I know what you’re thinking: “she’s about to try to guilt-trip me into never eating meat again.” On the contrary, I’m not here to guilt-trip anyone, I’m just sharing my experience in attempts to help people. And if you find that you’re on a similar path or changing anything in your diet, I hope this helps you understand that you’re not alone.
It was around the end of last year that I decided to remove meat from my diet. I was nearing the end of my first semester of senior year, watching a documentary in my health class about factory farming and plant-based diets. The people in the documentary were essentially arguing that meat isn’t a crucial component of someone’s diet, and could do more harm than good if not eaten in moderation. Red meat specifically can contribute to health complications later in life (i.e. heart disease, diabetes, etc.). I learned that many of the nutrients I received from meat could be found in grains, fruits, vegetables, and any food a person may typically eat. Also, the depictions of the meat farming practices weren’t explicitly shown, but I could infer that they weren’t very kind to the animals. These two factors, first, that meat isn’t a necessity and has the potential to cause health problems, and second, that factory farming practices are often cruel, led to me rethinking how I wanted to move forward.
It was at this point that I began to reevaluate my eating habits. At that point, I had never realized or been taught that meat isn’t a necessity. I’ve eaten it my whole life so I wasn’t aware that it wasn’t that crucial. When I got home that day, I told my family all about what I had learned in the documentary and that I wanted to try being vegetarian once the new year started. They were supportive and understood that what I was doing was for my preference and health. I planned to slowly stop eating meat leading up to January 1st, then, once the new year was upon us, I would completely give up meat. This sounds simple on paper, but in practice it took finding foods that would replace an empty spot on my plate, understanding that I had a high chance of being iron deficient and that eating some of my favorite foods would be near impossible.
As I approached 11 months of being vegetarian, I realized that it’s probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I feel better and have found that I probably won’t go back to regularly eating meat any time soon. I hope this story can help you if you’re considering a big diet change or have simply always wondered what it’s like to become vegetarian. Remember that what you do is your choice and what makes you feel happy and better will rarely be wrong.