My family hates me being vegetarian..?

You get muscle from protein, yes. You also get it from working out. If you work out, you will gain muscle.

I am a vegan male and I am stronger now than I ever was before. This is because I work out more. I still get protein. I eat vegetables and beans and nuts for protein and general overall health.

If your mother wants you to be healthy, she should be Pro Veg. Vegetarians eat less crap than everybody else. People are just ignorant. Like I used to be.

It's a common misconception among underinformed or ignorant meat eaters. Information is the key. Show your family research on vegetarianism and that it's a perfectly healthy diet. Maybe find a list of vegetarian athletes and show your mom some pictures of vegan body-builders. If she doesn't leave you be after that, then she probably just doesn't want to deal with you making your choice that differs from hers and finds excuses. In that case, there's not much you can do, you can't really make someone more open-minded and accepting than they are.

"How can I show her that it is okay for me to become a vegetarian?"

Become a little more knowlegable about it! Broccoli and wheat will not provide you with protein - for that you will need things like eggs, pulses , tofu.

Show her that you can eat a balanced meal without meat - maybe suggest you cook for the family sometimes? Show her that vegetarian food can be delicious!

Good luck!

Common sense. Show her the amount of protein in a can of beans or a can of almonds. You can still get protein. More than anything, it's just an inconvenience for people so it annoys them. Just come up with alternatives for home cooking and reasonable things you can eat when you go out and it should be less annoying.

It genuinely disturbs me that people have been brain washed so bad that they really think you can't get protien from anything else then meat. :( If you want you could find a book on vegetarianism that lists all the major protiens a veg eats. Things like soy milk, tofu, beans, tempeh, and eggs (if you still eat them).

She may truely care about your health, or she may just not like the idea of vegetarianism. But either way you can show her it is healthy to help her understand you'll be ok.

Edit: I forgot to leave this link that tells how tofu has plenty of amino acids for your health. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/soy/NS_patient-so...

Oh, and I feel sorry for Doli. :(

Do some research on different vegetarian sources of certain nutrients. Is it possible that you could get a doctor or nutritionist to sign off on the healthiness of being a vegetarian.

There is not anything incorrect with being a vegetarian. My sister is a vegan and of direction she will get made amusing of by means of my spouse and children, however they do not realize it additionally maintains her extra healthful. When she used to consume meat, she consistently had belly aches and in general throw up however now she hardly ever does. Eventually your household gets used to it, even though they are going to throw a couple of feedback right here and there. I desire you the nice of success :)

Just do your research and back it up. Show her where you got your information. Take her to see a nutritionist with you if it comes to that.

You can't get ALL your amino acids from veggies but you can get real close. Rice and beans are a perfect example.

If those things don't work then just ignore her. You're old enough to choose to know what kind of food your body needs. If you're mother doesn't agree.. oh well.

This sounds like my family.. they completely disapprove of me being vegetarian and make comments like "..do they have any grass here for you to eat?" when we are at restaurants.

I would just ignore them. Fortunate for me I no longer live with them so it's nice not to hear them complain. Although they think eating meat is great and the ultimate lifestyle they often comment that it is much healthier and have reduced the amount of meat that they eat.

I would tell them that you do not appreciate how you are being treated and if they cannot appreciate your views then they can no longer be in your life.

Who does the shopping in your house. Who pays for the food? Who does the cooking? Who cleans up after meals? If none of these is you, why should she cater to your whims? If you want to impress your mom that you're serious, offer to help with the meal planning, shopping, cooking and clean up. Otherwise she'll probably consider it just a fad on your part.