7 Effortless Steps to Embrace a Vegetarian Lifestyle
Embracing a Vegetarian Lifestyle: My Journey
At over 75 years young, I’m older than the baby boomers and weigh less than when I got married at 19. This morning, I did an unsupported headstand and ran 11 miles. I’m fitter than many people half my age. Why am I telling you this? Not to brag (well, maybe a little), but to inspire.
As someone older than most, I aim to be a positive example of the happy, healthy, and strong life we can all enjoy into our 70s and beyond. A vegetarian diet has significantly contributed to my wellbeing. We’ve all heard that being vegetarian promotes health and longevity, keeps us slim and youthful, and reduces the risk of major diseases common in Western societies. Plus, it’s kinder to our food budget and the environment.
However, changing lifelong eating habits isn’t easy. Giving up bacon and eggs for breakfast, steak for dinner, or barbecued burgers on weekends can be challenging. But there are simple, gradual steps towards becoming more vegetarian that aren’t difficult and will give you the advantages of a slimmer, healthier body.
7 Steps to Becoming a Vegetarian
1. Eat More Vegetables and Less of Everything Else
Just doing this will significantly improve your health, figure, and wellbeing. You’ll get more vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other phytonutrients while consuming less fat, sugar, and other undesirables found in meats and processed foods. Try adding a cooked vegetable and a raw vegetable, perhaps a salad, to every meal—even if it’s just some spinach in your eggs and a few cherry tomatoes on the side of your breakfast plate.
Warning: You can be a pure vegetarian and still be unhealthy if you don’t eat fresh vegetables. A diet of French fries and chips is vegetarian but will make you fat and sick.
2. Eat Smaller Animals
To be gentler on the environment, choose animal protein from smaller animals rather than larger ones. It takes 16 pounds of vegetable food to make a pound of beef and only two pounds for a pound of chicken. Replacing beef and pork with fish and chicken may not make much nutritional difference, but it requires fewer resources.
3. Cut Protein Portions
If you’re still eating meat or fish, eat a little less at each meal. Have a regular burger instead of a Big Mac. Eat a small steak rather than a larger one. Since you’re buying less, you can afford a better cut. Eat animal proteins one at a time—have surf or turf.
4. Make More Meals Vegetarian
You can serve spaghetti without meatballs, chili sans carne, or make a main dish of salad. Filling soups like bean and barley or borscht don’t need animal protein. Every time you choose a meatless meal, your body, budget, and the planet benefit.
5. Use the Analogs
Analogs are veggie burgers, veggie dogs, chick’n tenders, and other plant-based food products made to resemble meat. They are increasingly available in supermarkets and restaurants. Some vegetarians avoid eating anything that looks like meat, but analogs have made eating out easier for vegetarians and those transitioning.
6. Save Meat for Special Occasions
In the past and in poorer countries, only the rich could eat meat. Meat is hard on the budget and the environment. If you enjoy it, that makes it a luxury. Make meat a luxury again by saving it for special occasions. Try to keep it for weekly family gatherings or birthdays and holidays so that those who enjoy it will appreciate it.
7. Call Yourself a Vegetarian
This step is psychological, but if you start calling yourself a vegetarian, you’ll automatically make more plant-based choices. If you still eat meat occasionally, call yourself ‘primarily vegetarian.’ You’re still being honest while transitioning to a more plant-based diet.
Going vegetarian cold turkey is hard, but by following these steps, you can move in that direction and preserve your youth, health, and the earth. Maybe a year from now, you’ll be looking for simple ways to go vegan.
For more information on vegetarian diets, you can visit EatRight.org.
