Vegetarians...How did you decide to be come a vegetarian?

Let your conscious be your guide. Here are some helpful links:

http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/vegan/vegan.ht...

http://www.focalpointyoga.com/conscious_eating.htm

Good Luck :)

...jj

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.

My mom and my sister and I (we were teenagers) were not eating a whole lot of meat anyway because my mom was on a tight budget. She's a very health-conscious person and we ate well even though we were eating cheap. Then I read a book with ten essays on major reasons for becoming vegetarian (ethical, ecological, economic, animal welfare and health-related reasons) and just decided it was the right thing to do. My sister followed suit and my mom had no problem with it. The "transition" was really easy for us I guess, because we really had been going through it for a couple of years by not eating much meat... at any rate, I never saw it as a transition. Just a choice I made and never regretted.

You're on the right track as far as replacing meat protein. Beans and other legumes (like lentils and chickpeas,) soy products (not just tofu,) dairy and eggs unless you're going vegan, even whole grains and leafy greens have protein. As long as you're eating a varied and balanced diet, your body won't miss the meat. And there's nothing wrong with the meat replacement products (like Boca burgers) if you find them helpful. After awhile you'll probably find that you don't "need" them to build meals so much as they're an easy addition from time to time.

When there all the recalls of meat and processed foods containing meat because they wer contminated. Also, Don't like the idea that antibiotics are fed to beef cattle and chicken. If I want antibiotics I can them from my doctor if I need them. Then there were the scares(and deaths) from salmonella, ecoli and listeria. I gave up meat in 1997 and haven' missed at all, I lost weight, my cholesterol dropped and I have much more energy. I eat homemade vegetable and lentil soups, oatmeal with fruits in it, Whole grain bread that contains no high fructose corn syrup. Boca gurgers, homemade chow mein with tofu in it, freh fruit and veggies, 2% milk and eggs and turkey. Nothing fried and no porcessed food. I feel great. As a side effect my dermatologist says I have the skin of a 50 yr. old ....... I am 71 yrs.old. Being a vegetarian hasn' improved my typing, though. Excuse typos.

I felt exactly the same as you! I love animals and it had occurred to me but never really clicked until I met an actual vegetarian in person. She was at a potluck and seemed to find something to eat... so I thought I will secretly try it and keep my mouth shut until I am sure it will work for me. So I went to my college cafeteria and found tons of delicious options to eat. After a week or two I was sure I would be able to do it and made the big announcement to my family and friends. I had thought about being a vegan but that was too far for me so I still eat fish, eggs (free range) and milk And I love it!!!! This all happened back in 1994 and I'm never turning back. I wonder how many lives I have saved....

I'm not quite as extreme as a vegetarian, but I rarely eat any meat because eating bad meat has made me sick so many times, and I just feel that it's ability to spoil and carry disease is one I would like to avoid. Also, the meat industry, especially the beef industry is harmful to the environment as vast rain forests are cleared away in South America to make room for cattle, and they also tear up the land. I prefer to eat buffalo as they are kinder to the earth.

Anyway, so, I mostly eat just vegetables, cheese, beans, legumes, fruits, and grains (whole grains, because processed grains are not healthy).

Certain cultures are largely based around vegetarian eating. Indian food is mostly vegetarian because Hindu people do not eat meat. You can find many vegetable, bean, and rice dishes there. Similarly, lots of Japanese food is vegetarian... you can have vegetarian sushi, lots of dishes with miso, tofu, rice, noodles, soy products, and seaweed.

There are also many middle eastern dishes like fallafel, cous cous, hummus, and knish that are vegetarian. Greek and Italian dishes as well largely use beans, vegetables, olives, breads, potatos, and pastas.

Caribean and Mexican food too, rice and beans (make sure it's not made with lard), platanos (fried plantains), tortillas with black beans, salsa, cheese or bean quesedillas, corn-encrusted tamale....

So there's a rich variety of foods to eat, you don't have to only eat tofu and beans... look towards these other cultures so that you're never bored, and so that you get in all the nutrition that you need.

I actually decided to be a vegetarian because I wanted to be healthier, not because I thought that if I stopped eating meat I would SAVE THE ANIMALS. I also think it forced me to try new foods and experience major culture shock- as there are many more vegetarian options in ethnic resteraunts. I still eat fish- because its a leaner meat. As long as you eat a balanced, colorful diet you will remain healthy- just don't replace meat with bread or loads of sugar. Beans are okay once in a while. Good luck.

At first, I eliminated red meat from my diet, just for the health benefits. Over time, the idea of eating meat just seemed gross to me, so I became a vegetarian. There are a lot of really good vegetarian cookbooks out there. I like "The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet." Lots of delicious recepies with just 5 ingredients!

i watched Meet Your Meat...seriously, only watch that if you really want to go veggie. 101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian by Pamela Rice is good if you're not into the gross visuals, but i'd say it's equally effective.

some people (like me) quit cold turkey...my sister's a vegetarian, so i had all the substitutes i could possibly want already in the freezer...

other people wean themselves off of it (and it really is an addiction, so it might help to think of it like that) over a longer period of time.

eat 2 tablespoon of flax seeds every day for your omega-3s!!! i think that's the biggest mistake vegetarians/vegans make.

the internet is an excellent resource for people interested in vegetarianism:

vegsource.com

vegweb.com

vegsoc.com

goveg.com

I decided to become a vegitarian when I was 19 now 24. I dated a "hippie" and loved it . That was the best decision I have ever made. You can eat what you want just substitue with the right things. PETA.com is a great web site to use to help. GOOD LUCK!

I became a vegetarian when I learned that if America alone cut it's meat and grain consumption in half we could end world hunger with the remaining grain.