Vegetarian?
 

This is mainly directed at the vegetarians on this site. But I have a few questions.

What's it like being vegetarian?
Does it take time getting used to?
Is it hard at first?
And finally;

Should I go vegetarian?

I've been thinking but I dunno yet, so I'd like to get your opinions on it.

Cheers

I'm about a week into being one, really just for eating healthier. If you wanna save animals, that's fine too.

I became a vegetarian four years ago, mostly due to health reasons. I have a bad stomach condition and meat makes me very ill. I didn't find it too hard to get used to, but then again, I never really liked the taste of meat when I did eat it.

I'm not sure of yr reasoning for turning vegetarian, but try it anyway and see if it's for you. That's probably the best way to know.

i was vegetarian for about 5 years, then i stopped in 2005, sushi, kebabs & bacon sandwiches.
sometimes i think i should go back to it, or stop eating meat and only eat fish, but being vegetarian gets kind of dull.

i've been a vegetarian since i was ten, so i honestly don't really remember what it is not to be one, but i do know it has to be your own choice... i became one because i disliked the taste of meat and fish for as long as i remember, which makes it easy to be vegetarian..

it might be a bit hard sometimes, as you have to get 'special arrangements' at certain occasions, and sometimes people forget that there's a vegetarian in the company... and you have to watch your food more, which i think is a good thing: it really makes you think about what you stuff your face with.

so i'd say, go for what you want yourself!

I have never cared about food enough to notice, but I'm basically a vegetarian. Not a vegan at all... but I don't eat meat ever. Hmm. So I dunno. The hardest part, really, is at thanksgiving/christmas. Which I wouldn't celebrate at all if it wasn't for the fam. But then, I don't want to start any arguments and I'll take a little nibble of turkey. It's not going to hurt me. I don't feel all political or anything regarding animal rights or whatever. I just don't really enjoy the taste of animal flesh usually. Meh.

Fish are not meat: that's a bit weird to me (although widely accepted).

yes i never understood that either. they gave me fish all the time on a school trip, and loooked really funny at me when i said i didn't eat fish either.

I've been veggie for about 30 years.
The only time I find it difficult is when I go to Mexico. The concept of vegetarianism seems pretty alien to most people out there.

I went veggie for ethical reasons, but I can't advise you as to whether it's right for you or not. Give it a try.

my wife and son do not really like meat, so I'm forced to eat meatless dishes, most of the time.

personally, I enjoy rending the flesh of small animals with my teeth. I wish I was able to do it more often.

Yes. I mean, obviously it's a personal choice, but since you asked...

1.) Ethical reasons--There's a ton of footage, I'm sure, of the goings on at the slaughterhouse. If you watch and are willing to participate and support the practice, eat meat. Also, watch footage of the animals cramped into the smallest possible space, living on top a bed of feces. If you think such practices are fine, eat meat.

2.) Enviornmental- At least in America, the majority of the grains that feed animals are grown in the razed land of the rain forest, where land and labor are dirt cheap.

3.) Health- When you eat a burger, you are actually eating hundreds of cows. The parts from a multitude of cows are ground into burger, and if one cow is less than healthy, the entire batch is contaminated. This happens all the time.

"Free range" animals raised locally would solve some of the above problems, except, of course the first. It would also be a hell of a lot more expensive.

Personally, the ethics of killing animals for no good reason (anything you can get from animals you can get elsewhere) is the biggest reason why I'm a vegetarian. If I ate one animal, there's nothing to prevent me from eating my cat other than "convention," which I laugh at in general. Needless to say, I would never eat my cat.

By the way, when I became a vegetarian 14 years ago, I promised myself that I wouldn't badger people about what they ate. Sadly, this curtousy has not been returned and I've taken years and years of shit from people who probably deep down suspect I'm actually on to something. The only reason why I've gone on about not eating meat is because, again, you asked.

its great, you live on food that can rightfully be called such.

yes, it takes a lot of time, I suggest taking it slow and steady, working it into your diet, or more correctly, working meat and animal products out of your diet gradually, try one or two days out of the week for a start.

it is hard? no, I actually eat a greater variety of vegan food then when I ate whatever I wanted too..

I say go for it.

I have been having exactly the opposite experience, I have never eaten such a wide variety of foods and flavors until becoming vegan, after all, when you can't just eat the same ol burger that everyone else is eating for lunch, you tend to look around for something entirely different than the usual. your routines become far more interesting

In regards to animal rights and cruelty etc etc..

yes the meat and animal by-products industries in america are truly a nightmare, its almost like Upton Sinclair never even existed in some circumstances, but I find this is not a convincing argument to many americans, after all, some take it as a challenge, like you said, "I dare you to eat that dangerously processed animal food product" as if Joe Rogan was at everyone's dinner..

I've tried it several times. Longest stretch was about 8 months with no meat at all. Still now, well until the last two weeks when I said 'fuck it' for a while, I rarely eat it usually.

I did a hardcore vegan diet for one month once, just to see if I could make it. I did it, and I felt great the whole time, but I didn't have the discipline to keep it up.

you can always return gradually :)

life is a two way street..

or as Bob sang, "life is one big road with lots of signs, so when you ridin through the ruts don't you complicate your mind.."

lol...

I would, but this looks too appealing:

I have a vegetarian diet, with meat-based supplements such as black pudding, veal, duck etc.

I've read lots of the vegetarian literature - I have a friend who's a hard-liner. I'd have a hard time giving it up though. I've also killed animals to eat them. And still, I like meat.

I see your american steak and potatoes, and up you an Ethiopian vegan plate (what I am coincidentally having for lunch today)

Sorry, can't see it...

I can't do the vegetarian thing anymore; I enjoy a nice piece of meat in my mouth once in awhile.

There's an interesting inversion occurs in language whereby the so-called 'euphemism' comes to supplant the explicit object which it seeks to cloak. To wit, the above seems more unecessary than saying "I like to suck cock" due to the (by now) frail nature of its ruse (viz., this is not 1940).

Glice's loquacious observations, #39.

I tell you what though I'd 'do' vegetarianism, if you know what I mean. By which I mean, I'd have sex with a vegetarian. Woman. With my penis.

i am an omnivore, like all humans.

I eat anything that keeps me alive another day.

last night my g/f and I had caviar and brie cheese and strawberries ad blackberries for dinne.

Kegmama's sagacious ascertainments #69:

Your eloquent, perspicacious demeanor and frequent, incessant use of eminently intelligent words, most definitely qualifies you a prick and not just a dick. Congrats my friend.

I'd enjoy being a vegetarian, but I get cooked meat everyday, so I eat what I am given. If you wanna be one, then go for it!

i'm the only vegetarian in a family of eight. you just have to take some responsibility yourself and make sure you get your own good food. i usually eat what the others eat, minus the meat, and add something to make up for it.

For me vegetarianism wasn't hard at all to get used to. In fact it was way easier than I thought. The first two weeks it slipped my mind, and I was still drinking Clamato juice not thinking of the clam in it at all, but it's very easy to do.

One of the difficult parts is having people ask you why you decide to eat veg, and often argue in defense of their own diet. I only talk about why I'm vegetarian if others ask, and unfortunately there are many who take offense to what you say, purely because they feel like you are criticizing their diet.

My personal reasoning is primarily because animal consumption is unethical to me. If you can choose for there to be less suffering, then do it. The conditions are shocking for what the animals go through. I find eating an animal is unusual, it's convention that drives people to eat it. The beef industry alone causes more pollution than cars on the road as well.

It's healthy for you too, just watch your protein and B12 and you'll be fine, just make sure to supplement properly.

sure why now if you want to then do it.

I've been vegan for about 8 years and vegetarian for about 2 years before that.

I don't find it hard at all. I eat out at a lot of restaurants and cafes etc, and they can usually nearly always accommodate for my needs/diet, and the ones who don't want to (and some aren't willing to) I move on.
It used to be a lot harder when I started out but these days its a lot easier - most supermarkets in fact have a decent vege section.

I don't see it as a task or an issue at all when it comes to me eating... its more of an issue for others, surprisingly.

And yeah, like others have said, take vitamin supplements and you'll be fine, this applies to meat eaters as well - eating meat doesn't mean a healthy diet.

I didn't think there was this many vegetarians/vegans on this site! I'll slowly and gradually become a vegetarian. :)

Cheers guys

my niece decided to become vego when she was four, she is now 11 and still vego. no one else in her immediate family is and it was completely her decision, which, is very cool for a four yr old to make that kind of decision off her own back.

myself however, i was vego for a few years and was not for me. i worship the many and varied flavours, textures and cuts of the mightiest of noble creatures the pig.

My sis is the only vegetarian in my family.

Veg is way easier than I thought dude. And i'm a beefy guy. Haven't really lost weight from it but I know inside i'm healthier.

When I was 17, my problem was to gain weight, not losing some.
You seem very ahead of your age.

it's not true that you will lose weight when becoming a vegetarian, but i do notice i have less problems with staying at the same weight than other people... since you miss out on so many greasy foods (think of all the grease used to prepare the meat), i can have more treats than others without gaining much. actually my nutritionist literally told me to eat some more butter on my bread, since i even had to make sure i got enough fatty foods.

mmmm interesting. I'm the same as my mates (weight wise) but I'd still like to be skinnier.

cut back on candy and move enough and you'll be fine.

Don't eat candy and I ride my BMX flat out 1 hr a day. :D

your weight will probably be fine then ;-)