wish me luck?
Feb. 8th, 2009 01:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunar_scytheI'm trying a self made challenge, guys: 7 days lacto-vegetarian, to try it, and see if that's something I can do. I know, I always said there's no way I could do this, I like meat too much, but. Well, I realized last night, the only meat I've eaten in over a week? was the salami, bacon, and pepperoni on my pizza, and really, is it *that* difficult to avoid *that* little bit? Oh, and I had a beef, bean, and cheese burrito one night, too.
I can't really give up dairy products, I'd have to put a *lot* more thought into that, since I have issues with not getting enough calcium as it *is*, and I can not swallow pills, so I'll have to find some sort of chewable calcium supplement. They make a chewable centrum for adults, so I take those, lol; I'm sure if I look hard enough, I could find a chewable calcium one, too, but one step at a time.
Plus, I *like* cheese. I REALLY like cheese, a LOT, lol. the only reason cheese is not my favorite food? Is because pizza is, lol, which includes cheese! Cheese is something I have a very difficult time seeing myself going without *again*; I could not have dairy products until I was 5 or 6, due to allergies; I snuck a slice of cheese off of a party tray, and that's actually how we found out my allergy had...well, not exactly gone away, but greatly reduced to the point where I *could* have dairy products, anyway!
Anyway, the point of this post is, well, any suggestions for food? recipes, brand names, stuff like that? I've eaten Bocaburgers, and those aren't bad; I had some vegan salami for lunch; kind of bland, it reminds me more of cotto salami then actual salami, but hey, it's not bad, you know? Got some Morningstar fake bacon and sausage in the freezer for breakfast, too.
I haven't really *tried* most vegetables, I think; not since I was a kid, lol, and determined to hate them because I was being ordered to eat them, lol, so I'll try things a little bit at a time. I like romaine lettuce, and carrots, corn and greenbeans are ok, brocolli, well I tried it yesterday, and it didn't taste horrible...not sure I like it, lol, but it isn't absolutly disgusting like I remember, either.
Either way, I'm stuck with leather shoes; we have to buy our shoes from one of two companies for work, they have to be leather or vinyl. I'm looking to see of they offer any vinyl ones right now...if they have any, maybe I can afford to order them as soon as I get paid again? It'll probably be a lot, and tbh, I'm not going to throw the leather ones away, even if I *can* get vinyl ones. Why? Because I already bought them, and I feel that it's better to use them then to through them away; an animal might have died for them to be made, but isn't it more respectful to show I value the animal by using the shoes till they're worn out, and not just throw the animals' life away, since it died for the shoes? What can I say, that's the way I feel.
It's kind of like the way Native Americans looked at things, I guess; showing proper respect for the thing that died by making sure it's death is not carelessly thrown away, but that a purpose is served by that death. A deer, for instance; they would eat the meat, cure the hide to use it, the hooves would be used for glue, the bones and antlers for weapons and handles, some of the organs would be used for water sacks, and so on. Nothing about the death of the animal was careless, nothing was just thrown out. The animal was usually *thanked* for giving it's life for them, too.
Nothing wasted, ever; which I think is a big problem with our society today; everything is disposable; we throw out so much stuff; lots of it before it is necessary too, as well. People take a perfectly usable car, and trade it in for a new one. Same with furniture, appliances, clothing, and so on. tons of things that *could, should* be recycled, are just tossed in the garbage every day!
**edit**
I *really* wanted a honeycomb-type cereal last week, so I got a big bag of the generic. This was just like, a day or so before I stopped toying with the idea, and started thinking more along the lines of 'well if I'm gonna *do* this, I need to start figuring out what to get...'
Guess what? Malt_o_Meal generic Honeycomb type cereal, Honey Buzzers? well, they have honey in them, of course, but they contain 25% DV of B12, and 50% DV of Iron, in 1 1/3 cup, dry, and 26g carbs. So, 2 cups of this a day will be fine, and there's all my iron and half of my B12, lol!
My subconcious was planning ahead for me, I guess!
I can't really give up dairy products, I'd have to put a *lot* more thought into that, since I have issues with not getting enough calcium as it *is*, and I can not swallow pills, so I'll have to find some sort of chewable calcium supplement. They make a chewable centrum for adults, so I take those, lol; I'm sure if I look hard enough, I could find a chewable calcium one, too, but one step at a time.
Plus, I *like* cheese. I REALLY like cheese, a LOT, lol. the only reason cheese is not my favorite food? Is because pizza is, lol, which includes cheese! Cheese is something I have a very difficult time seeing myself going without *again*; I could not have dairy products until I was 5 or 6, due to allergies; I snuck a slice of cheese off of a party tray, and that's actually how we found out my allergy had...well, not exactly gone away, but greatly reduced to the point where I *could* have dairy products, anyway!
Anyway, the point of this post is, well, any suggestions for food? recipes, brand names, stuff like that? I've eaten Bocaburgers, and those aren't bad; I had some vegan salami for lunch; kind of bland, it reminds me more of cotto salami then actual salami, but hey, it's not bad, you know? Got some Morningstar fake bacon and sausage in the freezer for breakfast, too.
I haven't really *tried* most vegetables, I think; not since I was a kid, lol, and determined to hate them because I was being ordered to eat them, lol, so I'll try things a little bit at a time. I like romaine lettuce, and carrots, corn and greenbeans are ok, brocolli, well I tried it yesterday, and it didn't taste horrible...not sure I like it, lol, but it isn't absolutly disgusting like I remember, either.
Either way, I'm stuck with leather shoes; we have to buy our shoes from one of two companies for work, they have to be leather or vinyl. I'm looking to see of they offer any vinyl ones right now...if they have any, maybe I can afford to order them as soon as I get paid again? It'll probably be a lot, and tbh, I'm not going to throw the leather ones away, even if I *can* get vinyl ones. Why? Because I already bought them, and I feel that it's better to use them then to through them away; an animal might have died for them to be made, but isn't it more respectful to show I value the animal by using the shoes till they're worn out, and not just throw the animals' life away, since it died for the shoes? What can I say, that's the way I feel.
It's kind of like the way Native Americans looked at things, I guess; showing proper respect for the thing that died by making sure it's death is not carelessly thrown away, but that a purpose is served by that death. A deer, for instance; they would eat the meat, cure the hide to use it, the hooves would be used for glue, the bones and antlers for weapons and handles, some of the organs would be used for water sacks, and so on. Nothing about the death of the animal was careless, nothing was just thrown out. The animal was usually *thanked* for giving it's life for them, too.
Nothing wasted, ever; which I think is a big problem with our society today; everything is disposable; we throw out so much stuff; lots of it before it is necessary too, as well. People take a perfectly usable car, and trade it in for a new one. Same with furniture, appliances, clothing, and so on. tons of things that *could, should* be recycled, are just tossed in the garbage every day!
**edit**
I *really* wanted a honeycomb-type cereal last week, so I got a big bag of the generic. This was just like, a day or so before I stopped toying with the idea, and started thinking more along the lines of 'well if I'm gonna *do* this, I need to start figuring out what to get...'
Guess what? Malt_o_Meal generic Honeycomb type cereal, Honey Buzzers? well, they have honey in them, of course, but they contain 25% DV of B12, and 50% DV of Iron, in 1 1/3 cup, dry, and 26g carbs. So, 2 cups of this a day will be fine, and there's all my iron and half of my B12, lol!
My subconcious was planning ahead for me, I guess!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-02-08 11:35 pm (UTC)Tofurkey slices are good in sandwiches, and Morningstar makes some riblets that are yummy. Trader Joe's has vegetarian gyoza which is to die for, and tofu is not the enemy.
Also, you havetohavetohaveto start liking more vegetables. I've always loved 'em, but becoming vegetarian was what made me love all vegetables. Any vegetable is good if you cook it right (if you want tips, I has 'em), and they can provide a lot of the nutrients that meat has.
If you wind up sticking with vegetarianism, you'll need a B-12 and iron supplement, as it's hard to get the recommended amount without meat. The only non-meat source of B-12 is nutritional yeast, which you can find in Whole Foods. It's good on vegetables, and you use it to make scrambled tofu, which is A+ and a really good intro to tofu.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-09 01:43 am (UTC)Yeah, I have a trip to a GNC tomorrow, for nutritional yeast and stuff; the only store I could get to this weekend didn't carry it; I'd read that the nutritional yeast was pretty much a *staple* type of thing, something I'd def. need to get, along with tofu, and a good multivitamin...
no subject
Date: 2009-02-09 08:56 am (UTC)\o/ for getting useful stuff!
no subject
Date: 2009-02-09 12:34 am (UTC)A lot of new vegetarians have issues getting enough protein. It seems like most of the easy and tasty food out there is totally carb-filled like pasta and the like. So you've got to be careful about making sure you're eating protein. Lots of cottage cheese and yogurt and beans and things like that.
Another good way to use nutritional yeast is as a popcorn topping! It's super tasty that way. :D
no subject
Date: 2009-02-09 01:54 am (UTC)tbh, I think even if it takes a bit to get a decent diet sorted out, it can NOT be any worse for me then my old one! I've been living off Pepsi, and have maybe 2 of those little personal type frozen pizzas a day, if that. I don't get hungry, like, at all. I have to remind myself to eat, and have actually gone 2 full days without remembering to eat more than, say, a bowl of dry cereal. It's scary, to get light headed, and start trying to figure out why, only to realize I've had nothing but Pepsi for the past day and a half, you know?
If nothing else, even if I don't stick with this after this one week 'trial' period, I'll have notes on my eating, to try to make sure I get the iron, calcium, carbs, protein, and all that other stuff. since I'm *tracking* my diet, now, I can work of fixing those kinds of habits, and get myself on a more even keel, so to speak.