Just wondering who else out there is a former vegetarian? Care to share your experiences and thoughts about transitioning from a vegetarian diet to omnivore?

I was a vegetarian for 15 years and have been on an omnivore diet for about 9 months now. I still really struggle with it times, and at other times I feel like I've found a much more logical way to eat and I don't think I could ever be fully vegetarian again.

It is shocking to me that I even got here. I was so committed to being vegetarian and was utterly convinced I wasn't going to be one of "those people" who "used to be vegetarian". I was in it for life. I chose vegetarianism for ethical reasons so I have had to do some soul searching and ethical debate to come to terms with our new diet. We eat mostly local meat and all organic, free range & fully pastured... I couldn't do it any other way. We have only eaten out once so far and I carefully chose the restaurant based upon the type of meat they source.

A lot of my closest friends are vegetarian and part of why I was drawn closer to them was that fact. So I feel a little awkward now. Fortunately we are overseas and away from everyone so I haven't had to eat with those friends yet but I have told them and they all surprised me with their support and unconditional friendship. I feel very blessed by that. Because I feel like a lost a piece of myself. Being vegetarian defined me in many ways. It was my religion and ethical compass. I often get the REM song "losing my religion" stuck in my head!

We became omnivores because we started a new diet to heal my son's autism. The diet doesn't allow any grains or soy and only low starch foods so many beans are out, and potatoes. There isn't a lot left if you don't eat meat and it was impossible to get all the nutrients. Also, there are healing properties in meat such as gelatin that my son needed and he also needed the "pre-digested" mode of delivery for nutrition. His gut is too damaged to process vegetable sources to extract enough out of them. So that's why we felt compelled to make the change.

I haven't had any real trouble eating meat which surprised me. The smells put me off at first and I found I couldn't stand the thought of red meat for a while but we eased in and went okay.

How about you? Why did you change? How did you find the transition?