Is this normal when starting vegeterian or is it something else?!
Is this normal when starting vegeterian or is it something else?
I've been vegetarian for about 3 weeks now, but I've noticed my hunger has significantly gone up. I do what I can to provide myself with proper nutrient food, plenty of vegtables, dairy, and proteins from Boca meat, rice & beans, but I still feel hungrier after each meal. It wasn't like that when I ate meat, is this just my body adjusting to being vegetarian or is it something else? I'm 19 years old male, 5'8/153, so I guess I'm at a pretty decent weight, nutrition and whatever, so i don't know what else it could be?
Answers:
Expect to experience this for a month or so. Then it will gradually subside. Ever so often, however, you will experience this again.
One reason for this is because meats do not get sent through your system as fast as fruits, vegetables, and grains. Meat actually sits in your stomach and rots for approximately twice as long.
One thing that you could do is eat a potato with each meal until such time that your body becomes adjusted. Potatoes actually slow down the amount of acid that is dumped into the stomach for digestion purposes. By slowing that process down, you can allow your fruits, vegetables, and grains to stay in your system a bit longer, thus feeling "fuller" for a longer period of time
Source(s):
Been a veg-head for as long as I can remember, but I can still remember what it was like when I first started
I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your choice to join the league of veg-heads.
Sounds like you have the right ingredients, but you may be missing fats.
Add nuts, olives, olive oil to your diet. You should have some good fat to each of your meals, even if its' just a handful of almonds in some applesauce.
Also, make sure you have lots of fiber-rich foods (legumes) and whole grains (rather than processed). These will keep you from feeling hungry.
I have the same problem! Even though I load up on proteins, whole grains, and good fats, I still feel significantly more hungry than I remember when I was a meat eater (I've been a vegetarian for about 2 years).
I have been wondering the same thing, so I don't really have any answers. The only thing I would suggest is either eating bigger portions or haveing a small snack between meals.
i suggest eat bigger protion, and eat 5 times a day
and make and drink homemade juice
if hungry drink water, or eat nuts and seeds
take multivitimin daily
I would suspect that there is something in your dairy products or Boca meat that is making you hungry. Recommend you drop the dairy products and meat. Eat only apples when you feel hungry and see how that goes for 3 weeks.
Its normal. When you eat meat, it takes the body a long time to digest it, which causes your stomach to swell. Now that you are not eating meat, the food is passing through your system more quickly. Its a detox process. Just snack on baby carrots, nuts, sunflower seeds, or something healthy throughout the day until it passes. Good luck, and congrats on going veggie!
Meat eating is a lot like smoking tobacco. At first, when we drop it, it feels like we are having withdrawals from it, the body may even feel weak. Do not worry, though, like me, you will feel better than you have ever felt before. The burden that was placed upon your system, will no longer be there and you will have more energy than ever before. Meat takes much longer to digest, which taxes much more energy and releases more toxins. Flesh foods are highly diseased and your body will have to work much less to ward off the parasites and such. A plant based diet was the first diet given to man by God (read Gen 1 and 2), therefore, it is impossible to be a bad diet for us to subsist of. Only until after the flood came, was man allowed to eat flesh foods, because it is not possible to grow gardens in a flood (read Gen 7-9). Only ignorance will tell you that eating flesh foods is wiser.
When you were eating meat you felt satisfied because, meat has fat and protein and that is what keeps you feeling full longer. Our bodies digest meat slower than vegetables so we feel full longer. Try eating vegs and fruits with more fiber content, such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, squash, melons, citrus, and apples. Add nuts and good oils, such as olive, and sunflower. Get more protein from meat substitutes such as textured vegetable protein (TVP), tofu, and cheese (if you eat dairy). These can be found at health food stores and in most grocery stores just ask and they will show you where. One of my favorites is soy hot dogs. They don't taste the same but I like the soy dog flavor better. There are canned foods in health food stores to match what ever meat you want. PETA (peta.org, in resources) has a vegetarian starter kit that has excellent recipes and ideas. There are endless sources on the Internet for recipes and places to order vegetarian meat substitutes. Try going to vegcooking.com for meal plans and information, goveg.com, for more tips and real life testimonials. I find that eating 6 meals throughout the day keeps my metabolism up and I don't feel deprived or hungry. Snack on nuts, pretzels, or trail mix between meals. The sky is the limit. Try pizza with out the meat, (and cheese if you don't do dairy) ask if the crust is animal prod. free. You can make your own using tofu cheese and meat substitute, its filling and tastes great even with out meat, Eat whole grain breads, and flours. Try oat meal, pancakes or a good whole grain cereal for breakfast. It is filling and stays with you all morning. Stick with it, don't give up, there is a lot of support out there, just think about the precious animals saved from just one person going vegetarian. Good luck and good health.