I went through a period of being vegan for quite a while, and it was really fun for me to be creative with meals and recipes. I learned how to 'veganize' literally anything you can imagine, so I never missed eating meat. I went to the doc though and he was super concerned about my being anemic and had me add in some animal derived protein back into my diet. I feel a lot more energetic now and don't have the anemia problems I used to.. but I can see why people don't eat meat if they have the choice. There are tons of great things for vegetarians..fake meats even..but I think it all comes down to your personal dietary needs. I hate the idea of killing animals for meat, but sometimes you have to remind yourself that even in the wild, animals kill animals for food, so we're just all doing what we have to in order to survive. I do only buy meat from humane companies and then only organic with no hormones or any of that yucky stuff. This is just a very personal issue for each individual and we need to respect differences!

Honestly, I only tried the vegan thing after reading skinny b*tch but have now stayed at vegetarianism (staying vegan is such hard work and difficult here in Austria since the market for vegan products is fairly small). Also, not because of animal rights but strictly for healthy eating.

Main reason: health. Secondary reason: Environment (I do much more for the environment by not eating meat, than a person does switching from an SUV to a prius.)

I was a vegetarian for 10 years, a vegan for 6 months of that and my reason then is still the reason I rarely eat meat. I hate how meat packing unions have been degraded in this country to the point where workers are exposed to consistently dangerous conditions. It is a show of disrespect to the humans who help process our meat. I also hate how the animals are treated with bad living conditions and "supplements" ranging from antibiotics, steroids, other chemicals. It is a show of disrespect to the organism to the consumed.

My current choice is little meat and what I do buy to prepare at home costs more money to pay for decent worker and animal conditions (e.g. my T-giving turkey will be $6/pound but I know the farmer raising it and the conditions the bird is subjected to).

I first gave up red meat because I thought it was healthier and I never ate it much anyway. Then I got to college and had a lot of people asking me why I'd eat some meat but not others, and I started to feel guilty about animals dying to feed me, so I gave up all meat. The city and school where I attended college are VERY veg-friendly, so that made it easier. A couple years out of college I decided to take the next step and give up dairy -- animal rights was part of it, but I also realized I ate WAY TOO MUCH cheese and it wasn't very healthy, and I wanted to see if/how long I could go without dairy. It's been over two years and I've never felt better

I've been a vegetarian a long time. I try to eat fish once in a while but get most of my sustenance from vegetables, fruit, beans, rice, nuts ... it's also easier! I used to think that the idea of animal cruelty clinched it (being a vegetarian) for me. However, even if I knew that the animals were treated well, fed well, and killed in a most humane manner, I would not change my diet.

I eat meat because I love it.

I've been a vegetarian for 6 or 7 years, and I was a vegan the first 2 years. I am now a vegan again! Growing up I never liked meat so I decided to cut that out of my diet completely when I was 14 and I learned about veganism. I started eating dairy products after 2 years, but because of lactose intolerance and stomach aches all the time, I've recently cut out all animal products. I'm even more vegan than I was the first time.

Kelly Pickler looks really weird in that photo

My husband was a vegetarian for before we got married, and so I was something of a vegetarian by default for several years, and I have to say that I enjoyed it. Because I'm an adventurous eater, I didn't really miss meat. I really liked it for the health and environmental benefits.

I stopped because despite my careful eating, I had a case of anemia that just wouldn't quit, even with heavy iron supplementation. My doc insisted that I begin eating meat again. Apparently anemia runs in my family, and even now that I eat meat, I'm still borderline anemic. Now, I eat meat about 5x a week. I pretty much only eat meat at dinner, and then it's generally poultry or fish. I eat vegetarian meals for dinner at least 2x a week.

Because of my health, the environment and, I will be honest,my skin.

I've been trying to go vegetarian for a while [I did for a bit as part of a religious fast], but my family is so into some type of meat [it stretches meals, I admit] that it's been near impossible to go all the way.

Not going to lie, I do it primarily b/c I want to lose weight. Not eating meat has been the *only* way I can keep pounds off! Secondarily is being able to fully experience flavors as they are in food...meat kind of dulls flavors and spices for me.

i tried once but in my city we don't have a lot of vegetarian foods and all the time i was feeling sick!
but now i rarely eat red meat or pork just because it's so gross to me it tastes like death

My primary reason for not eating meat anymore is I've never liked it much anyway. I like my diet better without it and don't really care for food I can't eat alone without feeling grossed out. Other reasons people have mentioned are even more reasons for it, but the fact that I never liked it much at all is the biggest reason why it isn't likely to become part of my diet again.

I didn't eat red meat for about 8 years and I felt fine. It has snuck back into my diet though, mainly because my bf likes to makes sausage and bacon for breakfast. But, I originally stopped eating it because of health reasons. I also figured it would keep me far away from fast food joints and that type of thing!

I never skip meat - I enjoy it too much. Animal protein are also some of the best, most complete sources of protein.

I do not eat meat for ethical reasons. I despise the way animals used for food are treated in this country and most others, and I would never kill an animal myself to eat it. To me, that would be like killing my pets and eating them. But, alas, I do miss meat, especially fish.

It's always funny when people assume that it's for health reasons because I eat a lot of junk food (I love my Flaming Hot Cheetos, my Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream chips,a nd my pan dulces and cakes!)

As a political aside, I live in California and definitely plan to vote "YES" on proposition 2--a measure to better the conditions in which animals raised for food live.

PS- people always ask where I get my protein from (which is really annoying since it seems that as soon as people know you're vegetarian, they become health freaks). I eat a lot of tofu and soy products, as well as a morning smoothie with a soy-based protein powder.

I've recently become a pescatarian. I just can't give up sushi.

Mostly because of all the crap that is pumped into animals - hormones, steroids, etc. Then, even if they don't have all the extra things added, its still because of the inhumane conditions that most animals subject to. I can't think too much about it because it just makes me sick.

So basically I went veg b/c I read too much.

And to be honest, I don't miss it at all.

I skip most meat because it's expensive. I find I can get just as much protein from eggs, beans, soy etc. and my grocery bill is smaller.

I don't eat much meat because I try to focus more on eating whole feed from the earth (sounds kind of corny!)...it just seems healthier to me. The problem I run into is that no matter how much non-animal protein I include, I don't seem full unless I eat some meat. I'm not sure if this is just my system adjusting and it will go away over time or if I'm just not meant to be vegetarian...

I don't skip meat.

I can't give up meat -- last time I tried, I became anemic and felt really tired, exhausted really, pretty much all the time.

1) health reasons 2) environmental 3) animal rights/ethical reasons. I always feel corny telling people 2-3 because it seems so cliche!

My reasoning is similar to Kellie's. I'm very interested in nutrition and at first I liked all the health benefits. Then, when I started reading more about vegetarianism, and learned about the animal rights and environmental aspects, it just made sense. Suddenly it just seemed so wrong and selfish to eat meat. I love being a vegetarian. I love trying out new recipes and experimenting with ingredients I've never used before. I love that my body feels better, I have more energy, and my skin has cleared up. It was the right choice for me.

I originally did it for animal rights reasons (and still care very much about that) but the health benefits are a great reason to do it too,

i don't... and not planning to. i'm 0 negative - meat is my meal.

The reason I dont eat meant is because I love all animals, even cows...and just the thought of lambs being born and raised in small boxes to make their meat more tender is atrocious.

I stopped eating meat after an eye opening conversation I had with Genesis from RW Boston (hot, hot, hot)! I became vegan after reading Skinny B!tch. I owe so much to that book, it's helped me make all sorts of changes in my life. I stopped drinking liquid Satan soda and ended my processed/sugary food addiction.
Animals are my primary reason for not eating meat, but the health benefits and benefits to the environment sure don't hurt! It's definitely the best decision I've ever made, I'm so thankful for everyone and everything that got my motors turning in the right direction.

As a Midwesterner, I was pretty much raised on the "meat and potatoes" diet. Dinner, in particular, always was a meat/poultry/fish based meal. For that reason, I don't think that I would ever be able to go completely meatless. But with the economy, as some have posted, I have cut back on consumption to trim the grocery bill. I'm getting more of my protien through eggs, dairy and beans. Thankfully, it hasn't been a huge challenge...there are some great meatless meals to be made! Everyone just has to find what works for them and what they are comfortable with, and to not judge others for their personal choices.

I'm a vegan mainly for health reasons but also for humane issues. 2 1/2 years ago I was gaining weight, feeling shaky all the time and craving bread and fat, and I felt miserable and sick. I bought some books and read about nutrition and the one thing that everything I read had in common was to cut consumption of dairy and meat because of cancer risks. To me it was a no brainer and I went on a raw vegan diet immediately, though somewhat out of desperation. I felt AWFUL and knew that there HAD so be a better way to eat and live. I've been vegan ever since, though not 100% raw all the time, I eat cooked beans and cruciferous vegetables, but I try to eat as raw as possible. I eat only whole foods, no vegan junk food here.
As for some previous posters who mentioned anemia - I've never had that problem, and neither has my mom who is vegan too. She was vegetarian her whole life (untill I went vegan and she joined me) and she was anemic THAT whole time, but then she found out that her anemia was due to Celiac disease, so if you're anemic that might be the problem. Anyone can follow a vegan way of eating if you know the minimum about nutrition - but ALOT of people don't even know what an amino acid is, which is an embarrassment, to be honest. Better nutrition education should be MANDATORY. I've known many a junk-food vegan who was anemic, but I eat WELL, so I've never had that problem.

I've been a vegetarian for 19 years. It started out as an ethical choice, but as I've gotten older (I'm 29 now) it's also a health choice. I find that the more I eat whole, organic, natural foods the better I feel. I also do better when I eat more raw foods and avoid gluten. I've recently added organic dairy back into my diet, but I think I've been eating too much cheese lately!

I really only eat chicken and steak. I don't like fish or lamb or duck, but I will have calamari. I am a picky eater so taking meat out of my diet leaves me with very few options.

I eat meat, but I order 100% grass-fed beef online and choose free-range chicken whenever I can (unfortunately there are no truly pastured chicken farmers in my area, so I do the best I can.) I also research the companies that produce the dairy and eggs I buy to choose the most humane options as well. I believe meat raised humanely is nutritious, good for the environment, and not cruel to the animals and I would rather give my money to those who raise animals well than boycott all meat.

And yes, I also love how it tastes.

Soy replaces meat in a lot of veggie foods, I've have heard so many good and bad things about soy and soy protein, I can't make up my mind. What do you guys think about soy?

Over the summer, I just started to get really grossed out for no reason any time I ate meat. So I started avoiding it for that reason, and did some research and decided just to make it permanent. The weight lifted off my shoulders of not killing animals just so I can eat, when there are so many wonderful foods out there to eat instead, is an amazing feeling. I didn't even know the weight had been there until it was gone. And that's really my philosophy now - humans may have once been hunters and gatherers, but today's world, because we have so many things to eat instead of meat, why must we continue breeding and torturing animals specifically to kill them so we can have food? I was always a picky eater growing up, and now if I know something is vegetarian, I want to try it, because I'm not afraid there will be some "weird meat" in there to mess with me. Weird veggies are okay, though!

So for me, it's a combination of fixing my picky-ness once and for all, as well as helping to curb my portion of consumption when it comes to the meat industry. If meat wasn't profitable, it wouldn't be "produced." And there's a reason other countries threw a fit when they heard American meat was going to be imported - our meat industry is pretty disgusting. Read the book Skinny b*tch for more great reasons to go meat-free, 'cos that book definitely helped me.

And, not eating meat, I can afford so much more food, and also eat so much more food because in general, vegetarian food isn't as gut-sinkingly filling as meat dishes can be, so my glutton ass can stuff my face of tasty flavors as much as I want and still not feel like a lard ass when I'm eating a huge bowl of rice and beans and veggies. ;P

My parents have never been big meat eaters and as a result, my siblings and I just never got used to eating meat at every meal/week.

I think it's really a question of habit; sometimes I'll crave for a steak (every 3-4 months), but if I have more than the occasional fish/slice of ham-bacon, I find the taste so overwhelming it makes me sick. Plus I recently had a hormonal imbalance where I couldn't stand a lot of meat smells/tastes; since then I find chicken just *disgusting* and tasting of fat.

1. the environmental impact of the meat industry

2. no one needs to die for me to eat

3. health

The order of these have changed over the years. Health used to be first, but the more I learned about the meat industry, the more outraged I became. I don't have a problem with other people eating meat--& I don't judge others for doing it, but I think everyone has a responsibility to eat less meat. I also think that if people really knew what was involved in their food--or if they were forced to kill the animal themselves they would see things differently.

I was a vegetarian for 3 years. I was never big on red meat growing up and would stick mostly to chicken and a the occasional pork, although hamburgers were okay sometimes. I stopped eating all meat for ethical reasons.

I started eating meat again just this past May.

For whatever reason, during the time that I was a vegetarian, I gained 40 pounds. I guess I was eating so much more to try and make up for the lack of protein in my diet. When I was a vegetarian, I felt tired and sluggish all the time. I've also read studies that indicate that vegetarianism or veganism is consistence with brain shrinkage due to a lack of animal protein.

What really got me back into meat, though, is my logical nature. I have a degree in biology with an emphasis on evolutionary biology - humans have evolved to require meat. Most people eat too much of it(3 meals a day? GROSS!) but having a few pieces of meat a week is generally consistent with what we've evolved to eat. I couldn't fight my physiology.
I feel much better now, and I've taken back off 36 of that 40 pounds I've gained.

I don't think there's anything wrong with eating meat. Our ancestors ate it for thousands and thousands of years. I eat meat like twice a day...a ham wrap for lunch and pork, steak, chicken, or ground beef for dinner. I love meat!

My time as a vegetarian was definitely just a subset of an old eating disorder.I ate meat for the first time in a year two weeks ago and I've never felt better. I am in no way saying that vegetarians have eating disorders, but I think a lot of people who have been through eds have attemped to be vegetarians, and for all the wrong reasons.

I run 30 to 40 miles a week and my body needs a lot of protein and iron! I do eat meat for this reason, but I am aware of the fact that my nutritional needs could be met in other ways. I also make a wage that is below the poverty level so expensive meat substitutes and vegan/vegetarian food don't really fit into my budget. I don't eat meat every single day though, and I try to get protein from other sources, like fat free cottage cheese, yogurt, and nuts. A diet with lots of variety seems to work very well for me!!

I was vegetarian for several years but like a lot of people here ended up anemic so had to eat some meat. So now I still take supplements but try and eat meat 1-2 times a week mostly fish. I like the way some meat tastes, but I can't think of it as animal or I can't eat it, I have to think of it as an odd vegetable. I also have to admit I don't like the texture of most meat and prefer it slightly over cooked (besides fish) so its even closer to vegetables. My husband is from Oklahoma so when we go visit his family I eat enough meat that I can't stand anymore for about 3 months. Fish I will never give up because I love the taste and sushi is amazing.

I could go either way, I tried the vegan thing after reading Skinny B**** and it helped me lose 7 lbs but my fiance is really passionate about hunting (deer and elk) and his family raises cattle in Nebraska. So that's pretty much the only meat that I ever eat, at least I know where it came from and that it wasn't some hormone injected miserable animal.

I love meat. I eat it at least twice a day in various forms.

I also run 30 to 40 miles a week. Again, fine if you WANT to eat meat, but you don't NEED to eat meat to be a runner.

And being a vegetarian is cheaper than being a meat eater if you don't buy all the fake stuff. Tofu, beans, homemade veggie burgers, pb sandwiches--all extremely cheap. Especially compared to the quality of the meat you will get if you buy cheap meat.

I have been a vegetarian for 10 years because I love animals and don't want to eat them.

I eat meat for convenience. Unfortunately, I don't cook, and a lot of veggetarian meals require cooking and "playing" with the veggies and alternate protein sources. So as much as I wish I could be a veggetarian, it is more convenient and cost effective for me to throw a couple of chicken breasts in the oven and have dinner ready in 30-45 minutes, than to actually have to pull out a recipe and cook.

If any veggetarian has alternate advice for avoiding the kitchen please share it with me!!!!

imcs--Veggies & hummus. I eat this several times a week. You can buy hummus or make a big batch. Buy a bag of pre-cut broccoli & cauliflower, steam it in the microwave a bit or eat it raw with the hummus. Add some pita chips. Easiest meal ever.

pasta is really easy too--jar of tomato sauce, some frozen spinach, & ww pasta can be made in the time it takes to boil water + 12 minutes.

veggie burger in the microwave with a ww bun and sweet potato fries = 25 minutes

instant brown rice made in the microwave, a can of black beans and some salsa, guacamole, sour cream, &/or cheese = 12 minutes

grilled cheese & a can of tomato soup = maybe 5 minutes

there are so many fast & easy recipes that do not require slaving over the stove. Vegetarian times has some great quick recipes on their website. www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/ Limit your search to "quick" (at the top), "30 minutes" or "5 ingredient" (both at the bottom right) recipes. The 5 ingredient recipes are really easy...because there are only 5 ingredients.