Hi there and welcome to VB

You just need to decide to stop eating meat. Once you have decided, stop altogether and stick to your decision

You can replace meat with things like soya, tofu and lentils. These foods are high in protein. Make sure you eat large enough portions to ensure you are full

You could take a veggie vitamin pill to make sure your levels of B12 are ok.

Since you are talking about being vegetarian, make sure you also avoid things like gelatine (in several things, including jellies) and rennet (in hard cheeses). Many vegetarians opt for free range eggs too.

You may want to avoid leather/ fur and avoid cosmetics tested on animals.

 

Salut Alice! Try buying some Vegetarian cookbooks and start buying vegetarian foods. I'm not sure what is available in France, but there are many mock meats you can buy at grocery stores. Morning Star is a big brand that might be available in France. You can buy some veggie burgers, learn how to cook tofu, and seitan. You can go to happy cow and find out where there are some vegetarian/vegan restaurants and grocery stores. When eating out watch out for soup stocks most are animal based, also be aware of gelatin. Don't worry nutrition isn't hard to loose on a vegetarian diet, your nutrition will most likely be better just read a lot on it. It isn't too hard to make the transition, I did it cold and I won't ever go back.

 

Welcome Alice!

Do you live with other people, and what are the cooking arrangements? What kinds of food do you like to eat? I'm sure we can help you find lots of delicious things you can still eat, there are countless healthy and tasty vegetarian foods.

 

Thank you !

Hello everybody !

Thank you very much, it's really motivating to see your answers !

Go Vegan
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Thank you for your answer !

I didn't knew that there are veggie vitamin pills ! Is it natural and safe ?

I didn't eat gelatine since few months ago, I've never weared fur or leather nether and I have already avoided cosmetic tested on animal.

Regarding to eggs I am already careful in my choice ☺

However, I didn't know "rennet". I will search some more informations about it. Thanks !

Jasminedesi16
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Your idea is awesome ! I didn't thougt about vegetarian cook books.

We have some vegetarian foods in France but it's often expensive. However, I will see if I can find some interesting foods for a good cost ☺ Maybe in supermarckets, even if the shelves dedicated don't take a lot of place ! ^^

Thank you for advices !

dropscone
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I live with my boyfriend. He really like meat and I know that he will never stop to eat it. However, he eat less meat and more vegetables than before !

Cooking is my task at home because I enjoy it, so I can adapt my meals.

*♥*♥*

To give you some more informations, I've already tried to being vegetarian. I think I didn't ate meat for 2 months, but I wasn't serious enough and forgot to eat vegetal proteins. So I was tired and I began to lose memory.

But now, I really want to do it seriously. I feel like I need to be vegetarian, because it's in adequacy with my spirit, my way to thing and my way to be. ☺

 

You don't need to buy the expensive vegetarian stuff. You can just buy the cheaper foods like vegetables, chickpeas, beans, lentils, tofu (? no idea how much it costs in France), and change the flavor of the meals by using different spices and sauces. Some spices tend to be on the expensive side, but they usually last for a long time too.

 

You are right, this kind of product is not really expensive.

I tried to cook tofu with tomatos, olive oil, cider vinegar, onion and garlic, and I must confess it was really nice ! Maybe I didn't really took the time, in the past, to cook this product as well I could.

Thanks for your advice !

 

"I didn't knew that there are veggie vitamin pills ! Is it natural and safe ?"

-Yes they are safe

"I didn't eat gelatine since few months ago, I've never weared fur or leather nether and I have already avoided cosmetic tested on animal.

Regarding to eggs I am already careful in my choice ☺"

-Awesome

"However, I didn't know "rennet". I will search some more informations about it. Thanks !"

-It is an enzyme from calf stomachs used to make cheese hard. A lot of hard French cheeses would need to be checked out really before you eat them.

 

Alice, you could also try to find some youtube videos on some vegetarian recipes and vegetarian guides. Here are some guides I found in French/ for france:

http://www.petafrance.com/vegkit/default.asp

http://www.vegetarisme.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/guide-vegetarien-debutant.pdf

http://www.vegetarisme.fr/

http://www.recettes.qc.ca/sections/vegetarien

And guides in English:
http://tryveg.com/

http://www.chooseveg.com/

I hope these help

 

Hi Alice and Welcome!

When I first went vegan (I went from omnivore to vegan but this would apply to a vegetarian too) I made a list of all of the foods I was eating regularly that were already vegan, such as oatmeal, green lentils, apples, almond milk, spaghetti/tomato sauce and so on. I started there, and went to my local library and found lots of vegan/vegetarian recipe books to explore. Many of them have chapters devoted to building up vegetarian ingredients in your kitchen, and staples to have on hand. It really helped me to get those basics down first. I started keeping notebooks of recipes I found on the internet and printed out, and eventually I divided my notebooks into breakfast, main dish, side dishes, desserts, breads, etc As I discovered new ways to prepare plant food and what to eat I jotted it down and added it to my notebook. I now have over ten cookbooks and a half dozen notebooks filled to capacity lol. But the funny thing is I don't use them that often because eating vegan is so natural to me now. But I like to refer to them when I get bored or find myself eating the same meals more and more often. I remember when I discovered fresh apple compote and walnuts over plain toast for breakfast. Or chickpea flour omelets filled with vegetables. Learning to cook and prepare simple foods like beans, whole grains, squashes and potatoes, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds is key to really enjoying a plant based lifestyle. The less processed you buy, the less label reading you have to do too. Once you get the food stuff down, then you can begin to move on to personal care products, clothing, cleaning supplies, and so on. It's best not to try to do it all at once or you will overwhelm yourself!

Best wishes on your journey!

 

I have a little journal too - in which I list every vegan food/ drink/ cosmetic/ material I use or might use in the future ...It is about 50 pages long so rest assured a lot of things are vegan!

 

Hi Alice!! :hi:

You might try some ethnic meals, like Indian or Asian. You can eat a wide variety of foods, like vegetable curry with rice, which is easy and tasty. Asian food has a wide variety too, like stir frys, or veggies and rice, etc.

I literally ate tofu and veggies with rice almost constantly after going vegetarian....for about a month. Over time, I was able to branch out and find a lot of other foods to eat, but that helped in the transition.

GOOD LUCK!!

 

Hi, everyone !

I'm sorry, I am a little busy so I hadn't the time to come back here.

For information, my transition is a success, for the moment. I don't eat any meat anymore and, additionaly, I begin to stop eating eggs, milk, cheese...Whatever which come from animals. Not completly, but I'm searching for substitutes.

I began a little file in which I put recipes, and I think I will put other things in it, like what I can eat on the breakfast, ideas for a "vegan pancake party" and other things like these ones ^-^

Go Vegan : I discovered "rennet" no more later than yesterday, in my cheese.... It's really disappointing

Jasminedesi16 : Thanks a lot, I will visit these links ☺

Naturebound : Thanks a lot for your share ! I think your experience will help me, you gave me some ideas ☺ And it's really motivating to see you succeed to went omnivore to vegan ☺

Vegan Dave : Thanks lot ! For the moment, I do like you, only rice with tofu or lentils ^^ That's really tasty and I don't feel tired or... whatever else. I'm really well.

Thanks a lot for all your advices ☺

 

Well done for making the transition

I think that keeping a little file should help...

You could try soft cheeses rather than hard as these will be less likely to contain rennet...Ideally you could try a vegan cheese

 

HI Alice,

The Association Végétarienne de France has a free Guide du végétarien debutant: http://www.vegetarisme.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/guide-vegetarien-debutant.pdf

 

Welcome on board Alice. Wish you a Happy & Life Long Vegetarianism!