Ease Into A Vegetarian Diet
Often, the advice you find about switching to a vegetarian diet is to ‘ease into it’ gently. (I always thought that sounded dirty, don’t you?) But anyhow, it’s certainly worked for thousands of people. Others, like myself, have to jump right in with the ‘cold turkey’ approach, or we’d never get around to it.
Here’s a good article with some helpful tips on making the transition. Check it out, and I’d love to hear about your experiences: How did you make the transition, slowly or all at once? Are you in the middle of the conversion now? Do you have any– or need any– advice?
The American Dietetic Association has some suggestions for people who would like to make the change to a vegetarian diet:
Ease into the transition. While some people find they can easily adapt to a meatless diet, many people find they miss the traditional foods or quickly tire of eating “greens and grains.” Most people already eat some vegetarian foods, like peanut butter, spaghetti, cereals and salads. Try to incorporate these “familiar” foods into the diet more often.
Start with one or two vegetarian meals a week. There are many different kinds of meat-substitutes available, like veggie burgers and meat-less sausages, hot dogs, and “chicken” patties. Soy milk, soy cheese and soy yogurt can be used in place of the traditional dairy counterparts. Slowly add a vegetarian meal or two each week or so until you have made a complete switch.
Use your favorite recipes. Adapt some of the recipes you already use into meatless meals. Spaghetti, lasagna and some other foods can be made without meat. You can also add tofu for the “meat.” Extra seasonings can be added for more flavor.
Look for new recipes. Be creative. Experiment with foods to come up with combinations that are colorful and have different kinds of tastes and textures. If you’re not the creative type, look for new recipes. The Vegetarian Resource Group offers many suggestions for vegetarian meals. Vegetarian cookbooks can be purchased online or through local bookstores.
I started being a “vegetarian” as i understood one to be (incorrectly, i might add) at age 16. I still ate fish and cheese that i’m certain had rennet that was not microbial or veg-based. Never really liked fish but ate it once in a while until i was 25. Gave that up, happily, easily. Heck, i’m a Pisces fer cryin’ out loud! Still tryin’ to give up regular cheese, but “at least” i check ingredients to make sure the rennet is not animal-based…
Sincerely,
soon-to-be-vegan at age 40
And thanx for asking.
Ifeel like i am poisoning my family with meat or chkn products after becoming aware of the reality of how bad it is for us. i have a 12 yr-old 5 and 3 1/2 yr old how do i switch them over to vegetarian without worrying about them not eating or not getting enough protien as they are not big vegy eaters?