10 Steps to Going Vegetarian and other tips

[CavySpirit]

I really like this simple page of advice:

10 Steps to Going Vegetarian

If you have other positive 'how to' pages of advice for going vegetarian, please post them here. Please refrain from posting all the 'why you should go vegetarian' links. Just the how-to's for this thread. I'd like to make this thread a sticky for the top of the forum.

Thanks.

[chrishall1979]

There is really only 1 How-to in my opinion. And here it is.

1.) Make a choice that you aren't going to believe all the lies the meat industry pushes down our gullets year after year. Make YOUR choice that it isn't fair to the animals. What makes one creature more sacred than another? Do we treat cats and dogs different because the are domesticated? Well then I have news for you. Cows are domesticated, so are pigs, and sheep. As none of them were originally from this continent. Make the choice that you will not eat meat or consume animal products. It has to be your choice and you have to be ready to make the change and stand for your beliefs.

The only other would be 1 1/2) and that is. Speak out to others about the horrors of how their meat is processed. How leather is harvested. How it takes at least 30 living things to make ONE fur coat. Read about how wool is harvested. AND SPEAK OUT!!! But the ONE AND ONLY clear rule is.... STOP!

I gave up all meat in 1 day. None of this weening yourself off of it. Do not let one more animal die needlessly. The only way is cold turkey just like cigarettes.

I think I stayed away from reasons why you should and kept it on topic.

The whole How-To is QUIT NOW! Not tomorrow, not a week from now, not sometime. RIGHT NOW! Ok I feel better!

Chris

[mncavylover]

That's what I did, except for seafood. I'm gradually getting off that. Sometimes people find that gradual change is better, though I see where you're coming from.

[kavykritter]

Well, that is a great idea to go completely off meat in one instant, Chriss, but for some people, that is not practical or they are not that comitted, or something. I, for example, am only 13, and I still live with my parents, and our lifestyle is such that i just can't do that, so here is how I did it.
1)get to know some vegetarian recipies and nutrition, and inform anybody you need to. (ie parents, if you live with them, whatever)

2)start eating more vegetable protien sources and enjoyable and cut the least important meat meal you eat ina day or a week, or whatever it takes for you

3)decrease how much meat you are eating as slowly as is necessary, and as quickly as is possible and as you would like to.

4) go 100% veggie, and make the commitement to keep it that way!

[zariex]

Originally Posted by chrishall1979

There is really only 1 How-to in my opinion. And here it is.

1.) Make a choice that you aren't going to believe all the lies the meat industry pushes down our gullets year after year. Make YOUR choice that it isn't fair to the animals. What makes one creature more sacred than another? Do we treat cats and dogs different because the are domesticated? Well then I have news for you. Cows are domesticated, so are pigs, and sheep. As none of them were originally from this continent. Make the choice that you will not eat meat or consume animal products. It has to be your choice and you have to be ready to make the change and stand for your beliefs.

The only other would be 1 1/2) and that is. Speak out to others about the horrors of how their meat is processed. How leather is harvested. How it takes at least 30 living things to make ONE fur coat. Read about how wool is harvested. AND SPEAK OUT!!! But the ONE AND ONLY clear rule is.... STOP!

I gave up all meat in 1 day. None of this weening yourself off of it. Do not let one more animal die needlessly. The only way is cold turkey just like cigarettes.

I think I stayed away from reasons why you should and kept it on topic.

The whole How-To is QUIT NOW! Not tomorrow, not a week from now, not sometime. RIGHT NOW! Ok I feel better!

Chris

I have to agree with you wholeheartedly. I went vegan about five months ago and I wouldn't have been able to do it without going cold turkey. I liked [I don't feel anything for them anymore] some stuff... I work at Dunkin' Donuts so milk products surround me all the time. I had to just one day decide "never again."

[Alanas]

I would really like to go Vegetarian, however I have tried many substitutes like tofu etc, and I can't stand it. I actually crave meat and I hate that I do. What can I eat that I can chew and feel satisfied with? I had a vegetarian pasta the other day and I hated it. Is there hope for me? Is there anyone else out there who used to be like me? I need help!

[guineapiglvr14]

I think I am like you because I don't like much veg. stuff!

[CF#5]

I think for many people the why and the how are difficult to separate. The why is what provides the motivation, and the motivation is the most important component of the how. That's the internal/introverted part of it. The entire concept of taking a piece of a dead animal and putting it in my mouth has become completely foreign to me. I'd rather be tortured than eat meat ever again. When I smell it cooking, I've become conditioned to get sick. I call it the smell of death. Ironically, I cook garden burgers all the time, and the more realistic the better. But I know there are no dead animal parts in them, so the smell of those burgers doesn't elicit the same type of response.

As for how other people react, that's the external/extroverted part of it. When people are young, we call it peer pressure. When they're older, we call it social norms and expectations. It's necessary to be strong and stick to your convictions and be able to face the social consequences. To cave in and eat meat just because everyone else does it shows weakness. If your friends make fun of you because you don't eat meat, find new friends. But also realize there's a fine line between friendly fun and disrespectful jabbing. If your real friends step over the line make it clear that what they're doing is bothersome and they should stop. If they don't, they're not real friends.

[piggy_love]

I have been thinking about going veg. too. But I think that if I do I should be veg. every other month or week. That way we don't have to have a craving for meat products ALL the time. and then you can make a final decision.

[ImissNibbles]

"Someday" definitely isn't a good mentality to use. That is what I started out saying. That got me nowhere. It takes making the decision to do it in an instant I think. You just have to decide you are going to do it and really do it. Sometimes certain experiences will help you do this. . .(seeing fried guinea pigs did it for me!)

[SleepyBirdy]

I started yesterday. Today for lunch i'm having a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich with a small bowl of imitation crab meat. I could get used to this.

[Greenwalker]

I think that personality has alot to do with it. If you're the kind of person who likes to carefully plan things out, and make sure everything is accounted for, then the gradual method is probably for you. Suddenly cutting out something that this type of person has had every day of their life would be tramatic an uneffective.

Now, on the other hand, if your a rather "emotional" spur-of-the-moment-desition-maker like me, the sudden switch would probably be best. If this type of person tried to gradually limit their meat intake, they might just get boared and change their mind; this type of person likes to change their mind quickly. I remember when I first decided to go vegetarian, my mom told me that we were going to out favorite resteraunt, I went upstairs to get dressed, happily dreaming of a meat dish, suddenly though of dead pigs, and came downstairs stating that I was a vegetarian. Both of my parents teased me and said I'd eat meat the next day, but it's been two years and no meat for me!

I think what really helped me make the switch was the fact that the last bit of meat I had was awful. You see, my mother had bought some pre-seasoned pork, but it was really salty and chewy; gross! That's the last meat I remember having, and how could I pine for that? If I'd gone to that resteraunt and had "one last meat dish" (like my mom suggested) it would feel like I was punnishing myself.

[BabyGrl]

I just stopped eating meat cold turkey. It has worked well for me. A few things in the beginning had not been easy. My husband and my favorite resturant is a steakhouse. We still go there to eat but now I just get the vegetarian plate. I basically eat eveything I would have minus the steak. I still enjoy going out and can feel better about it because my meal is healthier for me now.
At first my husband teased me about it but now he is very supportive. I am one of those people that goes on a diet for like 2 days and gets sick of it. He thought this would be like that but he knows now that it is serious and he is really proud of me.

[WritingLife]

I think it helps to stop thinking in terms of "meat replacement" or even "main dish." We're so used to meat being the main dish and vegetables to being mere side dishes, that when we go from meat-eating to vegetarian eating, we still think, "Okay, what do I replace the meat with?" We picture a plate with peas, mashed potatoes, and a giant blank spot. What goes in the blank spot. Veggie loaf? Meat eaters all cringe at the thought.

Instead, I may serve up several dishes that contribute equally to a meal: a thick bean soup, a hearty whole grain bread (I love my bread machine!), and a tossed salad with walnuts and some really good cheese.

I'm not vegetarian now, but I have been in the past. For me, it's not a matter of labels and rules, and deciding, "Now I'm a vegetarian, now I have to eat certain things." For me, it's simply that I find vegetarian foods more interesting, with a wider variety of flavors and textures. When you think about it, there are only a few kinds of meat that we can get at the grocery store, so meat every day gets boring. I'm also weird about food textures. I can't STAND squishy fat and chewy gristle, even a bit of it, in my food, so often it's simply easier to order something vegetarian at a restaurant than order the chicken chow mein and wonder, "Is it going to have that icky squishy cheap chicken that all the Asian restaurants use, with the fat and skin still on?"

Vegetarian cooking is also more ecologically sound, since you're eating low on the food chain. And since I garden, and can even keep chard and (with some care) lettuce going all year round, I have a supply of really, really fresh, sweet veggies of a quality that you can't get in the store. There's a world of difference between asparagus from the grocery section and asparagus fresh cut from your own garden. There are delicious varieties of vegetables and fruits that you can't buy at the store at all (I grow a variety of carrot that is so sweet and crisp that you can't just yank it out of the ground it or it will break off -- you have to dig it up. And I can't find salsify, also called oyster root, at the store at all). And how much more pleasant it is to walk outside a pluck fresh, soft sprigs of rosemary than to shake dry little needles out of a jar.

When I do use meat, I often prefer to use it IN things, as an ingredient or even a condiment rather than a large slab of boring plain meat. And that's another way for carnivores to taper off: find good "peasant food" dishes that use small amounts of meat, like Tuscan pasta dishes with white beans and rosemary in a wine sauce with slices of sausage. Before you know it, you can leave out the sausage and hardly notice. If you go for gourmet vegetarian cooking instead of the dreary "Drink your soy-molasses-brewer's yeast super drink and eat your tofu loaf because they're GOOD for you!" routine that characterized (rightly or wrongly) so much of the 70's health food movement, you'll soon find yourself thinking, "Broiled chicken breast? With mashed potatoes and peas? That's it? Booooring!"

[JackSpicerRules]

I'm the biggest wannabe vegetarian ever. Since I'm young and live with my parents, going Veg. won't be so easy. And my school doesn't have anything without meat in it except the really gross school egg-salad-that-has-been-sitting-out-for-3-hours. My mom cooks alot of things with meat in it except on Fridays, which is our meat-free day.

I guess I can try to be a part-time veg. I'll cut down on the meat at school and maybe pack lunches instead. PB&J sounds good. Yeah. Or maybe cut down on everything a little bit. I want to be veg. a lot, mainly because this site supports it. I'm gonna try... Maybe I'll get the tuna salad sandwich tomorrow. Tuna is yummy. Too bad my school doesn't serve PB&J

[PeruRodent]

http://www.publicservantlifestyle.co...lay.php?id=871