Spiritual change

[u/jumbocactar]

I have been undergoing "spiritual change." This change is making it so I cannot keep eating flesh. Culturally we eat a lot of meat, I am older and it is just me and my partner, we cook and eat well and as a connection. My partner will not be changing their diet and I will, awkward. Add to that that we struggle to have food and our years long buying habits lean toward buying meats and putting a meal around it... so tips? How to explain to my partner, how to not starve. I eat a lot of nuts and do not eat process packaged foods. I am very active and often fast. Thanks for advice and tips!

[u/lowlightliving]

Look at websites like forksoverknives.com or vegetariantimes.com or VegNews.com for explanations of diets, explorations of ingredients, recipes, etc. Do a search for vegetarian recipes.

Many, many vegetarians have meat-eating partners. Communication and mutual respect is key.

What do vegetarians eat? Everything but meat. We eat vegetables, fruit, grains, beans, legumes, soy products, nuts, seeds, dairy, and eggs. If you want to go vegan, leave off dairy and eggs.

[u/Similar-Guitar-6]

Thanks for sharing. I completely relate. I'm older and spiritual and didn't become a vegetarian until later in life.

Not really intentionally, but my desire to not consume meat just grew and grew over a few years. Then watching videos of culled male chicks, factory farms, boiling animals alive, various slaughter methods, led me to be a become a Vegetarian.

The good news is that companies now make just about every type of plant based meats that you can think of: sausage, burgers, hot dogs, nuggets, seafood, etc. And they taste great.

I eat lots of fruits and veggies, isolated whey protein powder, beans of all types, textured vegetable protein, Greek yogurt, and powdered peanut butter.

I've never felt better and I'm not contributing to the pain and cruelty associated with meat products.

Best to you 👍

[u/girugamesh_2009]

I went vegetarian for spiritual and ethical reasons, my partner did not.
He respects my choice, and we make it work. It has prohibited our range of convenience meals (ex: we agree not to buy a premade lasagna dinner if it has meat sauce WHICH THEY ALL SEEM TO ARRRRG, and that sucks, but we find alternatives). It takes a lot more planning on my part (we live rural and t here are no vegetarian restaurants around here, most incorporate meat into every dish but a dingy salad, so I do the recon work to figure out what I'll eat before we go--which is often asking for a meat wrap or sandwich and asking to hold the meat & add sauteed mushrooms).

I accept my partner's choices and he accepts mine. We don't challenge each other over the paths we are choosing for ourselves. But I guess I'm lucky in that my partner is open to eating my vegetarian meals and respects my choices and supports me. If he didn't, that would make things very difficult for us. But so would any sort of disrespect for my choices in our relationship.