Vegan/vegetarians

I was a hardcore vegetarian for a long time.

It all started in 7th grade when I went to Warped Tour for the first time. PETA was handing out this documentary. I went home, watched it and I was TRAUMATIZED. I quit meat then and there. I maintained the lifestyle for close to six years. But in that time frame I fell sick. I kept getting kidney stones. They originally theorized that it was all the greens -things like asparagus and celery are REALLY mineral heavy and hard for some people to process- and they thought I was one of those people.

Turns out, I had kidney disease.

I ended up giving up vegetarianism at the request of my doctor and nutritionist.

I do miss it, and sometimes I just don't find meat appetizing at all.
It's like I have to force it down.
I just have to keep reminding myself, I'm doing what's best for my own body.

I tried to become a vegetarian at 14 but that didn’t work out for a number of reasons. I copped a heap of criticism from my family, my mom refused to prepare separate meat-free meals for me, my anemia got worse and I kind of just really like meat

I am a vegetarian because I want to put an end to slaughterhouse abuse. I watched a documentary on slaughterhouse abuse and it got to me so bad that I started crying. Since then I haven't been able to even think about eating meat. And honestly, since I stopped eating meat, I don't really have a desire for the taste at all.

I went vegetarian a few months ago and it honestly is one of the best things I ever did. I wanted to go vegetarian a lot easier than this (I've pretty much not been using anything tested on animals since I was old enough to understand what it entailed), but I come from a big meat-eating family and I was always worried about what my parents would say. They've actually been pretty chill about it, so I wish I had done it earlier. I pretty much only ever ate chicken anyway and that was when I was forced to because nothing else was in the freezer.

Thing is, people keep asking me if it's costing me more money but I'd say that my grocery shopping budget has halved since I started, which is really nice. I buy a mix of the vegetarian alternatives from the supermarket and fresh foods / pastas to make and I'm eating a whole variety of things now, as opposed to the same 3 or 4 dishes I was buying and eating beforehand. My diet has improved tenfold and I'm feeling a lot better than I was when I was just eating chicken in [x] batter for dinner.

The only thing I struggle with is people telling me that they don't think it'll last. I found out recently that my friends actually had bets on when I'd cave, which was pretty hurtful. I've literally had no cravings for anything meat-based (and who wants to eat stuff with gelatine in it because that stuff is g r o s s) and they all know this, but still insist on telling me that they give it a year until I'm back to eating meat again. It honestly takes all of my self-preservation to not slap them all. I guess that's something I'll get used to though!

bona drag.:

People always ask if my diet is super expensive and I think it's actually cheaper to not eat meat. I think my food budget would increase a lot if I tried to incorporate meat because I saw that it was like £4 for chicken the other day. I get a lot of yoghurt for £4 every week.

The one thing I could never do is go vegan. I like dairy far too much.

SERIOUSLY! I'm saying! I've been preparing a lot of meat-free dishes lately (half forgetting to thaw something, half curiosity for recipes I've found) and it's all so much cheaper and better than meat! At this point I've eliminated everything but fish (and that's only a once or twice every couple weeks thing). Kind of dragging my feet on actually diving back in, not even really sure why. I'm almost there!

@ BecauseSheSaidSo
I feel the same. I've never seen any documentary on slaughter houses (but I became a vegetarian bc I am
transitioning into Buddhism. While it's not "required" I think it's the right thing to do in general) but I read The Jungle. Yeah. I don't think I need to explain lol.

@ The Real Mitt Romney
Ah, yeah if you are very squeamish or cannot handle graphic images, then I suggest you don't watch the slaughterhouse videos.

I went vegetarian when I was 14, so eight years ago this New Years. My dad had been vegetarian all my life (and around ten years before I was born) and it was always something I wanted to do. I went veggie mostly because of my dad, at least partially because I honestly idolise him (and he bet me I couldn't), but I always loved animals and there were always cows and sheep in the fields near my house, which I loved and thought were beautiful. And it just made sense and was actually really easy.

Then I hit 21 and for some reason became lactose intolerant. It was always my end goal to become vegan anyway - again, my dad's influence; he became vegan when I went veggie and when I expressed an interest he showed me the material - but the agony of dairy-induced indigestion and trapped wind sealed the deal for me. I went vegan January this year, so it's still pretty recent. When we visited France in August I reverted back to veggie for the experience - y'know, real deal French cheeses and chocolates - but I was in so much pain the whole time.

Tbh, if it wasn't for the lactose intolerance I'd probably have given up being vegan by now because it's just so damn expensive. I still eat products made in a factory that handles dairy and I'll drink Starbucks without asking questions, but if they specifically tell me it does or may contain milk, or a product I want says the words 'may contain milk or eggs', I won't touch it. That differentiation in language is a big thing for me. 'Made in a factory which handles...' is worlds away from 'May contain...' in my books - the risk is greater in the latter.

My friend is constantly asking me if I'll get offended if she gets meat/cheese/both in her sandwich or meal, and I tell her it doesn't bother me. I don't care what anyone else eats; I breathe through my mouth near a burger bar or a barbecue, but I don't say anything. Just because I hate the principle and the smell, doesn't mean my views are more important. I don't say anything because the general population likes it - it's unfair of me, as a minority, to object.

Also, I've never had to take a single pill or vitamin to supplement my diet. Ever. I get all the vitamins and minerals I need from veg, nuts, pulses and soy products. I have given blood three times a year since I was 17 and have never once been close to anaemia and have had no diet related problems (just putting that out there). You do not need meat to survive. My dad has been vegetarian since the early 80's and vegan since 2006. Obviously this does not apply to everyone and some people do need supplements to their diet...

Just my personal experience (my best friend has raw vegan cousins and they're the healthiest people he knows but again, that's them and not the whole world...).

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