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I call myself a vegetarian: I've been one since I was 4. I had issues with the texture of meat (and still do with some non-meat foods, like large mushrooms, melted cheese that is super stringy, etc), and when I figured out that meat was animals, I was totally thrown off of it, and it was easier for my parents to go with it than fight me at every meal time since they had trouble getting me to eat meat in the first place.

But I've started experimenting with a few things in the past years that don't bother me texture-wise: some seafood and fish (as long as it isn't too fishy-tasting--like, I like scallops, which have a tofu-like texture to me, but not salmon, which smells gross to me. I like raw tuna but not tuna cooked or in salad. weird!). I like some salami and cured meats--it has a texture similar to cheese for me. I don't mind bacon as long as it's small.

So, clearly I'm not an exclusive vegetarian, and I know some vegetarians (particularly ones that are so because of moral/ethical reasons) would sneer at me or whatever. But the thing is, I'm not reliable enough in what I like and don't like yet to say that I'm a full on pescetarian or anything else--I usually just take bites off of other people's plates at restaurants or share dishes that have things I might like. I still eat completely veggie 90% of the time (especially now that I'm pregnant--I've barely had anything not veggie since I prefer raw fish to cooked).

I really don't think there is anything wrong with changing, especially since it isn't a moral thing for me. I mean, I've been a vegetarian for 25 years so it's a huge part of me, but I think it would be so much easier I could just learn to like fish reliably!

Former vegan, current vegetarian. In an ideal world, I would eat animal free all the time, but I couldn't devote that much brain/emotional energy to thinking about food any more. I don't eat meat or fish, but I find that eating some dairy & eggs has made my life easier, though I feel it's a compromise if that makes any sense?

I was vegetarian for about 4 years, but eventually my digestive system revolted. It was super easy to go back to eating meat, my body was happy to get the protein. Most people have to go back slow and steady though.

I've been sort-of vegetarian for a long time (double digits in terms of years). By that I mean I eat fish and dairy, but not meat or poultry. I also like to cook (most of the time!).

Since getting married and having LO, I have cooked meat for my family occasionally, but I don't have any desire to eat it. I do think, based on my experience cooking for them, that eating meat can make some meal prep a little easier. It's ridiculously simple to broil a steak or roast a turkey breast (none of us eat chicken). But even if I do that, I still have to make vegetables as a side dish, whereas vegetarian cooking lends itself readily to all-in-one dishes. I don't always serve casseroles or one-dish meals, but I'm not above dumping a bunch of veggies and cheese in an omelet, making a salad, and calling it dinner occasionally.

I find the all-in-one dishes mean my LO eats more veggies, so I like that aspect of it, as well as the convenience of not having multiple pans and baking dishes to wash on time-crunched evenings. The key for me was to find vegetarian recipes that don't require as much hands-on time.

Strict vegetarian for 13 years; slowly started adding chicken back into my diet when I was pregnant in 2011. I eat chicken maybe 1-2x a month, and that's being generous.

I got SICK. It was like my body didn't know how to break down the meat or something. If I eat something cooked with red meat (like my nana's vegetable soup is made with beef stock) my stomach goes hay-wire. It's bad.

That said, my kid eats whatever she wants. If we have tacos, I make a side of rice & beans and have that in my taco instead of ground beef!

@Crystal: I have a few favorite cookbooks I riff off of. The most accessible ones are published by Betty Crocker (search "meatless" or "vegetarian" in Amazon). My BC books are old, but I imagine the newer versions are generally of the same ilk: not-super-fancy, but substantial soups/salads, casseroles, one-pot dishes, etc. I recently purchased Martha Stewart's "Meatless" book, and I think it's a pretty solid starting point, too.

@dojo: One thing about cooking with a baby in the house: I think it's hard for a while, no matter what you eat/prepare. I felt like a total failure as a cook for probably a year after LO was born. Cooking was something I used to enjoy spending time doing, and suddenly it was just another chore that took too long. It gets so much easier to cook once the baby stage is over and you can get your toddler involved (or set them up with something else to do while you chop onions).

Oh yeah, and I like the smell of bacon, too. On the very rare occasion when I do make it, I make myself some fake bacon as well. I usually don't eat meat substitutes, but BLATs are just too delicious!

I was veg for many years and then became pescatarian. That was the time my body felt the best. At the end of my first pregnancy I had to introduce some red meat and in small amounts it was fine. When I was pregnant with my second LO I craved red meat a lot, probably because I was also still nursing. I was really looking forward to being pescatarian again, but alas this LO has MSPI. After being essentially vegan for a couple of weeks I felt horrible and so have been slowly introducing more meat into our diet. I can't say I love it by any means but until LO weans it is a necessary evil.