So what do you eat? (Health Issues for Vegetarian)

Name: racheldarcy

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Product:	Health Issues for Vegetarian
Date:	20/09/01 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Healthy

Disadvantages: Have to keep a close eye on what you eat, Difficult eating out

I am asked this question so regularly when I tell people that I am a vegan. I have been vegan for about 5 years now.

Another thing that people always say to me is 'you look well on it'. They say this because I am overweight and most people assume that vegans are going to be thin sticks. I am always very offended when people say this to me. They might as well say 'you look too fat to be a vegan'.

The problem with being vegan is that when you eat out the only thing that you can normally eat is either chips, salds or baked potato and beans. As I tend to be a chip addict I would go for those rather than a boring salad or jacket potato. A good tip is to eat out a greek, indian and chinese restaurants as they tend to have more choice. Also phone ahead and many places will make something specially for you.

Health wise you have to obviously be careful to make sure that you get all the necessary vitamins and minerals. I find that as long as you have a good variety of fruit and vegetables supplimented with soya products and tofu or TVP you should get all the necessary nutrients.

I am the type of person who puts on weight easily and I find the most problematic foods are the prepacked things such as sausages, nut cutlets etc. I was always aware that they would be high in calories and was horrified to discover that for example 1 nut cutlet is 275 calories.

So however the main things to be careful of is ake sure that you have a varied diet and watch the prepackaged products.

It is also always good to think of easy meals for others to prepare as people tend to panic when they know a vegan is coming for dinner and are never satisfied with just letting you have the veg etc without the meat. Just simple things such a courgettes with tomato sauce, stuffed mushrooms, potato wedges and salsa etc will make your host feel like they can treat you but they won't have to put a lot of effort in. I always volunteer to br
ing my own food to make things easier.

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