I'm thinking of becoming a vegetarian, but I don't know how to get started. Are there helpful (cook) books?

Question

I don't know if I should just try quitting eating meat "cold turkey" no pun intended or how I should go about doing it. I tried becoming a vegetarian about a year ago, but I only lasted less than one month and then I caved in and went and bought a quarter pounder with cheese at McDonalds. Reason I wanna become a vegetarian is for health reasons (I've have digestive issues for about 7 years now and think becoming a vegetarian might help). Can anyone offer some helpful advice on how to become a vegetarian and how to be able to stay that way for life?

Answer 1

Here are tips:

1. Take your time - my journey from meat eater took about a year.
2. Start out using some basic substitutes for the meat you are used to in foods where you won't even notice - ground meat replacements are available in the frozen food sections.
3. Leave meat off things that don't need it - pizza, salad, spag, etc.
4. Get some good cookbooks when you are ready to branch into more interesting foods - Moosewood books and New Farm Vegetarian are two of my favorites.
5. If you are worried about what to eat check out the book "Diet for a New America" it will cover many of the health questions.

A good start is to pick one or two nights a week as "veggie" night. Then work your way from there stopping wherever you feel most comfortable which might be 2 nights a week or 7 nights a week up to you.

Answer 2

There's an old cookbook call "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest" which is pretty good. Try by first phasing out red meat, then chicken, then fish, while increasing other foods. I was a vegetarian for 5 years, it's tough at first but will get easier with time. Good luck.

Answer 3

Instead of asking "how", perhaps the question should be "why". As you have mentioned, the previous effort did not last very long. When insufficiently motivated (that means the answer to "why" is not strong enough) even small efforts will have little chance of succeeding.

Answer 4

nicely, for a vegetarian it truly is oftentimes been difficult to stay with a meat-eating kinfolk (my case), yet nevertheless... in basic terms estimate once you sense "ill" and is your urge for food for meat greater suitable than your repulsion from the beef. i've got been a vege

Answer 5

Anything by the Moosewood Restaurant is a great cook book!!!!

Try Barnes and Noble for good veggie/going veggie books...then get them from your library - the ones you like....go ahead and buy

Answer 6

eat a fat medium rare steak and re-think your decision