Desire Is Key.
How do you kick the meat eating habit for good? I did it, for 3 years now, and took my family along for the ride! I must have "quit" only about a dozen times before I actually stuck to it, but once you're done for good, you know you're done for good. I don't even miss it any more. And there I was thinking I could never do it, because I loved my bacon! And my steaks, yummm. And my sweet and sour pork roast recipe...my turkey dinners, my jig's dinner (a definite favourite!) Oh, and chicken, fish, roast beef...I love cooking, and I love my own cooking! I made some amazing meat meals, and know a lot of people that are excellent cooks! I use to absolutely love my meat and didn't think I'd ever have the mindset to actually stop eating all that wonderful food. It was just too good! Plus, I found it always filled me up, whereas a plate full of veggies just didn't cut it, (it still doesn't!) Veggie burgers, tofu and soy are gross to me, too. Not to mention the cost! How is it that meat is the most expensive part of the grocery bill, but cut that out, and the bills are higher? What would I eat? I knew there was major health benefits, especially with stories out there like the 72 year old vegan who shows little signs of aging and so many others like her! I really did want to make the switch, and I think that's key...you have to honestly want to, even if you're stuck on every other aspect.
Expect To Fail (And Learn From It)
I watched all kinds of documentaries about the meat industry, like Food Inc, and Super Size Me and The Beautiful Truth, just to name a few. I started joining vegan Facebook groups and learning everything I could. I woke up saying "no more meat" soooo many times over years, announcing it to everyone, only to cave after a few short days at best. A few times, all it took was the smell of cooking bacon to make me think "just a piece or two isn't going to hurt!" I failed miserably. Many, many times. But, I never beat myself up over it. I never quit trying to quit. I would continue to eat it until I caught the next inspiration to quit, and do it all over again. Basically the same idea as quitting smoking, haha.
Research!
There are so many health benefits, and world benefits, to cutting meat out of your diet. It needs to be done right, though. I know so many people who are vegetarian/vegan, or use to be, that were not healthy. Living with a plant based diet is expensive and just plain unhealthy if you buy the pre-packaged, "just like meat" foods. That is processed garbage. In order for it to be wallet and health friendly, you need to get creative and learn to cook foods from scratch, similar to what you've been use to eating! I find myself often finding regular recipes and substituting the meat for something else with a similar consistency, like mushrooms, potatoes or just more of other goodies in the dish. You also need to make sure you're getting proper nutrients. I would strongly encourage seeing a Naturopath, doing a diet journal and having a good conversation with him/her about what you will need to be eating to thrive if you exclude meat. We are all very different, and eat different, so naturally, we would be lacking or in excess of different things. A Naturopath can help you figure out what you specifically need to pay attention to. In general, though, B12 is necessary and not found in much plant life. I've found that I can get that vitamin by either having an egg every few days, having a little cheese daily, or by including brewers yeast or nutritional yeast in my daily diet...which isn't hard, because it can be thrown in everything, and if you do notice it, it improves the taste! Sea vegetation such as spirulina has it, too. Actually, spirulina can be grown fairly easy at home and it actually has every vitamin and mineral you need to survive. Also, don't worry about protein. Protein is in practically all vegetables, and we really don't need much, anyway. Protein is the least of your concerns when you ditch meat.
Look up vegetarian and vegan recipes, raw food recipes, vegetarian recipes for kids...start experimenting with meals now and then while you still eat meat...There are some absolutely amazing and mouth watering meals that I would have never found or tried as a meat eater. (Indian food is the best, by the way, especially palak paneer, makes my mouth water just thinking about it, and my toddler just loves it, too!) The more knowledge you have on the subject, the more confident you'll be about switching when you're ready!
Know Too Much
You can't unlearn what you've learned. Can't unsee what you've seen. If you research enough, and allow yourself to be vulnerable, be pushed over the edge or past your breaking point, you'll have an easier time giving it up. You might even never want to touch a dead animal again. That's what happened to my hubby and I; after all the research, we decided to watch Earthlings (<-free to watch!) one night, and we haven't touched meat ever since.
Disclaimer: Earthlings is very graphic! Don't watch it if children can catch scenes...not for those with weak stomachs.
We have a high tolerance for watching things like this, and we both wanted to turn it off several times. But, we got through it. Everything leading up to that pushed us to the edge, this was what pushed us over it. Never again. Once you know too much, there's no going back. If you really want to change anything in your life, find ways to make what you don't want, to be unjustifiable. Knowing the dirty little secrets tend to help with that!
The Reward
So, after three years of having a meat-free household, we all feel great! We do still eat eggs and cheese, but we've cut dairy and white (bleached) sugar out of our diet as much as possible. We now use almond or coconut milk, and stevia, coconut sugar, raw cane sugar or brown sugar if we're tight on funds.
Since we quit eating meat and dairy, I haven't been sick, not once. My husband was a little feverish and run down for one day only, after his brother brought over his really nasty flu. My 5.5 month old has never been sick. My 3 year old has been sick 4 times for a day or two each time, all the while happy and playing. The worst one of his four ailments happened a few days after I babysat my friend's daughter, who just got her shots the day before and started getting sick the morning after her shots. (She has been "seemingly" constantly sick from that point on, but her doctor said that's "normal"...) My son's sickness from that lasted almost 2 days, he was happy and lively the entire time, and then back to normal...well, "normal" in the actual sense of the word, not "normal" by a doctor's definition. I never want my children to be called "normal" by a doctor...that's usually just, well, not normal...or healthy. It's the high acidity of meat - an acidic digestive system breeds illness. Acidity causes inflamation, and inflamation is the root of all ailments.
I was diagnosed with IBS a long time ago, and told I can only "manage it". That there's no getting rid of it. Since the switch, the IBS is gone completely.
One might think we're avoiding people to protect ourselves, but we really aren't. We've been around many people that were sick, and we usually just don't catch it. When we do, it confines to only one person, who gets over it quickly, and nobody else catches it, so it doesn't even spread through our household. My silly dad actually came to visit us, while he was sick, the day after my youngest baby was born. Still nobody got sick, not even my newborn.
Image source: ctworkingmoms
Once you've done it for a few weeks, you might actually feel less healthy. You might feel run down, like you never have enough energy, or just generally feel like crap. This is the detox...your body flushing out the old way of eating. It won't last long, and when it dissipates you'll feel better than you ever have!
I absolutely love what it's done for us, and I wish the same for anyone who wants to go vegan/vegetarian. I hope this helps someone take the plunge!