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How I became a vegetarian

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My personal story of vegetarian living

At home we never ate much meat. My mom gave us vegetarian food every other day or so. Not because she's a vegetarian, she just isn't obsessed about meat. I think a dairy cookbook that came her way one day when we were kids also had something to do with it.

When I moved out I cooked just like I had before. But pretty soon I noticed that the meat just seemed to stay in the fridge till the due date. That is: I bought it, but didn't end up eating it till it was fit for nothing more than the dustbin. Figuring that eating meat that was not fresh was less healthy than being a vegetarian, I decided to give that a shot.

I've really never looked back, because there did not seem to be any health issues at all. I'd had fainting spells before, I didn't have any after. Not that I think becoming a vegetarian had anything to do with that - it's just that this was the only health issue I had around that time, and it was certainly not something that became worse with becoming a vegetarian.

15 odd years later though, I have to admit, I do take Vitamin B pills. I don't know if it makes a difference, but it just seems like the right thing to do and an alternative healer told me I had a deficiency. I didn't get that checked by a 'real' doctor, I just decided - what the heck, why not take some pills every once in a while.

When people ask me why I'm eating vegetarian

I simply say... all of the reasons anyone might give you, except allergies.

Being a theosophist

The story I started out with is true. However, at that time I also became active in the Theosophical Society. Within the Theosophical Society it is quite normal to be vegetarian and their literature is full of spiritual reasons to avoid meat. I don't know whether that caused me being a vegetarian, but I'm enough of a lay-psychologist to know that it probably did have something to do with it.
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My favorite vegetarian resource

It's neat!

Being single, I like my meals fast and easy to make. This book helps a lot.
Vegetarian Meals For People On-The-Go : 101 Quick & Easy Recipes

Vegetarian Meals For People On-The-Go : 101 Quick & Easy Recipes

by: Vimala Rodgers

Amazon Price: $11.35 (as of 02/17/2012)Buy Now

Vegetarian inspiration

If you need reasons to help others understand why you're a vegetarian, the two lenses below ought to help. The first is full of quotes by famous and less famous people about why they're vegetarian or vegan. The second sums up all the arguments one could possibly think of, I should think.
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Vegetarian Health Tips

Any dietary choice has implications for health. People who eat meat daily have to worry about cholesterol. Vegetarians worry about iron and vitamin B. The difference is: iron and vitamin B are pretty easy to add to a diet with pills. Cholesterol is something one has too much of, and without changing what you eat it's pretty difficult to get it right.
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Vegetarian food

Most vegetarians today don't have vegetarian parents, so we had to learn to cook without our parent's help. Here's what I came up with.
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Are you a vegetarian?

What do you think of my Why Veg page?

Thanks for reading.

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  • Reply
    Helene-Malmsio Jun 26, 2011 @ 5:14 am | delete
    I was married to and cooked for someone who ate meat 3 times a day - and those were the recipes I learned to cook as a new wife. But when I began to live on my own, I just was not very interested in meat, and had already begun to be aware of animal welfare issues, so only ate free-range eggs etc. Finally in 2000 I decided that the tiny amount of meat I still occasionally ate (at Christmas etc.) was no big loss - and decided (for animal welfare reasons) to become at the very least an eclectic vegetarian.
    We still drink fresh organic goat milk and free range eggs supplied by a trusted source in our town (who also helps with a wildlife shelter) so there is no way I'll ever have vitamin shortage, and don't feel guilty about the bit of egg and dairy I still get to enjoy.
    It is a progress ... I believe that most "thinking" people will eventually begin to feel the compassion that requires us to stop breeding and slaughtering animals simply to create an ingredient in a meal.
  • Reply
    seegreen May 7, 2010 @ 7:56 am | delete
    Another vegetarian! I had no idea. I've been vegetarian since 1990. Maybe I will create a page one day.
  • Reply
    mulberry May 5, 2010 @ 5:34 pm | delete
    It does seem like a good idea to take the B12 supplement. My mother eats little meat, and her B12 over the years continued to decline. She was finally at the point she could barely walk, so now I have to give her B12 shots.
  • Reply
    spirituality May 6, 2010 @ 2:36 am | delete
    I think there must be more going on here than just not eating much meat. In general people eat way more meat than they need to keep their B12 up. In fact: people who become vegetarian can generally do without B12 supplements for years, because the body has backup stores. I did without B12 for ten years as a vegetarian without any ill effects. But at the end of that I did become rather more tired than was healthy and an alternative healer said I needed B12. Since then I've been taking it.

    Someone eating meat once a week or something ought to be able to keep their B12 up. The fact that you're having to give her shots, instead of pills, points to a medical condition which makes it hard for her body to take in B12 through food. Eating more meat would not have helped much with that.
  • Reply
    Sophia Apr 25, 2010 @ 9:24 am | delete
    Great site!
    I just googles on vegetarianism and found it.
    Your story is very similar to mine and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that you link a thread between vegetarianism in your life and Theosophy. I am a theosophist myself and I admire Elena Blavatskaya's books!
    Blessings to you! And don't give up on what you are doing +
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I'm a webmaster and student of religion and spirituality. See my website on religion and spirituality: www.katinkahesselink.net or my spiritual blog: All... more »

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