Hi, Kid. A lot of "vegetarians" eat chicken and fish. The only thing that matters is what you eat, not what you call yourself. Besides, you need to start slowly. It takes a lot of time to change your eating patterns.
Find a health foods supermarket near you and go exploring. Whole Foods/Bread & Circus is an outstanding national chain.
Stock up your freezer with vegetarian goodies so that when you get the hungry horrors you won't reach for a hot dog.
An excellent brand for prepared foods is Annie's. I'm seeing her food now even in the "regular" supermarket. All of her stuff is vegetarian, all natural ingredients, mostly organic, and delicious. One of my favorite lunches for the microwave at work is her frozen Enchiladas (two styles: one with beans, one with cheese). I also keep her "Peace Pasta" macaroni & cheese on hand (packaged but not frozen) for when there's nothing else to eat. It's excellent.
Learn to use soy milk instead of milk or cream. It's fine in coffee or tea, and makes an excellent substitute for milk or cream in cooking. I've even made a first-rate Bechamel (fancy name for cream sauce) using soy milk. Soy is a fantastic cholesterol fighter.
Here's a terrific Italian vegetarian cookbook:
amazon.com.
and if you want to learn more about a healthy lifestyle in general, Andrew Weil's 8 Weeks to Optimum Health will help give you the knowledge and motivation to change the way you eat.
amazon.com.
One last tip: when there's no time for anything but fast food, Wendy's is great because they have baked potatoes. At McDonalds's and Burger King, you can order chicken, of course, but you can also order any kind of burger without the meat but with extra lettuce & tomato. Believe it or not, kids order these all the time, so big kids can too. They're actually delicious :)
I'm looking forward to hearing more ideas from other people, since half the battle is finding these little tricks to keep yourself going. Thanks for starting the thread!
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