Those poor skinny anemic vegetarians

Here's the real truth - I have been vegetarian for 20 years and a body builder for 25 years. When I first went vegetarian I gained almost 20 pounds! I had to work my tail off to shed that. (Yes, that's me in the photo)

Here's the problem many new vegetarians run into. You can eat all the raw veggies you want - they are low calorie and you could hardly eat enough raw celery to get fat on. BUT - your body is used to the heavy, full feeling that meat gives you. So you constantly feel like you are not full.

So most new vegetarians fall back on beans and pasta for that full feeling. Eating enough of those meals to feel full...you'll gain weight.

Try to gradually cut back on those heavy meals and replace them with lighter foods and meals and lots of raw food. Slowly your body will adjust until you feel full and satisfied, without having to be heavy from meat. You'll probably find you feel much better in the long run.

This is one reason I really encourage people to become vegetarian gradually, rather than trying to do so over night. Go at your own pace. Start with perhaps with one or two meatless days a week. Maybe you'll never go beyond that - and that's fine really, even two days will improve your health and lighten the load you're putting on the planet.

Give up beef first. But experiment and make it fun - see if your favorite ground beef casserole is just as good (or better!) made with the veggie crumbles meat replacer or tempeh.

Slowly cut the other meats out of your diet, and keep trying new recipes. I said I'd never like tofu - well, never say never - and check out my lens "Ewww - Tofu!

If you gain a bit of weight at first - don't worry about it. As you adjust your eating habits it should take care of itself. You may eventually settle at a lower weight - but don't assume that becoming vegetarian will by itself instantly transform you into someone who wears size 1 jeans.

The only time I wore size 1 jeans, I was one year old. :P

One reason many of us become vegetarian is to lighten our "footprint on the earth". You can help fight world hunger for free here: