Any vegans or vegetarians out there?

Sorry, I think I was also misleading. This isn't just a new quick temporary fix for me to lose weight. We actually have been eating this way for over 9 months now and it is a lifestyle change for us, not a fad diet. I should clarify that I'm not against eating animals in the way that it used to be or the traditional sense as in hunting. However, the huge agribusiness disaster that has replaced what once was good, honest farming practices is something that I feel is absolutely wrong. The methods that are now used by the majority of the commercial farms for both raising and slaughtering animals is deplorable and awful and I chose first not to support that when I made the decision not to eat animals. I also realize the environmental impact of raising livestock versus plants and don't think that we can honestly justify what we are doing to the land just so we can eat mass produced steaks or whatever. When I do rarely choose to eat meat, I only eat local and organic animals that were raised and slaughtered humanely.
Like I said, my choosing this way is about more than just weight loss and I realize after rereading my original post (guess I should have done that earlier) that that is pretty much what it sounded like I was saying. It took a whole lot of research and looking around and reading and meeting people and farmers, etc. for me to do this.
I was a strict vegetarian for years during the end of high school and into my early 20's but thought that wasn't a very honest way to live as I felt that if I don't eat meat, I should avoid everything; anything ever tested on animals, tried on animals, made of any type of animal product, involving animals at all; medications, health products, clothes, medical treatments. etc. I felt that if I were to be a vegetarian in the sense I thought I should be, I couldn't ever take part in any of this and I knew that it was less than feasible for me to do that.
Sooo...after I've rambled on I'm sure more than enough for any of you This isn't just a fad diet for me or a decision I took lightly or simply a way to get into a new pair of jeans. I eat this way for so much more than anything like that.
Anyone wanna be my friend? )

Also, I eat raw quite a bit also. Did a reset kind of thing after I got off track for a while over the holidays and absolutely loved it! After that I switched to two raw meals a day and then now usually to one raw meal a day. I feel so much better when I eat this way, it makes no sense not to. I'd love to get some ideas from someone who has more experience with eating raw than I do. I ran out of options after a while and started to lose some creativity. I just picked up a "cook"book".......is it still called a cookbook if it's for raw food ......to get some more ideas but would love some input from someone who's tried meals themselves.

I absolutely LOVE to cook and have had so much fun figuring out how to make really good, vegan meals. I love recreating a meal into something we'll eat. I came up with a Mexican casserole kind of thing that was vegan and also wheat free and the whole family loved it (even our 6 year old). I'd love to exchange ideas like this with people. I was very recently medically retired from the Army so I have a touch more free time than I'm used to so was just looking for others who might be like minded food-wise and such.