Blogmas Day twelve - Being vegetarian

TodayI thought I'd write about something I'm pretty sure I haven't mentioned on my blog before. I've actually been veggie for almost a year and a half now and today I just thought I'd have a little ramble about it and give some tips on how the switch over was and the things you have to watch with a vegetarian diet. 

Now first off I am 100% completely vegetarian meaning that I don't eat any meat or anything containing meat such a sweets containing animal gelatine. My first tip would definitely be if you are wanting to go full vegetarian then there are so many things which you wouldn't think have meat in them like haribos. I know not all vegetarians are this strict so it is completely up to you. I more decided to be strict as it also helped me reduce my sugar intake as sweets I can have are very limited. 

If you are going veggie you need to be ready prepared for the "but don't you miss meat?" question. This is one that I get asked regularly when I first tell someone I'm vegetarian. For me this really isn't something I struggle to explain as me going veggie was more about the fact I didn't enjoy eating meat rather than the ethical implications of it. Don't get me wrong the more ethical implications have become more important to me over the time, however my initial decision was based purely on my tastes. 

I do think you definitely need to be a little more aware of the foods you are eating in terms of their nutritional value. For me I have always been a big believer in taking supplements to ensure I am getting everything I need however if they aren't for you I would always suggest taking conscious choices and thinking about things like how much iron you are consuming. For me I think taking vitamins means I don't have to worry about any of it so I think before going veggie it is something that needs to be considered. 

Another thing I wanted to mention is that you can pretty much make vegetarian versions of a good 95% of meals you love. There are such a huge variety of meat free proteins out there now that most dishes can be converted to meat free. If you are going veggie I would suggest incorporating these proteins into your diet before making the switch completely as not everyone loves them. I personally love cooked quorn but hate the fake ham they do, whereas others love it. if you know what you like before you commit to it you are much less likely to be disappointed and end up switching back. 

So that's it for today! I hope you enjoyed this post, I know it's something a little different for my blog!