hello everyone. i just discovere this subforum.
when i was 11 or 12 i heard of people choosing a vegetarian diet. i expressed interest in this to my parents, since i've never been crazy over meat, and they told me i had to do research and write up a report on how to healthily maintain a vegetarian diet. i learned about the different types of vegetarianism, and found veganism to be really appealing. i wrote up my report, and the next time we went grocery shopping my mom let me tag along so i could pick out food for my new diet. i felt pretty mislead when we bought some cheap marinated tofu that turned out to taste really awful. like, super bad. that pretty much concluded the project, and my parents told me they didn't want to account for different diets unless i was providing and preparing my own food. it kind of sucks they weren't really supportive, but what do you do?
they kicked me out of our family household when i was 19, and i bought two salmon to portion and freeze. aside from that i maintained a vegetarian diet for a while, but was never really strict about it. the first few years on my own i was living off $800/month and would eat whatever my mom bought me. a little while later i moved in with my boyfriend, who was also not really supportive. he would go grocery shopping, ask for my share of groceries, then allow me to eat the potatoes, minute rice, and a can or two of soup/tuna. so i was mostly vegetarian by consequence? obviously our trial together flopped and i yet again found a place of my own.
i would buy two chicken breasts to consume a month, and did not consider myself a vegetarian. i went on an archaeological field school to greece, and did not identify myself as such (which i should have). i didn't realize what a moderate meat eater i was until i was subsisting on taverna food 6 out of 7 days of the week. i would have done illegal things for veggies that were not cucumbers and onions. when i came back home i wanted to make an honest effort at the vegan thing.
most of the food i'm inclined to make is vegan by default, so it wasn't difficult. i was never a huge fan of dairy, and hadn't been keeping any around in a long time. i felt awesome, learned a lot, and researched living/raw food diet.
i maintained a very good vegan diet/cupboard for a few years. i no longer had random cramps that were really painful, no more migraines, more energy, all that. when i started my vegan adventure i was roughly 115 lbs, and the heaviest i have ever been. when i decided to incorporate animal product back into my diet, it's because my weight has dropped to 105 lbs. i really only included yogurt and cheese at first. i hadn't been able to stomach eggs for 12 years, they would make me sick. oddly enough i found high quality organic eggs from healthy chickens do not make me sick, so i have been enjoying those too! however, if i order eggs from a restaurant, i get ill.
i must admit, i am somewhat a closet pescetarian these days. once in a blue moon i'll bake a piece of fresh fish caught in bc. i recently started eating fish after much personal debate after a prof of mine introduced us to northern indigenous' people's relationship with fish and discussing personhood and gifts as they apply to these various cultures. my natural inclinaton is to eat nearly vegan and almost always organic, and this is how i eat most of the time. i've maintained this diet for my personal health, and to support my own ethical beliefs. i don't believe my body is meant to fuel itself with anything, and i make sure i eat a balanced diet in a way that i have found to work with me. i can't double up my animal products (ex: eggs with cheese), and i have to be careful with how often i consume them. if i eat in a way that's not "appropriate" i again deal with physical pain and improper digestion.
so i am nearly vegan/vegetarian/ pescetarian because this is what my body and mind needs.
All though no abuse was present ...I still felt that killing young animals, in order to get a culinary experience.....is simply unethical.
