"You're a what?"

That's the first reaction most people have when I tell them I'm a pescatarian. For those of you who don't know, a pescatarian is someone who doesn't eat meat, apart from fish. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what a pescatarian was, I could probably pay my tuition for the semester. I'm at the point now where I either tell people I'm a vegetarian, or I just don't eat meat.

I've been a pescatarian since my freshmen year of high school, six years at the end of this month. Giving up meat was something I had been thinking about doing for a while, but never found the momentum. Then, my ninth grade biology teacher somehow got on the topic of cow slaughter. I don't remember the full details of the conversation, or how we even got on that topic in the first place. All I do remember is feeling slightly nauseous afterward. It didn't help that I had a chicken salad for lunch about half an hour before the class.

That night when I went home, I told my parents I was giving up meat, except for fish. Why keep eating fish and other seafoods when I'm giving up other meats? The answer is simple, I really love sushi. I have a Japanese grandmother who would watch me a couple times a week growing up, and she practically raised me on seafood.

No way am I ever going to give up spicy tuna rolls, they're too good. My parents were glad that I would keep eating fish and eggs so I would have plenty of protein. But there are, of course, plenty of other ways to get protein besides meat. Just talk to any vegetarian or vegan and they will tell you all kinds of sources of protein you didn't think of. And no, it's not taking protein pills.

Along with not feeling bad about eating meat animals, the lack of meat in my diet has proven to be healthier. However, I am still guilty of pigging out on pizza and ice cream.

A common misconception about people who don't eat meat, that can get really annoying, is that they shame people who eat meat or try to guilt trip them into not eating meat. While there are a few crazy people like that; in my experience, I haven't met anyone of that nature. While I personally don't want to eat chicken (which does count as a meat, you'd be surprised how many people assume I eat chicken because it "doesn't count" as meat), I won't stop anyone from eating it if they want to.

My philosophy is that as long as you don't try and force me to eat bacon, I won't force you to eat tofu.

People often ask me if I miss meat. Honestly, I'm not sure. I haven't tasted it in almost six years, I've pretty much forgotten what steak tastes like. The only thing I really miss is going to restaurants and not worrying about how limited my options will be. Who knows, maybe one day I will eat chicken and bacon again. But I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future.