Opinion | How vegetarianism changed my life

This year, the year of our Lord 2022, a very important anniversary looms on the horizon for all of humankind. Well, maybe not all of humankind, this is more of a personal milestone. You may be asking yourself, Anna, is it the anniversary of the first time you finished a book? The anniversary of your beloved childhood dog’s death? The anniversary of the day you and your brother stopped hating each other?

Honestly, the real anniversary doesn’t seem nearly as impactful as any of those, but dramatics aside, four years ago, I made a decision that truly changed my life.

This year marks the fourth year since I became a vegetarian.

I decided to become a vegetarian on a whim, with no prior thought or preparation. It was my sophomore year of high school, and my school was hosting an assembly presentation about factory farms — yikes. The presentation itself was questionably school-appropriate but certainly harrowing, and I emerged from that auditorium determined to never eat meat again. And I didn’t.

I want to make clear that if you’re considering vegetarianism for any reason, do not follow my lead. It’s a decision that warrants careful thought, consideration and planning because food is fuel, and having the right diet to make you happy and healthy is essential. However, because I went into the decision impulsively and with no expectations, I saw results that I never even anticipated.

At the time when I made the decision to become a vegetarian, I was struggling with disordered eating habits, specifically binge-eating. But in my mind, these two aspects of my diet — vegetarianism and my binging — were completely separate from one another. I saw my binge eating as an emotional issue instead of a diet-based issue. Since my vegetarianism was a decision regarding my diet as a whole, I honestly never expected it to have this impact on my disordered eating.

However, I found that once I began focusing on my diet as a result of becoming a vegetarian, I gained a certain measure of control over my life. I was focused on planning vegetarian meals for myself when I had previously never thought about what I was going to eat that day. This newfound control and thoughtfulness resulted in me planning three full meals daily, and my need to binge slowly faded away. I certainly still needed to address the issue directly and work on the mental and emotional aspects of it, but my vegetarianism helped me make the first steps toward recovery.

I want to stress that this is not the case for everyone, and I’m not issuing a foolproof cure for disordered eating. This just happened to help me. In fact, there are several studies that have found that vegetarianism can maintain or impede recovery from eating disorders. So please, if you struggle with disordered eating and are considering vegetarianism, talk to your doctor and determine what’s best for you. Just because it happened to help me doesn’t mean it’s the right decision for everyone.

The food consciousness that I developed as a result of my vegetarianism just turned me into a healthier person in general. I was concerned with getting all of the nutrients that I needed, so I actually crafted a more balanced diet than when I was eating meat.

When I began to go to the gym consistently and assert my dominance as a gym girl, I was worried my diet wouldn’t enable me to get the protein that I needed to build muscle. But with the help of protein shakes, tofu and chickpeas, I’ve truly become the strongest and healthiest version of myself. Even my mom decided to become a vegetarian a couple of years after me, and she loves it. And this woman has the most amazing arms in the world, so trust me, it won’t impede your muscle development.

Finally, I’m proud of the way that my vegetarianism has given me one way to contribute to stopping climate change. I’ve always been conscious and concerned about the damage our environment is facing at the hands of human beings, but, particularly when I was younger, thinking about the environment and my personal impact on it wasn’t a part of my daily life. My family had multiple cars that we drove daily, used plastic bags from the grocery store, and for some time, didn’t have a recycling bin. All of that has changed now, but when I was 16, becoming vegetarian allowed me to personally contribute to helping our environment and paved the way for a more environmentally friendly life.

If vegetarianism simply won’t work for you, that’s okay! There are plenty of ways for you to lower your meat consumption without an impulsive “I’m never eating meat again” decision. Consider trying out Meatless Mondays or eating ethically sourced meat. My step-father is a hunter, and he eats every part of the animal that he kills, which is far more ethical than factory-farmed meat. If you enjoy wild game, you can buy it directly from your local hunters or from local farms.

But, if you think vegetarianism may work for you, and you’re interested in getting started I want to follow in the footsteps of my lovely editor and provide you with some simple recipes that will elevate your relationship with food — vegetarian edition!

First, there’s a meal that I eat on a daily basis which I like to call, simply, “My Bowl.” It’s rice, black beans, sliced baby bell peppers, sriracha tofu, cheese and mixed greens all topped with Trader Joe’s jalapeño sauce — THE superior sauce, in my opinion. It only takes about 10 minutes to make, and I usually cook an entire block of tofu at the beginning of the week and then put it in the fridge to put on any meal I make. You can also modify the bowl recipe into tacos and simply put all the ingredients into tortillas — I prefer corn — and BOOM! Tacos.

If you want a more elevated meal, my mom and I are absolutely obsessed with this spaghetti squash bowl, and we make it for almost every meal we have guests over for.

Being a vegetarian has truly helped me to improve my relationship with food and become a healthier person. If it’s something that you’ve been considering, try it out! There’s no shame in going meatless for a while, even if it doesn’t end up working for you. 

For those of you who it works for, I look forward to celebrating every anniversary with you, raising our veggie burgers in toast.

If you or a loved one are struggling with an eating disorder, do not hesitate to contact the National Eating Disorder helpline.

Anna Fischer writes about female empowerment, literature and art. She’s really into bagels. Write to her at ajf132@pitt.edu.