How hard do you find it, being a vegetarian?

Anne_Marie_2

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

And no doubt the fat was flying everywhere.

Indeed. If I wanted something covered in animal fat, I'd eat animal. :mad:

Funnily enough, when I read your post initially, I thought that I had no bother, but obviously I do, as I exclude myself from bbq's and buffets in hotels/restaurants. It's easier on my temper and blood pressure.

LeanneR

I went vegan over 6 months ago and find food shopping much cheaper. Same goes for shopping for beauty products, cleaning products etc.

Eating out tends to be cheaper now too. Luckily, Glasgow is great for vegan eateries and loads of chain restaurants and other food places cater for vegans, veggies and omnivores alike.

As for slip ups, there's been one or two, but I read labels more carefully now. Don't really crave any non-vegan stuff anymore. In the beginning, I did crave eggs for a while but that's gone now.

An extra bonus has been the improvement in my health. Definitely haven't looked back and never will

garfield33

I've been veggie about 25 years, things have definitely got better. It's easy to check the packets for the V sign. There are some odd non-veggie things though, like the Cadbury Dairy Milk with Daim bar. Eating out - There are of course some places that offer up the token lasagne and expect you to be grateful but I just don't go there! I live in a big city so I have lots of choice - especially Indian / Bangladeshi restaurants where there are loads of veggie options. It's more difficult in other countries - one restaurant in Spain was all meat/fish except for a plate of beans, and when I asked even that came with bacon sprinkled over it. But it was easy enough to ask for it without the meat.Friends and family are understanding and quite happy to cook veggie for me, many of them aren't big meat-eaters anyway. Though I did make some friends go to a veggie pub once, there was quite a lot of complaining about that and I haven't taken them back since!

Goldiegirl

whiteslice wrote: »

If this is mortifying, imagine that you're coeliac and have been served a wheat flour pizza. It will make you feel less like a fussy eater and more like you have a legitimate right to eat what you find edible. Which you do.

This is kind of the point I was making when I mentioned my low sodium diet, which I follow to control a chronic illness


Often in buffet situations, the meat options are highly processed, and riddled in salt. I normally find that the vegetarian options are lower in salt, and therefore much more suitable for my diet.


I commented, tongue in cheek, that I'd have to be the one to go without, in case I upset a crowd of hungry vegetarians. I was expecting that I might get replies saying that people would be understanding if I ate 'their' vegetarian food, due to me having a special dietary requirement.


So, just in case I was being too subtle last time, don't forget, their are lots and lots of people with special dietary needs, and sometimes, 'your' food , is the best option. We aren't doing it to be awkward, but just eating what is the most edible for us

Justamum

Goldiegirl wrote: »

So, just in case I was being too subtle last time, don't forget, their are lots and lots of people with special dietary needs, and sometimes, 'your' food , is the best option. We aren't doing it to be awkward, but just eating what is the most edible for us

That's fine, but if you know that it's being catered for a certain number of people you should let the organiser know beforehand that you'll need a vegetarian meal so they know to make allowances.

Goldiegirl

Justamum wrote: »

That's fine, but if you know that it's being catered for a certain number of people you should let the organiser know beforehand that you'll need a vegetarian meal so they know to make allowances.

But I don't need a vegetarian meal - I need a low salt meal.


I do my best to fit into the mainstream, and in a buffet situation, I wouldn't really want to put additional pressure on my hosts by asking them to provide something just for me personally, which might be seen as a bit demanding.


I don't eat huge amounts, and I would hope that I wouldn't be judged for eating some vegetarian food, when I'm not vegetarian.


If it's a sit down meal, I've found there's normally something suitable on the menu that I can have, with a few adjustments, and most people are happy to help.


But for a buffet, I've always assumed that nobody would have a problem in me eating food that is suitable for my medical needs - I hope I'm not mistaken in this belief

LameWolf

Goldiegirl wrote: »

But for a buffet, I've always assumed that nobody would have a problem in me eating food that is suitable for my medical needs - I hope I'm not mistaken in this belief

Of course not - at least not by me. x
What I take issue with is someone who normally eats half a cow snaffling the last of the vegetarian main course before I can get my plate loaded.

mikki6416

I find being veggie very easy. I'm not sure why some people find it hard. I guess it's a bit like dieting - in the first few weeks you're not quite sure what you can and can't eat but then you get the hang of it. I do check for the V sign on nearly everything though.


I turned veggie when I was 17 but found it hard to find stuff to eat, so I started eating fish again for a while. Twelve years ago I cut fish out of my diet so that I could be vegetarian and I'm really happy. I'm now 33 and even have a 1 year old son that I am bringing up vegetarian (and he's doing amazingly! He's in the 90th percentile for weight and growth rate). My husband eats meat.

I have only ever eaten meat once and that's because a restaurant mixed up the plates of quorn lasagne and meat lasagne. I only swallowed one mouthful as I realised and then made a huge complaint! I have never been tempted to eat meat or fish.

But no I find it easy:
Dinners - I don't cook from scratch - I am not a good cook. I make the odd spinach and butternut squash lasagne, but otherwise I buy veggie ready meals, make various pasta dishes, have noodles with mushrooms or tofu in, salads, halloumi kebabs, quorn curries, veggies sausages and mash, pies and veg....the list goes on. I just make the veggie version of the dishes is all. Obviously a steak is off menu but then I never cared for that anyway.
I don't cook two meals for myself and my husband. He's happy to eat what I have and then when we get a takeaway or goes out he usually has something with meat in. Also when we visit family for dinner he eats meat then. Oh and he buy meat sandwiches for work.

Eating out/ takeaways - Pizza is easy, the local curry house will put more or less any sauce with some vegetables and the local chinese has veggie options. At independent restaurants it can be a pain because so many places make one or two dishes that are usually pasta based and have parmasan in - parmasan isn't vegetarian! Chain restaurants usually have a few things for veggies.

Sweets - I don't see the problem. Of course many have gelatin or other animal bits but lots of others don't. Strawberry laces, cola laces (I hardly ever buy hard sweets), lots of Cadbury's chocolate, Green and Blacks, all all fine. I avoid Nestle as they are always changing their ingredients and I can never tell what's in them.


I have slipped up in the past but that was just part of learning. Yogurts caught me out a few years ago as these all have beef/pork gelatin in - Muller Light, Rolo yogurts, Milky Bar, After Eight, etc. Now I just buy Alpro, Activia or own brand with a V on.


I could go on and on but generally no I haven't slipped up in a long time and I'm really happy being veggie

[Deleted User]

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I was expecting that I might get replies saying that people would be understanding if I ate 'their' vegetarian food, due to me having a special dietary requirement.

I would imagine the easy answer to be, declare yourself vegetarian, to the host/caterer, before the event, enabling then to provide a vegetarian meal for you.

If I were having an event, it wouldn't bother me if every last person declared themselves to be vegetarian, even if they weren't.

The annoying bit is when someone who hasn't declared themselves to be vegetarian, tucks into the vegetarian food, leaving the vegetarians short.

Goldiegirl

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I would imagine the easy answer to be, declare yourself vegetarian, to the host/caterer, before the event, enabling then to provide a vegetarian meal for you.

If I were having an event, it wouldn't bother me if every last person declared themselves to be vegetarian, even if they weren't.

The annoying bit is when someone who hasn't declared themselves to be vegetarian, tucks into the vegetarian food, leaving the vegetarians short.

But I'm not vegetarian, and not all vegetarian food is suitable for my diet. For example, anything with cheese in, is generally off limits, as cheese is too high in salt for my requirements. Anything in coatings and breadcrumbs is also not suitable. If I said I was vegetarian, my hosts could still be supplying me with stuff I couldn't eat

This is why, in a buffet situation I'll select what is best for my diet - it may be meat, fish, vegetarian or vegan. Things like salads, jacket potatoes, hard boiled eggs etc are excellent - that's why the vegetarian section, with these unprocessed items is right for my diet.

all I'm saying is, people aren't being difficult when they eat food from the vegetarian section. If they're like me, they are thinking, 'ohhh look, food I can eat without having to make a big thing out of my dietary needs'

Please don't begrudge me some salad, guys - I won't have the onion bhajis, and if there's some nice, simple chicken drumsticks, I promise I'll eat them!