This is not how I thought it would end up

Let me answer common questions at the outset. I never desired to be a vegetarian or vegan - ever. I was actually quite annoyed when people, all through my life, asked if I was a vegetarian. Up to a year and a half ago, I would say "No, I'm not but I don't eat that much meat." I believed that eating a lot of meat was detrimental to one's health but my eating halal lamb once or twice every month or two wouldn't cause too many health problems and the tuna in olive oil was good for me. Really, I still feel that is the case from a health perspective, but an argument was posed to me by someone I respect that turned me into a vegetarian, despite the fact that he wasn't. The argument went something like this: It was necessary at certain points in human history (and still is for some) to eat meat. This mainly is for those who do not live in environments that are hospitable to growing/foraging for food (like those who lived in the last ice age), but in our day and age, for most, it is unnecessary to eat meat. It is that simple.

I do not judge those who eat meat. I am not one of those people who will never wear or use any animal products due to the cruelty of the system that kills so many animals, arguably needlessly. It seems that using human made materials is mainly not working within nature since those man made materials will take so long to break down in landfills. My concern is for the longterm future of the earth and supporting a natural balance of all things within that closed system. You can do as you wish, I need to follow my own conscience because I'm the only one who has to live with myself.

So, to answer any question about when I became a vegetarian, it was March 2007. Recently, however, I decided to get tested for a few things and one of the things I was tested for was food allergies. I learned, much to my dismay, that I am highly intolerant to all things milk related (cow/goat milk, cheese, whey, casein, etc). Funny thing is that I had no idea. I did not have any symptoms other than I had to clear my throat frequently after having milk in my coffee. Cheese has had an important role in my life, and as a child I was nicknamed 'rat' due to the amount of cheese I consumed. So, at present I am finishing up the cheese I have in the fridge and will finish the whey protein powder I have because I am not made of money and want to have smoothies that are protein packed. I also learned that I have a mild intolerance to eggs. So, I suppose I am going to be moving towards veganism. Not by choice.

With that said, because I did not become vegetarian due to a distaste for meat, I have now begun to seek out meat alternatives and decided to document what I do. Mainly because I have found a few places that are very helpful and would like to bring those sources together for myself into one handy reference place. If anyone else finds it useful, all the better.