Struggles Only Vegetarians Understand During The Holidays

The holiday season can be difficult for vegetarians. Celebrations are filled with potlucks and dinner parties and meatless dishes are sparse. Whether you have recently discovered the plant-based diet or you were born a vegetarian, there are things that happen during the holidays without fail.

Click here for the 10 Quick and Easy Vegetarian Recipes slideshow.

Your Family Thinks You Can Only Eat Salad

You can't blame them for thinking that your diet only consists of fruits and vegetables, but a simple salad will not be your key to happiness during holiday celebrations. Little do they know, you can also eat whole grains, mashed potatoes, and legumes.

You Notice an Overwhelming Amount of Bacon

Whether it be potato skins or green beans sprinkled with bacon, you seem to find bits of this in everything, even cocktails. This limits your variety of foods, but everyone else seems to think bacon makes every dish that much better.

Sounding Like a Broken Record

You wouldn't be able to count the times your family and friends ask you what you can eat, what you cannot eat, and why you decide to live this way. Without fail, you explain it all to them, they do not understand, and you wait for them to ask again at the next holiday party.

Peer Pressure to Try Meat

For some reason, non-vegetarians think that trying meat will suddenly make you change your ways. They believe that one bite will somehow make you rethink all of your life choices. Your best bet is to laugh it off, while you secretly look at them with disgust.

Whipping Out Your Emergency Snack Bag

This happens to be something you can't live without, and at this point, you don't feel ashamed because "hangry" is a real thing and if you don't have food to eat, your family won't want to be around you. 

The accompanying slideshow is provided by special contributor Emily Jacobs.