Becoming A Vegetarian Is Changing One’s Lifestyle

In continuing in my quest to become fully vegetarian, I will continue to share convincing articles I have found and then attempt to come up with one on my own. I have made it thus far in the New Year fully vegetarian and look forward to the continual working towards becoming fully vegetarian. I really enjoyed the below article by  E.S. Cromwell  and I hope that you will also:

You’ve been mulling around in your head about what you eat and what you’d rather eat instead. Since forever, you ate both meats and produce, but you’re considering converting to strictly eating just produce and being a vegetarian. This choice, switching from being an omnivore to a vegetarian, is a big and bold move.

In essence, becoming a vegetarian is to completely modify all aspects of your diet. And changing your eating habits is essentially altering your lifestyle.

With lifestyle change and personal decisions ahead, it’s easy to get flustered, but don’t! Instead, inform yourself and collect your thoughts. Read up on the positives and the negatives of adopting such a produce-driven lifestyle. Research your possible vegetarian food options. Be aware of the reasons that can initially spur, but better yet, justify such a dietary change in your life.

For reasons ranging from health, to ethics and morals, converting to vegetarianism ways is an act harvested from grounds all too fertile. The advantages are there, as are the brutal facts pushing – and continuing to push – many people to adopt a vegetarian way of living. But, really, why should you, let alone anyone, become a vegetarian? The reasons are endless. Specifically looking at factors for health and keeping with environmentally-safe actions, here are two major reasons to consider if you’re thinking of converting:

Keeping Health In Mind-

Vegetarianism is more healthful than eating both meats and produce. Meats are a significant source of protein and are full of plenty nutritional essentials, but they’re also full of fatty deposits. It has been proven that meats contain high levels of cholesterol and saturated fats. Vegetables, on the other hand, are more beneficial for someone seeking to lower their fat intake, as they contain little to no cholesterol or ‘bad’ fats.

So, by substituting meats with varied produce, you’ll be cutting unwanted and unhealthy fats from your diet. And in the process, you’ll also be ingesting some more produce-based ‘good’ fats that will actually be better than meat-based saturated fats.

In terms of nutrition, by omitting meats you’ll be eating a variety of more balanced and nutritional foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans and so on. All these will contribute to a better and healthful lifestyle through great amounts of nutrients. From this, your energy will skyrocket and your chances for contracting illnesses will lessen significantly.

Keeping Green and Helping The Environment-

Eating meat, and doing it often, is quite detrimental to our environment. It’s a matter of wasting resources and not creating more effective methods that will better environmental standards and current states.

Through the wasteful and exorbitant means it takes to feed our livestock, we are contributing to overusing our resources, such as land and water. The amount of land, water and grain annually used to provide farm animals continued living – until time of slaughter – overwhelmingly exceeds what we have available (or are able to produce) and what we would consider environmental-friendly. Even furthermore, these ineffective methods are adding to the already prevalent problem of depleting fuel and nonrenewable resources.

It’s clear that raising animals for food, in the manner that is currently conducted, is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And sad thing is, most people are completely unaware that our methods are damaging and in need of major revamping.

Whether for you’ve been considering switching to vegetarianism due to personal, health, environmental or any other reason, know you’re not alone in this decision. Be aware though. If you do change your eating habits, it’s a lifestyle change and you’ll have to stick to it, no matter the difficulties interwoven.

If you’re considering to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle or are already one, why not try some reusable produce bags and environmentally helpful. Green bags, a side from being eco-friendly, are also great to keep all your produce super fresh. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=E.S._Cromwell

Vegetarian Diet – 7 Tips to Becoming Vegetarian

I am slowly but surely moving in on my desire to become vegetarian in 2008, and am taking the attitude that the evolution will not occur overnight. I read a great article on becoming vegetarian by Kathy Ferneau that helps walk one through the evolution step by step:

Why go vegetarian?

• Your health. Vegetarianism ranks as one the best ways to eat a healthy diet–as simple as eating more salads and another apple every day.
• Want to follow a trend? For instance, Hollywood stars jumping on the bandwagon.
• Fanatic devotion, near religious status. Deeply into the animal rights movement, some dedicated vegetarians won’t even eat in restaurants that serve animal products.

Getting started
A vegetarian diet produces benefits no matter how you approach it, so don’t worry about doing it wrong.

Your body will appreciate any fruit or vegetable you send down! Just take that all-important first step!

If you currently consume lots of high-fat, high-sugar junk food, it doesn’t make sense to debate the merits of vegetables versus meat.

The typical vegetarian diet meets or exceeds the recommended daily allowance of vitamins and minerals, anyway.

Tips for success

1. Decide what version of vegetarianism suits you:
   • Vegan or total vegetarian – Includes only foods from plants: fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, seeds, and nuts.
   • Lactovegetarian – Adds cheese, milk, yogurt, and other dairy products.
   • Lacto-ovovegetarian – Also includes eggs.
   • Semi-vegetarians – No red meat, but includes chicken and fish.
2. Start all at once or gradually – totally your choice. Sick and tired of meat? Just dump it all together! Or, gradually eliminate meat products, starting first with red meat.Try switching your meat and vegetable portions. Make meat the side dish and feature vegetables as the main course. Asians typically eat this way, especially in stir fry dishes.
3. Watch total calories – limit sweets and fats. Don’t let your veggies swim in cream sauce or your fruits smother in sugary syrups.
4. Plan your menu. Either:
   • Simple–stick with basic fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. Three vegetable side dishes make a meal. Eat a large salad with shredded vegetables. Serve fresh fruit in a fancy dish for dessert. or
   • Complicated–experiment with exotic items such as tempeh, tofu, wheat gluten, or seitan.
5. Buy most of your groceries in the produce aisle. Visit the dairy aisle if you decide to consume cheese, milk, eggs, or yogurt.
6. Serve a colorful plate:
   • yellow corn
   • green spinach salad with red tomatoes
   • light brown whole grain bread
   • red cherries
   • orange oranges
7. Find out if your community hosts a farmer’s market.
   • Farmer’s markets create a fun shopping experience, almost carnival-like.
   • You’ll find the freshest produce available – probably just picked that day.
   • Feel good about supporting your local economy.

See, that wasn’t so hard! Start today–your body will thank you!

Looking for diet and weight loss tips? Kathy Ferneau has created an excellent resource for information on diets, healthy eating, and exercise. Click here: http://www.lose-weight-diets.com

Becoming Vegetarian – Making a Case for the Vegetarian Lifestyle

For some time now I have wanted to switch entirely over to a vegetarian lifestyle. Making the transition is not easy, but I think, once done, will be well worth the effort. The article to follow by Barry Lovelace, I found to be very helpful:

Let’s talk about becoming vegetarian. First of all, let me tell you that I am a vegan so this is a subject that I’m passionate about. I know that being vegan seems extreme to many people so we can talk about becoming vegetarian but trust me the more you clean out your diet the better you will feel and vegan is an extremely clean way of eating. The vegetarian diet has become much more common and it is a trend that will certainly continue. Fortunately, the medical community is now supporting becoming vegetarian strongly and suggesting that people cut out the saturated fats and cholesterol ingested by eating meat.

There are many myths associated with becoming vegetarian. Many people think of vegetarians and imagine longhaired hippies eating granola in their VW bus. Well, let me assure you that there are vegetarians and vegans in every social class, every ethnicity and every religion. There are people who make this lifestyle change for health reasons, for ethical reasons, for religious reasons and even for environmental reasons. It is multi-faceted to say the least. I will tell you that I became vegan after learning about what really goes on in the factory farming industry in this country. It is nothing like what you would imagine it is and the cruelty is unspeakable and difficult to face. Of course people can eat meat and drink milk and not have to face the horrors, they are all tucked away behind closed doors, hidden from view. We call it ‘beef’ when in reality it is a dead cow; we call dead pigs ‘ham’. It comes all cut and packaged so we don’t have to face the reality and do it ourselves.

Unfortunately, in trying to reduce the bottom line there is no limit to what will be done to animals, forgetting that they are living, breathing creatures that feel pain and feel fear. It never ceases to amaze me how horrified a meat eating person will get when there is a report of an animal abuse case or find it disgusting that people in other countries eat cats & dogs. Why do people see a difference? Could it be that we just don’t know what is done to the cows, pigs and chickens that are eaten or is it that somehow they don’t appreciate that these are indeed living, feeling animals? Have we been conditioned to think of them as things instead of animals? There are many books and websites on the subject of factory farming. I am a firm believer that knowledge is power and I encourage you to learn more, that’s what I did, and as a result I have not had an animal product in over 8 years. Becoming vegetarian or vegan was never a goal of mine, far from it, but once I learned the truth I simple would not have been able to eat meat and look at myself in the mirror.

I wouldn’t eat animal products no matter what but it turns out that my ethical choice has also led me to feeling better physically than I ever have in my life. No one will ever be able to tell me that being a vegetarian or vegan is not the healthiest way to eat. I live it and I feel it! I have a family plagued with cardiac problems so my heredity is not good. Well, let me tell you, I am now the only one in my family who has not had an episode of some sort and not only that but also my cholesterol and blood pressure are extremely low.

Since becoming vegan, my energy level is so high and contrary to popular belief you do not need animal protein to build muscle. My workouts and results have not been the least bit compromised because of the change in my diet. Far from it, my muscular endurance is the highest it’s ever been and since becoming vegan I have much more stamina to during my workouts.

I encourage you to learn more about becoming vegetarian (or even vegan). Feel free to contact me if you would like some advice on where to start. There are lots of questions out there but not enough answers.

Barry Lovelace is an internationally recognized personal trainer and fitness coach. He is passionate about fitness, good health and being a vegan. He can be reached at barry@barrylovelace.com