I became a vegetarian in middle school. I dabbled in it for a while, then gave up, then going into my freshman year of high school I tried it again. I have been a “pescatarian” for the past 10+ years. Vegetarians don’t eat fish or meat, but they do eat cheese, milk, eggs, etc. As a pescatarian, I don’t eat meat, but I do eat fish, cheese, milk, eggs, etc.
I side a lot with being a vegetarian because I don’t eat that much fish. Some days I even border vegan because I’ve switched milk for almond milk for most of my diet. But in technical terms, I’m a pescatarian.
When I started this journey, I did it alllll for the baby animals. I have a huge heart for animals, I love them more than people, and I just wanted to do my part to help.
It was that way for a long time, but in recent years my mindset has changed a lot. I don’t just skip the meat for the animals, I do it for my health. Red meat isn’t great for you anyway, but even chicken or turkey isn’t great because of the way it’s raised. Most affordable meat options aren’t raised in healthy environments and tend to be injected with hormones. There is just something off to me about eating a chicken that grew in a cage of its own poop, never being let out.
I don’t like to preach about being vegetarian, I don’t think it does any good for me to show you videos of cows being slaughtered. Maybe when you’re young it’ll make an impact on you like it did on me, but once people are set in their ways a video they can’t relate to won’t make a difference.
I do urge people to know where they’re buying from, know what’s in your products. And that goes for everything you eat. Where were your veggies grown? What is actually in that processed crap? I’m not perfect, I don’t eat ethically or healthy all the time, but I do make an effort to be informed. I’ve always said that if I could really know that the chicken I was eating lived its years on a farm being able to grow naturally and live naturally, then I would probably start eating meat again.
But for now, that’s not a realistic expectation.
Rosie Culture 
I’ve been trying to cut out meat to. It’s a hard process to go from eating meat all the time to not but I also don’t like all the hormones and stuff they put in the chickens and cows. It causes cancer and it’s bad for the animals to live that way. It makes me sick just thinking about it.
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I would start with just cutting it out for one meal a day and going from there! You’d be surprised how easy it is once you sneak it in meal by meal
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Really related to this. I was a vegan for half a decade, but I’ve slipped into a weird sort of vegetarian / pescatarian thing. Thanks for sharing this!
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I feel like as I’ve gotten older I care much less about if I’m a vegetarian or vegan or pescatarian and just care more that i’m doing the right thing! Thanks for reading 🙂
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I have thought about the vegetarian thing a lot but I don’t think I can ever fully go through with it. But I have trying to be a lot more conscious about where my meat is coming from. I’m not a fan of supermarket meat anymore. I am moving next month and where I’m going there are a lot of farms. That’s where I want to go from now on to get my meat and dairy cause at least I’ll know where it’s coming from and can personally ask the farmer questions.
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That’s great! I think that’s an amazing step towards helping the animals and treating your body better
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love this! informative without being preachy at all. i’ve always been so tempted to go vegetarian, working on it 😊
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That’s great! Small steps make a big difference
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A few years ago I would have scoffed at giving up meat. But in recent years, I can tell my stomach does not enjoy meat that much. I’m trying to reduce it out of my diet
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I know a lot of people who are in the same boat as you, it’s great you’re listening to your body!
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I absolutely loved reading this, Rosie!!! I too have evolved in my vegan/vegetarian/pesce journey. Thank you for sharing yours- I think it’s important to let people know it’s 100% OK to change your thinking/thoughts surrounding your personal diet and preferences!
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Yes definitely!! Ive always believed we shouldn’t be judging but just sharing our opinions and hoping it helps
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It actually is a realistic option, Rosie. Simple Truth Organic (& other brands too) has eggs & meat. All of their animals are raised humanely. I don’t eat processed foods unknowingly, I always read ingredients. I choose organic veggies & grass-fed, free-range beef. Cage-free, hormone-free eggs & chicken etc.
I do stay away from pork because those little guys eat everything in sight even if raised well & given a nice diet lol but I admit, I love bacon.
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Yea it’s definitely realistic for home life, it would be a little out of my budget though. It wouldn’t be realistic for eating out though and if I can’t eat meat both at home and eating out I’d rather just skip it all together. I buy my eggs cage free but even then I need to do more research because brands can say anything these days even if it’s untrue! Our food industry is crazyyyyy
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Loved reading this! I’ve been pescatarian for almost 6 years and my reasons have shifted around too.
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Thanks! It’s funny to reflect on how things were when I started
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Good article. Listening to your body is key.
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Reblogged this on Simplybee1 and commented:
Loved this
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Thank you for reblogging! ☺️
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Wow Loved this.
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Thank you 🙂
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Lovely post! I’d be delighted if you check out mine on a similar topic(might be a bit preachy though 🙂 )-
http://www.himanaya.com
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I could go for meatless days. Try some vegan alternatives like more tofu, jackfruit, and the like. I still like eggs and dairy.
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Eggs and dairy are vegetarian 😊
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I have been pescatarian for last twenty years. Started eating egg only recently as tend to eat not much fish in all meals.
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That’s awesome!
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My vegetarian journey started at birth. I’ve NEVER liked meat. I used to cry when mom made me eat it as a child. My dinner times were hours long on the weekend. Just me crying over eating beef while mom lectured me on kids starving in Africa! 😭
When I turned around 13 or 14, I told mom I was old enough to decide what I wanted to eat. At the time, it wasn’t just a dislike for meat. I had learned about the effects meat production had on the environment and the awful conditions animals lived in before slaughter.
I was still in Jamaica, at the time, so the hormones issues you guys have here wasn’t a concern for me. Jamaica doesn’t have an organic food section in the supermarket. All our food is organic. Our milk can’t even be sold in America because we don’t over-process it like you do and our eggs don’t need to be refrigerated.
I’ve stuck with that resolution I made at 14. I do eat seafood though. Every time I tried to cut it out, I got sick. Two doctors confirmed I need seafood because of my blood type (????) but neither of them really explained what that means. Can’t complain about eating crab legs though!
Kudos to you for going FULL vegetarian! By the way, if you haven’t tried this already, I have two words for you: CURRIED ZUCCHINI!
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Ooooh that’s sounds so good! I just saw a curried chickpeas recipe that I have my eye on
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I’ve been meaning to try chickpea curry for theo best, but alas! Do you have that recipe link handy?
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It’s actually cumin stewed chickpeas but sounds soooo good! https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJvC4HcG/
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Got it. Thanks for link!
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