Kaitlin K

3 reasons to become a Vegetarian!

1. Significantly improve your health
Studies have shown that becoming a vegetarian can reduce your risk for heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases. As well at decrease your chances for strokes, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, bladder cancer, stomach cancer and ovarian cancer, but also osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Additionally, processed meats are often covered in chemicals that your body cannot handle.

2. Save our planet
Becoming a vegetarian will drastically reduce your carbon footprint! It reduces deforestation and saves our water. 1 meat eater 1 day = 4200 gallons of water. 1 vegan 1 day = 300 gallons of water. Grains and corn are fed to livestock in excess in order to bulk them up to get more meat out of them, if that extra gran/corn was fed to starving children instead it could end world hunger. Livestock creates a huge amount of waste and toxic emissions that end up in our earth and drinking water.

3. Animal Cruelty
No one wants a little animal to suffer, but its hard to say that if ten minutes later you are going to be eating a hamburger that came from a mistreated cow. The majority of people are aware there is some sort of mistreatment to animals in slaughterhouses, but are not exactly sure of the extent to this problem. The animals are bread to be killed and are often mistreated and kept in terrible living conditions. Take the time to educate yourself on exactly how the animals you are eating are being treated and you may think twice about eating them.

3 Ways To Become A Vegetarian

1. Make sure you really believe in it
Cutting out meat entirely from your diet is hard. Especially, if you eat a large amount of meat on a daily basis. So, it is important that your heart is in this decision so that you know you will stick to it. It is easier to make a permanent decision if you really believe in it. Just make sure you know all of your reasons for becoming a vegetarian and have done all of the necessary research. People will criticize your decision, but if you know why you did it, what they think doesn't matter.

2. Find A Buddy
Everything is easier to do when you've got a friend next to you. It's cheesy, but really! When you have someone with the same goals as you, it is easier to achieve yours together. You can be each others cooking buddy and support system. It also adds a degree of accountability, you don't want to be the one to give up first.

3. Give it 30 Days
Just tell yourself you are going to try becoming a vegetarian for 1 month, or at least 30 days. It takes 30 days to break a bad habit, or make a good one stick. And this makes it seem less daunting than trying to make a decision that will last for the rest of your life. If you love it and still feel passionate and notice how much better you feel health wise after 30 days, then keep going to 60 days, and then 90, and so on and so on. It doesn't have to be a life commitment, but you'll notice after that time that it wasn't as hard as you thought to make the switch, or to stick to it.

... OR DONT

Honestly, being a vegetarian is not for everyone, but there are a few things you can do to start making the transition slowly, and reap some of the benefits

1. Be A Pescatarian (no meat or poultry, but fish is allowed)
2. Meatless Mondays
3. No Meat After 5pm
4. Cage-free, Free-Range Organic meat