Thinking of going vegetarian. Advice?

I eat "mostly" vegetarian. It was not to hard to switch from eating more meat, I simply began to reduce my portion size. I use more quinoa, nuts, avocados, and yogurt for protein.
For me, the best part of eating less meat is that my vegetable portions are really big.

Hi MinnieM83,

For me, becoming a vegetarian was easy, I saw a programme on tv about animals, I won't go into details but I just thought to myself that I didn't want to be part of the whole killing animals to eat etc...
I liked the taste of meat so thought I would go back to it but I haven't and am not tempted.

I think it would be difficult to give up certain meats, what are your reasons for wanting to became a " half vegetarian "

If its a weight loss plan and only a weight loss plan then it probably won't work as vegetarian food can be very high in calories too.

Good luck. xx

I was a vegetarian for quite a while until I gave up because I needed easier/cheaper protein for sports. It was easiest for me to wean myself off of it while also replacing your proteins with vegetable/dairy sources. I would also mark a special day on the calendar to go out and treat myself to something meaty. Also, don't keep meat in your fridge or you will be tempted by it until you get out of the habit of craving meat for protein.
There are plenty of veg substitutes that aren't too bad and are packed with protein like black bean burgers.
I also have a friend who weaned herself by simply cutting red meat out, then cutting poultry out, etc. Until she was 100% vegetarian and she's still going strong 2 years later.
Just find out what works best for you and use all of your willpower to try new foods and cut out those cravings!

Meat is delicious, don't do it.

^ This.

Ok Homework: Watch Food Matters and Forks Over Knives. Then you will have some kind of an educated opinion which may help you make a decision. You can find them at the Library or on Netflix:-) Enjoy!

Yeah, I never got that whole "I had to go back! Iron/protein deficiency!" thing. I'm sure a few people have rare conditions that made this occur, but more likely I'd probably bet they just missed bacon. (Which is fine, but just be honest about it.)

I've been a vegetarian for 15 years, for a few of them I earned awards doing competitive sports, I really didn't eat very many veggies either, or even take a daily vitamin except for when I remembered occasionally. My blood results have always been excellent (even since I have gotten fat) and this is also true of the many vegetarians and vegans that I know. (Though the vegans have to eat more vegetables than us!) Also, I've been tracking food on and off for 5 years, and I've always met/exceeded the protein goals of the day when I met my calories without even trying. Almost everything has protein in it, especially if you still eat eggs, milk, and cheese, or if you eat stuff like veggie hotdogs, sausage and burgers. There are even really yummy veggie chicken nuggets (though they're kind of expensive).

I agree on watching Forks Over Knives. Haven't seen Food Matters yet, but I'm going to check it out since the other person recommended it. Good luck!

What you're referring to if called "flexitarian". People that are flexitarian stick to a mostly vegetarian diet, but eat meat once in awhile and usually that's something like twice a week to once a month...ect..

Think of the foods you already like and think of ways to make them vegetarian like tacos, use beans, no meat. Pasta, added veggies like zucchini, not meat, ect, it's not very hard.

Do it! I've been a vegetarian all 26 years of my life but that doesn't mean I eat healthy. Now I'm starting to turn things around and seeing all the nutrients I've been missing out on that I should have gotten as a vegetarian who eat healthfully. Do your research and don't get tripped up on bias "research" and "statistics" that are influenced by the meat or dairy industry. I would go vegan but I really like honey. It's really hard to break habits formed over the years that everyone else considers "normal". You are just going to have to break off and think on your own. Personally, I think vegetarian/vegan are just labels. The idea is to eat nutrient rich foods, excluding animals; and animal products if you are vegan.

Think also on this: if meat is so necessary for fitness and health, why do we have nearly perfectly healthy, vegan/vegetarian professional, athletes? Why do vegetarians/vegans tend to live longer, disease free lives than pepple who aren't?

*ate