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I recently started eating meat after over a decade of being a vegetarian. I simply got sick of the available selection of food and how extremely expensive and p

by mnm1 10y ago

I recently started eating meat after over a decade of being a vegetarian. I simply got sick of the available selection of food and how extremely expensive and poor it is. If you cook very little, like me, it's very likely a vegetarian diet is less healthy simply because of the food that's available, often processed things filled with sugar. Either that, or you're spending serious money every day eating out with no guarantee that the food is nutritional either. Ironically, while leaving the US increases the quality and variety of many foods, the variety of vegetarian food available in many countries abroad is even worse. The market simply does not serve vegetarians well. Or perhaps, the market simply does not serve anyone who doesn't cook/cooks little well. I think it's probably a bit of both. These types of day to day logistical challenges of being a vegetarian are the most difficult to overcome, IMO. If restaurants with a variety of healthy, vegetarian, decently-priced food existed, I likely wouldn't have quit.

ralfd 10y ago
Did it just sort of happen or was it a conscious decision by you? It is no coincidence that eating rules are common in many religions, adhering to a special diet is practically a ritual, so I wonder if it was a big deal to you.
- mnm1 10y ago
  Oh, it was very conscious. I think the decision had been building up for some time, however, probably subconsciously. I first went back to eating fish for half a year (I was a pescatarian for five years before being a vegetarian) and when that seemed ok, I decided to eat any meat. This latter decision was even more deliberate as I had just moved out and no longer lived with someone who cooked delicious vegetarian stuff every day. I try to limit sugar these days, at least keeping it to one dessert a day. That was, I think, the main motivating factor. I'm in no way low-carb, but cutting out as much sugar, especially from non-dessert foods, has definitely been a huge win. Morally, my views have not changed at all. In my moral framework, my own needs always must come first. So nothing has changed morally and therefore, it hasn't been an actual problem. I'm not saying it was totally easy and that I didn't think a lot about it both before and after, but it has been quite beneficial to both my mind set and waistline so accepting it has been easy.

by mnm1 10y ago

ralfd 10y ago

Did it just sort of happen or was it a conscious decision by you? It is no coincidence that eating rules are common in many religions, adhering to a special diet is practically a ritual, so I wonder if it was a big deal to you.

mnm1 10y ago
Oh, it was very conscious. I think the decision had been building up for some time, however, probably subconsciously. I first went back to eating fish for half a year (I was a pescatarian for five years before being a vegetarian) and when that seemed ok, I decided to eat any meat. This latter decision was even more deliberate as I had just moved out and no longer lived with someone who cooked delicious vegetarian stuff every day. I try to limit sugar these days, at least keeping it to one dessert a day. That was, I think, the main motivating factor. I'm in no way low-carb, but cutting out as much sugar, especially from non-dessert foods, has definitely been a huge win. Morally, my views have not changed at all. In my moral framework, my own needs always must come first. So nothing has changed morally and therefore, it hasn't been an actual problem. I'm not saying it was totally easy and that I didn't think a lot about it both before and after, but it has been quite beneficial to both my mind set and waistline so accepting it has been easy.