When did you consider yourself a Veggie?

I've been lacto/ovo for awhile, but whenever I catch up with old friends, I have a hard time telling them.  Why?  The answer is simple.. the last time they saw me (over a year ago) I was eating meat.  It doesn't seem to click in their minds that a lot of things can change over the course of a year or two. 

The day I gave up meat again, I was not comfortable claiming to be a vegetarian.  After a month, I still wasn't comfortable with claiming the title.  I didn't want to claim something that I might fail at.. that I had failed at before.  Today my will power is a lot stronger, and my motivation is as well.  I will claim it proudly. 

Soooo, the question is..... when did you become comfortable claiming it?  The first day?  The first month?  :)

I still don't claim it, and it's been a while.  I just say " I choose to eat a plant based diet" and leave it at that. 

I don't like to use the term "vegetarian" becuase then people assume that I will eat dairy, eggs...or fish even. 

But if I say "vegan" people start to either judge - like look at my feet to see if  my shoes are leather, or they question if it is "healthy" and start telling me how they heard that being vegan makes your brain shrink.

I announced it right away to my boyfriend.  I was building up to it for awhile, and had my "last supper" and told him that was it: I was gonna be veggie.  The reason I told him was so that I would be held accountable.  That is, by sharing it, I can't renege and eat meat.  I'm big on honor and keeping my word, so if I say I'm going to do something, I do it. xD  I know that sounds weird, but it works for me.

Don't get me wrong: I love being vegetarian, and I have several good reasons (for me) to be one.  I just wanted to doubly make sure I wouldn't cave into cravings.

My friends found out by accident when I was out at a dinner.  It was at a teppenyaki place, and while everyone else was ordering steak and prawn and salmon, I ordered the tofu.  The waitress asked if I was vegetarian (to better accomodate my menu), and I answered "yes".  Jaws dropped. o.O  I got some ribbing, but nobody asked why, so it wasn't too uncomfortable.

I still don't claim it; I prefer to say that I hardly ever eat meat; they have judged me from the second they saw I skip the french fries and pizza and head to the salads lol I do eat egg whites - i'm allergic to yolk - and diary products though.

 

Although I'm not vegan I don't wear leather and fur. Never have actually. I am also trying to make my house as eco-friendly as possible. I shop at the farmer's market.

I agree with the others...I still don't "claim" it really.  Sometimes when I meet new people, I just tell them I am vegan because that is easiest for them to understand, but really it's a lot more complicated.  I have been "mostly veg" for over 10 years now, but I haven't really considered myself a true veg since I was in highschool (and I totally wasn't then...I was a fashion veg/pescatarian).

It took me several months before I proclaimed vegan.  Actually I went raw, first and later eased up to simply vegan.  I wasn't sure this was something I would stick to, and it felt like a huge commitment.

Everyone at work was asking like 100 questions... every day when I would beat around the bush.  Not that it was any of their business.  I got tired of saying I'm trying to eat healthy, I'm trying not to eat this, or trying to eat more veg.  Eventually I just said "Yes, I'm a vegan."

Now they just point through the window to the field of grass across the street and offer to take me out to lunch.  Which was funny the first time.  Not so amusing after a few dozen, yet not offensive.  Whatever.

I know what you mean. I still haven't told a lot of my friends yet.

But I started to call my self a vegetarian around March.. but due to health issues I do have to eat fish now. And I'm not so comfortable with the term 'pescetarian'. It just seems like a wannabe vegetarian, but I'm still eating an animal.

So as of now, I'm not so sure what to call myself. Eventually I will stop eating fish again though.

I just realized that I'm better off with not addressing the issue.  I'm tried of everyone making fun of me.  You think it would get old... I'm here to tell you, it doesn't.  Anytime I attempt to eat around friends, I am loaded down with questions and statements about how I'm so wrong for doing this...  Why do I have to be a drag because I don't want to shovel dead cow into my mouth too?!