Hey guys, I just wanted to make a thread of your guys’ experiences with vegetarianism/veganism or even pescatarianism I find it super interesting and would love to know how you feel about it in all aspects. How did you get into it? Do/Did you like it? How long have you been veg for? What do you dislike about it?
I’ve been vegetarian for almost two years now and I really do love it. I’ve tried going vegan a couple of times but I’ve always failed (I think it’s bc I don’t eat enough while trying to go vegan which then leads to me feeling faint.) My goal in the future is to go vegan though. I went vegetarian primarily b/c i’ve always struggled with my weight and always felt disgusting after eating. I tried it for a week and a half and then stopped, ate an in-n-out burger and realized the meat was dry as fuck and I didn’t really find the appetite to eat it anymore. I ate chicken wings and thought the same thing so I just went back to being vegetarian lol. Some things I do hate though is the inaccessibility in restaurants. I do struggle with cravings here and there but I don’t think I could ever go back to eating meat. Since at first I was all about losing weight and feeling better inside and out, but now I’m more invested in the animals than my health lol...I can’t stand the fact that beings are killed for our pleasure but I struggle with feeling insanely guilty with eating dairy, i try to limit my intake.
Vegetarian/Vegans
- burgersbobby
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Re: Vegetarian/Vegans
Sorry this is gonna be long, but I feel like I have so much experience on this topic hahaha.
I have been a vegetarian/pescatarian my entire life (21 years). My parents both were before they met and when me and my sister were born they wanted to see if they could raise healthy kids without meat. Obviously we are both still here so their hypothesis worked lol.
The most interesting thing about growing up vegetarian to me has definitely been the cultural shift towards vegetarianism/veganism in Westernised countries that has occurred recently. I have lived in Australia since I was 9, and only up until a couple years ago it would be so hard to go out to restaurants with friends because of the lack of options available, or if I was younger and sleeping over at friends' houses, their mums would complain about how hard it was to make food for me or they would just get takeout which would usually consist of me picking meat off something. Now almost every restaurant you go to has at least one or two vegetarian options and it's increasingly easier to make things vegan too.
That being said, I have never been bothered by people eating meat in front of me, it honestly annoys me so much when people make a big deal out of it. People eat what they want to eat and that's their right to choose. Who am I to convince someone to do things my way. Of course I do believe and have for a long time that if a larger portion of the world did go vegetarian or vegan, there would be a lot less environmental and social issues to answer for such as deforestation, water shortages and world hunger.
The way I see vegan food is like the cherry on top for me. Like, if something is vegan, and delicious, then hell yeah. But personally I doubt I will ever go fully vegan despite not eating much dairy and fish only occasionally. I love being vegetarian, it has opened me up to so many different cuisines and now that vegetarian/vegan options are so much more accessible than they once were it is like living in a food paradise hahaha
I have been a vegetarian/pescatarian my entire life (21 years). My parents both were before they met and when me and my sister were born they wanted to see if they could raise healthy kids without meat. Obviously we are both still here so their hypothesis worked lol.
The most interesting thing about growing up vegetarian to me has definitely been the cultural shift towards vegetarianism/veganism in Westernised countries that has occurred recently. I have lived in Australia since I was 9, and only up until a couple years ago it would be so hard to go out to restaurants with friends because of the lack of options available, or if I was younger and sleeping over at friends' houses, their mums would complain about how hard it was to make food for me or they would just get takeout which would usually consist of me picking meat off something. Now almost every restaurant you go to has at least one or two vegetarian options and it's increasingly easier to make things vegan too.
That being said, I have never been bothered by people eating meat in front of me, it honestly annoys me so much when people make a big deal out of it. People eat what they want to eat and that's their right to choose. Who am I to convince someone to do things my way. Of course I do believe and have for a long time that if a larger portion of the world did go vegetarian or vegan, there would be a lot less environmental and social issues to answer for such as deforestation, water shortages and world hunger.
The way I see vegan food is like the cherry on top for me. Like, if something is vegan, and delicious, then hell yeah. But personally I doubt I will ever go fully vegan despite not eating much dairy and fish only occasionally. I love being vegetarian, it has opened me up to so many different cuisines and now that vegetarian/vegan options are so much more accessible than they once were it is like living in a food paradise hahaha
- fleur-delis
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Re: Vegetarian/Vegans
I have been vegetarian since I was 18 years old (seven years!) and I decided to eat vegan about one and a half years ago. I didn't eat dairy before that either, so it was not that much of a change.
I became vegetarian (which obviously means not eating any kind of meat or fish) because I decided to try it out for a few weeks and see how it went. During those weeks I watched documentaries and got informed, and well, that was that. I could've never started eating animals again after that. In the beginning it was mostly ethical reasons for me, but now environmental and health reasons were the ultimate reasons for me to go vegan.
If you live in a Western country, it's so easy today and cheap, too. Eating out used to be so difficult but now it's super easy, there's always choices. I know that friends and family can be an issue,but mine have always been quite supportive and I have a lot of friends who are at least vegetarian, too, so they have no problem cooking vegan food.
I don't judge people who still eat meat/fish/dairy/eggs unless they decide to comment on my food, then I can go into full on arguing mode really quickly. I just hate how it's "okay" to comment on my "weird food choices" while they are sitting there eating dead animals and thinking that I am the extreme one. Rarely happens to be me anymore since I am surrounded by compassionate people.
I became vegetarian (which obviously means not eating any kind of meat or fish) because I decided to try it out for a few weeks and see how it went. During those weeks I watched documentaries and got informed, and well, that was that. I could've never started eating animals again after that. In the beginning it was mostly ethical reasons for me, but now environmental and health reasons were the ultimate reasons for me to go vegan.
If you live in a Western country, it's so easy today and cheap, too. Eating out used to be so difficult but now it's super easy, there's always choices. I know that friends and family can be an issue,but mine have always been quite supportive and I have a lot of friends who are at least vegetarian, too, so they have no problem cooking vegan food.
I don't judge people who still eat meat/fish/dairy/eggs unless they decide to comment on my food, then I can go into full on arguing mode really quickly. I just hate how it's "okay" to comment on my "weird food choices" while they are sitting there eating dead animals and thinking that I am the extreme one. Rarely happens to be me anymore since I am surrounded by compassionate people.
- viridian
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Re: Vegetarian/Vegans
I stopped eating red meat at 16, and added chicken, fish, and pork to that list later on. I went back to eating meat several years after that, but about a year ago I went vegetarian again for good. I probably eat 75% vegan now as well. I discovered dairy doesn't really agree with me after not eating it for awhile and then having a bunch of cheese pizza. So I try to do my best to avoid large amounts of it now. I will eat baked goods and things like that that may have dairy or eggs in them, but I don't eat straight eggs or dairy much anymore.
I feel like this is the right choice for me because I have a lot of guilt about the way the animals are treated. I can't even bring myself to watch documentaries like Earthlings because I know they will just destroy me. So I do my best to eat vegan when possible and buy cruelty-free.
I feel like this is the right choice for me because I have a lot of guilt about the way the animals are treated. I can't even bring myself to watch documentaries like Earthlings because I know they will just destroy me. So I do my best to eat vegan when possible and buy cruelty-free.
- Cheryl Blossom
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Re: Vegetarian/Vegans
I've been a vegetarian since I was 9 (I am 23 now). So...14 years, I guess, meaning I've been a vegetarian for longer than I was ever eating meat. I go back and forth with veganism but find that I just can't commit because I don't have the time or the funds to put that many restrictions on my diet. I stopped eating meat, basically, because I didn't want to eat anything that was cute. I used to feel much more strongly about the moral aspect of it all but I've calmed down over the years. At this point it's easy to maintain because I don't miss or even remember meat for the most part.
- fleur-delis
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Re: Vegetarian/Vegans
I never understand the argument about vegan food being expensive. I'm not trying to attack you, kudos to you for having been a vegetarian since you were so young, I am just curious!Cheryl Blossom wrote:I've been a vegetarian since I was 9 (I am 23 now). So...14 years, I guess, meaning I've been a vegetarian for longer than I was ever eating meat. I go back and forth with veganism but find that I just can't commit because I don't have the time or the funds to put that many restrictions on my diet. I stopped eating meat, basically, because I didn't want to eat anything that was cute. I used to feel much more strongly about the moral aspect of it all but I've calmed down over the years. At this point it's easy to maintain because I don't miss or even remember meat for the most part.
I've had this discussion with meat eaters before and I don't get it because meat is quite expensive compared to veggies, pasta etc. Also, if you eat meat, you'll still buy the veggies if you want to eat somewhat healthy, so being vegan is basically less expensive since the most expensive part of the meal is "missing".
With vegetarian food, I think I understand even less because if you just don't buy milk and eggs, surely that can't be more expensive than before?
Unless you buy tons of pre-prepared and processed foods, those could be more expensive if you choose the vegan version, but then again, they're not very healthy anyway so I don't really buy it that much.
- Cheryl Blossom
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- cristalmina
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Re: Vegetarian/Vegans
I started by not drinking cow milk four years ago and man that escalated quickly
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Re: Vegetarian/Vegans
I've been pescatarian for about two years now! I decided to try it because my mom has been pescatarian for at least over 5 years. I'm super lazy and hate cooking so the only times I really ate meat was when I ate out. I hardly ever bought meat that I had to cook. I'm also pretty picky when it comes to fish so the only thing that stops me from going vegetarian is my love for sushi lol. I will say though the only thing I miss about being able to eat meat is panda express orange chicken.
- shutupSIRI
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Re: Vegetarian/Vegans
I'm vegan. I lost a lot of weight by eating this way. Being vegan isn't expensive. Eat your fuckin' vegetables.