About seven years ago I made the bold decision to become vegetarian. I never thought that it would stick and that after a week or so I woupdate go right back to eating meat. Well, that was November 26th 2009 and nearly seven years have gone by and I'm still going strong.

At first, it was just going to be something I wanted to try for dietary reasons. My aunt was a vegetarian and the idea intrigued me. My mother was concerned about why I wanted to make such a brash decision but she immediately supported it. It was hard at first because it wasn't as simple as just giving up chicken and beef. Soon I learned that some of my favorite foods that I NEVER would have assumed to contain meat were in fact not vegetarian. It was an adjustment that took a few years to understand.

The hardest part about being a vegetarian hasn't even been giving up meat (although it does make ordering at restaurants trickier), the hardest part has been having friends taunt me about being vegetarian. They might have thought it was funny to be all "ooh this bacon smells great" or "this chicken tastes amazing" and I get the playfulness but at the same time it felt as though they didn't take me seriously. This has dwindled down over the years of course.

I never thought it would become something I'm so passionate about but it has. Now I truly feel like being a vegetarian was one of the best choices I could have made. Ironically my body has adjusted as well. Now if I accidentally eat a meat product I feel nauseous.

I'd like to start the path to veganism eventually, but as of right now I just like cheese too much.