Most folks who don't have a problem with the concept of vegetarianism run into problems when they try to become one. I made it a process which was taken in stages, which I outline here. The advantage of this is you have time to adjust your body and tastes and educate yourself, lessening the likelihood of "recidivism" that the "cold-turkey" method might set you up for.
The following steps are to be taken at comfortable intervals, let's say, a month at a time. You can adjust according to how you feel. The steps don't even necessarily have to be taken in this order, although I recommend that #1 remain first.
Part of the education process is also deciding what type of diet to aim for. There are several (see the Diets section), each with advantages, some with some decided disadvantages, in my opinion, but you can always gradually refine your diet or completely change it if you like. The point is to decrease your dependence on animal food.
The gradual method I outline here allows for those changes and refinements, and avoids shock to the system. It entails more that just removing meat from the diet, but other unhealthy foods as well, and replacing them with a more nutritious, plant-based diet. It's difficult to be a vefetarian if you don't like to cook, so you may have to get used to that idea, too. When you prepare your own food, you know what's in it.
The Stages
1. Eliminate red meat from your diet.
2. Remove all junk food: sodas, candy, etc., and replace them with juices and fruit or other nutritious snacks. You will ingest fewer calories and more nutrients, eliminating the stuff that actually depletes your body of what it needs and providing it with optimum nutrition. I know plenty of people who are vegetarians but who are not necessarily healthy. Just eliminating meat from the diet is not going to improve your health, if you keep eating tons of refined sugar and high-fat snacks. In fact, too much eating between meals in itself can contribute to weight gain.
You can buy healthy corn and vegetable chips, organic salsa (or make your own), and many other snack foods that are good for you. Check out the health food store.
3. Replace all refined foods with whole foods, i.e., replace white rice with brown, white flour with whole wheat, white bread with whole grain bread. Now might be the time to learn to bake your own bread if you don't already, or even invest in a bread machine. Remove white sugar and replace with succanat or Fruit Source. Replace white pasta with whole grain or vegetable based pastas. These things will taste differently than what you're used to. But you learned to like the foods you eat now, so you will learn to like these new tastes. You CAN re-educate your taste buds!
4. Start experimenting with tofu, seitan, and tempeh, and get used to their tastes. There are alot of meat substitutes out there, such has hot dogs, burgers, lunch meats and chicken substitutes you can use in your regular recipes. Some of my favorites are Tofu Pups (dogs), Boca Burgers, Boca sausages (especially the smoked flavor), and Tofurkey (silly name, good stuff in a sandwich). There are also cheese substitutes, made from tofu, rice or nuts (see section 6 ). Yes, there are now vegetarian convenience foods! This stuff is usually found in the freezer section, so take a look. There are even frozen dinners, many with an ethnic flavor. Amy's makes great frozen foods, as does Cascadian Farms. Many of these are no longer limited to the health food stores, but are now easily found in your supermarkets. Here in Florida, Publix (and some others) has its own health food section and usually carries organic produce as well. Check it out and try them out.
5. Start looking at fruits and vegetables that you aren't used to eating or preparing. There are zillions of cookbooks that can help you with this. The variety of produce in the stores today is very different than it was just ten years ago.
A note about imported produce: We are used to eating bananas from Central and South America, but not all other countries adhere to the agricultural standards that we do. With the above exception, I generally do not buy imported produce, unless it is from Canada, Australia or Europe. And I buy organic as often as possible. This is strictly a personal view, and only meant for your consideration, as are all the other views here. Who knows, maybe you'll want to start gardening!
7. Dairy. Got milk? Then you got problems. From allergies to poor digestion and more. That calcium thing? I ate dairy foods all my life until a few years ago and still got osteoporosis. So much for that myth! It's NOT the best source of calcium.
Again, we get to the substitutes: soy milk, "cheeses" made from soy, rice or nuts, soy yogurt, soy or rice-based ice cream, all in great variety and wonderful replacements. I love making pizza with Tofutti slices. They're one of the only ones I've found that don't use casein (a milk protein). They also make Sour Supreme (sour cream sub) and Better Than Cream Cheese (cream cheese sub). Hain makes a non-hydrogenated spread that is a good replacement for margarine. Often for my bread, I simply dip it in olive oil and salt, pepper and/or herbs. Galaxy Foods makes a parmesan-like topping, both a vegan version and one that has casein in it. They now also make bleu cheese and feta substitutes.
Soy Delicious makes a great frozen dessert. There's Hip-Whip or Tru Whip in stead of whipped cream. Just check this stuff out. You might be amazed at what's there.
Just remember: READ THE LABELS so you know what you're getting.
I hope these suggestions help on your road to vegetarianism. Please feel free to share your ideas.
8. Condiments are a great way for extra sugar, salt and additives to get into your system. There are alot of healthier ones on the market: eggless mayonaise, sugarless all-fruit jams and jellies, non-hydrogenated margarine, sugarless ketchup; all for the finishing touches on your meal.
6. Eliminate white meat, especially chicken. Again, look to your substitutes.
9. Concessions. We all find ourselves in situations sometimes where if we don't bend, we don't eat. This is where you may want to choose dairy or seafood as a "concession" food on those rare occasions when there just isn't anything else. This is a personal choice. Often, when traveling, I take food along. If I'm traveling in my car, I carry a cooler with things that I might not be able to get where I'm going. It's easy to pack snacks and drinks. If there's a way to cook at my destination, say, if I'm visiting friends or relatives, I take some tofu, grains, my favorite sweetener, tea, etc. They usually get a kick out of seeing what I'm eating.
10. Supplements. I believe in them. I take a multi-vitamin plus extra Vitamin C and calcium every day. I also use chlorophyll, ginseng, ginko and other supplements from time to time or as needed. The reason for this is that we still usually eat foods that are processed to some extent and (unless we grow all our fruits and vegetables and pick them ourselves) the stuff in the store has been shipped and sitting around on the shelf for a while, resulting in nutrient loss. It never hurts to assume that you don't get everything you need from your diet.
Diets
I can't think of a better word to use here, but there are several approaches to the way we eat, usually known as "diet." Some of them are better for some people than others.
Ova-lacto vegetarianism:This is not strictly vegetarianism, but what a lot of people settle on or use as a transition. Most people feel comfortable that they are not eating food that involves directly killing an animal. However, it is important to realize that all animal industries have their cruelties, and the production of eggs and milk is no exception.A variation on this drops the eggs but retains the dairy.
Raw Foods: The theory behind this is that cooking destroys nutrients and that eating foods in their natural state is healthier. However, some folks extend this to eating meat, which I find a little extreme. But since this website is not addressing that, it's really a matter of convenience. This diet eliminates alot of grain products, for obvious reasons. The concern here is the lower levels of protein and carbohydrates inherent in this diet. On the other hand, it might be okay for short periods of time for people with slow metabolic rates trying to lose weight. Obviously, food preparation is not much of an issue.
Fruitarianism: This is a fruit only diet. I believe this to be extreme and so unbalanced as to be unhealthy.
Veganism: This is merely the elimination of all animal-based food from the diet. Sugar is usually okay because honey is a no-no. So it is not necessarily a health-food diet, per se, but one based on ethics. True veganism is a lifestyle that also eschews the use of leather and fur, and the use of products tested on animals.
Macrobiotics: This diet originated in the Orient as a product of Zen Buddhism. It is based on a rather complex balance of foods taken into the system and, though not strictly vegetarian, promotes a highly grain-based diet, with little or no animal food. The healing powers of this diet are much touted, and there seems to be some basis for it. It takes a bit of dedication to manage this one, though.
Personally, I did the ova-lacto thing for years, later dropping the eggs (I never really liked them, anyway), and finally all animal food, except for the occasional necessary concession. Over the past few years I have settled somewhere between veganism and macrobiotics.
