How I did it: I randomly made the decision to go vegetarian when I was about eleven years old. I can't really pinpoint my motivation, although I was a fairly picky eater in general.

I didn't eliminate all meat products at once. I began by removing red meat from my diet altogether, but I still ate chicken and fish on and off for quite a while--probably the next eight or nine years of my life!

I began reading a lot about vegetarian health, and strongly felt that it was the best direction to go in for optimum health. In the last year or so, I've cut all meat products out of my diet.

Lessons & tips:

• Understand where your meat comes from by reading about slaughterhouses and meat processing. There's really nothing pleasant about how these food products are developed.
• If you don't feel that you can eliminate all meats at once, do so gradually.
• Realize that the nutrients you need can be gained from non-meat sources. Additionally, meat has been associated with a number of health conditions (such as various cancers, heart disease, and so on).

Resources:

• The Compassionate Cooks Vegetarian Food for Thought podcast is incredibly informative and supportive.
• The China Study offers a lot of a support for a meat-free diet.
• Take a minute to Google vegetarian recipes. There are a lot out there, and it helps to know how many options you have.

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Jan 17, 2009, 08:53PM PST | 1 comment | 5 cheers