Simple Steps to Become A Vegetarian

Those that are thinking of becoming a vegetarian/vegan or at least trying to focus more on a plant-based diet, are on the rise, with teenagers being the fastest growing group to jump on the band-wagon. There are many reasons as to why someone might choose to become vegetarian, examples include animal rights, sustainability for our planet, religious reasons, and studies show that those who don't eat meat have lower risk for many diseases including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. That alone is a great reason to start taking strides towards vegetarianism.

So, it might seem like a daunting task to remove 100%  of the meat from your diet, and yes, it's no walk in the park, but it's definitely doable in stages.

Step 1: Establish your "why". Why are you choosing to become vegetarian? If you don't have a reason, it's going to make your "how" that much harder. It could be for any of the reasons that I listed above, or you might have some of your own.

Step 2: Set a goal. Do you want to become full vegetarian, semi, vegan? There's many different types. Here's an outline of all of the different types of meatless eating lifestyles. Choose one that seems reasonable to you, something that aligns with your "why" (your reason for choosing this lifestyle) and something that aligns with what you'll be able to do (i.e. if you love milk and don't think you'll be able to give it up, then veganism is probably not your first choice).

Term	Avoids	Allows
Vegetarian (AKA lacto-ovo-vegetarian)	Meat, fish, poultry	Eggs, dairy
Lacto-vegetarian	Meat, fish, poultry, eggs	Dairy
Ovo-vegetarian	Meat, fish, poultry, dairy	Eggs
Pescetarian	Meat, poultry	Fish, dairy, eggs
Vegan	Avoids all animals products (i.e. meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, products containing eggs,  products containing dairy)

Example: My husband and I eat fish, milk, and eggs, so technically we are lacto-ovo-pescetarian. However, I  just say we are vegetarian (unless someone asks for more clarification), because most people would have no idea what I was talking about if I said all that.

Step 3: Start slow. If you are a carnivore or just really can't imagine cooking every single meal vegetarian, then try doing "Meatless Mondays" for a while. This is where only Mondays, you would skip the meat.

Also, take your go-to meals that you already make quite often and try to make them meatless. For example, lasagna is an easy one to switch from a beef version to a three cheese lasagna. Cooking Light has an awesome Three Cheese Lasagna that I make often (Here's the link: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/three-cheese-lasagna). If you like beans, they are pretty easy to replace the meat in chili, tacos, or another favorite dish.

Breakfast and lunch are pretty easy to make meatless, with cereal (hot or cold), waffles and pancakes for breakfast and peanut butter and jelly or a salad for lunch.

Step 4: Try new recipes. OK, so not every single recipe that you've made in the past will transfer to a vegetarian version, so getting on pinterest, allrecipes.com, cookinglight.com or buying a vegetarian cook book are all go sources to start expanding your horizons with veg meals. I've found that I cook with a lot more flavor and have tried some fun and unique recipes, that I probably would have never tried unless I were vegetarian.

Step 5: Look at your protein sources. Number 2 question that I get as a vegetarian (#1: Why am I a vegetarian), is where do you get your protein from? You don't NEED to eat meat to get protein, there's protein in almost everything that we eat! However, it is still something that you should be paying attention to. See the table below for examples of protein sources. As you can see there's a ton of foods that contain good amounts of protein. If your still going to include milk, cheese, and eggs, it's easy to make those your go-to protein sources through out the day.

Non-vegetarian protein sources	Vegetarian &/or vegan  protein sources
Meat	Milk
Fish	Yogurt (higher in Greek),
Poultry	Cheese
	Eggs
	Nuts & seeds
	Beans
	Soy milk
	Quinoa
	Tofu
	Tempeh
	Lentils
	Edamame
	Seitan
	Peas
	Cooked spinach
	Chia seeds
	Flax seeds
	Peanut butter, other nut/seed butters

Step 6: Eating out. Read the menu carefully before choosing your item. Let the waiter/waitress know what your preferences are (vegetarian, but eats fish, or full on vegan, whatever you are, just let them know so they can help you). Don't be embarrassed, most wait staff are happy to help, and they should be trained to help you find something you'll be happy with.  However, don't be mean about it either. This is a decision that you have made for your own reasons, so if they start spealing off the specials and they're all beef and chicken based, that's OK, they didn't know. Simply, say "No, thanks," and move on. 

With plant-based eating on the rise, most restaurants are offering more vegetarian options, and even have symbols on the menu to help identify those items. Sometimes it's a "v", other times it's a leaf, just look for the meaning of the symbol on the menu.

That's all for now, there will be at least 2 more posts to follow that will go into more detail. This doesn't have to be something you do over night, if you don't feel called to, because it can be overwhelming. I hope this helps! My husband and I made to switch to vegetarian and we haven't looked back :)