I want to become a vegetarian?

I'm fourteen years old. Recently I learned about what they did to KFC chickens and other animals used for our food. It disgusts me to no end and it makes me want to never eat meat again. Unfortunately, my family cooks a homemade mean at least three times a week and we always have meat.



Is it safe for me to cut out meat while I'm in puberty and stuff?

If so, how can I ease myself into it?I want to become a vegetarian?
It is definitely safe to cut out meat from your diet. Many people of all ages actually get TOO MUCH protein. This carries health risks such as loss of calcium directly from your bones and kidney problems later in life. Being vegetarian should always involve responsibly researching your diet, a thing that is never done by the majority of people.



Your parents have probably been taught a huge amount of misinformation by their parents and their teachers while growing up. You really need to research vegetarian diets and health before you even think about saying the "V-word" in front of your parents.



When you have gathered enough information and feel confident in a vegetarian diet's ability to maintain or even improve health, you may mention to them that you have made the decision. They may be shocked, angry, worried, curious or many other things, but you must NEVER react to their behavior and always stay calm. If they are able to speak to you and respect your choice, please tell them everything and answer all questions. If they are rude, inconsiderate, judgmental, violent, or verbally abusive, refuse to continue any conversation until they can speak to you with respect.



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If you want to become a lacto-ovo vegetarian, the transition should be quite simple. Almost all meats have widely available commercial replacements. All that you have to do is replace any flesh in your diet (beef, pork, poultry, seafood) with meat analogs or just leave it out altogether.



You should keep in mind that a journey such as this can be quite short but should just be the beginning of a longer one to a plant-based diet with no animal products. This is because of the reality of factory farming in which animals that are kept alive to produce milk, eggs, etc suffer much more and longer than animals that are raised to a certain weight and then slaughtered.http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/

http://meat.org

Some people use the word "vegan" in reference to this idea, but be aware that applying that label to yourself should always come with the inclusion of wise activism and advocacy.http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/in鈥?/a>

Two extremely important examples of this are that you should never speak to someone about vegetarianism/veganism without their consent and genuine interest or as a comment on what they are eating AND your dietary beliefs should never be used as an introduction or explanation of who you are as a person. Veg*ism should be something that comes up AFTER people get to know you and they offer you a situation that makes it confusing to withhold the information/discussion. Also, if you are presented something that you choose not to eat or you are

ordering food/eating together somewhere/picking the best place to eat.



A responsible vegan ALWAYS studies the subject of their own health and how to keep their body completely provided for in every sense. http://www.veganhealth.org/sh

To neglect their body is to define a plant-based diet as unhealthy and is the opposite of helping the animals.



When you you hold off on the subject until it's necessary and then act like it isn't a big deal at all, people are usually surprised and WAY more interested and curious than if you were to bring it up when someone's eating or just using it as a conversation starter.



Just to clear things up, the vegetarian/vegan diet is not composed of salads, vegetables, fruit and fake meat. Fruits and vegetables are always important but they DO NOT make up the largest portion of any healthy diet.

A balanced plant-based diet includes grains(breads, pasta, rice,cereal), legumes(soy, beans, peas, lentils), fruit and vegetables.

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/f鈥?/a>

http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/

http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/ea鈥?/a>

Being vegan can be an art, one whose challenge is to take things that involve the suffering of the innocent and change them into something free of cruelty.



A vegan woman can create an ENTIRELY NEW,HEALTHY HUMAN BEING INSIDE OF HER. Many of these children stay vegan and grow up to be perfectly healthy adults. So just keep yourself educated about what you eat and don't let anyone tell you that a veg diet is lacking anything essential.



Technically the term "vegetarian" does imply that you don't consume anything that comes from the body of an animal that requires killing it. Many ingredients such as gelatin and glycerin are found in many candies, Fig-Newtons, and many of other foods as well as rennet found in many cheeses.

http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-in鈥?/a>

The best thing to remember is to take your time so that for example: when you are comfortable not eating beef and pork you can then give up chicken when you are sure you can make the commitment permanently.

Depending on your age or reliance on parents or regional options, it may not be best to give yourself a label. The important thing is to do your best to make progress and be committed to your compassion towards animals. Never put your focus onto what you or other people use to describe yourself.



If you meet someone that talks down to people for eating meat, dairy, etc or to you because they think they are "more veg" than you, laugh in their face and tell them they are a disgrace to the entire philosophy. People like this only hurt the idea of veg*ism AND the animals. The point of all of this is to live compassionately and and as free from cruelty as you can, all the while maintaining your health and a positive attitude. People who don't maintain either, need not open their mouths and represent our beliefs.



If you actually choose to read all of this, I hope it helps. If not, feel free to e-mail me if you have questions.



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I'm vegan and these are some of my favorite things to eat:



Breakfast: bananas, cream of wheat with brown sugar and soy butter, cereal, pancakes or french toast with real maple syrup, vegan "sausage" patties, smoothies.



Lunch: VEGAN "SAUSAGE" SANDWICHES, sandwiches with vegan deli slices(Tofurkey is the only one that's kinda funky), fruit, dinner leftovers, couscous salad, vegan sushi, potato or pasta salad.



Dinner: sloppy joes, "sausage" and gravy with homemade biscuits, Spaghetti and Trader Joe's "meatballs" or TVP, lasagna, Thai pad see ew, pad khi mao(drunkard's noodles), pad prig king, tofu+eggplant with basil sauce, yellow thai curry with tofu or vegan chikn and veggies and jasmine rice, Indian dal with homemade roti or dosai, channa masala, aloo gobi, vegetable or minestrone soup, pizza, STEAMED "PORK" BUNS with potstickers or spring rolls, sweet%26amp;sour/orange/lemon chikn, vegan pho or wonton soup



I use these sites to find recipes:

http://www.foodnetwork.com

http://vegweb.com

http://www.recipezaar.com
I am 14 too and I also decided to become a vegetarian after running into a few websites that only revealed the truth. I've always loved animals, but I guess I just never thought about exactly how they were killed. You should definitley become a vegetarian if seeing what you saw disgusted you regardless of what your parents might think about it. It is fine to become one while during puberty as long as you do it right. If you don't you could get very sick. First of all, you don't have to give it up all at once because that can be too drastic. For example, you could give up red meat (as long as you are getting iron from other products) and still eat chicken (not from KFC). Then you can slowly stop eating chicken and start trying new things like veggie burgers and all of the good soy foods out there. You just have to make sure you are substituting the meat for nuts, peanutbutter, beans, soy, and cheese (if at this point you still eat cheese). As you get older you could even become vegan. Becoming a vegetarian benefits our environment in so many ways and as long as you do it the right way can be very beneficial to your health.



All I can tell you from experience is don't let anyone tell you you can't and talk to your doctor about your diet changes. I hope that you will pursue becoming a vegetarian and realize that you are a wonderful, compassionate person for considering it. PLEASE become a vegetarian and tell everyone about what's really happening to these poor, voiceless creatures.



PEACE!I want to become a vegetarian?
Yes its safe don't worry go to www.goveg.com they have free vegetarian starter kits and recipes etc.
Just go ''cold turkey''( no pun intended)I want to become a vegetarian?
It is perfectly safe to exclude all meat from your diet at any age. there are many teenagers that move to aveggei diet with no issues.



I would say jump straight in, weaning yourself off meat is a constant reminder that you think you are missing something.



Perhaps replace meat with the fake meats and gradually move to a more whoelsome diet as you cook more for yourself. That way your parents will be impacted in the least way.



Try www.vegsoc.org. They have information packs for teens, new veggies and parents so there is some great info to help you and your family.



Doctors are for when you are ill, becoming vegetarian is not an illness !



best of luck with it.
It is OK to cut out meat so long as you are sure you get the proper nutrients from other sources. Since you're young and still growing, talk to your doctor about how you should go about becoming vegetarian and how to get the proper nutrients.
http://www.vegcooking.com/makingthetrans鈥?/a>

http://goveg.com/
omg i'm having the exact same problem i've been considering it for years now since i was about 11 ive been worried about what my family will think and if my two brothers will make fun of me. but i went onto the peta website and i watched the video w/ 30 reasons and i'm actually planning on telling my mom today and i'm really nervous about how it goes.



if you want add me to your contacts then i'll give you my email if you need it...



i'm also 14... 15 next month...



good luck!
A lot of teenager decide to go veggie. No one here on Yahoo can properly explain in a few short paragraphs how to do this, however, so I might recommend this site: http://www.vegsoc.org/info/goingveg.html鈥?/a> It offers information on how to stay healthy as well as small things, like how to eat out at restaurants and such.



And, if you bring it up to your parents, explain how you feel, I'm sure they'll understand and allow you space to eat what you like.



Easing into isn't hard at all, either. While I'm not a vegetarian, I do eat a lot of vegetarian foods frequently and find that the options are often more delicious than people will make them out to be. You can find all sorts of treats and yummy meals to make. The frozen food section of your local grocery store should have a selection of vegetarian meals (such as the brand Cedarlane or Amy's, one of my favourites) if you look closely enough. Just wander around your grocery store and read labels! You'll be pleasantly surprised to find you're not alone in your decision to go veggie.
You can safely cut out meat so long as you still get a sufficient amount of protein from beans or lentils or legumes, eggs and nuts. A vegetarian diet can be extremely healthy if you get your recommended daily allowance of protein.
Don't be a veggie! Gorge yourself with meat. It's the only way to live.
as long as you cook the meat and see what is done to it, i think you can ease yourself into eating it again.... but i dont really think its healthy while you are still so young.