Yes, I'm a vegetarian.

Ever since I was a little kid, I've been a staunch animal rights activist. No, I'm not one of those PETA bloody-fur weilding extremists, but I do feel pretty strongly about it. I guess it's partly because I am one of those bleeding-heart liberals. But whatever.

Throughout most of my childhood, I ate meat -- my parents wouldn't allow me to become a vegetarian, for whatever reason. Of course, I wouldn't eat most meat; I limited myself to chicken and cow, and only after the meat had been processed (which is really a disgusting process, if you want to look it up. Blech.) and there were no bones in it. Still, I felt guilty for being such a hypocrite.

Last year, I decided to make my New Year's Resolution to be giving up meat, which I did come January 1st. I actually thought it was going to be pretty hard, like everyone was saying, but... it wasn't at all. In fact, I've found it to be easier than eating actual meat ("um, sorry, I can't eat that, it has bacon bits in it..." or "err, I don't eat anything with bone?" or "I'm sorry, I don't eat turkey..", etc.). I like being able to say, "I'm a vegetarian," and having people understand what that means. I like feeling so much healthier and energetic. I like not feeling guilty about the completely unnecessary slaughter of animals.

Don't get me wrong; I don't mind people killing animals when they need food, for survival. That's why our ancestors killed. I don't agree with torturing and murdering animals when there's so many other options available to you. But that's why I gave up meat. It's different for everyone, so please don't think I'm trying to force my opinions onto someone.

Anyway, it's almost been a year now, and I love being a vegetarian. I feel liberated (which sounds dorky, I know, but it's true XDD).

"Without you, today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's."

Quote from TofuQueen

Quote from darcyaglow

I love veggies a lot 🙂 but I still need meat in my meal.
It's not easy to be a vegetarian. I'm just too lazy for that.

Being ovo-lacto vegetarian is actually very easy, I don't know why people think it's hard at all. 😐

Eat a variety of fruits, veggies, grains, legumes, etc. plus eggs & dairy and you're all set. Some people have problems with low iron if they don't eat meat, but it's not that common, and if you eat eggs & dairy that covers the vitamin B & complete protein as well. If it was really very much work being vegetarian, I wouldn't have lasted 16+ years as a vegetarian. 😃

Aside from any personal preferences, producing meat for human food uses up a LOT more resources than producing non-meat human food, so even cutting down on meat consumption is good for the environment.

More than 16 years as a vegetarian? 😕 Wow, that's impressive.
I don't really understand but I know there are quite many kinds of vegetarianism.
My eating habit is unhealthy, I'm too lazy to change, I eat whatever is available for me 😁
I tend to get bored pretty fast, so even if I try to be a vegetarian, I don't think I can keep that for long. 🙁

[img]http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy272/flower_of_life/Indigo_Blue_Chapter_10_148-1.jpg[/img]

MEAT!!
I can't live without! beats chest

[img]http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k528/fr33noob/on3winged9.jpg[/img]
I believe in letting people do as they wish, as do I myself. Sometimes, of course, what I wish to do is kill them and they do not wish to die. This gives life interest.
[img]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/26.jpg[/img]

Omnivore here. Couldn't live on vegetables alone, but neither could I with meat.

http://eofusion.googlepages.com
http://360.yahoo.com/axisofoddity
http://axisofoddity.googlepages.com/

OH Meat glorious Meat, i will die if i was a vegetarian. how do you survive being a vegearain bacon steak, burgers, hot wings DRools

[img]http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss162/westsiders2/Signatures/comicsigcopy2.jpg[/img].
http://westsiders2.deviantart.com/

I wouldnt mind being one 🙂 One of my friend was a vegetarian.. but she fainted and the doctor told her to eat meat since she was lacking a lot of things needed for her body.

So I guess after that, I changed my mind. I would wanna go infront of a vegetarian and show my thing for eating meat. See if theyre willing to change their minds. Well, only infront of my vegetarian friends.. Not infront of vegetarian strangers, that would be rude of me 😉

Quote from spikebaby

I heard something like vegans have 4% risk of heart disease, vegetarians something like 15% and meat eaters like 40 or 50. And being a vegetarian is actually healthy I don't even know where you got your statements from.

Well, of course not eating burgers everyday lessens the risk of a heart disease, but those stats are bullshit anyways. And eating meat doesn't have anything to do with it. If you eat healthy you have a low chance of getting a heart disease, whether you eat meat or not.

Well, westsiders2 shows us a good reason why someone has gotten those stats you have: if meat means bacon steaks, burgers (and not just any burgers, but McDonald's burgers), hot wings and all that crap, then it's no wonder you get a heart disease.

Far-off places with sweet sounding names.

Quote from fr33noob

MEAT!!
I can't live without! beats chest

lol.
I love meat can not give it up, My mum is a vegetarian and I don't know how she does it.

[img]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g17/the-burden/jamesbcopy.jpg[/img]

no, I eat meat. I can't live without it
I lack vitamins from time to time so I need to eat meat...but lately I've been eating too much, causing my cholesterol to rise....oh well

[img]http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx63/coco6431/Apol186067.jpg[/img]]
I hear you say "Why?" Always "Why?" You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?"

I was a vegetarian for 9 years. I became a vegetarian cause i didn`t like the taste of meat, fish and eggs. I tried a lot of different dishes but it was all pretty abhorrent. 🤢

But lately my family had to change eating habits and to make the cooking easier and faster I gave it up. Unfortunately most of it still tastes bad

I LOVEEE FISH!!
Other meat like chicken and beef are okay. its not like I dont like it, its just that i prefer fish and vegies over meat..

[img]http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb395/xXTsukiXx/26852202_zps6e5cdbef.jpg[/img]

Vegetarians and especially Vegans make me laugh (if they're doing it to protect the animals or whatever). Who do they think they owe their life to? Their ancestors that hunted and ate meat to survive! Of course I wouldn't eat say, shark, because they're endangered. But cow, chicken, (sustainable) fish, pig, etc. I will eat.

Go to work, send your kids to school;
Follow fashion, act normal;
Walk on the pavement, watch T.V.;
Save for retirement, obey the law.
Repeat after me: I am free.

Quote from Saons

Vegetarians and especially Vegans make me laugh (if they're doing it to protect the animals or whatever). Who do they think they owe their life to? Their ancestors that hunted and ate meat to survive! Of course I wouldn't eat say, shark, because they're endangered. But cow, chicken, (sustainable) fish, pig, etc. I will eat.

Well, again, a lot of vegetarians (myself included) understand hunting for survival, like our ancestors we "owe our lives to." They needed the nutrients. However, today there's a lot options available to us; things have changed completely. You don't need meat to have a healthy diet. That's why I don't eat it. shrugs It's not that strange.

... PS. I love Amelie. just noticed your signature :x

"Without you, today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's."

The more intelligent a child is, the greater the likelihood of it becoming a vegetarian as an adult. Conclusion drawn by British researchers at the University of Southampton, after studying 8179 persons lifestyle. All subjects received their intelligence quotient as measured by the ten-year olds and was now asked to talk about their diets. A total of 365 participants said they were vegetarians, and those participants had a significantly higher IQ ten-year olds. The new discovery may help explain why intelligent, educated people often are healthier, as several studies have identified. Vegetarians suffer less from high blood pressure, for high cholesterol and heart disease.

http://illvet.se/manniskan/psykologi-beteende/intelligenta-barn-blir-vegetarianer 😁

I've stopped eating meat about 2 years ago.
I've never particularly enjoyed the taste of meat and didn't eat it much (simply ate what my parents made), but the weeks before I stopped I started to become increasingly sickened by both the smell and taste.
These days my stomach turns and I instantly lose my appetite when smelling things like bacon and salami.

Something not everyone seems to understand, being a vegetarian is not always by choice (though I do not mind it at all)... Sad thing is that most restaurants in my region (or even country) are completely unfamiliar with the concept of vegetarianism... removing meat from a dish after it's been made does not make it vegetarian! (i.e. removing the meatballs from vegetable-soup).