I want to become a vegetarian, but I love meat so much?

Question

It seems like meat is in everything that's delicious! was it hard for you to become a vegetarian? how do I do it? I really want to do it because I love animals. what type of meals do vegetarians eat? i mean, is that fake meat any good? thanks :)

Answer 1

I loved meat too, and if your ethical reasons for wanting to be vegetarian are strong enough, you'll stick with it long enough for your tastes to change. Many long-time vegetarians who doubted thier ability to give up meat now say the smell of meat is disgusting.

I don't like the fake meats, and even if I did, they are very expensive. One of the best ways to get tasty vegetarian meals is look to the cultures who have a strong cultural or religious reason to avoid meat. Many traditional Asian, Indian, and Italian dishes are flavored with robust plant foods, such as wasabe, spices, or balsamic vinegar, so they don't need meat to taste good.

And there's probably a vegetarian cookbook for every food style. Just check on Amazon.

Answer 2

Very simple, you were brought up eating it, so it won't be easy, especially with your family (they'll likely really bug you about not eating your meat). But, for me, the more I read about meat animal products the more I looked at what I ate differently, right? The more you educate yourself, the more your brain will make new connections. Not to mention, that once you have stopped eating it for awhile, then you try it again, it will taste very different from before. If meat tasted so good then steak sauce would never have been invented, or HP sauce, or all that other crap people put on or in their meat. People's taste buds are so overwhelmed by the regular high salt and high sugar and high junk food content in the regular person's diet that they really cannot taste much of anything. I know, because after about a year (yeah, took a year, takes some much longer) for my pallet to start to open up. By that I mean, I could actually eat things without adding salt, sugar, sauce, etc. I could actually taste the food for what it is and not just for the added flavours etc. You get the idea... I say quit all junk foods and all animal products all chemical ingredients etc. and you will see a difference.

Answer 3

I just wanted to add some information since knowledge of vegetarianism could help you find some answers. Saying that we are supposed to eat meat is kind of true and kind of not true. Humans are omnivores, they have the ability to eat meat as well as plants. Herbivores have flat teeth for grinding and carnivores have sharp teeth for slashing and tearing. As humans we have mostly flat teeth but we also have teeth that are not completely flat but they are not completely sharp either. Another point its that carnivores have shorter intestines because if meat is left in the digestive tract too long before excrement, the meat actually starts to rot inside the intestines. Herbivores have longer intestines because this is not an issue with plant based diets and foods. Humans have a longer digestive tract that when we consume meat it does start to rot towards the end before we can eliminate it from our bodies. So humans have the capability of consuming meat but that doesn't necessarily mean we should. It is completely possible to get all the nutrients needed from a vegetarian diet. You have to be more aware of certain vitamins and nutrients as some nutrients are primarily found in meat but it is still possible. There are plenty of reasons, other than the ethical treatment of animals, to go vegetarian. Such as the strain it puts on the environment, the fact that in modern society non-meat foods are readily available to most people therefore meat is not necessary, and vegetarian diets tend to be healthier. But being vegetarian is completely a personal choice. Its important to be well informed before you make a decision about anything. And at the end of the day it is up to each person to decide for themselves.

Answer 4

I LOVED all the meats. I had the exact same problem. But I learned that other foods besides meat could satisfy me and i ended up happy! Veggiburgers are very good to me. But any other kind of fake meat is a little diffrent from what you would expect. You should probably try some diffrent things out on your own. We all have our likes and dislikes so you should experiment a little with diffrent veggi foods and see what you like.

Answer 5

For you my friend, I suggest tapering off. Give yourself a period of time in which you plan to stop eating meat. (You can count down to V-Day.)

First, give up red meats (any mammal). Allow yourself poultry and seafood.

Then, give up poultry. Keep eating seafood.

Lastly, give up seafood.

During this time, experiment with at least one totally vegetarian meal each day. Towards the end of your taper, bump it up to two vegetarian meals a day.

Basically, wean yourself off of meat. You'll learn how to eat vegetarian (and figure out what vegetarian dishes you like best) while you're still able to eat what you're used to. Think of it as a period where you have training wheels.

To answer your other question: some fake meat is good, other fake meat isn't. In general, you won't be able to find any that tastes, feels, or acts like the real thing. So don't expect to or you might run away from vegetarianism screaming. I don't eat fake meat all that much, especially not on its own. (I will use crumbles in chili and "meat" sauce sometimes.) I suggest steering clear of it for awhile, until your meat cravings have diminished to small pangs. In general, fake meat is more successful when it is part of a larger dish (so season and sauce it!) and when it is served warm. I have yet to find delicious commercially-available vegetarian meats. (Leftover homemade, deliciously seasoned seitan is another story.)

Last tip: have fun with it! Take this chance to drag your friends and family out for Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Mexican, and Italian. Delicious foods available at all of them, vegetarian and not.

Answer 6

No, it wasn't hard for me to become one,
all though I didn't really like pork or beef, so that was easy and the chicken and fish, I just started out by slowly taking them out of my diet, like the first day I would eat half as much as I did before, and so on and so forth.

As for meals, you eat the usual stuff except with out the meat, say you order a burrito at a fast food place, you get a bean burrito instead.
At your local grocery they should have meat supplements(protein supplements) and soy milk(if you don't drink milk). Always read the labels, make sure there are no hidden animal products, some of the ones that are used a lot are, lard(pork fat), casein(milk protein) and gelatin(extract of bones, connective tissue, and animal organs).

Hope this helped :D

Answer 7

well this answer probably wont go down well on the vegetarian boards, but why dont u just not become one?
u can always cut back on ur consumption of meat if u have ethical issues.. but come on. meat is too nice, and after all it is what we are supposed to eat.

its also very good to have a balanced diet and yes i know some ppl argue u can still be perfectly healthy as a vegetarian, but having a balanced diet is still preferable.

Answer 8

((Vegetarian of two years))

I'll just say this...

I used to love meat- lamb, bacon, seafood especially. But I dropped all kinds of meat abruptly. All at the same time... i went cold-turkey. And i can honestly say it was extremely easy. I expected it to be really hard, and even put it off for about a year assuming it would be hard... but it was the easiest thing i'd ever done.

Answer 9

yeah I don't agree with any of these above answers. There are so many tasty "fake meat" options. My top three favorites (please give them a go for yourself): Tofurky (the sandwich meat is good, but I 'm talking the tofurky roast...like for Thanksgiving, it will make you a believer!) Gardenburger Riblets (ah-mazing!) and Amy's brand Texas burgers! Other products are good too; soyrizo, smart bacon, Melissa's taco meat, soy crumbles (instead of ground beef) all very good and very versaitile for making your favorite recipes. My family eats meat and they love all these products too.

I also have two really good cookbooks to recommend: La Dolce Vegan and The Candle Cafe cookbook. These are both vegan books, but they have really good ideas about substituting meat and other items for the everyday foods you might enjoy. Just look them up on Amazon.

I absolutely love food, always have. I was actually thinner before I became a vegan. I have gotten rather creative: I eat a lot of burritos (mexican in general is easy as long as there isn't lard in the beans or tortillas and the rice isn't prepared with animal stock), indian food, veggie burgers and sandwiches, chinese food (lots of tofu and veggie/noodle dishes) italian food (pasta...lasagna...delicious).

You will learn as you make the effort. Every vegetarian kind of starts out the same: confusion at first but you just throw yourself out there and learn what you can eat. Just make sure you are eating correctly. Remember that it's not just protein you need, you need balanced protein (i.e. beans and rice form a complete protein when eaten together, very good for you). Also remember your omega-3's (found in flax seed, smart balance butters and peanut butters) and to take b vitamins.

good luck!

Answer 10

I like meat too but once I saw what I saw about animal treatment that is what I see whenever I look at meat and that is what I think whenever I smell it. Its not that hard at all. Once you stop eating meat and eating more vegetables and fruits and other recipes wo meat then your taste changes and you crave those foods and they taste soo good.