Kid,
About ten years ago I decided to go vegetarian for a week for similar reasons (those being.....no reason really, I just wanted to give it a shot and see if I felt any differently). After a week, I didn't feel any different, so I extended it. This cycle repeated itself for about two months, until I just got used to the fact that I didn't eat meat, and liked it. I kept it up for a little over two years, until I went on vacation to Mexico and decided I wanted to indulge myself. I have never looked back.
It strikes me that you are going to face many of the same problems that I did, in that like me, you are sorely unprepared for your change in diet. Although you probably think you're going to lose weight, chances are you will gain. When you can't eat meat, and you are either very picky or are unaware of healthy substitutes, you will tend to go for high-fat, non-meat alternatives.
You will also begin to notice that almost EVERYTHING that people cook when you are invited over for dinner, even though they thought they were cooking vegetarian dishes for you, has some kind of meat in it. Soup is always made with beef or chicken stock. The pasta salad will have ham in it. The potato salad will have bacon in it. The spagetti sauce will have sausage or hamburger in it.
So, my advice to you is that if you are going to do it, do it right. Read some books or visit some websites that discuss vegetarian nutrition. Learn how to prepare tofu or tempei [sp?] so that it is not just a funny-tasting gelatinous glob.
Anyway, good luck to you. If nothing else, it is good to change your life every now and again just to see what happens.
Quahog |
