posted January 20, 2007 08:24 PM         

Can you eat eggs?

Can you eat cheese?

Can you eat yoghurt?

Can you eat nuts?

Can you eat tofu?

Can you eat beans and rice?

I only ask with ? because different people have allergies and/or different dietary restrictions.

posted January 20, 2007 08:28 PM         

I also try to eat lots of green, leafy vegetables.

posted January 20, 2007 10:06 PM         

I can have yoghurt, tofu, beans, spinach and rice.
This I am eating from years but still I am facing problems of lack of iron and protein.

Taking Iron tablets in morning is a good idea so that I should not forget.

posted January 21, 2007 03:35 AM         

I wish you best of luck in your going and staying vegetarian.

It seems to me that you don't really have allergy problems, just forgoing certain foods. That's a good start because that means, at least, apparently you don't suffer from allergies, which means your choices of food are not too limited.

However, you have emphasized that your issues are mainly iron and protein.

I'm not so sure these days if I should recommend people to read the book by Stephen Walsh, "Plant Based Nutrition and Health"- but I personally think it's a quite useful guide/reference. I'm not about to preach veganism here, I just find the book helpful to a certain extent, because it talks extensively on plant-based nutrition. You might like to have a look or go to The Vegan Society's website, www.vegansociety.com for info on obtaining iron or protein from plant-based sources. But please, please note that I really am not forcefeeding people with veganism. I just figure they are useful info sources.

As for taking supplements- as far as I've been told by some nutritionists, high intake of iron and high intake of calcium at the same time could lead to the two minerals compromising each other's absorbtion- therefore I've been advised not to take an iron supplement while taking a calcium rich supplement, or vice versa. The same goes with dietary intake of those, I think.

I think it would probably be more helpful for us to find out why you've been having difficulties with balancing your iron and protein by letting us know a bit more about your daily/routine/usual vegetarian diet- such as what do you eat for breakfast? What about lunch and dinner? Anything else in between? Other beverages, supplements, snacks, medicines and general medical condition etc would have an impact on your nutrient absorbtion as well.

Also the altitude of the area you live in, your sleep, sleep hours, exercise amount and habits, daily time of sunlight exposure, what you do every day (concerning your work/studies or daily duties etc) would contribute to your well-being as a whole. When going vegetarian, it's not only about a vegetarian diet, but a vegetarian way of life.

posted January 21, 2007 09:34 AM         

I really need motivation and stay Vegetarian. Once I tried to be Vegan but those were too tough days as I drink tea with dairy milk.

I will find that book "Plant .." and would read. You are helping me to go for Veg, which is for good cause. I want to become Veg.. for my own reason as I feel bad myself when eat Non-veg.

Yes, I heard too about Calcium and Iron should not be taken together. I would follow it.

Early morning like 6am or when I wake up, I take a cup of tea(black tea with milk)(bed tea) with some(5-6) wheat thins.

9 am - apple

10 am - tea with wheat thins(6-7)

12 noon - rice and lentil(legume)

3 pm - grapes or orange

4:30pm - tea with wheat thins(6-7)

6pm - sometimes I take again orange

9pm - lentils and rice with cucumber yoghurt.

Usually this is what I eat.

I sleep around 11-11:30pm and wake up around 6-6:30pm. I work more than 10 hours and my job is too much of thinking which pulls my hair too. I lost lot of hair too but now it is getting better. I sit in front of computer all 10 hours and I do have gastric trouble(my stomach makes lot of noises which embarass me when I am in meeting) and neck pain.

I have normal sleep. I do Japa in the morning where I chant mantra(inside) on beads for 1/2 hour and do sometimes aura cleansing. Sometimes I do Yoga but not regularly.

No sun exposure the whole week unless I go for shopping that is the only time I go out or while driving to office.

I enters in office at 8-8:30 and came out at 7-7:30.

Then I go to Gym everyday from 7:30-8:50pm. I do different exercises like swimming, treadmill, steps, weights etc.

Everyday after dinner, I sit again in front of computer for our linda site or studies.

From next week, I am starting 1 regular class in late evening after office hours.

I love doing exercises and stretches but only when I am present in gym.

posted January 21, 2007 12:44 PM         

Thanks for your reply.

"Plant Based Nutrition and Health" is quite a comprehensive guide to me in many respects, but please do not think that I'm endorsing this book- I'm not, or at least I'm trying not to. For instance, the author encourages readers to have a "small amount" of trans fat intake instead of fats from dairy, and I would, and do disagree on that...anyway, it's a good book, and The Vegan Society's website has plenty of plant-based nutrition info, but they are only helpful to a certain extent. Beyond that, they could seriously misinform people and cause harm (even though that may be unintentional). Personally, I've been questioning the sustainability of veganism for some time now.

But anyway...let's get back to the focus- I think I will get back to you, sVirgo, at a later time, as it's pretty late where I live now and I must be off to bed soon. I'm having a look at LL before bedtime. First, I'd like to thank you for the details you have provided. I've noticed that you said you had gastric disturbances and neck pain. You have normal sleep, go to the gym for exercise, in the evening- and that your work involves sedentry (my presumption), indoor, long hours of sitting in front of a computer.

I'll be thinking of your daily diet more closely tomorrow. But I've noticed as well that, you seem to eat very little in the morning. It appears that you keep reasonably regular and early hours (which is good), you'd get up early in the morning. However, the first thing you have in the morning is a cup of tea (black tea with milk), then around 9AM, you'd have an orange; by 10AM you'd have another cup of tea (a slightly different one from the first cup of tea in the morning, though) Why do you have so little for breakfast, if I may ask?

It also occurs to me that your diet consists of mainly very simple foods and/or beverages. Not that I don't like that- on the contrary, I believe that in most cases, we can have meals that are simple but tasty. Still, it seems to me that you eat quite light meals. You seem to have been maintaining a regular diet, with several light meals within one day, which is rather less common...could you tell us why? Thanks.

posted January 21, 2007 01:41 PM         

We do not cook non-veg at home. So only time I was eating non-veg on weekends when I was out.

I asked for advise and help, that is what you are giving me. So this is my own wish to read book and be a Vegetarian.

Yes, I am Virgo and follow a routine in eating. Though I have mixed nuts box, chewing gums and chocolate box on my office table out of which I eat sometimes, may be 1 handful of nuts in a day while working or few pieces of chocolates.

sometimes I take one or two diet coke in a week. sometimes popcorn too.

I hope you are not laughing as I am adding on food now.

I take all the 3 tea in my day with milk.

In morning, I do not have time, as I do prayer and look at stock market, news etc, get ready and it is already 8:30, time to rush and I am a slow eater.

Sometimes I cook vegetables too with lentils, not everyday. Though my food is too spicy and lentils are prepared with with tomato, ginger, garlic and onions.

I think I am missing sweet in my daily plan(except some honey in tea or some chocolate pieces).

I irregularly take Vitamin E, B complex with C, potassium.

But I am very regular in taking some slimming tablets with both meals like CLA, Xtreme trim or Relacore.

I weigh 137 pounds with height 5"2 and I want to be at weight 115 pounds. I gained 15 pounds in last 2 years when I left CLA(I thought I am okay so I could leave CLA). Now I am planning to go back to one of slimming product.

Tell me one more thing, I got fish as pets and I am feeding them too non-veg. What about that?

posted January 22, 2007 12:33 AM         

Don't worry- I was not laughing at all when you were adding on food. Instead, I was concentrating on what you had written to me- and the rest of us at LL.

Please don't feel somehow offended by my often-too-inquisitive questions. Having a routine for diet is not a bad thing, and it does not take only a Sun Virgo to form a habitual dietary pattern- all of us born under all of the 12 sun signs may do the same. I'm not Sun Virgo, but I happen to have at least 4 planets in Virgo, including Moon

It's not a bad thing, either, to be a slow eater- I'm a slow eater myself as well. I personally think that fast eaters should be the ones who need to notice some sort of a warning sign- eating too quickly can bring damaging consequences to digestion, or other long-term ailments.

It sounds like you've been struggle with your ideal weight- NO joking or mocking here, just trying to be matter-of-fact, no offense. I will have to do some online research on what you've mentioned- CLA, Xtreme trim and Relacore later, hopefully tonight, or tomorrow, as I'm rushing to another library from this one in a few moments.

You said you only ate non-veg when you were out on weekends- it that your previous dietary habit or still a present one? If it's a present one, what do you eat on weekends, if you don't mind me asking?

I sincerely hope that I've been a bit helpful to a certain degree, instead of bombarding people with loads of intrusive questions- I hope you don't feel that way a lot, I'm aware of this shortcoming of mine and have been trying to change that.

You also specified that you irregularly take vitamins E, B complex with C and the mineral, potassium. I think further information on the nutrient supplements you take, either regularly or irregularly- would be warranted, because at this stage, the information available has been rather incomplete, and this happens to be one of those vital parts. Taking vitamins or minerals supplements could induce undesirable effects if not vigilant.

And by the way, personally, I think it's fine that you feed your fish non-veg fishfeed, as long as that would be what they eat in their natural habitat. I've grown more and more skeptical about feeding cats and dogs veggie, or even vegan pet foods- as far as I know, cats and dogs are natural carnivores- particularly cats. I was told at the London Vegan Festival 2004 by one veggie pet food brand stand keeper that, dogs were easier to be converted to a veggie diet, while cats were slightly different- they needed their inborn carnivorous diets. If those active vegetarians/vegans and animal rights activists demonstrate to us how our human teeth structure resemble those of the herbivores more than those of the carnivores, I personally would hypothesize that we can reverse this theory by looking at the teeth of cats and of dogs- evidently, they are carnivores, and to my mind, forcing them to go veggie/vegan is simply another form of animal abuse.

So, about your fish pets...it's up to you, I suppose. If you feel inclined to feed them veg fish foods, by all means, you can have a try and see how they do on a veggie diet. Otherwise, I don't think this should be a big problem at the moment.

It seems to me that you've been trying to deal with overweight issues. I had been thinking, before your latest post- that I should have included genetic factors as one of the things to be taken into account as well. I had been thinking of family history in the medical or dietary sense, but didn't ask because I didn't want it to be over-the-top- on my part, anyway.

Would you mind if I asked for you Moon sign, ASC, any planets in your 1st house (or none), your Venus sign and its house position, and your 6th house cusp?

Personally, I would be looking closely at the slimming products you've been taking, and the vitamin/mineral supplements you take occasionally as well. I suspect that they may contribute to your iron and protein absorbtion and other health issues. I'm not familiar with the trimming products, but I shall check them out.

Best of luck in your health