Why I’m Vegetarian

If you don’t know already, I’m a vegetarian. Also, I’m letting you know now, this is a bit of a long one, haha!

I know I haven’t posted in a while. Things have been quite hectic in my life and the regular posting schedule I had planned has been very hard to keep up with. I promise I’ll make an effort to post more frequently. 

Mostly I’m a vegetarian because I love animals. However, over the years I have seen not only the health benefits (specific to me) but have seen the change it can make in today’s world.

The back story:

I’ve always been a person who, if I thought about what meat was (animals),  wouldn’t be able to eat what was in front of me. Growing up, I was surrounded by animals, as my mother and father loved animals so much and filled our field with them.

They did, however, eat meat, but could never harm any of our own animals. We had dogs, ducks, chickens, geese, rabbits, goats and a turkey named Tommy. I used to spend my time outside playing with and feeding the animals.

I specifically remember a chicken named Blondie. She was a silkie chicken who was obsessed with me. I think she thought I was her mother. She would follow me everywhere and loved to sit on my shoulder.

Tommy, the turkey was also a pet that stood out in my head. Tommy was very affectionate but also a great watchdog. He would gobble so loud if anyone came near our house! He was also a snob when it came to eating. He refused to eat with the chickens as he seemed to find it disgusting they were standing in their food. His impressive characteristics meant I could never forget his face. When we had to move abruptly we, unfortunately, had to get rid of most of our animals. We gave Tommy to an animal farm type place who would not be using him for food but to socialize with the other turkeys.

Because of Tommy, for the rest of my childhood, I refused to eat turkey. Little stories like this made me reduce a few types of meat over the years. I tried to go vegetarian when I was 16. It, unfortunately, didn’t go well when I developed a nut allergy and had no clue how to eat properly.

Fast forward to 2016. I began to get very into makeup. I had no real knowledge of animal testing until I started using Kylie Cosmetics lipstick. I remember hearing Kylie Jenner specifically talking about how her brand was cruelty-free and vegan. This baffled me as it was something I had never really thought about out of sheer obliviousness. Soon afterwards, having read all about it, I became completely dedicated to purchasing only cruelty-free makeup. I still can’t believe that in 2019, companies are still testing on animals. This was my first eye-opener into this industry.

The turning point…

Making the Decision to be Vegetarian:

I remember the day I turned vegetarian so clearly.

In 2016, David and I went on a trip to California. One day during this trip we were sitting down for dinner and I was looking on my phone. I randomly came across a video of a piglet jumping around having fun and saw a comment along the lines of ‘mmmm bacon’. I thought I was going to throw up. It all suddenly just became so real.

“I’m never eating meat again. I have to be a vegetarian…”

I turned to David and said “I’m never eating meat again. I have to be a vegetarian”. He thought I was joking, but I was certainly not. The rest of the week of our holiday, I did not touch meat. And when we got back to Boston, I still didn’t eat it. To this day I don’t miss it at all. People often ask me “do you not miss burgers”, “do you not feel jealous when you see someone eating meat”. The answer is always no. I never miss it, because I cannot unsee the clear truth that animals are meat and I have no desire to eat another living creature.

Learning more & Benefits:

Why I’m Vegetarian | Everything Obsessed Blog

The longer I’m opened to learning about the world of vegetarianism and veganism, the more I see how much it can change the world.

Did you know becoming vegan is one of the most effective ways to help Climate Change? This is due to the fact that going vegan is one of the biggest ways you can cut your contribution to carbon emissions. 

Obviously, the first two benefits are (1) not hurting animals and (2) helping reduce climate change. But a third benefit that can be found from going vegan or even just vegetarian is your health.

I’m not going to sit here and pretend that humans are not meat eaters and that meat is the worst thing for you because let’s face it, that is simply not true. Humans are meat eaters by nature and if they are not eating meat, they need to pay more attention to their diet and get the right nutrients. 

What is true, is that if you have a sensitive stomach, not eating meat will help that. I’ve suffered from stomach problems for as long as I can remember. Through no intention of being healthy, when I became vegetarian my stomach eased up quite a bit. Possibly this is because of the way meat is processed and raised. 

Lifestyle changes:

When it comes to being vegetarian these days, it’s pretty easy. It’s not so ‘taboo’ as before. Just about every restaurant you go to will have something you can eat, and I don’t just mean a salad. We tried so many restaurants in Boston and I was always accommodated. 

There’s pretty much a veggie burger option anywhere burgers are sold. I’ve even been to little pubs and places in the middle of nowhere that had veggie lasagna. It’s all about perception and asking what is available. Many times the restaurant will have no problem making up a dish without the meat or subsidising the meat for more of another item. Of course, this is within reason, if you go to a steakhouse, there will probably be fewer options than if you go to an Italian or Chinese restaurant.

Switching, at first, can seem a little daunting, but it’s really not that hard. With all the substitute meat options, you can pretty much cook the same food at home just using plant-based ‘meats’. 

5 tips for going vegetarian or vegan

1. Don’t push yourself to do it all at once, try gradually moving over. 
2. Don’t beat yourself up if you eat something accidentally.
3. Do your research on nutrients, eg you need to take B12.
4. Try new recipes and get a book to help.
5. Find friends who are vegetarian/ vegan to help you along the way.

These are some book’s that will help if you are thinking of going vegetarian or vegan:

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Hope you enjoyed this post. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram. 

xoxo
Elizabeth

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