Yes, Vegetarians Can Eat Bacon Cheeseburgers Too!

I still get a kick out of the looks of disbelief I get when I tell people that as a vegetaria
I absolutely eat bacon cheeseburgers every chance I get. They tell me "I know what a vegetarian is--it's someone who only eats a bunch of vegetables and weird stuff like tofu". Or "you can't be a vegetarian if you eat bacon cheeseburgers". Wrong!

I had been a healthy eater for years, but when I took the next step and became a vegetarian, I knew that if making that transition was going to work, I had to find a way to eat food I'd actually heard of and wanted to eat. I didn't see myself regularly eating tofu. I didn't want to eat like a rabbit. I was a child when fast food franchising really came into its own, and today we live in a world where you can have four branches of the exact same fast food chain within six miles, and twelve different places to buy a hamburger in one mile's distance! I also had my favorites from family dinners, restaurants and clipped magazine recipes.

It took some time, but I eventually came to realize that virtually anything I wanted to eat, had a more healthful non-meat/poultry version. Forget everything you've heard about vegetarianism! I'm a full-time pesco vegetarian and I regularly eat delicious food like bacon cheeseburgers, chicken parmesan, tacos, BLTs and chicken caesar salad.

I feel that one of the big reasons that most people will not consider a vegetarian lifestyle, or that those who try it do not successfully stick with it, is because they try to make themselves fit their stereotypical image of vegetarianism. They eat things they don't enjoy, and toss a lot of their old favorites out the window. This goes against many of their natural eating patterns, so it ends up being only a matter of time before they can't stand it anymore and go back to what was familiar and enjoyable. Add to that what I call "meat and poultry eaters peer pressure" from friends, family and co-workers, and the vegetarian lifestyle, as it is typically thought of, becomes too difficult.

That's too bad, because some form of vegetarianism--ideally full-time, but at least part-time to most-of-the-time--is being pointed to more and more as a great way to maintain good health or lessen the severity of illness or disease when it does strike. It is in fact, health reasons that are mentioned most often as why people become vegetarians.

Please believe me when I say that you can be a vegetarian in one of its many forms and still eat the foods you love--the foods you grew up on, and the foods you like to eat out--you'll just find healthier ways to do so by making substitutions. Of course, in addition to the "fun foods" I've described, no matter which form of vegetarianism you choose, you'll be eating more of your favorite fruits, vegetables and other simple non-meat dishes like pasta that are easy to prepare and that you'll love too. And there's no tofu required!

So remember, if your image of a vegetarian does not include eating your favorite foods, it's time for a change in mindset. Just keep saying to yourself, "I can become a vegetarian, because vegetarians can eat bacon cheeseburgers too!" nnnn