If you have made the decision to stop eating meat, congratulations!

Eating less meat has many benefits, but consistently putting it into practice can be challenging. Here are 7 valuable tips to help you see better results and be well on your way to being a happy non-meat eater.

1 – Don’t rush

You may want to do this yesterday, but if it’s going to be a lasting change, you may want to take it easy. Many people have tried a vegetarian diet only to go back to their old way of doing things because they rushed into it.

Start by replacing some of the animal staples in your diet with vegetarian versions. A good example would be replacing a serving of meat with beans. If that’s too easy, schedule full meat-free days, then keep adding extra days until you’ve got all seven covered.

2 – Look at your reasons for doing it

If you can figure out why you like to eat meat, you’ll be that much closer to eliminating it for good. A common myth is that you need it to get enough protein in your diet, but that’s not true. Dive deep and determine what emotions you have associated with eating meat, and then work to reduce their power. Then you can create new positive emotions around eating fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, and beans and you’ll be on your way.

3 – Learn everything you can

Learn what you can about the animal farming industry, the health benefits of consuming. a plant-based diet, the risks of also eating animal products, the environmental impact of eating meat, and anything else you can learn to help get you on the right track.

4 – Find the Umami

If you’ve never heard of umami, you’ve experienced it because it’s that savory element or flavor that’s commonly associated with eating meat. The source is glutamate, which is an amino acid. Many people miss this aspect of eating meat so much without even realizing it, but it’s the reason they end up coming back. Fortunately, there are vegetarian sources of umami including:

• Fungus
• soy sauce
• Green Tea
• toasted nuts and seeds
• nutritional yeast
• fermented foods
• some sea vegetables

5 – Expand your culinary horizons

I hope the taste is not one of your reasons for not being able to stop eating meat. Because when you think about it, meat really doesn’t have much flavor until it’s seasoned, sauced, and spiced. And guess what? You can do the same with vegetarian foods! This is easy when you explore cuisines from around the world, such as Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Indian, Moroccan, and more.

6 – Light your bean

If you want to stop eating meat, it’s a great idea to start eating beans. Beans are loaded with protein, resistant starch, and fiber, and they fill you up, which can help you eat less. Most cultures have their own bean dishes, so it shouldn’t be hard to start incorporating chickpeas, lentils, black beans, kidney beans, edamame, and more into your diet.

7- Prepare for success

When you want to achieve something, it is always wise to give yourself the best chance of success. When it comes to eating less meat, that could mean having access to a wide range of vegetarian recipes, joining a social media support group, stocking your shelves and pantry with the right foods, or finding a responsible partner.

Whatever your reasons for wanting to stop eating meat, it will take a concerted effort and consistency to make this a new normal for you. But it is possible… many have done it before you and living a vegetarian lifestyle can be a joy, if you let it.