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Expert Q&A

	By Melanie Wilson Vegetarian Cooking and Lifestyle Expert

My family recently converted to vegetarianism, and we are having a hard time making the adjustment. Why is this such a difficult thing to do?

If you and your family have recently made the switch to vegetarianism, you remember well that it took some time and adjustments before you each worked through the transition stage successfully. Even if you went cold turkey on eating meat, it probably took a while before you began to think of yourselves as truly vegetarian, for the changes to feel natural and to be positive you would stick with it. Perhaps you even had a few setbacks along the way. Whatever the details of your family's meat-reducing journey and regardless of how long it took to travel the path to full-time vegetarian eating, the switch to veganism will be much the same.

How difficult making the change will be for your family depends on many factors. If you are accustomed to eating a very high fat vegetarian diet, with lots of eggs and dairy, the transformation may take a little longer. If your children are at an age when they are particularly resistant to change, you may need to look at this as a long-term project and be prepared for some disappointment. And if your spouse is not wholeheartedly with you in your resolution, there will be compromises to make. But rest assured that it can be done, and every little successful step along the way is worthwhile – regardless of the final outcome.

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