My daughter ....

[Farmer_Gyles]

no, she's not got her eyes on a boy (yet!) - too busy being interested in music

and i got her the quorn mince beef pies (and other stuff) so see how we get on with all that

[MrsC]

lmao, it's no big deal! made me laugh, no big thing about being veggie, it doesn't matter, i have been most of my 38 years, makes me laugh the questions people ask me why i am! got to agree with some posts, i'm veggie (don't preach etc etc) yet people seem to think i'm on some sort of crusade, no, just don't want to eat meat and fish etc thankyou!

[yoanbob]

I wanted to be vegi from the age of nine but my parents told me I was too young to make that kind of decision about my diet. (we were on a very tight budget back then so extra protien from other sorces would not have been an option anyway) when I was 11 they gave in, I had £15 pounds a week to do my own shopping but could use family carbs such as rice and potatoes, I could cook from the age of nine and always did the whole familys meals anyway so I'm sure she'll do fine with all the access to the internet and whathave you that kids have these days.
as for why the change of heart on the skiing trip? I would say she met a boy she admired.
(as for wether you would know or not? your her dad you are definatly the very very last person she would tell if she had a crush, shes your little girl and she knows it, shes embarassed about her new adult feelings as it is, she will have to pluck up courage to tell her best friend whos the same age!!)
good luck.

[Farmer_Gyles]

well her going veggie doesn't bother me at all - it's her choice and i respect it (and me and my son have vowed not to get mcdonalds and sit there going yummmmm at her)

for those who don't know, i'm a single parent and the kids have lived with me almost all their lives
i'm a pretty good cook and always made sure the kids ate well, had a reasonably balanced diet etc (based on meat / veg / fruit etc) and didn't eat loads of junk food and sweets etc

i never learnt properly about nutrition and proteins and carbs and stuff - only vague basics like you get carbs from spuds and proteins from meat and you kinda need some of everything
and always wanted to know a lot more so we could all be healthier - never got round to it - but i guess now is a good time to learn cos she's gonna lose something from the lack of meat ....
as if i haven't got enough to do already! LOL

but if you knew my daughter, you'd have to laugh - she can eat for england - she likes her food - she likes it a lot - we don't have leftovers in this house - she's a human dustbin - her first word as a baby was "hungry" .........

[bobleponge]

My sister announced around the same age that she was going to be a veggie. We were pretty poor as kids so there was no consideration given to her, she just left the meat. She drifted in and out of it for a couple of years before going back to a "normal" diet.
Hate to say this FG, but it was over a boyfriend.
Good luck mate. I'm sure at 13 you will have more chance of plaiting fog than getting her to help digging etc but stranger things have come to pass ....

[willowstar]

I stopped eating mean and fish at age 17 and am so so glad I did, it was the most sensible decision I made at that age and i am proud of the 17 year old me who had the courage of my convictions (against cruelty to animals, not against eating animals but 'happy meat' not an option then). I am now just about 34 and fit as a fiddle, have learned about nutrition along the way, never really studied it much in my early days just getting by as a student.

not sure if anyone else mentioned this, but the vegetarian society website is a great place to start (The Vegetarian Society) . my OH is a meat eater, though I will not cook meat for him, and doesn't bat an eyelid at meals made with quorn which comes in so many forms these days. lentils are fab. does she like Indian food? there are so many dhal recipes that are easy and nutricious.

good luck, I for one think she has made a great decision :-)

[Two_Sheds]

well her going veggie doesn't bother me at all - it's her choice and i respect it (and me and my son have vowed not to get mcdonalds and sit there going yummmmm at her)

Good for you, what a nice dad.
Depending on what kind of a veggie she is:

• wholefood? try Rose Elliot recipes, Amazon.co.uk: Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Meals in Minutes: Books: Rose Elliot she's fab and very user-friendly. I tend to eat meals from scratch like her, kind of chilli/curry/stew dishes but made with beans and lentils instead of meat. I make a big batch and for my OH I add some chicken/beef/whatever to his portion. You could do this and eat together as a family.
• Fast food veggie - chips/pizza/crisps. Not a nutritious choice. She is likely to be deficient in protein if she eats like this. As is anyone.
• Meat Substitute Veggie: eats fake meat, like Quorn. There are lots of veggie pies, burgers, slices and so on in the supermarkets, but watch the fat content. We find Linda McCartney Pies taste just like meat ones, but of course the pastry is fattening, so they're special treats only for us, not everyday.
• If she's going to be really strict and ethical about it, she needs to watch out for gelatin etc which is added to loads of sweets and treats. Check out the Veg.Society's website for more info.

Good luck! It's not that hard, really. Get her to help you with the shopping and cooking .

[JennieAtkinson]

I'm not a vegetarian, although at least half our meals each week are always meat free. I can endorse the Rose Elliot books, they are just super books to have on the shelf, lovely recipes, whether you are a veggie or not.

[Tigerella]

Hi

I am not a vewggie, but I have halved the amout of meat that I eat in the past year or so.

It made me laugh, on one of these over-weight programs, a veggie who didnt like veg.

Lots of things like cheeese sandwhiches!

T

[Paul Wagland]

Lets debunk the health myth. A good vegetarian diet is far, far more healthy than a typical, modern, meat-based one. Particularly when one in three people your daughter's age are overweight or obese (NHS statistics). When did you last meet a fat vegetarian? In the UK the average lifespan for a vegetarian is ten years longer than that of a meat eater.

Regarding nutrition, her only real challenge (especially as she's female) will be getting enough iron. Leafy greens like spinach are a very good source, and I think eggs are too. She also needs B-vitamins in order to absorb the iron. She can take a multi-vitamin supplement for these - never a bad idea at that age anyway.

On the environmental front... Meat production involves (depending on who you ask) between seven and twenty times more resources (ie energy and water) than growing plants for food. I recently read that, worldwide, meat and dairy farming is a much larger contributor to global warming than transport, industry or power generation. It's no good forsaking that flight to Rome if your breakfast, lunch and dinner have been flown-in from Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa. And the soya beans and maize to feed those animals was flown to those countries from somewhere else entirely. Oh yes, and it's probably GM too.

She sounds like a very smart person to me Farmer Gyles. I wish I'd had the courage to be veggie at that age (I am now at least, could you tell ). You might not be able to get her working the veg patch, but take comfort in the fact that her ethics are advanced well beyond her years.

[janeyo]

I'm quite fat!

janeyo

but i have lost 26lbs so far since having baby no2 in July. The thing is there can only be 3 food groups for me, cheese chocolate and chips! lol

Maybe that should read there USED to be 3 food groups for me until I went into my veg growing obsession!

[smallblueplanet]

I'm a bit tubby too, but my extra calories come from too much red wine!

[Alison]

When did you last meet a fat vegetarian?

If you eat a healthy / balanced diet (including meat or not) then you won't be overweight, unfortunatley too many people eat too much junk food and therefore fat, this is sadly just as possible with a non meat diet - I once worked with somebody who only seemed to eat cheese butties and crisps and was, unsurprisingly, overweight. Take the point tho about the average diet in this country containing too much meat, our bodies don't actually need much protein whether it be from meat products or the many other alternatives.

Regarding nutrition, her only real challenge (especially as she's female) will be getting enough iron. Leafy greens like spinach are a very good source, and I think eggs are too.

Unless she's vegan then it's pretty easy to get enough iron, the foods you list are all good. Dried fruit is another good source (and obviously vegan too), especially apricots so it may be worth getting some of those in for tasty snacks.

On the environmental front... Meat production involves (depending on who you ask) between seven and twenty times more resources (ie energy and water) than growing plants for food. I recently read that, worldwide, meat and dairy farming is a much larger contributor to global warming than transport, industry or power generation.

I've read that also, which is what I meant in my original point re the environmental benefits of reducing meat and meat product intake although it is perfectly sustainable to farm in the traditional manner with a small number of livestock, where their waste is used to fertilise the soil for crops - not really feasible large scale though and not I've just realised how far off the original post I'm begining to wander.............. Must be time to sort my own tea

[JennieAtkinson]

[QUOTE=Paul Wagland;183325]When did you last meet a fat vegetarian? /QUOTE]

Thats a major overgeneralisation Paul - I have a number of vegetarian friends who carry alot more weight than me and are alot less fit. It is all down to whether you eat a balanced diet. Even vegetarians eat chocolate and crisps!

[beefy]

And the soya beans and maize to feed those animals was flown to those countries from somewhere else entirely.

Sorry Paul but you are misinformed . Cereal movement worldwide is by bulk carrier (ship) which is one of the most enviromentally friendly (and cheap)ways of moving produce globally.A ship can carry loads of 10 - 20 thousand tons where as a plane could only carry a maximum of 75 tons .

As to her choice FG if she has been well informed and has thought it through then I think you have nothing to worry about .
I myself have no problem with anyone who wants to be a vegie / vegan etc - thats their choice but I fail to see how omitting one of the major food groups from your diet is a healthy diet?
If after a while the lure of bacon butties etc gets the better of her try to give her good quailty ,organic ,locally produced meat and try to cut out the over processed muck ie burgers , sausages etc.
Quorn - I've tried it and I'm sorry but it just dosen't compare to "proper" meat.

I wish her well with her choices and hope it's for the right reasons.