Let's get one thing straight - I have nothing against vegetarians or vegans. I have a few friends and acquaintances who practice the no-meat diets, and they're lovely people.
It's just not for me.
Recommended for you
Everyone has a reason for going vegetarian, whether it be for the health benefits, to save the animals or just convenience, there's always a reason.
Mine was becoming a freshmen in college, because this meant two things.
The first being that little blip on everyone's radar when they first attend college called the "Freshmen Fifteen."
If you don't know what that is, it's a common thing for freshmen in college to gain 15 pounds. And it's easy to see why. You don't have a parent there to tell you not to eat six cafe donuts in a row, you are in complete control of what you eat as your parents aren't doing the grocery shopping, anymore and the dining halls existence in their glorious buffet-style goodness.
There's plenty more examples, but you get my point - if you're looking to gain weight, being a freshmen at university will guarantee that.
The second thing is, well, the actual food itself.
Depending on where you go, your school might have perfectly edible food served on their campus.
Mine did not.
Well, it was edible, but at the cost of your stomach existing peacefully.
Freshmen year introduced to me the worst stomach aches I had ever had. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I decided to try something out.
I stopped eating meat.
And it worked.
Suddenly, I didn't have stomach aches every time I digested food from the cafe or dining hall.
Immediately after this realization came the first problem - I love meat.
Well, mostly chicken.
OK, so, I love chicken.
Anyways, I thought it was weird to call myself a vegetarian if I still ate chicken, because that's not a vegetarian that's just a healthy person who fears all the diseases that are supposedly caused by red meat.
Lucky for me, nothing anyone every does is individual or unique, and I managed to see a TEDTalk in my communications class about the exact thing I was doing.
The guy talked about how he was a "weekday veg," which is basically saying that he ate vegetarian during the weekdays, but as soon as Friday hit he became a savage omnivore once more.
I took to it.
During the weekdays I ate vegetarian, and during the weekends I indulged in the meaty goodness that is chicken and steak.
After that adventure, I have something to say to vegetarians: Damn, son, I'm proud of you.
It was hard and I wasn't even doing it all the time. I did it for five days a week and it was The Worst. You must have a lot of will power that I just do not in any way possess.
I'm proud of you.
But, as stated before, it's not for me.
I'll just stick to eating meat and other non-vegetable foods (which is covering what I can only assume is present in fast food).
