Advice from vegan/vegetarian/semi-vegetarian Catholics

[TK421]

I’m playing around with a pescatarian diet (fish/eggs/plants) right now. Here’s some general questions if you’d like to share your own insights and experiences

1. How do you plan your meals? Do you have certain foods you eat a lot more often than others?
2. Do you ever get cravings for beef/chicken/pork? I’m told that after so long, your digestive system adapts to your new diet, and some of these richer foods will naturally become too much for comfort. How long did this process take for you?
3. Do you ever get or feel ostracized because of your diet? Contempt, annoyance, etc., from others, even if you don’t at all advertise yourself?
4. What changes did you notice in your life? Positive/negative.

Thanks guys. Peace.

 

[Alexander]

1. I don’t plan meals a whole lot ahead of time. Eating a vegan diet I just have normal breakfast cereal or fruit, always a salad for lunch. Dinner is the main planning however soups and stir fry is simple because you can use anything in the fridge.
2. I got over cravings fairly quick. A lot of food I ate was delicious so I enjoyed my diet just as much as I would enjoy meat. If I eat some meat it really doesn’t taste the same anymore. It doesnt have as much flavor as I remember. It also feels a lot heavier in my gut.
3. it’s difficult eating with family as they try to persuade me to break my diet. I feel like a burden when they want to cook for me but they have to jump through hoops to make it edible. Sometimes I eat it not to be rude.

4)i’ve noticed many positive changes. My energy throughout my day is consistent. I think when eating large meaty meals you get a burst of energy during the digestive process. With the changes I made I don’t get that sudden burst but rather its a stream of constant energy. I also feel closer with my spiritual side during meditation. I’ve lost a lot of weight but seem to retain my strength. Stomach aches and sloppy bowel movements are a thing of the past. Overall I could list many more benefits. Negative wise I would say eating out requires a lot of thought in picking a place and ordering.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Semi-vegetarian here. I’d say about half the days of the week I don’t eat meat. I do include fish, eggs, and dairy in my diet.

How do you plan your meals? Do you have certain foods you eat a lot more often than others?

I rarely plan much of anything. I just decide what I want to eat on a certain day and if all goes well, I proceed to eat it. Sometimes I plan maybe 2 days in advance…that’s about the extent of my ability to plan anything.

Do you ever get cravings for beef/chicken/pork? I’m told that after so long, your digestive system adapts to your new diet, and some of these richer foods will naturally become too much for comfort. How long did this process take for you?

Very occasionally I get such a craving. I believe for me it’s often a sign of an iron or protein deficiency. if you’re only doing semi-veg then you will probably not get to the point of your body not being able to eat these foods, but rather you just won’t want them as much and certain preparations of them may turn your stomach if the preparation is really fatty. Usually if I just eat some reasonably lean meat without a lot of gravy or sauce, it’s not a problem, but if you haven’t been eating fatty Chinese or chicken wings with BBQ sauce for a while and you all of a sudden have them, then you better be prepared for some bathroom visits.

Do you ever get or feel ostracized because of your diet? Contempt, annoyance, etc., from others, even if you don’t at all advertise yourself?

No, I have a lot of veg friends and even if I didn’t, food is one area where the only person permitted to butt into my choices is my doctor. I have a past history from my youth involving food, and I am really militant about this issue. If anyone had the nerve to fuss at me over what I ate, I’d be the one ostracizing them in about 1 minute.

At the same time, I don’t tend to bring up the subject of food and don’t do a lot of socializing where the food is the main event, nor do I have many friends who are foodies, health food nuts, or into cooking.

What changes did you notice in your life? Positive/negative.

Positive:
Veg food is often lower in fat and therefore is less upsetting to my stomach than having meat every day.
I discovered a lot of awesome ethnic foods that are vegetarian and taste very, very good.
I also discovered a lot of tasty salads and such.
Vegetarian food has come a long way since I was in college, when “vegetarian” was usually some vile bulgur or sprouts slop, and the people who ate it were usually annoying hippies. Now it’s just food.

Negative:
I have to be really careful about my iron level. I like beans, especially black beans, but I don’t (and don’t want to) consume enough of them to make up for lack of red meat. i take iron pills, and eating bread can help also, but some days it’s not enough.

I also have to be careful about my protein level, especially when for some reason I am cutting my dairy intake down. Insufficient protein causes me to feel overly hungry, overly anxious, and sometimes just ill in general.

 

[Clare]

Takeaway cravings are the only ones I get sometimes, however that’s more because I am craving junk food rather than the actual takeaway food.

 

[Talitha712]

I’m not on any of these diets, but I had a vegan roommate.

1). She did a lot of planning. She bought vegan cookbooks, how-to-substitute-for-this-food type books, and planned out her dinners for the next seven days at the start of each week. She had a full physical done before starting and planned with a nutritionist at ShopRite for ideas (the first time she attempted this diet made her sick, so she was very careful the second time around.) And she kept certain foods available, especially nuts and sweet potatoes.

2). Yes, she had cravings in the beginning. But she said she got so used to her diet meat became less appetizing. It took about three months.

3). Yes, she was teased about it. She got all kinds of unsolicited advice and more than one attempt to get her to eat meat or diary. And once when we were at a restaurant, she ordered a salad and since they were short on ingredients it was literally a plate of lettuce. Rather than apologize or try to figure something out for her, the waiter told her she was free to eat the lawn if she got hungry.

4). She lost weight and has more energy. She is very happy about it. It’s not for me personally, but I’m glad she’s doing well with it.
The only negative things she found were the expense, the impact on her social life (it’s hard sometimes to handle invitations out), and the initial struggle of planning what to eat and how to stay healthy.

 

[ATraveller]

It’s best to consult a doctor or nutritionist because some individuals do lack certain nutrients. As Tis_Bearself mentioned, iron is one among a number of nutrients that some vegetarians do struggle with. Plant-based iron sources are apparently harder for the intestines to absorb than those from red meat or certain seafood.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

And once when we were at a restaurant, she ordered a salad and since they were short on ingredients it was literally a plate of lettuce. Rather than apologize or try to figure something out for her, the waiter told her she was free to eat the lawn if she got hungry.

One does need to make sure one goes to veg-friendly restaurants. There are a good number of these to choose from for vegetarians, but it gets harder to find one if you are vegan, and also sometimes harder if you are not in a city with a lot of restaurants. In general, I find that one shouldn’t go to a particular restaurant and order something that’s really different from what they normally serve - for instance, don’t go to a steak or burger place and try to order veg food; don’t go to a seafood restaurant and try to order chicken. Anything out of the ordinary for a restaurant is usually pretty bad. Asking them to leave certain ingredients out is also usually a bad strategy because they often either forget or get hostile about the special request.

 

[Talitha712]

Absolutely! We were travelling abroad at the time, and it became clear before long that it was going to be impossible for her to stick to a vegan diet where we were. She had to adapt and went semi-vegetarian for the rest of the trip.