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Well, my GF was pretty much eating a Vegetarian diet since she wasn't a huge fan of most meat. During her pregnancy with our daughter she was always sick and the smell of meat made it even worse. After my daughter was born she didn't have as much desire to eat meat. After informing her of rennet and gelatin she avoids those as well.
My Father had a triple bypass at age 57. He was a massive meat eater. Steaks all the time. Meat and fried foods and garbage. I did it as challenge to myself. Could I actually go without meat? First a week, then a couple, then months, now a year. Never would I have thought it was possible for me to go vegetarian. The only thing that was hard was going out to eat. Seeing everyone eating meat had me craving it. But now my cravings are gone. I actually get a little sick by looking at meat. I have become more involved in animal rights and factory farming methods.
Next step for me is Vegan. My GF already wants to start going Vegan and if I can find a way to break my cheese habit I certainly will follow her.
People ask me this all the time and are never happy with my reply. I didn't decide, I was born this way. My mom said I would spit out meat as a baby, it is a family joke/legend. I simply disliked the taste of meat. One famous story is when I was about 4 my father told me 'People are starving in <blank>' and I told him, very seriously, to mail the meat to them! LOL I couldn't imagine why he looked so funny. When I discovered WHERE meat came from I did make a conscious choice not to eat it. I am not vegan, I eat dairy and eggs but choose free range eggs and local milk. I do not eat fish or poultry either, another question I'm also asked.
I saw a video on Netflix and just decided to start eating tons of green and other veggies, legumes some nuts and fruit and to stop eating meat breads and other carbs and dairy... just for my health and to lose weight.
I'm not doing it to spare animals harm but I've opened my eyes to the way we process animals and don't like it.
I also wear leather shoes.
I'm going to try leaning gluten -free as well, but can't satisfy all their restrictions as of yet.
It was actually a documentary I saw on Amazon Prime, about 'normal' / 'just like me' people who tried to go vegan. I had previously seen the shocking movies like Food Inc and I always felt I *should* be vegetarian/vegan but thought it would just be too hard and I would be setting myself up to fail. I felt it had to be all or nothing; either you love animals or you eat them and their products, there is no in between. Like, if you slip and eat a slice of imported Italian meat that makes your knees buckle a little, then you are horrible and might as well scrap the whole thing and go get a steak.
But seeing normal people try it, seeing normal people slip, seeing normal people stick with it - it gave me confidence to try, and allowed me to forgive myself if I wasn't perfect (and I'm very far from perfect)
Just reducing the market demand for meat and animal products, even a little, when multiplied across the masses, can make a difference. No one has to be perfect.
My wife was vegetarian when she met me. I was a meat eater. Meat and potatoes kind of guy you know?
She is a wonderful woman to have dealt with me, we debated vegetarianism many times throughout our relationship, but she still would cook me a steak if I wanted it. Best steak and pork chops ever by the way.
Either way, over our years together, she taught me to love my veggies, and before long, I realized that my diet was primarily becoming vegetarian. Soon enough, one day I came to my own epiphany which she let me reach on my own. No prodding, it was all my decision.
I was doing research one day on puppy mills. Being a dog lover, I said "I'm going to sign petitions to end puppy mills!" Now one of my more popular anti vegetarian arguments was this, "Abstain from meat all you want, it won't save their lives."
When I exclaimed that I was going to sign these petitions my wife used her quick wit to turn my logic back on me, "But honey, if you sign every petition in the world, it won't stop puppy mills, they'll keep being abused and neglected." Suddenly it hit me, my bias/favoritism for dogs was blinding me from the bigger picture.
The pig on the dinner table is no less a living being than the dog that licks my face in the morning. And even if I won't stop puppy mills or save cows from factory farming, I at least won't support the act. I am no longer biased and selfishly illogical to myself.
I decided to give up meat after a long talk with my doctor. For many years I've had high blood pressure and more recently I put on 30lbs in a short amount of time. For the first time in my life, I am fat, tired, and out of breath; at the age of 34. I refused to go on like this. I gave up meat two weeks ago and have lost 7lbs. Just from changing my diet.
I am just two weeks into this I feel great. I feel much lighter and have more energy. Also, without getting too graphic, my bathroom regularity is noticeably better. I think that this was the change that I needed.
I watched some food documentaries on Netflix for education and inspiration, but they also opened my eyes to things I had no idea about. So far, I have not had any desire to eat meat or fish.
My sister went vegetarian a few years ago and she would always try to coax me into trying it. I thought she was nuts, but now I am beginning to understand what she was trying to tell me. It's nice to be able to enjoy a meal and not feel tired and weighed down afterwards. I think going vegetarian has obviously forced me to make healthier choices every time I eat.
I feel blessed that I have made this decision while I am still relatively young and able to reverse my health issues through better eating. Food is meant for nourishment, not for making yourself feel stuffed or simple gluttony. This is a big thing I have learned by going vegetarian.
Luckily, I live in an area with tons of vegetarian dining options and I see no reason for ever going back to the chicken wing and deli sandwich lifestyle I was living just a short time ago. I am very optimistic that I can continue with this diet for the long term and I'm excited to be finally doing something that is making me feel so much better. To have such a positive change not only in my physical, but mental health is an amazing thing.
Came back to this thread bcs of some helpful posts. I am caretaking a person with cancer and the nutrition dr mentioned Macrobiotics. Its sort of hard to follow at first, but their recomendations seem same as vegan, and thought it might help someone too-
Macrobiotic diet is the diet that is specifically designed for cancer patients, more so specifically advised in case of lymphoma patients. This diet is also known as “yin-yang” diet as it is believed that all foods have two elementary and complimentary forces in it and this kind of diet balances these positive and negative extremes. This way, the weak body system of cancer patients, tends to get enough nutrition and at the same time flushes out all the toxins in the body, caused by the heavy medication and other treatments. This kind of “yin-yang” diet consists of at least 50-60% of whole grains and the remaining 40-50% comprises of vegetables, fruits, legumes, etc.
at any rate removing all the GMOS, HFCS, and processed gunk helped my food allergies too.
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