I really want to do this. *cries*

I have tried many times in the last few years to become a vegetarian. However after about a week I start craving a burger, and then sadly I find myself in the drive through of McDonalds or Frisch's.
I love animals. I can't help but feel sorry for them, but some of my favorite foods are chinese and burgers. I've seen the Peta videos and have talked to my cousins who are all stouch vegans...but I can't seem to do it.
Just today I cracked and went to Mickey D's. I thought I was doing so well.

Does anyone have suggestions to help me out? I was raised with my mom's great cooking (including pot roast and other stuff) and it all tases so good to me. But I think that this should be an important part of my life.

helpies!

 

I used to be the same way I tried twice to be vegitarin they failed misseribly. But now Im vegan and it really isn;t that hard I only find it hard eating out I usually just don;t eat when I go out for dinner.

But honestly you can do it, its all a matter of how bad you want to do this and will power. The first thing you should do is go grocery shopping and get things you can take with you for lunch (sandwiches, fuirt, nuts, soup etcc...) and things to snack on. That should help a little. Once you get the craving for meat use your will power, eat some nuts or your choice of veggie foods or busy your self with something else and get your mind off it. After you get throught the craving it will be easyer the next time.

Its sort of like quiting smoking for that first week you just want one sooo bad, then next week it gets a little less stronger, and a little less, and then you don;t need one anymore. And your healthy.

You can do it! Good luck.

 

It sounds like you're making yourself crazy over the moral/emotional aspect of eating meat, so perhaps try thinking of it more in terms of health. Put your focus more on yourself and your health than on the animals and their health.

OK, so now that you're thinking of this from a more logical and less emotional point of view, let's go grocery shopping! Fill your basket with your favorite fresh fruits and veggies, good pastas, yummy sandwich or burrito fixin's, crunchy breakfast cereal, nut butters, yogurt, etc. The possibilities for healthy and delicious vegetarian foods are endless! The amazing feeling of being healthy and satisfied without meat may be enough on its own to make you a convert.

Next, be sure to get plenty of protein, especially early on in your quest for vegetarianism. Nuts and soy products are good, as are some meat replacements (like Boca burgers, which are great for killing your craving for a real burger).

Last, give yourself a goal to reach. I personally didn't just say "OK, from now on I'm NEVER eating meat AGAIN!". I knew that it would make the goal seem less attainable. Instead, I said "OK, I'm not going to eat meat for 2 weeks". Then it was "OK, I'll go for a month" and it just increased from there until I no longer craved it.

You can do it; just stay positive, stay healthy and don't make yourself crazy.

 

If you want meat, eat meat. Try to limit the ammount that you do eat and have a healthy diet otherwise. If you want the meat stick to your moms potroast and stay away from the fast food.

That is what I do. I do not think it is healthy to have a diet full of meat so i eat the majority of my meals as a vegetarian.

 

I believe in eating what you want and not being so strict about it but it sounds like you really want to do this.

When I was a kid all I ate was hamburgers. So I do like hamburgers. Now whenever I crave a hamburger I make up an awesome veggie burger (with like lettuce and pickles and onions or whatever) and that satisfies that for me! Maybe try it?

 

Watch super size me. I'd be more concerned with the quality of the meat your eating first. Haha McDonald's meat is like grade F. Dog food is grade D so technically it's inhumane to fed a dog a big mac. lol so why would a human wanna grub something like that down. People will tell you here to cut it out gradually but it my case I had to go cold turkey. If I ever cheated I'd be afraid I'd totally cave, it was all or none. You just gotta be strong

but yea. you have more to worry about then just eating meat if your eating there.

 

oops!!! i totally accidently posted under my boyfriends name! this is crystalsatreehugger. i'm off to log out now and back onto mine!!

 

When I turned, it really helped to visualize. I didn't miss meat, usually... but sometimes something would make my stomach growl.. like a roast turkey on Thanksgiving, or my Mom's pork chops. I visualized that platter of turkey as a turkey with head and feathers... made it "animal" again, not just "supper". I visualized those pork chops as a pig I knew as a child on the farm.... couldn't eat a friend, right?

Are there farms near by you? A petting zoo or something like that? Go out to the farm or zoo with a camera and a human friend. Have them take pictures of you with a cow, a pig, a goat, some chickens.... pet them, hug them.. get to know them. Hang those pictures up in your bedroom. Now you have a friend to visualize when faced with a meat craving.

Having an individual animal to visualize helped. Instead of just a generalization of a cow, I could visualize Bessy being slaughtered.

Good luck!

 

ewww out of all the places to rebound on you picked mcdonalds! I would say any time you crave a burger eat a veggie burger. A lot of veggie burgers are crispy just like meat burgers. Replace meat with soy meat or beans! half the time I can't tell the difference if it's soy or not.

I can not stand the scent of meat. One of my friends left a slice of sausage pizza in my car and I flipped shit because it was so hard getting that scent out!

 

Along with what all of the others are posting, try to replace eating hamburgers with veggie burgers. Before turning veg., I would do anything for a hamburger. The way I started out was when I was younger, my mom bought veggie burgers, and I would eat them on family cookouts instead of hamburgers. Sometimes I would slip and have a hamburger, but the more I focused on eating the veggie ones, the more I started to like the taste better than hamburgers even. Once I started to adapt to the taste of veggie burgers, I gave up hamburgers completely. Following that, I found other substitutes for all of the other meats I have been eating. By substitutes, I mean other foods that tasted better to me. Instead of cheese, I ate hummus. I also found many asian dinners that I enjoy eating better than I ever enjoyed eating any type of meat. I'll admit, I was never a fan of meat. The only meat I could ever really cut eating was hamburgers. Chicken grossed me out big time. What I am trying to say is, it's harder for some than others. Just take it slow and don't pressure yourself into being very strict with it just yet. If you try to pressure yourself into it, you are more likely to not enjoy your new diet and crave going back to the old diet. Hopefully that helps and makes sense.

 

If you're stuck eating fast food EAT FRESH! Go to Subway and order the Veggie Delite.