Going Vegetarian - Tips?

Blubird607

Hey guys,

I'm thinking about going vegetarian for a while...for multiple reasons, not just health and weight loss. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to start slowly and healthily so I don't end up with lots of cravings right away? Any long term suggestions?

Thanks!!

EricInArlington

dont eat meat :P

jessimacar

the easiest way i've heard is to cut out one more meal every week that has meat. eventually your whole diet will not include meat, but it'll be gradual. i cut meat out "cold turkey" and it wasn't hard. invest in a good cookbook so you'll know how to make the veg versions of the foods you and your friends/family enjoy. i have "the vegetarian bible" and it is amazing. it shows you the things you can't eat that aren't obvious, like gelatin and rennet.

good luck!

ashleynicoleh04

the whole reason I became one was from watching the exact same videos that Ellen watched when she decided to be vegan. It is called Earthlings and can be found on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce4DJh-L7Ys if you watch it, be prepared to cry like you have never cried before. Although this is not true for all situations that animals are in it just made me feel like I didn't need meat to survive. I haven't had any cravings after seeing this.

PoorGirlEatingHealthy

I have decided to cut meat out of my daytime meals and only eat meat at night. For breakfast I have a high fiber chocolate chip waffle and a cottage cheese fruit double. for a snack I have peanut butter filled pretzels..which add some more protein...lunch is a hummus wrap loaded with various veggies...If I have a vegetarian dinner there are lots of options..tofu stir fry, veggie burger, tofu pups, chik'n nuggets..chick'n sandwich...just be careful because some of the brands out there are loaded with nasty stuff! we are lucky enough to live in a time that pretty much anything can be made into fake meat! Hope I helped!

sexygenius

make sure you eat legumes and things that are high protien...there is no reason for you diet to suffer a loss of protien, just actively look for protien rich foods...

iPotato

Yeah I'm a vegetarian and I definitely don't crave meat. Think of normal foods you already eat with no meat. e.g. Pizza, Breakfast Cereal, Salads and pasta dishes. Cheese hot pockets.

Salads are your friend! Add feta cheese, blueberries, any fruit really and walnuts for a very filling meal. Eggs are great.

Next, resort to fake meats. Trader Joe's soyrizo, chicken-less pulled barbeque chicken, lightly seasoned chicken-less strips are always on my grocery list! I buy morningstar farm soy nuggets, facon, and boca burgers on occasion.

Last, try new foods. Indian and Thai food have a lot of vegetarian dishes. Check out the starving student's vegetarian cookbook or something like that on amazon for cheap and quick veggies meals. Learn to cook tofu. It's not easy, it can come out runny and taste chalky. Tofu tastes liek what it's cooked in, there are really an infinite number of options. Falafels are great too. Eat more beans. Have yogurt and berries as snacks.

cheshirequeen

there is so many ways to be vegetarian. basically eating no meat or chicken or fish. there is an alternative to anything you can think of. the other difference between vegetarian and vegan is eating no animal products at all. if you need help feel free to look at my diary anytime. im vegan. good luck. also, if you eat a lot of meat and dont eat anymore, you do drop about 10 pounds really fast, but only if you still eat healthy.

iPotato

mmmyes hummus and CARROTS is my favorite snack

iPotato

there is so many ways to be vegetarian. basically eating no meat or chicken or fish. there is an alternative to anything you can think of. the other difference between vegetarian and vegan is eating no animal products at all. if you need help feel free to look at my diary anytime. im vegan. good luck. also, if you eat a lot of meat and dont eat anymore, you do drop about 10 pounds really fast, but only if you still eat healthy.

ooh would you mind me following/friending you? i want to transition into vegan, i've been veg for 2-3 years

MeganMac17

I have a cookbook called "The Flexitarian Diet." It's got recipes in it that you can make with or without meat- or both if you are cooking for vegetarians and meat-eaters!

Good luck with going vegetarian! I didn't miss meat when I did this a couple years ago!

AngelicaDulas

There's a RIGHT way and a WRONG way to do it!!! I've been a Vegetarian my whole life (lacto-ovo, I eat dairy and baked goods with egg, no straight egg) And there are people who can literally make themselves SICK from not eating right. If you're a meat eater now and are consuming 100g protein a day (typical) then to go to eating only 40-60 a day will make your body feel strange for a while until your body flushes the excess of proteins from your kidneys and liver and adjusts to the levels. That's really all a body needs instead of 100+g, that's just making your kidneys work harder. Plan to eat LOTS of wholesome veggies, I.E. vitamin rich foods, (yams/sweet potatoes are great sources) and eating raw nuts in small quantities, and subbing with things like the Morning Star brand or tofu. Watch out for the processed frozen soy/gluten products, many have high sodium. Eat Edamame (raw soy beans in pod) found in the freezer most places, or dried in the bulk section for making trailmix etc. Very high protein source. I consume nearly half my protein at breakfast because I eat greek yogurt (Chobani flavored) for few calories, zero fat and it tastes yummy, with a 1/2 cup Kashi GoLean Multigrain Cluster Cereal... also stay away from potato chips and other prepackaged frozen meal stuff... anything in a box like that will probably have LOTS of sodium!! Umm, what else... Get a good cookbook and empower yourself and your choices through knowledge. I love the "Best-Ever Vegetarian Cookbook" Barnes and Noble. It's very educational about what foods give you what and how to combine foods for max benefit. I still indulge in things like chocolate or a glass of wine periodically and am always within my calories. I eat cups and cups and cups of food every day, never feeling hungry, because I must eat 70% fruits and veggies, the rest are WHOLE WHEAT WHOLE GRAINS (pasta, bread, brown rice) and some dairy. I shoot for a minimum of 40g per day protein. (I'm 26yrs old, 5'9.5" tall female.) Best of luck! You can friend me so you can shoot me any questions you like.

suzieqdiva

You can do so much with veggies... there are so many vegetarian websites with lots of healthy recipes.. you can Google them.. a few I use:

http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/recipes
http://allrecipes.com/
http://www.theppk.com/2010/12/red-lentil-thai-chili/
http://blog.peertrainer.com/recipes/2011/03/mediterranean-gourmet-power-bowl-recipe.html
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/02/spinach-lasagna-rolls.html

Sauteed mixed veggies with a little olive oil, soy sauce & stir fry sauce OR any other quick flavors takes a few mins to prepare & delicious.
I think coming up with a list of things you would like to prepare, getting the groceries & having good healthy breakfasts & snacks planned is the way to go.

I would add nuts & also small cans of V8 (low sodium) is great to have for a snack.. or add water & heat it up & have like a soup.

Load up on green leafy & colorful veggies, tofu, lentils, oatmeal, whole wheat bread will do the trick. You even get tofu burgers(does take some getting used to) but you can eat it like a burger or chop it up & add some stir fry veggies, a sauce & ready to eat. i would add a protein shake sometime during the day.. best within 20-60 mins after a workout:-)

hope this helps.

mmelaragno

Just make sure you get a lot of protein, iron, b12 and vitamin d. When I first became vegetarian I tried to find foods that were the same as what I would eat with meat, but just with an alternative. Mushrooms are a life saver! I make burgers, stuffed shrooms, Philly Cheese Steaks, so many things with them. I too watched a video, mine was "Meet you Meat" which made me never want to touch meat again, but I've always had a problem knowing I was eating a part of somethings leg. Just be open to new recipes and have fun experimenting! :happy:

milaxx

Invest in a mini food processor and crock pot. Check out magazines like Vegetarian Times and books like Vegan Soul food Kitchen. Lean how to cook and prepare healthy vegetarian foods because processed food like Boca burgers and such make you lazy and are full of sodium. If you learn to cook and make your own food, you'll be healthier and enjoy vegetarianism more.

I also have a juicer and bender and make my own juices and smoothies. I know everything that goes into my food and don't have to worry about hidden salt and sugar.

myukniewicz

congratulations on looking to go vegetarian.
i am also in the process in fully vegetarian as well i am a pescatarian (veggie that eats fish) now.

the only tips i can give you is try cutting out meat one day a week... when you feel comfortable doing that, add a second day of eating meat free and so on and so forth...

there are a lot of amazing meat substitutes out there that make it much more simpler now to become vegetarian. there is soy sausage, veggie burgers, soy hotdogs, ect ect! look around your health food section of your grocery store and you'll be surprised how many vegetarian options there are

good luck!
you can check out my food diary for ideas!

oceanrose78

I started cutting out meat 2 weeks ago, and now just eat fish on the weekends. I'm doing it because my sister was diagnosed with MS, and that appears to be very dietary based. In researching her new diet, I ended up deciding to change mine. I tried this once before for a year, and I gained weight as all I ate was processed junk and cheese. This time, I'm doing it very differently. I'm keeping my saturated fats lower, (limited cheese), and I'm keeping processed foods to a minimum except for a couple garden burger veggies for quick meals.

It's been much more painless than I thought. I'm not missing the meat at all.. I'm sure eating the occasional fish helps, but in reality, I don't crave that either during the week. I am still eating dairy and eggs, but very rarely, except for my Fage 0 yogurt.

I've been making a lot of vegetable soups, and pastas. I changed my diet pretty drastically, considering I was eating 100 gm protein before, and meat with practically every meal. Now, I'm averaging 50 gm of protein a day. I am sleepy at night,but I know my body is still having to adjust to this type of eating. I ate a ton of veggies before, so I'm just not putting the meat on the salads or in the stews. I have plenty of energy during the day, I'm just hitting a little bit of a wall at night.

Eventually I'll need to start cooking something other than soup, but so far no one in the family is complaining, so I guess we'll leave it as is. My next thing is to cut out or drastically down on wheat as I think I am a little gluten intolerant.

Good luck! I think the key is variety, and keeping in mind what you like about specific foods, it's typically not the meat, but some type of mouth feel or flavor profile. You can replicate that easily.

reallivefitness

I was a pretty strict vegan for a year, but it didn't work out for me, but I'm hoping your journey goes better. I think the most beneficial thing I learned that whole time was this - do not rely on soy protein exclusively. I went a whole summer where I was eating a lot of those soy fake meats, and I went crazy. I've done some research on it, and there is some evidence that certain compounds in soy can act like estrogen in the body, so that threw my hormones all out of whack and turned me into a raging b*tch. It was bad. So, use them every so often when you really get a hankering for meat, but otherwise try to get your protein from legumes and stuff.

ebonirose

Okay this is huge. I have been a vegetarian for almost 11 years, more than half those years were spent on vegan-ism. My best advice to you, or anyone else recently or thinking about becoming a veg-head, is WATCH YOUR CARBS. A lot of people who start a vegetarian lifestyle don't plan their meals out well and wind up filling up on carbs because, they want to feel full. If you're not careful you'll end up gaining so much weight and just because you're not eating meat does not mean you can live off 7-11 and be thin/healthy. I know plenty of overweight vegetarians. Make sure you're keeping healthy watchful eye on your intake.

Blubird607

Wow, guys, thank you! I'm completely overwhelmed and excited at all of the positive feedback you guys have given me and I'm doing well already in my first few days of not eating meet. I'm really grateful to have myfitnesspal.com to remind me to keep track of what I'm putting into my body so I can stay healthy as well.

Again, thank you and I look forward to keeping in touch with many of you!