It can be challenging to see eye-to-eye when your diets are different.
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When you live in a meat-obsessed society, becoming vegetarian is perceived as committing social suicide. I like to think of it as 'flock mentality'-- when one bird decides to break away from the flock, feathers will fly. Humans are no different.
I'm happy in my 'vegetarian skin' now and wouldn't have it any other way, but it wasn't always like that. After being vegetarian for seven years, I fell off the wagon because being vegetarian was not 'practical' enough for my high-flying job, which involved social functions where vegetarian options were not available. With socialising a big part of my job, it was important that I 'fit in' with the rest of the crowd. So I fell off the wagon and starting eating fish and seafood.
And you know what? Although I found it easier to 'fit in', my diet became unhealthy (McDonalds and other fast food outlets were accessible again) and I felt miserable inside for not living according to my ideals and values. And although I was making money and progress in my career, I also felt that something was missing. Every time I ate flesh, I had to fight away the twinge of guilt that what I was doing was wrong.
It took me another two years to realise that my fast-paced career and lifestyle were not for me. Somewhere along the way, I had lost a piece of myself by compromising my values. One day I decided that I would gradually return to being vegetarian. And then a few months later I quit my job and enrolled in graduate school to work my way into a new career that would suit my lifestyle and values, and not the other way around.
Social pressure to eat meat is not just in the working world, it's everywhere. When you're a new vegetarian, it's easy to feel pressured to 'convince' parents, siblings and friends that you're 'serious' about a meatless diet. I've had friends who've been vegetarians since childhood and advised to eat meat because they had meat-eating boyfriends. To this day, I still have so-called well-meaning relatives chiding me for being vegetarian because 'no man will want to marry you unless he's vegetarian'.
It's far worse when you're a young adult living with your parents, especially if you family are die-hard meat-eaters. Your parents will likely try to convince you that a vegetarian diet is not as nutritious or healthy as a meat-based diet. You may get the same from your friends, who may label you 'boring' or 'uncool' because you don't want to hang out at McDonalds with them anymore.
Will all the social pressure, how do you stick to your goal of becoming and/or staying a vegetarian? Here are some tips:
It took me another two years to realise that my fast-paced career and lifestyle were not for me. Somewhere along the way, I had lost a piece of myself by compromising my values. One day I decided that I would gradually return to being vegetarian. And then a few months later I quit my job and enrolled in graduate school to work my way into a new career that would suit my lifestyle and values, and not the other way around.
Social pressure to eat meat is not just in the working world, it's everywhere. When you're a new vegetarian, it's easy to feel pressured to 'convince' parents, siblings and friends that you're 'serious' about a meatless diet. I've had friends who've been vegetarians since childhood and advised to eat meat because they had meat-eating boyfriends. To this day, I still have so-called well-meaning relatives chiding me for being vegetarian because 'no man will want to marry you unless he's vegetarian'.
It's far worse when you're a young adult living with your parents, especially if you family are die-hard meat-eaters. Your parents will likely try to convince you that a vegetarian diet is not as nutritious or healthy as a meat-based diet. You may get the same from your friends, who may label you 'boring' or 'uncool' because you don't want to hang out at McDonalds with them anymore.
Will all the social pressure, how do you stick to your goal of becoming and/or staying a vegetarian? Here are some tips:
- Be true to yourself. Remember why you want to be vegetarian, whether it's due to health, environmental or ethical reasons (or all of them). If you have the passion of your beliefs guiding you, you will find a way to make it work.
- Pay attention to your health. Plan your diet carefully by keeping a food diary to ensure you're getting all the nutrients you need. Research new recipes and healthy vegetarian sources of protein and minerals, there's no excuse for a poor diet when the Internet is abundant with resources for vegetarians.
- Find a balance. Making a lifestyle change is just the first step. Maintaining it is a lot harder, so give yourself time to balance your new lifestyle with your work/studies, social life and health. It takes time, but it's worth it.
- Educate friends and family. The key to being a happy vegetarian when you're family and friends are meat eaters is compromise. Stand your ground when they criticise your dietary choices but don't criticise them for eating meat. Make them vegetarian meals or desserts once in a while so they can experience the diet for themselves. Explain to them why being vegetarian is so important to you. When they feel involved in your new lifestyle, they'll gradually accept it.
- Widen your circle of friends. Keep your old friends, but be open to making new friends who are vegetarians like yourself. Finding support and exchanging ideas creates a feel of community that is important to a new vegetarian seeking social acceptance. Facebook has several local vegetarian groups. In Malaysia, Facebook members can join The Malaysia Vegetarian, a place for vegetarians to share like-minded views. There are also several forums and discussion boards for vegetarians, as well as vegetarian recipes blogs and websites. This blog links to some of them.
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