March 8, 2012

Veggie Tales (part 3): Making the Transition

BF Basics: Veggie Tales was composed by four-year post-op and 25-year vegetarian, Kelly, better known as Poet Kelly on Obesity Help. This series is written in her voice with the full endorsement of Bariatric Foodie. If you have any questions for Kelly about any of the information provided, please leave them in the comments and she'll gladly respond.



Making the transition to a vegetarian or vegan diet may seem overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be.  You can jump right in the deep end if you want, but it might be easier (and less scary) to take baby steps.
Here are some tips:

  • Start having Meatless Mondays.  Serve your family a tasty vegetarian meal for dinner once a week.  As you, and your family, become more comfortable with meatless meals, start having other meatless days.
  • Start having Meatless Mornings.  Have a meat-free breakfast.  Make that egg- and dairy-free if you are transitioning to a vegan diet.  Later, you can start having meatless lunches, too.
  • Start trying some meat-free substitutes for your favorite dishes.  If you love chili, prepare it with soy crumbles or TVP instead of ground beef. 
  • If you normally use chicken stock in your homemade soup, use vegetable stock instead. 
  • If you are transitioning to a vegan diet, try vegan soy slices instead of cheese or a tofu scramble in place of scrambled eggs.
  • Designate one day a week as “Try a New Vegetarian/Vegan Recipe” day.  Explore beyond vegetarian versions of your old favorites.
  • Visit a local vegetarian or vegan restaurant to enjoy some really good vegetarian cuisine and to get a feel for some of the possibilities.
  • Find some vegetarian friends.  Maybe you can all get together for a monthly potluck.  You can trade recipes and share stories.
What about the family?

If you have children, you can choose to continue serving them meat or you can choose to transition them to a vegetarian or vegan diet with you.  Children of all ages can get plenty of protein and other nutrients on a vegetarian or vegan diet.  If you live with other adults, of course they will make their own choices about whether or not to continue eating meat or to make the transition with you.

Here are some ways to manage your family menu as a vegetarian:

  • Serve your family meatless meals some days, even if they are not planning to adopt a vegetarian diet.  A lot of families that eat meat still have Meatless Mondays.
  • Allow adult family members to prepare their own meat if you don’t like cooking it or just don’t want to prepare two meals every day.  That’s what I do in my house.  Teenage children can also prepare their own food if they don’t like what you’re serving.
  • Prepare meals that will work for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.  For instance, have Build Your Own Taco night and put out seasoned ground beef, seasoned soy crumbles, shredded cheese, veggies and refried beans and let everyone assembled their own tacos.  Or stir fry veggies in one pan, chicken in another and tofu in a third.  Family members can all take some veggies and then choose whether to take chicken, tofu or some of each.
What about going out to eat?

I eat out a lot.  Most restaurants have vegetarian options these days.  Even if there are no vegetarian entrees on the menu, you can order a main dish and ask them to leave the meat off.  I often order a chicken salad without the chicken!

If I’m going to be dining at someone else’s house, I usually ask in advance what they will be serving.  Often I will be able to eat at least part of the meal but if not, I just bring something with me, just like I do if I’m going somewhere that I don’t expect to find weight loss surgery-friendly food.

In summary, what you need to know is:

  • You can take baby steps as you make the transition to a vegetarian diet; you don’t have to jump in the deep end all at once.
  • You can find a solution that works with your family if other family members don’t want to become vegetarians.
  • You can enjoy eating out as a vegetarian.

.::Related Article::.

Labels:

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
 
Themes by Ex Templates Blogger Templates l customized byWeight Loss Surgery