How I Became A Vegetarian (And Why I Stopped)
I was a strict vegetarian for nearly 3 years. I think it is an interesting, however haphazard, personal story.
Growing up, my friends used to call ME an animal because of how much meat/food I ate. I would out-eat my 240-pound friends with steak and ribs at restaurants. I sort of became a meme for my eating habits.
So when I told them that I was a vegetarian, they all laughed at me. They didn’t believe me. They thought I was joking.
I actually know the exact date that I stopped eating meat because I took a Snapchat picture of my first day as a vegetarian and saved it. It was July 3, 2017.
How I Became A Vegetarian
In college, I was thinking a lot about the idea of vegetarianism. I knew it was good for the planet, and better for animals. My best friend/roommate in college was a long-time pescatarian and she inspired me to learn more about it on my own time.
Eventually, I started to do more research into vegetarianism just to become educated. Why do people do it? How do people do it? Do they do it cold-turkey or do they gradually adjust by weaning themselves off of meat?
I learned about the health benefits of being vegetarian, the moral benefits of being vegetarian, and the environmental benefits of being vegetarian.
I started off by watching food based documentaries like “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”, “Fed Up”, and “Vegucated”.
But the documentary that made me turn vegetarian OVER NIGHT was “What the Health”.
I’m not sure what made this documentary so compelling to me. I think it was because it focused mostly on the health and environmental benefits of eating vegan. The documentary didn’t shove the morality of veganism down my throat, like some other documentaries did.
Whatever the most compelling reason was, I stopped eating meat consistently for nearly 3 years.
I even got my mom to stop eating meat for a good while, too. I somehow got more interested in the morality of vegetarianism/veganism and thought about my old pets — Tiger and Sandy. In my head, cows and chickens and pigs became synonymous with Tiger and Sandy. Never in a million years could I EAT Tiger and Sandy. That was the argument I used with my mom to make her stop eating meat with me…and it worked.
I started off vegan for a few weeks, but it was really hard for me. I certainly felt a lot better physically. I felt less tired, I lost a few pounds, and I felt good about my choices.
But, it was hard for me to go out to restaurants with my friends. I missed eating cheese. It was just hard to avoid dairy and eggs sometimes. So, I settled with just eating a vegetarian diet.
And honestly, it was really easy for me to stick to a vegetarian diet. I didn’t miss meat at all. Perhaps occasionally, I missed buffalo chicken fingers, but that was barely an issue.
Why I Stopped
The reason I stopped eating a vegetarian diet was actually because of health reasons.
I began donating blood frequently starting around the same time I became a vegetarian. (I will spare you the photo of me with a needle in my arm.)
I started to become really lethargic all of the time. I knew that it was due to my vegetarianism. I was starting to risk becoming anemic (lacking red blood cells to carry oxygen around your body).
Even if you eat a vegetarian diet with iron-rich foods, you might not be absorbing all of the iron because it is a different type of iron from the iron in meat/fish.
I felt really guilty, but I knew that if I wanted to keep donating blood I needed to start eating meat every once in a while — or at least fish. So around the times I would donate blood, I would eat a few meals with some meat or fish.
Today
Currently, I regularly eat fish (maybe once a week). And I will eat meat if it is already made in the house. I don’t order meat dishes for myself if I’m at a restaurant. I’ll usually order vegetarian or a fish dish (ha). I probably eat vegetarian 85–90% of the time and I’m satisfied with that.
I still donate blood. And actually, the last time I donated, I passed out! (Don’t worry, this wasn’t because of my diet, it was just because I was dumb and didn’t eat enough prior to donating.)
When I strictly ate a vegetarian diet, I never preached to my friends or family about how eating meat is wrong. I would never make anyone feel guilty about their food choices. That’s because I don’t think it is wrong to eat meat. I do think that the meat industry is wrong for its treatment of animals, and that people should consider reducing their meat intake for the benefit of their own health and the environment.
If you eat meat, try to buy from sustainable farms that treat their animals well and humanely. It is sometimes hard to find, but it is out there.
If You Want To Learn More
Around the time I became a vegetarian, my mom got me this book called “How Not To Die”.
If anything, this book is extremely informative. Dr. Michael Greger is a vegan and talks about all of the health benefits of veganism. He never mentions animal welfare or the environment (to my recollection). He simply presents facts about how a vegan diet affects diseased bodies; he mentions diabetes, heart disease, and pretty much any other health malady you can think of.
Additionally, Dr. Greger comes up with a concept called the “Daily Dozen”. These are the 12 foods he recommends every person eats in a day for ultimate nourishment.
Even if you don’t plan on reducing your meat intake, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about nutrition and its effects on the body.
My brother also gifted me a book called, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”.
This book is very interesting. The author investigates the food we eat from start to finish — where it comes from and how it affects our health and environment. I specifically recall that Pollan talks about humane farming, and how it should be the only way we farm animals for meat.
Even if you don’t plan on changing your diet for any reason, I highly recommend that everyone do research on food and the effects it has on your body and the environment. If anything, you’ll become more educated and have the information you need to make smarter food choices in general.