of stock today, turned out great.

Halloumi ...... nice. Lots of crisps & peanuts, vegetarians don't have to be healthy.

I'm pretty sure you're allowed to eat beef, as long as it was plant-fed.

semck, you're on the Pacific NW World Cup team. You should really conform to team standards and stop eating meat.

Naw, ghug. The pacific northwest is about being your own person, not about giving into peer pressure and conforming.

@semck it was only a matter of time before an expert on the subject contributed, I understand pork is ok as well as long as it is kosher.

For me, it was easiest to go vegetarian in stages. I cut out meat products at home, then while out. Also, I forgot lentils! Mujadara is the best, and a store-bought frozen vegetable soup with lentils is easy, filling, and delicious.

Vegetarian? That's just sick! You leave those poor (relatively) innocent plants alone. They get most of their energy directly from the sun, minimizing the killing of other life forms to survive. Killing them to feed yourself is evil.

You should switch to a diet of evil herbivores, with the occasional misguided omnivore or good carnivore thrown in if you are desperate for some variety.


Personally I greatly prefer chicken over beef. And if I don't have some meat at lunch time, I get tired before the end of the day. (I don't partake in caffeine or energy drinks because I don't like being addicted to such things as I once was.)

Lots of fellow vegetarians here! Glad to see that!

Anyway I exercise all the time as a vegetarian and haven't noticed any changes compared to when I was eating a lot of meat.

I'm not sure what you mean about losing endurance, but I have two hypotheses:

The first is that you have not sufficiently replaced your protein intake. So you should simply eat more of the protein heavy things in a vegetarian diet, like beans, quinoa, or eggs/dairy. Munch on nuts throughout the day if you're really hardcore and need a lot of protein.

In my experience you will need about 1.5 to 2x as much mass of "proteins" that are non-meat as compared to meats. So this means that whereas I may have been satisfied with 1/4 plate of my Mediterranean meal being gyro meat, I know want 1/2 of it to be falafel.

However that may not be the case, the other possibility is a vitamin or mineral definiency, like iron or the B vitamins. To test the theory you can take a few supplements for a few days and see if you notice a change. If you do, great, but I don't recommend continuing to rely on pills, instead get what you need by eating far more fresh fruit and vegetables than you probably did before.

In fact, the best thing about being vegetarian in my experience has been the necessary increase in uncontroversially healthy food, like fresh broccoli or grapefruits or just whatever you want to eat.

So those are my ideas.

There is also the possibility of simple transition. It took my about a month to feel totally "normal" after I switched, between strange GI sensations and the odd feeling of weakness or fatigue. But that stuff disappeared after a while (likely more due to my increased skill at eating the right things rather than a GI adjustment), and afterwards I felt infinitely healthier in a bodily sense. Something about eating rice and beans instead of a cheeseburger makes the body feel more alive.

Anyway a good way to make the transition is to buy some of that fake meat stuff. Boca's chick'n patties are pretty tasty actually, especially the spiced ones. I also recommend trying out Quorn products. These are by no means a long term solution but can help tremendously as you adjust your diet habits.

One last thought is that you may want to transition into more, smaller meals rather than a few large ones, the former is more conducive to vegetarianism. If you are a huge carnivore, it is not inconceivable to eat a huge meal once in the day and go the rest of the day without feeling the need to eat much more. But as a vegetarian this is far less likely. It is usually better to reduce the sizes of your large meals and add in two or three fairly substantial snacks in between. This could help a lot with your bodily sensations of fatigue or whatever.

All in all I hope you'll keep giving vegetarianism a shot! The initial challenge excited me, but after a few weeks I started to miss meat, but after I got over that hump within about a month's time I found that being a vegetarian is much easier than one would think, and even more rewarding than its proponents might have you believe! The fringe benefits abound.

And if you can hold up long enough, your habits will eventually be reinforced by your GI tract, which will respond less than favorably to a sudden influx of meat, if you know what I mean by that euphemism. Keeps you honest in your weaker moments. Is the plate of barbeque really worth a night of the squirts? Not likely lol.

Dear Stressed, Thank you so much for writing. Lack of energy when switching toa vegetarian diet is a sign from your body tthat it doesn't like something. Its important to eat the foods that are best for your body, as these vary from person to person. Its possible you are among the group of people who are best served by eating meat. Or it is possible you simply aren't eating enough protein.

Either way it is possible to be an ethical carnivore if ethics is a concern for you.

Oh and make sure you try chickpea chicken nuggets dude. Those things are literally indistinguishable from the real deal. At least the kind I've had are. I actually to fight the urge to ask if there had been a mistake.

Thucy, do you legitimately enjoy Quorn, chickpea nuggets, or Boca burgers? I find that the things that try to be their own things rather than trying to mimic meat usually make much tastier substitutes.

Fuck yeah dude I love them. But not the Boca burgers, the chicken patties. Many fake meats suck ass but a lot are quite good, especially homemade veggie burgers, select facon products (morningstar's is best imo), select fake chicken, etc.

Also like I said some of them do such a good job mimicking that I literally don't think of them as fake, just non-animal. There is a really exciting development in fake meat called "Beyond Meat" which I can't wait to try, supposedly it's revolutionary.

But I try not to eat them much because yeah, if I'm eating fake meat all the time, what's the point of being vegetarian? I just buy them when I miss the texture of meat, or more likely, when everyone else is having burgers I make a veggie burger so as to fit in.

I also enjoy Morningstar Facon (that's a special case), and homemade veggie burgers are wonderful, but mostly because they taste nothing like the real thing. It's all about the Field Roast.