[Andrew Brunelle]

Here's the thing....vegetarianism and veganism are sort of a little fanatical for me. I've tried to do it, I really have. But it becomes very restrictive to some point, especially if you live in a family environment. My eating plan is to minimize meat intake to once a day or less, minimize dairy to less than once a day, and to eat many vegetables and some fruits. The rules of your diet are what you make it. So if you go on a vegan diet, that doesn't mean it will be healthy for you unless you eat the right foods. Vegan is not the diet, vegan is a lifestyle choice where animals don't play a part in it at all. If you feel bad for animals on a factory farm, then don't eat those animals, but choose free-range animals who are fed good food and not pumped with antibiotics or growth hormone. It's about the person you are. Sure, I could give up meat, but then I would have to settle for meat substitutes, which doesn't make sense to me, because if vegans are so repulsed by meat, then why are they looking for substitutes. It's kind of like people who give up sugar and use aspartame, which is sweeter than sugar and is very dangerous to the body. If you give something up for health reasons, don't look for substitutes. You're better off, most of the time, eating the real thing. So make your diet according to your own needs.