TIJUANA.- This is the third time I try to be a vegetarian, and not for being hip or being part of the cool kids, and not just to care for animal life (which I respect). Truth be told, every time I stop eating meat I simply do it to see how long I can go without it. It's a challenge and challenges can become interesting when you're bored.

First of all, this is a lifestyle that is intended to be healthier and with such a large variety of vegan and vegetarian options in Tijuana, I must admit that nowadays this was easier to do than two years ago. Although it hasn't been long since I've stopped eating meat, today I can find at least one or two vegetarian options in almost every restaurant and food truck in the city.

From Wok Trok with its Portobello Buns and Veggie Noodles, to La Carmelita with its mushroom pellizcada or rajas and cauliflower with mole tacos, or even a homemade quesadillas stand with tinga made purely out of carrots, hibiscus flowers and huitlacoche, just to name a few places that are near work.

And due to the fact that I'm a student and a employee, I don't have time to cook. I assume many of you don't have much time either, making things a bit difficult.

In my case, the lack of time for cooking made a slight dent in my pocket, given that is not the same thing putting a piece of meat into a pan than making something with soy (which first has to be dehydrated, squeezed out, seasoned and then, cooked). This sort of prep time forced me to eat out and sometimes eat poorly and very little.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming vegetarianism for this. Realizing how hard it is not to eat meat in a world of carnivores, made understand why it is a lifestyle, much like veganism.

Being vegetarian means radically changing the way you make life choices; choosing were to eat more carefully, saying no to a lot of things, learning how to cook again almost from zero, and understanding that it is necessary to substitute certain foods. Vegetarianism is most definitely not a diet for loosing weight and if you do it for that sole purpose, you are certainly looking at a huge bowl of disappointment.

One of the biggest frustrations of the majority of vegetarians I know is the unanswerable question as to why others can understand why they are "fat" if they're vegetarian. Well, is not easy to explain but it has to do a person's natural metabolism and complexion, if you have a sedentary lifestyle or whether or not you have a high intake of sugar and fat/

After all, you could stop eating meat and continue to eat sopes or fried potato and bean tacos with tons of sour cream. In other words, being vegetarian will not imply that you eat healthy unless you include a variety of fruits and veggies in your daily diet.

With that said, I want to share some personal observations, hoping that other people share their own opinion:

1.- Not eating meat is not equal to being a vegetarian:

Given that you also need to eat vegetables, if you didn't just stop eating meat.

2.- Being vegetarian doesn't help to lose weight:

If you want to do it with this purpose, don't even try it. There are many factors that go beyond eating or not eating meat, this will depend on the number of calories you have per day. It goes without saying that dressings, cookies and cakes don't have meat and you can steal eat them.

3.- Don't do it if you're not going to commit to it:

You will waste a lot of money just by not cooking for yourself, you'll eat poorly and the liking won't last long. Also, if you did actually lose weight, rebound is a cruel karma to pay once you go back to meat.

4.-Being vegetarian can be expensive:

Fruits and veggies are affordable when in season, but when they're not, that's when we are in trouble. Also, when you're a vegetarian you need to eat more often and keep on mixing dishes in order to not get bored, and for that we are going to need a large variety of ingredients…Unless you don't mind eating the same thing every day.

5.-But…

If you do it right, you'll eat better and definitely live a healthier lifestyle.

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Elizabeth.rosales@sandiegored.com

zyanya.figueroa@sandiegored.com