BECOMING A VEGETARIAN
05.41 pm / vegetarianism
I've never understood the concept of eating meat - we kill living animals and eat them just for our own good. I've never understood why everyone just eats meat like it's nothing. I remember being under 10 years old, and thinking about becoming a vegetarian, and those thoughts have always been in the back of my mind. They've always been there. I never thought I could do it, mainly because I’m a picky eater, and I used to never even eat fruits or vegetables. But as I got older I became more and more uncomfortable eating meat, and during the last months of being an omnivore I didn’t even really enjoy the taste of any other meat than chicken and fish. But no matter what kind of meat I ate, the second I was reminded of what it actually was, I had to stop.
This summer I was home alone for a week, and I spent it making meatless meals, doing research and watching YouTube videos of people telling their stories and reasons to become a vegan/vegetarian. That’s when I decided it’s time. The next day my mum came home and I asked her if she was okay with it. Although she didn’t seem too happy about my decision, she told me I’m 18 years old and I can make my own decisions. It was something I had been thinking and talking about for years, so she knew I knew what I was doing. That day I ate my last meal with meat, that’s not fish.
There’s a lot of reasons why someone becomes a pescetarian, vegetarian or vegan. My main reason was that I didn’t want to eat animals, I didn’t want them to be killed for me. But while seeing people talk a lot about this online lately, seeing all those videos and doing research, I also found out that animal products is actually very bad for our health and the environment. And if there is something, even the absolute tiniest thing I can do to help the animals and our planet, and at the same time reduce the chance of me getting cancer or other diseases, I will do it. Especially if I can do so much only by cutting out meat from my diet.
I still eat fish, which I'm not happy or proud of at all, but I eat it very rarely. In fact, I’m not fully comfortable calling myself a pescetarian since my fish consumption is so small. I really don't substitute other meats with fish, I pretty much only eat it when there's no vegetarian alternatives or on days when I don't have any ideas for vegetarian meals, which is once a month if even that. The reason I decided to keep eating fish is mainly because of my mum, and I felt like it would be easier than to go fully vegetarian over night. A lot of times it's also easier to find fish alternatives than fully vegetarian ones, for example at a restaurant or at a party. I really want to go fully vegan one day, but for now I’m going to do my best as a vegetarian and enjoy vegan meals once in a while. Not eating meat has actually been a lot easier, and cheaper than I thought. I’m so happy I did it. I don't miss meat at all. Everyone says this, but I can't not agree – the only thing I regret is that it took me so long to do it. I really can't see myself going back.
