Is it really more expensive to be a vegetarian?
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
United States
August 22, 2007 1:59pm CST
A couple years ago, I made the total switch to vegetarianism. I didn't go as far as turning vegan, cause I love milk and cheese and just wasn't ready to give those up. And, from a practical point of view, it's probably better that I didn't either.
And, for the most part, it was a really positive experience. I dropped twenty pounds in less than two months and never felt hungry. I've never eaten so many fruits and vegetables in my life and felt at the top of peak physical health. And, unlike other diets that have made me feel weak, like I was going to pass out, my vegetarian ways seemed to have no side effect.
With that being said, my spouse kept complaining that all the fruits and vegetables and such were more expensive than the regular food we used to eat. I'm not sure if he's right about that, considering we have been known to purchase $25 worth of pizza without batting an eye. And, for the same amount of money I could purchase three or four days worth of all natural foods for myself.
After awhile I got so discouraged that I quit and went back to eating regular and all the weight came back. Now several years later, I'm thinking about going back to vegetarianism again and would like some suggestions. Are there any ways to make the whole process cheaper, so that I don't get so many money complaints from the spouse next time around. Do you find that being vegan or vegetarian is any more expensive than regular diets?
6 responses
@jennysp8 (855)
• United States
22 Aug 07
I am not a vegetarian but have considered becoming one. I have heard people who eat meat complain that they don't buy fresh fruits and veggies because of the cost. I don't buy into that. I think it you know where and how to shop, it is no more expensive and if the entire house wasn't eating meat then you would save money. And while I know that money can be tight from time to time...how can anyone place a price on health? If it was eating healthy for the family or the cable TV...sorry, cable has got to go. lol
Wow! Amazing weight loss there from just not eating meat? Did you still eat any pastas and such? Or mostly just fruits and veggies all day every day? This is something I def. want to look further into and maybe give it a try. I don't have bad feelings about eating meat, I would be doing it for health reasons.
1 person likes this
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
23 Aug 07
Yeah, that's why I did it, just for the health reason, not a philosophy or anything. Don't get me wrong, I love animals, but it was mostly a health/weight loss issue. And, yes, it was just fruits and veggies, no pasta that I can remember. However, I should have eaten pasta, cause the weight came off so fast that my clothes were practically falling off of me before I had time to buy new ones!
The secret was that I would make up really big salads with all kinds of cut up fruits and veggies (fresh, canned and frozen) and use shredded cheese and dressing on top. You would think that would make it more high fat, but for some reason the weight still came off. I was never, ever hungry. I would eat that maybe twice a day and then have oatmeal or cereal or plain apples later. Lots of fruit too.
Plus, I used canned spicy tomatos for variety and even added canned corn and beans for protein, so that I wouldn't get too weak. And, I never felt bad at all. It was very empowering. I stopped feeling tired all the time. So, maybe I will get back into that later this summer.
Let me know if it works for you. Veggies and fruits are definitely the healthy way to go. Best of luck and be well!
@edigital (2709)
• United States
23 Aug 07
It depend on how many items you will eat each eating time. Vegan is not costly if you like to keep your food cost minimum as vegetables price is cheaper than fish and meat. People become vegan as heriditery (vegan family) and to keep body fit and fresh for long years. I think vegan's health is more better than non-veg. Of course my kid's teacher is vegan and came from a vegan family but she some time suffer lot of disease and I wonder to hear it from her. Though her health and body is better than non-vegan.
@bobbyjoe143 (1287)
•
22 Aug 07
depending on whether you buy all the speciality foods to do with vegitarianism or not will factor into the ammount spent on being a vegitarian, also something else to consider is, did your husband take on being a vegitarian as well as you the last time you did it? if not, the you would definately have been spending more money on you grocry shop each week as you would have been buying the old type of foods AND the new types too.
sometimes it can also be affected by where you buy things from, markets can often give a pretty good deal on fresh produce where as health food stores hike their prices just because they think they can.
@CEN7777 (855)
• India
23 Aug 07
Iam a vegetarian, I have never eat non veg, even eggs.
why to eat meat when u can siginificantly improve my health, dramaticaly your environmentaly foot print and greatly reduce suffering of animals.
Offcourse the decision about Whether to become the vegetarian is a matter of personal choice.But I think if more peoples realy knew ho bad meat is for them, the planet and the animals, more people would make the choice to go meatless.
Yes nonseasonal fruits are costly as their availabilty is very less but if u choose seasonal fruits and vegetables it will far more cheaper and fresh.
