Reasons for ur vegetarianism
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I choose to be a vegetarian for the health of my body and my conscience.0
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To stop cruelty to animals
And it makes you loose a lot of weight!
It annoys me when people eat fish and claim they are veggies - fish have eyes and a smiley mouth! Pescatarian is the name for people who only eat fish.0 -
I never really liked most meat. Especially fish/seafood. I would have liked to have gone veg in junior high, but my dad . . . well, he was a farm boy and there was no question that eating meat (in reasonable amounts, we were never huge meat-eaters) was the right thing to do. Any suggestion otherwise would be like an accusation that the way that he had grown up raising and killing animals for food was wrong and immoral. I never even asked. I just ate smaller amounts.
Shortly after I got married, I went through a series of illnesses. I would be fine for a week or two, and then I would be in terrible pain and throwing up for three days. I was missing a lot of work and feeling truly awful. After this had gone on for some time, I realized that the last few times I had gone through this cyclical illness, what I was throwing up was ground beef, usually in combination with dairy (eg. tacos with sour cream). I immediately cut out all red meat, and the illness went away. Since I had now removed a major component of my diet, I went to the (new to me) internet and signed up for several e-mail groups on vegetarian eating, replacing meals including red meat with vegetarian meals, and still having some chicken meals occasionally. I found vegetarian eating so easy and vegetarianism so compelling, that I shortly gave up all animal products and was strict vegan for 9 years.
Due to a variety of circumstances, I did add eggs back into my diet at that point, and I do occasionally have honey, so I am no longer vegan, but still staunchly vegetarian.
I also believe, and I'm sure this will be hugely controversial, that God does not want us to eat meat unless we are in a famine and cannot get along without it. That famine could be widespread, or due to a person's own allergies or medical needs. But it is my belief that it pleases him if we do not eat meat. Not a very popular opinion, so I generally keep that one quiet.
Pam0 -
For me it's all texture... I don't even like some of the fake meat products just because it has some of the same textures!! I do love the smell and some tastes of it though.... that's about all the reasons I have though!!0
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After Thanksgiving, I was making some homemade turkey soup and was taking the meat off the carcass... that is when I had my first thought of "Wow, this is really disgusting. This was a living animal." Slowly over the coming weeks meat started turning me off more and more.
About a 2 weeks ago it came to the point that I was noticing I was getting sick after eating and so almost 2 weeks ago I decided that I was going to stop eating meat. Wow is all I can say. I love it. Food tastes so much better. My digestive system is completely different.
I'm learning to cook differently and am loving it.
My husband is 100% supportive but others in my family look at me like I am doing a fad, that it's weird, etc. That is fine. I went to my mom's for dinner the other night and prepared my own meal to eat with them. I look at this as just one more way to be healthy and I couldn't be happier.0 -
Paul and Linda McCartney's quote, "If slaughterhouses were made out of glass, everyone would be a vegetarian."0
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I've been vegetarian for 27-28 years now. After all this time I don't feel the need to give anyone an answer when they demand to know (I used to waste my breath talking about the morals/ethics of it all), so I just say that I have hayfever and I've dedicated my life to eradicating plants by eating as many of them as possible....0
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I've been vegetarian for 27-28 years now. After all this time I don't feel the need to give anyone an answer when they demand to know (I used to waste my breath talking about the morals/ethics of it all), so I just say that I have hayfever and I've dedicated my life to eradicating plants by eating as many of them as possible....
I love this response and your profile pic! I too have hay fever, I might just steal your answer! 0 -
ethical
People just role their eyes at me when I answer their question. I have shortened my answer to: I don't agree with factory farming practices. Most people don't have a clue about what I am talking about.0 -
My "easy answer" is that it will make me throw up for three days. People don't really ask for more information after that. But my reasons are far more complex.
Pam0 -
I've been vegetarian for 27-28 years now. After all this time I don't feel the need to give anyone an answer when they demand to know (I used to waste my breath talking about the morals/ethics of it all), so I just say that I have hayfever and I've dedicated my life to eradicating plants by eating as many of them as possible....
I love this response and your profile pic! I too have hay fever, I might just steal your answer!
Thanks but don't be too impressed. It did take me about 15 years to come up with that answer! :blushing:0 -
I became a vegetarian over ten years ago now, something just switched in me, I always liked the taste of meat and fish and was quite adventurous with it but the guilt crept in, "How could I love animals yet at the same time eat them" I stopped eating meat one week, figuring I'd be a pescetarian, within a week I'd stopped eating fish also, and was concentrating on making sure I didn't consume anything using meat and fish products. I did start eating meat again around 5 years ago, I did this for a year, I see it now as my silly phase, I was quite annoyed as I'd lost weight a few years after becoming veggie and then stupidly starved myself skinny, made myself ill, bed bound for quite a while, in that time the weight crept on and I couldn't keep it down. I was annoyed as I felt it would be easier to lose weight and eat lean meat and fish (silly I know) It made me feel so bad, I was bitter, I'd cry myself to sleep - I am a bit of a cry baby though.0
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Because I have not found 1 good reason not to be veg.
Its better for me, the earth, the animals,and I'm sure God would prefer us not to kill his creations.0 -
Because I'm grossed out by the crap that's in the meat (including the hormones and antibiotics). And everyone tells me to make sure I get enough protein... dude, I'm good. I have veggie burgurs, I have vegan protein shakes, and I love my tofu. I think I'm good lol0
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To stop cruelty to animals
And it makes you loose a lot of weight!
It annoys me when people eat fish and claim they are veggies - fish have eyes and a smiley mouth! Pescatarian is the name for people who only eat fish.
After hearing that I'm a vegetarian, my sister in law offered me chicken taquitos (they were eating posole), because she said some vegetarians still eat chicken... ... ... that was an akward moment...0 -
As I mentioned before, I try to avoid discussions about me being vegetarian, but on Friday night in the pub, a colleague asked me. This caused a couple of people around the table to tut and clearly display displeasure at me not eating meat or fish. I asked why there was so much venom directed at vegetarians and was told "because they always try to force it down your throat". These are people that have known me either 9 years or 9 months, and only now have they found out I'm vegetarian. Been really forcing it down their throats haven't I....
I've had nearly 30 years of this kind of judgmental crap. If it isn't being told that all the animals would die if we didn't farm them, it's being told that we have omnivorous teeth and therefore are meant to eat meat. Do they think I haven't heard this before? I've had nearly 3 decades to think of responses to prove them wrong even though they won't accept my arguments. Bunch of complete holes!0 -
I hear ya! I used to give good answers too, but it saddened me to hear such ignorant responses. I avoid telling people I am vegetarian unless they really must know. I am proud to be vegetarian, but tired of explaining myself to people who are not open minded. We are healthy, compassionate and doing good for the environment and maybe someday in the future, they will see our point!0
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Oh you said that so eloquently. My sentiments exactly. I was ranting and rambling!0
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When I was a little kid, some 20 years ago now, I found out what meat was and refused to eat it again because animals are disgusting.0
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It has evolved over the years. When I became a vegetarian at 14 years old, it was because of a PETA pamphlet showing the conditions of meat processing. Since then, I no longer rely on PETA's viewpoints. Now, it is because of the high rate of heart disease in my bloodline and the environmental effects of raising cattle. I feel if I have the choice to make less of a footprint on the Earth, then I choose that (mostly because I do have a choice, not like so many others that live on this planet).0
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I first had a stint of being a vegetarian 2 years ago, driven by a hope for weight loss, but it fell through after two months when I didn't lose any weight. This past October I went back to vegetarianism.. This time it was because I highly disagree with the conditions the food industry keeps animals in, as well as the hugely inhumane reasons they use to kill these animals for the purpose of food. I also don't eat fish, also for inhumane keeping conditions (farmed fish) and the huge level of toxins/chemicals built up in them.0
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Growing up in a southern household with a father who owned a BBQ joint - going vegetarian was the last thing I thought I'd ever do. When I was 27, I lost my mom to a malignant brain tumor. After 10 months of depression and feeling sorry for myself after her death, I started eating healthily and began to lose weight. Two months later, a friend suggested I watch the film Forks Over Knives. I stopped eating meat that day. That was over 5 months ago and I feel fabulous. The biggest change I noticed (almost immediately) after I stopped eating meat was that I no longer get that afternoon sluggish feeling. I feel great throughout the day and when I go to bed at night, I fall asleep before my head hits the pillow. I feel great about myself, me not contributing to the horrible conditions that animals are in/the way they are treated/chemicals, toxins, etc, they are given, and that I'm on the road to a healthy forever, not just a temporary diet. Also - it's forced us to venture out food wise and we LOVE it. There are SO many wonderful healthy and delicious choices out there!
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About three years ago, I became a vegetarian after I read the book "Skinny *****". It's pretty in your face, but it did point out how inhumanely animals are treated and how the way they are raised affects the health of the person who eats them. Environment and health concerns are important to me also. My family health history includes about everything... but weight control, exercise and good diet are supposed to help reduce the chance of all of them. Unfortunately, I stuck with vegetarianism, but I was a bad vegetarian for awhile. I am now trying "Clean Eating" - very limited sugar, no alcohol, whole grains, as much organically grown food as I can afford. I feel so much better. And my family is eating better too.0
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Ugh, recently, at a family event, my cousin found out I was a vegetarian. She pissed me off so much.
Her: Omg, you're a vegetarian?! Why?! *screws up face*
Me: Because I don't agree with factory farming *chewing on yummy roast potatoes*
Her: You're crazy! I could never give up meat. Really? You're vegetarian? Omg. Eat some meat!
Me: *pissed off face, eating my food*
Her: I'm going downstairs to get some MEAT.
Me: *ignores her*
It was a couple months ago, so paraphrasing, but it was pretty much like that. I've heard it all.
Anyway, I am vegetarian because I believe the factory farming industry is one of the most immoral, cruel and disgusting things we've ever created and it makes me ashamed to be human. Also, I don't really believe it's right for us to take lives because we like the taste of meat. We are not a primative species anymore (at least, we're not supposed to be), we don't need meat. Not only that, but I don't really believe we're meant to. We have a long intestine, ineffectual nails, teeth built for grinding, rubbish incisors and no way of killing a predator without using tools, manpower or trickery. Alsooooo, the way we use animals for meat is not natural. There is no farming in the wild, and even carnivores don't kill their prey to the point that the prey numbers diminishes. In nature, there is balance. I see no balance in farming.
I don't believe we're the top of the food chain. We tricked our way up there. Not a fair fight.
Also, if eating meat is so natural, we'd eat it raw, off the bone, freshly killed. None of this cooking and seasoning faff.0 -
I love all the answers here :flowerforyou:0
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When I met my ex, we both found out the other was vegetarian. When I asked his reason, he said "because my body's not a graveyard" 0
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Ok so we have all been asked the following questions
'omg like what do you eat?'
'So why are you a vegetarian'
and my personal favourtite response from those who i tell about my vegetarianism
'dude i COULD NEVER be a vegetarian'.
Sometimes i answer with seriousness but other times i am really sarcastic when answering.
So what reasons do you give. personally i believe every animal and fishy have the right to a life. And if u can survive without then why not.
1. Everything that's not from an animal. Sometimes I start naming things according to the alphabet. Most people quickly realize that I eat a whole lot more variety than they do.
2. Initially for health reasons, to fight against a terrible family medical history on both sides of my family. Since then, I have added ethical reasons to the mix. I do not believe that factory farming is what God meant when He gave us dominion over animals. And in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were vegans!
3. I didn't say you had to be a vegetarian.
Personally, I think people see being vegan as a judgement, almost like you think you are superior to them. It is the same with all aspects of life where you take the nontraditional path. Most of my adult life I have encountered people who question my decisions. I had unmedicated home births in an area of the country where the C-section rate is greater than 50%. (And everyone who discovered this bit of information needed to tell me that it was a good thing they didn't do that because they/their baby would have died.) I chose to breastfeed my babies for extended periods of time. I homeschool. And now <gasp> I'm vegan. Just another badge on my nontraditionalist uniform. So encountering people questioning what I do and why is pretty par for the course for me.
I take the position of "this is what has worked for me and my family." I can't tell someone else what their path should be. Although I might want to!
I think I love you.
I am totally alternative to. When I have my baby, I am extended bf'ing, unschooling, etc.0 -
To stop cruelty to animals
And it makes you loose a lot of weight!
It annoys me when people eat fish and claim they are veggies - fish have eyes and a smiley mouth! Pescatarian is the name for people who only eat fish.
This ^0 -
As I mentioned before, I try to avoid discussions about me being vegetarian, but on Friday night in the pub, a colleague asked me. This caused a couple of people around the table to tut and clearly display displeasure at me not eating meat or fish. I asked why there was so much venom directed at vegetarians and was told "because they always try to force it down your throat". These are people that have known me either 9 years or 9 months, and only now have they found out I'm vegetarian. Been really forcing it down their throats haven't I....
I've had nearly 30 years of this kind of judgmental crap. If it isn't being told that all the animals would die if we didn't farm them, it's being told that we have omnivorous teeth and therefore are meant to eat meat. Do they think I haven't heard this before? I've had nearly 3 decades to think of responses to prove them wrong even though they won't accept my arguments. Bunch of complete holes!0 -
Currently writing. Bare with me.0
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