A simple guide into becoming vegetarian

I'm 100% sure there are plenty of people out there wanting to become vegetarian, vegan, or simply to stop eating meat. Some of them haven't done it because it seems difficult or because there are a lot of myths and misconceptions about a veggie diet. The truth is, being vegetarian/vegan is amazing! It's wonderful for the planet, for nature, for animals, for your own health, body, mind, and spirit.That's why I'm here to tell you how grateful my experience has been since months ago I decided to take the chance. I'll give you tips and solve some of your doubts for you to consider it or even to do it.

First of all, I'll start by telling you how I did it for you to be in context. I had never been really in love with meat, neither red or white. If I could skip them, I'd do it. And I'd rather eat anything else, but my family kind of forced me to eat meat for me to grow and stay “healthy.” In June, I started eating less meat every day, and I really didn't want to. My body was telling me to please keep away the meat until one day, six months ago, when my family and I were eating ribs, and a ton of horrible thoughts came across my mind. That was the moment when I realized meat wasn't made for me. In a brief summary, the thoughts included cannibalism, rotten meat in my stomach, and some more things that were really disgusting. After that huge avalanche of thoughts, I stopped eating, and since that day, I haven't eaten meat anymore. 

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As you could see in my personal experience, I stopped eating meat from one day to another, mostly because I wasn't a huge meat fan since the beginning.  But with this, I want to introduce one of the first myths, which is "you can't or shouldn't become vegetarian from one moment to another; you have to go on a process first.” This isn't true at all. I think everyone has a completely different system and body which tells you what you want and what you need. If your body is telling you to stop all of a sudden, that's the way it is for you. If you feel it's going to take some more time, you should go slowly. Everything depends on how you feel and what you need; not all the cases apply to everyone.

 The second myth is “there is no way to gain protein that isn't from meat.” This is not true at all! Indeed, beans or lentils don't have the same type of protein and amino acids that chickens or cows have, but that's why you also have to search and understand how it works. Other foods such as vegetables, grains, nuts, almonds, and kale have high levels of protein, which are also really important to our bodies. If you want to be vegetarian, you can also continue eating eggs, cheese, drinking milk, and you could even continue eating fish. As for the “process,” the magic of being vegetarian is that you have plenty of liberty about what you want and don't want to eat. You aren't going to be less vegetarian if you continue eating eggs. On the other hand, being vegan is pretty different; it means you won't eat anything, ANYTHING coming from animals. This means no eggs, no milk, no cheese, and no food which has anything to do with these previous foods, so it also means no mayonnaise, not cakes, cookies, brownies with eggs or milk, or even honey. Everything should be plant-based.  It may seem impossible, but the truth is there are tons of stores that are here to help vegans, which find replacements for everything. You just have to buy in the correct places and learn how to do the appropriate shopping, or if you like to cook, you can start preparing your own almond or coconut milk, your own mayonnaise, your own cakes, and everything you want. Also, for gaining the necessary proteins, there are a lot of vitamins and pills you can take. Such as the B-12,  which  has all of the proteins animals have, but without any animal components. 

The third myth I want to address is the one that states, “you are going to gain or lose a lot of weight, and your body and your metabolism are going to lose control.” This myth is also FALSE FALSE FALSE. If you really invest the necessary time it requires to completely change your diet and your eating lifestyle, this won't happen at all! At first, you will start noticing how your new diet has worked, and you'll make the necessary changes for it to be just perfect for you if your body is asking for more food, less food, more fats, more carbs, more protein. Trust me, you'll notice, and you'll know what to change to not lose control of anything. Also, if you feel insecure or you don't have the time to search and plan your diet, I recommend going to a specialized nutritionist. This person will help you a lot in planning your foods and replacements for certain things, and he/she will help you to stay healthy according to what you need. I stand by the side that everyone can be vegetarian if they want to and do it the right way, but also, if you don't achieve it because of any reason, don't give up and don't be mad! If it doesn't work for you, it's completely okay, and at least you tried. And if you keep having the desire of becoming, then remember you can always restart and try again. The most important thing is for you to know that you are the only one that matters in this, and if you aren't feeling well, you should stop. Learn to know yourself and your feelings; it isn't at all about suffering from being vegetarian, but rather it's about enjoying, so be true to yourself and begin to understand what your body wants and needs. 

Now, we've come to the best part! The benefits in your life, nature, and the whole world. Concerning the world and nature, I know its cliché, but first of all, vegetarianism helps to take down animal violence and suffering. It is really sad and hurtful, but it is also true that most of the livestock businesses mistreat animals; they give them hormones and a lot of chemicals for them to reproduce faster and in much more quantity. Also, most of them receive chunk food and live in extremely dirty and unsanitary conditions. By becoming vegetarian, you are contributing to save a lot of animals and slowly kill these companies, which aren´t good at all. Secondly, by dragging down these businesses and supporting local vegetarian ones, you are also supporting our Colombian farmers and peasants, which have been left aside for a really long time and are looking forward to spreading what they sow and grow. On the other hand, processing one kilogram of meat involves using 18,500 liters of water, which becomes useless and dirty after the process. By being vegetarian, you also contribute to saving water and making fair use of it. 

Regarding the health and spirit benefits being vegetarian involves in your body, first of all, I want to start by saying that you will begin to feel free of “waste” or “trash” that is generated by meat residues left in the organism. Most of the meats, when rotten, begin to smell awful, so you can imagine when food waste remains on your teeth or your gut. It begins to rot and damage everything that's close to it; you can not imagine the huge smell difference in your 

breath and your poop when you become vegetarian. Next, most of the animals when they feel they are going to die soon, become depressed and acquire an internal rage, which usually comes with very negative energy. When the animal dies, it releases a substance called cadaverine, and when we eat meat, we are consuming it and gathering a lot of negative energy, rage, anger, and sadness that come with the substance.This may seem incredible, but it's true that by ingesting that substance, we may feel more sad or angry about life. When you stop eating meat, the consumption of the substance is stopped, and you start to feel more energized, happier, and more in love with the world. Lastly, the benefits are infinite, your skin becomes brighter and softer, your liver and pancreas don't age so easily, and you are avoiding any chance of getting cancers, which may come with meat.

Finally, I wanted to say that all of this was part of my opinion, my point of view, and some other information I have gathered. I wrote this based on what I've learned in these months and what I've searched, but not all vegetarians may agree with everything I think. Also, I do respect your decision; if you love meat and want to continue consuming it, you're not less humane or a worse person because of it. Never! I just want to raise awareness on such an important topic and spread the word and my experience. Hopefully, someone reads this and decides to take the chance and try the amazing world of vegetarianism. If you want more info or some recipes, I recommend you try Sannu´s foods, which is a great online vegan store that sells chicken, hamburger meat, and sausage imitations that taste really similar to the real ones. I also recommend following veggie influencers such as @cookielovehealthy @vegappetizing @alebanana. They are amazing and have the most delicious recipes. I hope you liked it or at least kept thinking about some of the million things I said. I look forward to seeing all the new vegetarians that are going to arise these next months or years!