Meet and Greet.

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Permalink Reply by Angie on July 24, 2008 at 8:10am

Alright, here's a little more about me...

I'm Angie, from Mahtomedi, MN. Yes, that's the name of our town. It's not THAT small, just sounds like it :) We're about 15 minutes from St. Paul and 20 minutes from Minneapolis and that's what keeps me sane.

I'd wanted to go veg for years but never could make it stick. Holidays would come, dinners out, parties, and rather than explain my lifestyle I thought it would be easier just to eat whatever was served and there would go that attempt.

Finally I made the full leap to veganism I think sometime in June? I really don't remember but I wish I did. It was either May or June. So far it's been fabulous and I don't think I'll ever go back to eating meat. I went vegan firstly because I was having a lot of digestion issues. They'd sent me to countless specialists and doctors and they just kept putting me on more and more meds and pretty much just telling me to learn to live with it. I was so miserable, I knew I couldn't do that. I listened to my body and figured out that my stomach pains were particularly bad after eating red meat and dairy, and I just decided to try eating a more vegan diet to see if that would help. I've never felt better. I'm off ALL my meds for the first time in a year, haven't had a SINGLE issue (I used to have daily severe cramping, stomach aches, constipation for up to a week at a time), and just generally feel amazing.

I also went vegan because the more I've been reading up on the treatment of animals and our ecosystem, I just don't need to contribute to the cruelty of animals or the poisoning of our environment. I can have a perfectly healthy diet without meat or dairy, so that's one small thing I can do to help.

And, lastly, the food is SO MUCH BETTER! I've had such a blast trying out new recipes, new foods, new cookbooks. The food is so fresh and clean, and I've lost that "bloated" feeling after I eat. I always feel pleasantly full but never stuffed. Love it.

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Permalink Reply by J. Ross on July 24, 2008 at 9:34am

I'm from NC. I have been a vegetarian a little over a year. This is probably going to get lengthy...

For me, it all started when my husband (who was 28 years old at the time) went to the doctor and found out that he had high cholesterol. It wasn't extremely high, not enough to warrant meds, but high enough that he needed to change his lifestyle. After seeing the list of foods that he didn't need to eat I began researching cholesterol. I found that (in case someone didn't already know :~P), your liver makes all the cholesterol that you need, and that the only other place we get cholesterol is animal/dairy products. We simply don't need the cholesterol we get from animal/dairy products. You know, 28 is SO young, and I don't want anything to happen to my husband anytime soon. Nor do I want my children to grow up and have all these health problems American is facing. Of course, my own health is important to me, too, but like most women I put my family first. So I made the switch, although I do have some dairy products (very limited). My family does still eat some meat, but I limit it tremendously...and I'm always trying to find new things that they will like that doesn't contain meat.

I've said before that I do not try to push my lifestyle on anyone and I expect the same respect from everyone else. I don't even try to push this on my husband and children really. I think eventually they will see what is really going on in America and see how much healthier I am because of this switch.

When I was a child I remember going to the grocery store with my mom and for the first time ever being able to see over the ledge of the meat counter...ugh...I was so grossed out. I hated meat. It really looked gross and I just couldn't believe we EAT that! Then when I got married and I actually had to cook (LOL) it was G.R.O.S.S.! Looking back I can see why becoming a vegetarian was easy for me.

Like Angie said...the food...WOW...so yummy and I get so much more variety now than I ever did! Plus I'm so much more willing to try new things. It has been quite a journey to switch, but I'm so incredibly happy that I did and I could never go back.

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Permalink Reply by Amanda (formerly Grace) on July 24, 2008 at 11:31am

Hi everyone! I'm Grace and I live in Dallas, Tx. I have been a vegetarian for 5 years. My husband is veg too so that's really nice. I remember when I was in middle school telling one of my friends that she "had" to eat meat or else she would get sick. I've changed a lot since then. Years later another friend and I stopped eating meat together to see if we could do it. She fell off the bandwagon pretty quick but I started doing research. I learned all about factory farms and all of the atrocities that animals go through. Whenever people would ask me "WHY ARE YOU VEGETARIAN?" like they thought I was a freak, I would talk about the factory farms. Now I'm to the point where I couldn't handle eating meat even if I knew the slaughtering process was humane.

I prefer to lead by example (I'm not extremely vocal)- because when I really think about how disgusting it is that most of my family and friends still eat meat I get really upset. So- I just do the best I can. I've tried to go vegan 4+ times but I'm still struggling with the willpower to avoid my favorite binge foods. I am also allergic to nuts, some kinds of soy, fake meat, chocolate, a lot of preservatives (MSG), and caffeine. I love fruits and vegetables and it's always so nice to talk with other vegetarians!

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Permalink Reply by Vicki on August 11, 2008 at 1:36pm

Hello, my name is Vicki and I am from Ohio. I am not quite vegetarian but I am trying my hardest to become vegetarian. I have been on and off this diet for the last year or so. My brother is vegan and that's what opened my eyes to the whole idea. I am an animal lover and it really grosses me out to know that I ate something that was living. I also like the veggie diet because it's great for your health if you do it the right way. My friends and family look at me like I am crazy when I order something vegetarian. I don't really voice my opinions on the whole idea and I just let people think what they want to think.

I am at the point now where it grosses me out to touch meat. I usually substitute meat with beans and grains. However, I am finding it hard to find easy recipes with little ingredients. I am glad I found this group because I think with the support I can stay on track.

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Permalink Reply by Janice on September 28, 2008 at 2:32pm

I am Janice, from Ohio. I am a wannabe. I know that it is probably healthier for me to eat vegetarian but I cannot see myself never eating chicken again. My boyfriend and I have cut out almost all processed foods since he had some heart problems a little over a year ago. I still eat chicken, turkey and fish but I have switched to soy milk (which was a big step for me). I hope that I can get some good ideas from the group.

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Permalink Reply by Christine Barr on October 22, 2008 at 1:10am

hi everyone! im new here. i have been a vegetarian for 10+ yrs, battling with my weight even though im a veggie has not been easy. ive been on and off vegan for last year or so. i am 45, married and my meat-and-potato loving (who DOESN'T love potatoes??) hubby just turned veggie 4 mos ago!! woo hoo!!! makes things so much easier. now i can share my fav veg restaurant with him, which he wants to eat there at least once a week! ok, back to me, im 130 lbs from goal. been on WW core plan for just about 3 weeks, joined with a girlfriend, and we both love it. it's so easy for me, i hate to say that, don't wanna jinx myself! :) i lost 5 lbs first week, 2 lbs second week. weigh in is thurs afternoon. anyway i started to blog about it when i joined so my partner at WW could keep tabs on me. i have loads of fav blogs i frequent, but current fav is fatfreevegan. i have been visiting that blog for a long time now, and just realized she indicates CORE recipes! very cool! so anyhow, i am from the San Francisco bay area, born there, lived here my whole life. never been out of the state :( i am an animal lover, i love taking care of elderly people, my grandbaby, my hubby, my girls, love to sleep, making soap, playing on my mac, get tattoos, listening to loud rock, listening to silence, laughing and loving, enjoy being lazy and enjoying every moment of life.... because it's all going by way too fast. looking forward to this new time in my life when i get healthier and take up running marathons!! hehe. i joined this group for added support. WW is not too vegetarian-friendly, at least not in the meetings, and since most people there seem to think im an oddity ('fat vegetarian' does not make sense to some- go figure), it would be nice to have support from those with the same goals i have, and perhaps to learn a thing or two.

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Permalink Reply by Rachel on December 14, 2008 at 11:15am

Hi everyone - my name is Rachel. I'm originally from Chicago and currently living in Tennessee. I was never really much of a meat-eater. Even when I was little I would get grossed out if my food looked like it had been a part of an animal (i.e. had bones, skin, etc.) I would eat neat little white cubes of chicken and maybe fish sticks. I remember eating hot dogs and hamburgers. I stopped eating red meat the summer I turned 13. I was on a school trip to France and whatever we were being served looked disgusting, so a friend and I decided to 'declare' that we 'don't eat that' :) LOL! The funniest part is that it stuck! And both of us became 100% vegetarian 2 years later and still are to this day. (I'm 30)

I became vegetarian because, at the time, I thought it was unethical to eat animals when I could be healthy without it. I'm from the city, so I didn't grow up with hunting a natural part of my life, and I've always been very, very sensitive to animal issues. Now, I don't believe that it's 'wrong' to eat animals, but I am personally uncomfortable with the factory-style animal production industry. And I know vegetarian lifestyles can be the better eco-friendly choice as well as a great healthy lifestyle.

The problem is, I haven't been living a very healthy lifestyle. I've been heavier than I wanted to be my entire teen-adult life, but for most of it that meant I was 135-140 pounds and a size 10 (I'm 5'3"). But in the past few years I've gained more weight up to 176 and a size 16-18. Way too heavy for my small frame. Vegetarianism isn't healthy if you just replace meat with sugar and bread (or whatever).

So now I've joined Weight Watchers and feel good about it. I've also started a blog as an online journal and that's helping me stay accountable (rachelshealthquest.blogspot.com). I recently found Blog to Lose and am hoping to meet like-minded folks on a similar mission. See you soon!

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