How I did it: Once Ash Wednesday came around, I just stopped eating meat. I didn't prepare myself by cutting down on meat, in fact, quite the opposite! I ate loads of meat in the run-up to Lent to stock up! I would advise against that, mind!

I made sure I got lots of protein, so I drank more milk, and ate more cheese, nuts and beans. I ate a lot of vegetarian pizzas, some were pretty poor, some were awesome. I just kept going without eating meat and eventually I didn't feel the need for it anymore.

Lessons & tips: Make sure you keep your protein levels up, and you'll be fine. Resist the temptation to eat meat, you can survive without it! If you want meat substitutes, I'd recommend the Linda McCartney stuff, I thought it was the nicest and most meat-like.

If you're going hardcore vegetarian, look out for things like jelly, which is made using gelatine (made from crushed pig or cow bones) and red-coloured sweets which could be coloured using cochineal/carmine [E120], which is made from crushed beetles.

Resources: http://www.goveg.com

It's PETA's site for convincing people to go vegetarian. It's very informative, and keeps you going when the idea of being vegetarian is starting to fade. Make sure to order the Vegetarian Starter Guide too, it's free, and there's some good information in it. Order it in advanced though, it takes a few weeks to arrive.

http://www.meat.org/

If you're considering full-time vegetarianism, or just looking for a good reason to try it out for Lent, the video on here is pretty powerful.

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Apr 11, 2009, 04:46PM PDT | 1 comment | 5 cheers