Hi. I'm a teen girl and I live in Canada. I am not a vegetarian yet but I am interested in becoming one, and I am not sure how to get started. I was thinking of first cutting out red meats for a while, then cutting out poultry, then fish. Do you think this is a good idea? Suggestions are loved.

I am interested in becoming a vegetarian for pretty much every reason out there.



Oh, and another thing. My food & nutrition teacher is always harping on us about eating enough meat and getting enough protein. I have heard that you don't need a lot of protein to be healthy but she seems to think otherwise. Is there anything else I should be concerned about in order to stay healthy?



Thanks



Oh, I think I put this in the wrong board. Mods feel free to move it.

Welcome to VB!



There is plenty of protein to be found in vegetarian whole foods such as beans, rice, pasta, whole grains, fruit and vegetables. I recommend you check out The Tip of the Day thread stickied at the top of the New to Vegetarianism forum. You'll find a wealth of good information in that thread.



As for your plan to go veg, whatever you find that works best for you. Tapering off gradually helped me, and it has worked for others as well. Other people found that going "cold tofu" overnight worked for them. If you'd rather go slow, then by all means do that. We're here to help you and give you all the support you need.

Nowherefast



You certainly have thought it through , its a very good idea ...its probably best to do the transitional stage like you describe just take it one step at a time from the read meats down to chicken and fish



The previous post went into the protein side but to get protein you have to eat .



There is also a teen thread



you might pick up some info here as well



http://www.goveg.com/order.asp

Welcome to VB!

I think everyone has said things I wanted to. But I agree, 'weaning off' meats can definitely be helpful for a lot of people

Welcome!

Welcome to VB! You'll find lots of good information here, and there's other teens and even a teen thread!

If you feel that it may be difficult to go "cold turkey" (or cold carrot! ) then it is a great idea to cut out animal foods one by one. If your foods and nutrition teacher is concerned about your protein intake, tell her that you get protein from beans, bread, etc. She is incorrect about associating protein with only meat, as meat has fat, cholesterol, etc that would make it unhealthy as the only protein source. And welcome to VB!

Thank you everyone!