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For me the transition was bigger than for most folks. Before becoming a vegetarian I was very much a meat and potatoes kind of guy, I didn't like most vegetables and wasn't in the habit of eating fruit and grains. The biggest challenge for new vegetarians is simply finding enough foods they like. You have had your whole life to develop a taste for and find meaty foods you like. If you don't like the foods on your new diet and feel deprived by not eating any of the foods you love, believe you me, you won't last long. I'd recommend trying to find some good meals you enjoy without meat. After you have a repertoire of vegetarian meals you love it will be easier to give up meat. There aren't a lot of vegetarian foods in the traditional American diet. Ethnic foods give a lot more choices. Mexican, Indian, Italian and Chinese cuisines offer more vegetarian choices. Veganism is pretty tough. If you are strict than it is hard to find anything you can eat outside of foods you prepare yourself or expensive specialty foods. You would be absolutely amazed at the number of animal products that sneak into seemingly vegetarian foods. I was eating a vegan or pure vegetarian diet pretty strictly for about 6 months then gave it up as too difficult to pull off in Texas. I still view it as the ideal and might find it easier if I could afford to hire my own vegan chef or lived in an area with trendy vegan restaurants but being a vegetarian is tough enough in Texas let alone vegan. I consider myself lacto-ovo but I do avoid dairy most of the time. I don't sweat it if there is a smidge of butter or cheese in a dish but I avoid most dairy most of the time. I also occasionally have eggs because while traveling it is hard to find a decent breakfast except for eggs.
I would say first start by cutting out processed red meat like sausages and burger patties etc but keep eating chicken and fish until your body adjusts which could take anything between 2 weeks and 6 months. Once you feel alright (haven't had any signs of fatigue or tiredness/lack of energy) you could cut out chicken for a while and also cut out eggs at the same time, then slowly drink less milk/cheese/yoghurt and other dairy products and phase out fish until you're eating no meat and no animal products. I think that would be a healthy way to do it. Remember to listen to your body and talk to your doctor about iron and protein supplements, some people need them.
It's just that usually someone who's vegetarian or vegan doesn't believe that eating meat and other products is right, they don't normally try to make it easier for themselves.
Well, that's quite the obvious lol. I was asking more about how to adjust to the transitioning, going from a person who loves meat and cheeses and such, it'd be quite tough.
Stop eating meat... then anything that comes from animals..
