Become a vegetarian - easy!

Being a vegetarian, every day I talk to a lot of people who tell me that they wanted to become vegetarian, but they are difficult and it seems they do not have the willpower. But for me, as for many others, to become a vegetarian was the easiest thing. Just say, I do not consider that vegetarianism fits all. But if you care about your health, here are 20 tips on how to easily become a vegetarian.

20 tips for those who want to become a vegetarian

So, if you want to become a vegetarian without any problems, here are our tips:

1. The reason should be compelling

If you just want to joke to become a vegetarian, you probably will not last long - not because it is difficult, and therefore any change in life, or changing habits require some motivation. You need to, first of all, think about why you want to become a vegetarian, and believe in it. The rest is easy.

2. Read

To start something new, I tend to read as much as possible about what I would do. I suggest you do the same, and vegetarianism. Read some good books from the library (or better yet - to take them from friends-vegetarians). And there are a great many good sites on the Internet. One of my favorites is GoVeg.com.

3. Find good recipes

You do not need to go out and buy a bunch of new titles, although it certainly is an option. But, again, there are many great recipes online. In fact, it may be a bit overwhelming ... do not worry, you do not need to make any decisions. Just browse recipes, note the ones that look really good, and try to make some of them. You have a whole life ahead of you to check and choose the recipes!

4. Try one new recipe a week

My advice - just try one new vegetarian recipe a week. If you like it, add it to your collection of basic recipes that you prepare regularly. If the recipe is not so good, try another next week. In the near future you will find a good list of 5-10 great recipes that you love to cook and eat. And this is in fact what you cook and eat all the time, even if you are a vegetarian or someone who eats meat. Most people regularly cook only 7-10 recipes. As soon as you will have plenty of vegetarian recipes, you are ready to vegetarianism.

5. Replace

Also try to make the usual recipe you like, but instead of using meat, use "bezmyasnye" substitutes. So, if you like to eat spaghetti or Chile, for example, replace the soy meat, and cook it as usual. There are alternatives to almost any food, and some of them are quite good. You can eat what you usually eat, but no meat.

6. Start with red meat

I propose a gradual transition to vegetarianism ... although you can do all at once, I have found that for many people the gradual transition works best. No need to give up all the meat at once. Try some new recipes, eat one vegetarian meal for the first week, two dishes - in the second, and so on. If you begin, start with the non-red meat, because this food is usually the least healthy.

7. Then other meats

After a couple of weeks without red meat, try to avoid pork for a couple of weeks. Then eliminate the chicken and seafood. In the two weeks (and you can even do it for three weeks or a month at each stage, if you want to go more slowly), you're unlikely to notice the difference. I found that I did not ask for more meat, though it's about a week.

8. As for the eggs, and dairy

Opinions vegetarians vary considerably on this issue, so you do not have to give up dairy products or eggs, if you give up meat. Do what you think best. But if you are already going through vegetarianism for a while, you can try to go a little further (in the areas of health, environment and help suffering animals), and consider the failure of these products. Not least because they are often high in saturated fat, particularly in comparison with soy alternative. It was easy to give up eggs, because I've never been a big fan of them, and the transition to soy milk took me a few days to get used to ... but now I do and I can not remember the taste of milk. :)

9. Think about your daily consumption of foods

Useful exercise - make a list of foods that you regularly eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts. No dishes and ingredients. Then dumatyte of vegetarian alternatives, and make a new list. For example, instead of fried chicken dishes, you can try tofu. With a new list of products, you should have no problems with their storage in the refrigerator or pantry.

10. All in one fell swoop

Some people prefer to give up any meat at once. Although it requires a little more determination than the gradual solution, I would argue that it's really not difficult. Just prepare yourself by taking the steps outlined above (finding recipes, substitutes, a new list of products and read as much as possible), and then make your final step. You will need a few days to get used to, and then it will be delivered very little inconvenience. And then, when you're already do without meat, you will only need to work on how and what is outside the home, and other similar situations.

11. Adequate protein

One of the myths about vegetarianism is that you get enough protein. In fact, those who eat meat, usually get more protein than they need. Protein needs for an average adult is less than normal people think. If you stick to different diets (not just junk food, for example), including vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, soy protein, etc. you will be fine. It would be difficult to make a meal plan where you get enough protein (the same example with junk food). Another myth is that you need to have different kinds of protein in one dish (or even one day) to get the full range of proteins from plants ... in fact, if you eat a variety of proteins (such as those listed above) for a few days, it will be good. And soy protein is full of protein, just like meat.

12. Junk food

I'll say it again, you can be a vegetarian and have poor health if you eat junk food. Being a vegetarian, you can not eat junk food (although you can indulge yourself a little more often now that you do not eat meat). Try to stick to fruit and vegetables, whole-grain products, beans, nuts, soy protein, milk with low fat, etc.

13. Ethnic food

One of the biggest advantages for the people who become vegetarians, is that it often leads people to try new and interesting ethnic dishes (or reminds them of the food that they like, but do not eat a lot). Excellent vegetarian dishes are all over the world, from Italian pasta, many Indian dishes, spicy dishes of food from Thailand to China, Ethiopia, Morocco, Mexico, South America, etc. It can be fun to do a series of theme weeks, trying vegetarian dishes from a country in one week, and then move around the world, selecting the other great ethnic dishes to sample.

14. Tell your friends and family

If you are really going to become a vegetarian, you have to talk about it to people you know and love. You will dine in them, in a restaurant, in their homes, at social events, at work, and therefore it will be better for everyone if they know what you're doing. They can prepare vegetarian dishes for you, or you can tell them to try it if they know the cause. Some may have difficulty with this. Just try to explain to them without having to go with a bitter disputes, and ask them to be understanding (and give some of your products to the test.) Do not force anyone to bring in vegetarianism, and give them more information if they are interested.

15. Enjoy

First of all, do not make the transition to vegetarianism stressful ordeal. If you feel that you limit yourself, you will not last long. But, if you feel that you are doing something good, and with it try tasty food, you can easily stick to this for a long time (hopefully for life). Good luck on the way.

16. Plan ahead

Often that is a problem of new vegetarians, is that when they go somewhere, they do not think they would have. Going to a party or dinner, a good idea might be to much, if you cook a big meal and bring it with you (just to warn the owners in advance). Fate does not lead you to McDonalds or even starvation, if you collect a lunch or snacks in advance.

17. Cook ahead

Another problem arises when we do not have a vegetarian meal ready to eat, so we choose what is easier (if we do not think about what we eat or too hungry to wait for cooking). Instead, you could cook a big pot of vegetarian chili or soup or something, but kept it in the fridge for those times when you are hungry or do not have time to cook.

18. Vegetarian snacks

I love to eat fruit and chopped vegetables, but there are many other great snacks. Roasted (or raw) almonds, husmus (pasta peas), pita bread or vegetables, tortilla chips and salsa, beans, low-fat, fruit and soy yogurt, whole grain breads, crackers, Kashi ... dozens and dozens of snacks, if you just look back over . Near you, at home, at work and on the move.

19. Vegetarian Restaurants

Guam is only one vegetarian restaurant, and, unfortunately, it is closed at night and on weekends (it is the Seventh Day Adventists, are open for lunch on weekdays, and it's great). But you can live in an area with dozens of excellent vegetarian restaurants. Give them a chance to please you! You may find such wonderful dishes that you will thank your lucky stars that you have decided to try vegetarianism. Otherwise, most restaurants have vegetarian food options, or they can prepare vegetarian dishes to order.

20. Vegetarian semis

In the frozen food section of your supermarket, you can find a lot of vegetarian foods that can be cooked in the microwave. You can take some of them to trial. Keep in mind that, like most semi expensive than the products that you can make at home, and most of them are not very useful. But you may find there are some pretty useful products. Anyway, always good to have a couple of half-finished in the freezer, just in case.