It’s hard if you do it

Vegetarianism is hard

When you are vegetarian you cannot eat meat. This is very difficult if you have a person next to you who is eating meat and gives you the anxiety to eat meat too. It hurts seeing other people who are eating beef, chicken, and other meats. It makes me very sad to see my family eat what I cannot.

A lot of things have happened to me in during this project. In the first week I stopped eating chicken and beef. I got sick, I got headaches, I felt mad, and one day I did not even come to school because I felt so decayed. The reason why this happened is because I’m used to eating meats and my body is programmed to need it. I also didn’t have a clear plan about what I could eat so I usually skipped meals and went to bed early. After that, my parents argued with me because I had not told them I was vegetarian. My parents told me I had to start eating meat again and when I told them it was for a grade they were very confused. I explained to my parents the details of this project and that it is only four weeks so they reluctantly agreed.

Something that I like in this project is to have the experience of knowing what the vegetarian lifestyle is like and how to do it more healthily. Some of my favorite things to eat now include:

• Breakfasts: Corn Flakes con leche, huevos, cafe con pan
• Lunches : arroz ensaladas, pastas, pupusas de frijole con queso, yuca frita, tamales de elotes, frijoles, sopa de frijoles, sopa de vegetales
• Dinners: frutas, frijoles licuados, crema, pan frances, queso, pupusas de frijole con queso, brocoli sancochado con limon, rabanos con sal y limon

I also like being able to help the environment because I'm getting used to eating without meat although sometimes I have the need to feel the taste of the meat since it has vitamin B12, one of the essential vitamins for human beings.

In the United States 5% of the population decides to be vegetarians to help the environment or for some other reason. This is a positive trend because in 1985 only 0.04% of Americans adopted this option. There has been a big increase and this is something that is very good.

While I was searching on Google to learn what vegetarians eat, one thing that struck me was about the ages in which you can be a vegetarian. It surprised me that children can also be vegetarians but cannot be vegan and that is because doctors do not recommend that children stop using dairy products because they are an important source of iron and protein that children need. Being a vegetarian is a difficult experience. You have to be very educated about what you need to do in order to eat all the nutrients you need. My culture has not done a good job of teaching me about how to be healthy vegetarians.