becoming a vegetarian

Anyone have any tips on becoming a vegetarian?

Recipes, good meat alternatives, things to watch out for, etc.

Also, if you have thoughts on choosing vegan or vegetarian, please feel free to share. I am on the fence on this one. I do like dairy, so this would require giving up something that I actually do like. Also, I think it would probably make it a lot harder to find food, make food, etc. But I am open to it....

Re: becoming a vegetarian

Start small. Make small changes. Don't go vegan overnight!

First, do some research. There are different types of vegetarians. I am personally a lacto-ovo which means I eat dairy and eggs. There are lacto people who don't eat eggs, but eat dairy. Then there are vegans. No eggs, no dairy, I don't even think they eat honey since it's a byproduct of animal work.

Don't fall into the trap of eating solely pasta. Get yourself a good cookbook. Learn about foods that have protein (greek yogurt, eggs, rice and beans, quinoa, tofu, etc).

You might want to supplement your diet with b12 vitamins.

read up on the vegetarian times website. They also have tons of great recipes.

vegetarian starter kit


Sadly, even a lot of devoted vegetarians are not full out vegetarians. You'd be surprised where animals are. the link below gives you an idea. But something as simple as white sugar could have been filtered through bone. It's crazy!


hidden animal products

Message edited 7/27/2010 2:47:06 PM.

Re: becoming a vegetarian

I was a vegetarian for 10 years. It was easy. I pretty much lived on pizza, french fries, pasta, omelets, salad, and fake meat (Morningstar, Boca, Quorn, etc. products). Hey, I was in my 20's, it was easy and I stayed thin anyway! I started by choosing to eat meat only once a day in college, and by the 2nd week it was easy to stop eating that one meat and just not eat any. Two weeks to transition, and I kept it up for 10 years.

I could never be a vegan - that's a real whole lifestyle change. Vegans don't eat meat or buy anything that comes from an animal - honey, leather purses, wool sweaters... they think it's possible to have an existence entirely free from the enslavement of living creatures. If you believe this, then your convictions are strong enough to turn you away from animal products. If you do not believe in this 100%, you won't be able to keep it up for a week.