I want to become a vegetarian, how can I transition into it?!

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Don't go in so suddenly. Here was what I did

What I did was only eat meat every other day, then every two days, all while giving up one animal at a time, from October to November in 2005. My plan was to have turkey one last time for Thanksgiving, so that was gonna be my last source of meat

My plan was beef, then pork, then chicken, then turkey (I didn't count things like lamb, because I didn't eat that regularly enough, so that was just out entirely)

HOWEVER, by late October, while doing this, I just said "you know what, I'm done with meat", and I never looked back. I didn't even have Thanksgiving turkey, and I was more than fine with it

So I'd say ween into it, but when you're ready, you'll know, and just end it all

Been a successful vegan for 5 years!

Just keep cutting the meat out. I did it all at once, but maybe that's not for you... :P Or it could be. Whatever floats your boat. Excellent choice for cutting the sea life out first. Fish and fish oils are completely toxic and probably some of the worst things for people to eat. Hooray for pollution...

Try cooking beans from scratch. They're really easy to make. All you have to do is rinse them (and look for bits of non-bean items) in a strainer, soak them overnight in cold water, drain, and then cook them for about an hour or until tender. Add garlic, onion, and your favorite seasonings. Beans are pretty amazingly healthy.
Just start cooking vegetarian meals and leave the meat out.

Here are a few books to read:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Becoming-Veget…

http://www.amazon.com/Quick-Fix-Vegetari…

http://www.amazon.com/China-Study-Compre…

http://www.amazon.com/World-Peace-Diet-S…

If you like meat it can be a hard change. The thing is you know you want to do it. I think you are wise to transition slowly. I would start exploring some other foods and come up with non-meat/animal products you like to eat and just start eating more of them and less meat. If you really like eating meat and are just concerned about the negative treatment, you can buy meat where the animals are treated a little more humanely, like free grazing, etc. and eat that instead.
Hope this helps.

Okay, so I am a vegetarian and have been one for over 6 years now. The thing is, I love animals, but mistreatment of some animals is not necessarily the only reason you should want to stop eating meat. I also never liked the taste/texture. So if you're gonna do, really want to do it. Not just for the animals.

Start my cutting things: red meat, poultry, fish, and animal bi-products if you want to (gelatin, etc.)
Don't cut them all out at once. Just stop eating one for a couple of weeks and slowly replace them with other proteins as you cut them out of your diet (soy, beans, etc.) Continue doing this until you consume no other meats.

Just stop putting those animals in your mouth.
There are many things to put in your mouth, why single that one tiny item out?
Out of all the thousands of things you can put in your mouth, why do the one thing that causes so much pain, cruelty, torture? Why? It makes no sense, out of all the things you can put in your mouth, to choose that one item, it's disturbing.

Okay, so this is odd!i became a vegitarian just after watching that very same movie!here's how i did it. 1st, i started asking around for free range meat ONLY!after that i started eating only chicken and seafood, after that just seafood, then no meat, but now im back as a pesco-vegitarin for health reasons(lack of iron mostly).so im glad to hear that this movie influenced someone else!

just slowly take away meats and things :) but fyi to replace the meat (because you need it to be healthy or else you will be weak) make sure you eat beans and things and just slowly take away things so say take away all things chicken this week then next week take beef away too...and so on good luck :)

When you feel the urge to eat meat, think about "Food Inc." and how disgusting it is to eat animals that have been slaughtered.

Easy,stop eating meat...
That's what I did..... I LOVED MEAT but then when I quit.... Just like that, It's actually really easy...
FISH IS MEAT BTW!

I dunno

Remove all meats

Eat vegetables, salads, beans etc.etc.

As always, I must recommend against becoming a vege. It's not as healthy or environmentally safe as most people are told.

That aside; the best way to segway into it is to do your own research yourself. Check out lists of veges, beans and etc to help replace protein and etc. I would look for a vege forums. I'm sure they are out there with many recipes.

On the supporting the pain - Animals will always go through pain, whether we are the cause or not. It's not any more painful to get your head chopped off compared to being eaten alive by a Hyena. Not saying the way we do it is the correct way, but there ARE farms that do it as right as we can.

Lastly, I do suggest keeping some fish in your diet. Mainly Tilapia. Good for you and has stuff hard to replace with veges.

Good luck in your transition.

PS: Ignore the person who said fish oil is poison.

Congratulations on your healthy and humane food choices! The vegan diet is one of plenty, so no need to worry about what you're taking out of your diet. There are at least two possible approaches you can take:

1. Take your ominvorous diet and veganize it. So if you typically ate spaghetti with meat sauce for a meal, you could have spaghetti with chopped up tempeh that gives the texture and flavor of meat sauce. If you ate hamburgers, there are all sorts of veggie burgers you can have. You can veganize recipes by substituting soy/hemp/rice milks for dairy milk, flax or Ener-G egg replacer for eggs in baking etc.

If there's something in particular you will be missing from your previous diet, you can either buy or make substitutions. For example, there are a lot of very good vegan ice creams and cheeses on the market. I prefer making my own however, so I make my ice cream from the recipes in "Vice Cream" by Jeff Rogers and my cheeses from Jo Stepaniak's "The Uncheese Cookbook." These are infrequent treats, however, as even homemade vegan ice creams and cheeses are high in fat.

2. However, if your previous diet was low in fruits and vegetables, and high in animal protein, rather than "meat analoging" your previous diet, you can eat a brand new healthy diet. I like Joel Fuhrman's nutritarian "Eat to Live" diet which focuses on a micronutrient dense diet: eat lots of salad and veggies, and eat at least 3 to 4 servings of fruit a day + 1 or 2 ounces of nuts a day--can be more if you don't need to lose weight. http://www.drfuhrman.com/default.aspx I eat mostly a Joel Fuhrman diet, but with Indian lunch buffet several times a week. Also, I make a lot of healthy soups.

It's important that you learn how to cook if you don't know how to already, as it will open up a world of cuisine you can't always get from the local restaurant offerings unless perhaps you live in a very veg-friendly city like NYC, San Francisco or Seattle. I recommend you buy some veggie cookbooks and make several recipes a week to expand your culinary horizons. Some of my favorites are "Vegan Vittles" and the "Uncheese Cookbook" by Jo Stepaniak. Also, if you like Tex Mex, you might like "The Engine 2 Diet" by Rip Esselstyn.

Re. Restaurants, here's the best resource I know for finding vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants: http://www.happycow.net/

Always have a plan for lunch and dinner--don't wait until you're starving as vegan options can be harder to find in a lot of places.