How I went vegetarian for first time in my life.

[cx3]

Just have to share this. I'm 46 yrs old and for all that time I have ate meat for atleast two meals a day.I have never given this any thought.This is all I have ever known.I had heard that a plant based diet was good for me,but I just figured it was all propoganda and lies from the PETA people.
We recently got Netflix.We hadn't watched any TV shows for about 5 yrs. up to this point.Our favorite has been a show narrorated by John Goodman (can't remember the name of show).Anyway,they travel around the country looking for the top ten eateries for whatever.My wife and I were loving it.We were even dreaming of planning our vacations around visiting some of these eateries.
Here's where it gets interesting.Under Netflix documentaries was a movie called Forks over Knives.We start watching this thinking it was a documentary on great restuarants.What a shock I was in for.To my suprise it wasn't about great restuarants but about the benefits of a plant based diet. The world as I knew it was turned upside down. What an education.
We have been almost plant based for two weeks now.We still cook and bake with milk and eggs.The best part for me is that I haven't even missed the meat.I have never craved meat (I crave carbs).For 46 yrs.I have mindlessly been eating meat because I didn't know any better.
I have watched several more related documentaries to learn even more.Fat,Sick and Nearly Dead was another great film.
I'll update this on occasion to share any health benefits I encounter.This isn't a self-deprivation lose weight diet plan for me.I am just now sickened by the idea of what animal products are doing to my body.
I grew up on a hobby farm.Our animals were always treated in a humane manner.My eyes were opened to how some animals are treated in commercial operated facilities and it was rather cruel.
This vegetarian thing looks like a win-win-win (body,planet,and animals).
I don't want anyone to think I've become self-righteous over this.If you like your slab of ribs then by all means continue.I support your right to eat whatever you want.

[decemberlov]

I watched both these documentaries on netflix as well and very much enjoyed them both! Very eye opening indeed! Our family does eat meat still but now I try to make meat more of a side dish than the actual main part of the meal. And although we do buy organic milk I have limited the consumption especially for my little one that LOVES it. Fat, Sick & Nearly dead really has me wanting to buy a juicer but they are not cheap! I think I'll add this to my Christmas list this year

Nice to hear the transition has been so easy for you!

[catherine]

I went vegetarian when I was 46, too! (I'm now 60). What started it for me were a pile of specific small insights that wound up motivating me to back out of eating meat. One insight was the hypocrisy of outrage over animal welfare in one case (like when one cow escaped slaughter in Brooklyn and was subsequently spared the ax), but in other cases where we don't "know" the animal, it's business as usual. In other words, our empathy is very ego-related. When we let go of our ego, why can't we extend that empathy to creatures we don't have a "relationship" with? When I realized I was happy eating an anonymous cow, but horrified at the thought of eating my dog, I really felt I needed to examine my motives.

I also realized that if I'm not willing to kill the animal myself, I have no right to ask someone else to do the dirty work.

I also realized that I'm not a huge foodie, and I like a lot of different foods, so if I can spare suffering by choosing from the vast array of other nutritional sources, why not?

Like you, I also learned how bad CAFOs are. And I read Peter Singer's Animal Liberation, as well as John Robbin's Diet for a New America, which were very thought-provoking.

I have stopped calling myself a vegetarian, because I actually do eat fish, and also I just don't like labeling myself. I prefer to say that most of my food choices involve excluding meat. I also have no problem at all with the choices other people make, and there are many good reasons for eating meat. I simply choose to focus on my reasons for not eating it.

[cx3]

I know what you mean decemberlov.After watching Fat,Sick and Nearly Dead I wanted to purchase a juicer asap,but found the prices rather prohibitive.We found a masticating(sp) juicer on Craigslist at a good price. Craigslist is loaded with juicers.
Love the juicer. We tried a dab of ginger root this morning in our juicer.Put in way to much.
Wife and I are expanding our food options.This is all new to us.Before today,the only thing I knew about ginger was that I liked ginger snap cookies. I use to dip them in my coffee.I didn't even know ginger was a root crop.

[bUU]

I was 45 when I became a vegetarian. The prevalence of CAFOs is without a doubt the most grievous offense in all this. The turning point for me was when one of our church youth came back from a witnessing trip, and attested to the horrors she saw that prompted her to become vegan. My conviction has been bolstered in recent years by books like Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.

[pinkytoe]

For all the reasons mentioned, the appeal of eating meat is waning. We have reduced meat based meals to 1-2x a week from what used to be almost every night. When we do eat meat, it is a very small portion. Our kick starter was also Forks Over Knives.
We purchased a Breville juicer (think it was $130) a while back and it has worked well. We juice up a mix of beets, celery, apple and carrot and then add that juice to blender along with greens, cucumber and a frozen banana. That way there is some fiber since the juicer removes so much of it. It has become a morning ritual when we aren't rushed and I can definitely feel the difference when we go without for a week or more.

[bae]

I was sorta-kinda vegetarian for about a decade, because I found factory farming troublesome. I would still eat meat and fish I harvested myself, thus the sorta-kinda part.

Since moving to my current location 13 years ago, I've started eating more beef/lamb/goat, always sourced from people I know who raise them ethically. Often they are my daughters' or her friends' 4H projects. I also have an arrangement with a friend nearby who raises lamb and goat for me as part of her own farming.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I had every intention of going vegetarian a few years ago and even did for several months but slowly drifted away from it and then when I took seasonal serving jobs that had meals and housing included there was no way to eat vegetarian on these jobs without eating the same thing day in and day out.

But one positive thing about the gun rhetoric I posted on in another thread? I might not be able to change much there but what I CAN do is to eat vegetarian and respect all forms of human and animal life. That much is in my power and control. Looks like tofu dogs tonight lol!

Interesting too as I am 46 and I am noticing on these posts that mid 40's seems to be around the age when folks here went veg. I wonder if there's any connection? Rob

[bUU]

I'm not sure. My spouse was 55.

[Rosemary]

I was vegetarian and nearly vegan from about ages 23-33. No dairy, but I sometimes ate salmon or eggs.
When I became pregnant, the soy milk that I had used for many years tasted bitter. I tried other brands. Same thing. Then I got all-day morning sickness, and dairy was one of the few foods that I could handle.

Now I eat small amounts of meats, usually poultry, and mostly as a component in a vegetable-heavy meal, and only a few times/week. I eat more vegetables than I did when I was a hardcore vegetarian. I buy organic/grass-fed animal products when possible, and generally omit them when not. We eat a lot of vegan meals. But a little feta or romano cheese, or some turkey in a stew, really adds a lot of flavor, and I'd rather get the flavors I'm seeking that way than in processed soy foods or excess sodium. Still not a lot of dairy in our house. None of us drinks milk, although we keep almond milk on hand for cooking and coffee.

The only label I currently apply to my eating style is mindful or conscious.