It's been over five years since I have eaten an actual piece of meat. Sure there are animal byproducts in lots of foods that are "vegetarian", but I haven't sunk my teeth into the flesh of another animal since 1998... until today. Today marked the end of my life as a vegetarian. I ordered some pizza at the baseball game with pepperoni on it. It tasted good... really good! And then later I had some more pizza with some slices of italian sausage, also good! I'm finally glad to be able to look at all the items on a menu, instead of just the ones with little lettuce icons beside them. I consider this to be a good thing.
I'm starting slowly. Although I don't think I'll ever be a huge fan of steaks and stuff, allowing myself to eat food with meat in it is something that I've wanted to do for a while. My hands were a bit shaky and my voice a bit weak as I told the guy at the counter that I wanted a pepperoni slice, but I had a few minutes in the long line to consider everything. And actually I have had years to think of the very same things. I never stopped eating meat to be different or cool or anything. At the time it just seemed easier since I was living on my own for the first time and didn't really want to cook meat. Maybe there were other reasons, but they are distant memories now.
The most important thing that made me decide to start eating meat again is that there are some undisputable truths in this world: man is made for woman and vice versa, you can't buy happiness, the meek shall inherit the earth... and most importantly: humans are omnivores. Five years of often feeling tired and out of energy and worrying about my nutrition was too long. Not eating meat is one habit that I am very glad to be rid of. All I need to do now is remember that I have a whole lot more food options than before!
Two all-beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a seseame seed bun!