Why are you Vegetarian or Vegan?

I am very curious to learn the reasons behind those who have chosen the path of vegetarianism and being vegan. 

I recently gave up eating meat about a month ago.  I had been on a weight loss plateau for a few months and became very frustrated.  I knew i needed to make a change some where along the line, but was not sure where to start.  someone recommended just doing a fruit and veggie diet for the week to kick start things.  I thought it over and decided that wasn't such a bad idea.

I couldnt believe how much energy i had that first week without having any meat in my diet.  I made sure i got my protein through other sources and felt great.  I started to research some of the health benefits of having a meatless diet and was blown away at the statistics that showed such a large decrease in heart disease, cancer, diabetes ects.  That was all it took for me to decide no way is meat worth the risk of my health.  

I went out for dinner one night with family had a beef burger just to try it out and got SOOOO sick from it, my stomach felt awful! 

It has also helped me get off my plateau which is AWESOME and my food selection includes such healthier options. 

So my reasonings have nothing to do with animal rights ect.  Im all for others eating wilbur and bessy...just personally not interested in it any longer for myself.

i'm a new vegetarian too! i do it because meat is the most concentrated source of protein there is, protein builds muscle, and i'm wanting to slim out my muscles so i'm trying to eat a little less protein. i'm also doing it to help with my weight loss too. 

To be as healthy as possible...plus, it is better for the earth. And for the animals. But main reason was just for my body to be healthy.

it's kind of weird for me. one day i just decided to go vegetarian...just for the heck of it. one week turned into one month and one month turned into one year...and here i am, 2.5 years and still going. i guess it's like a competition for me. it has nothing to do with animal rights or health even. i just don't want to break my "streak"

I went off meat 9 years ago. Never really cared for it [that goes for dairy too, milk is so gross to me! however I do like cheese :D] but I soon realized after I stopped eating it how sick I had felt all the time when I was a meat-eater.

I couldn't eat it now even if I wanted too. For the first few months first I had bacon cravings, but then I tried some and got so sick, I'm pretty sure I just wanted the salty flavour. Going veggie anihilated my salt intake and just like sugar it was withdrawal cravings... now I barely use salt on anything!

I occasionally east fish (I guess that technically makes me a pescatarian, but for 1-2 times a year I don't bother trying to explain that to people)

I have tried on a few different occasions to be vegetarian, but I can't seem to last for more than four months. From what I've been told by my doctors it has to do with my blood type. Apparently type O+ blood needs tons of protein.

I wish I could be veg, but after a while I just start craving a steak.

I've vegan for the animals, that is my only reason. Better health, etc. are just bonuses for me. I saw a video of animals getting slaughtered at a factory farm when I was around 12 and that was it for me. Became vegan when i read about rennet.

i'm working on becoming vegetarian but am not there yet.  still having meat once or twice a week, maybe in a few weeks i can wean myself off it.  i've been trying to get as many nutrients as possible from basic foods, nothing too processed or too refined.  today i had a big workout and a few hours later and after food and a nap was still just so tired and drained, and i started thinking about fast food.... i think maybe if i stock up on some more processed but still pretty healthy stuff, maybe that will help me stick to the veggie thing better.  like keeping spicy bean burgers in the freezer, or trying some of the not-dog type things or something.

anyhoo, the reasons for my efforts are threefold: health (the stuff mentioned above about all the diseases that occur so much less frequently for vegetarians, also to enhance weightloss efforts), and because i love critters and don't want them to suffer, and also for the environment. 

I have had a field day finding substitutes for the foods I once loved like a nice juicy cheeseburger and fries.  So now I make portabella mushroom burgers on the grill with some cheese and sweet potato fries YUMMM!  I do not feel disgusting when I finish and im guilt free considering there is about 20-30 calories in a mushroom cap vs 300 in just the beef i had been consuming.  I never realized how few calories there are in veggies.  One zucchini is 30 calories!  Last night for dinner my husband and I ate grilled zucchini and stuffed mushroom caps for dinner and it was only 300 calories and we were completely stuffed.  Mushrooms are a great way to get that fulfilling meaty feeling.   I have not really ventured into eating boca burgers or any of the morning star foods, mainly because ive been on a veggie kick lately.  And am trying to stay away from processed foods as much as possible.   The internet is such a great resource for vegetarian recipes.

Do any of you get pressure or rediculed by family and friends for not eating meat??  I have had family members expect me to eat meat because i recently converted so what would be the big deal.  And how do you deal with gatherings where a meal is served?  Do you ask for a vegetarian option or just bring your own??

I went vegetarian 10 years ago for the animals and went vegan a couple of months ago.  After 10 years my family still makes comments and since going vegan its been a lot worst.  My 5 year old  is also vegan now and they are always trying to get him to eat stuff.  It was his choice he's always ate meat but one day he just decided he wasn't going to anymore.  I usually bring my own food, snacks and drinks its just easier then asking people what's in something they made.  It doesn't stop all the comments but I do think it helps.  And people love the vegan desserts I bring to cookouts.

I would always get sick while eating meat, but once I stopped eating meat I felt so much better. I don't know if it was the meat making me sick, or the guilt of eating an animal. I always knew back in my mind that I was eating an animal that was raised for the soul purpose of being slaughtered and it just disgusted me. I've only been a vegetarian for 15 months, but I feel so much better. I don't even crave meat. I've never eaten a burger in my whole life, I was always more of a chicken eater, if that "changes" anything xD

I'm proud of being a vegetarian, though I haven't met another one at my school. I guess going to a small town high school in TEXAS (practically the BBQ capital of the world) doesn't help much...

I want to go vegan so bad, but I can't give up cheese.

Cheese was the last thing I gave up and it was very hard doing it.  Maybe because there is nothing to replace it with.  My son let go of the whole cheese thing faster then I did not sure why.  I do miss pizza I make it with the follow your heart brand mozz cheese(its the only one that I can find that melts) but its not the same.  And there is nothing to replace cheese and crackers but since I'm trying to lose weight I guess thats a good thing.  It does get easier the longer you do without it.

I'm a vegetarian (lacto-ovo) because I just don't like meat.  Mostly, it's the texture that grosses me out.  I don't particularly like the flavor either. 

I'm vegan because i don't believe in exploiting the weak and innocent and I'm try to live according to my beliefs.

Original Post by croweej:

I'm a vegetarian (lacto-ovo) because I just don't like meat.  Mostly, it's the texture that grosses me out.  I don't particularly like the flavor either. 

 Exactly like me! I just started hated it when i was 9 and, well, it just took its course. :p

i mainly stray to a vegetarian diet because it was how i was raised. i would love to be vegan as i also have been in the past when i stayed the summer at my cousins house in san diego with beach bums and surfers =] and i enjoyed it i felt better about myself. currently im trying to rebuild my body to its optimum health so i include a bit of meat for the boost. but i stick to it because it was how i was raised. im used to it. i also hate eating anything that bleeds. not because i feel bad for the animal. just the mere fact that it bleeds. it flips me out sometimes. when my dad regresses back into being a carnivore e got into a health kick and wanted everything "fresh". i guess he was thinking about "fresh" meat too, because growing up in Peru-on a farm you had to kill your own chickens/rabbits/cows to eat. well a few years back he went to china town and brought home a beautiful rabbit. about half an hour later i walk into the kitchen and see blood and fur all over the kitchen sink. and the heart/intestines/stomach/and head were all separated into neat metal bowls.  after that  just the smell of raw meat is enough to make me gag

I was one of those kids that truly hated meat.  I used to pick it out of my food and feed it to the neighbor's dog or throw it out..except tuna casserole..for some reason I loved that!  When I got caught getting rid of it, I used to get punished...I was punished a lot by my mom and the punishmenst usually involved the meat I had picked out of the food.

As I grew up I realized I didn't have to eat it, no one was forcing me any more, so I was able to become a vegetarian.  I never told anyone, I just didn't eat any meat. When I finally shared it with my family I had to listen to years of "Oh great, how can we go out to eat? What will she eat?"  I had never ever made a fuss, so I have no clue why they acted like that.

It finally dawned on me I don't like dairy products either (except cheese) so I gave that up too and became vegan.

I am happy & healthy and glad I made that decision.  My hubby is an omni and we still get along just fine. 

 

 

Original Post by cmmutter:

I have tried on a few different occasions to be vegetarian, but I can't seem to last for more than four months. From what I've been told by my doctors it has to do with my blood type. Apparently type O+ blood needs tons of protein.

I wish I could be veg, but after a while I just start craving a steak.

There are two types of vegetarians: processed and non-processed

Processed are ones that choose a lot of soycheeses, mock meats, ready made veggie meals and eat chips etc compared to nuts, fresh fruits veggies, seeds (hemp one of my favs), beans, etc

When I first started out I was more or less a processed vegan. I never felt quite satisfied, but as I learnt more I made wiser decisions. A lot of non-processed foods have a high amount of protein if that is what u are after. I get my protein from seeds (hemp protein), nuts, and occasionally beans. 

Perhaps u are choosing things that don't fill u up and satisfy you? Just a suggestion..

 

Back to the real question:

1. environment/health- tie for number one!

2. compassion - if you can't eat ur dog why would u eat a cow?

I grew up on a farm and if I don't know what into that animal when it was alive, I'm so not eating it dead.  Also, I know on the farm it's treated well and allowed to free range about 5 acres of land.  My parents only keep about three cows at any one time.  About once a year my parents bring up some beef fresh off the farm and I have a hay day for about a month, then back to vegies.  I don't even eat eggs for fear of what they're giving the chickens, and my HOA won't let me have a hen in the back yard.  I love milk too much to give it up, so I try not to think about what antibotics and such they probably gave the cow which probably lives in a factory farm.  Those thoughts make me sick.

well my mother is a vegetarian and my father is too although he has tried chicken once or twice, it's nto for religious reasons iw as simply raised that way and have no desire to try it regardless of people telling me i'm "missing out" on something. I never really saw the benefits of my lifestyle just the cons to it frowing up but now i'm glad i stuck to it.

I'm what is technically called a "flexitarian"

This basically means I have my own set of rules which are somewhat vegetarian.  I eat poultry and seafood.  People have asked me why I eat poultry but not red meat and I don't really have a good answer except for that pigs and cows are way closer to being human.  The fact that they are mammals and super-smart animals makes me view them not as meat.  When I see ground hamburger I see a cow, not a yummy cheeseburger.  This flexible way of being a vegetarian is ideal for me because I don't have to worry about not getting the correct blend of proteins and such since I do get some animal proteins.  Also cows raised to provide humans with meat and cheese and milk produce a TON of the methane that is released into the atmosphere and they use up so much energy.  Red meat is not an energy-efficient or environmentally friendly food.