Friday, October 3, 2008

Going Vegetarian.

Okay, so I need to save money. I love the environment. I wish to slim down. I want to take care of my health. If there is one lifestyle change which would be possible for me to do to execute all of those above, what would that be? That would be to go – Vegetarian! Okay, as I had researched through several blogsites and health websites, I realized there are several categories of vegetarians:

From The Fast Guide For Vegetarians & Vegans:

SEMI-VEGETARIAN:
The term semi-vegetarian is usually used to describe someone who is a vegetarian who consumes dairy products, eggs, chicken, and fish, but does not consume other animal flesh.

OVO-LACTO-VEGETARIAN:
Ovo-lacto vegetarians are vegetarians who do not consume meat, poultry, fish, and seafood, but do consume eggs and milk. This is the largest group of vegetarians.

OVO-VEGETARIAN:
Ovo-vegetarian is a term used to describe someone who would be a vegan if they did not consume eggs.

LACTO-VEGETARIAN:
Lacto-vegetarian is a term used to describe someone who would be a vegan if they did not consume milk.

VEGAN:
Vegan is the strictest sub-category of vegetarians. Vegans do not consume any animal products or by-products. Some go as far as not even consuming honey and yeast. Others do not wear any clothing made from animal products.

Important: Take some time to figure out for yourself, what group you will
belong to when you become a vegetarian. You will want to consider both dietary
and ethical reasons for choosing this lifestyle.



As far as my understanding of soya bean milk goes (someone correct me if I am wrong), it does not contain animal stuff inside. So I will substitute milk with soya bean milk. I know I will need some protein, therefore I will stick with eggs. So that makes me a Lacto-Vegetarian! I do know I will have a surmountable amount of meat cravings being quite heavy on that, but several sites on the net assured me that once I started I will find the taste of meat to be under control to a point within a few months, meat would not really matter to me. I may even find it disgusting! The results will be in a few months.

In addition to that, I decided to completely cut off my carbohydrates. I really do find myself unable to control my weight once I eat rice. And there is something about rice that makes me sleepy. So I believe good things would come out of this diet. In the meantime, I am going to eat my last rice and meat meal for supper. And I realized one thing too, a rice and meet meal would cost approximately RM 5.50 to RM 7.50. But a nice fulfilling spinach egg soup would only cost RM 4.00. So here I go on my humble veggie journey. Will let you all know the progress of this veggie diet incrementally. So here I go!
.

3 comments:

Ephilei said...

I'm also a vegetarian - seem to be lot among trans people. I'd advise switching and keep the milk but ditch the eggs. Just because milk tends to be cheaper than milk substitutes and is much healthier than eggs and both have protein. You may want to do some research about how well you can digest cows milk tho, if you go that route. Many people can't metabolize cows milk which means all the vitamins and protein is wasted. It's genetic, so it partly depends on your race. I know among African-Americans it's only 50% and even lower among Africans.

Using beans is both a cheaper and healthier for protein anyway. Best of luck!

petersontoscano said...

Yuki, I am a vegan and I LOVE this diet. I have been vegan since early 2002. It keeps me healthy, relatively trim (if I don't binge on rice) and is great for the skin.

Tofu (bean curd) can be used many ways and is often inexpensive (especially bought fresh in Asian markets in the US). I have been very happy with this diet.

Yuki Choe said...

Bean curd is also inexpensive here. Tastes good with Oyster Sauce too. Just had one after your suggestion. But I am trying to cut out rice from my diet. I believe I am getting too dependent on it. :P