How can I become a pure vegetarian without craving meat?

Question

I dont eat a lot of meat. I hate goat meat, beef, pork and sea food. I love boneless chicken and sometimes crave chubby chicken burgers and strips. I know that it shouldnt be too hard for me to give up chicken because I eat it once or twice a week. The problem is whenever I drop the idea of eating it even once a week, I start craving it immediately. I ate meat only one or twice till I was 10 'cause my mom is a vegetarian and my dad passed away when I was 5 years old...so I didnt have any one around to cook meat 'cause he was a non-vegetarian and he didnt mind preparing non-veg food. Sometimes I think its because of my dad I can not give up chicken because I have a very sweet memory of him cooking boneless chicken for me but I really want to quit. Is there any way?? Help!!

Answer 1

It's really the protein that you're craving for. If you want to get on a pure vegetarian diet - you don't just all of the sudden cut out all meat out of your diet and expect that the rest of your needs will be taken care of without changing your entire diet. If you were eating white bread - you need to switch to 100% whole grains and avoid sugars. You need to get other protein sources from beans, soy and nuts. Once you're feeing your body a rounded diet with other protein sources the cravings will subside. If you want it to work - it's an entire lifestyle change - not just cutting protein sources out when your body has been used to getting alot for a long time.

Answer 2

I am not a huge fan of fake meats, but there is one that stands out:  Quorn.  Quorn "chicken" has a taste an texture that is amazingly similar to the real thing.  It is also very filling and honestly you wouldn't be able to tell the difference especially in casseroles.  I don't know where you're from, but if there is a Wegman's anywhere near you, they carry that brand.  Good luck!

Answer 3

i am not a vegetarian because i can not eat carbs due to medical reasons which would mean i wouldnt eat at all if i gave up meats so i called my sister in law who grew up eating meat and is now a full vegetarian and asked her what helped her give it up and here where her tips...

buy items for your kitchen like  potholders with chickens on them so that you remember these were once living creatures and then keep other high protien food like peanuts around to help beat those cravings

Answer 4

It wil,l take some time to be a total veg u have to tell yrself that u aregoing to be a vege gradually cut down on the chicken I am sure where there is a will ther e is a way

Answer 5

have you tried any products from morningstar or gardenburger?they have products that are substitutes for chicken.some of them taste like c**p,but some are actually really really good.

Answer 6

read this link to give you an idea

http://www.socyberty.com/Activism/Vegeta...

I do not eat much chicken myself as it is the cruelest of all raised animals.. truely horrrid..

Answer 7

It might be said, that if you are a pure vegetairian, it doesn't matter if you crave meat because you have a willpower which is stronger than any desire and once you get going that craving goes away. BE STRONG!

Answer 8

Look into soy meat, some of them are pretty good approximations of the actual taste and might be able to help your cravings.

Answer 9

You just have to commit to the idea that you can't eat meat. I have a lot of fond memories of yummy prime rib dinners with my family members too. But that is all they are - memories. Do I now want to have the fact that I am participating in the killing an animal with the reason not for my taste buds, but for my memories of a fond family member? With my new awareness, NO! Death and more death is not my motto for my life anymore.

With that commitment in hand, I then start to look for alternatives. I have found seiten to be a good replacement for chicken. Seiten is made from the proteins of wheat (vital wheat gluten) and Arrowhead Mills has a box that they sell in most supergrocery stores in the US.

My favorite recipe:

! box of vital wheat gluten (Arrowhead Mills)

1/2 cup of nutritional yeast (KAL brand is the tastiest so far)

2 tablespoons of wheat bran (Bob's Big Red Mill)

1 tablespoon of salt (sea salt)

Mix up this dry part.

Add 2 cups of water, and mix in a food processer. The dough will be stringy and a little moist/slimy. Let sit for 10 minutes while you get a pot of vegetable broth boiling and then put it on simmer.

Cut up the dough into little pieces (I use a dough scraper) and plup them into the simmering broth. Put a lid on the pot, and stir the pieces around every 10 minutes or so. They will puff up a little, but once you stir them they should go down. If they do not, you might have to lower the flame because if you have the broth to close to boiling the pieces will become puffy and spongy in texture). After about an hour of simmering (sometimes less - I have done only 30 minutes will good results), take the pieces out and cool down. They are really good and chewy if you put them overnight in the refrigerator, and then reheat them.

I have also made patties out of the seiten dough, and even a roast with cheesecloth to secure the roast during the simmering processes (in which I use different pots to hold the broth and the seiten).

Answer 10

look for soy chicken products. you can get some really good soy meat products. try out a few different kinds and continue to get the one thats best for you. Also, ease yourself out of eating chicken slowly, dont do it all at once.

Answer 11

There are lots of analogues out there--veggie burgers, veggie dogs, etc.  You can even get veggie nuggets.  Both Lightlife and Morningstar Farms make "chick'n" style meal starter strips.

Like Dart, I make my own seitan, although I use a slightly different method.  I just use the Vital Wheat Gluten and water to make the dough and I make a broth from water, tamari, nutritional yeast, and seasonings.  I don't use a machine to knead, just good old fashioned elbow grease, and I cut it up before putting in the simmering broth.  I also never use my seitan the same day I make it.

I have tofu tips in my profile--I suggest freezing tofu to give it a chewier texture.

When you give up a bad habit, of course, you're going to crave it.  But the cravings will go away eventually.  It's something many vegetarians go through, as many of us were raised eating meat.

Answer 12

I live in a city that has 2 chicken plants.  I once got directly beside one of the chicken trucks with the cages full of chickens pilled one on top of the other really high.  First, the SMELL was enough to make me wanna vomit.  Then, I made myself turn and look at those chickens----from that moment on, I will never eat chicken again.  Then, I went to meat.org and watched the video.  I have been a vegetarian ever since watching that and believe me,  I come from a family of meat eaters!   And we're all overweight, but in 2 months, I have even lost 30 pounds just by cutting meat completely out of my diet!  Please go watch that video when you feel up to it--it's heartbreaking and grafic, but hopefully it will change your life, as it did mine.