I've been a vegetarian for about 20 years now. I was a vegie from birth until about 2 years old, then ate meat until I was about four, then went back to being a vegie when I was force fed Liver and Onion at my parents hotel.

I don't think there is any real social pressure on me to eat meat. Once in a while I get a jerk who isn't one of my friends trying to explain to me the "error of my ways". But it's pretty easy to shrug that off, with an equally obscene response of something like "animals are my friends, and you don't eat your friends do you?". Ha.

But the real reason is I can get by fine without eating meat and would be viciously sick I'm sure if I ever attempted to eat meat now.

I agree with the social pressure. I think it's only the transition phase that can get annoying with your friends. I guess once you are known as 'the vegetarian' amongst your friends everything's fine.

When I was following Atkins (because I like to lift weights and we need lots of protein) I read that the Inuit are really healthy people and they only eat meat.

Maybe meat is understimate and it's our western life style that cause the illnesses.

Meat + bad carbs + no exercise = health problems

But for sure being a vegetarian or something in the middle is healthy. As long as you continue biking and avoid fast absorbing carbs

Good luck

The reason the Inuit can eat an diet consisting only of meat while remaining healthy is that it matches their lifestyle. A big problem for health in western society is the mismatch between those two, I don't think you can blame either one in isolation. We don't do a whole lot, but we eat a load of sugary stuff. This is a big part of Michael Pollan's critique on our diet, it is a very interesting read.

Besides, there are the obvious other health-related reasons to not eat factory-farmed meat, which most of our meat is. For that I can only recommend reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Saffran Foer. It was what pushed me over the line into becoming a vegetarian.

Thanks I'll try to read those.

I'm now trying to eat a more equilibrated diet, lentils, beans but still meat in the diet.

If you eat very fresh meat, a lot of the plant biased nutrients haven't decayed yet. For instance, very fresh beef has quite a bit of vitamin C in it, but by the time many people in the US eat it, much of that is gone.

I just did a quick google search and everything that I found suggested that the Inuit people are LESS healthy because they only eat meat. They have a lifespan 12 years lower than the rest of Canada.

no exercise = health problems --That's the real issue. Good carbs, bad carbs, gristle and fat; none of that is as important as not leading a sedentary life.

I'm 25 now and I'd never ate any meat in my life (first try to eat some was at 18 or something but it just didn't fit into my stomach D:) - feels pretty much fine actually :D

Good for you, sebastianmarr. As a vegan for 8 years now, I can tell you that there are plenty of good recipes for vegetarians, if you consciously look for them.

Also, watch out for this phenomenon: after not eating meat for some time (a month should suffice), other food (especially vegetables) start to taste differently - start to taste better. It's quite possible you might never go back to eating meat again.

I ate way too much meat when I ate meat (I still occasionally indulge in fish but rarely). It was inconceivable to me that other kinds of food would ever taste good. I forced myself to be nearly vegan for a while. I allow dairy in moderation now but regardless, veggies and fruits and spices are so much more vivid.

I have been a veggie all my life - I just can't imagine eating the flesh of an animal; i have no desire to even try it.

I'm a red meat eating Texan, and I've been a vegetarian for almost a month now. I love it.

I stopped eating my friends about eight years ago. I don't really consciously think about not eating meat now (it has become natural for me not to), but I really miss fish.