how do I stop eating meat

Give yourself a two week license to eat as many chips as you want and after you will pretty much be out of the cravings period. But also it helps to get out of the deficit mindset ('stop eating meat') and get into a positive mindset ('start eating interesting plant-based meals'). Having a good cookbook helps. I like the America Test Kitchen Vegetarian cookbook with some modifications or the Moosewood Diner cookbook for quicker meals.

Replace it with other filling and tasty proteins. There are meat alternative products such as beyond and impossible which replicate stuff like chicken, ground beef, meatballs etc but all plant based. Incorporating proteins like tofu, tempeh, and seitan is also great, as they’re less expensive and very nutritious. I’d also recommend dishes with pulses and legumes, any kinds of beans, lentils, chickpeas etc are gonna get your protein needs met and they’re just really tasty

To be honest, if you get really strong meat cravings, what if you eat vegan and then only eat meat when you get really strong cravings? You would still likely drastically reduce your meat consumption. If you told yourself you were going completely vegan overnight it would probably take you a while to get to the point where you're completely itching for [insert your favourite meat here]. Do you think you could do something like meat-free Mondays? What about the inverse—eat meat once a week and be vegan all other days of the week?

I think it would help if you found some vegan recipes or vegan food you really like. I find that Cheap Lazy Vegan has some decent recipes.

Also look into cuisines that are already very vegan-friendly. I like Indian curries. I make myself red lentil dahl and chana masala quite a lot. It's hard to go wrong with a curry; they're full of spices so they are just flavour. If you find yourself enjoying a meal that's already vegan then you'll be motivated to make it more, and therefore eat it in place of a non-vegan meal.

I can't give universal advice, I can only tell you what has worked for me. Every person is unique.

Expectations: I think you have to free yourself from being able to become a vegan in one day. The whole thing is a transition that can take many months. You try to find animal-free alternatives step by step and replace them bit by bit. At some point you get used to it and can't imagine anything else.

Motivation: I watched the worst and cruelest documentaries on animal exploitation/suffering that I could find. I cried a lot and still forced myself to finish watching them. This cemented my decision to become a vegan and stay vegan. I also talk to other vegans whenever possible, which also helps a lot.

Food: For example, I don't enjoy cooking complicated dishes and keep it simple, so it's easier for me to motivate myself to cook something quickly. Here are a few examples of what I often cook: salad with garlic bread, beans with garlic and onions, broccoli casserole with vegan cheese, Brussels sprouts with potatoes, rice with beans, pasta with tomato sauce, etc. Between meals I eat bread with hummus, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, jam or lots of fruit such as apples, pears, grapes, peaches, apricots, depending on the season and nuts. If I absolutely can't bring myself to cook, then I order vegan delivery food or make vegan ready meals. But I try to avoid that because they are often unhealthier and more expensive.

Clothing and other goods: It's quite a lot of work to research every purchase to see if what you want to buy is really vegan. There are vegan labels that are helpful, but it's still a lot of work sometimes. Depending on where you live, there may also be stores that specialize in vegan products. This means you don't have to do all the reseach by yourself. I try to consume less, repair broken things and generally avoid products that can't be repaired. Second-hand is also often a good idea.

Limits: It's okay to have limits. Nobody is perfect. It's better to avoid 98% animal suffering than not at all. Drugs/medicines, for example, are unfortunately the line I draw, as there is often no choice of animal-free alternatives. So sometimes I only have the choice of avoiding medication altogether and then staying ill. I very much hope that this will improve in the future and that more animal-free medicines will be available.

I get where you are coming from, I experienced something similar. It wasn’t so much that I desired meat, because I didn’t really. I was ready to give it up. It was more that I just didn’t know how to replace all the meat I would normally consume. Like, it would be time make dinner and I would just sorta blank out and have no idea what to make because I was so used to basing meals (dinner especially) around meat.

If that describes your situation, then I would suggest a 2 step process:

1. Go online and try to grab as many interesting vegan recipes that you can find. Even just pictures of vegan food can open up ideas.

2. Invest time, if you are able, in planning out each of your meals for the week or even just the next couple days. If you have a plan and have all the ingredients set up in advance, I think you’ll find it’s much easier.

An additional tip if you happen to live in a larger city with vegan restaurants… see if they will sell you their “meat” separately. For example, one of my local places will let you buy any of the vegan “meats” they make by the pound, but they don’t advertise it. It’s a great replacement for lunch meat. You could just email them and see if they would do it. I find most vegan restaurants are pretty cool about stuff like that.

It's as simple as not buying it. There's no trick.

Check out some stuff like the vegan home cooks discord for some recipes, some blogs in whatever cusine you enjoy. Then make those foods.