Getting out of the meat game. Need your help.

[Julie]

You need to get one kind of protein from beans and legumes and another kind of protein from whole grains. If you aren't vegan, then you can also eat cheese and eggs.

[JonFromMaplewood]

Wow. You are all stellar.  Thank you for your advice and support (and feel free to keep it coming!). 

It's strange how the decision to do this came out of nowhere...in a Pizza Hut in Roswell, NM of all places.  No big proclamation. No fanfare.  I just said to myself, "Enough."

We'll see how it goes.

[thecramedog]

Jon, please don't turn your back on Pizza Hut.  You can get new Tuscani Pasta products in Pizza Huts across the country.  They're so good, you'll start calling america's favorite restaurant: "PASTA HUT"!!  Our creamy alfredo is completely vegetarian and you'll be licking your lips for more and more.  Al dente to the max, mister.  Don't forget to pick up some of those delicious breadsticks for dessert, appetizer, or in-between-bite cozy!  Pizza Hut supports the decision to go veggie; let's support Pizza Hut's decision to market new and "alternative" products just for you and those like-minded consumers.




[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9lvzzH0STw[/youtube][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hBPudDANZ4[/youtube][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwRjdYTYrKk[/youtube][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH0nSKgJKJk[/youtube]

[masterofsparks]

so you probably already know that you don't need as much protein as we've been led to believe that we do (only 35 g or so a day, which i knock out before dinner), and that lots of foods that you don't normally think of as protein sources have buckets of protein, like oatmeal.

If I may interject into this discussion...

I recently stopped eating meat as well and have been trying to figure out how much protein I need. joanna says we need 35 g or so a day, but the article & chart erika posted earlier says we need about .36 g of protein per pound of body weight. I weigh somewhere around 210 lbs (I'm tall and broad-framed, so no FOTchan posts about what a fatty I am, please), which translates to about 75 g per day. There's a pretty big difference between those two figures, so which is correct?

Thanks for any help with this.

[joanna]

both are right. i only need 35 g a day because i only consume about 1800 calories a day. you probably consume somewhere around 2500 calories a day and need around 70 g. i should have expressed protein needs as a percentage rather than in grams, i'm sorry.

either way, the average american consumes more than 150% of his RDA of protein, so i think that if you tracked your protein grams for a day, you'd find that you were getting plenty of protein. when i was pregnant, i had to eat 80 g a day and had no problem doing so.

[Oogie]

my sister is a veggie nutritionist and she said that soy makes the mans bits shrink up or something just FYi

S[brains=100swrls]OY = DEATH[/brains]

[Sarah]

There are all kinds of horror stories about soy.

[mokin]

Don't write off soy completely. It's just like anything else: it's only bad for you if you overdo it. Eat it in moderation and you should be fine. The problem is that it's been touted as a miracle superfood and now studies are showing that it's not, which is making people freak out.

It does, however, make you gay.

[joanna]

as a side note: those who are new vegetarians, i think you'll be amused that the people who ask about whether you're meeting your protein needs are people who typically don't meet any of their daily nutritional needs. i don't know why this is or why they fail to see the hypocrisy of their questions. but it always struck me as hilarious when someone would get a serious face and say, "but are you getting enough protein as a vegetarian?" and i had to defend my diet when i knew for a fact that all that person had eaten that day was beer, licorice, two egg rolls, and a pop tart.

[mokin]

Yeah, but they were organic pop tarts! Totally healthy.

[ughwhy]

I can vouch for Joanna's cookbook; it is good stuff. I'm a vegetarian (going on 8 years) but not a vegan but I love vegan cooking. Like vegetarianism in general, it encourages you to re-examine things you've taken for granted and come out the other side a lot smarter and savvier. 

[senorcorazon]

As long as you try to have a varied diet and make sure to include leafy greens, whole grains, and less-processed foods you're probably at a better point than most meat eaters. I tend to also throw in a little Bragg's when I'm cooking for the hell of it and as a soy sauce alternative. Tempeh is great, but hard to absorb flavor until it's warm, so it's good in things that bake for a while. Lower Manhattan has a good number of restaurants, but you don't have to just go to strictly vegetarian spots - there are plenty of places that will offer up good veggie options.

[JonFromMaplewood]

One month and counting. So far, so good.  The only thing I am really craving is sushi. The sushi thing is harder than other meats because it does not have the "bad for you" side of it(aside from the New York sushi with mercury thing  ).

I am sure I am healthier because of the removal of meat from my diet, but I still eat junk food...like soda, chips, etc.  I need to get that under control before I start feeling like The Mighty Hercules.

[JonFromMaplewood]

Forgot to mention...If you live in Northern Jersey, my wife and I went to a Thai restaurant last night in Montclair called Tuptim. The food was pretty good, but what was awesome was that they hand out a separate vegetarian menu along with the standard menu.  I was very impressed.

http://www.tuptimthaicuisine.com/

[yesno]

you really really should read "in defense of food."