When I was fifteen and in the middle of a rebellious phase I decided to be a vegetarian. I was never the type of person to do something actually reckless. While other people were actually rebelling I was trying to do something that was safe and yet out of the ordinary. My parents hated it. Every argument we had solidified my choice to not eat meat. I felt different because of my choice not to eat meat and I enjoyed every second of it.
The trend continued for years. I always liked telling people that I was a vegetarian because it was something different about me. I’ve always liked animals and told people that I was passionate about animal rights. But, if I’m being honest being a vegetarian was part of my identity. I was afraid of who I would be without this interesting part of myself. After seven-ish years of being a vegetarian, I transitioned back to eating meat. Here’s why.
- I wasn’t being healthy as a vegetarian
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I know for a fact that I wasn’t careful enough to make sure that I was healthy while maintaining a vegetarian lifestyle. I’m certain that I’m deficient in a lot of nutrients because of my long-term carelessness.
- I’m really tired all of the time
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I don’t have a lot of energy anymore. Dieting while being a vegetarian is really hard for me. I feel like I’m not eating enough because I have no clue how to diet while being a vegetarian; especially when I struggled with how to eat normally.
- I hate eating at restaurants and realizing I have no options
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I’m a really big foodie and not being able to eat whatever I want really bummed me out while eating out.
- I never did it for the right reasons.
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Like I said before, I became a vegetarian because I wanted there to be something “special” about me. I feel like that’s a really unhealthy reason to maintain a diet so I decided to stop.
- My lifestyle was never sustainable.
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When people asked me if I wanted to be a vegetarian for life I always hesitated. I think that I always knew that I wouldn’t be a vegetarian forever because of the way I decided to be a vegetarian. I wasn’t being healthy, I didn’t have passion for it and I felt like being a vegetarian was a sacrifice. I don’t want to live that way anymore.
Although I don’t want to be a vegetarian anymore I’m grateful for the experience. I feel like my years as a vegetarian taught me a lot and gave me a lot of clarity in my life. I wouldn’t change the past seven years but, I’m happy to start this new chapter in my life.