Hello All,
This is my third (3rd) day being a vegetarian and right now it is really easy. But I'm afraid that the easiness is just coming from me being excited. Has any one come to a point where they hit the wall and almost went back to meat?:bobo:

Congrats! :vebo:

I have never 'hit a wall' and chosen (or almost chosen) to eat animals, and I hope that you are also able to stick with this most excellent choice you have made. What helps is knowing *why* you have chosen to go veg and remembering that. Is it for health? For the animals? For the environment? For Spiritual reasons? For some other reason? All of the above? Knowing more about why you feel as you do and being strong in that belief will help anchor your choice and make any other seem like less of an option. Good luck! :sunny:

It actually gets easier with time. So, if it is easy for you now, most likely it will continue to be. Make sure you are getting all of you nutrients: eat beans, nuts, veggies, fruits, tofu, tempeh, etc.

I am about 3 weeks ahead of you, so from my vantage point (for what it's worth), it has not gotten more difficult. Right now I am having fun exploring all the foods I never tried before (textured soy protein, tempeh, awesome soy cheeses). :-)

My reasons are for the animals and my health, so when I hit road blocks (like dinner at a non-veg-friendly restaurant, I remember the animals and that helps tremendously.

Good luck on your journey!!

I'm finding it easier to focus on the health aspects. It's the same reason I don't drink alcohol or coffee.

I made the decision to go vegetarian because of the process the meat goes through before it makes it to my table, and for health reasons. It does make a lot of sense to focus on WHY I don't want to eat meat ranther just that I'm not eating it anymore. I am finding so much more that I can have instead of meat. Thanks for the words of encouragement!

Every once in a while (couple times a year) Ill watch "meet your meat" and some other videos that show the evil behind the "animal industries". It keeps the truth behind all of this fresh in my mind.

i've never hit a wall.... and the general knowledge is that if you last two weeks you shouldn't have any problems continuing being vegetarian and fighting cravings :)

and troub is absolutely right - every once in a while you might need to be reminded why you're doing this. i don't watch videos but when i read an article or something like that it refreshes my memory and i get a new wave of inspiration.

I'm finding it easier to focus on the health aspects. It's the same reason I don't drink alcohol or coffee.

I thrive on coffee! You are a strong person indeed. I cannot pass up wine either.

Not here. Being vegetarian was a pretty easy choice for me. A couple times in the beginning I would smell something and remember how it tasted but it was never tempting enough for me to eat it. Now it doesn't even *look* appealing anymore.
Congrats on your three days!
Mary

All right, I'll be the evil one. Yup, I've hit walls. I've been veggie... I think this is time number 4. Of course the first 3 times I didn't have this wonderful support forum. I also wasn't completly educated. I also didn't have my "It's me, it's my choice" attitude. Plus, I now work at a grocery store and seem all of these unhappy, clueless people buying all this meat! Did you know Gerber makes a "Veal with beef gravy" baby food. No, seriously. I'm not kidding.

Anyway. Educate yourself. Keep educating yourself. When/If you think you're about to encounter a wall, go the other direction. I still can't eat at one of my fave Chinese restaraunts yet. They had my fave Sushi. Now of course I can get my Sushi fix at the grocery store I work at. (Veggie of course. Fish are our friends...:cool: )Yum. If you can see yourself sliding, try to get out of the situation. It does get a hell of a lot easier though. Now, the smell of our famous fried flesh makes my want to puke. I have to hold my breath until I put it into a bag. Yuck.

There's nothing hard about not eating meat. You don't eat meat. No need to complicate the issue.

That said, like NotYet above, there have been times I went back to meat eating. Not because I wasn't educated, or that I had cravings, or hit a wall. It was a conscious decision. One I regreted, but one I made nonetheless.

I agree with the other posters, that it helps to reinforce your commitment through education, books, videos, identifying with other vegetarians, and message boards. The message boards, this one and others have been particularly helpful over the years in keeping me focused.

what is tempeh. sorry this probably isn't the right thread, but someone mentioned it earlier.

It's made of soybeans but I'm not sure how it's made. Someone else here probably knows the details. It tastes awesome though.