So, you’re thinking about becoming a vegetarian? That’s great! Being a vegetarian can have a lot of health benefits. According to the Harvard Health Publishing, it can reduce the risk of heart disease and type two diabetes. However, there are some questions you may want to ask yourself before making that commitment.

1. Why are you thinking about becoming a vegetarian?

Believe it or not, your reasoning is very important and can have a large effect on whether or not you stick with it. If it’s for a reason of health, you’re more likely to stick with it than if it’s simply for vanity.

2. Are you really going to really miss meat?

If you are going to miss it so much that it’s physically painful for you, then you’re not going to stick with it. A good way to test this out is to slowly start phasing the meat out and see how much you miss it. For example, you could start by only cutting out red meat, or you could only eat meat on certain days of the week.

3. Do you actually like vegetables?

If you hate eating your veggies, being a vegetarian may not be the best move for you. You may end up making yourself sick from lack of nutrients, or you could even make yourself gain weight from leaning on highly processed, pre-packaged foods. Eating a lot of color is extremely important to a vegetarian diet, especially the color green.

4. Are you willing to do your research?

There is a lot that goes into being a vegetarian, and you’ll have to educate yourself along the way. You’ll have to research what foods satisfy what certain nutrients that you are no longer getting from meat. You’ll also have to do your research every time you want to go out to eat. This can honestly be one of the most frustrating parts of vegetarianism. Anytime your friends want to go to a restaurant, you will have to look it up online, find their menu, and find out if there is something that you can eat or not. If you don’t, you may end up eating a lot of house salad with the meat on the side because a lot of restaurants can’t charge you properly for a salad without it.

5. Are you willing to cook?

If you don’t like to cook, then vegetarian life may be very difficult for you. As stated previously, eating out can be very limiting and frustrating, and cooking at home is one of the easiest and most cost efficient ways to eat vegetarian. Not only that, but if there is something that you miss or are craving from your meat eating days, being able to whip up a veggie friendly version of it is one of the most satisfying options there is!

Being a vegetarian can be really gratifying, and it’s a great way to eat clean and find new, fun ways to change up you’re lifestyle. Being a vegetarian myself, I can say that I’ve reaped a lot of benefits. Just make sure it’s the right choice for you before diving in head first.