Correction: I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian. What this means is that I eat no meat whatsoever, from gobbling turkeys to mooing steaks to pinching crabs. I do, however, consume dairy products and eggs, providing, of course, that they are prepared and made without animal by products.
When I was 14, a friend of mine became vegetarian, and it appealed to me. I had acquired aversions to meat on my own, so I decided that I should cut it out completely. One night I was eating what had once been my favorite dinner, Shake 'n Bake chicken, and I had an epiphany: The skin on the chicken was... skin! Yes, obviously it is skin, you're thinking, but I equaled it to my skin, and that was it; I was done eating it.
I did not become vegetarian for health reasons, I simply chose the lifestyle because I couldn't bring myself to eat animals--of any kind--any longer.
Originally I cut out eggs as well, because I did not want to eat baby animals either, even if they weren't hatched/born yet. When I had Montana, I realized she couldn't tolerate the dairy in my system when I nursed her, which left me a limited menu. I began eating eggs again, after five years. I then found out that the eggs I buy are unfertilized, which cleared my conscience.
I have now been vegetarian for 13 years, almost half my life. I have cut out many foods; not just obvious meats like cow, pork, and chicken, but also jello, marshmallows, and some cheeses and yogurts, because I recently found out they have animal by products in them. It has not been easy, but it is something I firmly believe in.
The reason I am blogging about this today is because I read online that someone chooses not to eat pork but eats other meats. I hear this all the time, and it confuses me. Over the past decade plus some, when I tell someone I am vegetarian, they often assume I still eat fish, and/or chicken. I don't understand that. I decided not to eat animals anymore, and I consider fish and chicken to fall under that category.
Basically, if it has a face, poops, or has babies, I will not consume or digest it. Fish are friends, not food!
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