Advice from Vegetarians Please! :D

Have you asked him why he is getting so upset? If you don't know that reason, nothing you are going to do or say will remedy the matter. It took quite a number of years before my mother accepted it and I knew the reason why. Sit down and talk to him about and how it is upsetting you that he is upset. Otherwise keeping being a vegetarian and let him eat all of the meat in the world.

Yeah it sounds like he just wants to enjoy eating with you like you used to (like it's an event) and he feels you can't do this anymore. I'd suggest finding new activities to enjoy together, and on occasion go out and share a decadent dessert! I'm vegetarian and my hubby is a meat eater and he has no issue with it. But when I get obsessive with calories, that drives him crazy because, as this happened in the past, I would talk about it non stop and never want to go out to eat. So now I cook at home, I don't obsess with what I'm eating and when we do go out, he gets to try what I'm having. It will take time for him to adjust.

I've actually dealt with and in some ways am still dealing with a similar issue. My choice to eat healthier is something my boyfriend supports but doesn't quite know how to deal with.

We were both extreme foodies and ate anything and everything to our heart's desire; pizza, ice cream, giant bowls of pasta, etc. However over the past few months I've been very diligent about eating healthy and losing weight. I've made it known to him that while I need to do this for myself I in no way expect him to follow my example.

At first it was fine, but then it got awkward and strange. He would get depressed at almost every dinner because we would have to cook 2 separate meals. Between the time and cost of everything he decided that he would start just eating the same dinner as me. This of course didn't solve the problem at all. He still wanted pizza, beer, and ice cream, he just refused to say it now.

Eventually I sat him down and had a heart to heart with him. I explained that my "healthier" choices were not his choices and he didn't have to follow them. He in turn replied to me saying that my "healthier" choices made him feel as though he was doing something wrong. That's not the case at all! I explained to him that I don't think that just because he isn't eating low calorie dinners and lots of vegetables that he's being "stupid". There's nothing wrong with his choices.

I don't know your boyfriend personally but he may feel the same way. As individuals it's easy to become angry at things that confuse us. And if becoming a vegetarian is something relatively new, this might be the case.

Sorry about the long back story, just thought it might be helpful.

It just takes time for people to get use to it. Some people genuinely forget. Some people think it's funny and some people just don't know. Like the fat in the soup, or bone marrow in marshmallows, gummy candy, people find it "extreme."

Have fun exploring new vegetarian foods and restaurants together. Find new restaurants and check it out.
After a while my family and friends really enjoyed trying out new things with me. ^^

I think this is a fairly common issue in relationships where food is a component of the "together" time. When one person starts changing their relationship with food, even gradually, the other person can feel left behind, or worry about how the changes are going to impact the comfortable routine, visits to favourite restaurants, etc. He might even worry that you're going to see him and his eating patterns differently in light of your new eating philosophy, or wonder what changes are next. It may take away some of his sense of stability and familiarity. And sometimes, it's scary when the person you love changes anything at all. "What else do they want or plan that I don't know about?" is something people may wonder when a partner launches into a new diet or declares they want to change careers.

I've also noticed that vegetarians who used to eat meat often have a hard time with their loved ones--who knew them and ate with them back when they ate meat--saying things like, "oh it's only a bit of chicken soup base...don't make a big deal about it." People seem to assume that a vegetarian should be able to "handle" a bit of meat product here and there in sauces, etc. if they used to eat meat. A close friend of mine was called a "selfish, stubborn extremist" by her mother for refusing to eat a piece of the birthday cheesecake her mother made for her several weeks after she went vegan. Obviously her mother was being terribly passive aggressive by making a cheesecake in the first place...but even when it's something more mild, I think this takes a lot of patience to deal with.

My friend's tactic was to acknowledge that "it wouldn't kill her" (as her mother said) to eat the cheese, but she also said that she had chosen to eat a certain way and she made a promise to herself to stick with it, otherwise she wouldn't feel she could truly consider herself a vegan. It validated her mother's viewpoint to an extent, and placed the emphasis on the personal nature of the choice.

It may take time, but if he truly loves and supports you (and it sounds like he does) he will adjust. It may take him a few tries to figure out how to adapt to the new norm. Try asking him if there's anything you can do to make it an easier transition for him, or plan to cook some dinners together with a meat element for him and something else for you (like make a stirfry, and add chicken to his portion and tofu to yours), to show that your lives and eating habits are still compatible and fun.