Giving up on tender fried chicken breasts and colossal California burritos for tofu and beans was not nearly as mortifying and insurmountably challenging as I thought it would be. In fact, it was one of the smoother transitions I've made in my life - right up there with switching from Keystone Light to a beer that actually tastes like beer.

I became a vegetarian last semester after I began a nutrition course. When focusing on diet, the instructor frequently reminded us she was not "advocating" giving up meat and becoming a vegetarian - as she was not one herself - but she was merely stating scientifically proven facts.

It really hit me walking home from class that first day how incredibly pathetic my diet was. My diet - as a busy college student whose extra funds each week usually add up to a couple of Scantrons - consisted of pizzas, fried chicken, burritos and about any fast food there is in downtown San Jose.

You can imagine how horrified I was once I took a legitimate nutrition class and found out that loading up on slabs of grilled chicken for dinner wasn't exactly the healthiest representation of the necessary nutritional values.

With my newfound knowledge of what a decent diet should look like, I decided to cut ties with McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and double-layered pepperoni pizzas.

Before I knew it, five months went by and I hadn't had a single taste of chicken, carne asada or grease for the most part. I am a pesco-lacto-vegetarian, so I consume fish and dairy products. Upon realizing it had been months since I had stepped foot into a Kentucky Fried Chicken, I found out vegetarianism is nothing like the stigma attached to it.

From what I had gathered before becoming a vegetarian, you had to sacrifice a whole lot, such as great taste and the aesthetic pleasure which juicy meat provides, when substituting meat for what most people referred to as "tasteless sponges."

Another common misconception was that vegetarians lack protein in their diets, but this is false as humans get protein in a variety of foods - not to mention that tofu and beans are packed with protein. I was warned football Sundays would never be the same or nothing could replace the nostalgia of barbecuing with your buddies.

I quickly learned that when it comes to food, the meal does not have to start and end with some sort of mouth-watering meat. Being on a vegetarian diet doesn't require breaking the bank, which includes dining out for meals, too.

Having always gone to the same places to eat for basically my entire life, I naturally had to try new kinds of foods. I opened my mind and taste buds to different cultures and their foods - especially Indian and Thai food. Not only did I realize I was missing out on years of consuming some seriously delicious food, I found spicy curry to be my true love in life.

Tofu is not nearly as bland and airy as I thought it would be. Good quality tofu mixed with some Indian or Thai curry can cause even one of the biggest meat eaters to find some solace outside of ribs and steaks.

I found other vegetarian options that helped me forget that I didn't eat meat anymore are burritos with beans instead of meat and vegetarian subs and burgers. This means I can still chow down at my favorite burrito places - a necessity in life - as well as continue to going to places such as Subway and In-N-Out.

Restaurants, and even fast food places, have created more options for vegetarians. There may actually be blood flowing to my major arteries now that I've tried foods other than chicken tenders and fries. I'm glad I took that nutrition class after all, especially since I don't feel like I am going to keel over and pass out at the conclusion of meals.

Fonte : The Spartan Daily