I am taking another crack at being vegetarian. I like the challenge that comes with using my cooking skills to ween myself off meat protein. It is also something I am going to want to learn how to do better in order to help my mother (who is functionally vegetarian due to kidney disease dietary requirements) eat better while not feeling like she's eating cardboard. And because of the environmental benefits of reducing meat consumption, I feel morally obligated to do so on a personal level.

[–] TeaHands 5 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Idk how long it's been since you last tried (or where you're from) but I can say as someone who's been veggie in the UK for over 20 years, every year it's getting easier to make the switch.

We're getting new meat substitutes all the time if that's your thing, there are ever-increasing amounts of veggie and vegan food porn for cooking inspiration, and in a lot of countries you can basically just assume that any given restaurant is going to have at least a couple of veggie-friendly options (wasn't the case for the US when I was last there but that was in 2015 so has hopefully changed - they even put surprise meat in my egg-fried rice over there)

So if it's been a while you might find it easier this time round just based on sheer availability of options!

Remember though, it's ok to do it gradually too you don't need to go full cold turkey. Reducing meat consumption is a great goal regardless of whether you ever become a full vegetarian or not, and anecdotally I've known a couple of people who found telling themselves "I'm just reducing meat, not banning it" made it a lot less pressure and the switch became easier.

Anyway this is getting to be a long comment because I'm avoiding work as per usual. The main thing I wanted to say is GOOD LUCK!

p.s. couple of inspiration communities for you

[–] xkforce 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I have been trying to move away from meat for a long time and part of the reason why I am trying to fully wean myself off meat now is that substitutes and my cooking skill have reached a point where I think that it is feasible over the long term. There are only a couple of things that I have not yet found good alternatives for eg. hotdogs, ground "meat" that can survive being used in krautburgers but that's about it.

[–] TeaHands 2 points 11 months ago

Yeah there's definitely still some gaps. I was weirdly obsessed with scampi as a child and can't imagine there'll ever be a good alternative to that, but ultimately I've made my peace.

Hope it goes well, sending much moral support your way!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Sounds reasonable, I eat less and less meat myself for the same reasons