Thread: going (almost) meatless

Re the blood type thing: I am pretty sure I'm type O (I can't give blood so I never really get reminders of this) and I hate meat. I've always hated meat. Supposedly I should naturally be chomping down steaks and eschewing wheat, and I have always been the very opposite. I was the child who happily ate all her vegetables and had to be coaxed, nay, forced, to eat meat. The only meat I ever liked as a child was overcooked, highly processed meat or offal, because they didn't have the horrible texture of meat. And I would still much rather not have meat at all. As I've said elsewhere, the only animal food I like is fish. So how does that pan out?

I don't have the supposed Type O blood personality either. I think the blood type thing is a little suss, frankly.

i don't think being fish-getarian help me lose weight. since it's working for me i quite believe the eat right for your type theory. i think it's possible that it helps me to regulate my weight better. but no, i don't really follow the list of what to eat or not. for example, it says blood A people shouldn't eat orange but i love it and i still eat it altho every time i had an orange my stomach feels a bit funny. milk has similar effect so i drink soya milk which i enjoy much better.

It seems a few people have suggested eating dairy and eggs makes them put on weight, but in my case they've helped me lose weight and keep it off. I'm now a fish-dairy-egg-eating non-meat-eater (!!), but I used to eat much less fish, dairy and eggs, because I had various aversions to them. In other words, a diet with little protein, topped up with lots of carbs to fuel my dancing. After I changed my diet to include more of those proteins, it allowed me to eat less in quantity overall, because proteins keep me full for longer. The trick is to go for lean proteins, like steamed fish or low-fat cheese and yoghurt (but seek out yoghurt that's not topped up with huge amounts of sugar, as most are).

I find an egg and toast plus 1/2 a yoghurt each morning is enough to get me through to lunch without the desire for dangerous morning tea....which I'd always need if I just had cereal (and which is also usually full of sugar). Then eating steamed fish and veggies (no accompanying carbs) before dancing at night has helped stop me eating an additional meal of pasta afterwards, like I used to.

(I won't mention my counteracting chocolate addiction, which stops me from ever wasting away... or the fact that I've never managed to give up crispy bacon, because it tastes so darned good. My theory is that, if it's crispy enough, it's no longer really meat. And as for chicken-flavoured chips...surely there's no chicken in that?)

Wow, we sure have a lot of vegetarians here on Bhuz. :)
I'm lacto-ovo vegetarian. I was vegan for two years and it didn't suit me well- I didn't feel well and lacked energy.
As a vegetarian- I make sure I eat my protein, and not too much fatty protein (dairy). I eat yogurt fairly regularly (live cultures!), take multi vitamins, eat cheese a few times a week, eat a little bit of low fat peanut butter every day, LOVE legumes and try to focus my grains/carbs in the whole grain direction (except for cookies and other baked sweets). I don't drink milk on it's own, but use it in cooking.
I have a sweet tooth like crazy. As far as weight loss- there are two main factors for me- and they apply to everyone. 1) caloric intake and 2) exercise. Staying where I feel healthy and comfortable takes work and effort. I imagine if I ate meat (and likely more calories) it would be more of a challenge.
It takes your body a while to adjust to the extra fiber you'll take in- but Jes- in time you SHOULD adjust and not have reactions to all the veggies and beans. In the meantime beano might help.
My husband was experiencing really bad IBS from meat and had to give it up. He's lactose intolerant and we've found great success with Lactaid milk and the chewable lactaid pills.

Question for the other Vegetarians? Do you have a killer sweet tooth? I find that since changing my diet mine has become much worse and fruit will not do the trick.

Originally Posted by lizajuk

What about those of us who are not blood groups but Rhesus ?Any difference?

Everyone has an ABO blood type as well as a rhesus blood type.


But it doesn't really matter, because I don't think there is any scientific evidence that either affects what food one should eat.

Originally Posted by rakgirl

Question for the other Vegetarians? Do you have a killer sweet tooth? I find that since changing my diet mine has become much worse and fruit will not do the trick.

Hey Rakgirl, I am not a nutritionalist but you probably have a vitamin B deficiency, especially if you are craving chocolate. I used to crave sweets a lot more till my doctor suggested that I up my intake of vitamin B. Foods rich in B are potatoes, bananas, lentils, chile peppers, tempeh, Nutritional yeast (or brewer's yeast) and molasses.

It can't hurt to try, these are all healthy foods to eat anyway. Good luck.

Originally Posted by rakgirl

Question for the other Vegetarians? Do you have a killer sweet tooth? I find that since changing my diet mine has become much worse and fruit will not do the trick.

Originally Posted by samiramirage

Hey Rakgirl, I am not a nutritionalist but you probably have a vitamin B deficiency, especially if you are craving chocolate. I used to crave sweets a lot more till my doctor suggested that I up my intake of vitamin B. Foods rich in B are potatoes, bananas, lentils, chile peppers, tempeh, Nutritional yeast (or brewer's yeast) and molasses.

It can't hurt to try, these are all healthy foods to eat anyway. Good luck.

Um...I've ALWAYS has a wicked sweet tooth including back with I ate meat. I'll check out trying to get more vitamin B, though. For fellow Aussie and Aussie descent, Vegemite is a great source. ..g.:

vegemite! I hope the vitamin B helps. Can't hurt.

Question for the other Vegetarians? Do you have a killer sweet tooth? I find that since changing my diet mine has become much worse and fruit will not do the trick.

Not really. I never had a big sweet tooth and I've not really noticed a change there. I do have a very vitamin B rich diet though, so maybe that helps.

We have Marmite over here which is I believe, the same thing as Vegemite only I'm told that it packs more of a punch.

Originally Posted by samiramirage

Hey Rakgirl, I am not a nutritionalist but you probably have a vitamin B deficiency, especially if you are craving chocolate. I used to crave sweets a lot more till my doctor suggested that I up my intake of vitamin B. Foods rich in B are potatoes, bananas, lentils, chile peppers, tempeh, Nutritional yeast (or brewer's yeast) and molasses.

It can't hurt to try, these are all healthy foods to eat anyway. Good luck.

Yeah mostly chocolate. I eat bananas and lentils and chile peppers actually and I take black strap molasses daily for the iron. I sometimes don't get that much of all of them but i'll be more aware of it from now on. Thanks Samira.

This week i'm struggling because i've decided to join in the last week of Ramadan but I work nights so i'm fasting from sun down to sun up. during the day i'm eating raw vegan stuff. I want a biscuit so badly or really anthing cooked but i made a commitment so i guess i should go pray during these hard times.

Originally Posted by rakgirl

Yeah mostly chocolate. I eat bananas and lentils and chile peppers actually and I take black strap molasses daily for the iron. I sometimes don't get that much of all of them but i'll be more aware of it from now on. Thanks Samira.

This week i'm struggling because i've decided to join in the last week of Ramadan but I work nights so i'm fasting from sun down to sun up. during the day i'm eating raw vegan stuff. I want a biscuit so badly or really anthing cooked but i made a commitment so i guess i should go pray during these hard times.

Hey RaksGirl, Have you tried nutritional yeast in your cooking? Its a great source and actually tastes really really good. If you haven't tried it here is a link with some idea of how to incorporate it into your diet. I actually CRAVE it, strange but true. I keep it in a shaker with my salt and pepper and sprinkle it on my veggies, popcorn etc. I use it in all my soups (even add it to canned soup).

Good luck with your fasting and the completion of Ramadan.

How to Boost B Vitamins With Nutritional Yeast | eHow.com

Omegas are super important too. I really don't like the taste of flaxseed oil (a great vegetarian source of omega-3), but I looooove this dressing and thought I would share. downtoearth.org has a lot of really delicious recipes posted there.

Liquid Gold Dressing

Liquid Gold Dressing
Two tablespoons of this dressing provides 3.8 g. of omega-3 fatty acids (your day’s supply, and then some) along with 40% of your B12 for the day (80% if you use the higher amount of yeast powder). This creamy dressing is packed with riboflavin and other B vitamins-plus it’s very tasty.


½ Cup Flaxseed Oil
½ Cup Water
1/3 Cup Lemon Juice
2 Tbs. Balsamic or Raspberry Vinegar
2 ½ Tbs. Braggs Liquid Aminos or Tamari soy sauce
½ Cup Nutritional Yeast Powder or Flakes
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1 tsp. Ground Cumin, optional
Print Version




Blend until smooth. Dressing can be kept in a jar with a lid, refrigerated for 2 weeks. Makes 2 cups.

Per 2 tablespoons: calories 78, protein: 1 g., carbohydrate: 2 g., Fat 7 g., dietary fiber: .4g., sodium: 180 mg.

Recipe from: Becoming Vegan by: Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D. & Brenda Davis, R.D.

thanks for the recipe Samira. I have some nutritional yeast but i actually haven't used it for a long time.
I gave up on the fast cux i felt so sick. but i'm steal eating raw. I had a raw cooking class last night. the food was yummy. i can't wait to try more stuff.

Raw food preperations can be really really good, I need to learn more about it.

Originally Posted by samiramirage

Raw food preperations can be really really good, I need to learn more about it.

yeah we made a salad with kale, spinach, arugula, pine nuts kalamata olives, cranberies, olive oil, garlic, lime, and salt. All of that except the olives and cranberries went into the food processor. the pine nuts made it kinda creamy.

then we made mock tuna with almonds, yellow pepper, carrots, pickles, mustard, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and dried sea vegetables. We put all of that in the food processor and
we put it on sprouted bread with pickles and tomatoes and mustard.

for dessert there was Mango cheese cake. Mangoes, lemon juice, coconut water, coconut oil, agave nectar, cashews. all in the blender. then we poured it into a pan to set overnight in the fridge.

All of it was delicious. I felt full and I wasn't hungry in 3 hours like usual. I work nights and I wasn't feeling all lethargic during my shift nor super full during my classes. Yay for raw food. I"m not a total raw foodist now but i'm definitely gonna incorporate this into my diet more often.