Vegetarian Starter
Tips on a Vegetarian Starter Diet
If you are thinking of becoming a vegetarian or have just made the decision, one of the things that might be good to try is a vegetarian starter diet. That means starting out slowly with your diet change and working more fruits, vegetables and meat substitutes into your diet gradually.
One of the first things you should do as a vegetarian starter is to begin a food diary. That just means writing down what you have already tried and making notes of what to try next. You probably already eat meals some of the time that contain no meat. Start with those, and then try to think of dishes you make that have meat--many of those most likely can still be a diet possibility by substituting another food for the meat.
A good place to begin is to look on the internet for vegetarian diet suggestions, or to buy or borrow a vegetarian cookbook. The more ideas you can get for varying your menu, the more apt you are to remain a vegetarian. Vegetarian starter substitutes for meat can include tofu or black beans, soy sausage or hot dogs, soy or veggie burgers.
If you desire a vegan diet as a vegetarian, starter tips can include using soymilk or rice milk instead of cow’s milk. If you normally cover your vegetables with butter, try using a little olive oil and lots of spices. There are many egg replacements available and cheeses that are made with soy milk instead dairy products.
Eating vegetarian involves more than just bringing home all vegetables and fruits when you go grocery shopping. You need to plan out your diet so that you are getting all of the protein, fat and carbohydrates you need plus all of the vitamins and minerals. At first, if you find this too tricky, you can take a daily supplement to make sure you are getting everything you need to protect your immune system and stay healthy.
Vegetarian and healthy choices you can make at the grocery store include adding lots of kinds of dried beans and lentils to your diet, buying lots of leafy green vegetables--spinach, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens and dandelion greens. Some vegetarians choose to only eat raw foods but that may be too big a step if you are just starting out to eat a meatless diet.
In addition to vegetables, you should eat a lot of whole-grain foods, such as breads, cereals, brown rice, pastas, and the like. Also don’t ignore fruits that have been dried, such as rains, apricots, mangos, etc., as they can be rich in iron, which traditionally has come from eating certain meats.
The key to success as a vegetarian is adequate diet planning. Some people find it helpful to look at the vegetarian food pyramid. This is much like the normal food pyramid but it is meatless and it has options for vegans and ovo-lacto-vegetarians. It tells you how many servings of each food group to eat every day. To find one, do an internet search for vegetarian pyramid.