Vegetarian question

Hey! There are a couple great vegetarian groups on MFP (MFP Vegetarians, Happy Herbivore, etc) that post a lot of great vegetarian recipes and useful info for new veggies.

IMO keep your intake the same and just add in different foods. It's all calories, just from different sources.

Try almond milk!

Also, make friends with legumes (chick peas, beans, edamame, etc) and try out some tofu recipes.

I actually would suggest doing the process slowly, start off with half your meals being vegetarian then after a while do 3/4ths until all your meals are meat free. It’ll ease your body into it, it’ll allow you to try out new meals without the stress of not knowing what to make for every meal. You’ll have given yourself time to find a good support system and it’ll be less stressful.
Oh and I was vegetarian for years (eat fish and poultry now) and never ate soy products, it is more than possible to get your protein elsewhere, so don’t worry if you don’t like soy. If you don’t like legumes then you’re in trouble`:laugh:

You can have dairy and eggs if you are vegetarian so getting the protein is easy.
If you are talking about being Vegan, that is "harder work" but can totally be done.

Some great places to get protein if you do not like nuts. You just need to look around, read labels, ask questions.
Grains have protein, just not to the amount a slab of meat does.

No Meat Athlete-> http://www.nomeatathlete.com/vegetarian-recipes-for-athletes/

also, from Mind Body Green (http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4771/10-Vegan-Sources-of-Protein.html)

"So how do you get your protein? Here are 10 vegan sources to try on for size:
1. Veggies: Yep, good old greens will pack a protein punch. One cup of cooked spinach has about 7 grams of protein. The same serving of French beans has about 13 grams. Two cups of cooked kale? 5 grams. One cup of boiled peas? Nine grams. You get the idea.
2. Hemp. No, you don’t have to get high to get your protein. But toss 30 grams of hemp powder in your smoothie and get about 11 grams of protein – just like that.
3. Non-Dairy Milk. Got (soy) milk? A mere 1 cup of soy or almond milk can pack about 7-9 grams of protein. Eat with some fortified cereal and you’ve got a totally vegan-friendly breakfast.
4. Nut Butter. Eat up your peanut butter, almond butter and cashew butter. A couple of tablespoons of any one of these will get you 8 grams of protein.
5. Quinoa. I kinda think quinoa is God’s gift to vegans (and gluten-free peeps!), as it’s versatile, delicious and delivers about 9 grams of protein per cup.
6. Tofu. Four ounces of tofu will get you about 9 grams of protein. And at about 2 bucks a pop, it’s a cheap vegan’s BFF.
7. Lentils. With lentils, you can make rice dishes, veggie burgers, casseroles and more. One cup cooked delivers a whopping 18 grams of protein!
8. Beans. They really are the magical fruit. With one cup of pinto, kidney or black beans, you’ll get about 13-15 grams of protein, a full belly and heart-healthy fiber.
9. Tempeh. One cup of tempeh packs abour 30 grams of protein! That’s more than 5 eggs or a regular hamburger patty.
10. Sprouted-grain bread. Pack a sandwich with vegan sprouted-grain bread and you’ll get about 10 grams of protein in the bread alone."

Got some great advice here!
I think the key is to experiment with new and different foods. I know a lot of people might say "oh i don't like veggie burgers" but they tried one kind one time, or the same for tofu, but they tried it once. Definately explore, try a different variety of things you might not think you liked and then try them again a different way!
There are of course the "fake" meats, that make it super easy to have the same type of meal you had before but just sub in the fake version of meat. You also want to make tofu, beans, lentils, etc. your friends :P
I find the key for me is filling up on protein, I really only am going over my calories due to hunger (not just cuz i mindlessly snacked ha) on days that I didn't eat enough protein. You might need 2 servings of beans to get the same protein effect you'd get from a piece of chicken for instance.
Also I love soy milk! :P I was scared at first too... maybe give the vanilla a shot or try it in cereal first (there's other alternate milks out there too but I think soy packs the most protein).

Welcome! When I first transitioned from omnivore to 100% plant based (I gave up dairy & eggs too), I read a whole bunch of books and looked at a lot of blogs. I, too, worried "what will I eat?!" and it turns out there's this whole world of food that I never knew about. Foods like tempeh and seitan have been wonderful discoveries for me. Don't even get me started on quinoa! There are also a bunch of things I consider transitional foods - like Tofurkey Italian Sausages - we slice these up into some pasta and my previously-sausage loving kids have no idea the meat is plant based. If you are thinking of cutting back on dairy, there are coconut and soy based ice creams that are just as delicious (and calorie-laden) as their dairy counterparts. Whole Soy & Co makes an excellent soy-based yogurt. Daiya makes some passable cheese, though I don't think anything can quite compare to dairy cheese.

Check out some vegetarian cook books from your library and try some things out! Find recipes that have flavors that you know you love and you may surprise yourself by enjoying some of these foods you're not as familiar with. Since I went 100% plant-based, I checked out a bunch of vegan cookbooks and my favorite so far is Veganomicon. Finally, be careful not to become a "junk food vegetarian" - there are a lot of foods that are vegetarian but are terrible for you. Vegetables, dark leafy greens, whole grains - those are all a recipe for good health and will help ensure you have the nutrients you need.

fake meat help a lot when starting. I find Morning Star brand to be the best. You can just substitute it for whatever meat you usually have. It'll take a little while to mentally convince yourself to be vegetarian but this really does help and will keep your protein up. And try almond milk (almond breeze original is good. don't get the vanilla kind)

For inspiration see http://www.greatveganathletes.com/

Great tips here The only thing I would add is until you are settled into it all and have found what you like and dislike, try and keep an eye on your iron. There are loads of great sources of iron from non-meat sources, even a lot of breakfast cereal are fortified with iron now. If you google it you should be able to find your RDA for iron and then just try and keep it up close to that. Nothing worse than feeling exhausted because you havent been getting enough. (And I also find when I havent been getting enough iron I start to crave medium rare steak! lol)