We all have to become conscious of what we consume (eat). It is our fuel
that keeps us going. Eating healthy is very important to the body
and mind. Having a sick (unhealthy) body only slows us down
physically and mentally. It keeps us from being at 100%. Junk food
may taste good, but is not a good source of clean energy (food). Know
yourself, know your food, and give some love back.
Here are a couple of ideas to keep you thinking...
Why Become Vegetarian?
Again, let me state that vegetarianism isn't for everyone. If you are
fanatically devoted to meat (and I was at one time, so I understand),
you might not be interested. If you already eat healthy, or you're not
interested in your health, you might not be interested.
But there are some reasons, for the rest of us, to consider it (and
these are just a few —
):
Cut the fat. While meat provides a lot of protein, it also provides a
ton of fat — especially saturated fat. Which means that by cutting out
meat, you'll be cutting out a lot of bad fat, and replacing it with
things that are probably not only lower in fat, but that contain some
good fats. This greatly reduces your risk of heart disease, and in
fact numerous studies have shown that vegetarians tend to have a lower
risk of heart disease, as well as hypertension, diabetes, cancer and
other diseases. Read more here.
Less food poisoning. Food poisoning gets millions of people each year
— and many of them from meat, which is a good breeding ground for
harmful bacteria, especially if not stored, prepared or cooked exactly
right. Cut out meat and you lower your risk of food poisoning
(especially if you also cut out eggs and dairy, but that's optional).
Reduce the suffering. You probably don't want to hear about the
horrific treatment of animals that are raised for food, even before
they are slaughtered for our benefit. But suffice it to say, there are
great amounts of suffering involved, and by cutting out meat, you are
reducing your involvement in that.
Help the environment. There are actually numerous ways that the meat
industry harms the environment, from a waste of our resources (animals
raised for food eat enough grain to feed the world), to a waste of
fuel, to the pollution caused by their waste matter, and much more.
Help your weight loss. It's possible to be vegetarian and eat very
unhealthy foods, including Coke and fries and fried stuff and pizza
and chips. But it's much more difficult. Studies repeatedly show that
vegetarians are slimmer and are less likely to be obese than meat
eaters. If you're trying to lose weight, being a vegetarian can be a
good part of your program.
Get more nutrition. In general (though not necessarily), vegetarians
replace meat with more nutritious foods, such as fruits, vegetables,
beans, whole grains, and so on. If you do that, you will be getting
more of the nutrients your body needs, giving you better health, less
illness, and more energy.
20 Tips for Becoming a Vegetarian
So, if you'd like to become a vegetarian, without too much trouble,
here are my suggestions:
Have good reasons. If you just want to become vegetarian for kicks,
you probably won't stick with it for long — not because it's hard, but
because any lifestyle change or habit change requires a little bit of
motivation. You need to first think about why you want to become
vegetarian, and really believe in it. The rest is easy.
Read up. Before starting anything new, I tend to read as much as
possible about whatever it is that I'll be doing. I suggest you do so
with vegetarianism. Check out a couple of good books from the library
(or better yet, borrow from vegetarian friends). And there are tons
and tons of good sites on the Internet. One of my favorites is
GoVeg.com.
Find good recipes. You don't need to go out and buy a bunch of new
cookbooks, although that's certainly an option. But again, there are
many great recipes online. Try GoVeg.com … another favorite of mine is
Post Punk Kitchen (also see their forums). In fact, it can all be a
little overwhelming … but don't worry, you don't need to decide on
anything. Just look through the recipes, take note of a few that look
really good, and decide to try a few of them. You have the rest of
your life to test out other recipes!
Try one recipe a week. My suggestion is just to try one new vegetarian
recipe a week. If you like it, add it to your collection of staple
recipes that you eat on a regular basis. If the recipe isn't that
great, try another next week. Soon, you'll have a good list of 5-10
great recipes that you love to cook and eat. And really, whether
you're vegetarian or meat eater, that's probably all you really eat on
a regular basis anyway (for dinner, at least). Most people only have
7-10 recipes that they cook regularly. Once you have that many
vegetarian recipes, you are good to go.
Substitutions. Also try your regular recipes that you love, but
instead of using meat, use a meatless substitute. So if you love to
eat spaghetti or chili, for example, substitute a ground-beef
alternative from Bocca or Morning Star and just cook it the way you
normally would. There are alternatives for just about any kind of
meat, and some of them are quite good. You can go on eating what you
normally eat, but meatless.
Start with red meat. I suggest a gradual transition into vegetarianism
… although you can do it all at once, I've found that for many people,
a gradual transition works better. There's no need to give up all meat
at once. Try a few new recipes, maybe eat one vegetarian meal for the
first week, two for the second, and so on. If you do this, start with
red meat, as it is typically the least healthy.
Then the other meats. After a couple of weeks of going without red
meat, try cutting out pork for a couple of weeks. Then cut out
chicken, the seafood. With this two-week approach (and you can even
make it 3 weeks or a month for each stage if you want to go more
slowly), you'll hardly notice the difference. I've found that I don't
crave meats anymore, although I did for about a week.
Consider dairy & eggs. Vegetarians vary widely on this, so there's no
mandate to give up dairy or eggs if you're giving up meat. Do what
feels right for you. But if you go meatless for awhile, and want to
try to go a little further (in terms of health, the environment, and
helping animal suffering), consider these foods. For one thing, they
are often high in saturated fat, especially compared to soy
alternatives. It was easy for me to give up eggs, as I've never been a
huge fan, but transitioning to soy milk took a few days to get used to
… although I can't stand the taste of milk now. :)
Think about your staples. A useful exercise is to make a list of foods
you regularly eat, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts and snacks.
Not meals, but ingredients. And then think about vegetarian
alternatives, and make a new list. For example, instead of eating
chicken in a stir-fry dish, you might try tofu. With a new list of
staples, you should have no trouble stocking your fridge and pantry.
All in one go. Some people prefer to give up meat all at once. While
this takes a little more determination than the gradual solution I
advocate, it's not that hard, really. Just prepare yourself by taking
some of the steps above (finding recipes, substitutes, a new list of
staples, and reading as much as possible), and then give it a shot. It
should only take a few days to get used to it, and then you'll have
very little trouble after that. The only issues you'll have to work
out, once you're used to going without meat, are things like eating
out, eating at others' houses, and other similar issues. Read on for
more on these.
Adequate protein. One myth about vegetarianism is that you don't get
enough protein. Actually, meat eaters usually take in way more protein
than they need. Protein requirements for the average adult are lower
than people think. If you eat a varied diet (not just junk food, for
example) that includes vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, soy protein
and the like, you will be fine. It would hard to create an eating plan
where you're getting inadequate protein (the junk food example would
be one). Another myth is that you need to eat different types of
protein within a single meal (or even a single day) to get complete
protein from plants … actually, as long as you eat varied proteins
(such as those listed above) over a few days, you'll be fine. And soy
protein is a complete protein, just like meat.
Junk food. Again, you can be a vegetarian and be very unhealthy, if
you eat junk food. Being a vegetarian is not a license to eat junk
food (although you can probably indulge yourself a little more often
now that you're not eating meat). Try to stick with fruits and
veggies, whole grains, beans, nuts, soy protein, low-fat dairy and
other nutritious foods for the most part.
Ethnic food. One of the great things about becoming a vegetarian is
that it often spurs people to try new and interesting ethnic foods (or
reminds them of foods they love but don't eat much). Great vegetarian
dishes can be found all over the world, from Italian pasta to many
Indian dishes to spicy Thai food to Chinese, Ethiopian, Moroccan,
Mexican, South American and more. It can be interesting to do a series
of theme weeks, trying vegetarian dishes from a certain country for
one week, and then moving around the world and sampling other great
ethnic foods.
Tell friends & family. If you're really going to become a vegetarian,
you'll have to talk to the people you know and love about it. You'll
still be dining with them, at restaurants, at their homes, at social
gatherings, at work, and so it'll be better for everyone involved if
they know what you're doing (they might prepare a vegetarian dish for
you, or you might bring one for them to try), and if they know the
reasons why. Some people might have a hard time with it. Just try to
explain it to them, without getting defensive or argumentative, and
ask them to be understanding (and maybe to give some of your food a
try). Don't try to force vegetarianism on anyone, or sound preachy,
but do give them more information if they're interested.
Have fun. Most of all, don't make becoming a vegetarian be a
restrictive, grueling ordeal. If you feel like you're depriving
yourself, you won't last long. But if you feel like you're doing
something good, and trying out some great-tasting food, you'll stick
with it for much longer (for life, I hope). Have a great time along
the way.
Plan ahead. Often what gets in the way of new vegetarians is that they
go somewhere, and don't think of what they might have to eat. Going to
a party or a dinner can be much better if you prepare a great dish and
bring it along (let the host know about it first). An errands trip
doesn't have to result in you going to McDonalds, starving, if you
pack a lunch or bring some snacks.
Cook ahead. Another problem is when we don't have any vegetarian food
ready to eat, and so we resort to whatever is easiest (if we don't
feel like eating or are too hungry to wait). Instead, you could cook a
big pot of vegetarian chili or soup or something, and have it in the
fridge for when you're hungry and don't have time to cook.
Vegetarian snacks. I love to eat fruits and cut-up veggies, but there
are lots of other great snacks you can eat. Roasted (or raw) almonds,
hummus and pitas or veggies, blue corn chips and salsa, low-fat
granola, berries with soy yogurt, whole-grain cereals, Kashi crackers
… dozens and dozens of snacks, actually, if you take a look around.
Have plenty on hand, at home, at work, and on the road.
Vegetarian restaurants. There's only one vegetarian restaurant on
Guam, and unfortunately it's closed on nights and weekends (it's a
Seventh-Day Adventist joint, open for lunch on weekdays, and it's
great). But you might live in an area with dozens of great vegetarian
restaurants. Give them a try! You might discover some wonderful food,
and thank your lucky stars you decided to give vegetarianism a try.
Otherwise, most restaurants will have some vegetarian options, or can
cook you a vegetarian dish on request.
Vegetarian convenience foods. In your supermarket's frozen section,
you'll probably find a lot of vegetarian foods that can be microwaved.
You might give some of these a try (I love the Amy's brand). Beware
that, like most convenience foods, these are more expensive than
home-cooked stuff, and most likely not as healthy. But you can find
some fairly healthy foods there too. At any rate, it's always good to
have a couple of convenience foods in the freezer, just in case.
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