I'm a newbie...haven't even finished my first weigh in. Last night I was looking at my vegetarian menu (week 1). Right there at the bottom in bold:
Certain items on the Vegetarian Menu may contain small amounts of animal by-products.
I paid for the most expensive membership but now I'm not sure I want to keep eating this.
Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
K

And it gets worse....my consultant told me they only have ONE vegetarian menu!

You're kidding! The rep told me there are just as many vegetarian choices as meat. Geez ... I wonder if she's one of the people who think chicken and fish are OK for vegetarians.
I either suspend my problem with eating meat for the next 200+ pounds or I try to get my money back and go across the street to Weight Watchers.
K

Katie,
Perhaps in Seattle there are more veggie menus, but here in NJ, I was told there was only one.
Although I did lose 2 pounds the first week, I told my consultant I was already tired of all the tomato sauce products on the menu.
I am not a true vegetarian, just prefer pastas and veggies to animal meat...so week #2 had some chicken and fish...just NO beef.
I would think if you were misinformed, you are entitled to a full refund. Good Luck! pat

I've been on the program for a little over four months now. It is NOT endless variety, for sure. The items on the veggie menu that contain animal by-products are the stuffed shells and the raspberry cheesecake. They both contain gelatin. The parmesan cheese we are supposed to supplement our proteins with usually contains rennet, which you might not eat depending on how hard core you are. If anyone has found a brand without rennet, please let me know. The rest of the food on the veggie menu is safe for LO vegetarians, as far as I know. Are you Jenny Direct? If you are in-centre, they should have gone over the ABP stuff with you. Maybe I am just lucky, two of the counsellors at my centre are veggie, so they take very good care of me!
Deedee

Deedee} What is rennet?
[ August 15, 2002: Message edited by: ykwcg ]

Oooookay, you asked!
Rennet is a product made from the stomach lining of cattle (usually cows, I think) that acts as a coagulant in some harder cheeses.
All together, now:EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW!
Lots of softer cheeses use vegetable enzymes, but the ingredients list will often not specify. Trader Joe's (sorry to taunt you, I know you don't have one locally) has a listing of which of their cheeses are RF. Your natural foods store might know what's what, or maybe you could look for a kosher symbol. Good luck!
Deedee

EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!! IS RIGHT!!!!!!!
Stuffed Shells was my favorite! I love all of that Italian, cheese, sauce food. Man! Why can't this world try to make things without killing animals? I would have never imagined this being in cheese.

Well, I think I just found the most convincing argument to give up cheese (sadly, my ever-growing waistline and my extremely high cholesterol didn't scare me enough). Rennet. That's disgusting. I thought I was a well-informed vegetarian, but I was just clueless about rennet.
BTW, has anyone else noticed that the carrot cake is not listed as a vegetarian food? I find it so ironic that CARROT cake is not vegetarian... Gross. It makes you wonder, doesn't it????

BTW, Seattle_Katie, I agree that the vegetarian menu is pretty limited. If you are so inclined, you could double up on some of the more palatable items during the week to avoid some of the less tasty items.
I am actually thinking about asking my consultant if I can just eat Gardenburger's on some evenings. I noticed that they are lower in fat and calories. And, they're bigger and undoubtedly better. You could talk to your consultant about substituting for pre-approved non-JC veggie foods.
Good luck.

I might kick myself for asking this, but what's supposed to be in the carrot cake? I have been eating it all along!
Deedee

Unfortunately, I don't know why the carrot cake isn't vegetarian. My consultant couldn't explain it, either. I looked at the ingredients and nothing really stood out. I'm going to pretend that its all just a bad dream.

Just a guess but it probably has to do with the fat used. I hope not lard!! EEks

BellyDancer,
I talked with my consultant yesterday about how I was feeling noe because of the first conversation. Truly, she wasn't trying to sucker me, she just didn't know that some vegetarians don't eat dairy.
This week we came up with a personalized list--I ended up buying only $16 or so worth of food.
But since my vegetarian choice isn't based on any religious or moral reasoning, I've about 89% decided to just eat their food through the rest of 2002 and see how I feel. I'f I'm 25 pounds lighter...well, maybe I'll stick with it longer. (As long as nobody ever mentions "Salsbury steak!"
K

Hey, folks-
On the carrot cake issue, I looked at the ingredient list when I was at my consult this weekend. It is suitable for vegetarians but not vegans.
I distinctly remember being questioned by my Centre Director on what I would/would not eat when I signed up, and the computer almost didn't let me in! Did you folks not get screened this way? Maybe it's a California CYA thing.
Deedee