Vegetarian in Bootcamp

[llamayamaa]

I consider myself pretty well versed in foods with protein in them, so I'll offer my advice.

Foods they have at the galley for protein: yogurt (not greek, unfortunately), eggs, oatmeal, brown rice, noodles, milk, kashi cereal, peanut butter, cottage cheese, beans, and fish. Those are all I can remember at the moment. There's a salad bar and cereal station that you'll have access to every meal. Occasionally, they serve non-meat entrees like veggie lasagna or cheese pizza, which have a decent amount of protein in them. Every entree and side dish has nutritional data up on a screen as you're waiting in line to be served. I tried to get about 55-60 grams of protein per day (as a 155 lb 28 yr old female, I don't need much more than that) and was able to do so pretty easily.

Bagged lunches kind of sucked, but they sucked for everyone (lunch meat sandwich, apple, carrots, trail mix, chips, capri-sun). My division knew I was a vegetarian and everyone offered me their items from their lunch that they weren't going to eat. More often than not, I ended up with more food than I could eat! Your shipmates will take care of you as long as you let them know you're a vegetarian.

Also, if you're in decent shape... don't worry about lagging behind with your PT. Maybe if you were a vegetarian that was overweight and couldn't run you should worry about it, but if you're physically fit to begin with , you'll be good.

Also remember: meat does not equal muscle. PROTEIN equals muscle.

With that being said, if the RDCs try to pressure you into eating meat (like mine did)- you do NOT have to eat it. I wish I had known that, because I did eat meat when he yelled at me to... and it sent me to the hospital for two days.

No, the RDCs and galley staff are not going to serve you a veggie burger or tofu or cater to your dietary needs, but there are enough foods available for you to make it through. Be ready to eat the same foods over and over again, and maybe if your RDC is a jerk they'll give you crap for your diet. Just remember that you're going to get yelled at and made fun of regardless (they'll find something to pick on you for, don't worry!).

Vegetarians CAN succeed at bootcamp and still remain vegetarians! (vegans on the other hand... )

[ShaynaLace]

I know we aren't supposed to "revive" old threads... but the initial post in this one sounded like it might be a "sticky" one day. When doing a search, this was the thread with the most input and information.

Mods: Can we make this a sticky??

Since this thread HAS been on here a little while, alex.martinez: Do you have any more insight on being vegetarian/vegan in bootcamp?

Anyone else that may have more insight... even just by observation, if you weren't veggie... what are the range of food options?

I would like to note, I am fully aware no one will "cater" to my dietary wants... (Not needs... just wants...) but I would like to continue eating as close to "simple" vegan as I can.

I don't eat anything "fancy" or "gourmet". I'm not asking for someone to whip me up a vegan pizza, or vegan lasagna. I really just eat straight from the source, and try to eat "mono" meals. (Only 1 item)

A pretty standard day for me looks like this:
***Breakfast: 8-10 bananas+1L water+1/4c coconut sugar (I like to blend them because I can get my first liter of water in for the day, but will eat them whole on-the-run if I don't have time)
***Lunch: I typically workout through the lunch hours... so I don't typically eat lunch. (Still full from breakfast as well)
***Dinner: A single complex carb source: Example: Steamed Rice, Beans, Steamed or baked potatoes, corn (gluten free) pasta, or a gluten free/dairy free bread (and make pizza with pasta sauce and peppers).

I do not add any salt or oil to any food at home... but I also understand in order to not be reclusive... I will eat food that has it if I am eating out.

Also, I only drink water. No soda, tea, coffee, milk... nothing. I really only drink juice if I juice it myself.

I like to eat until full... I'm not even going to pretend that I limit calories. I eat between 2500-3500 calories a day. Is that even possible to do at bootcamp? Do they have "portion" limits? From the sounds of it... I think I might be ok if portion sizes aren't restricted. Will they jump my butt if I walk over and grab 8 bananas?! LOL!

Ideally, I would have bananas or dairy free oatmeal for breakfast, and rice, beans, or potatoes for dinner. (I can put away 3-4 baking potatoes just by myself). Do they have just straight steamed rice or beans at bootcamp?

When I keep it simple and abundant, my body balances its own weight right where it needs to be, acne disappears, digestion only takes 30 minutes from enter to exit (you're welcome for that elaboration... Lmao)... and I run faster, hit harder, and study better than ever before.

Wow this is long! Again! I hope this is ok to be revived into a sticky?! Any insight on food at bootcamp would be greatly appreciated! Fingers crossed for simple and abundant!

[LT Guppy]

Admin Note

I pulled these two posts out of the original thread before sticking it, because they were beneficial and stayed on topic.

It is possible to be a vegetarian in bootcamp and the Navy. This thread is not the place to tell someone they shouldn't.

[LT Guppy]

The Navy (galleys and ships) works on a 35 day rotating menu. A sample of one day from a galley here is:

Breakfast
Grilled Turkey Sausage Links
Grilled Bacon
Hominy Grits
Hot Oatmeal
French Toast Sticks
Hash Brown Potatoes
Hard Boiled Eggs
Eggs to Order
Fruit/Yogurt/Cereal bar

Lunch
Beef Rice Soup
Lemon Baked Fish
B.L.T.
Oven Baked Fries
Steamed Rice
Peas and Onions
Mixed Vegetables
Salad bar

Dinner
Vegetarian Vegetable Soup
Savory Baked Chicken
Beef Pot Pie
Rice Pilaf
Mashed Potatoes
Chicken Gravy
Stewed Tomato
Steamed Green Beans
Salad bar

That's pretty typical everywhere in the navy.

At OCS (not sure about RTC) females were required to eat one serving of dairy with breakfast.

[ShaynaLace]

Appreciate it Guppy! Thank you... That was fast!

That is interesting about women being required to have a serving of dairy. Any thoughts on why just women? I'm interested to hear about women at RTS, for sure. I am a licensed cosmetologist, and I have about 60 college credits that I graduated high school with... but I do not have my bachelors, so I will not be going to OCS. Lol. I wish!

That list seems like a pretty decent list of options! What about portion sizes... they just slap it on your plate and you move along?

Reading back over llamayamaa's post... There really was some pretty good stuff in there! Glad to hear someone before me has done it!!

[llamayamaa]

Appreciate it Guppy! Thank you... That was fast!

That is interesting about women being required to have a serving of dairy. Any thoughts on why just women? I'm interested to hear about women at RTS, for sure. I am a licensed cosmetologist, and I have about 60 college credits that I graduated high school with... but I do not have my bachelors, so I will not be going to OCS. Lol. I wish!

That list seems like a pretty decent list of options! What about portion sizes... they just slap it on your plate and you move along?

Reading back over llamayamaa's post... There really was some pretty good stuff in there! Glad to hear someone before me has done it!!

Unless things have changed in the two years since I've been at boot camp- women are prescribed calcium pills to take daily. Whether or not you take them is up to you. I didn't have room for them in my A/B drawer so I dumped mine pretty quickly. I've also never had a need to supplement my diet with calcium.

I have taken training classes and worked with RDCs (I work at NSTC which is the base right across from boot camp) and they have said there is a new policy that RDCs are NOT allowed to tell recruits what they can and cannot eat AT ALL. It annoys them mostly because recruits are eating desserts and fatty foods when they can barely pass their weigh ins and PRTs. But they really don't/shouldn't care if you're choosing veggies over meat.

Portion sizes are predetermined for the hot food line and for desserts, but you can chose how much (or little) you want of the salad bar (including fruit) and cereal. The night we did Battlestations we were offered double portions at the galley because you're up all night.

Again, unless they've changed it in the past two years, you only have a certain amount of time to eat your meal. Many times I found I had to leave food on my plate simply because the time was up. I learned very quickly that things like hard boiled eggs were just not a viable option because I would spend half my time peeling the egg. You might also find that you spend more time peeling your eight bananas than you do eating them.

To answer the question about the quality of food- that's entirely relative to each person. I found the quality of all the food to be pretty poor- most of it was pre-packaged, pre-made, frozen, loaded with salt and preservatives, etc. and if you're there in the winter time like I was, fresh fruit is basically nonexistent (even the 'fresh' Apple slices were still frozen). But again, it's difficult to feed the thousands of recruits daily with homemade meals using the freshest of ingredients. Also try to keep in mind that bootcamp is only a short period of time and you'll soon have control over your diet again.

[LT Guppy]

There was a guy in my class who ate the eggshells because it took too long to peal hard boiled eggs.

[ShaynaLace]

Unless things have changed in the two years since I've been at boot camp- women are prescribed calcium pills to take daily. Whether or not you take them is up to you. I didn't have room for them in my A/B drawer so I dumped mine pretty quickly. I've also never had a need to supplement my diet with calcium.

I have taken training classes and worked with RDCs (I work at NSTC which is the base right across from boot camp) and they have said there is a new policy that RDCs are NOT allowed to tell recruits what they can and cannot eat AT ALL. It annoys them mostly because recruits are eating desserts and fatty foods when they can barely pass their weigh ins and PRTs. But they really don't/shouldn't care if you're choosing veggies over meat.

Portion sizes are predetermined for the hot food line and for desserts, but you can chose how much (or little) you want of the salad bar (including fruit) and cereal. The night we did Battlestations we were offered double portions at the galley because you're up all night.

Again, unless they've changed it in the past two years, you only have a certain amount of time to eat your meal. Many times I found I had to leave food on my plate simply because the time was up. I learned very quickly that things like hard boiled eggs were just not a viable option because I would spend half my time peeling the egg. You might also find that you spend more time peeling your eight bananas than you do eating them.

To answer the question about the quality of food- that's entirely relative to each person. I found the quality of all the food to be pretty poor- most of it was pre-packaged, pre-made, frozen, loaded with salt and preservatives, etc. and if you're there in the winter time like I was, fresh fruit is basically nonexistent (even the 'fresh' Apple slices were still frozen). But again, it's difficult to feed the thousands of recruits daily with homemade meals using the freshest of ingredients. Also try to keep in mind that bootcamp is only a short period of time and you'll soon have control over your diet again.

Awesome input! Thank you!

Questions- How long is a typical meal?

I'm going to look into the calcium supplements. With the amount of swimming I am doing... I tend to get calf cramps about 1500m in. I'll check it out!!

[ShaynaLace]

There was a guy in my class who ate the eggshells because it took too long to peal hard boiled eggs.

:rofl: That is hilarious!

[jzhaun]

Meal length in boot camp is usually 10 or 15 minutes from the time the last guy sits down. Generally you enter the galley in height order, so the short people get a bit more time than the tall ones.

If you miss eating with your division for some reason (watch, medical appointments etc) you'll straggle and eat by yourself unsupervised, but they'll know how long you took because you have to sign out when you leave the compartment.