I need some tips from any Vegans or Vegetarians on how to become one and/or words of encouragement to stay one!
Answers: I just read the book "Skinny B*%#h" and after the horrible first-hand stories I read about the way animals are treated before being served is horrendous! I will never eat another animal again if it means one life less tortured like that. (and i used to eat McDonalds, KFC, Wendys, etc.....
Becoming vegetarian is the best decision a person can ever make. You just have to be well informed and at the beginning you need to read some books such as becoming vegetarian or browse the web... Make sure your diet is well balanced...
Try to hook up with the vegetarian society in your city. Every major city has one. That way you can meet other vegetarians and it does help a lot. You should try to learn how to cook nice veggie food and get familiar with the different products out there.
Good luck
being a vegetarian is a healthy life style but sometimes being a vegan can't because you can't eat many other things like cheese or fish and you need a balanced diet so be care which one you choose
Don't come to our ranch on Thanksgiving for starters.
Being a vegetarian myself, I find your choice a good one =) It's a healthier lifestyle than being a meat eater and you can eat veggie burgers without the guilt. Practically every meat dish you used to have can be made into a vegetarian friendly one. As for a vegan, I'm already considering this, I think that becoming a vegetarian first would be an easier step than going straight for the vegan because at least you'll be able to eat dairy products. However, if you feel you could manage becoming vegan straight away, then go for it! I'll leave some websites that you can visit for more information.
Recipes:
http://vegweb.com/
http://vegkitchen.com/
http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Everyday-C...
More info on becoming a vegetarian or vegan:
http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-substitut...
http://www.veggie123.com/
Hope this helps a bit!
Well, I would say being vegan is a good ideal, but really hard, especially if you aren't used to being in control of all your food (i.e. you live at home, someone else cooks for you, you eat out a lot, etc).
I have been vegetarian now for about 4 years, and even though I used to like meat, and remember feeling deprived or like stuff was missing from my food, now I don't miss meat at all. I rarely feel like I am missing something, and more commonly see menus at restaurants, and instead of seeing a dish with meat and thinking how plain it would be without meat, I see dishes with meat and think, "why did they have to ruin that perfectly good food by putting meat in/on it!"
It is so bizarre, but sometimes now I smell meat being cooked, and it smells TERRIBLE, like rotting bloody flesh, something I never noticed before. Of course, at times over 4 years, I have accidently eaten meat or meat broth without at first realizing it, and sometimes, it TASTES like bloody rotten flesh, and that is how I realize there is meat in the dish. Since I don't notice this with all meat or meat smells, my personal theory is that some meat is just BAD, and meat eating people can't even smell or taste the difference.
Being vegetarian is much easier nowadays than it used to be. Many restaurants have vegetarian options, or will modify dishes for you to make them vegetarian. I eat out a lot more than I should, but have no problem doing that. At mexican restaurants I get bean burritos, bean tostadas, bean tacos (just ask!), chile rellenos. Thai, chinese, vietnamese, and indian restaurants usually all have a big selection of vegetable, bean, cheese, and/or tofu based dishes. Places like Olive Garden, Togos and even In-and-Out burger have vegetarian options (at In and Out, ask for the 'grilled cheese sandwich' - melted cheese, lettuce, and tomato on a bun.)
Sandwiches can be made good with fake meat slices, good cheese, avocado, cucumber, oregano.
Since becoming vegetarian my food horizons have expanded exponentially. I hate to even admit this, but I used to be super picky: I didn't like beans, nuts, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, tofu. I had never tried thai, veitnamese, indian, ethiopian, or afghan food. Now I really like all those ethnic foods, and have cooked some at home myself. I now really enjoy beans, some nuts, tomatoes, tofu, and some mushrooms.
I haven't become a pro at using tofu at home, only having used it occasionally. But there is still a lot you can eat at home, including all kinds of bean dishes like burritoes, taco salads; you can use fake meat products to have 'hamburgers', 'meatballs' and spaghetti, egg and 'sausage' sandwiches, etc. In almost every dish with meat, I have been able to substitute beans, fake meat, tofu, or TVP (texturized vegetable protein), or just leave the meat out.
Anyhow, good luck with being vegetarian. It is definately a good endevour, with positive benefits for your health, animals and the planet.