Vegetarians are NOT Crazy
One of the things that often holds up a lot of people from considering a lifestyle of vegetarianism is a negative stereotype of vegetarians that is really not at all accurate. Of course there are extremists in any discipline and the same is true of vegetarians or vegans. Its good to dig a bit deeper and put any preconceptions on hold that might be holding you back from what would be a wonderful lifestyle choice.
It is true that the vegetarian way of life can be part of a larger spiritual discipline as well. But you can get a lot of good from a life of vegetarian eating even if it is not part of your religious or moral life. So if you are hesitant to explore making a switch to a vegetarian diet, you don’t have to also join a new religious or social community to get just as much out of it as anyone.
When you begin to explore the work of vegetarian disciplines, you will find a wide variety of types of people who enjoy the lifestyle. The vegetarian "community" is a diverse population with cultures of people who are at various levels of commitment to the vegetarian lifestyle. There is not reason to have guilt or fear that if you wish to start out slowly. In fact, starting out just easing into a vegetarian way of life is a good way to find out where in the discipline you feel comfortable.
The first myth about becoming a vegetarian to overcome then is the idea that as soon as you make a commitment to start cutting meat from your diet, you will necessarily become part of some strange eastern cult that will change your beliefs and your way of life. The huge majority of people who make a vegetarian lifestyle their own are normal people just like you.
It might surprise you if you found out that its very likely that many of your neighbors and coworkers are quietly enjoying a lifestyle of vegetarian living. And becoming a vegetarian does NOT "turn you into" some kind of obnoxious wild eyed religious fanatic. In fact, you can enjoy all the benefits of being a vegetarian and live happily among others who are not following your diet choices. And you can be a vegetarian and develop a reasonable diet that still allows you to get your protein from cheese, fish and other traditional sources as you cut out the more conspicuous sources of protein such as beef and chicken.
Just as it’s a good thing for you to get over the idea that becoming a vegetarian is some kind of strange or "bizarre" idea, you should discard quickly any fears that you will be seen as odd or peculiar when you inform your friends and loved ones you have made this lifestyle choice. There is no "coming out of the closet" to becoming a vegetarian. As long as it is as natural as switching to low fat milk from whole milk to you, it will be natural to your friends and loved ones.
The people you know well will watch your behavior closely to see if there is any reason to worry about you in making this change. If they detect you are going to be angry at them for not following you into vegetarianism or that you are going to become "an evangelist" for living without meat, then they will become nervous and avoid you, especially at meal time.
But if your vegetarian lifestyle is a choice you can make without disrupting the lives of others and one you can live in harmony with others who are not vegetarians, you will demonstrate to them that it is no problem that you just eat different things than they do and that above all vegetarians are NOT crazy.
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Be a Good House Guest and a Good Vegetarian When you are learning the ropes of your new lifestyle of ...
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But What if Your Sweetheart Loves Meat? The vegetarian culture is one that fosters a certain "snootiness" because of our ...
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Getting Restaurants in on the Act Its one thing to move into a vegetarian discipline when it comes to preparing ...
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How to Not Miss Meat Even if your reasons for turning toward a vegetarian lifestyle are moral, ethical or religious, ...
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Is It Time for an Intervention? "Guess what mom and dad, I'm a vegetarian!" If those words would strike terror ...
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It’s a Diet AND a Community Becoming a vegetarian is about a lot more than just changing what you eat. ...
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Life Without Meat Becoming a vegetarian is about a lot more than just a change to your diet. It is ...
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Little Secrets Vegetarians Know Most people who don’t know anything about the vegetarian lifestyle think that is must be pure ...
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Living With Meat Eaters Sometimes the biggest obstacle you face when you make a decision to become a vegetarian is ...
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Low Fuss Vegetarian Cooking "I can't become a vegetarian because I don't have the time to work up complicated vegetarian ...
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Soup Skills of Vegetarians If anything could be considered the heart of great vegetarian cooking it would be the soup. ...
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The Good of Vegetarianism Sometimes the only thing really holding you back from making the big step of becoming a ...
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The "How" of Vegetarianism Sometimes the real obstacle of making that big change in your life to becoming a vegetarian ...
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The Lifestyle of a Vegetarian One of the biggest injustices that the vegetarian movement has endured is that in popular ...
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The Passion and the Hobby of Vegetarianism It is going to take some effort to make the transition to a ...
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The Rules of Being a Vegetarian Becoming a vegetarian is not like joining a club or enlisting in an army. ...
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The Social Vegetarian Whenever you make a major change in your lifestyle, having a strong support group around you is ...
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The Teenage Vegetarian Because the younger generation is often more in touch with world culture than adults, teenagers are in ...
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The Vegetarian Mom to Be Whether you are already a vegetarian and have learned you were pregnant or you are ...
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The Vegetarian Quality of Life It is unfortunate that many people are not very understanding of why it is difficult ...
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Vegetarianism the Easy Way "Make it easy on yourself." I like that phrase. And it’s a good motto for learning ...
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Vegetarian on a Budget In many family budgets, one of the biggest food expenses is often meat. So in theory ...
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Vegetarians are NOT Crazy One of the things that often holds up a lot of people from considering a lifestyle ...
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Will Vegetarianism Change the World? We all fear change. And when we see a "movement" start to get momentum in ...
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Your Vegetarian Baby Most of us have to make a transition from a meat eating diet to a vegetarian one. ...
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Disclaimer
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site is a common sense guide to Vegetarians are NOT Crazy. In practical advice websites, like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
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Be a Good House Guest and a Good Vegetarian
But What if Your Sweetheart Loves Meat?
Getting Restaurants in on the Act
How to Not Miss Meat
Is It Time for an Intervention?
It’s a Diet AND a Community
Life Without Meat
Little Secrets Vegetarians Know
Living With Meat Eaters
Low Fuss Vegetarian Cooking
Soup Skills of Vegetarians
The Good of Vegetarianism
The "How" of Vegetarianism
The Lifestyle of a Vegetarian
The Passion and the Hobby of Vegetarianism
The Rules of Being a Vegetarian
The Social Vegetarian
The Teenage Vegetarian
The Vegetarian Mom to Be
The Vegetarian Quality of Life
Vegetarianism the Easy Way
Vegetarian on a Budget
Vegetarians are NOT Crazy
Will Vegetarianism Change the World?
Your Vegetarian Baby
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