How can I become vegetarian/vegan?

Question

I really want to become at least a vegetarian for the health benefits. What are some ways that I can adjust and maintain to this lifestyle?

I try not to eat meat but sometimes its too hard...especially since my family are carnivores :P

Answer 1

Often the easiest answer we like to give a person who wants to stop doing something is simply to stop. That is a ridiculous and somewhat pompous assumption. Whether you are smoking, drinking or eating meat, you are up against an addiction, and quitting can be a very difficult process. Unlike other addictions however, meat products have been shoved in our bodies since birth, are easily accessible everywhere we turn, and offered to us as the obvious, easy and necessary way to live.

Becoming a vegetarian is generally a moral or ethical decision. A vegetarian lifestyle (just as a meat-eating lifestyle) is healthy or unhealthy depending on the decisions you make. Despite what some in our culture still believe, you can get everything you need as a vegetarian. But if your decision is based only on health reasons, just adopt a more healthy meat-eating diet. Read on if your are still interested in becoming vegetarian. :)

I am not sure how old you are, but the best way to begin a vegetarian life you can maintain is to get your own apartment. Just as it would be nearly impossible for an alcoholic to quit drinking while hanging out in a bar every day, it will be very difficult to stop eating meat in a home where it is constantly being served. In you own place you can do your own shopping and decide what food is served. As you become more secure in your diet and your body and mind quit craving that which they are missing, you can be in more meat situations.

Another great thing you can do for yourself is to learn how to cook quick and simple meals. When you eat good food you do not feel as though you are missing out. Often vegetarians look for vegetarian cookbooks. I use regular cookbooks and substitute the meat. Morning Star Farms has great vegan chicken and beef substitutes, and Ives has great vegan ground beef and lunchmeat substitutes. I personally love tofu. It is great for making Chinese food. Know which restaurants have good vegetarian substitutes for when you want to go out to eat.

When you are trying to quit, the first time in a day you give in to your addiction in sets the mood for the rest of the day. If you break down and eat sausage in the morning, you will probably break down at lunch and dinner too. Keep substituting and try to make your first meat later and later in the day until you can go an entire day. Also, when we crave meat, we often crave the fat and grease. A great fix is to cook a dish heavy in olive oil; you will get the fat you crave (but please don’t make a habit of it.)

Also, read some great literature and get a support system. One of the hardest (or most annoying) things you will deal with as a vegetarian is how meat-eaters will treat you. Know that they are doing this because your choice is inadvertently “calling them” immoral or telling them they are leading a bad life. You are of course not doing this, but some will verbally attack you. They will not know why, but the truth is that your choice is threatening to them. When possible, try to keep these people out of your life and DO NOT get drawn into arguments with them. You cannot win. Their only goal is to prove you are a hypocrite and flawed. Because you are human, you are naturally both of these things, but these are people who desperately need to prove it so they may never see these attributes in themselves. Sorry to be a bummer, but you need to expect these conversations.

Finally, don’t expect to change your life all at once. Start by only cutting out meat (yes, sorry, but a fish is an animal). Feel proud of your accomplishment. If you reach a point when you are secure in this lifestyle try taking away eggs. Later you can try to take the leather, wool, angora etc. out of your wardrobe. When this works you may choose to stop eating foods with egg products or chemical names that are code words for meat. You do not have to stop eating/ wearing everything to conform to such a vegan lifestyle you no longer live in a house because houses are built upon concrete, which is made in part by animal bones…. So don’t allow anyone to make you feel inferior in your choices. You are on a path and trying to make decisions that will help you become the person you want to be, not a person anyone else feels you should be. All of life is a process. We will fail on occasion and we will make decisions different from what others will make. Be happy and secure in the things you accomplish and keep going. If you only cut meat out of your diet and never take another step, then you took a great and difficult step and should be proud.

After several years of being a vegetarian, I have adopted this one quick and simple answer for why I am a vegetarian: I don't need meat to survive or be healthy; therefore it is a luxury, and no one/thing should have to suffer so I can have a luxury. It tends to be sufficient enough for anyone who asks.

Answer 2

Don't listen to the guy above me....vegan is the healthiest life style you adopt. Animal Fats are bad for you and can cause heart desease. Humans are not designed to eat animals. You just have too really make sure you get enough protein from other sources. Like Soy, Nuts, Seeds, Beans, Cheese (if your not vegan). It's not an easy thing to do but nothing worth doing is ever easy. IF you stop eating meat for a month i promise you will start to lose a taste for it. You feel more energetic adn your ksin and hair will look better as long as you are getting all your nutrients. I'm not perfect by all means but i have cut out red meat completely for the past 10 years. You should just faze it out...start with red meat, then chicken and turkey,....then decide if you want to go vegan. Also make sure you are getting enough Omega Fatty Acids.

Answer 3

Wait until you can afford to buy your own food before you switch over to vegetarian unless your family will support you. Most families will not if they are not already vegetarian. I didn't become one until recently. My mom supported my no pork and no beef choice before, but refused to pay for fake meat products. Going vegan will be even harder if you do not have your own source of income as you will need to really try hard to meet your nutrient requirements.

Matt doesn't know what he's talking about. You can get plenty of protein from non-animal sources even if you're vegan. If he got sick as a vegetarian or vegan, then he wasn't doing it right. The fact is, most Westerners get way to much protein to begin with and not enough fruits and veggies. Fake meat is a good source of protein, as tofu is a natural source of protein as is the beans that are used to make it. Leafy greans are a great source of iron. And EVERYONE should be taking a vitamin, vegetarian or not.

You will be much healthier if you become a vegetarian, though you can do just as well if you simply cut out pork and beef from your diet, if your family will not allow you to go all the way. I would also recomend cutting all flour except for whole grain from your diet, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose and fructose (unless it is found naturally in your food such as in fruits and vegetables), and tropical fats/oils. You should also limit your trans and saturated fats and foods with added sugar. Lactose (sugar found in dairy) is ok.

I say the above because many vegetarians get in this mindset where they think its ok to eat junk so long as they're not eating meat, but its not ok. You're still hurting your body. Also, another reason not to eat processed flour: they use animal bones in the process of whitening it.

Answer 4

Do not make a drastic change, it may be harmful to your health.
Go to an Adventist Books Shop near your place. They have a lot of books with good advice and recipes of good vegetarian diet. They also run the Sanitarium Health Food Company with hundreds of meat subsitute foods and drinks and recipes for healthy vegetarian diets.
They even have free classes on how to become a healthy vegetarian based on scientific research and more than a hundred years of practice.
Every year they add a million followers and most of them become health conscious vegetarian.

Answer 5

FOR HEALTH REASONS???!!! What! Most vegitarines are sickly and have many health problems due to lack of protenes found in meats.

My advise...if you like meat then just eat it...we are the top of the food chain so you might as well join in on the benefits of being up here...was a while back but we humans used to be the prey of t-rex. None of them went vegan or vegitarian.

Answer 6

you must give up meat and all of the meat by products you know like french fries that are fried in the same oil as the hamburger you replace all of the things that come from animals with some vegetable of equal benefits

Answer 7

Just stop eating meat. To replace the lost protein, increase you intake on cheese and soy.

Answer 8

Eat tons of beans. Lots of protein and makes up for the loss of meat protein. Other than that, bean sprouts. And don't eat meat. hah. Have mucho fun!

Answer 9

Just dont eat meat. For protein, eat soy products. Im chinese and my mom always cooks tofu.

Answer 10

There are no health benefits- your health will slowly deteriorate once you become vegetarian/vegan <--------especially vegan

The protein in foods like soy, beans, etc. is not NEARLY as bioavailable as protein from meat, among many other nutrients from plant foods. The nutrients from plants are simply just not very absorbable by the human body- this is a FACT. I have done my homework, and this is the truth, look at any TRULY scientific study, not the pseudo-science garbage that orgs like the PCRM pumps out

Trust me on this- I almost destroyed my health going veg.- and I was super careful in planning out my nutrients and everything- on paper, I had every nutrient I needed, but in reality, I was starving myself of vital nutrition. And in case anyone is going to say "You just did it wrong" NO!! I bought all organic, all natural, no processed foods, ate from all the veg food groups etc. etc. etc. And my health STILL declined!

Meat and animal foods are irreplaceable, don't sacrifice your health

Edit: Humans are fully adapted to the consumption of flesh- it is the consumption of energy and nutrient dense flesh that allowed us to develop our complex brains in the first place- have you ever seen an incredibly intelligent herbivore? No, because only meat-eating animals can extract the pre-formed nutrients necessary to support a large brain.

True herbivores are so anatomically different from human beings- ask any biologist; any comparison is a pseudo-scientific joke.