1. Cut out Red Meat

The first meat product that any aspiring vegetarian should cut out of their diet is red meat, such as beef and pork. Studies have shown that eating red meat can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. So, if you can, this is definitely a good meat to cut out of your diet as you figure out how to transition to becoming a vegetarian.

But if you find you can’t cut out red meat completely, that’s okay! Replacing a couple of meals each week with either white meat or vegetables will still go a long way toward improving your health.

2. Make Plant-based Meals

Another good practice is to have two of your three main meals a day be plant-based instead of meat-based. So even if you don’t go full vegetarian, you’re still getting a lot of the benefits of a plant-based diet.

3. Quit Eating Poultry

Now, if you make it past the cutting out red meat hurdle, you’ve come a long way. The next thing to cut out is poultry. Many people stop after this step and continue eating seafood - there’s even a name for people who only eat seafood as their meat: pescatarians.

4. Stop Eating Seafood

But if you want to go all the way, the final thing to cut out is seafood. You may ask, how do you get your protein? Well, the answer is that there’s protein in everything we eat. You just need to make sure you get it in high enough quantities. You can eat dark greens, beans, grains, protein shakes, dairy such as yogurt or cheese, etc.

It may sound impossible at first, but over time you may even stop craving meat to the point where it doesn’t sound appealing at all! Whatever your goal, know that becoming a vegetarian is possible when done gradually.