Transitioning to vegetarianism?

[Kaylyn]

Anyone ever done it, and can you offer any tips or advice?

I've finally decided I want to get serious about it thanks to Food Inc. Please note I don't intend to start a debate on the ethics behind it, just looking for the easiest way to transition away from meat.

My plan is to start slow, eliminating beef, then pork, then chicken (oh boy, that's gonna be hard!). I may wind up stopping at lacto-ovo vegetarianism, with exceptions made for organic/cruelty-free meat as well as wild game, though I'm considering going vegan if/when I get used to something less strict. Is that a good plan, or does anyone have any suggestions?

[Mel]

I've been vegetarian for 5 years now, and the easiest way for me to do it was to give up all meat at once. That being said, it's different for everybody. Some people need to do it like you plan, one animal at a time, and others, go vegan overnight. I need to leave for work right now, but if you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to try to help.

[KiaKat]

I was lacto-vegetarian for years. Went cold turkey at 11 or 12 (is it sad that I don't remember exactly which summer it was?), then didn't eat any meat or fish until high school, when I dropped eggs, as well. I tried going vegan for a little while, but it just wasn't good for me. When I graduated HS, I added eggs back in, then a few years later I added fish. These days, I don't cook meat for myself, but if I'm out I'll sometimes order it, or if I'm with family I'll have it to make things easier on them. I don't do that often, though, as I've lost the enzymes necessary to properly digest meat proteins, so it does weird things to my stomach.

Here's what you need to do before you think of starting.

Note all your dietary weirdness in a journal. Milk make you a little gassy? Do nuts give your lips tingly feelings? What's your general reaction to high amounts of beans or fiber in your diet?

Spend two weeks eating everything in sight and writing that down, and take it to your doctor. He might refer you to a nutritionist or an allergist for testing and consultation - it's a good idea to see both of those anyway.

Why?

Because when you're vegetarian, you *must* be getting your protein and vitamins from another source. And that source can frequently be an allergy trigger. It's also difficult to actually get the proportions correct in one's diet.

The nutritionist will probably have some cookbook recommendations, but here are my two (amazon links included):

The Moosewood Cookbook

Quick Vegetarian Pleasures

Best two cookbooks you'll ever find. Incredibly comprehensive, and easily editable.

If you want to spend the money, buy Mark Bittman's book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. He's incredible.

All of this eliminates the trial-and-error method most of us go through. I wish I'd done this when I was a teen, I'd probably have been much healthier.

So now that you're becoming veggie, a few things to try that seem weird, but are really tasty:

hummus
3-bean salad
putting tofu in everything
sprouts
seared-tofu-and-sprout sandwich on pita bread with hummus spread
vegetarian lasagna
all those weird vegetables in the supermarket

Feel free to ask me questions. I'm pretty much an encyclopedia of vegetarianism these days.

[Jack]

I just stopped cold-tofurkey :P at the beginning of the year so I couldn't offer much advise on transitioning. The people at VeggieBoards are wonderful with that, though.

[Kaylyn]

It seems like everyone stopped cold-turkey, so I'm beginning to wonder if I should try that first, and then try a slow transition if I can't handle it that way. I don't know if I'll ever be able to manage vegan; tried it once and realized I was only eating potatoes and rice, and there was no way that was healthy for me.

Should I get in the habit of taking a daily multi-vitamin to cover my bases, for things I might lose/get less of when giving up meat?

[Mel]

I just stopped cold-tofurkey :P at the beginning of the year so I couldn't offer much advise on transitioning. The people at VeggieBoards are wonderful with that, though.

Yes, they are.

[Seshat]

Should I get in the habit of taking a daily multi-vitamin to cover my bases, for things I might lose/get less of when giving up meat?

As long as you eat a wide spread of plants, you'll probably get MORE assorted vitamins and minerals than you would in a 'normal' Western carnivorous diet.

But you are very likely to go short of proteins if you don't consciously eat the right amount/types of grains, legumes and nuts. Thus the advice earlier responders have given.

[Food Lady]

I took 4 months to transition. I actually added more fish in during that period. I was eating all meats, but instead of twice a day ot was twice a week, then down to twice a month. The fourth month was a December and om Christmas I had ham. The next morning my body, let's just say "rejected" it, and that was it for me. After that I took 6 months to get a cooking repetoire going. I had to learn to cook on top of changing my diet; couldn't just get a burger or cook some chicken nuggets anymore. One thing you can do is convert all your favorite dishes to veg, which is what did, then adopt new ones. I also subscribed to Veg Times for a year to get ideas.

[shadowpanda]

I went vegetarian just to annoy my dad (worked a treat) and I just cut out meat straight away. However, I did keep eating fish as I was a young teenager and too lazy to listen to or find the dietry advice I needed. I'm no longer veggie, I crumbled after 3 years.
Well done on thinking this through and taking the time to research it, if its what you want to do.
Tofu and quorn are good substitutes for meat in dishes, but make sure you still get enough protein and calcium etc. Pulses are great for big amounts of proteins.
Make sure you do keep things balanced and if you find you are losing a lot of weight quickly, get to a doctor to make sure you aren't lacking important things.

Good luck with it and don't be too hard on yourself if you make a few mistakes, or you eat a burger. No one is perfect and don't let other people judge you

[Aethian]

I did the vegetarian thing for awhile. Kept chicken and eggs in my diet because I found I was getting sick not having chicken at least once a week. Mom was good about it and we wouldget the chickenand eggs from a farm where you could litterly walk out with the farmer and pick your chicken.

After awhile I found I was getting testy and more irritable. I'm sure tofu was in the store but there were very very fee vegetariansin my area so I added back in red meat and only really crave a few days before that time. Pork and I don't get along. I'll enjoy it but then pay for it later. Now I know I don't qualify anymore but I do watch my source of animal products, I find that helps more then anything in trying to do what's right. But just remember we are omnivores so please find out everything you can first and make a list of pro's and con's for you first before drastically changing anything. Also talk to yourdoctor to get a referral to a diaticean he likes so as to work out a good meal plan. For some thechange was easy and for others it's just a ship passing in the night.