Is This Stupid?

Question

I've been debating about going vegetarian for about a year or two now. I've watched Charlottes Web, in the movie theater with my cousin, and it was so horrible, the way they killed and tortured the animals. And that was around December of 2006. But I was thinking about it long before that. After watching that show " Bizzare foods with blah blah" And they killed an octopus for food. And so many other animals. I feel horrible.

So I looked up a whole bunch of stuff about vegetarians for about 2 hours, and read how it started and why people do it, and the health benefits, and all that stuff. I know i want to do this, and I'm pretty sure i can do this. I'm going to go with the more common Lacto-ovo vegetarian, which is a vegetarian that eats diary, and eggs.

I told my mom, and she was immediatly like "and what should i buy for the week?"
She said it was stupid since i had gone 15 years as a meat eater.
But should i do it to prove to my mom that i can change?
Any advice from anyone?

Answer 1

Don't do it to prove your mother wrong, that is a bad idea. Do it because you want to change your lifestyle. Being a vegetarian can be hard after eating meat for 15 years, but lots of people make the change after eating meat, and so can you.

Answer 2

Unless someone chimes in while I type this guess I will be the voice for meat eaters. First of all besides our brain (which seems to be only used to divide us) the other thing that has placed us on the top of the food chain is the fact we are omnivores! Our body was designed to be omnivorous a vegan has to be very carefull what they eat in order to replace what we would normally get from meat. I know there are allot of evils associated with meat eating but if you look at vegan ism in a true sense there are just as many. 1. A animal suffers and dies so I may eat. Most plants have a rudimentary intelligence. IE leaves fold at night they face toward the sun during the day. This being said how many animals can you name that we tear off part of them and eat it leaving the rest to regrow that part so we can eat it again? 2. Animals live in enclosed spaces fattened for the slaughter. Sounds like a garden to me!! I could go on but really in the end it is your decision not ours. Do what you will but not because of what I said or any other person here. Do it because you feel it is right for you. See all sides and only then decide.

Answer 3

I spent the first five years of my life as a vegetarian (lacto-ovo) for religious purposes, and was a perfectly healthy child. When we broke from our church and I started eating more meat, I started getting increased illnesses (including, but not limited to, thoat problems that lead to the removal of tonsils, moderate to severe asthma, chronic lung infections (I was getting pneumonia 3-5 times a year), and HORRIBLE menstral cycles (They had to put me on birth-control and pain meds because they were so bad).

Why am I telling you this? Well, in my OWN personal research of vegetarianism and veganism, I found a lot of stuff regaurding the negative effects that too much protien and animal fat can cause on the body. I decided that, after 10 years of being a meat eater, I would go veggie. A lot of people laughed and said it was pathetic and claimed that I wouldn't be able to live without eating meat, the supposed staple of the human diet, but...they're not laughing now.

I went lacto-ovo last November (I was planning to go vegan, but decided that it would be too difficult to keep up with since my family wasn't incredibly supportive). Since then, my asthma as gotten IMMEANSELY better (now all I have to use is a fast-acting inhaler, I'm off my daily meds), my lung infections have greatly diminished in severity and frequency, and, best of all, my periods have gone from me almost having to be hospitalized every moth, to almost painless events with NO aid of medication. Not only this, but my acne has almost gone away, and my figure is...leaner, hehe! ;-) All in just 7 months.

I personally believe that vegetarianism is a very healthy lifestyle, and I feel the greatest that I have since I was a small child! It was the original plan God had for humans back in the Garden of Eden, and it's what our bodies were designed for. Meat is supposed to be an emergency rashion.

Anyways, I am totally encouranging you to do it! And if you have ANY questions at all, or need help coming up with a shopping list, or just need a friend for encouragement, you can email me at: "[e-mail]"!!!

Answer 4

You shouldn't have to prove to anyone that you can be a vegetarian. I'm a vegetarian and I did it on my own accord. My family thought it was a phase but I believed in what I was doing; I wasn't going to let others opinions sway me. If you want to be a vegetarian do it for yourself, that should be motivation enough. After a while people will just get over it and see it as the norm for you. Being and/or living with a vegetarian in not difficult once you actually experience it. In the end it's really about what you want for yourself.

Answer 5

Well, I think it´s stupid to become a vegetarian because animal cruelty unless you change completly your lifestyle. I mean, animals get killed to make shoes, clothing, cosmetics, etc...So you´d have to change all that too.

And if you´ve been a meat eater for 15 years, I´m guessing it wasn´t your choice, but what your mom fed you. I´m sure they are plenty of websites with vegetarian diets that you can prepare that will be good for you and tasty. You could tell your mom that this is your choice and you´d like her to respect it, after that its all up to you and an adjusting period.

You´d probably lose weight and be hungry and tired at the beginning, so you might need supplements.

Answer 6

I think that if you really want to do it that you should do it for yourself and not for what anyone else.

ive been vegetarian (vegan actually) for a long time and its not as hard as it seems. just make sure you eat lots of nuts, seeds and legumes. which everyone should be eating anyway!!

though honestly, there are many health benefits from becoming a vegetarian as well. the elimination of animal fats from your diet will do wonders for your heart and your body. it will also help to increase the effectiveness of your digestive system.

why not give it a trial and see how you feel? then you can decide wether it works for you or not. theres a great blog post in my sources about 30 day trials and vegetarianism as well.

i used the trial to get started and found that i just couldnt go back after that, and ive never looked back since.

Answer 7

HI! I'M 16 and facing your same dilemma. Ive been a carnivore my whole life but one day something just clicked for me..... I went online and saw the most disturbing video on how these poor animals are slaughtered....that was it for me.... I talked to my family about it but they do not wish to go vegetarian. But honestly i dont care, they respect my decision. As for food ask your mom to buy veggies instead.... find some recipes that you like and look for the ingredients, then go grocery shopping with her and buy the stuff youll eat. Most importantly dont do it to prove a point do it because you really want to...if not its not really worth it.... Good Luck! And God bless!

Answer 8

It's absolutely not stupid. You've done a lot of research and thought this through, and you sound very mature & like you know how to think for yourself. You should let your mom guide you, but not take her opinions as gospel. Don't do it to prove you can change. Do it because it's what you want.

There is really no logic in the "can't change after 15 years" thing. Come on. Should an alcoholic be considered stupid for trying to stop booze after s/he has been drunk for 40 years? I don't think so.

Answer 9

Well, are you a person that really likes meat? For instance, it would be hard for me to go as a vegetarian since I can't have dairy/citrus because of stomach aches and rashes. But, one thing you do need to remember is people do need to eat, so the animals are raised to be killed for food.

Answer 10

l don`t think lts stupid. alot of people are going vegetarian. the meat we eat you have to watch for this sammonella in the meat especially in chicken... chicken is the worse for getting food poisioning. l got very sick when l ate chicken. but no you can go ahead with being a vegetarian theres nothing wrong for you to