I want to become a vegetarian, but I love the taste of meat. How do I work around this issue?

fish lots of frigging fish

I've been vegetarian for 10 years, and just gone vegan, and I miss it too; especially bacon.

I'm not going to lie, if you don't like cheese, it's going to be hard. I'd recommend trying vegetarian hotdogs (if you're in the UK, Sainsbury's do a good own-brand veggie hotdog). Of all the meat substitute products I've tried, that's the only one that tastes almost indistinguishable from the real thing (I have an Italian friend who is a hardcore meat-eater, I once convinced him to try a veggie hotdog, and he didn't notice the difference. When I told him, he said he felt 'raped' :P).

Quorn mince is also, IMO, not very different to the real thing in a Bolognese sauce, and veggie sausages and burgers are all OK too, although not quite as good as the real thing. Veggie bacon is... acceptable, when I just use it to remember what the real thing tastes like.

It's going to take some will power, you can't get around that. I try to take satisfaction from winning that battle with my more base urges.

Stop eating it to try it out. I loved the taste of meat. I told myself if I gave it up for a month to see if I could do without. My die hard meat eating husband even gave up meat with me. Now down the road, we are vegetarians. You can try some of the meat substitute products. I have a condition where I have to limit soy so I only use them sparingly. Our whole family eats more naturally anyway. We gave it up for both ethical and health reasons. Make sure you know what you are getting into because it will be different. I promise you though, it will be better!

There are plenty of meat substitutes that taste similar to meat, these products may help you to make the change over, look in the supermarket and health food shops, you will burgers, sausage, nuggets, fillets and roasts. The vegetarian website will give you ideas and recepes. Vegetarians dont eat meat not even once every three months as some people are misguided and seem to think this ok. I wish you luck.

Wean your self off of meat. Don't just flat out stop, eat less and less. Then start eating more vegetables, too. Soon you'll be fine with not eating so much meat. And I bet you've heard before that when you don't eat meat you loose protein, just eat more nuts, beans, etc. Also If you have a meat crave I recommend making a hamburger and replacing the beef with Morning Star veggie patties.

Why do you want to become a vegetarian in the first place?

Vegetarian serves no other purpose than a personal one, it does not mean a more healthy option or that animals will some how benefit from your choice. It is no more than to sustain someone who is unable through health reasons to eat meat.

If you feel that you are eating unhealthily which is a common factor now because so many people can not cook and find their lifestyle gives them no time so fast food is the easier option. Make time their is always time to make simple and healthy meals from scratch, even if it means making a big batch and freezing it into portions. There is many cook books with a varied and healthy options that include meat and non meat dishes. I think it is funny how some veg/vegans say once converting finding so many new and exciting meals well they did not try hard enough as an omnivore then as it is not all about meat.

Doing it for the animals well think about it, in what way does being a veg/vegan do for animals, nothing. Also you will notice from most they do not support meat in its entirety thinking that one day the whole world will be meat free which is fancy full. So by not supporting at least the organic and free range they are ironically letting and supporting the increase of intensive/industrial farming and slaughter. Also so many veg/vegan propaganda is based on intensive/industrial practises of course not promoting the better option and their better health option is based on the poor eating omnivore than the healthy one!! These people at best have no clue about farming or the environment.

If it is not for health reasons you can change your lifestyle that will benefit you and animals by knowing your produce. Buying local, using butchers and farmers markets as supermarkets contribute to a lot of the intensity of human consumption. At least with local meat you do have an option to chose slow grown produce and coming from a family run and less intensive slaughter, instead of the 24/7 slaughter houses. Try different things like rabbit and pheasant which is plentiful and local. You do not have to eat meat all the time I find Mediterranean and Indian cuisine very rewarding with their vegetarian options.

If it is for health reasons break it down in stages, do not go cold turkey. Also changing to vegetarian you will be depending on out of season food and supplements. The UK climate is unable to produce the varied vegetables and pulses and if they did it would mean GM crops and massive green houses producing a lot of heat and using up a lot of electric. So importation of foods means a lot of co2 used so no different from some meat products. They will fight back about the amount of energy it takes to produce meat yet again from a intense system and a USA one. Do not be scared by the USA stories as they are different form the UK.

There are plenty of soy based "meat" products out there that can satiate your desire for meat. Some of them are surprisingly close to the taste of meat, such as Morning Star sausage patties, which are available at Costco, and relatively cheap to keep around the kitchen. Boca Burgers carry a wide variety of veggie burgers. There are plenty of fake chicken products, as well, such as nuggets and the like.

It's best to just use these when you're feeling an urge for meat, though, as they are highly processed and not good for your health in large quantities.

Eat things you like. There must be SOMETHING that is vegetarian that you love. Think about it. Eat that, and eat things like it, or with some of the same ingredients. For example, if you love spicy food like I do, eat spicy vegetarian stuff.

Try new foods. Eat some Mediterranean vegetarian food or Indian or Thai vegetarian foods. Expand your palate and know your options.

Meat substitutes - I seldom use them but they are useful for people who like meat or don't have a good collection of veg recipes yet. There are a lot of different ones so eat the ones you like and don't eat the ones that taste bad.

Try Malaysian food. They have a barbequed deep fried tofu that is chewy and nserved with veggies in a brown sauce over rice and sprinkled with sprouts and crushed peanuts. I used to eat it in the University District near the University Bookstore near University of Washington in Seattle years ago and I never forgot how great it tasted.

The tofu was cut into 1 inch cubes deep fried and it was really chewy and good. Never have found anyone who could cook it since.

You have to examine your priorities. Either you want to be vegetarian, or you want to eat meat.

I would suggest going without meat for a couple of weeks to start off with, and gradually increase your range of vegs. Once the greasy residue of meat leaves your tongue and palette, you'll discover a whole new world of flavour in vegetables and fruit, and you won't want to eat meat.

You can win on both counts - eat both but lie about the meat!

Or

Only eat animals that only eat vegetables (not many this because even cows will eat their calves placenta if left to their own devices, rabbits will eat their own kits). This probably leaves you with Koala's eating eucalyptus leaves (and their own poo), but I wouldn't have thought they were that palatable - although if someone wants to cook one I'll try a slice!

In truth vegetarianism, as a voluntary option, is really a fad that is indulged in societies that can afford to support it. Anywhere and everywhere else where animal protein can be consumed - it is. No offence intended but there is no denying the truth on this one....