I'm thinking about becoming a vegetarian?!

I used to be almost a carnivore. I worked in higher-end restaurants, went to culinary school with a focus on meats and butchering, I've been hunting (never successfully) and fishing (largely unsuccessfully). Now? I'm a vegan. I've lost weight (and continue to do so), my energy has gone up, I am all around healthier. I also feel a lot better about myself!

Let me tell you a few good reasons to become a vegetarian, reasons that converted an unrepentant omnivore like I used to be, into a vegan:
Good for animals: They are treated terribly for meat, and even dairy and eggs. Watch the video (featuring paul McCartney from the Beatles) at http://meat.org to see how it happens, IF you can stomach the whole thing.
Good for the planet: A lot of energy goes into producing animals for meat, and the animals themselves create greenhouse gasses like CO2. That isn't counting all the trees cut down for grazing and other industrializations.
Good for you: Plant food has no cholesterol, and any nutrients a cow or chicken has, they got from plants. Cut out the middle cow, and eat the plants yourself!
Good for the world: It takes 16 pounds of soybeans to make 1 pound of beef. If we cut out meat, we could feed the world, and food would be cheaper (because it isn't going to the meat and dairy and egg industry).

Its easy to transition, easier now than ever! There are a lot of faux meat out there that could trick the most discerning meat eater (though some of them are gross, experiment with them a bit). There is honestly no reason to eat meat anymore.

About your friends? Almost anyone can compromise on a cheese pizza (if you aren't going completely vegan). If not, just don't eat any of it. Wait and get a good vegetarian snack later! Don't feel bad: If you were lactose intolerant, would you feel bad about not eating pizza with them? Instead of lactose intolerant, tell them you are cruelty-intolerant.

Think about the way people are, we have flat dull teeth, weak stomach acid and our intestines are very efficient. We aren't meant to be omnivores. Consider a cat (carnivore). Sharp teeth, strong stomach acid and their intestines are smooth and relatively short. Think about a dog (omnivore). Still sharp teeth, still stronger stomach acid and intestines are unlike ours.

We only eat meat out of ignorance. Break the cycle!

Vegan.

Congratulations! If you don't eat much meat already it's going to be easy. You just replace that chicken with something else like you can use vegetables or mushrooms or something.

It's pretty easy to order a pizza with no meat on half of it. Just warn them about your vegetarian diet when they invite you over. It's not a big deal. When I go over to someone's place to eat I like to bring something of my own to share.

If you miss chicken then try eating quorn fillets, chunks and nuggets. To start you could eat the fake meats and soya products such as burgers and sausage. You need a good recepe book to start you off on making your own veggie meals and look on the vegetarian web site for loads of advice. When eating with friends just order a veggie option. You can eat vegetarian pizza, burgers and many Chinese do lots of veggie meals.

I don't eat meat often either. It started out as I didn't eat any meat for 5 years. Then I tried it again. I never stopped because of the animals, I don't care that much, it just looks nasty to me. Just eat chicken if you like it, dont do it because you think its cool or the right thing.

vegetarians live longer than those who eat meat. why you ask? because meat creates toxins in the body, which causes disease.

Go for it:)

If you need any help/tips/support, email me any time!

Vegan for about a year

i have to be very strong because my family are all hillbillies. my whole family makes a game of racing live lobsters across the floor. but they snip the poor things eye balls off first and the winning lobster gets stabbed in the brain first and thrown into boiling water.
even my grandpa goes out back and catches a chicken and rips its head off and my whole family laughs at it running around with no head.

i have got so sick about this that i go to the neighbors vegetable farm and just eat raw veggies from their fields.

Instinct was what made me say "you know what? I really hate this stuff inside me, it doesn't feel right, I can feel better and cleaner".
It just felt wrong. It was a huge relief when I realised I could be free from eating this dank, stanky material, which takes so long to chew and sits inside like a brick, it was a really liberating moment.

I eat good food.
You may not be picky at all. It
s likely you haven't even begun to eat all the good foods you can eat, from across the world- nuts, beans, fava beans, rice, noodles, sweet and sour soups, fried tofu skins, vegetables with curry, sticky rice ( look to Indonesia, malaysia and Singapore for interesting food, they don't do boring meat and veg food like the west), Indian foods, especially from the south- gram flours, dosa, idli, chutneys and all kind of stuff.

SO, if you're interested in eating from all over the world, research heavily and find amazing recipes from all over- India is a good start. Most Indians are vegetarian.

I'm a vegan. Chicken was the hardest thing for me to give up... now when I smell it, it really makes me want to vomit. You'll get over the desire to eat chicken :)

As far as your pizza situation... I'd say your ethical convictions trump someone's offense to you not eating their ham pizza. Most people get over this very quickly, and I've never met a person that didn't understand when you refuse a food because you say you're vegetarian. Just eat beforehand, let them know that you're vegetarian in advance (so they can have something for you), or bring a dish to share.

I am vegetarian because meat is worse for the environment than all transportation put together, because I don't think someone has to suffer and die just so satisfy my taste, and because meat clogs your arteries and is not healthy for you.

Congrats on your veg journey

You should check out http://www.vegweb.com for all the veg recipes you could ever wish for!
Also, listen to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's podcast called "Vegetarian food for thought". She also has a website http://www.compassionatecooks.com

These were helpful for me. Email me if you need anything.

A documentary called Earthlings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce4DJh-L7…
A great speach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00LMm…

I'm a Vegan, and I don't eat meat or animal products because I am against any unnecessary suffering and harm to any creature. Humans can live without eating meat. What has helped me to stick with it is to just always think about what I am eating and why; I think about how the food that I no longer consume arrived to the dinner plate and how I want no part in that. As for being thought of as picky, as long as you live in an area where people are aware of that sort of lifestyle is understood and are accepting, they will happily try to accommodate you (I live in Tennessee and people here are still very tolerant of my lifestyle, even though there aren't many vegetarians).

I hope you can stick with it!

You sound a lot like me, actually. I'm a vegetarian now, but for the longest time i wasn't because i didn't want to inconvenience my family/ friends with not eating a lot of what they cook. But the reason i switched was because i didn't feel like i could know where my food came from (dead animals) and still eat it. I knew about factory farms and i knew animals died so i could eat them, and i just couldn't see the point in it. So it was my morals battling against making other people's lives harder. Eventually i decided to go with what would make me happy: not eating animals. And actually my parents have been really really awesome about it. They even make meatless meals for the whole family sometimes. :)

About going over to other people's houses: if you know you're gonna be staying for a meal, ask something along the lines of "Hey, so what do y'all have planned for <insert meal here>?" And then you can subtly mention that you don't eat meat. But i've been in the situation where i'm served a meal before i know i'm staying to eat. If it's burgers or fish or something you *know* is meat, fill up on the other food they serve and tell them politely that no, you don't eat meat. Usually they'll be really nice and find something else for you to eat. But if you're served a casserole or something, be sure to ask what's in it! You don't want to accidentally take a bite of a chicken lasagna you thought was vegetable!

Tips for transitioning: my best advice is to switch overnight, because that way just makes most sense to me. But some people like to change gradually, and that's okay too! Whatever you're comfortable with. :) Stock up on vegetarian foods and don't be afraid to try some new things! Good luck! :)

Good for you! It's a very heart-healthy decision. :)
I personally am a Vegan. (Talk about picky!) but I don't miss one thing because they have a wide range of things that come in Vegan form.
One of my favorite brands of "Chick'n" is Gardein. It tastes exactly like the real thing and was even featured on Ellen a few days ago. http://ellen.warnerbros.com/videos/?auto… http://www.gardein.com/index.php It's readily available at Kroger & Meijer.
Before I was a Vegan I was a Vegetarian, and before that I was actually a omnivore. I still have those cravings for chicken nuggets and these really help a lot.
If you have a party and you have pepperoni pizza, peel off the pepperoni. Plus, people are almost very respectful of veggies and might even order a cheese pizza for you. Some places even let you order a pizza half cheese half pepperoni.

I congratulate you on becoming a Vegetarian. It's really worth it.(:

Yay, go for it! I asked this question about a year back, and put it off because I thought it'd be too "hard". Well, I've bitten the bullet, and been veggie for a few months, and I feel so good because of it.

The thing that finally jumped up and kicked me in the head was watching "Earthlings". I could not be happy with myself continuing to pump money into the meat industry after watching that. Google it, it's available online. Or PM me if you can't find it.

Some tips...
Keep your diet varied. Variety will help keep your diet interesting and less likely to revert to meat when you're bored with simple vegetarian dishes.
Buy some cookbooks, or join an online forum with a good recipe section.
If you find your resolve weakening, watch a video like the above again, and it should get you back on track.
And as for coming across as "picky" just tell all your friends and family that you don't eat meat. There are so many simple ways for everyone to avoid meat easily without your hosts going out of their way i.e. a veggie pizza, pasta and tomato sauce instead of bolognese, making large salad bowls you can fill up on.