Looking further into social stigmas

I mentioned in my last post that the diet was going great besides taking a little bit of grief from family and friends. I wanted to look deeper into the social aspect of being a pescatarian/vegetarian. While many vegetarians have given up meat due to some sort of food intolerance and problems with digestion, or for environmental reasons, I have chosen to try it as a personal challenge. Listed below are a few of the comments I have had regarding this decision. You may be having the same reactions as these so I figured I would post them.

Friend: I saw your facebook post about trying a pescatarian diet. What are you some tree-hugger now?

Friend 2: Since it's only a school project, you don't have to really follow it right? Who cares if you slip up a few times?

Friend 3: That diet is a bad idea Alberta, are you trying to lose weight? Vegetarians are overly environmentally conscious, it is so annoying.

These are just a few examples of comments I have heard regarding my decision to try being a pescatarian. Although a few people seemed all right with this choice, not once did I get a comment like "wow Alberta, what a great idea... I can't wait to see how it goes." Even my parents were skeptical about me trying it. They seemed supportive at first, but when the time came for dinner and meat was the choice they were frustrated having to accommodate me. Especially considering I am usually the one most excited about eating a steak dinner!

First off, I am sticking to this diet and not allowing any slip-ups. I am only doing this for a short period of time and I really want to give it my all. Secondly after seeing the reactions such as referring to me as a "tree-hugger" and being "annoying" it only frustrates me to the ignorance some people display. It really gave me a deeper appreciation of people that live this lifestyle. I hope that I never acted negatively towards someone because of the food they consume. It is amazing the stereotypes that come with a diet!