Look on the Bright Side!

The best way to make stress-free changes in your eating habits is to keep your mind on the benefits of your new diet. Many nonvegetarians think that vegetarians must have a painfully boring diet and eat only brown rice, broccoli, and other vegetables. But in truth, most vegetarians have much more adventurous and interesting diets than your average Mr. Meat-And- Potatoes. Crack open a few vegetarian cookbooks, and you’ll find delicious recipes drawing from cuisines with long histories of vegetarian eating— foods loaded with spices and exotic flavors from India, China, and the Mediterranean. Add those to the vegetarian foods you already love—like macaroni and cheese, vegetable soup, pasta with marinara sauce—and you’ll find there’s a whole world of delicious things you can enjoy!

How long it takes for you to fully embrace vegetarianism is entirely up to you. Some people give up meat in one fell swoop, deciding in an instant that, for moral, ethical, or health reasons, the time to give up meat is now, and they never look back. Other people transition slowly, giving up meat- based foods one meal at a time over a long period. Many take the “two steps forward, one step back” approach, falling off the meatless wagon here and there on the road to a plant-based diet. None of these methods is the right way; the right way for you will be the way that works! And there are methods that can make the change easier.

A radical dietary change can take a lot of getting used to, both mentally and physically. And while a vegetarian diet is absolutely the best, healthiest way of life, not everyone can dive straight into the deep end right away. Many people take a long time to slowly make the changes necessary to live a vegetarian lifestyle—and transitioning gradually is often the most enjoyable, low-stress way to do it.

Before we outline a ten-point plan for gradually transitioning to a vegetarian diet, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of making a quick change versus making a gradual one.

Tearing Off the Band-Aid—Making the Quick Transition

There are a number of benefits to making a one-step switch to meatless eating. They are:

You can feel good about changing your life right away. There’s something deeply gratifying about taking decisive action and making positive changes in your life. You reach your goal right away, and you get to say to yourself, “Yes. I’m a vegetarian!”

You’ll enjoy the benefits of vegetarianism starting on the very first day. By making a major life-altering change right away, you’ll see the results much sooner. This is especially important if you’re going vegetarian for health reasons such as losing weight or lowering your cholesterol.

There’s less concern that you’ll fail and never become a “total” vegetarian. For some people, doing things gradually just isn’t an option— they lose focus and never make it to their goal. If you’re the sort of person who has a history of giving up on diets before you’ve reached your target weight, or on hobbies before you master the craft, you may want to make the change in one big jump. There’s nothing wrong with the decision; you just need to own up to it and act accordingly.

The quick approach works best for people who’ve already educated themselves on basic vegetarian nutrition, have a strong support system in place (living or working with vegetarians, or having a partner who’s also making the change at the same time), and don’t have other stressful situations while trying it. Again, only you can determine if this is best for you. Many people find the gradual approach just doesn’t work for them because they lose their motivation during a slow dietary overhaul, but others do much better at making huge changes slowly over a long period of time.

You may choose to make a quick change to vegetarianism because you have no other choice. You may have seen a documentary on factory- farming practices and just can’t stand to eat meat again. You may have been diagnosed with a condition like diverticulitis—which causes small pockets in the intestine to harbor bacteria—and your doctor may have advised you to stop eating meat. If that’s the case, you won’t be able to do your homework ahead of time, but you can still do the best you can with the information in this book and other resources that you’ll discover as you go along.

There are, of course, a few drawbacks to this method. You’ll be changing a major part of your everyday life without any learned skills and without the education that comes with experience. You’ll be springing your new vegetarian lifestyle on your family, friends, and co-workers all of a sudden, and you will have to deal with their reactions. If you’re bombarded by negative feedback from those around you, you may find that your new way of eating is kicked to the curb before it really starts.

But, as mentioned above, many people thrive on this kind of change. You may find that giving up so many of your old habits all at once helps you to break unhealthy old patterns and seek out new recipes and menus right from the start. If that’s the case, keep an eye out for bumps in the road, look for support—whether from other vegetarians you know or on the Internet—and check out the chapters in this book dedicated to nutrition and meal planning.