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Grumpy vegetarian
I switched to being a vegetarian about a week ago. I ate too many fatty, fried foods (mostly meat) and have been trying to eat healthier. I've been making sure to get all the vitamins and minerals I need throughout the day and I did tons of research before I decided to go through with this.
The first two days I was grumpy and then I started to feel good and not as tired as I did when I ate meat. I changed to being a vegetarian for health reasons mostly. Is it normal to go through the "grumpies" at first? Has anyone else had this experience?
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Yes. You need more protein. When I first became vegetarian I was very tired and in a bad mood, I thought I was eating right but was not. When you feel tired, you need some protein. Eat some nuts or cheese. I'm not sure exactly why I was in a bad mood, but I think it also might be lack of protein.
It gets better as you go on. When I first started I was confused, I thought vegetarians ate much differently then everyone else. I found that completely untrue. Eat everything you normally eat, and if it contains meat (like chicken) this brand called morning star makes excellent fillers and it has protein in it. Morning star really helped me stick with this life style. There stuff is really good. Way better then boca and any other brand I've tried. Also, I just found this stuff called amys. It's all organic and tastes great. A lot of there stuff is vegan which is cool too. But don't get it at your grocery store it's kind of pricy. If you have like a "super"? Wal mart they have it and it's cheaper. Some of their meals also have tofu in it, which is full of protein.
I also learned that when first going vegetarian, cut out all
meat you really don't like. (for me that was all beef) after you cut that out, if you really love chicken, still eat it, but when you do, cut it down to smaller and smaller portions. Eventually, it won't taste that good to you anymore and you will stop eating it. Also, meat is technically ok. It's not horrible for you, it's just Americans ( assuming your American) make meat the biggest portion of meals. Look at other cultures and most don't use meat as such a large amount. There main dish is like vegetables or pasta.
I think I gave you more information then you asked, but I just wish someone would have told me all this when I first started it makes things so much easier. Good luck!:)
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hey! when I first went vegan nearly a month ago...I didn't notice my mood change to be positive like I expected it to be. I thought I'd find clarity and peace and energy, but I didn't and I realized why. Even though I stopped eating animal products, I was still eating very processed foods such as frozen meals and vegan mac & cheese. all of this is loaded with sodium and preservatives, so I still felt "cluttered" and just overall icky. I'm looking into a mostly raw diet featuring mostly fruits because I prefer those to vegetables, but anywho...try to shop in the produce section of the grocery store and allow your body to "detox".
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You may experience detox symptoms or symptoms similar to that of addiction withdrawal. It's absolutely completely normal. The detox time will be different for each person, depending on how much you consumed of the foods you cut down now, each day so it may be anywhere from a few days to multiple weeks.
Make sure you're drinking enough water too. Dehydration can come when you cut out particular foods so make sure you're drinking enough pure, clean water. No additives or sweeteners to it.
Many people find that if they wean themselves off of the meat products that they have a better reaction. If your moods are too strong or are too annoying for you to deal with then limit yourself to a little bit of meat each day and cut it down gradually so your body doesn't have all of these crazy reactions at once.
Meat is very much processed. There are lots of hormones in it along with many flavor enhancers being added to it. It's not actually the meat you're detoxing from, most likely. It's probably all of the synthetic crap we have been adding to the animals that you've been consuming.
So, relax and take care of yourself. Try consuming a little bit of fake meat products if you'd like, such as products by Morning Star Farms. Sometimes getting the "flavor of meat" can be helpful with subconscious cravings, especially if it turns out that you're just not getting enough protein in your diet. I particularly love nearly every veggie burger I've encountered. There are also chili and soups made vegetarian style with soy products that you might want to try out.
So, yes, it's fairly normal. If you're taking a multivitamin each day, drinking plenty of water, and regularly exercising then the symptoms are probably just from detoxing from the absolute crap we have been adding to our meat products this day and age. Give it some time and switch your new diet around a little if you need to.
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