Becoming Plant-Based and Meat Free
There are many reasons why people choose to become meat free or plant-based. None of these reasons are wrong because everyone in a sense is correct in why they did what they did. Now, it should be stated, the creators of this site are not pushing a meat and dairy free agenda on anyone. In fact there are several people who are not always ready to stop eating meat. Each person has to decide what is right for them but for those who are ready or perhaps thingking about it, this site was created for you.
My spouse and I decided years ago to become plant-based, and we could not have done it without each other's support. A lot of people give up vegetarianism, plant-based and vegan diets decause they are alone and have not support. We at least had each other to rely on. It was scary, and strange, and difficult at first because we were not sure what to eat but over the many years of reading and simply experimenting, we were able to figure it out.
So, here are a couple of pointers.
1. Start slow. Try a couple of recipes that are safe and easy in terms of transitioning because that's what you have to do - slowly transition off meat.
2. Slowly reduce meat consumption. We didn't quit meat or dairy althoghether. Again, we transitioned off. We slowly cut one or two things out over a period of a year and a half. We started with the basics; beef, chicken and pork, and simply grew from there.
3. Experiment! Experiment! The fun part of trying new things is that you do get to try them. Enjoy getting to try all the options out there: and there are a lot of them. We are getting more and more each day. Some options were terrific and others were not as good. We kept trying until we found the options that worked best for us. However, we are still open to trying new things and looking for additional options. There is a lot of fun to be had with figuring out what will work for you.
4. Read anything and everything you can. We had no one to guide us so a lot of reading was esstential and very helpful. Below is a list of books (some we've read and some we haven't) that can help guide the way.
5. Embrace the changes. Don't be surprised when something happens that hadn't before such as a good night sleep or more energy or a sense of empathy. We both experienced all these things while our health improved but we also grew to the point that we realized we no longer needed or wanted meat. Today, the smell of cooking meat can sometimes make us nauseous. We simply figured that this was an unintended side effect of going plant-based. Don't get me wrong, we're not unhappy about this; it simnply came as a pleasant surprise.
Again, for some good reading, check out a few of these books.
My spouse and I decided years ago to become plant-based, and we could not have done it without each other's support. A lot of people give up vegetarianism, plant-based and vegan diets decause they are alone and have not support. We at least had each other to rely on. It was scary, and strange, and difficult at first because we were not sure what to eat but over the many years of reading and simply experimenting, we were able to figure it out.
So, here are a couple of pointers.
1. Start slow. Try a couple of recipes that are safe and easy in terms of transitioning because that's what you have to do - slowly transition off meat.
2. Slowly reduce meat consumption. We didn't quit meat or dairy althoghether. Again, we transitioned off. We slowly cut one or two things out over a period of a year and a half. We started with the basics; beef, chicken and pork, and simply grew from there.
3. Experiment! Experiment! The fun part of trying new things is that you do get to try them. Enjoy getting to try all the options out there: and there are a lot of them. We are getting more and more each day. Some options were terrific and others were not as good. We kept trying until we found the options that worked best for us. However, we are still open to trying new things and looking for additional options. There is a lot of fun to be had with figuring out what will work for you.
4. Read anything and everything you can. We had no one to guide us so a lot of reading was esstential and very helpful. Below is a list of books (some we've read and some we haven't) that can help guide the way.
5. Embrace the changes. Don't be surprised when something happens that hadn't before such as a good night sleep or more energy or a sense of empathy. We both experienced all these things while our health improved but we also grew to the point that we realized we no longer needed or wanted meat. Today, the smell of cooking meat can sometimes make us nauseous. We simply figured that this was an unintended side effect of going plant-based. Don't get me wrong, we're not unhappy about this; it simnply came as a pleasant surprise.
Again, for some good reading, check out a few of these books.