Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best way to support her is to teach her how to cook for herself.

If you require different meals due to preference and not health requirements (allergies, diabetes, Chrones, etc) the. You n3ed to learn to cook them yourself, especially if you are around middle school or older.

You also need to teach her proper nutrition, and remind her that there are nutrients her body needs, especially during puberty, that she won't get from a vegetarian diet if she does not do it correctly (like eating only celery, carrots, chips and mac n cheese type vegetarian).

You do not allow her to flirt with veganism. For a girl that age, it is a stepping stone to malnourishment and eating disorders[b]. She can make that choice at 18 when she goes to college and is past puberty.

That is absurd and ignorant.

It is not difficult for anyone to get adequate protein from a vegan diet.

While I agree that most teenagers are too disorganized to eat properly this shortcoming applies to all teenagers, meat eaters or vegans.

But there are certainly teens who are up to the task - as long as a parent monitors their kids diet the argument that veganism is a stepping stone to malnourishment and eating disorders is absurd and I bet unsubstantiated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best way to support her is to teach her how to cook for herself.

If you require different meals due to preference and not health requirements (allergies, diabetes, Chrones, etc) the. You n3ed to learn to cook them yourself, especially if you are around middle school or older.

You also need to teach her proper nutrition, and remind her that there are nutrients her body needs, especially during puberty, that she won't get from a vegetarian diet if she does not do it correctly (like eating only celery, carrots, chips and mac n cheese type vegetarian).

You do not allow her to flirt with veganism. For a girl that age, it is a stepping stone to malnourishment and eating disorders[b]. She can make that choice at 18 when she goes to college and is past puberty.

That is absurd and ignorant.

It is not difficult for anyone to get adequate protein from a vegan diet.

While I agree that most teenagers are too disorganized to eat properly this shortcoming applies to all teenagers, meat eaters or vegans.

But there are certainly teens who are up to the task - as long as a parent monitors their kids diet the argument that veganism is a stepping stone to malnourishment and eating disorders is absurd and I bet unsubstantiated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly do you think, dear OP, it means when you write "My 12 yo DD two weeks ago stopped eating meat." That she is pescaterian? That she eats meat?
And then you call the us stupid?! Stupid is as stupid.....

No she expects you to read her original post where she says vegetarian/pescatarian BEFORE responding

You’re either a vegetarian OR a pescatarian.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly do you think, dear OP, it means when you write "My 12 yo DD two weeks ago stopped eating meat." That she is pescaterian? That she eats meat?
And then you call the us stupid?! Stupid is as stupid.....

No she expects you to read her original post where she says vegetarian/pescatarian BEFORE responding

Anonymous wrote:The best way to support her is to teach her how to cook for herself.

If you require different meals due to preference and not health requirements (allergies, diabetes, Chrones, etc) the. You n3ed to learn to cook them yourself, especially if you are around middle school or older.

You also need to teach her proper nutrition, and remind her that there are nutrients her body needs, especially during puberty, that she won't get from a vegetarian diet if she does not do it correctly (like eating only celery, carrots, chips and mac n cheese type vegetarian).

You do not allow her to flirt with veganism. For a girl that age, it is a stepping stone to malnourishment and eating disorders[b]. She can make that choice at 18 when she goes to college and is past puberty.

Anonymous wrote:My DD as been a vegetarian for a few years. Initially, she was on the white carb train - pasta, rice, potatoes - but she's gradually added more variety and veggies. Protein is always an issue as well as Vitamin D. Our pediatrician recommended using a multi-vitamin after blood work results at her annual checkup (per my request). I don't like to cook but picking recipes and cooking together on the weekends has been fun. I like the Moosewood cookbook, a classic, but check your local library as there are plenty of updated options. There are also several great food bloggers. We like Smitten Kitchen mostly because her recipes are simple and she also has some amazing desserts which is always of great interest for my teen. In fact, she often likes to find a dessert recipe first. Right now, she's eating a lot of soups, which are great with this weather and they're one pot, easy clean/heat up options. Thai, Mexican, Indian and Italian are all veggie friendly. I haven't turned her completely lose in the kitchen yet, but she enjoys the few dishes she makes on her own. Good luck and have fun with your DD.

Anonymous wrote:My 11yo DD also switched to eating pescetarian this fall, and she was really helped out by "The Smart Girl's Guide to Going Vegetarian." It's not just a recipe book, but gives an overview of the different types of vegan/vegetarian, pescetarian/ flexitarian diets, talks about not shortchanging nutrition, how to handle eating out or at friends' houses, etc. Very practical, and super helpful for identifying sources of protein and important vitamins and minerals they might otherwise miss. I never knew peas had so much protein!

Our deal was that she had to participate in meal planning every week, and I'd cook an additional portion of something for her (within reason), if she'd figure out what she wanted to have and help me prep whenever possible. She's always helped a bit with meal planning anyway, so we set up a Pinterest board where she and I could share vegetarian recipes we might want to try.

We generally only ate meat once or twice a week already, so it hasn't been too much of an adjustment, cooking-wise. I've just tried to use meat in ways that are easy to separate from the rest of the dish, if that makes sense. Then I might sauté a few slices of sesame-soy marinated tofu while our chicken is cooking, or roast some vegetables for her to go over pasta or polenta when we have meat with ours. Or take out some of the curry sauce before I add the meat, and she'll have it with chick peas.

She'd always gotten most of her protein from yogurt, cheese, eggs, or black beans, so that hasn't been a problem. Greek yogurt smoothies with frozen berries or a frozen banana and powdered peanut butter make a great breakfast or even lunch, in a thermos. And she can always make a quick scrambled egg, quesadilla, or black bean burrito if she needs something quick. Burritos freeze well, too. A big batch of deviled eggs on Sunday makes lunch prep easy during the week, or just for a quick snack. (If you have an Instant Pot, it makes the eggs really easy to peel.)

Trader Joe's has containers of tofu that are split into two portions, which comes in really handy when she's the only one eating it. She also likes their vegetable gyoza, shrimp shu mai, and vegetarian meat balls, and falafel from Whole Foods (they have some "falafel poppers" that make a great snack or quick lunch). All of those can just be popped in the microwave, if she's cooking for herself. And we keep a box of breaded fish filets in the freezer for an easy alternative when the rest of us have meat. Frozen pre-cooked shrimp can be quickly thawed for stir fries or pasta. Her go-to dinner that she can make herself is high-fiber pasta (we like Barilla Pasta Plus) with butter, parmesan, and peas.

There are a few meat dishes I know she misses, but so far she's really stuck with it, and we're trying to be supportive within reason. I will say that she's held up her end of the deal as far as trying to branch out and eat things she'd previously avoided, like mushrooms or shrimp.

Good luck to you both!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best way to support her is to teach her how to cook for herself.

If you require different meals due to preference and not health requirements (allergies, diabetes, Chrones, etc) the. You n3ed to learn to cook them yourself, especially if you are around middle school or older.

You also need to teach her proper nutrition, and remind her that there are nutrients her body needs, especially during puberty, that she won't get from a vegetarian diet if she does not do it correctly (like eating only celery, carrots, chips and mac n cheese type vegetarian).

You do not allow her to flirt with veganism. For a girl that age, it is a stepping stone to malnourishment and eating disorders. She can make that choice at 18 when she goes to college and is past puberty.

This is all very well stated. There is a lot of danger in allowing her to make her own way unsupported. At the very least you need to have her speak with her pediatrician and then also a dietician or nutritionist. Her body is at a critical growth and development period, and she must be sure she is supplying it with everything it needs. Additionally, watch closely to ensure that she does not become too limited in her diet because that may indicate food control issues indicating the presence of problems in the realm of anorexia or even bulimia. Your most important step, OP, as a mom will be to get her in to see her pediatrician and the dietician. Let them set up the parameters so that she is eating a well-balanced diet and then you can support her by providing the food stuffs and opportunities to prepare her meals that meet those requirements.

You harasses her like you both stated, then she will have an eating disorder. You all are being overly obnoxious as it doesn't support your agenda. Many of us have been vegetarian since teens and its a perfectly healthy diet. Most people don't need nearly as much protein in their diet as people push. She'll be fine. Unclench.

NP.

The minimum RDA for protein for a teen girl is 46 grams, more if a girl is physically active or an athlete. Of course, that is scientifically based as opposed to your "unclench" method. It is hard to construe how providing access to knowledgeable experts could be perceived as "harasses" (sic).

If you were my daughter giving me these response then I would know that you are too immature to be making these choices.

Be nasty to your kid...works wonders when they get older and you wonder why they stopped talking to you. Your response is not accurate as it goes by height, weight and other things, not just a flat amount.