Types of Vegetarians and Where You Fit In

So, you`re playing around with the idea of becoming a vegetarian are you? If so, you must be wondering if you have to give up all your favorites in order to be vegetarian. Luckily, there are many steps and many ways to be more and more vegetarian as you get comfortable with the new diet.

Many people start off by being flexitarian which means that they forgo meat a few times a week without commiting to a full fledged vegetarian diet right away. Then you can progress to being pescetarian, meaning that you don`t eat birds or animals except for fish and seafood. Being Lacto Ovo vegetarian is the next natural progression where you eat no animals, birds or fish but do eat dairy products and eggs.

Finally, being vegan is the ultimate in being vegetarian where you eat nothing that used to have a face, plus, no product of an animal. Vegans protect animals from any abuse through their eating choices and in so doing also protect the environment and their health. So, you see, you can take this going vegetarian as gradually or as quickly as you are comfortable with. There is no pressure to being fully vegan straight away. Any efforts on your part will make a difference in your health, the well being of animals and the health of the environment.

Here are some resources for all these types of vegetarians so you can decide where you fit in:

Flexitarian Resource: Meatless Mondays, one day a week, cut out meat. Get the weekly recipes and your meatless monday kit by going here: www.meatlessmonday.com

Flexitarian Blog: You might relate to this adventure into flexitarianism written by Lindsay, a flexitarian foodie. She is a food enthusiast that follows a flexitarian diet and lifestyle. Check out her blog here: theflexitarianfoodie.wordpress.com

Pescetarian Resource: This website offers many articles about the advantages and disadvantages of those who choose to eat no animals except for fish and seafood. Go here for recipes, meal plans and loads of information: livestrong.com 

Pescetarian Blogs: Hard to choose just one since many people write about their pescetarian lifestyle. Here are some good ones featuring recipes, restaurant reviews and meal ideas: http://www.pescetarianjournal.com/
http://pescetimes.blogspot.com/
http://www.prana.com/blog/tag/pescetarian/

Lacto Ovo Vegetarian Resource: At this point, vegetarian resources blend into one other with sites discussing recipes, mind sets and health benefits of lacto, ovo and vegan vegetarians. This one is a brilliant website with tons of information: The Vegetarian Resource Group

Lacto Ovo Blogs: A wealth of information on this website: http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/blog/tag/lacto-ovo-vegetarian
This one is an entertaining one especially for those wanting to go vegetarian without giving up dairy and eggs right away and for those who enjoy fine wines. http://chucky-thefatvegetarian.blogspot.com/

Vegan Resource:  Great tool on how to go vegetarian:  vegetarian.about.com

Another vegan must read is at the Peta Website. If you go here, you can get a Free Go Vegetarian/ Vegan Starter Kit: http://features.peta.org/VegetarianStarterKit/

And finally, for my favorite Vegan blogs:
http://govegan.net/
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/
http://veganmenu.blogspot.com/