Growing up I loved meat. In fact I probably ate the most of all my siblings. And it was hard to quit meat. It took me 2 weeks to successfully quit eating meat. I was constantly running back to it once someone was making hamburgers or even chicken when the weekend came around. But once I finally made it I noticed some changes that I stuck around for.
My skin.
Now I didn't get acne very often but when I did, it stuck around for a bit. While switching to meat free I didn't change up my skin care routine but I noticed I was getting acne less frequently. When I now get any it's not all red and like a balloon on my face. It's all pretty small and hardly noticeable. It's easier to control and get rid of as well. Especially me being in my teen years I expected the classic pimple horror story but I got the opposite.
Switching to meat free also kinda forced me to look back on my diet. It wasn't that great and im pretty disappointed in myself for it. All the processed meats and animal products I never realized of how much I had. I was even eating the "healthy meats and dairy", though there aren't really any. Educating myself on the effects of meat on the human body is what helped me switch to meatless so not eating meat kinda forced me to head my diet in a better direction.
My weight also changed. Now before I went meat free I was also working out, trying that healthy lifestyle but it never really did anything, I was stuck. And when I switched to meat free its force in expanding my diet to more whole foods encouraged my weight loss. I lost more fat and built more muscle. Now I know that you can do this perfectly while consuming meat products but this was the push I needed to realise where I went wrong. I do now realise that I could easily continue the whole weight loss thing with meat but I won't. I feel happier and healthier; I prefer a plant based diet that is easier to keep when it comes to being healthier. So eating a more balanced plant diet helped to balance me out and learn more about my body.
I discovered so much about my body just from quitting meat. I discovered the problem that was my lactose intolerance, knowing now that meat wasn't the problem for my stomach aches. And continuing to learn more about myself encouraged me to develop a healthier diet than I thought I already had. With all of this came a healthier mental state and kind of confidence in myself I never had before.
I know some of this sounds ridiculous and I'm no writer but I don't regret switching and wouldn't go back.