Caveat - as toddlers, the eldest tried some tuna and a few bits of meat. The middle one licked some meat. The youngest never touched it. They're all healthy and strong young women now and don't even think about tasting it again.

My three life-long vegetarian daughters are all 2nd degree black belts and my wife's a 3rd degree (and they are all instructors).

Here's a short list of champion athletes to consider...

Ridgely Abele
Winner of eight national championships in karate

Surya Bonaly
Olympic figure skating champion

Brendan Brazier
Professional Ironman triathlete

Peter Burwash
Davis Cup winner and professional tennis star

Andreas Cahling
Swedish champion bodybuilder, Olympic gold medallist in the ski jump

Chris Campbell
Olympic wrestling champion

Nicky Cole
First woman to walk to the North Pole

Ruth Heidrich
Six-time Ironwoman, USA track and field Master's champion

Keith Holmes
World-champion middleweight boxer

Desmond Howard
Professional football star, Heisman trophy winner

Peter Hussing
European super heavy-weight boxing champion

Scott Jurek
Ultramarathoner, Course Record Holder at Badwater and Western States

Debbie Lawrence
World record holder, women's 5K racewalk

Sixto Linares
World record holder, 24-hour triathlon

Cheryl Marek and Estelle Gray
World record holders, cross-country tandem cycling

Ingra Manecki
World champion discus thrower

Bill Manetti
Power-lifting champion

Ben Matthews
U.S. Master's marathon champion

Dan Millman
World champion gymnast

Martina Navratilova
Champion tennis player

Paavo Nurmi
Long-distance runner, winner of nine Olympic medals and 20 world records

Bill Pearl
Four-time Mr. Universe

Bill Pickering
World record-holding swimmer

Stan Price
World weightlifting record holder, bench press

Murray Rose
Swimmer, winner of many Olympic gold medals and world records

Dave Scott
Six-time winner of the Ironman triathlon

Art Still
Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs MVP defensive end, Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame

Jane Wetzel
U.S. National marathon champion

Charlene Wong Williams
Olympic champion figure skater

- There are many more, but I think that's enough to get the point across.

I love meat.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE it.

A nice rare burger is one of my favorite things on the planet. I love chicken wings. Steak. Bacon. Love, love, love it.

That said, and I know it's quite hypocritical, I love animals. I'm a cat owner. I love seeing animals outside. I love birds, fish, hell... everything. I legitimately feel sad when I see a squirrel or skunk dead on the side of the road. I even try to get bugs out of my house without squishing them if I can.

It's something I really try and wrap my head around... how I can love animals and eating meat so much both at the same time. I've thought about trying to make the switch, but it's hard at this stage in life, especially since I'm married and my wife certainly isn't a vegetarian either.

Still, it's something I can't seem to get it out of my mind.

I'm the same way about eating meat, loving animals, and rescuing critters no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. That said I am trying to eat less meat than I used to, and I'd fully support paying more for meat that is raised and slaughtered humanely. I don't think people should stop eating meat, but EVERY person should be graphically informed of how their food got to their table, and then they can decide from there.

You might get to the point where you lose your taste for it, or you might not. I used to love 'steak frites' and bacon. But I just can't do it anymore. I start to cry if I try to eat it. And at some point, the desires of your taste buds are no longer stronger than your feelings of compassion.

A plant-based diet is a different kind of diet, certainly. But it can be just as satisfying to your tastes, your health, and especially emotionally.

Or, do some online research and buy local meats that are the product of humanely-raised, humanely slaughtered animals. There very well may be local farms near you that do that.

Though, here is a NYTimes article about the myth of sustainable meat: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/13/opinion/the-myth-of-sustainable-meat.html?_r=0

I can't eat misery and suffering. I used to, until I thought about it like you have. I won't kill bugs either and have the same feelings you do about animals.

You can't wrap your head around it because it's a contradiction.

They nuke quickly and are a good quick "bacon-like" snack with no mess. My late in-laws passed away in their early 80's. Mom was very far gone with Alzheimer's and wasn't eating much if anything. On the way to visit them (3+ hour drive), I stopped at a grocery store, got some of those strips, fresh tomatoes, sliced cheese, romaine lettuce, fresh mushrooms, strawberries, mayonnaise, and a loaf of good wheat bread. I made a vegetarian version of a BLT (my way) and served the strawberries on the side. She ate EVERY BITE! My father-in-law was flabbergasted. That was more in one sitting than she'd had in the last several days combined. He knew it was fake bacon, but I don't think she had a clue. It was one of the last good meals she had. A few months later she passed peacefully, and no the fake bacon didn't kill her.

and not about to go back to eating meat.

It's how we evolved. I'm sure my hunter-gathering ancestors didn't get to choose between Dal Lentils and pasta primavera like I do!

Humans need 3 basic nutritional ingredients: protein, carbs and fat. And in this minefield of 21st century food deliverance, I feel safer and healthier with plant based options. But I have carnivorous friends who eat organic and halal meat, and they're healthier than some veg ones who live off Doritos and coke. I'm convinced the processed stuff we consume is far worse for us than a steak. I'm just not interested in eating one myself.

But when hunting trapping or fishing is good then i like to eat meat. Just proccessed about fifty pounds of tomatoes into pasta sauce for freezing and canning probuably will get some fishing done this weekend and my daughter will no doubt get some rabbit from her visit to her friends farm. They have craploads of them and no one in the family hunts or traps sonshe will.

The healthiest folks on the planet are the Okinawans whose main diet is fish and seaweed. I'd replace the fish with tofu and throw in some avocado!

I just hate proccessed foods though i will indulge every so often luckily living in the mountains theres shit loads of food just walking around.

I've been a vegetarian for 2 and a half years after 53 years of eating meat. I didn't stop eating meat because it doesn't taste good- nobody does. Yeah, the smell of potstickers is still pretty tempting. But I've tried more new foods in the last 2 and a half years than in the last 20 and I've thought more about where my food comes from and how my choices affect the environment.. and those things are more important than taste alone. Eating is an ethical act.

For an animal its an instinctual act. If my dog kills a squirrel and wants to eat the head off, good for him. He's a dog.

The redder the better.