BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Vegetarian What Are Your Health Resolutions for 2009?

Hey All,

I'm jumping into the whole resolutions setup and need all of the areas you're interested in reading about to prepare you for a 'successful' new years' resolution.

Pass'em my way!

My daughter will be home for the holidays and I'll ask her and then get back to you by the end of the year. Happy holidays to you and yours. Be safe and reflect on all your blessings. Bye!

New 2009 New Year's Resolution Community Forming NOW!!!

Wanna JOIN? CLICK HERE!!!

So, Jason. Please help me out here. My 19 year old daughter, just decided during holiday break from college, to "not" be a vegetarian anymore. Can you believe this? After all the money we've invested in, she wants to go back to eating like everyone else in the family.

How should she do it? She said something about not being able to just start eating meat right away and how even a piece of it (especially fried), can hurt her stomach. Any suggestions?

She said she couldn't find anything on the internet about this change of mind. I'm hoping you or any other convert of leaving this style of eating, can help. Please chime in soon. She's back off to college in by this weekend. Thanks so much.

A quick note...

Hey guys, I've never had a question quite like this before and I think it's a very valid question. And although this is a vegetarian forum I believe this is a part of the whole process in the vegetarian lifestyle... 'Freedom & Choice'.

First let's Keep in mind that vegetarianism is not for everyone. It's a choice thing just as much as it is a timing and planning thing. It has to make sense to your lifestyle at the time that you choose to go this way. So please, if you don't agree with the information you're about to read, remain open, sensitive and supportive to those who may need this alternative to becoming a vegetarian.

The fact is that everyone is unique as are their needs. So I'm thanking you in advance for being understanding with this post.



Hey Kimmie,

Okay, now everyone's system is unique to them, so let me preface this statement with the proper and necessary disclaimers.

[This information is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any diseases or health related concerns. It does not take the place of your trusted, qualified, healthcare practitioner. For all of your concerns it is recommended you consult with your healthcare provider.]

In regards to going back to meat and all there are a few things that you may want to consider:

• Planning
• Support
• Quality

Just as you should properly plan your vegetarian lifestyle, to be successful at it, the same principles apply towards going back to meat eating. So have your daughter consider her process.

When you become a vegetarian, if done correctly, ideally your system becomes more alkaline, less mucous laden, more open and more sensitive to what you put into it. Eating meat on the other hand tends to make the system more acidic in need of being alkalized.

It can be very hard on your system. So you have to plan it out making sure you have all of the materials you'll need to support yourself through the transition.

Planning

Give yourself a reasonable time frame to accomplish your goal
[Depending on how long you were a vegetarian will determine how long you take to fully transition back into meat eating - I would say for every year you were a vegetarian you may want to take 3 - 6 months transitioning out of that lifestyle] and create an effective, supportive process to make it happen.

If it's not that serious to you, and you just want to jump back into the saddle and start eating the meats again, I would say to do it moderately building your tolerance for it back up.

Here's how I would do it:

Support

The biggest challenge with meat, aside from the ethics around how it's produced, is in not being able to fully digest it. To remedy that I would add a good source of digestive enzymes to my transitional diet. Check your health food store for some good brands.

I would add to my diet a good source of probiotics to keep my digestive tract intact throughout the process and beyond, it will not only help with my digestion, but it will also help with my nutrient absorption and assimilation.

I would also add to the mix a few servings of soil based organisms- or SBOs, not to be confused with the other acronym with the same letters , and make that a part of my lifestyle for a while. There's a lot of benefits in taking them.

Lastly...

I would start out with meat broths at dinner time with a lot of fresh herbs, spices and vegetables mixed in with it. I'd do this for at least a few weeks.

Then I'd move onto having small amounts of meat in my salads, to which I've added digestive helpers like ginger, mint, fennel, sprouts, etc. It will help break down the animal proteins and fats better and transition more smoothly. I'd maintain that for several months [mainly because I'd not only be getting the meat back in my diet, but in the most usable way possible] before moving into 'regular' size portions of meat at mealtime.

I would always have a salad with my meals.

Quality

Make sure that if you're going back to eating the meats you get the absolute best quality.

Get the freshest, most natural, best quality cuts from farmers who properly take care of the animals they breed for consumption. All of that makes a difference in how your body responds to it.

I hope that helps Kimmie! and everyone else who've had this question/scenario.

All the best & God bless.

Jason, thanks so much.

To everyone out there who enjoys this lifestyle, Kudos. Keep at it. But I really needed an answer to this particular question. Jason, you have wonderful recipes on your forum and great articles to read and we've all enjoyed them but I think with my daughter being in her first year of college, (1) she's overwhelmed with being a freshman (2) her budget is not sufficient to continue this lifestyle as she did at home (3) she doesn't have a car to get to the proper grocery stores and (4), the terrible cafeteria food has the worse food ever and they surely don't help.

I think she first off, made a quick and drastic move in doing this (11th grade) but maybe she'll return after some more maturing and a couple more years into her studies.....Forensic Science. Wow!

She's doing better than I ever did in the first year.(made the dean's list with all A's).

Kimmie!!!

Congrats to your daughter on her making the Dean's List. That's truly awesome!!!

No worries on the veggie thing either. I remember when I first became a vegetarian. It was really difficult mainly because I didn't have the resources, alternatives and folks to mentor me in my process. So I fell off the proverbial 'wagon' many times.

I couldn't find the things that I liked in the vegetarian world. The tofu tasted weird and eggy, the soymilk was disgusting , the fresh peanut butter was nasty to me... it was a whole new world that I knew absolutely nothing about, so it took a lot of trials and errors and a process in learning how to work with the ingredients to bring them to the place where I actually liked them.

IT WAS CRAAAAZY!!!

Being West Indian did not provide a vegetarian alternative. Fish and seafood, chicken and every now and then beef, venison or some other interesting meat was the fare in my house coming up. So when I shifted over to Vegetarianism, initially all I could really make, that I knew, was beans and rice.

What I think many don't realize is that being or becoming a vegetarian can be a real challenge if you don't have your process set up to where it can work for you. Also when you don't know what to always have on hand to make it easier. It can be extremely overwhelming.

Tell your daughter KUDOS TO HER for even attempting the lifestyle!

What she may want to start with is just building her knowledge base. Try different veggie products and dishes. reading books, converting a few meat recipes into vegetarian, etc. All that helps. She can start working with her techniques in the kitchen and gradually transition into a more vegetarian way of living, if that's her desire.

There is a way to do it where it is a somewhat seemless process and it begins with working with good foods and having fun while experimenting.

I would say it takes just as much planning, not necessarily more, as every other healthy balanced lifestyle takes.

You've always got to make sure that you're meeting your nutrient requirements, satisfying your taste buds and making it work for where you are in life, to the level you can live with, and then expanding from there.

Thanks for the encouraging words Jason. I'll still drop in though. It's good to have a couple of meals per week without meat. Especially with me on this new fitness regime. Chat with ya'later and again thanks.

I already eat a ton of vegetables with a wide variety, but I am going to aim to add even more "obscure" veggies into the mix so I can write them up for my visitors. The more options people have, the better!

We do eat meat occasionally, although the amount lessens every year. I am going to continue in a healthy eating direction by aiming to ensure any meat I do eat is organic / free range / etc. With the long term goal of phasing it out eventually.

I need to drink more water still!

I'm with you on the water thing Lisa. As a matter of fact, let me get some now. It's 10a and I've yet to drink some.