How to Become a Vegetarian (The Easy-ish Way)
Reading Skinny Bitch was a catalyst to me becoming a vegetarian. Here is one of the follow-up books to the original, which is filled with recipes.
My journey to becoming a vegetarian began on a plane to Las Vegas. I was lucky enough to take a fun family trip with my parents and siblings to the City of Sin — okay, nix that, I just Googled the term and it is not Las Vegas’ nickname. Anyway, on the plane ride to Las Vegas, my mom shared a copy of Skinny Bitch. My first thought was general disinterest. A nutrition book? Somebody get me a tabloid and a hamburger, stat. But after a few staggering attempts, I did read Skinny Bitch and it ended up being the catalyst to be my becoming a vegetarian. My mom made the same jump thanks to that book.
It’s hard to believe that I first started eating a vegetarian diet over thirteen years ago, around 2006. You might make some assumptions about me, or vegetarians in general, so let me clear up some facts up front.
I love to eat and I get hangry if I don’t eat every few hours. I like food.
I like hearty, filling foods — salads generally aren’t my meal of choice. I think they’re a wonderful option if you dig them, and I recently tried an amazing maple syrup salad, but in general, they’re not my favorite.
I used to eat a lot of fast food, including Chinese food, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Burger King ... you get the drift. I’m not advocating for this type of eating and, in fact, I recommend you don’t eat this type of food a lot (surprise, surprise), but I do tend to crave junk food. My point: I wasn’t a particularly light or healthy eater and I needed food that was going to fill me up.
I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian, which means I eat eggs and dairy. This is the most common type of vegetarian. Pescatarians consume fish and dairy, while vegans do not consume any animal products or animal by-products, including dairy.
Another few points of my backstory. Prior to going vegetarian, I had started to feel grossed out by the food I was eating, at least some of the time. I also felt a gnawing incongruence. I was an animal lover and something just didn’t sit right.
Anyway, after ingesting Skinny Bitch, the fuzzy was brought into focus. I felt strongly that becoming a vegetarian was the decision for me. I think this is an important point to re-read. I made the decision to become a vegetarian, and I went for it wholeheartedly. This was in 2006 when there were a lot fewer options in the grocery store for vegetarians, such as alternative meats (aka meatless meats). This was especially true in my hometown in the middle of the country, where I lived at the time. There, we tended to get the newest things last, including fast fashion and food. But I was determined to make it work, and that was a big factor in making the transition to vegetarianism.
We can make a difference in the treatment of animals with our choices: i.e. not eating meat. Photo courtesy Fred Lehmann from Pixabay.
The deciding factor for me was the treatment of farm animals, which Skinny Bitch goes into detail about. Some people decide to become vegetarian for health reasons and, if that is your motivating factor, go for it. Whatever lights a fire that will push you through the tougher times, then that is what you should utilize.
A few weeks or months after making the decision to become a vegetarian, I had a relapse where I decided to eat an old standby: a Chinese food meal of sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, and an egg roll. I felt pretty gross afterward. I commenced with my vegetarian diet the following day.
Meatless crumbles, like these currently in my freezer, are a vegetarian food staple (at least for me).
The Quorn brand is somewhat unique in that, in addition to being meatless, they are also soy free. This can be beneficial for those with a soy allergy or for those looking to reduce their overall soy intake.
In the first few months and years, I relied on ready-made vegetarian foods and also tried vegetarian recipes. One of the first cookbooks I really dug into for vegetarian cooking was Reader’s Digest The Vegetarian Cookbook. There are a handful of delicious, manageable recipes in it. I also consider the Moosewood Restaurants New Classics cookbook to be a great resource. In the early days (and even now), I turned to the MorningStar® brand to help me satiate my hunger, as the products were easy to prepare and readily available at my neighborhood grocery stores. I enjoy their soy sausage patties, soy meat crumbles, and veggie bacon.
For any habit, it takes willpower and fortitude to go against the ingrained behaviors that we have repeatedly performed. Once you change those old meat-eating habits, eating a vegetarian diet becomes so much easier and feels more natural. You can do this gently, and even have fun with it!
Some fast food joints now offer more (or just some) vegetarian-friendly options—so you don’t have to miss out if that’s your (greasy brown) bag. Photo courtesy Digital Buggu from Pexels.
How? Here are some tips for a gentle transition to becoming a vegetarian:
Continue cooking your favorite meat recipe, but replace it with a meat substitute. Whip up a BLT with veggie bacon. Use veggie meat crumbles to cook Hamburger Helper. Use soy chicken to make a sweet and sour recipe.
If you have a habit such as going through the Burger King drive-thru every Thursday night, replace your typical Whopper with the Impossible Burger. Keep your routine, at least for awhile, to make things easier.
Have the same meals every week. It’s important to try new recipes, especially as you are transitioning to a new diet plan, but sticking to the same meals each week requires much less brain power. Simply have avocado toast with hard-boiled eggs every Monday, rotini pasta with veggies and salad every Tuesday, etc. You can also choose a theme for each day, such as “pasta on Monday, Mexican on Tuesday”, etc. to reduce the required brainpower.
Give yourself a vegetarian-approved yet decadent treat with one or every meal, i.e. a bite of chocolate, a handful of M&M’s, a glass of red wine, or a yummy dessert.
Take it one meal and one day at a time. Focus on eating a protein-rich source with every meal that will sustain and satisfy you, such as beans, peanut butter, or eggs.
Small changes are all it takes to truly change your life, change the way you eat, and become an activist for animal welfare with your choices. Or, just get healthier, if that’s your cup of mocha.
Unexpected changes After becoming a vegetarian
Prior to becoming a vegetarian, I had ongoing stomach troubles. This issue had gotten increasingly worse shortly before becoming vegetarian. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, but I would often feel sick after eating and have an upset stomach. Though this wasn’t the catalyst to me becoming a vegetarian, doing so seemed to clear up my stomach issues. Something about eating meat seemed to be causing my digestive distress.
I also feel a lot lighter after eating vegetarian, physically and spiritually. I think it requires a lot more of us to digest a meat-heavy meal. I simply feel less sluggish now after eating. Additionally, it may seem woo-woo, but if you ingest the meat from an animal that lived a life of fear and died in a traumatic way, you are also ingesting their stress hormones. This illuminating fact came from Skinny Bitch.
“You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.”
If you are considering becoming a vegetarian, I hope you take away from my story that it is totally possible. You can eat amazing, delicious food (even fast food, which probably doesn’t fit either of those descriptors) and you can be full. Like me, you may also feel more at peace and lighter because you are acting in ways that align with your beliefs. Let’s eat!
Send me any questions, ideas, or thoughts on your journey to becoming a vegetarian or considering it. I send you happy thoughts and I’ll be here offering tips and tricks along the way!
