1. Know WHY you are stopping - Affirm to yourself the many benefits of becoming vegetarian and any other reason you have for converting so that this is foremost in your mind. The great teacher Dr Malachi York once said 'Do without doing and everything gets done', so do it in your mind first and then the physical acts will be simple as it has already been done. When we are faced with something that is hard to do, we can always come up with the most excuses as to why we can't do it, in this way we will fail before we have even begun.

2. Plan when to stop - Failing to plan is planning to fail. It is helpful to set a date to stop, try a weekend when you can spend some time cooking, or maybe the start of the week so you can use the weekend to prepare.

3. Stock up to stop - Once you have your stopping date decided, work out the vegetarian foods you like and stock up on them. This can be quite an exciting time, you can get some wonderful exotic recipes that you have never tried before. Use some ingredients that you wouldn't normally use, the more variety you have the better. I have found that a lot of meat eaters are not that adventurous with their diet, if this is you, now is the time to live a little.

4. Prepare to stop - Have a few days prior to stopping where you wean yourself off meat. This can be done effectively with meat substitutes, which may form a large potion of your new diet if you miss the taste or texture of meat. Try limiting you meat intake to once a day a few day before stopping, replacing the meat with the substitutes, so that your body gets used to it gradually. Don't however, use this as an excuse to keep eating meat, 7 - 10 day is the most you should need once you mentally prepare yourself to stop.

5. Stop - Hooraay!!! Congratulations!!! Reap the benefits and rewards of the vegetarian lifestyle.

If you are concerned about missing out of nutrients by giving up meat, don't be:

* You can get your protein from a combination of whole grain brown rice & lentils, tofu, other meat substitutes and quinoa has an excellent source of protein, if you still eat dairy, you can get protein from eggs also. * Vitamin B12 can be taken from Kelp Powdered seaweed, spinach or wheatgrem * Essential fatty acids can be found in ground flax or hemp seed, sesame and pumpkin seeds or supplemented with fish oils if you don't mind.

About the author:

Julian Hall of Davidel - The Natural Health Care Company - providers of herbal medicine, herbalife and other natural health products