I became vegetarian three years ago and I am so happy that I made that decision. By cutting out meat from my diet, my body feels and looks better, the Earth is benefitting and most importantly, I am not eating defenseless animals. America has a stigma around vegetarians and vegans, and I want to bust some of the myths about plant-based lifestyles.
I'm not sponsored by Peta to rant to you and make you convert to being vegetarian. But if you learn something or become interested in the lifestyle enough to reevaluate your food choices, it would make you, the animals and me happier. So, get ready to get educated…
1. Meat substitutes scare me, plus they are hard to find.
Wrong and wrong. There is nothing weird about eating veggie burgers, tofu, and other meatless meals. In my opinion, I think the ingredients in your hot dog are MUCH weirder. Not to mention there are meatless ground beef, chicken tenders, sausages, burgers and more that are in literally every grocery store’s frozen food section.
2. I won't be able to find anything without meat on menus when I go out to eat.
Plant-based diets are so much more common than you probably think. Lots of restaurants have vegetarian sections on the menu or try a vegan restaurant (you will leave with a full stomach). Trust me, you do not have to eat salads for every meal. At sushi restaurants, my go-to order is avocado rolls. You can never go wrong with Eggplant Parmesan from Italian restaurants. Lots of burger joints have veggie burgers or if you’re lucky, they carry the Impossible Burger.
3. I like eating fish and I am not willing to eliminate it from my diet.
So eat fish. People become a vegetarian based on educated research and ethical beliefs. There is no right or wrong way to eat a plant-based diet. If you want to keep eating fish, then be a pescatarian. If you want to have cheese and eggs but minus the meat, that means you are a lacto-ovo vegetarian. Look them up, and then decide your plan of action. Most importantly, be open to changing your entire outlook on food and your lifestyle!
If you are still intimidated by going all out vegetarian, just look at each meat product you eat and evaluate it. For example, you might want to eliminate red meat and only eat poultry. It's a start, so just give it a try.
4. I wouldn’t be making a difference in the world if I became vegetarian.
Besides the fact that you are not eating an animal who lived its whole life in a cage where it couldn’t move more than a few inches and never saw anything but the inside of a factory, every single vegetarian is making a huge difference. When you stop eating meat, you save the world.
Agriculture in the United States is terrible for the planet because it depletes the O-zone layer, consumes millions of gallons of water annually, and clears acres and acres of forests worldwide. If you became a vegetarian, you would immediately save the Earth just a little bit of water, land, or gas emissions.
5. I won't get enough protein.
Fun fact: there are vegan bodybuilders who have not eaten meat for years. I’m pretty sure they are getting enough protein. It’s 2018 and if you don’t know that beans, tofu, avocados, nuts, and seeds are all excellent sources of protein, its time for you to move out from that rock you have been living under. There are many vegan protein powders and millions of vitamins and supplements to ensure you get all the right nutrients WITHOUT EATING ANIMALS.
