After Becoming Vegetarian
Now you've become a vegetarian, what next? The decision to go meatless is only the starting point. You still have to go through the process of changing your cravings and habits.
For some, it could be just a breeze to ease into their new lifestyle but for others, it may just be a difficult beginning. And if you belong to the latter, you'll face strong challenges when ignoramus start discouraging you with difficult, and sometimes ridiculous questions, about your vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.
You'll feel confused, lost and start to wonder if you're making the right choice after all.
I've been there, so I understand exactly how you feel. No matter what, don't let the hard-core meat-eaters get to you! Hold your ground!
You see, when you make a change in your lifestyle that is different from the majority, people don't understand why you make that change. Even if you explain to them, they still find you strange because they simply don't understand. Maybe they don't want to or don't bother to understand your choice. So some people may think you're stupid while others think you're cool.
But ask yourself again: "Why do I want to go vegetarian?". Because you know you're doing the right thing. That's it! Case closed!
To help newbies like you, I had spent weeks consolidating my personal experiences and researches, and putting together some of the common myths meat-eaters said of us as vegetarians or vegans, and replies to these mythical questions over here. The next time someone ask you a "vegetarian" question, you'll not feel afraid or confused anymore.
Each time you start to feel discouraged, frustrated or upset by the comments that non-vegetarian make, re-visit these questions here as reminders or boosters to yourself. The questions and answers here are not exhaustive, so if you have any additional questions or comments, please drop me an email.
- It is difficult for you to find vegetarian meals outside your home?
- Becoming vegetarian causes you to be isolated from your family and friends?
- Vegetarianism is about causing no harm at all which is too idealistic?
- Plant has life too, aren't vegetarians contradicting themselves?
- So many people are suffering in this world, why should you worry for the animals too?
- How do you get along with meat-eaters?
- What will happen to farmed animals if mankind become vegan overnight?
- Would you be tempted to eat meat during meals?
- It is too arduous to overcome cravings for meat?
- What is the difference between vegan and vegetarian?
- Since you're a vegetarian, do you take fish, lobster, crabs?
- Why vegan all the way?
- Why should you avoid animal by-products too?
- Where do you get your proteins from?
- You said plant foods prevent cancer... then why do some life-long meat-eaters avoid cancer?
- How can you be a vegetarian? I thought all vegetarians are skinny.
1. It is difficult for you to find vegetarian meals outside your home?
In the olden days where vegetarianism is almost unheard of, it's indeed more difficult to change your diet to all-plant foods. A vegetarian can only find what he needs in health stores.
But, vegetarianism has followed a steady upward curve over the past decade. As vegetarianism gradually gains awareness and acceptance from people, it now becomes easier to go vegetarian.
Many countries are recognizing the increasing consumption power of vegetarian communities. In UK, an April 2006 report by NEMS market research stated that the total UK Vegetarian Food Market was assessed at £670 million annually. And in USA, the Mintel Consumer Intelligence estimated the market for vegetarian foods to be US$1.5 billion in 2002, and expected to increase to US$2.8 billion by 2006. Mintel also foresees the highest growth in vegetarian food will be soymilk as people are more educated in the health benefits of soybeans.
Just look at your surroundings, vegetarian food stalls are sprouting up everywhere. More restaurants are also offering vegetarian dishes on their menus. Supermarkets are putting up more of their shelf space to vegetarian foods and investing more in marketing efforts of vegetarian foods. More vegetarians are setting up companies to promote vegetarian products. Many of them even venture online to reach to a wider potential vegetarian market.
You may want to cook vegetarian meals yourself instead of eating out, invest in a few vegetarian recipes for guidance then.
These are my all-time favorites as they come with clear instructions, so you know exactly how to match your finished dishes to tantalize your taste buds. You'll be able to whip up a delicious meal fast. Most importantly, they can really boost your health and help you shed off excess body fats effectively without your knowledge.
2. Becoming vegetarian causes you to be isolated from your family and friends?
That's absolutely untrue! Becoming vegetarian is the best thing ever that could happen to you!
Don't you feel great that you're changing for the better? You're killing less animals, becoming a more responsible human and taking better care of your health. Your family and friends should be proud of you instead of disapproving your new lifestyle.
Now all you need is a little patience to try and explain clearly to your family and friends your reasons for going vegetarian. After all, they need time to accept the new you.
Each time you explain, it helps to train, organize and strengthen your thoughts so that you'll feel good and be more confident in what you're doing. In the process, some of the people around you may support you, some may reject you, and there are others who feel you're judging them although you're not. But that's alright. Think about who inspire you to go vegetarian in the first place and do the same - inspire your family and friends!
Many famous people like Thomas Edison, Sir Issac Newton, Leonardo Da Vinci, Brad Pitt, Princess Diana, Tobey Maguire ("Spiderman")... just to name a few, are inspiring vegetarians who have helped to spread the words about the benefits of becoming vegetarians.
What happens if you're the only vegetarian at home?
Yes, you might find it inconvenient but you can easily overcome it with some creativity. With so many vegetarian cookbooks to help you and the availability of pre-packaged vegetarian foods, you and your family will be able to enjoy a sumptuous meal together. Grab this chance to introduce those delicious vegetarian dishes to them; they'll never believe vegetarian dishes can look so appetizing and make their mouth water.
If you're invited to a party and the host isn't aware you're a vegetarian, it's best to inform the host early about your food preference. People are getting used to having vegetarian friends, so don't feel like you're troubling them by giving such request. In fact, a good and thoughtful host would have prepared some vegetarian dishes in case some guests are vegetarians.
3. Vegetarianism is about causing no harm at all which is too idealistic?
True, as vegetarians, we cannot 100% guarantee we won't hurt any living beings for the rest of our lives. But our goal should be to minimize the harm to as little as possible. One good example is the use of pesticides in the industrial agriculture of growing fruits, vegetables and grains as it disrupts the ecosystem.
Pesticide inevitably kills most insects regardless of whether they're beneficial to the environment and to humans. Useful insects such as bees, silkworms and beetles are decreasing in numbers as they're poisoned along with locusts and weevils.
Then there are important but unrecognized insects (e.g. wasps which feed on grasshoppers) already helping to control pest populations which are also killed by the poison, leading eventually to population explosion of the pest species. What next? Farmers will have to use more pesticides which then triggers an endless vicious cycle.
To break the vicous cycle and heal the ecosystem, we can choose a more humane way of agriculture to minimize the damage, for example, organic farming.
Get Everything You Need to Know About Creating & Managing Your Own Organic Food Garden Even If You Know Nothing About Organic Gardening!According to the international organic farming organization (IFOAM): "The role of organic agriculture, whether in farming, processing, distribution, or consumption, is to sustain and enhance the health of ecosystems and organisms from the smallest in the soil to human beings."
Once we start purchasing more organic plant foods, we're actually doing our part in reducing the use of harmful chemicals in the food chain, thereby minimizing the damage caused to other animals and of course, ourselves.
As mentioned earlier, when we stop eating meat, we cannot be totally sure that we do not harm other living beings. But when you stop eating meat, you're already showing compassion towards the farmed animals and other less fortunate fellow humans. This is something you can choose to do.
4. Plant has life too, aren't vegetarians contradicting themselves?
First, look at how some vegetarians will try to justify for eating plants:
Plants lack a central nervous system and it's unlikely for them to feel pain in the way animals or humans do.
Plants need not feel pain since they cannot move away from the source of the pain like animals can.
And even if plants do feel pain, eating meat causes much more suffering than living a vegan lifestyle because animals eat countless plants before humans eat the animals.
It's a rare person, or a very strange one, who would flinch upon seeing a carrot pulled from the ground, than witnessing a cow's throat getting slitted with a butcher's knife.
The above reasons are not entirely wrong. But if we were to deny the fact that plants also have feelings, we're behaving exactly like the meat-eaters do - choose to ignore animal sufferings so that they can continue to eat meat.
Plants cannot move around like animals, therefore they're often regarded as lifeless as rocks and soil around them. However, they're very much aware of their environment and the kind of danger they're facing. They have all kinds of chemical defense systems and will trigger the defenses when they get attacked. They also have ways to avoid being eaten - thorns, poison, taste, growing at high places etc.
Therefore, vegetarians should be open to the possibility that plants do feel pain although they cannot scream in pain, since we continually chide meat-eaters for not acknowledging animal awareness. We should also be aware that we have no right to inflict plant suffering, nor can we dismiss plant suffering as inevitable, but try to reduce plant suffering as well.
Now think deeper why meat-eaters ask this question - "Plant has life too, aren't vegetarians contradicting themselves?". Do they really care whether plants feel the pain or not? Absolutely NO! Why would they think for the plants when they don't even acknowledge animal sufferings?
By throwing this question at vegetarians, they are also admitting animal sufferings since they assume plants and animals both suffer, thus, they see no unique reason to avoid eating animals.
Actually it's all about hiding their shame. They knew about the animal sufferings, yet they do not want to be seen as the only one guilty, so they try to prove that vegetarians are not perfect either. Instead of reflecting on their own doings, meat-eaters try to shift attention from animal sufferings by engaging vegetarians in a silly debate and make us look ridiculous as wimps who care about a plant's feelings.
But wait vegetarians, rather than getting defensive, sarcastic or even angry at meat eaters, we must first admit our own shame from harming plants. Think about the agriculture methods - monocropping, cloning, genetic engineering, pesticides, herbicides etc. Then we respond by laughing in their faces and let the argument go. Now that you know the motive behind the question, there's no need to waste your time and effort to entertain such a question.
The alternative is to tell them the REAL statistic: "It takes ten tons of plant protein to produce one ton of meat protein, meaning it takes so much grain to just feed one animal - this is what we called exploitation of plants. Isn't it wiser and more humane for us to consume the protein directly from plants rather than animals?"
5. So many people are suffering in this world, why should I worry for the animals too?
Some people feel that animal sufferings are insignificant when compared to human sufferings. They feel that the problems of poverty, hunger, diseases and ageing population in many parts of the world require more urgent attention than the issue of animal sufferings. Thus, they're unwilling to spend too much time thinking about this issue.
True, human problems need to be taken care of, but this doesn't mean we cannot do our part for the animals too. And it's so easy to help - simply go vegetarian.
You can still eat whatever you like, just drop the meat and fish. It'll definitely lessen your financial and health burden. Like I mentioned in Myth 1 above, vegetarianism is getting common nowadays that anyone will not have any problem eating meatless meals anymore.
By giving up meat, this mere action already shows our disapproval and resistance to the industries that cause animal sufferings. You'll still have time to do your part for the less fortunate fellow humans.
In fact, saving animals is part of the solution to global hunger. Animal farming is an inefficient use of resources. Did you know that 40% of the grain produced in the world are used to feed the cattle, cow and chickens? And remembering that 16 pounds of high protein soy can only produce 1 pound of beef, can you imagine how many millions of hunger-stricken people we can feed with the same grains feed to the farmed animals?
You're actually helping to reduce human sufferings by stop eating meat.
6. How do we get along with meat-eaters?
Most vegetarians strive to be accepted and respected by others for their food choices and their lifestyle. However, in most cases, it was the meat-eaters who actually feel intimidated by us, especially if we dine together. A simple gesture like asking if there are vegetarian dishes on the menu may make them feel we're disapproving their diet.
They probably feel uneasy because deep down, they know these meat they are eating come from dead animals. Even though these meat have been nicely packaged and the advertisements are careful not to connect them with slaughterhouses, it seems we vegetarians, unintentionally or not, display the connection.
The other reason I can think of is they feel guilty of the unhealthy food choices, compared to ours. It's no secret that animal foods contain high cholesterol and fats, and large amount of toxins which cause harm to their bodies, they knew that. When they dine with us vegetarians, although they may not say so, deep down in their heart, their sense of guilt suddenly raises like blood pressure.
Thus, it's natural they behave in this manner.
Having understood the reasons behind their unease, we vegetarians sometimes have to examine our own attitudes towards them. Are we being too critical over their choice of food and lifestyle? Are we projecting an air of superiority over them? Have we tried convincing them to change to more plant foods intake rather than debunking their habitual choice on meat?
The truth is, it requires a lot of effort and time from both sides to develop the mutual relationship.
First, it helps to think that we used to be meat-eaters with similar behaviors. So, we must accept them for whom they currently are. We'll show our respect for their decisions before communicating our ideas in a less accusing manner.
When we approach them in a mature and respectful way, it may not change anything now but it does create a very lasting impression on them. Who knows, it may develop into something more down the road.
One thing we should never do is to lose our cool when meat-eaters start criticizing our beliefs such as in Myth 4 above. Once bitterness sets in, communication becomes difficult and the relationship suffers. Without a good heart-to-heart talk, we wouldn't likely be able to salvage the relationship and it's a pity to see a relationship end this way.
So, if you really care about this person, keep cool and think about how you can approach the subject without making him / her uncomfortable. Patience, communication and empathy are the keys.
I had a vegan friend, Lucy, who tried hard to convince her parents that vegan diet is good for them. But no matter how hard she tried in improving her culinary skills to cook delicious vegan meals for them every day, her parents are still reluctant to change their diet. Not only that, they passed exasperating remarks about her vegan dishes.
As much as she loves to dine with her parents, Lucy finally decided that it's useless to force them if they don't enjoy the food at all. She has come to accept that it's not worthwhile to cause conflict within the family over their food choices. She just has to let nature run its own course and keeps her fingers crossed that her parents will follow her diet one day.
7. What will happen to the farmed animals if mankind becomes vegan overnight?
Most farmed animals survive for Man's sake, so some people have this strange notion that if all people turn into vegans overnight, what will we do with all the farmed animals?
Honestly, chances of the above scenario happening is very very slim, unless a global catastrophe strikes which terrifies everyone so much that they stop eating meat altogether.
For the past decade, vegetarian numbers are growing at a slow and steady pace. As demand for the kind of food changes, agriculture industry will also change its supply to meet demand. This means that when less meat is eaten, demand for farmed animals will reduce and less animals will be reared for food.
We hope to see the day when animals can roam freely again in the grasslands where they belong and ecosystem has returned to its natural state.
8. Would we be tempted to eat meat during meals?
When we first started out as vegetarians, it's true we'll still crave for meat during meals. After all, for most of us, meat had become part of our diet since young. But don't be unduly worried by it as it's a temporary natural reaction. Always think about the advantages of becoming vegetarian in the first place - stop animal killing and its karmic effect, help yourself, your family and many others in the world.
After some time, when you get used to vegetarian diet, and found that you're indeed becoming healthier and happier, your craving for meat will vanish automatically.
One lone effort may not seem to have much effect on this universe. But think about how vegetarianism was started and spread in India in the olden days. In those days, when information dissemination was mainly through people, the efforts of few vegetarians can turn almost the whole of India into vegetarians too. So don't underestimate yourself - your action can make or break this world, yes, it is that POWERFUL!
Most importantly, have fun being a vegetarian!
9. It is too arduous to overcome cravings for meat?
For many newbies, it seems hard to just quit eating meat the "cold turkey" way, because you'll start to crave for meat dishes in no time. But take it further and you'll find that most likely it is the flavor of the sauces and spices that you miss, not the meat itself.
From my past meat-eating experience, I realized most meats taste bland. It's only when I dipped them into some creamy dreamy sauces that it began to turn tasty.
So, I suggest you first start leaving out meat gradually from your meals and replacing meat with meat alternatives. I recommend some excellent buys at my online vegetarian store. It would also be easier to go vegetarian first and adjust your diet before vegan.
Remember I said it could be the sauces and spices you're craving. So we can run a test by using the same kind of sauce or herbs in your favorite beef lasagne minus the beef. You'll be surprised to find that your favorite dish without the beef can taste fantastic too! (It's the sauce at work!)
Try learning to cook yourself. Oh no, I see you shaking your head. It's not as bad as you imagine. In fact, you'll discover the fun and excitement of experimenting with different combinations of plant foods, herbs & spices to suit your own palate. Like the vegetarian lasagne above. Invest in a few worthy recipes and you're ready to start. Also, the other advantage of self-cooking is knowing exactly what you're eating.
Of course, if you prefer to buy ready-to-eat vegetarian / vegan foods, there are plenty of good choices available on the market today.
Stock up on lots of veggie foods at home so that you're less likely to give in into non-veggie cravings.
Exercise your willpower, stay determined and your body will adjust itself and ultimately benefits from the vegetarian diet.
10. What is the difference between vegan and vegetarian?
Vegans do not consume any animal products or by-products such as cheese, milk and eggs. They also do not use or wear products that contain animal ingredients.
Vegetarians avoid meat but they do consume fish and animal by-products to different extents. Learn more about the various types of vegetarians.
11. Since you're a vegetarian, do you take fish, lobster or crabs?
I used to have a colleague who still take fish and call herself a vegetarian. No wonder some people get confused over the term "vegetarian". For the lifestyle that my colleague chooses, she belongs to Pescetarian or Semi-Vegetarian. Learn more about the various types of vegetarians
12. Why vegan all the way?
The reason why vegans choose to avoid animal by-products like leather goods or dairy food is the same as why they stop eating meat - to reduce animal sufferings.
The production process of animal by-products is also causing lots of pain and death to animals. Thus, vegans object to such cruelty by stop using animal by-products.
If you decide to turn from meat-eater to vegan, there are many vegetarian starter kits available to help you get started. With a balanced vegan diet, you should be able to obtain all the nutrients you need from plant foods.
The only concern is vitamin B12 which is absent in most plant foods. Interestingly, the source of vitamin B12 comes from bacteria, seaweed and fungi and they exist in earth, wind, rainwater and ocean.
When foods such as tempeh, soy beans or miso were fermented, airborne bacteria would enter the fermentation process, making these foods sources of vitamin B12. However, foods such as fermented soy foods, seaweed, alfalfa, algae, spinach and turnip greens that are reported to contain vitamin B12 are actually unreliable sources as the content could vary in each food.
So the best way is to take vitamin B12 supplements or food fortified with vitamin B12 such as cereals.
If you feel the change to vegan is too drastic for you, try vegetarian first.
The Perfect Vegetarian Meal Plans Guaranteed to Help You Transition to a Healthy Vegetarian Without Suffering the Slightest Discomfort and Meat Cravings!In fact, this could be better for your body as your system needs time to accustom to the diet change.
Open your mind to explore and experiment with different vegetarian dishes. You'll be in for a lot of surprises! Just remember: To give up eating meat is the best thing you ever do to help yourself, the animals and this world! Bravo!
If you've already started out as vegetarians for some time, I'm proud of you that you have taken the first step. It may take many years but I hope one day you'll cross over to vegan.
13. Why should we avoid animal by-products?
When you want to buy milk or eggs, you can easily get them from supermarkets. Shortage of these two are rarely heard of. Sometimes, they're even sold at discounted or promotional prices. Have you ever wondered how these abundant supplies come about?
Let me take you to the production of milk and eggs behind the scene.
To meet demands for milk, most farms are managed by large corporations which are profit-driven - employing few staffs to look after a large number of cows is just one way they used to maximize profits. Under their management, a cow produces twice as much milk per year than in the 1960s.
Milking of cows are no longer done by humans but by milking machines. Often, when these machines malfunction and hurt the cows during milking, no one really notices until the machines or the cows quit.
The milk industry is fully aware that by breeding high-yielding milk cows through genetic manipulation, these cows are prone to diseases such as protein and calcium deficiencies, milk fever and mastitis infections. But if they are so sick or injured that they cannot produce milk anymore, they are sent to the slaughterhouse where their meat can still earn these corporations some decent revenue.
It was reported that Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH), a synthetic hormone, is now being injected into cows so that they can produce even more milk. However, it adversely affects the cows' health as well as increases birth defects in their calves.
Have you ever heard or seen a calf pleads? At the farm, such pitiful plea is common as newborn calves are pulled away from their mothers. The newborns are only fed the first milk from mother cows, called colostrum, produced right after birth. Thereafter, the milk must be sold for commercial value.
To ensure sufficient number of milk cows and milk supply, milk cows are kept constantly pregnant through artificial impregnations, which increases the cows' risk to pregnancy complications and other serious illnesses.
Female calves are raised to replace older milk cows while male calves are sold for slaughter because they are of no use to the milk industry. Today, with advanced technologies, more female calves are born than needed. Hence, unwanted female calves are also sold like their brothers.
A healthy milk cow can live up to 25 years but it will be slaughtered and made into ground beef for sale after 5 years since it has outlived its usefulness. By then, most cows would have become seriously ill.
The same sad story can be told of eggs. Egg-laying hens, or layer hens, spent most of their two-years lifetime in battery cages.
Can you imagine 4 layer hens squeezing in a small 16-inch wide cage their whole life?
The crammed and humid conditions in an egg farm is beyond imagination. The hens can barely move around and they start pecking among themselves to kill boredom, all day long. The heat further aggravates their violent behavior so they die either from the extreme heat or from the fight.
Instead of improving the living conditions of those poor hens, farmers thought of an inhumane way to stop the hens from killing each other - cut off part of their beaks. It's painful as debeaking cuts through bones, cartilage and soft tissues. All the farmers can think is, "The hens can still fight, but at least they are less likely to kill each other.". See how cruel these people are!
If layer hens survive the heat and the fight, they'll still suffer illnesses due to laying more than 250 eggs per year. They have overworked their bodies. (Trying getting a woman to conceive again few days right after she gave birth, her body won't be able to take it. Human body needs rest, so do all animals.)
After two years of "mass egg production", the layer hens are considered "spent hens" as they do not produce as many eggs as before. They're then sent for slaughter like the milk cows. Their meat will either turn into pot pies or animal feed.
Even before their death, they're not spared the agony and terror. Their brittle, calcium-depleted bones often shatter during the rough handling by the workers who couldn't care less about their feelings than to get the work done in the fastest time possible and get paid. Imagine their pain and terror.
Male chicks are of zero economic value and are disposed of on the day they were hatched, often by the cheapest and most convenient methods available. Toss them into a plastic garbage bags where they slowly smother under the weight of other chicks. Or grinding them up alive into fertilizers which often results in fully conscious chicks with mutilated bodies, subject to a slow agonizing death. Again imagine the shocking terror of it all!
So the next time you're going to spend another few dollars on the milk and eggs, stop and think about the stories I just told you.
14. Where do you get your proteins from?
Vegetarian diet never lacks proteins. You can get abundant supply from vegetables, legumes, tofu, tempeh, nuts, seeds, whole grains and fruits. On average, we need about 3 to 4 grams of protein for every 100 calories we consume. That's not difficult to achieve, if you eat a variety of the plant foods mentioned above.
You can even get proteins from your favorite vegan chocolates!
Here's a sample list of getting the required proteins by eating the following quantity of plant foods:
| Plant Food | Serving | Protein (grams per 100 calories) |
| Cauliflower | 1/2 cup | 8.0 |
| Mushrooms | 1/2 cup | 8.0 |
| Broccoli | 1 cup | 10.6 |
| Kale, Raw | 1 cup | 6.6 |
| Romaine Lettuce | 1 cup | 11.6 |
| Tofu, Firm | 1/2 cup | 10.9 |
| Lentils | 1 cup | 7.8 |
| Kidney Beans | 1 cup | 6.8 |
| Seitans | 1/4 cup | 14 |
| Flaxseeds | 2 tablespoons | 4.0 |
| Pine Nuts | 1/4 cup | 4.2 |
| Sunflower Seeds | 1/4 cup | 4.4 |
| Oats | 1/2 cup | 4.2 |
| Whole Wheat Bread | 1 slice | 3.9 |
| Oranges | 1 med | 2.0 |
| Berries | 1/2 cup | 2.0 |
15. You said plant foods prevent cancer... then why do some life-long meat-eaters avoid cancer?
Non-vegetarians could ask the same question about smoking. Some people can smoke heavily for 50 years and not get cancer.
It has to do with risk threshold. Risk threshold indicates how much of a given substance a person can withstand before they develop a disease.
For people with low threshold, even tiny amounts of animal products can dramatically increase risk. On the other hand, there are people with much resistance to the hazards in animal products.
The problem of course, is that it's difficult to know your risk threshold in advance. You can get some ideas of your risk threshold based on your family history. But it will still vary greatly across individuals.
The decision then lies in whether you want to take that risk. Though we cannot 100% guarantee that vegetarian diets can prevent ALL cancer diseases, there are some cancer patients who actually recover after changing their meat diets to vegetarian diets. Again, the decision is yours.
16. How can you be a vegetarian? I thought all vegetarians are skinny.
You can respond to your friend's question as, "Well, now you know one, that's me, who's not."
Thousands of vegetarians worldwide look no different from meat-eaters, other than they look healthier, happier, more radiant, leaner and slimmer.
If you look at the list of vegetarian / vegan celebrities, you'll find familiar names like Alicia Silverstone, Bryan Adams, Spice Williams, Alyssa Milano, Tobey Maguire, Richard Gere, Natalie Portman and many more.
Even some world-class bodybuilders and athletes are vegetarians such as Robert Cheeke, Robbie Hazeley, Carl Lewis, Brendan Brazier, Robert Parish.
Quote a few names and rebound this question to your friend, "Do they look skinny and weak?"
I bet your friend will be surprised to know these people whom they always watch in movies or read in the news are actually vegetarians.