Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from eating any form of meat, including seafood, poultry, and red meat. People become vegetarians for many different reasons. Some people object to eating meat for ethical reasons, while others may do so because they are following a religious belief. Regardless of the reasons behind why you are becoming a vegetarian, it can be a difficult and daunting task at the beginning. Luckily, there are several tips you can follow to make this dietary change an easy and painless one.
One of the main fears people who switch to a vegetarian diet have is the amount of time it will take them to cook meals. Luckily, there are tons of convenience foods available that taste great and actually cut cooking time. Many natural food stores and supermarkets stock a large array of main-dish vegetarian convenience items and instant soups. There are also many different types of flavoured rice. You can explore the international section for exotic entrees such as vegetarian pad thai, lentil curry, and bean enchiladas. You should also search for vegetarian cookbooks at your local bookstore or library. These will be full of fun recipes that you can follow. The simplest dishes are often the most satisfying, so don’t spend hours slaving away in hopes of making the perfect dish.
For the most part, being a vegetarian shouldn’t affect your snack life too much. If you enjoy cake, cookies, crackers, or chips, you should still be able to eat these products. Because you may not be eating large meals, however, especially if you are travelling, you may want to pack a lot of vegetarian snacks. This can include cookies, granola bars, trail mix, raw vegetables, fresh fruit, and instant soups. You may also want to aim for snacks that are high in protein, which should help offset the fact that you aren’t eating chicken. You can make chocolate protein bars in less than 20 minutes. They are also lower in calories and higher in fibre and protein than the average bar, so you are increasing your overall health as well.
One of the difficulties you may find as a vegetarian is eating out. Fortunately, more and more restaurants are offering vegetarian dishes on their menu. In fact, you are likely to find a vegetarian dish at any restaurant you go to. Your best bet is to look for international restaurants. Indian, Japanese, Thai, Spanish, Mexican, Chinese, and Italian restaurants all offer a wide variety of vegetarian dishes. When in doubt, however, you should always go online to check the restaurant’s menu, or call and check to see what vegetarian options the restaurant has available. The last thing you want is to be stuck eating bread all night because you can’t find a vegetarian dish that suits your needs. You will likely have to avoid fast food restaurants, although places like Subway and Pita Pit offer vegetarian options. If you are ordering pizza, load up on the vegetables! You can ask for your pizza without cheese if that is on your list of products you no longer eat.