How to Plan a Vegetarian Diet

So you're interested in adopting a vegetarian diet. Whether you're switching your diet for health or moral reasons, a little forethought and planning can make the change relatively simple. If you are concerned about the nutrition in a vegetarian diet, careful planning will allow you to meet all your nutrition needs. Whatever choice you make, you can plan a vegetarian diet to suit your tastes and your lifestyle.

Instructions

1. Start slowly. Examine the meals that you already know how to prepare and ask yourself which of these could easily be adapted to a vegetarian food plan. Recipes that use little meat or in which meat is easy to substitute with beans, tofu and other vegetarian sources of protein are easiest to begin with. Some examples include spaghetti, lasagna, stir fry and fajitas.

2. Do your homework. Once you know what meals you can already prepare you can start looking for new recipes to add to your repertoire. Many vegetarian recipes are available in cookbooks, magazines and online, experiment with one or two new recipes every week.

3. Make a plan. Make up menus of vegetarian foods that you enjoy, use these menus to write lists for grocery shopping and then follow your plan.

4. Look for new sources of protein. A vegetarian diet must still include enough protein to keep you healthy. Eggs, beans, nuts and tofu are all foods that include the protein you need. There are many "fake meat" products on the market as well, which are mostly made of wheat gluten and soy.

5. Include calcium and other vitamins and minerals every day. Dark green vegetables and dairy products will provide the calcium you need for strong bones and teeth. Dried beans and peas, whole grains and leafy green vegetables will bring lots of vitamins to your diet.

Tips & Warnings

• When you eat out, feel free to ask the waiter how the entrées are prepared. This will enable you to avoid foods that are fried in animal fat.