Vegetarians, I need help

[nismosmama]

I am a huge animal lover, and I am trying my best to do things within my means to help the cause for animals. I am volunteering at a Humane Society and giving my own animals the best life possible. However, in my journey to bettering the lives of animals, I have also decided I would like to also gradually become a vegetarian. I have been thinking a lot about this, and haven't done it up to this point because I'm scared. I love eating meat, specificallly chicken and fish, and I'm scared of how much control I can have and afraid that my deep rooted cravings for meat will not allow me to fullfill this wish. But I have decided to put my fear aside and really attempt to do this and become a vegetarian. I decided to start slow and cutting out mean perhaps only about 2-3 days a week to start, and slowly add days after a few weeks until I can wean myself off of meat. I would like to be a full vegetarian by the end of the year. But I need A LOT of help. I Love food, and its hard for me to think of how I can find fast and easy and hearty foods to make that compare to the quick meals I am able to make with meat. Also, I want to make sure I am getting all the nutrients necessary without meat. And finally, I have a husband who has NO desire to become a vegetarian, and me being the only one to cook dinners and lunches, I need to figure out how I'm going to do this. How easy is it going to be to always be cooking two meals each time.

Any advice from vegetarians out there? Any tips, clues, experiences you've had, resources or links you swear by? I appreciate the help!

So far the resources I've been given and explores are:
GoVeg.com: Vegetarian and Vegan Information
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/

[Terekins]

Hi,
I decided to become a vegetarian for similar reasons as you, and I also faced similar challenges. I knew that it made sense to give up meat, I knew it was part of who I wanted to be (if you know what I mean), but my boyfriend was always completely against the idea. We live together, and at the time I was in school and he was buying the groceries!

I decided to start by reading. I picked up You Don't Need Meat by Peter Cox http://www.amazon.com/You-Dont-Need-...7108702&sr=8-1 because it contained information on the process of giving up meat, nutritional/health information, and information of factory farming. Reading this book confirmed that this was the right choice for me, and since then I have not once had the urge to eat meat. I did enjoy meat prior to giving it up, but now i have such a different way of looking at it--it doesn't look like food anymore, it looks like a body part, to be honest. I cried on the bus while reading certain parts of this book. The least I could do, I thought, was not not participate in the horror of what goes on.

I think you have the right idea in going about it gradually. Keep reading (there are lots of great websites out there with straightforward, credible information), and the more you read about the nutritional benefits, and the issues related to factory farming, the easier it will be for you to become more confident with your decision.

As far as the boyfriend thing, for me it was a matter just doing it--doing the research, going out and buying my own food, learning new recipes etc--and at the same time showing him that I was not going to change into someone new. If I had frustrations with the process I kept them to myself, in order to show that this was making me happy. I kept cooking for him the way I always did, making sure nothing changed for him. The funny thing is, I actually WAS so much happier when I decided to give up meat, and it wasn't difficult at all to be accommodating. I know it must have been hard for him, afraid I was changing (becoming a lesbian hippy who would stop shaving her legs and join Green Peace...), and a lot of this fear manifested itself as anger and frustration. He is completely supportive now, and helps me out at family gatherings and so on, making sure there is always something for me to eat.

I still often cook two meals, and it can be tricky (I go to school, work and volunteer), but I stay organized. I think about what I'm going to make a head of time, and what pots and pans I'll use and if I have enough burners and so one! I go through my recipe book before grocery shopping so I know I'll have what I need throughout the week. Often part of the meal can be shared (for example, rice, spring rolls and meat for him/tofu for me) and often the entire meal can be made vegetarian or already is (speghetti, stir fry). It does usually mean more dishes, but like anything else, you get used to it. Really, I have it pretty easy compared to the animals I'm trying to help
You can send me a private message if you have more questions or concerns, and good luck.
Tere

[Susan9608]

Another great book is "A Diet for new America," but John Robbins.

PETA has some great information for beginner vegetarians; they can even send you a Veggie Starter Kit free to get you going. They have lots of recipes as well.

My husband is a meat eater who also has no interest in becoming a vegetarian. Sometimes that's really difficult. Sometimes it's not. I don't make 2 separate meals, though, because a) I don't really cook and b) I told him before we were married that I wouldn't cook meat, clean up after it or buy it, so if he wanted it, he'd have to take care of those 3 things.

I realize that if you have been responsible for making meals up to this point, you probably won't be able to get away with my attitude towards food preparation. But you shouldn't have to make 2 separate meals. A lot of things can be made without meat and then some meat can be added to a portion of it for your family.

Good luck to you - it's a good decision, one I think you'll be very glad you've made.

[CavySpirit]

I went pescatarian before going vegetarian. And even then I would sometimes go off the wagon so to speak when a burger craving just got the better of me.

I know lots of other people can go 'cold turkey' so to speak. I didn't and still don't have that kind of will power. (part of why I created this forum!)

I think the most important thing is that when you slip up, just get back to it again. EVERY good decision is a good decision.

It's been a long, long, slow battle for me personally. Over time, I keep coming across new inspiration. I think that's important.

I find another very important thing is to TELL people you are vegetarian. It can help keep you honest. Sometimes you find support from people that you wouldn't expect. And you reinforce your commitment to yourself by thinking and saying it.

When the kids came around selling magazine subscriptions, this time I signed up for the Vegetarian Times. I also subscribe to a rescue newspaper (very tough to read).

Once in a while I buy a book with recipes.

Anyway, just some suggestions based on my personal experience.

Now, I virtually never crave a burger. I still eat fish occasionally, but even that I'm now getting down to very little. I think for some of us, it can take a long time to change your way of life with food so that you don't feel deprived or like you are on a 'diet.'

But, the more we all do it, the easier it gets, because the vegetarian options become more and more plentiful, accessable and accepted.

[PiggieMamaKelly]

Nismosmama, your post was very inspiring! Doing the right thing when it hurts is just so hard. Like you, I lOVE meat! I always envy the vegetarians who say they never liked it anyway, and I would love to be "repulsed" by it. You probably have more will power than you think you do. I always considered myself low on will power, and very impulsive. But I gave up meat cold turkey about two years ago and surprisingly never had a single slip up. Once you make up your mind, you have to take it day by day. Don't try to get through a week at a time, just one day. Strive to impress yourself. You will start craving meat less, and if you read books and things you will strengthen your feeling that you are doing the right thing by the planet, the animals, and your own body.

I'm married to a meat eater also and it's really not that hard. It's not cooking two seperate meals, it's just adding a little meat to something.

Also, if we're recommending books we like- The Vegetarian Way by Mark and Virginia Messing is very good and easy to read. It touches on nearly every aspect of vegetarianism and has recipes to boot.


Best of wishes!

[gpigluver14]

When I became a vegetarian, I didn't wean myself off of meat, I just went for it, and stopped eating it all together. Well, first I was pescatarian then went vegetarian. I told myself I could live without meat, and in fact, I could! So for me, it was pretty easy, since I was never a big fan of meat anyway, and now I have been meat free for a couple of months!

Anyway, good luck! It may be hard for you since you really like meat, but I think after not eating it for a while, it will be easy to pass it up, because you'll forget what it tastes like.

[PiggieMamaKelly]

Correction: The Vegetarian Way is written by the Messinas, not Messings.

[nismosmama]

WELL I made a big decision. I'm trying to go cold turkey now. today is my third day meatless, and you know what? the past 3 days have not been hard AT ALL! I mean, I know its only 3 days, hehe, so who knows how I'll feel in a week or three weeks or when holidays roll around. but so far so good . I have also decide to try very hard to cut out dairy and eggs. Now I KNOW that part will for sure be hard, because I am an egg addict! I mean I seriously have either eggs or eggbeaters almost everyday. So that's going to be tricky as the days roll by. Milk I can do without, I don't like it anyway, but I'm going to have to be a lot more conscious of 'what' things have dairy. Like I LOVE LOVE LOVE ice cream, and I love cottage cheese and such. So those will be harder to give up. But I'm not going to beat myself up for those. I'm going to focus on staying meatless first, and then keep working on the eggless and dairy less as the days go by . Thank you all for your advice and kind words

[Terekins]

Awesome!! I just realized you're the same person who has been looking after the animals at that store, too. You know, I bet you'll start to feel really good about what you're doing, and willpower won't even be an issue. In moments of weakness many people will remember a particular detail they once read, about animal abuse in factory farms. Although I don't have urges to start eating meat again, there are times when I wonder if I'm just "making life more complicated" for myself; At family gatherings and at restaurants, when I feel like the only vegetarian on the planet, it can help to ground myself again by pulling out that memory. I remember the suffering, and I remember why I'm doing it.

There are a few REALLY good non-dairy ice creams out there, and lots of good books with recipes for egg and dairy free baked goods (Vive Le Vegan is my absolute favourite http://www.amazon.com/Vive-Vegan-Del...7190706&sr=8-1 ). I have found that bringing my own/making my own really beats trying to find vegan baked goods at coffee shops and so on. Let us know how you make out, and remember it will only keep getting easier.

[nismosmama]

The most traumatic things in my mind right now are seeing the video on the PETA site, giving 30 reasons on why to go veg. One part of the video shows a couple of large pigs hung upside down by their leg and squirming around and one of them slamming on he ground and being beaten and squealing in pain

And the statement that is stuck in my head and won't ever leave is, "When animals feel pain, they scream"....sigh...sometimes I just feel so much pain knowing the pain they must endure :/

[gpigluver14]

I watched that too. It's horrible...It just about broke my heart seeing the guy literally standing on the baby pig to kill it, hearing it squealing in pain. I cried. Because no animal deserves that.

[Imapiggylover]

It is actually really not that hard to to become a veg. I am one, and have been so for about 1 year and a half. Just don't buy meat, and instead place other different types of food in your fridge. This will help you mentally to get used to those types of food. When you actually think about it, Humans and Animals are the same, because we both feel pain, and we can both suffer.

My mom told me once when she bought a Hamburger for my little brother, "He needs to have meat"

Than I said,"If he and you are going to eat meat, than I hope you know what you are eating, who who has to die for it!"

She said,"I don't want to look at those things because they are painful to watch."

I said,"Than WHY do you contribute to it?"

[Smudgetoffee]

I've been vegetarian for three years now, and after a while I just got used to it. I know a few of my friends who are vegetarian who said they just gradually over time ate less and less meat until they phased it out completely. I think that is the best way to approach it.
Hope I helped,
Smudgetoffee.

[landhermie]

When you go to eat the meat, think about the creature it used to be, and what cruelty it was put through. It helps me at lunch. I REALLY wanted turkey once, but after a while I decided it's better not to have it.

[nismosmama]

Hey everyone, well I am very proud to say that when I posted this original post, not long after that same day I decided I would go cold turkey. And now, almost 2 months later, I have not since touched a piece of meat . In fact, I went vegan all together. Its been a little more challenging to go Vegan though, not because of the milk and eggs, those were easy to get rid of, but finding out products I thought were vegan actually had milk and/or eggs in them AFTER that fact. I'm still dealing with it, and getting better at reading ingredients, but I am happy to say that I have not even had a craving for meat this entire time