Part-Time Vegetarians

I'll have to say that the notion that Vegetarianism or Veganism is healthier is a misnomer. I have known plenty of fat vegan or vegetarian people.

i am a vegetarian, by choice. i discipline myself and trained myself. there are many kinds of vegetarians. they became vegetarians because of the advice of their Doctors, they are sick. there are vegetarians because they join a religious cult that forbids eating animal meat, but still drink dairy milk or eat cheese. I always tell them that they are not vegetarians, because vegetarians (some people say,VEGANS) eat only vegetable products. Vegetarians DO NOT EAT ANIMAL PRODUCTS. PEOPLE WHO EAT DAIRY PRODUCTS AND VEGETABLES ARE CALLED LACTO VEGETARIANS. PEOPLE WHO EAT EGGS AND VEGETABLES ARE CALLED OCTO VEGETARIANS..

to whom it may concern: i am a vegetarian for 30 years now. i eat only veges. i do not eat any kind of animal products. my blood pressure is constant 120/80 or sometimes less. i have a normal blood chemestry test. march 09 test. cholesterol, uric acid, rbs, triglycerides,sgpt and sgot. i am a sixty three years, 5'5'', 64 kgs. 32'' wl.,man. still all functional manhood, with out any aid of vitamins. i have a vegetarian dogs and cat I have many kinds of vegetarians cook book.
for fancy vegetarian food. but i prefer fresh vegetables and fruits. i eat vegetables, normally fresh or just one minute dip of a boiling water. just to remove bacteria.I eat seaweeds salad with green mangoes,tomatoes and unions.
any body who are interested to learn vege menus. just. send email. junn_sc@yahoo.com. its free.
chief engr. capuno,js jr.psr-ph-01. manila.philippines

As a vegan I try my best to embrace people when they embrace some aspect of a vegetarian diet.

However, it???s the type of comments in the article that make me roll my eyes.

" without having to follow the strict rules,"
I don???t follow strict rules. I don???t eat animal stuff, it???s that simple.

???but it's just too darn hard to do it 100 percent of the time."
It???s only hard if you are illiterate and can???t read ingredients or you can???t speak the language to ask questions and make requests in a restaurant.

???you have soy milk??? veggie burgers in the frozen section??? and tubs of tofu sitting there???
Right, all vegans eat are soy milk and frozen veggie burgers and of course ???tubs of tofu,??? which makes it sound oh so appetizing. Please.

???instead of going whole hog???so to speak.???
Yuk, yuk. Animal puns in an article about vegetarianism, how typical.

???Blatner disagrees with the meat-is-immoral crowd.???
I wouldn???t phrase it as ???meat-is-immoral??? but since Blatner doesn???t understand vegetarianism, that???s why it???s so difficult for her and many wannabe vegetarians who don???t get it, and don???t try to get it. It???s not rocket science, it???s fairly easy to grasp.

???she [Madison] indulges in meat about once a week.???
For me, there is no ???indulgence??? in meat. If you want to make a plant based cook book, go ahead, but don???t call it vegetarian if you don???t agree with what vegetarianism is. Call it flexitarian or plant based cooking or something, that way you don???t have to say ???I don???t agree with vegetarianism,??? every time you discuss your book.

???[Katzen] indulging in occasional bites of her mom's brisket.???
Yawn.

"I'm very happy that people can make the definition of 'vegetarian' be a positive statement about vegetables rather than a negative statement about meat???'I don't eat this, and I don't eat that.' I'm sick and tired of the no's."
Being vegan or vegetarian is a positive statement and not merely an obsession with what you eat. I???m sick and tired of ???vegetarian??? cook book authors missing the point of vegetarianism.

???Many former vegetarians turn to fish or meat because they feel they need more protein.???
Yeah, former vegetarians that never really were vegetarians. ???Feeling??? that you need nutritional nonsense speak. There are plenty of vegan athletes and vegan bodybuilders, and you can get plenty of protein from plant sources. For vegetarians, they still incorporate eggs and dairy so the ???I can???t get enough protein??? line is even more absurd. If you want to eat fish, than eat it, don???t make up some BS.

???[Petersen] she wasn't getting enough protein from veggie burgers.???
Again with veggie burgers! Shut up about veggie burgers! I mostly eat veggie burgers in the summer when I want to put something patty shaped on a grill. I don???t go around saying that all meat eaters only eat hamburgers!

I don???t mind criticism about vegetarianism, but ple

Woostermon, the reason 10 billion land animals are raised killed for food each year is because we breed them. To be specific, we artificially inseminate them. There is absolutely nothing "natural" about the reproductive practices on modern farms. The reason cows won't take over the world if we stop eating them is the same reason Gap t-shirts won't take over the world: demand creates supply.

animals reproduce!!!! if the world stopped eating meat, what would we do with the over population of cows, pigs, etc. or shall we start fixing them?

My husband and I started Flexie last September. I lost 7 lbs and he lost 3 lbs. However, we have gone down a size in clothing. We think we are eating too many carbs with this. I need a good cookbook. Any ideas?

I started flexitarianism last September and am writing all the good recipes I find in a notebook. I will go to the libaray today to see what they have. My husband joined me. We are trying to get our LDL and his trigs down to normal.We to to the doctor's again in February. This will tell if we are doing the right thing. However, I think we eat too many carbs. I wish I could find a good cookbook regarding this program.

Thank you for this article. It is heartening to know that a growing number of people are seeing the benefits of vegetarian food. A vegetarian diet is beneficial for health, the environment and the animals.

I thank those who respect vegetarianism and flexitarianism whether for moral or health or both reasons, and I believe that people should be able to call themselves whatever the hell they want. None of you has a monopoly on any dietary label or moral category. If one wants to be "vegan" on Tuesday and a "carnivore" on Wednesday, that's his or her own business. Everyone else should just shut up. Especially the annoying self-righteous folks who feel they wrote the dictionary on non-omnivorous dietary practices. For the record, the majority of people on the Indian subcontinent have historically been omnivores without contradicting Hindu religious teachings. The popularity of vegetarianism has spread in India as it has spread throughout the rest of the world, which itself is in large part--do not doubt this--because of wider options, improved storage and transportation, and greater capacity for processing vegetable-based products.

It's about balance. What iritates me is when I say no thank you to meat, someone will insist by putting a piece of steak or whatever in front of me and insist that I am missing out. Cooking a vegetarian meal [ not talking salad here] is a lot more creative than slapping a piece of meat on the grill. How many times have I heard " oh that looks funny" after I've knocked myself out making a vegetarian dish. People won't even taste it. before judging. Ever notice how the meat eating animals [lion etc.] lay around all day sleeping while the vegetarians [deer etc.] have more energy?] I have no problem if someone wants to eat their steak or hamburger, just don't sit there and tell me what I'm missing, insisting that I'm not nourished because I make different choices. I'm just thankful there are enough choices on the table or menu for all, without anyone having to defend what they choose to eat.

It's about balance. What iritates me is when I say no thank you to meat, someone will insist by putting a piece of steak or whatever in front of me and insist that I am missing out. Cooking a vegetarian meal [ not talking salad here] is a lot more creative than slapping a piece of meat on the grill. How many times have I heard " oh that looks funny" after I've knocked myself out making a vegetarian dish. People won't even taste it. before judging. Ever notice how the meat eating animals [lion etc.] lay around all day sleeping while the vegetarians [deer etc.] have more energy?] I have no problem if someone wants to eat their steak or hamburger, just don't sit there and tell me what I'm missing, insisting that I'm not nourished because I make different choices. I'm just thankful there are enough choices on the table or menu for all, without anyone having to defend what they choose to eat.

There are those of us vegan vegetarians who get sick (low energy occurs) upon even smelling cooked meat or fowl, especially pork. If eating dairy products and eating any type meat gives one a stomach ache (as it does me), it would be foolish to partake of it. I, personally don't care what others eat nor should others care what I eat. True friends accept each other - not make fun or judge us because our bodies require different sustance. Thanksgiving is supposed to be more than eating the "traditional meal" - is it not? Isn't it about giving thanks for all the abundance we had all year which includes jobs, good health, food, shelter, clothing, good friends and family?

My daughter and her boyfriend are both vegitarians and I respect them for it. For thanksgiving last year she made a vegitarian meal and it was excellent. Her boyfriend's Mother and her friend were also present, so they brought a pre-cooked chicken from the local deli. No one objected, and we had a happy thankful time. Last week I drove to the mountains to meet my daughter and her boyfriend for the day. We had lunch at a vegitarian restaurant, and I enjoyed it. For dinner we went to a four-star eatery where a vegitarian menu was available for them, and I enjoyed a salmon filet. Comprimise is important for understanding and harmony. I'm glad I'm a 'flexitarian" and thank Newsweek for the term. Russ in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

i have been a vegetarian for almost a year now. It was a gradual process of becoming more aware of nutrition and becoming more in tune with how certain foods make you and your body feel. I have had an easty time eliminating red meat and them on to chicken and eventually eliminating fish. The whole process took a few years. I also have hypogycemia and have no trouble maintaining my sugar levels with a vegetarien diet.. I think that if you are a true vegetarian the thought of eating turkey or any other animal will hopefully strengthen you enough to make new traditions. Thanksgiving does cause friction within my traditional, ham and turkey eating family. While baffeled they have accepted my decision. with all of the options on the dinner table filling your plate and inevitably getting stuffed should be an easy task at hand. I try to emphasize the importance of being together and focusing on all the things we are thankful for! Lets keep the focus on what this holiday represents and not get caught up in a thanksgiviing fight trying to explain the harms to the environment by meat eaters,, and try to express our love and thankfulness to our families!

If you eat meat, you are not vegetarian. I think it's good that people are cutting back on animal products, but you can't label yourself vegetarian if you eat meat. It's best to say "I eat a mostly vegetarian diet, but do eat meat at Thanksgiving, etc." To anyone vegetarian or vegan, good for you. To anyone eating less meat, keep it up, you will feel and look better as long as your vegetarian choices are healthy. To those who eat fish and chicken and call yourselves vegetarian, you aren't. But eating less read meat is always a plus. Keep it up!

The title of the article says it all.
Lets just put it like this.. If you are a "REAL" vegetarian or vegan, I promise you... You do not want to eat meat for Thanksgiving. The very thought and feel of it in your mouth can make you extremely sick once you've drank the cool-aid so to speak. Yippee for Vegans and vegetarians!!! I'm extremely glad that I became one and saw the light.

Americans are the fattest people on Earth and consume 1 Million animals every hour. Therefore, I consider any attempt to cut back on eating meat progress.

Personally I do not eat meat or dairy products because I find it cruel and unhealthy as well as a detriment to our environment. I DO however find this article very inspiring because I know most people won't turn completely vegetarian (not in my lifetime anyway). Old habits are hard to bust and when meat is the fast convenient food (laden with addictive salt and grease) offered on every street corner in America it will take awhile for the general public to catch up. Since becoming completely vegan I haven't been to a doctor in years and feel so much better all the time. No constipation, I don't battle fat and I have lots of energy. Eat too much meat now and spend your "golden" years in a hospital or taking pills every day OR eat vegetarian, feel better and spend your savings on the Bahamas instead of a hospital bed!

I am HAPPY to hear about more "flexitarians"...any reduction in meat consumption is a good thing and will in some way lessen suffering of animals and will help the environment. Power to the flexitarians and please remember next time you skip that burger you are doing a good thing for yourself, the animals and the Earth. It takes 100 gallons of water to produce ONE pound of beef! A lot to moo about