When I decided that I was going to become vegetarian, I did not take the gradual route in which a lot of people seem interested. Once I decided that eating animals was wrong, there was no question in my mind about whether I should cut out first one kind of meat (say, red meat), then another (say, poultry), and then the rest (maybe fish) until the job was complete. No, once I decided that it was wrong, I just quit. It was pretty simple then, actually. I just stopped eating anything that mentioned meat in its name. No chicken sandwiches, no chicken Rice a Roni, etc. It wasn't until a while later that I realized that there were meat ingredients even in foods that didn't mention them. It seems obvious now, but then I didn't even think about it. Once I figured that out, though, my dietary life became a little more interesting.
Reading the ingredients of every food I found in the grocery store seemed like quite a task at first, and I suppose it was. After a while, though, it just seemed normal. There are certain items that we have read several times before, and we begin to trust that those will be veggie, but then there are often unannounced ingredient changes to our favorite products that result in our eating something we don't want to before we realize they've changed. For this reason we try to be more diligent in our grocery aisle reading.
It's really a little bit surprising what you'll find hidden in the ingredient lists of your favorite foods. There is beef or chicken broth in a startling number of prepared entrees, and gelatin shows up in the oddest places. There are others. Start reading ingredients and you'll see.
Overall, though, becoming vegetarian is not really very difficult. There are still things to eat at just about any restaurant, and even family gatherings are not much of a hassle as long as you avoid the meats and gravies. In addition, I never really even felt like I was missing much, since I, like many new vegetarians, simply replaced the meat in my diet with cheeses and eggs. There were still a lot of prepared foods at the grocery store for me to eat, and it was easy to find sweet treats whenever I wanted them. Overall, it was not as big a change as I would have guessed.
One thing I would advise new vegetarians against is the lure of meat replacements. For one thing, they are very expensive. I've heard many people complain that eating vegetarian is too expensive. I never really understood this until I realized that they were buying fake meats to replace the real ones in their diets. This expense is not, however, intrinsic to vegetarianism, rather to this approach to vegetarianism. I never had a meat replacement until I had been a vegetarian for a few years. (Well, actually, there was one unfortunate incident with Nature's Burger before I became vegetarian, but I won't get into that here.) Which brings me to the second point: meat replacements do not, by and large, taste like meat, at least not to those who have recently eaten the real thing. Once you've been vegetarian for a long while, they begin to seem more acceptable as replacements, but if you're looking for the same experience in a replacement as in the real thing, you're almost certainly out of luck. There are some good products out there (I can't imagine that the sausages or hot dogs could be too far off), but they just aren't the same.
So if you approach vegetarianism as the process of replacing all the real meat in your diet with fakes, you will be broke and disappointed, and will likely not make it as a vegetarian. But surely there are foods that you like to eat now that don't have meat in them. Or foods that you now eat with meat that would be good without meat, even if you don't think at this point that they are as good. Spaghetti sauce does not need meat, nor do burritos, nor pizzas. These are the things that I ate during my first few years as a vegetarian, and they continue to be some of my favorites. Most importantly, they were foods that I liked at the time I became vegetarian, and they were no more, and in many cases less, expensive than the foods I previously ate that contained meat products.
When we were first considering becoming vegan, it seemed like a very large and, in a lot of ways, scary step. Meat was not an issue any more; we had long since stopped missing it in any meaningful way. Our diet was, though, very egg and dairy centered. Many (if not most) of our meals involved cheese in some way, and eggs are present in a large proportion of the baked goods we ate. We also knew that this change would make it much more difficult to eat out, and so would have an impact on our social lives. Finally, we were concerned about the effect our choice would have on our families. Our dramatic diet change would surely make family gatherings and visits more difficult for our hosts. These were some of the things about which we were concerned.
The first thing we found out was that it's not as hard as it seems on the surface to move from a vegetarian diet to a vegan diet. It involves almost completely eliminating certain classes of foods from the diet, and modifying others. For example, most prepared foods (like those noodles and sauce packets, and things along that line) are not going to be suitable for a vegan diet. Almost all of these products contain some animal products, whether it be cheese, or whey, or something else. The more expensive brands, like Near East and Fantastic, often have more to offer, but at a much higher price. For this reason, we have almost completely eschewed these products.
Other foods that we used to eat were pretty easy to reinvent as vegan dishes. Soy milk is pretty versatile, and doesn't effect the flavor of foods it's cooked in as much as rice milk, which I think adds a sweet flavor to any food it's used in, whether you want it or not. In rice milk's defense, it does not tend to change the color of the food like soy milk does, but if you can live with a little brownish tint to your favorite foods (scalloped potatoes!), then it's a pretty good option.
When we became vegan, we broadened our culinary horizons quite a bit. We now have more variety in our diets than we had before, and many of the new dishes have become favorites. There are even foods that we never really liked before that we now view as treats. I never thought that I would actually like tofu, treating it as a tolerable additioon to stir frys, but now I really like it, and we use it more than ever, in ways I never would've imagined.
Finally, there were dishes that we simply had to abandon. No more omlettes, or cheese pizzas, or cheese anything, for that matter. This was the difficult part, but since we were replacing these items with other new and interesting dishes, it wasn't so bad. And we've found it very enjoyable to experiment with old recipes to create vegan versions of old favorites. I will eventually get around to posting some of these recipes.
The main difference, if you hadn't figured it out by now, is that we actually have to make most of our foods from scratch, instead of being able to rely on prepared convenience foods. This, of course, takes a little bit more time, but not as much as we thought at first. There is one great advantage: the food costs a lot less when you make it from scratch. And another advantage: it often tastes better. There's also something satisfying about knowing what's in the food from beginning to end. This is not to say that we eat no prepared foods; there are a few exceptions. But, for the most part, if we eat it, we make it.
One thing you'll find if you try to become vegan is that, even more than ovo-lacto vegetarians, there are a lot more hidden ingredients in foods you wouldn't expect. Whey seems to be one of the food industry's favorite ingredients. A large number of cereals, baked goods, and sauces contain whey. There is a lot of cheese out there in things that do not even mention cheese in their names. Eggs show up in many unexpected places. And, most maddeningly, the food industry has no qualms changing their ingredients to include dairy and egg products without letting anybody know. If it's "NEW and IMPROVED" I know to check the ingredients, but if it looks the same, it might be a couple of boxes later before I think I'd better check again. I suppose it's my responsibility to read the ingredients of every item I buy while I'm at the store, but it really seems like they should let the consumer know of a recipe change when it happens. Anyway, the point is, label checking is even more important as a vegan. Fortunately, since we were pretty used to checking labels before, it wasn't as much of a shock for us.
Restaurants are somewhat of an issue, but there really are a lot of restaurants, particularly ethnic restaurants, that have vegan options. This sometimes involves asking that cheese be left off a burrito, or that pork be left out of a bean curd dish (one of the restaurants in town actually puts pork in all of its tofu dishes; go figure!), but it's typically not a big deal. It's sometimes frustrating that we have to spend a minute asking the waitress about what's in something as simple as a bean burrito, but I guess we're getting used to it. We've never been unable to find a restaurant that all parties in our group could agree upon, so it hasn't really been a problem socially.
The last concern we had was regarding our families. We enjoy spending time with them, and we feel badly when our dietary choices make their lives difficult (even though we wish they would all make the same choices we have). So we were concerned how this further restricting of our diets would play out at family gatherings. Fortunately, it has not been an issue at all. Our families have been very good about making us feel at home when we are visiting, and many even enjoy the challenge of finding and preparing foods that fit into our diets. Many times when we go to a family gathering, we will bring a casserole or two, so that the host/hostess does not have to take special actions on our part. It's also a good chance to show people that vegan food does not have to be tasteless food. Often people do not notice that the dish we brought is vegan until it is pointed out to them. And it's just generally a nice feeling to be sharing food with loved ones.
Overall, our experiences becoming vegetarian and then vegan were very positive. Neither change was as drastic as it seemed initially. There are so many foods that have meat added as an afterthought, and the same goes for cheese. I still can't figure out what the four curls of grated cheese does for the bean burrito at Taco Bell. Eliminating these ingredients is not really a heinous chore. That said, there is more work involved. You can't just grab some food and eat it without thinking about it. But the extra hassle is worth it. I don't know how many times people have told me that they just would not be able to give up this or that food. They're right. If you feel no moral compunction regarding eating animals or their byproducts, there is very little motivation to maintain a strict vegan diet. Add in the conviction that any "backslide" is an immoral act, however, and it becomes a lot easier to stand by your decision. Eating animal products is not really a live option for me, so I feel no temptation to do so. The question, then, is whether I want to eat or not. The answer (obviously) is yes, so I do the things that I need to do to get that done. And I feel pretty good about it.
So what is the overarching message here? I guess it's, "Just do it." Going veggie is more work than not going veggie, just as doing anything is more work than not doing anything. Becoming vegan (or vegetarian) is worth the effort. And after a while, the extra effort does not seem like effort at all. It's just the way it is. After a while, you won't miss the foods you're giving up, and (even though it sounds false), you'll probably find that you like your new diet more than your old one. You'll probably realize that you were in a meat and cheese rut, and that becoming vegan has required you to put some more thought and creativity into your meals. In the end, when you take into account the feeling of satisfaction that comes from not causing the suffering associated with the animal industry, and the broadened diet that you'll have after making the transition, I'm sure you'll end up glad that you did. I certainly am.
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