I wanna be a vegetarian, but my mom wont let me...?

Question

ok so im 13 years old. my parents are divoreced, and my dad is a vegetarian. my mom said she would like to be, if we lived in a bigger city, but we dont, so theres not much wed be able to eat. but i told her i wanted to be a vegetarian about 6 months ago, and she said no, you need nutrients and protein. like shell buy vegetarian foods, and i eat them all the time, but if i tell her at a restaurant or something that i want something without meat, shell get really mad. i told her about this one girl at my school whos a vegetarian and is perfectly heatlhy, but she still wont let me. and soy has a lot of protein in it too. ive slowly started to peel away from meat, but like last friday we went to mcdonalds and i got a salad and she caught me takin off the chicken(she wouldnt let me order it without it) and she got SO MAD! she started yelling at me and made me eat it. how can i get away from meat without telling her?

Answer 1

I went through the same thing about 5 years ago. My parents spent all meals talking about how delicous the meat tasted. My technique for dealing with that was tuning out what they were saying and pretending that I didn't care. The other technique I had was eating my meals really slowly and prentning that the meat was too much for me to eat. When at restrurants order things that meat can not be added to. Like apple pies or lentil turnovers.

I saw the constant questioning of what I ate as a test to see how much I really wanted to be vegetarian.They saw eating meat as part of conformitiy and I think were troubled by people who didn't follow their views. Like a smoker always wants another smoker to accompany them to make them feel accepted.

Answer 2

The best way is to provide her some real data showing that you can be healthier not eating meat. A good book to get and read and share with your mother is "The China Study". It can be pretty technical, but it does have the facts.

Answer 3

i agree with Kim's answer

why don't you eat the meat and then when you are 18 become a vegetarian.when your 18 she cant tell you what to eat.

Answer 4

Sweetie, talk to your school nurse or guidance counselor about this. They may be able to help you talk to your mom about this. It sounds like a power struggle between your mom and dad over your diet choices.

Answer 5

You are 13. Your mother bore you and raised you. She is 100% responsible fro your well-being. Now it's up to her. When you are on your own and responsible for your own decisions and their consequences, then you can eat what you want. Vegetarianism is at best a controversial diet. It's very presumptuous of you to think your way should trump hers.

Answer 6

It sounds like your mom has serious issues about this.  But she cant force you to eat something you dont want to.

Answer 7

order meatless and say I really want something healthy

Answer 8

Listen to Mom.

Answer 9

Don't worry.  Pretty soon you'll be 14 and not care anymore, just like every other teenage thing you "need" to do.

Answer 10

There are lots of Indian people that are vegetarian....you just get your protein through (kidney, chick peas, black) beans & lentil soup (type of bean), wheat roti's (tortilla-like), milk and soy products...or even protein milkshakes....but most Indian food is too spicy...but spicy makes blood thinner and helps with circulation...so easy on the spices but get a little flavor going... fruits/ veggies have lots of nutrients and fiber