Vegetarianism may be on the way out in the Nichols household. The baby girl came up to me the minute I came in the door after having driven all the way home from Boston to tell me that she hasn’t felt quite right since she started her vegetarian lifestyle and she isn’t too sure about her eating choice.
Honestly, I didn’t quite feel my best at that moment, I was and am still exhausted with these Boston overnight trips and the other Boston round trips, so I basically asked her if she was eating at least three meals a day and if she was eating the vegetables and fruit that are always available at home? She hemmed and hawed about the fruit and vegetables and we both realized that she has been eating a lot of cheese and carbohydrates. I asked her if she had forgotten about the cauliflower and sheepishly she said yes. So I need to be more proactive in presenting her with the vegetable options.I know that not being home shouldn’t be an excuse but I did feel guilty about her not feeling well and if it had anything to do with her food choices or lack thereof.
She doesn’t want to give up and I don’t want her to feel bad or feel as if this lifestyle choice was a failure so we are going to tweak the vegetarianism a little and refocus our efforts to incorporating her vegetables into her diet with whole grains and protiens to offset the acid stomach that she has been suffering from and get her back to the fatty fish.
So this is a work in progress and an adventure in menu planning, supportive parenting and patience building. It is hard being a parent, always worrying about how much to do for teenagers and how much to push them to do for themselves. The baby girl doesn’t particularly like to make the vegetarian dishes so my job is to motivate her and teach her how to make basic dishes that could satisfy her and are healthy.
laurieanichols 
I love that you will help her in her ways of eating, and keep her on the vege diet…my sisters College student does it and is very successful, she eats more now than ever..like nine meals a day…
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http://www.blogher.com/how-i-became-mother-jackie-paulson-2012
I found this very interesting Laurie because I am also vegetarian. I do eat fish a few times a week. And I also love my cheeses, and carbs. I do mandate whole grains in both my bread and any sort of snack. It certainly is hard to balance. There are some excellant meat substitute products available although you do have to look carefully as some are very high in sodium. Is your whole fam veggie or just your daughter? I am the only one in my house although my daughter enjoys my meat substitutes…
Michelle how are you? We have not given up meat but it is really only my husband who is still the carnivore. I have become more and more of a meatless person over the years. There is something about meat that has put me off, the rare times that I eat meat is either at a Vietnamese restaurant or the rare cheeseburger once every six months or at Maman’s house. I am learning about being a good vegetarian provider as I go. Good point about sodium, I am mindful about it and when you see what is on the labels, it is mind-blowing the amount of sodium they put in there. I really enjoy hearing from you! Love and kisses! Laurie