Thread: Help W/ Vegetarian fitness, health and training

Hey guys, I have recently decided to eat a vegetarian diet. It is for ethical/spiritual reasons, not health, and I was just hoping to get some feedback from any other vegetarians on the board.

What advice or recommendations would you give to a newbie vegetarian? It has been three days, and I am feeling very good mentally and spiritually, but physically I have been a little drained. I have been eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, almonds and nuts, lentils and other beans. I just went to the store and bought some free range eggs, more beans, some brown rice, but I still feel like there must be some veggie superfoods to get the protein and energy I need.

What are the staples of your guys diet? I know beans (what kinds particularly?), veggies and fruits, nuts. I am thinking tofu as well, or soy based stuff.

My main concern is getting adequate nutrition ( a lot of protein!), all the nutrients I need, and getting the energy I need (I am still training 3 times a week).

Any help is appreciated! What should I expect in the first few weeks, months? Any pitfalls to avoid? Helpful tips and recommendations? I want to keep this up for as long as I can, because at the moment, I have no desire to eat another creature lol. Thanks guys!

Unfermented soy can indeed be problematic. For one, it can interfere with thyroid function by competing with your thyroid. In cultures where soy is consumed, so is seaweed. Also, much soy is consumed fermented, which is a safer way to go. However, not many non-Japanese enjoy natto. Soy has also been shown to reduce testosterone in men. Personally, I won't eat it - outside of the odd order of agadashi tofu, and let's face it, anything deep fried pretty much qualifies as junk food, which is how I think of soy. So yeah, there you have it, my guilty pleasure: tofu. LOL


Risk of IBS and other gastrointestinal diseases can also be higher on vegetarian diets, as can deficiencies in iron, calcium and zinc.

B-12, protein and bioavailable iron are all challenges to vegetarians. So is bioavailable omega-3; the plant-sourced omega-3 fats require delta 6 desaturase in order to convert to the EPA and then DHA required by our bodies, and our bodies utterly suck at this conversion.