Newly Vegetarian

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I literally decided to become vegetarian last night. My mom and grandparentd are reuctant to the idea, but they're accepting it. My dad on the other hand doesn't. Being hispanic, meat is a big part of our meals. He'd force feed me meat. If he keeps making me eat meat, should I go on a hunger strike at his house until he accepts me being a vegetarian?

I have trouble believing you're having meat physically shoved down your throat every day.
The majority of people who don't eat meat live with omnivores, and face some static from them over their decisions.
Denying yourself food altogether because he's acting intolerant is about on par with stamping your feet and holding your breath because mommy won't give you a cookie.

Hunger strikes are going to make you seem much less reasonable in his mind and are going to do more harm than good.

I'm not vegetarian but I do have medical dietary restrictions that most people think are stupid and refuse to take notice of.

The only thing you can do is to keep refusing any meat products. If you are consistent with it, eventually he will let you be. People usually only concur when they absolutely have to. Once he figures out he can't make you budge on the subject, he will settle down and leave it alone. But be aware that he will do everything *but* leave you alone on the subject before he gives up, so be prepared for that.

Just eat around the meat on your plate. He can't sit on you, jam the food in your throat and wait for you to swallow. Just because he puts meat on the plate and demands you eat it doesn't mean he is actually forcing you. You might get punished at first for refusing to comply, but eventually he will give up.

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Last edited by nat4200 on 19 Apr 2012, 3:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

congrats. vegetarians live longer than meat-eaters.

if you get the chance watch a documentary called 'forks and knives' with your parents if possible.

you never know they might all end up becoming vegetarians with you.

Good luck, I respect your decision to become one, personally I don't think I could live without ever eating steak, chicken or fish, it would be difficult to find other sources of protein.

^^ Greetings Wolfheart.

I believe that I stopped eating meats at approximately sixteen years of age, however I believe that I continued to eat poor fishes. I think that I also stopped eating poor fishes approximately one and a half years after this, so that I now eat no meat or fishies. ^^ Perhaps this may be very helpful for you to remove one piece of food from your diet at one time, and remove another a little time after and so on (however, you need not become a happy vegetarian if you wish not to do so).

^^ I am very sorry if this is silly of me, Briana_Lopez, however perhaps this may be very helpful for you also. May I please ask, may your father be happy if you ask if you may replace one of your meaty dishes with a vegetable one each week. ^^ Then, after some time, perhaps replace two meaty dishes with a vegetable one and so on.

Good luck your cooking skills will improve (11 years as a vegan) Which I'm sure is good to know if your a budding chef.

Your palate will improve to all meat and dairy does is dull it.

Asparagus will never taste so good.

I like to steam it not boil it - with ev olive oil, crispy capers, grated lemon zest/garlic little black pepper, balsamic.

Trust me (not that you would)

Plenty of talented vegan chefs in your part of the world to I think thats the only time I wish I was in the USA,

Are their any other reasons?

I don't think that's true. I've seen the research, but I've found the methodology to be flawed. Here is why: Most vegans and vegetarians give their diet some thought and try to live healthy. Alas, the same cannot be said about the majority of meat eaters. Omnivores are a lot less likely to know anything about nutrition, and much more likely to consume a lot of fast food and processed food items that contain carcinogenic additives and preservatives such as curing salt. They don't just eat meat, they eat garbage.

This means that the study didn't compare vegetarians who ate healthy to meat eaters who also ate healthy. Instead, it compared health nuts to obese morons who feed on fat-dripping chicken wings out of a bucket like pigs. Of course the latter were bound to have a reduced life expectancy. If someone conducted a similar study with vegetarians who live on a high-carb diet, and meat eaters who live on the paleolithic low-carb diet and avoid processed food like the plague, the outcome would probably be different.

Most meat eaters are like this , for sucks fake they even market coco pops as a health food.

Well in this country at least perhaps people in other countires are to intelligent to fall for that ?

I am a vegetarian, but I started much later, so my parents had no say in the matter. I think if I had tried it at 15, there would have been resistance to it. Since you just started last night, there might be a transition period. I think at your young age, it is better to keep the peace in your house. Food is very symbolic to culture, and family. To turn down your father's food after he (I assume) worked hard for it, is a kind of slap in the face to him. I can understand both sides of the conflict. My recommendation would be to try to gradually become vegetarian instead of having arguments. Many younger vegetarians have their own jobs and provide for their own food. Vegetarian food is very cheap-- if you can cook-- otherwise, in a lot of cases it is more expensive (if you buy the fancy meat substitutes and frozen dinners).

If you go for a while without eating such things, they become repugnant.
Protein is bountiful on just about any calorically-sufficient diet- most outside America are baffled with why people here are so obsessed with getting it.

The studies I've seen which asked the participants showed the vegetarians give no more thought to health than most meat-eaters do.
In fact, many meat eaters continue to eat meat because they think it contains some magical nutrient not found elsewhere- IE, for "health".

I don't think it's possible to isolate this variable from all the relevant ones, though, so I agree with you, in a sense.