Anyone Here a Vegetarian?

So I've just started being a vegetarian for about 5 days now. My parents want to support me but they don't know where they can take me to restaurants or what to buy at the grocery store, and they don't know exactly why I am a vegetarian. To me, this is the equivalent to me coming out as gay--my mom has some serious fears about me starving when I was a child and she's worried I won't be healthy as a vegetarian--and my family eats meat every night and it is a big deal when my dad bbq's and we spend all summer bbq'ing.

I'm really nervous about talking to them about becoming a vegetarian because my mom is very judgmental and usually interrupts me to voice her opinion before I even finish what I have to say, and I haven't quite figured out the whole vegetarian thing--I've never gone out to a restaurant before as a vegetarian and haven't really thought of where to go. I know that instead of 5 Guys we could go to a burger place by my house that sells vegan burgers. I don't know what I would eat if we wanted to go to Chinese food if all I could eat is the hot and sour soup. Also, a big issue for me would be where my parents could buy groceries. Lucky's and Safeway has a small selection of vegetarian meals and the meat alternatives are not very tasty (which I know is an acquired taste), and I don't want to force my parents to drive around town to get vegetarian meals just for me.

I really don't want to make things too complicated, but I don't know how to make things simple.

I am going to be a Vegetarian from next year.

I became a vegetarian not too long ago back in the beginning of September. It was due to me having a sudden change in mind towards animals after receiving bloody and gory images of animals in my head, which made me break down and begin to cry in private after eating a steak or chicken mcnugget. The last straw for me was when I went to the Golden Corral buffet and was just overwhelmed about the choices of meat. I got all of the non-meat foods and felt devastated afterwards. My parents understood after I told them, and I was bought organic foods. I have been eating a lot of grain foods. I mostly eat pasta, cheese, toast with peanut butter, mushrooms, kale, fruits (mangos, peaches, bananas, and pears), and squash. I should be eating more greens though.

Best of luck in your vegetarianism!!

I've attempted to be a vegetarian a few years ago, as I'm very pro-animal rights. However, I never really lasted that long and got tempted to eat meat again. So that didn't happen.

While I'm not a vegetarian right now, I'm considering trying it again.

As for everything with your parents, best of luck, man. I'm sure it'll all work out. c:

I've been vegetarian on and off for most of my life. I'm currently eating meat and fish again for various reasons, but it's a temporary thing.

It sounds like your parents are just scared as they don't know what being a vegetarian is all about or what you can eat. I would recommend you go to a book store and buy a vegetarian cookbook - I don't know what would be available where you are but there are loads of good ones. Have a look online for recipes as well.

You can still enjoy barbecues. Aside from veggie sausages and veggie burgers, you can make really yummy vegetarian kebabs with things like bell peppers, mushrooms and halloumi cheese.

Why not have a look for recipes for things like Indian or Thai curry, pasta, lasagne, risotto, soups and stews - all things they will have heard of, just not eaten without meat - and try cooking something for yourself or even your whole family?

Personally one of my favourite foods is stir fry with whatever interesting vegetables I can find, tofu and some kind of interesting sauce.

Check out websites like Vegetarian Times - Great Food, Good Health, Smart Living which has loads of good ideas, recipes, tips, etc.

Also, this might help: 12 Frequently Asked Questions About the Vegetarian Diet | Ask Dr Sears® | The Trusted Resource for Parents

Chinese restaurants usually have a separate vegetarian listing like they do for fish fowl and meat mains. Try cold sesame noodles or vegetarian pot stickers. Fried tofu or sesame tofu is yummy, also garlic green beans.

At home, I've been cooking up a pot of quinoa, letting it cool, then making salads with it - just some baby kale and some yogurt blue cheese dressing and I'm good to go.

Also oatmeal is the bomb with raspberry yogurt on top. Just take it meal by meal.

I like to put the top of a portobello mushroom on the bbq along with everyone elses stuff and cook it eat it like a hamburger.

I was vegetarian for a very long time. The only reason I stopped being vegetarian was related to financial reasons (it was just easier to buy my family meat and not buy the vegetarian options for myself). You can definitely be healthy and be vegetarian!

There are MANY restaurants with vegetarian options. Spanish restaurants often have vegetarian options. Of course, at buffets like Golden Corral you choose what goes on your plate. So, there's always the option of a buffet, too. It was far from hard to find somewhere for me to eat. As most places these days either have vegetarian options or salads.

I ate many of the substitutes. Most of them are an acquired taste. But believe it or not, there are plenty of them that even my family loved. Morning Stars was my go to brand. They have the best tasting ones overall. If you can find them, the 'bacon' they make was always a hit with my family. The Asian veggie patties were always a hit among them, too. As well as the riblets, the hot and spicy sausage patties, and the spicy black bean burgers. Their lasagna was pretty good to me, too. Lightlife makes a few decent products. Their pepperonis are okay. Not anything to die for, but edible. Their lunch "meat" is about the most decent lunch "meat" you'll find vegan/vegetarian wise.

Tofu is hit or miss. Most people don't know how to prepare it right, so it turns out tasting rubbery or flavorless. The trick is to let the tofu absorb the flavor of the food. Tofu, when cooked properly, is a wonder food for vegetarians and vegans. If you've no experience cooking it, I wouldn't recommend eating it off the bat. You can make burgers using portobello mushroom. These are pretty decent. Um. That's about all I've got at the moment. A good starting place is simply finding vegetarian recipes online. There are plenty of them out there.

Oh, and if your parents ever do fast food... say Burger King. Most Burger King's now have a vegetarian burger on the menu. So you can still get a burger and fries.