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Best tips for anyone who wants to go vegetarian
I asked our readers what their best tips were for someone who wanted to become a vegetarian or an almost vegetarian.
I got a ton, a ton!, of really great answers.
And I’ve posted some of the best ones, below.
Ten tips for anyone who wants to become vegetarian or almost vegetarian
1. Do your research and make sure you balance your meals. I ate as a bad vegetarian for many years and my body paid for it. But with a little research, one can make wonderful delicious and amazingly good for you meals.
2. Vegetarianism isn’t about what you give up (animal flesh), but about all the delights you discover as a whole new world of foods open up to you. Realize that vegetarianism is to be lived with joy, and not as a chore, as many meat eaters claim.
3. If you really want to do it then go for it. Be creative, experiment with new and exciting ingredients.
4. Don’t try to replace meat with analogues. Just enjoy non-meat foods naturally, the way they are.
5. Nuts. Eat lots of nuts.
6. Learn new, inventive ways to use vegetable and other non-meat sources. Also, mushrooms. Just mushrooms.
7. Eat broccoli plus pasta. Eat broccoli, carrots and corn. Eat potatoes cooked a bizillion different ways. Add nuts to every dish.
8. Make sure to get enough protein, and don’t overload on empty carbs.
9. Read, read, read. Get informed so you can make the best decision for yourself.
10. Beans are your friend.
What is your best tip?
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13 Responses to “Best tips for anyone who wants to go vegetarian”
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When you say vegetables not all want to eat vegetable , so they end up eating meats. I envy those people who loves to eat vegetables. Me i am trying to be a vegetarian but it takes a hardwork
Thank you so much for this. I’ve just discovered this blog last week and I just (and I mean – JUST) started exploring vegetarianism last week. I’m on day seven and loving it – totally! I’ve looked into all sorts of new ways to cook basic items, and I’ve done as much research as one can in the span of 6 days to learn about how much protien my body needs and how to get it. This lifestyle is amazing. And – This list is incredibly helpful. Thanks so so much!
Agreed — and this applies to the meat-eaters, too!
And learn to use spices. It’s amazing how much more variety it opens up.
Embrace ethnic cuisines to explore new flavors. Indian, Thai, etc often offer great vegetarian dishes.
I totally agree with all of those points. Especially talking about doing it the right way and eating the right foods. When I first became vegetarian I just guessed what I should eat and inevitably I became sick because I was missing essential amino acids. If you are looking to go vegetarian please, please, please get a book or program that will teach you how to do it properly! Once you learn how to do it, it becomes so easy and so much fun!
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These are great, and I coulnd’t agree more. Just posted some of my most simple, but absolute go-to dishes. Balance is huge, and I love the comment about nuts. If I forget to add fat I feel “wobbly,” at the end of the day, and with no dairy, nuts are a great way to calm ny nerves. These are such great tidbits!
These tips are great! Related to Tip #8 it’s SO important to get enough protein.
I just posted a protein guide for all vegetarians, including how to calculate your individual protein needs and how to get enough every day.
Even though I have been a veg since childhood, I have to remind myself to get enough! Like you say, read, read, read. As long as you are educated, you’ll stay healthy.
Love, Sage
I love broccoli, but I want to give a shout-out for cauliflower. Pureed, it helps make a creamy and lower-fat soup or mac and cheese sauce. And, it’s just plain addictive roasted. Plus, it’s good for you (it’s a cruciferous vegetable, like broccoli).
The two things I’d wish I’d known when I became a vegetarian were:
One: take B12 & Vitamin D, or make sure you’re getting a lot of it in your diet. I’ve learned the hard way vegetarians tend to be severely deficient in them & it makes a huge difference, especially in your energy level. Plus I was always anemic. You can’t live on fries (see rule #1 above!) You’ve got to make sure to get your protein. It’s easy to do, but also easily overlooked.
Two: you will randomly find out you’ve been eating something you thought was vegetarian that wasn’t. My first years as a vegetarian I was a victim of the McDonalds fries debacle (not only not vegetarian, but see rule 1 above) & found out that ceasar salad, my go to healthy vegetarian meal, wasn’t vegetarian (damn anchovies;() But you can’t beat yourself up–live & learn & be wiser for it. And listen to your body.
These are some great tips
I went though an experience much like Charlotte long ago. Once upon a time I was a ovo-lacto vegetarian, migrated eventually to being vegan and knew nothing about what vitamins I should be getting throughout the day, how to balance or anything. Needless to say, I shockingly had a small increase of a weight gain, then one day my body just crashed. Well, obviously it helps to go to the doctor to determine if you have vitamin deficiencies before becoming a vegetarian or vegan. I had to learn the hard way.
So over the past several years I had to learn to reincorporate meat into my meals unfortunately, but now, I’m slowly trying to move back to an ovo-lacto vegetarian life, the HEALTHY way. So far it’s been a great success
But thank you for writing this entry, because there has been one thing I was wondering what I’m missing on my salads — pine nuts!! 
I would highly recommend to invest in a good vegetarian cookbook (ie: Vegetarian Cook’s Bible by Pat Crocker)
You may not use it a lot, or may not have the spices on hand…however it is an excellent reference to use about certain ingredients. As well it helps bring out your innovative and creative side on cooking when in the kitchen!
You don’t always have to follow the recipe exactly…so improvise, experiment and just have fun!
To be honest, I absolutely hate that everyone makes a big deal about protein. Yes it is important, BUT women aged 19-50 only need 2 servings of protein rich foods a day, and men aged 19-50 only need 3. This includes beans, tofu, nut butters and whole nuts and seeds.
I also disagree with the fact that you should eat nuts at every meal, and to eat lots of nuts. Yes, they are good for you, but they are very fatty. I am already overweight, and eating an abundance of nuts would severely sabotage my efforts to losing weight.
I think getting enough IRON is more important than getting enough protein. There is more protein in foods than there is iron. I have been vegetarian for 7-8 years now, and I have had iron-deficiency anemia pretty much all of those years (including now). Plus it’s harder for us vegs to get enough iron because the iron we eat isn’t as readily absorbed as the iron in meat. (Suggestion: Eat vitamin C rich foods with iron rich foods – it helps absorption).
Protein is only REALLY important if you are active, since it helps build muscle tissue. But for those couch potatoes, all that protein you are eating doesn’t build muscle (because you’re not using any) and it just turns into fat.
PLUS, for those vegetarians who eat dairy or eggs, both are full of protein also. The average person eats WAY too much protein to be healthy (more directed at meat-eaters).
Just thought I’d throw that out there.