Vegetarianism Made Easy: 4 Tips For Smoother Diet Transition
Whether it is from stumbling across the horrific truth about animal husbandry, adopting a healthier lifestyle or a viable approach for weight loss, embracing a vegetarian diet has many benefits. As with any diet/lifestyle change, making the change to be a vegetarian is not easy. Avoiding all variations of meat is challenging, especially for women as meat products are excellent choices for iron. Whilst difficult, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
To help with your diet transition, here are a few tips you can try picking up and include in your lifestyle.
1. Take It Slow
Vegetarianism can be rather daunting and jumping straight into it can give your body physical and mental stress. An all or nothing attitude may pose bane and get in the way of your progress. Instead of going 100% from the get-go, consider taking smaller steps. Implement sustainable changes such as going meatless on Mondays before transitioning to three times a week to meatless weekdays. You may also start by giving up one meat product at a time, from red meats to poultry to pork then seafood. There is no right way, just do what makes you comfortable.
Approaching vegetarianism this way also means not putting yourself in a box. You can be vegetarian today, a pescatarian tomorrow.
All change takes time and it wouldn’t do you any good if you put yourself on a pedestal. If you caught yourself slip because you were tempted by a meat dish, it does not render your previous efforts obsolete! Go easy on yourself and just go back on track the next day.
2. Seek Comfort In Familiarity
Unless you’ve adopted an all-meat diet, not eating any vegetarian dish is almost impossible. Think Margherita pizza, mushroom soup and something as simple as scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Start by jotting down some of your favourite plant-based dishes and start your journey with what you’re comfortable with. It’ll make your lifestyle change so much easier.
Vegetarian dishes need to be exotic, as seen from the examples above. Substitute your meats with vegetables and that’s it! It needs some getting used to but roasted eggplant curry tastes just as good as a chicken curry dish.
3. Meat Substitutes
If you don’t wish to let go of your favourite meat dishes, you can change them to their vegetarian versions. Satiate your meat cravings with meat substitutes. Meat substitutes used to have a bad reputation but it has come a long way since then. There is a reason why there is so much rave for the impossible meat.
Continue to try the different brands and products until you find the one that works. Some products are designed to be prepared in a certain way whilst some are versatile and will work for any type of dishes.
However, it is worth to note that just because they’re called meat substitutes, they can’t entirely substitute meat products. The vegetarian imitation will leave you disappointed if you’re hoping to get the exact same taste and texture.
4. Cook and Experiment
Vegetarian food may have a reputation for being expensive, but it doesn’t have to be as such! Look at the all-accessible and inexpensive Indian cuisine and you’d be introduced to several scrumptious dishes!
That said, if you wish to have full reign of the flavour profile, perhaps it’s time to bring it into the kitchen! Browse through tried and tested recipes and experiment! Tweak the recipe to suit your palate! It will be an interesting opportunity to use a specific set of ingredients and make something mouth watering.
Conclusion
Being a vegetarian doesn’t have to be complicated. As with every goal, it is best to focus on the journey rather than the end goal. Revel in the feeling of being healthier, both physically and mentally. Another outcome of adopting a healthier diet also means a few pounds shed. Whilst it may not be a comprehensive weight loss plan, it is one of the important aspects!
If you’re serious in losing weight, you might want to look into perhaps opting for weight loss treatments in Singapore. Having a team of experts to guide you in your weight loss journey will make it easier and less lonely. Going for a slimming treatment will also allow you to reach your desired weight faster than if you go into it blind.