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If you (and your friends) don't consume any dairy and you don't eat any meat - you are vegan not vegetarian. So why do you keep referring to yourself/your friends as vegetarian rather than vegan - again, the difference between vegans and vegetarians is that vegans eat no animal products and vegetarians do. You can't have it both ways.
If you (and your friends) don't consume any dairy and you don't eat any meat - you are vegan not vegetarian. So why do you keep referring to yourself/your friends as vegetarian rather than vegan - again, the difference between vegans and vegetarians is that vegans eat no animal products and vegetarians do. You can't have it both ways.
We are not as concerned with definitions. We also don't turn away something we like if it has a trace of honey or some other animal product. In the stores around here there are vegetarian entrees and vegan ones. If we like it we buy it. We just don't consume dairy, meat, fish or chicken as the source of protein. If there's a trace of something in a product, so be it. We don't exclude to the point of being vegan only.
More importantly for the OP than getting hung up on definitions, start slow and progress at your own speed. You will find the results you want in time as well as a much better overall level of health for the long term.
If you (and your friends) don't consume any dairy and you don't eat any meat - you are vegan not vegetarian.
This isn't true, veganism is more than just a diet. Being vegan means you avoid the use of animal based products as a whole including but not limited to what you put in your mouth. Many vegetarians limit dairy and egg intake but still aren't vegan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saigafreak
Vegetarianism is fine. Lots of butter and coconut oil for your necessary saturated fat, nuts/avocados.
There is no such thing as "necessary saturated fat", saturated fat isn't an essential nutrient and there is no daily recommended intake of saturated fat. The only essential fats are omega-6 and omega-3.
Lots of butter and coconut oil will make for a nutrition poor vegetarian diet.....a real bad idea.
As for the OP, in today's world merely going vegetarian isn't going to necessarily translate into weight loss since there are so many vegetarian junk foods. You need to follow a healthy diet in general which can be done whether you're vegetarian or eating a little meat. Though being vegetarian may make it a bit easier since many of the worst foods contain meats.
I looked on 4 separate definition sites at the "definition" of vegan vs. vegetarian. Each one stated that someone who eats no animal products is a vegan. One site added in one of their definitions that a vegan could also choose not to use animal products. Each site also stated that vegetarians eat dairy products.
You can eat vegan without embracing the philosophy that one should use no animal products - I outlined all of this in a previous post.
Labels are important - I beg to differ - if you eat a certain way, you should at least understand what diet plan you are using - once again - a vegan eats no animal products. A vegan may also decide not to use any products derived from an animal. A vegetarian may consume one or more animal product not derived from killing an animal.
As far as the OP is concerned - it doesn't matter whether she chooses to eat a vegan diet or a vegetarian diet, but having been both vegan and vegetarian, I would say that it is easier to eat vegetarian than vegan.
I looked on 4 separate definition sites at the "definition" of vegan vs. vegetarian. Each one stated that someone who eats no animal products is a vegan.
Go to the website of any vegan group and you'll find that veganism is more than just a diet. Someone that eats a vegan diet but is otherwise not vegan is known as a "strict vegetarian".
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Originally Posted by Cattknap
A vegan may also decide not to use any products derived from an animal.
There is no "may" here, a vegan does not use animal products:
"Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose."
You're being nit-picky about definitions yet you're getting the definition of vegan wrong. What you're talking about is vegetarian vs strict-vegetarian. Then again, you use to call yourself vegan despite eating fish......
There is no such thing as "necessary saturated fat", saturated fat isn't an essential nutrient and there is no daily recommended intake of saturated fat. The only essential fats are omega-6 and omega-3.
It's not that saturated fat is essential. It's the lauric acid and MCTs that promote heart and skin health.
Quote:
Lots of butter and coconut oil will make for a nutrition poor vegetarian diet.....a real bad idea.
Recent evidence not funded by shills like McDougall and Ornish or soy lobbyists disagree. That is partly why high-fat veganism is growing by leaps and bounds and why coconut oil and grass-fed butter is flying off shelves in stores.
The cholesterol lowering effects of MCT consumption also disagree. That is, unless one disagrees with numbers and simply agrees with non-statistically significant low-population qualitative studies.
i need to shed 20 pounds off left, i already know about exercise, I exercise 40 min. 5 times a week. But whenever I eat meats I feel too tired for work outs and want to stop but when ever I eat healthy that day i can run the whole way through. So my question is should i become a vegetarian because it could have health benefits, give me energy, like would there be any health risks at all?
If I were a United States Marine Corps drill instructor and someone said "I'm 20 lbs. overweight but I get too tired to workout when I eat meat" then I think I would say something to the effect of "I'm hearing excuses."
But I'm not a drill instructor, so I'll just say that there's nothing wrong with a vegetarian diet except that if you don't do it right you'll be hungry and tired. Possibly too hungry and tired to workout.
OP: I was vegetarian for 7 years (although I didn't go veg to lose weight, as I was already thin to begin with). I was the quintessential health-nut (low fat, high-carb, lots of whole grains, beans and legumes, fruits and veggies), but I "skinny fat" (thin but flabby) and always hungry. Tired and hungry. I was committed to the lifestyle though, I kept at it until after my 3rd child was born: that pregnancy through my entire body into a tailspin and I developed food intolerances to beans, legumes, soy products, dairy, wheat and rice. I ended up going the other extreme (primal) when I ran out of foods I could eat, LOL. Anyway, I did gain 10 pounds, but I'm healthier and more muscular, so it's a good thing.
In hindsight, I think my main mistake was not having enough fat in my diet; the diet can work for weight loss (especially if you're replacing unhealthy options with plant-based foods), but make sure you include healthy fats or you'll find yourself binging on carbs.
OP: I was vegetarian for 7 years (although I didn't go veg to lose weight, as I was already thin to begin with). I was the quintessential health-nut (low fat, high-carb, lots of whole grains, beans and legumes, fruits and veggies), but I "skinny fat" (thin but flabby) and always hungry. Tired and hungry. I was committed to the lifestyle though, I kept at it until after my 3rd child was born: that pregnancy through my entire body into a tailspin and I developed food intolerances to beans, legumes, soy products, dairy, wheat and rice. I ended up going the other extreme (primal) when I ran out of foods I could eat, LOL. Anyway, I did gain 10 pounds, but I'm healthier and more muscular, so it's a good thing.
In hindsight, I think my main mistake was not having enough fat in my diet; the diet can work for weight loss (especially if you're replacing unhealthy options with plant-based foods), but make sure you include healthy fats or you'll find yourself binging on carbs.
Interesting learning experience I'm sure. It's sad that there are still many people (here) who opt for low or non fat processed food products. I sometimes get the feeling food/diet is almost like religions, there's so many of them and they're all wrong.
but make sure you include healthy fats or you'll find yourself binging on carbs.
All whole foods contain some fat, we don't need much fat to satisfy our dietary needs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saigafreak
It's not that saturated fat is essential. It's the lauric acid and MCTs that promote heart and skin health.
Saturated fat doesn't promote heart health, rather the opposite, and its not known to what degree medium chain saturated fats are more healthful than the longer chains found in butter, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saigafreak
Recent evidence not funded by shills like McDougall and Ornish or soy lobbyists disagree. That is partly why high-fat veganism is growing by leaps and bounds and why coconut oil and grass-fed butter is flying off shelves in stores.
Once again....you're talking about vegans for some strange reason. Vegetarian diets don't work well when you use a lot of nutrition poor fats like coconut oil and butter, vegetarians should stick with more nutritious sources of fat like nuts/seeds, soy, etc.
Soy lobbyists? Nice conspiracy theory but I hate to break it to you.....but vastly more soy goes into the mouths of cattle and other animals than it does people.
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We also don't turn away something we like if it has a trace of honey or some other animal product. In the stores around here there are vegetarian entrees and vegan ones. If we like it we buy it. We just don't consume dairy, meat, fish or chicken as the source of protein. If there's a trace of something in a product, so be it. We don't exclude to the point of being vegan only.
