Vegetarians, I am curious.......?

Question

I would like to know your reasoning as to why you are a vegetarian. Is it for health reasons, religious reasons, moral reasons, are you vegan or do you eat animal bi-products such as milk or eggs? I am very interested, but I have no understanding of where to start, or how to change over to this lifestyle. Your serious answers will all be appriciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

im a vegetarian for health reasons, sense i became a vegetarian ive lost 23 pounds n_n ♥

i can eat eggs, milk, and fish. but eggs give me bad cramps, so i try to avoid them, but if i know a cookie was mad with eggs, ill still eat it. milk gives me stomach aches too, but i can eat motzerella cheese and yogurt, cause their allowed an another diet im on  

Answer 2

Hello! I am a vegetarian and i have been one for 1 year and 2 months now. I woke up one day and decided i didnt want to eat meat anymore. i dislike the taste and now the idea that i am eating a once living thing...an old rotting dead corpse of a once living animal. its sad.

Answer 3

Watch this and you'll probably turn into one.

www.meat.org

Answer 4

I'm vegetarian.

i turned vegetarian when i was four and i connected the bunny i was eating with the bunny i read about in my books who used to run around the fields all happy.

i decided to turn vegetarian that day and haven't eaten one dot of meat since then.

people say you were only four, its so much easier to turn veggie then. i think it was harder. when your a kid and you see so much yummy all around you and you can't eat it, it makes it so much easier to give in than when your 20 and you know what your doing.

at home it was ok because my mum used to cook veggie food for me. she supported my decision. but when you went to a birthday party? fried chicken? no.

the mini pizzas with chicken? no.

the cocktail sausages? no.

not even birthday cake because of the egg.

no french fries because they have pig lard in it.

so i would go and eat... nothing. birthday parties and water. plain water.

i ate some bread which for some reason had egg in it till i was eight, because i didn't think bread wouldn't be veggie so i never checked.

but other than that nothing.

so it is completely for moral reasons.

as i got older i understood what exactly happened n slaughterhouses and factory farms(where your eat comes from)

you should watch this video called 'meet your meat'. its on youtube. 12 minute documentary on how your food is made. it will definatley help you understand.

i'm vegetarian, not vegan so yes milk. but no egg. i think its called a lacto-vegetarian.

start by watching the video. you obviously care about animals and don't want to hurt them. just say your going to be vegetarian and do it. you probably will crave meat for a bit but then you'll get used to it. and there are always soy alternatives. don't knock them until you've tried them. (some brands better than some other carboard tasting brands)

i switched for the moral reasons. but now i see the health side.

i'm built and shredded too. so noone says anything about needing meat for strenght or anything like that to me anymore.

goodluck

Answer 5

It is much easier on the Earth which is something we need to start seriously concerning ourselves with.  And the land, water and resources it takes to feed all the animals we are eating could be used for people who desperately need those things.  It's a truly sympathetic way of life and it's fun too.  It's interesting to find and use recipes that you wouldn't normally use if you were eating meat.  I'm vegan and I don't personally feel like it's healthier but I have reached a level of compassion in my everyday life and mentality that I wasn't expecting.  Plus, those pics of animal cruelty are just heartbreaking.

Answer 6

There are many reason's why I have chosen this lifestyle.  One for moral reasons, one because I saw a slaughterhouse video and trust me...not too many people eat meat after that.  And 3 because it takes weight off so easily without even really trying. Red meat stayed inside your stomach/colon for months...it's terribly unhealthy.

Answer 7

it is for all of the reasons you mentioned. it does not have to be done all at once.  gradual.  your particular reason may be different and does not have to match anothers.  i was a vegetarian for a long time, until the day i went to visit my mother and her new husband.  they had my plate ready.  out of respect, i ate it.  somewhere in my christian upbringing i was taught to eat in gratitude under those type circumstances.  what everyone says about their moral reasons are so great.  not having started at a younger age

is a disadvantage, but not impossible.  i am still mainly a vegetarian. i wish i was more like those who are so devoted to it.  if you go to a lot of cook outs, dine out, or eat over at someone else's house, it may be challenging.  i seem to eat meat during those times.  i guess i am a real vegen, who does not even drink milk or eat eggs, wanna be.  i sure do admire those that so successfully do it.  maybe that is you too!!

Answer 8

started out for health - had asthma - do not have it - and when i was in 7th grade we went on a field trip to slaughter house - that really convinced me it was wrong.  them came philosophy, which i must say was the real staying influence.  Am now over 50 - raised 4 boys & two daughters all veggie all grown and still veggie & one veggie grand son.  i was vegan for many yrs about 7-10yrs - when i got preg with 1st kid i slowly began to incorporate some dairy, now i eat no meat fish or eggs, i do have a little milk in coffee & some cheese in ethnic foods.  you will want to look up "Transitional Diet" - educate your self on food combos that make complete proteins, take it slow and easy so you do not regret the change.  Whole Foods has a great site with recipes, meal suggestions and the like.  and if you are really in need of assistance email me - with so many boys - i wrote them all a veggie cookbook with all their favs - all the boys are over 6' tall and the girls one is almost 6' her hair is about 42" long & the other daughter well she is a track star.  congrats on choice now go get em'!  a veggie Mom here to help  :)

Answer 9

hello I'm a vegan and yes I'm a vegan for all the reasons you listed good luck http://www.goveg.com/ http://www.peta.com/  

Answer 10

the reason i'm a vegetarian is because i don't think it's right to be eating animals. i also think slaughter houses are inhumane and disgusting and it's just wrong in my mind.

Answer 11

I'm a vegetarian for health reasons, and moral reasons. I used to get sick all the time, but after I went vegetarian in January I haven't been sick a single time, and I have more energy and such. I also find it kind of gross to eat something that once was alive, and find it tasting well. I never really liked the taste of meat to begin with, and I started feeling awful for eating something that used to be alive. Good luck, if you want to be a vegetarian it's definitely worth it!

Answer 12

I'm not a vegetarian, however, interesting info that i just learned from my bio class. A fruit is a ripened ovary, the ovary contains eggs which once germinated become seeds, and what do fruits contain? seeds, so a watermellon is a large ripened ovary, so basically part of living thing, and all plants are as alive as animals. so if its vegan theres nothing to eat, except for some clay substance native americans used to eat

Answer 13

When I was a meat-eater I rarely thought about the animal that I was eating.  It was just something on my plate.  I had these thoughts that eating animals was okay because they are killed very quickly, so there is little pain.  

BUT, then I came across a television show that got me interested in researching meat production.  I was HORRIFIED at what I saw.  It was like reading Dante's Inferno, only this was reality.  And that was just the cruelty involved in the living and slaughter conditions.  Then I read about the medical neglect, animal waste mismanagement, substandard water and feed for the animals, the downer animals who are not supposed to get slaughtered but do anyway and sold as meat, the veal crates, battery cages, pig gestation crates, branding, castrations, ear and horn mutilations, tumors, abscesses, infections, hormone use, antibiotic use, and some practices so vile they make me cry to think of them.

As a result of my research, I found that it was best for me to go vegan and not contribute to any animal cruelty.  Unfortunately dairy and egg animals are treated like sh*t.  As long as there is a profit in their product, they don't care if the animals are sick, suffering, filthy, bored, unhappy, or in pain.

Last year, dairy eaters were responsible for 260,000 calf deaths in Britain alone because vegetarians will eat dairy but will not eat the offspring of the dairy cows.  Reasons like this are why I am a vegan and not an ovo-lacto vegetarian.

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You can start by doing your own research on the industry, if that suits you.  Read "Slaughterhouse" by Gail Eisnitz.  Read the Food and Agriculture Organisation's "Livestock's Long Shadow," a report about the devasting environmental effects that animal husbandry has on the Earth.  Go to vegetarian/vegan websites and/or chatrooms to see what others are saying.  Do research on proper nutrition, the ins and outs of veg/veganism.  There's so much information out there.  And check out your local library too for books on veg topics like health studies, cookbooks, animal ethics books, etc.

Visit these helpful websites:

http://www.veganoutreach.org/

http://www.vegansociety.com/home.php

http://www.mercyforanimals.org/

http://www.cok.net/

http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/

http://www.goveg.com/

http://www.vegan.org/

http://veganworldwidenews.blogspot.com/

Answer 14

Well I am religiously vegitarian but i don't regret it one bit. I know most of the reasons you have read are that they think slaughtering animals is wrong and i agree that it is wrong but i feel that animals are here for a reason, God put them here, so why destroy God's creation? there isnt a point to that in my opinion. I choose to be a vegitarian because it makes me feel good that another creatures blood isnt in me (ok that sounded disgusting-sorry) but you get my point

Answer 15

I am not personally a veggie, but I have many friends that are so. One of my friends just doesn't like the taste of meat. She just really doesn't like it. Another one of my friends thinks meat is greasy and disgusting, and she loves animal. My other friend said she just wanted to try it.

Answer 16

I'm a vegetarian because I LOVE animals and I don't think it's right to kill and eat animals. There is a lot of other things to eat besides meat, it's not like you HAVE to eat animals to live. All you meat eaters are canabulls, we are all mammals here (I know you're not seriously canabulls that is just how I look at it).

Answer 17

i am a vegetarian because the thought of eating flesh is really gross to me.  i do not try to convince others not to eat meat though, my husband eats meat all the time, i just won't cook it for him :-)  i have felt this way my entire life, from the moment i figured out what meat actually was, i stopped eating it.  

Answer 18

Well i was born into a religious family, and as I'm growing up I'm glad i was, because its so wrong, they were put on this earth for us to look after, we were given power, and we betray that by eating animals??

Slaughtering them with endless pain just 'cause we're hungry??

Eating meat can also bring on health problems, diseases.

Hope that helped

=]

Answer 19

I'm a vegetarian because the idea of putting dead animals in my tummy grosses me out.  

Answer 20

I am a vegetarian, cus I don't like meat, and cus i think that its wrong to kill animals for food.

But i do eat chicken and seafood to help me get my protein.

Answer 21

I'm the only one on here with this story, but here it goes: I originally became a vegetarian after learning about the parasites that can live in meat. I was like, "h***s, no!"

Since then, my reasons have expanded to include objections to the way meat animals are raised (and the cost associated with getting meat that I found acceptable was too high, so I just said, "Forget it"), the environmental cost of meat, and health. I felt so much better after reducing the amount of saturated fat I ate.

Now, however, meat doesn't even appeal to me anymore. I let a friend convince me to try some of a sausage (no comments from the peanut gallery, please) and I almost gagged. It just did NOT taste good.

Answer 22

I became a Vegetarian when I was 12 I think.

My Reasons: I don't think animals should be killed just so somebody can eat them. I Really don't see the point in eating meat. Nobody HAS to eat meat to survive. It's allot better for my health and I have lost a few pounds, I DID NOT do this as a Diet program though.

When I was like 12 I became a  Vegan.

Reasons: Same as above plus I hate dairy products and I don't think its right for people (except maybe baby's) to drink/eat Dairy. I think  Cow's milk should go to their baby's. =)

Also I LOVE CHICKENS! And I saw a video of baby chickens being killed humanely or whatever and it was so sad.

okay I guess that's it. =)

Answer 23

I'm vegetarian for moral reasons i've never been comfortable with the idea of eating something dead........it just doesn't seem right to me, those poor animals were bred in captivity, treated horribly and then killed and i refuse to benefit from their suffering.

I do eat things like egg and cheese but not very often simply because my family eat meat and it would be too much hassle, but i only eat free-range things....

Becoming vegetarian is easy quorn make good vegetarian meat substitues and beans and pulses are excellent nutritional substitutes for meat.

Answer 24

I'm vegan, at least trying to be. I call myself 80% vegan because i'm trying to be, but i'm not fully. basically i watched this video...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...

and realized what eating meat and dairy does to you, and how you dont need to eat it. Then i started to eat healthier and i'm doing great now!

basically, i follow this food pyramid:

http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/Fuh...

its a very good start, and then you can find food ideas at

www.vegsource.com

There is also a link on that website that gives you a guide as to "why to become vegan" and how to do it.

To start off, you simply make the same meals you normally do, but ones that are vegan or vegetarian. Maybe you like stir fry, maybe you like spaghetti without meat sauce. Start with things that are either easy to convert to vegan or ones that are already. Then you slowly start to substitute some soy into it, then move onto advanced cooking.

edit:

i forgot something. After 3 weeks of not eating meat, it will taste bad. Trust me. I didn't believe it either until i've been vegan for 5 weeks now, we had a pizza party at my house. I got a veggie pizza and all the meat pizza (meat pizza for guests). Well i got hungry so i threw in a slice of the meat pizza. Omg, i have no idea how i ever put that in my mouth. It tastes horrible!

One person said it takes your taste buds 3 weeks to adjust to food, and if you dont eat meat for 3 weeks, your taste buds wont like it anymore.

Answer 25

I am 13 and have been vegetarian since birth.

My mum, went to India before I was born and discovered how expensive the meat was there. She could not afford to buy meat and so then when she got back to Australia, after not eating meat for quiet a long time, she discovered she could not stomach meat anymore, and so she became a vegetarian.

My dad, grew up on a farm and if the family wanted to eat meat, they had to kill one of their animals. This turned him off completely so he became vego as well.

Then my older brother was born, and my parents, both being vegetarian, decided to raise him as a vegetarian as well. Then I was born and so our family was completely vegetarian.

About 4 months ago, I decided to not eat fish or shellfish anymore. I figured, why do I not eat animals like cows and sheep, but then I eat fish. What makes them any different? So I informed my parents and they decided to comply.

I am now a Lacto Ovo Vegetarian. This means I do not eat meat, fish or poultry, but i do eat eggs and milk. If I was you, I would start with this.

My parents said that if I wanted to eat meat, I have to cook it outside. It is my decision, and they don't really mind.

In truth, I would have probably become a vegetarian anyway, even if my family wasn't.

So start by cutting back on meat until you do not eat it anymore. Also, be careful of GELATINE. Gelatine is a gelling agent taken from inside the tissue of animals. It seems to pop into alot of the foods today, like ice-cream and gummy lollies. Just check the ingredients.

Good luck!

Answer 26

im a vegatarian because of the fact that its animal, its not right to eat animals, they are living things 2, and u dont c them hunting 4 us. I do eat dairy products, only because animals do not die in order to make them

Answer 27

I am a vegetarian because i dont think animals should have to die for me.  I am not a vegan, i eat eggs and milk, and yogurt and stuff.  I am also doing it for health reasons.  there are plenty of protien sorces that are better for you.  I hate when ppl say its nasty to be veg.  when logical reasoning will tell you meat is more nasty than soy beans.

Answer 28

My friends are veggies cause' they think its cruel to kill and eat animals. :)

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

Answer mine, please.

Answer 29

I'm vegetarian because I think it is wrong to kill animals to eat them.

I've been vegetarian for a long time.

I can't really bring myself to 'go back'

Answer 30

I am in the same stage you are in right now. I've done my research and for me personally it's more of a Health & Moral reasoning.

Health - when you see where your food comes from and under what horrific conditions , are we really putting THAT into our bodies??!?

Moral - you see the animals are treated beyond cruel, and they also hurt and their lives aren't respected 1 ounce in the slaughter process

I have completely stopped drinking Milk , once it enters your digestive system it turns into a glue-like substance and takes forever, if ever, to digest what doesnt diguest shoots back out into your body and turns into mucus clogging your organs of elimination & tries to release itself thru your skin (causing acne in some ppl) ALSO there are ALWAYS traces of cow c**p in milk - eeewwwwwlllllll!!!!

ALTERNATIVES: Soy Milk, Rice Drink, Almond Milk, Goat's Milk (organic, Goat's milk is the easiest to digest for humans)

CHESSE ALTERNATIVES: Kosher Goat's Milk Chesse, Feta Chesse(make sure it's goat's milk not cow's) , there are excellent vegan chesses available at grocery stores

Eggs are the chickens menstrual cycle, unformed chiks - Gross enuff

I've completely cut off Red Meat (if you must eat, limit to 1 serving per week, as it can take 3-5 days to digest meat) I've never eaten pork in my life , I've limited my chicken & turkey intake.

ALTERNATIVES: soy-based mock-meats, unlimited Seafood (shellfish)