isis's advice column

I've been away for a while due to a serious illness and subsequent health issues.

Favourite quotes of the moment:

The children of Israel wandered the desert for 40 years - Even in biblical times men wouldn't ask for directions!

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. whatever we do to the thread, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. - Chief Seattle.

We spend the first 12 months of a child's life teaching them to walk and talk. We spend the next 12 years telling them to sit down and shut up!

As you slide down the bannisters of life, may the splinters never be pointing the wrong way.

May you be in Heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.

I've been very happily married since August 1980 to a wonderful man and have beautiful twin girls, now aged 31. Both are married to wonderful young men and one of our girls has recently made us grandparents to a beautiful, smart and feisty granddaughter. I studied geology with the Open University. I am retired from being a manager in a large UK based insurance company which I actually quite enjoyed. (How sad is that?). I love anything to do with the environment and wildlife and try to do my bit for preservation and conservation. I would like there to be a decent world for our grandchildren to inherit. I also have CFS so find life a bit of a challenge at times but always hope for better health in the future.

I have a deep interest in the spiritual and the paranormal worlds, having experienced several incidents myself, and have been involved in meditation groups and groups that (safely) explore the paranormal. There is more to this life than we would normally credit, so an open mind is always the best option. You're not so likely to get caught by surprise!

I have a deep fascination for anything to do with Ancient Egypt, as you can probably tell by my name. I have statues and paintings all around the house. As my hubby has a similar interest in Native Americans, we tend to have a lot of unusual wall decorations, like a tomahawk.

I love cars, especially vintage ones, but my all time favourite has to be the Bugatti Chiron, what a car!

I have had a lot to do with animals over the years. I have fostered many, helped to set up a wildlife charitable hospital and raised a diverse range of young animals from bats to fox cubs and different species of birds, even a baby deer! I have had great pleasure in sharing my life and home with a number of animals over the years, most of them rescues. I am currently sponsoring an Amur Tiger, they are such beautiful cats and desperately need help, there are so few of them left. I was lucky enough a couple of years ago to meet some Aye-Aye's and Livingstone's Bats, a truly wonderful experience. We now have three cats, Oliver and Mollie, a brother and sister, he's a ginger and she's a tortoiseshell and a black and white called Daisy. She arrived in a taxi and was left on our doorstep in a cat carrier with the message that 'they knew we loved cats and would be good to her'. She has settled down well and gets on wonderfully with the other two.

If you have a pet that is showing ANY signs of illness or distress, please, please, please take it to a vet! Even if finance is an issue, work that out later. It is cruel to leave an animal suffering for any reason. Most animals do not show signs of illness until they have been ill for some time, basic instinct tells them it is a display of vulnerability, and certain death in the wild. Their instincts have not caught up with domesticity.

I do feel that we should all treat others as we would wish to be treated. Bad karma comes back to haunt us.

advice

So my family is kind of divided into two when it comes to eating I guess. My dad and my sister cannot. ABSOLUTELY cannot go on for more than a day without eating meat. My mom and I, we could really care less. But nowadays my mom is getting swept into the whole "Need meat everyday" scene.

Well, I'm 14/f and I want to be a vegetarian because I find eating meat so often is disgusting and I just want a healthier lifestyle.

The problem is that my mom will not let me be a vegetarian saying that it is unhealthy [I know, ironic, right?] She always prepares meals containing meat so I have nothing else to eat and she literally shoves meat down my throat lol

So my question is how should I bring up the topic of me becoming a vegetarian again? How can I convince her that me being a vegetarian is not unhealthy and that it's not a sin or a bad thing? What are some food she can cook without meat in there and is still healty (try to avoid eggs please)? Just overall how can I get my mom to let me be a vegetarian?

There are unhealthy people who eat meat. As with all diets it depends on what you are having each day. There are now lots of alternatives to meat that have all the nutrients you need. Some people cannot go without eating meat and there are those that can. I have not eaten it for 20 years and I'm still here. I have twin daughters, one eats meat because she has to, the other is a veggie, it's their choice.

How about approaching your mother with a compromise? You eat vegetarian foods but healthily for a specified time, if you get sick, you go back to eating meat until you are old enough to make your own decisions.

I have included some recipes and information so that if you are allowed to try it, you will know what to do for a balanced diet.

http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vegetarian-diet/HQ01596

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/teennutrition.htm

http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/vegetarian.html

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(Rating: 5) Thank you very much =] I happen to be one of the people that can live without meat...=]

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