BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Vegetarian What kind of vegetarian are you, and why?

What kind of vegetarian are you? Why did you become a vegetarian? I became a vegetarian (I do eat eggs, and dairy) 9 years ago. I was writing my thesis for college about animal testing in the medical arena. But every reference book I used, had at least one chapter on the meat market. Believe it or not, my body began to be repulsed by meat, one at a time. During the period of six months or so, I had given up all meat and seafood.

Now, tell us your story.

Veronica
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I became a vegetarian almost 2 1/2 years ago (May 2002.) I was 14 years old then. I just decided one day that it was not worth it to kill animals just for me to eat. I had never really liked meat anyways, so I just told my parents and that was that. For a week or so I still ate fish, but I then decided to give that up as well. I still eat dairy and eggs because no animals were killed. Now, I am still totally happy and healthy as a vegetarian.

Lark

I became a vegetarian 12 years ago. (Boy, time flies.) I do eat dairy and couldn't live without it.

While in college, my roommate was a vegetarian and I thought it was strange. Before I knew it, I started thinking about it more and eating meat less.

Besides the environmental reasons and feeling sorry for the animals that are killed, I really just think it is gross to eat dead animals. To me, everyone else can eat whatever they want. I don't try to "convert" anyone. It's a little difficult eating other places because I want to make sure there isn't "meat juice" in anything.

I had a little bit of a hard time when our daughter started eating food, including meat. My husband feeds her meat and I don't. I can't cook anyway. (My husband puts up with a lot.)

I have no intentions of eating meat in the future. There are plenty of things to eat without it - especially if you love cheese!

I have been a vegetarian for 15 years now. I became one at the age of 18 when I joined PETA and decided I no longer wanted to eat the beautiful animals I had seen on my friends farm. I occassionally eat dairy although its very rare as Im lactose intolerant. I am repulsed by the mere thought of eating meat and could never go back to eating it. I love creating and turning dishes meatless and am lucky to have found a good friend who is also a vegetarian and who makes me lots of good vegetarian dishes. I'm excited I found this forum and can get more vegetarian dishes and make some new vegetarian friends! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I became meatless 7 months ago ,I read so much about additives they put in meat plus Im a animal lover and my home looked on a field of hundreds of cattle since I lived in the praries ,Then came mad cow disease. Later I heard about chickens having diseases .So I now eat veggies fruit and beans grains some fish. I dont eat eggs I have high cholestral and have to be care ful of Fat I changed to Olive oil only.I want to learn all kinds of new recipies and wondered if anyone out there has felt healthier and kept weight down from this life style.Good Day!

My first year anniversary as a vegeterian will be july 27th. I was in California on vacation when I decided to stop eating meat. There was some super-hippie crazed vegan guy on Venice Beach with a huge stand full of pictures of animals waiting to be killed, while they were being killed, and pictures of the conditions the animals live in. My appetite for meat was killed right then and there.
My stepdad and stepsister are die-hard steak fans, so as soon as I ordered my first meat-free meal, they started teasing me relentlessly. But I've stuck with it. I've also cut out as much processed foods as possible, so I eat as much organic as possible. I feel better than ever, I'm so happy I made this decision!

I have been veggie since 2002...when I found out what the animals go thru.I thought I cannot really claim to love animals if I eat them and support the cruelty.So I stopped.I have never felt better!I do not eat any fish,meat or poultry and don't eat eggs.I have never liked eggs...I eat some dairy tho,but rarely drink cow milk as WE don't need it!Both of my sisters and 2 of my cousins are also veg.I know several other non-meat eaters too...vegetariansim/veganism is becoming more popular every day!

My bf is a meat eater and well our daughter is semi veg...I will NOT buy her meat or cook meat.But every now and then Jason may take her to his buddy's and she gets meat there.Jason does like the veggie foods tho and will eat them when I cook them.

Believe it or not, I've never eaten meat in my entire life. My parents are vegetarian, so I was reared that way, and as an adult, I saw no need to slaughter animals so that I could stuff their insides into mine! The thought of eating meat just grosses me out. I occasionally eat dairy and eggs but not often.

I am a total vegan, I don't eat meat or fish or poulty or eggs, or dairy or honey. And I sure don't use any animal skins!! I went lacto-ovo vegetarian almost 5 years ago after I began researching into what the animals go through, about vegetarianism and world hunger, the environment, and your health. Then I went vegan two years ago this September 17, because I realized it's very hypocritical for me to just be vegetarian when dairy cows are sent to slaughter when they're exhausted, and oh God, everything laying hens go through! Why pick one animal and not the other? Plus all of the horrible things dairy can do...not for me! I am now proud to say that I can be considered "truly cruelty free". [color:"green"] [/color]

I have just decided to become a vegatarian in the last week. I am a big animal lover and a professional pet sitter and I read a book this weekend that just made me think. Eating meat has always been a habit - but now I realize I want to make a healthy and more compassionate choice with my diet.

My husband is going to struggle.. some of our favorite dishes are chicken - but hopefully we can substitute - I know there are plenty of great foods to eat as a vegetarian or vegan. (I haven't decieded on this yet). Hopefully I can pick up some good tips here.

Danielle

I'm not sure what category I fall under in terms of vegetarianism, but I do still consume some dairy (eggs, a tiny bit of milk, cheese, yogurt) and have fish once or twice a month. I used to be a huge meat eater, but always felt guilty about it...as with Danielle who posted before me, I'm a huge animal lover as well, and always carried that guilt around over enjoying steak or chicken. The problem was, I never seemed able to have the willpower to cut meat out of my diet. But that big push came almost four years ago when I was faced with a serious illness. I decided to cut meat out of my life for a short time, and once I did, never went back. I'm ashamed to say it took a personal reason such as that to prompt me into switching, rather than the plight of the animals themselves...but I do believe everything happens for a reason, and one of the reasons I wound up with illness was to give me that final push to follow what my heart believed all along.

There is also something I saw one day, a few years before I became ill, that still haunts me...and every time I think about missing that steak on the bbq, this vision reminds me of why I remain vegetarian. I was cycling to work one day and had to stop on a side street to fix the chain on my bike. While I was fumbling with it and concentrating on not getting covered in grease, I had the most eerie sense that I was being watched. So I stopped and looked around, and that's when I noticed the truck which was parked across the street. It was sitting in front of an old meat processing plant, and in the truck there must have been 8 or 10 head of cattle. I could see a couple of them staring over at me, so silent...not making a single sound. I went over to the truck and peered in at them, then reached up and touched the nose of one of them. He looked back at me, his huge brown eyes so gentle and trusting. And it struck me at that instant what was happening...they were waiting to be unloaded, to go into the plant and be slaughtered. I felt complete panic overcome me for a moment, and I desperately wanted to open the back of the truck and release them all. But there was nothing that would save them; they were in the middle of the city and there would be no place for them to go. I cried for them, and the silence that surrounded them was heartwrenching. Every once in a while I'd hear a soft breath, or the movement of a hoof upon the bottom of the trailer, but that was all. It was as if they knew they were meeting their fate, and had become resigned to it.

I cannot judge anyone who chooses to eat meat of any kind, or denounce it as wrong - after all, I was a meateater myself - but I wish there was a solution to the conditions we raise animals destined for supermarket shelves, and the way they meet their deaths. At the very least, I wish they could be provided with good lives for the brief time that they are here.

I am vegan and have been since 1993, vegetarian since 1976. I started for health reasons and continue for the same reasons. I do get a kick out of folks who say they are vegetarians, but eat some sort of flesh.
A dead animal is a dead animal and my stomach is not a graveyard for them

I've been lacto ovo for many years now. Wasn't ever crazy about meat but stopped eating it mainly due to the cruelty of the meat industry. A meat based diet is also much harder on the environment and it just seems wrong to base the majority of one's diet on meat.

I buy only organic cage free vegetarian fed hen eggs, and buy as much organic growth hormone free cheese as I can. Don't drink milk but buy organic for the spouse. Try to buy animal products mostly from good sources. Don't like giving money to @ssholes.

Ooh, pondlady, I love that saying about your stomach not being a graveyard. I think I'll put that on a button. (I collect vegan buttons.)

Also I agree about the people calling themselves veggie and still eating "chicken" or "fish." THAT'S NOT A PLANT. Have you guys heard of flexitarians? The people who eat meat but also "eat vegetarian food?" I think it's ridiculous. If you eat vegetables and also meat, does not mean you get some special name. My fiancee came up with a saying: "Fish is still meat, don't cheat." I thought that was a cute saying and will put it on a button.

Flexitarians??? Sounds like a new age religion.

I'm Vegan. It's the friendliest and healthiest diet. I can get all nutrients I need from plant foods. I can live without the flesh of animals, so I do not see the point in them suffering so that I can eat.

Laura, great to see you back. I, too, am vegan and have been since 1993, vegetarian since 1976. I agree with you re dead animals. I can't imagine eating them.

Thanks Jan. I can't imagine it either. Becoming vegan is one of the best things I have done.

I have been a vegan for about a year, and I was a vegetarian for several years before that. I became a vegetarian after seeing a pamphlet distributed to me by a cool hippie guy outside of a New Age store. I was so appalled by these images of suffering animals that I stopped eating meat that very day.

I made the switch to go vegan fairly recently, also due to a concern for animal rights. I feel happier and healthier than ever before!

I am a new lacto-ovo vegetariana. I only eat dairy products and no eggs, meat, fish, chicken. I got my boyfriend into being a lacto-ovo vegetarian. We both agreed that it is just nasty, wrong and just not right to eat meat. Does anyone agree?

I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian but eat egg substitutes and butter. I think we all have our reasons for choosing this diet mine was the feeling of chewing flesh when I had meat and the the way my body feels when I eat a vegetarian diet. As a chef I've taken my share of teasing over the years but have stood firm in not tasting foods I don't want to eat.