“I became vegetarian around the end of the cross country season. I think it was the day of the cross country finals. 

At first, it was a joke. I thought, “Oh, I’m going to go on a vegetarian or vegan diet.” I honestly thought it wouldn’t last and instead be a one-week thing. For the first couple of weeks, it was pretty challenging being vegetarian because my favorite foods are hamburgers and sushi and I couldn’t eat these foods anymore. I mean, I still could but I choose not to. But after getting through the first few weeks, it actually worked well. I consciously began finding and using a lot of substitutes for meat, like mushrooms, eggplants, tofu, eggs, etc. Also, when I felt like eating meat, I watched mukbangs of people eating meat. To be honest, I don’t really miss eating meat that much. 

I would say that it’s particularly hard being vegetarian in Japan, though, because even small snacks have fish or pork powder in them. But it’s not hard to cook your own meals. I cook a lot of fried rice, stir-fries, etc. Since I’m half Chinese, I grew up knowing how to cook a lot of vegetable stir-fries and fried rice. So I just replaced the meat in those recipes with substitutes, like tofu. 

A really easy recipe that I usually make is tomato and egg stir fry. It sounds kinda weird, but it’s really good.

1. Mix 2 eggs, a bit of soy sauce, and salt together.
2. Fry that egg like a scrambled egg in sesame oil (but if you don’t have it, any oil like olive oil works too).
3. Cut large tomatoes into smaller pieces, some garlic, some mushrooms (optional)
4. Take the eggs out of the pan, and start cooking the garlic. Once you can smell the garlic, put the tomatoes/other ingredients in!
5. Put a little bit of soy sauce and black vinegar in, and wait for the vegetables to cook.
6. Once the tomatoes look soft, put the eggs back in and fry until everything’s combined. 
7. Eat it with rice.

It’s really good, so I really recommend this recipe. 

I would totally recommend being a vegetarian. I think if you are willing to try it it would definitely be nice. You can still eat tons of Italian food and I love Italian food. You also learn to cook more efficiently.” – Shono