I have been a vegetarian since I was a child - just refused to eat meat because I didn't like the texture.

I can honestly say it is so much easier to be a vegetarian now than it was even 5 years ago. There are great meat substitutes that can be found in regular grocery stores or a local health food store. And restaurants willingly change meat based dishes to a vegetarian option at requests, when they never would in the past (my fave is Olive Garden's Chicken Giradino (sp?) - no chicken, double veggies - yummy!)

I would just recommend really reading labels and determining the nutritional value of the food. As a vegetarian its essential to look for protein and iron - especially if you are not using tofu, soy and other meat substitues or if you are going vegan. For example - the Barilla Pasta + with protein and iron is more expensive than their regular pasta but its worth it for the nutrients. Take multi-vitamins but most of your vitamins and nutrients still need to come from solid food.

Good luck and enjoy!