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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Any vegetarians/vegans?
Hi! I was wondering if anyone in GL is a vegetarian or vegan. I have a pretty crazy diet that is mostly vegetarian (and in some ways vegan), but I keep talking about not eating fish anymore and it never sticks! For one, I kind of love sushi, like a lot. Also, it makes going out to dinner so much easier, because it usually gives me more options than just a salad. I was wondering if anyone has any tips or inspiration to finally kick the habit. The reason I want to is because I know that most fishing ventures are really bad for our water sources.
TIA!
Re: Any vegetarians/vegans?
I'm vegetarian, but I have been since the age of 3 - so it's hard for me to speak about kicking the habit! I'm always surprised when people ask me if it's hard because of the restrictions, because for me it's just life!
Obviously, it depends where you live, I've found very few restaurants that don't offer a variety of veggie options. I travel a lot, and even places that don't are happy to make a veggie version for me. As for the sushi - there are some veg options you can substitute. It's not going to be exactly the same, but you don't need to feel deprived!
For me, I was veg at age 3 because my mother was, but now, I stay veg because of ethical and environmental reasons. But I am married to a meat eater - so I think it's really important not to inflict my values on someone else. Food is a highly personal choice. But if you do want to go for it - I think it's important to not focus on the things you "can't" have, but to look at the bigger personal and global heath picture!
Everyone is in some ways vegan -- i can't imagine anyone eats animal products in everything they eat
You could say describe yourself as a pescetarian who strives toward a vegan diet.
I am vegetarian, and lactose intolerant. I stopped eating red meat about 14 years ago, later poultry and about 7 years ago fish. The red meat and poultry i stopped eating for ethical reasons, the fish for environmental. I have the rule of it being permissible if it was caught by an individual or would otherwise go to waste (i.e., crab could be caught in a friend's crab pot or leftover salmon that would spoil if uneaten). I only ate crab once and salmon once in the first couple years after choosing to stop, and never since then. If i stay on top of eating enough protein, then i don't crave it. Perhaps that would work for you, too: you can choose local-market, sustainably-caught seafood, if you want to. You give yourself the leeway to eat it, but limit yourself to options that do their best to sustain fish/sealife populations and biodiversity.
I have to select restaurants with a bit of caution, especially when visiting more conservative places, but there is rarely an occasion where my only option is a salad (especially when i have lactase available).
Best sound ever: baby's heartbeat! (Heard @ 10w1d)
For a while, I considered becoming vegan but had a really hard time giving up dairy products. I finally came to the decision that I would only have products from humanely raised animals and on a very limited basis. I make my dog's food and use local and humanely raised chicken, too. I figure where I do consume an animal product, at least it had a decent life and death.
I guess what I'm saying is that I agree with CDMay about limiting yourself to local, sustainably caught seafood if it's something you just cannot give up.
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
similarly to lisa, i've been a vegetarian since the 2nd grade.....that was when i made my final stand to my parents that they could not make me eat meat anymore
i haven't had it since.
so, i can't help with the cravings, but i can say that i go out to eat fairly often, and it's very rare that i only have a salad. there is usually some sort of pasta dish or something that can be made without chicken, etc. you get the idea.
my husband is a meat-eater, and while i don't push him to stop eating meat, i do ask him to at least taste some of my food. once in a while, he actually likes it! this has made dinner time a little bit easier, because it sucks having to make 2 meals every night.
I'm a Vegan.
Do Chicken Tacos Count?
oh..... okay..... dang! ....maybe next lifetime.
I'm not worried about our water sources too much.
(chickens don't swim)
I have been a vegetarian for 15 years. My husband is a pescetarian so I do see that there are a lot of options for him at restaurants but most of the time we both order vegetarian items. For me I never liked fish so that was never the issue but I do like shellfish. I made a rule recently (3 years ago) with myself that if it was local and sustainably caught that I could eat shellfish. So far I have had lobster in Maine when we went to acadia and shrimp in North Carolina.
Since I have become a vegetarian I have seen a change in restaurants offering more options us. I love sushi too, but I stick to the veggie kind.
Facing temptation is easier when you consider WHY you're veg, and where the food you're about to eat comes from. I came to this conclusion after being a long time vegetarian, and recently going vegan. I don't see 'milk', I see the story behind how it ended up being served to me.. not preachy, just my POV.
All very good advice, thank you! I don't eat dairy or eggs (unless I know the eggs are free range, but dairy is always a no-go) which is why my options are more limited while dining out. I think I'll just keep in mind my ultimate goal of going fish free (essentially vegan) when we're ready to TTC and not stress too much about it until then. As a daughter of a cattle farmer, you can only ask so much of a person at a time!
Having no vegetarian friends it was nice to have people actually respond to me specifically (not just reading about similar situations!) I look forward to the chance to talk to y'all more in the future..?
I'm not vegetarian, but since you've decided to keep fish in your diet for the time being, here are two references I use for fish. The second link has a guide specifically for sushi as well as fish in general.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx
http://www.blueocean.org/seafood/seafood-guide