thundara, I too have a hard time when out to "fancy occasions". I just returned from a night out with my wife. We had dinner at Magnolia Grill, Gourmet Magazine named the top 50 restaurants in the US and it was #11. Fancy schmancy... well, it turns out they have only 1 vegetarian entree. LAME. All of the entrees with meat sounded, looked and smelled so good. It was difficult. I'm not staying a vegetarian once this year is up, I know I'll eat meat again. In fact, I'm not so sure I'll last much longer.... For me, breakfast is the hardest meal. Bacon and sausage are so damned good.
I have a restaurant I LOVE because they have the best cocktails in the state. But not a ton of vegetarian options.
As long as I don't regularly eat meat, I don't feel like I'm letting myself down, as the entire point was see how to do it pragmatically, whether I could go without it at all or even if I'd want it. On the occasional date or night out with friends, it makes it a bit more special, too! (And convenient)
- newgameplus, vegan is something I don't have the resolve for. I just couldn't do without cheese.
Really what it comes down to though, is it's actually quite easy to be vegan where I live here in Southern California. There's a Trader Joe's near me, a Whole Foods currently being built close by, at least 4 nearby fully vegan restaurants, a vegan bakery up the street and at least one vegan food truck that moves around the area. Add to that all the places that have vegan options and I really have no complaints. Not to mention what I eat now tends to taste much better than the fast food I was practically living on before. Also, I already get regular blood tests so it's easy to throw in a test for B12 levels and such to make sure I'm staying healthy. For many other people, I think going vegan would turn out to be a much greater commitment.
The last guy to do it happened to come in like right after a bunch of pizza was delivered and was super drunk. He stacked 5 or 6 slices on a plate then just found a place to sit down and started eating. My brother-in-law had to talk him into leaving, but he let him keep the pizza. So all yah gotta do is grab and run.