how to be vegetarian if meat/fish eater? can it be gradual or abrupt total stop?

Transitioning to a vegetarian diet, particularly for those accustomed to consuming meat or fish, is a significant change that the sources address with practical advice and considerations.

Gradual or Abrupt Transition

The sources generally recommend a progressive or gradual approach to dietary reform, especially when moving away from a meat-based diet. It is advised that changes should be made with great care, cautiously and wisely. Specifically, "none should be urged to make the change abruptly", and radical changes cannot be made suddenly for everyone. Wisdom should be used not to remove meat all at once from those who have been in the habit of using it, but rather to educate the mind to see the importance of healthful food. Forcing changes can be worthless, as people may revert to their old habits.

However, some sources also present personal experiences or specific situations where an abrupt stop is mentioned:

• One individual's experience involved breaking away "at once—from meat and butter, and from three meals" while engaged in demanding brain work, and experiencing improved health.
• For "accursed things" like liquor, the instruction is to "leave the accursed thing once and forever". While meat is not equated to liquor in all contexts, the principle of decisive action against harmful indulgences is present.
• The overall message is that "meat-eating will eventually be done away; flesh will cease to form a part of their diet" among those preparing for the Lord's coming, and people should work steadily toward this goal.

Challenges When Discontinuing Meat/Fish

When individuals discontinue the use of flesh food, they may often experience a sense of weakness or a lack of vigor. This feeling can be mistaken as evidence that meat is essential, but it is actually because meat-based foods are stimulating, fevering the blood and exciting the nerves, which causes them to be missed. This initial weakness is temporary; once the system is cleansed from the effects of this diet, the weakness ceases, and the desire for meat diminishes.

Other challenges include:

• Perverted Appetite and Lifelong Habit: Appetites may be "depraved" and crave meat, making it difficult to satisfy with wholesome alternatives. This craving for meat has often been "made and educated by man". Overcoming these deeply ingrained habits can be as hard as it is for a drunkard to give up alcohol.
• Physical and Mental Effects: Meat eating can cause faintness due to digestive organs being overtaxed. It can also lead to mental dullness and weakened moral sensibilities.
• Lack of Knowledge in Preparation: Some individuals return to meat because they do not know how to prepare proper, appetizing food to replace it.

How to Successfully Transition to a Vegetarian Diet

1. Prioritize Wholesome, Varied, and Well-Prepared Foods:

   • The primary diet should consist of grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. These contain all the nutritive properties necessary to make good blood.
   • Food should be prepared with simplicity, yet with a nicety which will invite the appetite. Meals should be varied, not the same dishes day after day.
   • It is essential to keep grease out of food, and avoid highly seasoned meats, rich gravies, cakes, preserves, spices, and pickles.
   • Milk, eggs, and butter are not to be classed with flesh meat and their use is not currently advised to be wholly discarded, especially for those in poverty-stricken areas or with specific needs, provided they are obtained from healthy animals. However, the sources note that their use will become more unsafe as animal disease increases.
   • Salt is considered essential for the blood, but large quantities should be avoided.
   • Cooking schools are emphasized to teach people how to prepare healthful and palatable foods without meat, milk, or butter, especially for the poor.

2. Eating Habits:

   • Eat fewer kinds of food at one meal (two or three).
   • Eat slowly and thoroughly masticate food.
   • Avoid eating between meals; regular meal times are crucial for digestive health.
   • Generally, two meals a day is found beneficial, but a very light third meal can be taken if needed, several hours before bed.
   • Do not overeat, even of healthful food, as it burdens the digestive organs and can dull the intellect.

3. Understanding and Principle:

   • It is crucial to act from moral and religious principle, not just impulse or because others do.
   • Study "cause and effect" in diet.
   • Self-control is essential, to keep appetite under the control of reason.
   • Acknowledge that not everyone can follow the exact same rules; flexibility and consideration for individual needs are important.
   • Do not make meat-eating a test of fellowship, but educate people on its dangers.

Reasons for Avoiding Meat/Fish

The sources extensively highlight the negative impacts of consuming flesh:

• Disease in Animals: Animals are increasingly diseased, and eating their flesh can transmit these diseases (cancers, tumors, scrofula, tuberculosis, etc.) to humans, corrupting the blood and causing various ailments.
• Unnatural and Perverted Appetite: Eating flesh is considered unnatural, as God's original design for humanity's diet was fruits, grains, and vegetables. It is a "grossly perverted taste" that accepts such food, and the thought of dead flesh rotting in the stomach is described as revolting.
• Moral and Intellectual Deterioration: Meat consumption is believed to strengthen "animal propensities" and "lower passions," while weakening intellectual and moral powers, making it harder to discern spiritual things and control one's character. It makes the brain less clear and the intellect less active.
• Discouraging Cruelty: The sources suggest that consuming meat involves cruelty to animals and destroys tenderness toward God's creatures.

Important Considerations for Reformers

• No Unvarying Rule: It is impossible to make an unvarying rule for everyone's diet, as individual needs and circumstances differ.
• Avoiding Extremes: While reform is encouraged, going to extremes or advocating a "starvation diet" can bring discredit to health reform. Food should be appetizing and nourishing.
• Meeting People Where They Are: When teaching health reform, especially to the poor or those in different countries, it's important to be tactful and meet people where they are, considering their circumstances and long-standing habits.

Ultimately, the decision to change diet should be made from a sense of duty and a desire to glorify God in all things, allowing reason to control appetite.