After doing quite a bit of soul searching (?) as of late, I've decided to try and give going vegetarian a go. I've never really been much of a meat lover, and when I do eat meat on the rare occasion it's typically beef, chicken, or shrimp, so I figured--for several different reasons--that I'd give cutting it out of my diet a go. Now, the reason I won't go fully vegan is because I love, and I mean love milk. I drink it every day and end up going through about a gallon a week. Now, with enough coaching I could probably give it up for good, but I want to see if I can just do without meat for the time being.
Everyone has a different reason as for why they choose vegetarianism, and for me it's mainly three. First reason being my health. I've had this crazy rash for almost two years now and literally no doctor can figure out just what it is. I'm tired of getting no answers, so I figured a diet change would be in order. Most people would ask, 'why not cut wheat or dairy out?'. Well, I've been tested for allergies to said foods and I've tested negative, so it seems pointless to give all that up especially when I love them so much. I've also gained about twenty pounds since starting my senior year of high school, purely out of fat, and I want to eat healthier. Less sugars included ;w;.
Reason two for my change is also for health, but for the animals' not my own. Nowadays, farmers pump their critters with antibiotics, steroids, and all bunch of other crap to make them more plump and to give themselves more bang for their buck or whatever their stupid excuses are, and all that stuff stays inside the animal. It transfers to us when we eat it and eventually we build up resistance to the medications, especially if we already are taking them ourselves. There are also changes of diseases transferring from animals to humans and taking that change is scary. Now, you might say that plants are coated with pesticides and are often modified and junk too, but finding food sources--especially in California--that are free of that crap are actually a lot more prominent than healthy animal farms. And while there are some, you either have to pay an arm and a leg or you have to wait for things seasonally or whatever. Blah blah.
Reason three for changing my diet is because of the way animals these days are treated. I already mentioned the way they're fed chemicals and crap, but there's so much more to it. Often times, animals are kept in cramped enclosures, sometimes with so many animals that they can't move and end up living in their own feces. Animals are also fed mainly corn nowadays, and that is typically not a part of the food animals' diets. It ruins their digestive systems and they get little to no nutrients from the pounds of corn they're fed, resulting in unhealthy, overweight, and often sickly animals which is why they're fed antibiotics and the circle continues. And yes, farmers will purposely give their creatures steroids and other growth hormones to grow the meat areas of the animal in order to receive higher pay. However, their bodies are designed to hold only so much and often times these animals break their legs, spines, and end up unable to move, so again they live in their feces and fall ill. But that's just the farms... Slaughterhouses are so cruel, both to its workers and its products. Animals are skinned, hung by their feet, all while being alive, and well, it gets worse but even just thinking about it makes me sick. Workers often injure themselves and are paid such little money and are often not reimbursed for medical bills. They can be laid off without a moment's notice and are treated as badly as the animals they're being forced to kill.
And I know that quite a few people don't believe these claims, so if you want some proof I'd be happy to hook you up with many, many sources.
Long story not so short, it's time for a change, and I'll be uploading a short video about it to my channel soon with before pictures and perhaps during my adventure I'll upload progress videos. I'm really excited! Hopefully, I can keep up with it! XD
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