Confession #34: I was a vegetarian for years

If I told anyone that knows me today that I was a vegetarian for several years, they would probably laugh in my face. But here is the honest truth. I love animals and I am not convinced that anything deserves to die for me. I am 100% opposed to animal cruelty, abuse, and torture. 

I guess I have several dilemmas when it comes to living the vegetarian lifestyle, which is why I am no longer a vegetarian. First of all, my undeniable craving for red meat is truly an every day battle. I knew when I first became a vegetarian that it wasn't going to be easy; however, it was even harder than I imagined. Every day I would pass billboards for burgers, watch commercials for steak restaurants, and witness what seemed like everyone I knew chowing down on some kind of meat. I felt like I had just quit smoking and temptation was everywhere. I was definitely not one of those vegetarians that could say, "oh I wasn't really that crazy about meat anyway" or "I just really love vegetables". I was the vegetarian that wanted to end suffering but drooled over anything that contained meat. Thankfully, this is my most embarrassing reason why I am no longer a vegetarian. I find it is best to embarrass yourself in the beginning of your blog post so that you have time to redeem yourself. 

Second reason: living as a vegetarian while everyone around you and everyone who lives with you eats meat...makes it next to impossible. I became a vegetarian after my mother decided to try it for the same reasons. She would cook a meal for me and her, and then a separate meal for my brother and father. I know she got tired of this very quickly. But, I will point out that my mother has willpower that I do not possess. She is still a vegetarian to this day. After I moved away for college, I realized how difficult it was to get a nutritious vegetarian meal when you are broke. I lived in a dorm and my source of food came from the campus dining hall. Their dining choices were so limited that I found myself eating a bagel and a salad for lunch and dinner every single day. Not only was I dealing with personal struggles, I was also coping with peer pressure. Essentially, my friends all thought I was some weird hippie and they would always try to tempt me into eating meat.

And my final (but probably my most important) reason was due to health concerns. Due to being very deficient in certain vitamins, not eating meat worsened my situation. It was towards the end of my first year of college that I finally caved and gave up being a vegetarian. I do regret it sometimes because I was doing something that was important to me and I felt like I was making a difference. It is something that I will probably try again in the future, but for now I will have to do my part in alternative ways. I have a lot of respect for people that are able to maintain that lifestyle.