I think I am becoming Vegetarian or Vegan

OMG...

I went to the link Meat.org and i literally shed tears! Thats so terrible and it really hurts my feelings that they go through that! OMG I cant get over it...WHY?

From this second on I refuse to eat meat is there anyone out there that can help me understand more about the Vegetarian lifestyle?

well basically, you dont eat meat.

haha any specifics? this is a pretty broad question.

Here is a thread I started a while back where I asked questions and received some really useful info from members of this board:
http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/page /1/40813.html

I also suggest you do a board search as so many topics have been covered here before.

Also check this website out for basic info on vegetarianism:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/

There is a great veg starter kit on the site too.

HA lol yeah sorry about that...

How do i get started!? Just stop eating meat or are there certain items like gellatin i should avoid?( sorry if this is a stupiud question)

Ah Thank you NYCgirl!

I signed up for the starter kit....

Hi sammd734, that is how I got started with giving up meat too.  I saw some of the cruelty and it is so horrifying, I could not eat for almost a week.  I have eaten the occasional bit of fish (more pescetarian than vegetarian, or pescovegetarian) but I do not eat pigs, cows or chickens, no ducks, lambs or calves, etc.  Pigs are at least as intelligent as a three year old child and chickens are the most abused of all.  There are no laws protecting birds for food.  The cruelties are unimaginable and horrific.  I have been devastated over what I have seen in the last year or so.  Some days I can't get past it.  There is so much cruelty in the leather industry, the wool and cashmere industries and then there is animal-testing or products which is unbelievably cruel.  Pinning the eyes of rabbits open for days at a time and squirting in chemicals used to make such things as shampoos and hair dyes.  These and other horrible tests are happening right now, each and every day to millions of animals such as cats, dogs, mice, rabbits, monkeys and other species.  The vast majority of them are NOT required by law.  They are cruelties that are unnecessary and could easily be prevented.  These animals are not fed or given water or any other comforts such as pain relief during these tests and are often left to die with no painkillers, etc. on cold, hard steel, bloody and suffering.  They are sad, suffer pain and are lonely, experience stress, fear and grief, just like people.  This applies to animals and birds that experience cruelties in facory farming as well.  These precious creatures cannot understand why they are being tortured.  These are all things to consider when changing to this lifestyle.  I do not wish to push this on you; since you mentioned you were horrified by the cruelties, I thought I would inform you of others.  The biggest contributors to the cruel animal testing are Procter and Gamble (tons of brands including IAMS, Tide, Downy and many more), Unilever (Slim-Fast, Dove, Breyers and many more), Altria (formerly known as Philip Morris, owns brands such as Kraft, Nabisco, etc.), SC Johnson (many cleaners and other products), Johnson & Johnson and Colgate Palmolive.  Owner companies are listed on the packaging most of the time but you can check each of the respective websites for more current information, this could have changed since I last read about these companies.  I have a list of cruelty-free companies also.  If you are interested, please message me.

Shapeup thanks for that!

So I Haven't taken not one bite of meat since the 13th I am really proud of myself for not supporting their cruelty!

I will not lie there has been times where I will go to eat and grab meat not thinking ....but I will put it back as fast as possible! I literally find myself repelled now..>Ever since that movie! Shape up i am very interested in your list! I will message you asap!

Hi Sammy, You are so welcome! Please feel free to message me!  When you do, I can send you my email address if that is easier to get the list to you.  I am still trying to figure out how to get this thing to let me add friends and verify my emails so I can send more than two messages a day.  I can post as much as I want but I am limited to sending two mail messages daily.  I have to figure out how to fix that. 

Animal cruelty is one thing I truly cannot understand.  No animal should ever be harmed.  I hate it.  Tens of millions are tortured for testing, research and for food, not to mention the horrific living conditions, pain and suffering they endure.  I am happy to hear that you are interested in the cruelty free lifestyle.  Just by not eating animals, you save somewhere around 100 animals per year according to statistics.  Every small change you make to help animals makes a difference.  You have to believe that you are making a difference.  It's how you keep yourself positive and fighting for animal rights, as opposed to falling into a funk over the cruelty.  I have days like that where I can't get past that point and I cry, but how I get out if it is by remembering, or having a friend remind me, that if I sit here and cry for the abused animals, it doesn't change anything, but if I get off my tush and do something, then I am helping them.  By all means, most of us in this lifestyle mourn for these animals, but we have to keep plugging on if we are going to save them, you know?  We can't save them all unfortunately, but these changes we make reduce the numbers of tortured animals.  It's so sad that we cannot win the battle overnight, but more and more companies are choosing to stop testing, and by buying these cruelty free products and boycotting the testers, we are saving lives every day.  As the testers receive more and more pressure to stop, they are changing their practices one by one.  Celebrate the small victories!  They save lives! 

 Sorry for the little pep talk but I wanted to give you something to think about when you get sad for animals.  Congratulations on your first five days of cruelty free living!!! This is a great accomplishment!!!!!

 Sarah

 

i havent eaten chicken for months...

cuz, yeah, i have a pet chicken haha, and i keep imagining her being the one being eaten...=S

i want to stop having any other types of meat...because animal cruelty sickens me.

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